Chaukhandi stupa
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Dhamek stupa
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A sweet Sarnath street dog!
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Monks from all over the world visit Sarnath!
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The Lion Capital of Ashoka at the Sarnath museum
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Dhamek stupa
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🥰
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Photobomb!
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😍
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The remains of an Ashoka pillar
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😳
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A large Buddha at the Thai monastery in Sarnath
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The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the National emblem of India!
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Maitreya, the future Buddha
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A gorgeous 5th-century Buddha
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Reclining Buddha at the museum in Sarnath
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A stone umbrella at the museum
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Traffic of all sorts insert off: buses, motorcycles, trucks, tractors, bicycles, cars, cows!
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A visit to a silk shop!
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What a wonderful model!
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😍😂 Kong really likes the silk!
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A scene from the bus as we entered Varanasi.
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The RetreaTours-mobile!
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Today we spent the day on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, including a sunrise boat ride and a meditation on the opposite bank of the river 🙏 Scenes of Hindu rituals and cremation on the banks of the Ganges River aren’t terribly far off from what Siddhartha Gautama would have witnessed on his path to enlightenment.
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Sunrise ritual, Ganga Aarti
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Today we spent the day on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, including a sunrise boat ride and a meditation on the opposite bank of the river 🙏 Scenes of Hindu rituals and cremation on the banks of the Ganges River aren’t terribly far off from what Siddhartha Gautama would have witnessed on his path to enlightenment.
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Today we spent the day on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, including a sunrise boat ride and a meditation on the opposite bank of the river 🙏 Scenes of Hindu rituals and cremation on the banks of the Ganges River aren’t terribly far off from what Siddhartha Gautama would have witnessed on his path to enlightenment.
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Releasing candles
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Today we spent the day on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, including a sunrise boat ride and a meditation on the opposite bank of the river 🙏 Scenes of Hindu rituals and cremation on the banks of the Ganges River aren’t terribly far off from what Siddhartha Gautama would have witnessed on his path to enlightenment.
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We even had a table and sitar player on the boat!
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Today we spent the day on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, including a sunrise boat ride and a meditation on the opposite bank of the river 🙏 Scenes of Hindu rituals and cremation on the banks of the Ganges River aren’t terribly far off from what Siddhartha Gautama would have witnessed on his path to enlightenment.
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Whatcha doin’?? 😂
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Ramee, our magical oil man!
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Michele and some ghat dogs!
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🥰
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We rented the entire rooftop for breakfast on the river!
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From dogs to cows!
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Sassiest little chai wallah!
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Hanuman temple
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Mediation on the banks of the Ganges
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Our meditation tent
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🐐
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Sunil, our dear friend and amazing third generation boatman and tour organizer!
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Janie 😍
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Ramee and his potions
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Testing the essential oils
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Ganga aarti ritual
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Tere meditating on the banks of the Ganga ❤️
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Making offerings to the river
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Creating our own candle offerings
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Part of the sunrise rituals at Assi Ghat
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Me in my usual stance, separating two street dogs (river dogs?! 😂) to give them treats
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Pilgrims walk clockwise around the temple, as well as sitting in meditation
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Just past a quarter moon tonight!
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Security lines for Monks & Nuns, a catchall for gentlemen and ladies
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Inside the cave where the Buddha meditated
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This is the classy way to get to the top of the hill!
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Inside the meditation cave
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The Buddha was near death from self-inflicted starvation before he discovered the Middle Path.
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Buddhist flags against the gold-leafed cave exterior
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Just a touch up
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The Giant Buddha at BodhGaya
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Sweet baby at a Sujata stupa
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🥰🥰🥰🥰
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Michele’s new pals
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There’s a spot for everyone ❤️
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Sharing breakfast leftovers
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Nacecafe, huh?
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Nacecafe inception.
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🥰
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Walking into the temple under a sea of Buddhist flags
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Vaishali and a new friend
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Cindi at the Bamboo Grove
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Helen sharing some words at Vulture’s Peak
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Beth lighting a candle at Vulture’s Peak
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Norma sharing the Heart Sutra at Vulture’s Peak
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🥰
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Our mascot Toby enjoyed Bamboo Grove and Squirrel Forest!
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Squirrel decor
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🥰 sisterly travel ❤️
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Some of the many ruins at Nalanda, an ancient Buddhist university
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Buddha’s Relics stupa
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Pod people! Or, rather, very snazzy mediation tents!
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@vaishali
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😲🤣
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Dogs of the Buddhist Circuit 😍
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Parinirvana stupa
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At the Parinirvana stupa
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Buddha’s cremation stupa
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Parinirvana stupa
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Cremation stupa
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Around the Parinirvana stupa
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Cremation stupa
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Parinirvana stupa
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The reclining Buddha inside the Parinirvana stupa
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The reclining Buddha inside the Parinirvana stupa
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The reclining Buddha inside the Parinirvana stupa
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Legend has it that Baby Buddha took 7 steps after his birth and declared that this was his last life, his last time being reincarnated. Regardless of the mythology, it’s a pretty vivid image!
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Maya Devi temple in the morning mist
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Misty meditation
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Sweeping the path first thing in the morning
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Giving alms to monks
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An Ashoka Pillar at the Maya Devi temple
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Ashoka Pillar
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The littlest tour guides at Nepal’s Kapilavastu
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Perhaps the very wall where the Buddha escaped his domestic life
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Looking out the palace wall ruins at Nepal’s Kapilavastu
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Most of our amazing crew (plus a very photogenic dog!) at Sravasti
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At Srvavasti, a place where the Buddha spent 25 rainy seasons in retreat
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Today we wrap up our Walking with the Buddha journey, but we’ll still be sharing photos (BJ’s photos!) in the coming days, along with announcing the dates for our 2020 trip!
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Sravasti
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Sravasti
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Sravasti
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The Bodhi tree at Sravasti
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Scenes from the bus
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Scenes from the bus
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Today we wrap up our Walking with the Buddha journey, but we’ll still be sharing photos (BJ’s photos!) in the coming days, along with announcing the dates for our 2020 trip!
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Today we wrap up our Walking with the Buddha journey, but we’ll still be sharing photos (BJ’s photos!) in the coming days, along with announcing the dates for our 2020 trip!
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![Earl displaying some scarves in a true [bus] window shopping experience](https://www.retreatours.com/wp-content/plugins/justified-image-grid/timthumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fv%2Ft1.6435-9%2F74437268_3198149773590291_7128384172090982400_n.jpg%3F_nc_cat%3D107%26ccb%3D1-7%26_nc_sid%3D506694%26_nc_ohc%3DiFFDm1iUSzIAX8cTnm_%26_nc_ht%3Dscontent-dfw5-2.xx%26edm%3DAC7C4-wEAAAA%26oh%3D00_AfARMgepYYIVQh_h_vySFMFg-C487Hs7lFwxn8mJ62ga0w%26oe%3D6593534C&h=255&q=40&f=.jpg)
Earl displaying some scarves in a true [bus] window shopping experience
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