Randy's 50th Birthday Adventure

Randy's 50th birthday travel adventures

In January and February 2011 I had the fabulous opportunity to travel through Northern India and Nepal. The photos and stories in this blog document my adventures and experiences; what I saw and what I learned. My travel started in Delhi, India and then led me to the spiritual town of Rishikesh, India for a week long stay at a yoga ashram - Rishikesh Yog Peeth. After that I traveled to Khajuraho, India to view the ancient Hindu erotic temples, tour a local farming town, and spend the day at a small Indian village. Next I traveled to the holy Hindu city of Varanasi where life revolves in and around the holy Ganges River. I spent a day visiting the town of Sarnath where Buddha offered his first teachings, and which served as a pre-cursor for my trip to Nepal and the Kopan Monastery to study meditation and Buddhism. After Varanasi, I flew to Kathmandu and spent a couple of days walking the streets of the city before venturing about a half-hour above the city to the Kopan Monastery for a week-long retreat to study meditation and Buddhism. Afterward I went back to Delhi and took a day trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

My days came to a close in Varanasi and before I left for Nepal, I spent a day touring the Buddhist town of Sarnath (about an hour north of Varanasi) where Buddha delivered his first sermons. That night I had a nice home cooked dinner in the home of my friend's cousins. As I contemplated traveling to a new country - Nepal, I sensed that if Rishikesh was my physical and emotional warm-up, and Varanasi was my opportunity for spiritual discovery, then the prospect of spending a week at Kopan Monastery mediating and studying Buddhism was my opportunity to search for different perspectives, new discoveries, and explore more self-awareness.