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Geographically, spiritually and culturally India is one of the
most multi-faceted and fascinating colorful countries in the
world. It is the country of high mountains of the Himalaya, vast
golden deserts, tropical forests with abundant wildlife, white
sand beaches & emerald oceans, sacred rivers & lakes. More
contrasting are bustling big cities & small remote villages,
maharajas and royal families living side by side with diverse
tribal cultures. It is home to the great religions like;
Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism Christianity, as
well as countless other regional and local regions. India boasts
great Islamic monuments like the Taj Mahal, spectacular temples
of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists, fortress like Buddhist
Monasteries of Ladakh, and even colonial era European style
Churches. Whether you wish to hop through Ladakh or Sikkim,
visit the palaces of Rajasthan and ride camels out into the
desert, hike through the canyon ridden arid mountains of Ladakh,
or the lush forests of Sikkim, Himaland can make your dream
comes true.
(I) Classic India: Delhi - Rajasthan –
Varanasi, 13 days
Best Months: January, February, March,
April and September, October, November, December.
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Day 01: |
ARRIVAL: DELHI |
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Day 02: |
DELHI: Full day combined sightseeing tour of Old & New
Delhi. |
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Day 03: |
DELHI / MANDAWA - Leave Delhi for Mandawa by surface |
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Day 04: |
MANDAWA / BIKANER (188 Km) Leave Mandawa for Bikaner by
surface, Afternoon city tour of Bikaner. |
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Day 05: |
BIKANER / JAISALMER (333 Km) Leave early morning Bikaner
for Jaisalmer by surface |
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Day 06: |
JAISALMER Morning city tour of Jaisalmer. |
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Day 07: |
JAISALMER / JODHPUR ( 308 Km) Leave Jaisalmer for Jodhpur
by surface, Afternoon sightseeing tour of JODHPUR CITY |
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Day 08: |
JODHPUR / JAIPUR (332 Km) Leave Jodhpur for Jaipur by
surface |
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Day 09: |
JAIPUR Sight-seeing of AMBER FORT in the morning.
Afternoon visit JAIPUR CITY. |
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Day 10: |
JAIPUR / AGRA (232 Km) Leave Jaipur for Agra by surface
en route visiting FATEHPUR SIKRI and city tour + visit Taj Mahal. |
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Day 11: |
AGRA / JHANSI / ORCHHA / KHAJURAHO. Transfer by train and
sight-seeing. |
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Day 12: |
KHAJURAHO / VARANASI Morning KHAJURAHO CITY tour and by
air to Varanasi. |
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Day 13: |
DEPARTURE: Early morning boat ride on holy river Ganges
before leaving for onward journey. |
(II) Buddhist Pilgrimage Circuit, Nepal –
India, 16 days
Best Months: January, February, March,
April and September, October, November, December.
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Day 01: |
Visit Boudha Stupa (a stupa is a large dome or pyramid-like
structure containing religious relics and represents the
enlightened mind of the Buddha), temples, monasteries and
village. Boudhanath, the largest stupa in Nepal and one of the
most powerful in the world, is also the religious center. Visit
Swayambhunath Stupa, another huge holy Stupa. |
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Day 02: |
Visit the village of Pharping with many shrines, monasteries and
temples perched on a hillside. It is a powerful place of the
female Buddha Vajra Yogini, and many yogis meditate here. We
will see "the self-emanating" Tara and Padmasambhava's cave. On
the way back, visit Manjushri's Gorge, as well as ancient
statues of Chenrezig and Tara in the center of Kathmandu. |
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Day 03: |
LUMBINI. Fly (30 minutes) to Bhairahawa airport and drive
to Lumbini (20 minutes).
Visit the birth place of Lord Buddha, Ahokan Pillar with
readable inscription of King Ashoka of 250 BC, sacred pond,
ruins of the ancient monasteries, Stupas and temple of Mayadevi
(prince Siddartha's mother). After lunch drive 17 miles to
Kapilvastu the home of prince Siddartha, King Suddodhana and
queen Mayadevi, where prince Siddartha had spent his child and
youth before renouncing the secular life. |
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Day 04: |
LUMBINI TO BALRAMPUR. Leave Lumbini and drive to Sanauli,
the Nepal/India border in about an hour then to Balrampur (129
miles). |
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Day 05: |
BALRAMPUR. After breakfast visit Jeta Vana for puja and
meditation where Lord Buddha spent 25 rainy seasons in retreat.
It is still extremely peaceful, clean and totally conducive for
deep meditation. Visit Angulimaal's Cave. This is where a
dreaded bandit used to live. After meeting Lord Buddha he calmed
down and embraced Buddhism. |
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Day 06: |
BALRAMPUR TO KUSHNIGAR. Drive 150 miles to Kushnigar.
Kushinagar is the place of Buddha's death. His last word's were
said to be, "Decay is inherent in all component things. Be
diligent in your practice." Visit the Mahaparnirvana Temple in
the evening. |
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Day 07: |
KUSHNIGAR. Visit Rambhar Stupa where Buddha was cremated
and his relics were divided into ten parts to be distributed to
the different kingdoms of that time. |
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Day 08: |
KUSHINAGAR to PATNA (168 miles). En route visit Vaishali,
the place where Buddha gave his last teaching. There is an
Ashoka pillar and a couple of stupas, one of which contains some
of Buddha's ashes. |
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Day 09: |
PATNA TO RAJGIR. Drive 72 miles to Nalanda. From the
fifth to the 12th century Nalanda was an important Buddhist
university with 10,000 monks and students in residence. Buddha
spent 12 years in Rajgir and held the first Buddhist council
here after obtaining enlightenment. |
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Day 10: |
RAJGIR. Here Buddha spent twelve years and held the first
Buddhist council after obtaining enlightenment. After an early
breakfast a leisurely walk up to Vulture peak for meditation and
teachings, where Buddha taught the Heart Sutra. |
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Day 11: |
RAJGUR to Bodhgaya, 48 miles away. This is the site of
Buddha's enlightenment. Tour of Root Institute, a meditation
center set in tranquil gardens, Maitri Leprosy Centre, Maitreya
Project and School. |
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Day 12: |
BODHGAYA. Meditation and prayers at Mahabodhi Stupa. |
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Day 13: |
BODHGAYA to Varanasi (167 miles). |
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Day 14: |
SARNATH. This is where Lord Buddha turned the wheel of
Dharma for the first time, teaching on the four noble truths and
the eightfold path to the five ascetics. These five ascetics
were the first disciples of the Lord. Sarnath, eight miles from
Varanasi possesses Dhammekha Stupa (the place where Buddha first
turned the wheel of Dharma), Deer Park, Mulgandha Kuti Vihar and
the ruins of ancient monasteries. |
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Day 15: |
SARNATH AND VARANASI. After breakfast, visit Sarnath once
again to visit the excellent archaeological museum with Buddhist
images dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries. |
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Day 16: |
VARANASI to onwards flight. |
(III) LHADAK: LAMAYURU - MARTSELANG TREK, 16
DAYS
Highlights:
A very interesting trek beginning at Lamayuru you walk up the
less traveled Ripchar valley with its small villages, nomadic
settlements and pastures where you see a wide variety of flowers
from end of July to end of August and birds too. You cross some
high passes with excellent views of the Karakorams and Zanskar
mountains. The initial part of the trek till Chilling is less
traveled. The region is considered one of the best valleys in
Ladakh region. It is not very difficult but it can be fairly
demanding due to the harsh terrain.
Elevation ~ : lowest - 3500m highest - 5050m
Best Months: March, April, May, June and September,
October, November
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Day 01: |
Arrival - Leh (3500m) Overnight in a hotel. |
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Day 02: |
Half day acclimatization sightseeing around Indus valley,
evening at leisure. |
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Day 03: |
Full day acclimatization tour of Shey, Thiksey and Hemis
monasteries. Overnight hotel at Leh. |
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Day 04: |
Drive from Leh to Lamayuru, enroute visit Alchi, Liker and Basgo.
Overnight camp at Lamayuru. |
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Day 05: |
BEGIN THE TREK: The trails heads down the valley before
turning east to the Prinkiti-La (3506 m.) Descend from the pass
to the scenic village of Wanla where you camp. |
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Day 06: |
Wanla - Hinju: Follow a nice wide path till the village
of Penji. From where you leave the main trail and head up the
Ripcha valley to Hinju. |
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Day 07: |
Hinju - Konzela Base: Continue up the valley to grazing
areas which support the village summer. Camp at the west base of
Kongke la pass. |
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Day 08: |
Kongske la Pass Base to west base of Lanak la pass: Begin
a short but steep climb to Konzela (4950 m.) for wonderful views
of the Zanskar Mountains. A long and steep descent brings you to
camp by the river at Lanak la pass base. |
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Day 09: |
Lanak la – Chilling village: Up the ridge to another
pass, Dun-Dun chan la, pass (4435 mtr.) and descend to camp near
the village of Chilling (3390 mtr.), the inhabitants of whome
are the only ones who are the main metal workers making Ladakhi
copper utensils. |
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Day 10: |
Chilling-Sku: Cross the Zanskar river by trolley. Today
the horses have to be changed on the other side of the river
with additional fresh supplies for rest of the trip. After
crossing the river a lovely trail to camp at Sku. |
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Day 11: |
Sku - Markha (3810): Cross the Markha river at two
places, once at Chalak and other just 1 km. before Markha. |
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Day 12: |
Markha -Thachungtse: The main trail passing the monastery
at Umlung to the village of Hankar is followed. We now go away
from the wide valley and go up a narrow valley to the pastures
at Thachungtse. |
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Day 13: |
Thachungtse -Nimaling (4700 mtr.): from Thachungtse, the
trail climbs steeply to the plateau and pastures of Nimaling
with Impressive views of Kangyatsey peak. |
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Day 14: |
Nimaling - Sumdo: A short but steep climb of about one
and half hours from camp takes us over the Kongmaru-La pass
(5030mtr.), the highest point on the trek with excellent views
of Stok range of mountains and of the Karakorams. Descend to the
of Sumda visit the Shang Monastry nearby. |
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Day 15: |
Sumdo - Martselang: Trek to the village of Martselang.
Trek ends.
Drive to Leh via Hemis Monastry. Overnight hotel at Leh. |
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Day 16: |
Departure: transfer to Leh airport. |
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