travelling to buddhist & tantric sites at india and nepal?

bhairava

Hi,


I'm planning to make a two months trip to India and Nepal after few months. I'm travelling with my girlfriend and also another male friend. I have been in India once before, they have never.

The plan is to check the famous Buddhist pilgrimage places: Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushniagar and Lumbini.

In addition to these, there are few other places we'd like to visit, and few of them can be visited at the same route, I think. Like Varanasi and Gorakhpur. Maybe also Kathmandu.

Looking at the maps I started to scetch the plan for the trip. For me it seems best to place the cities to visit in this order:

(Flight to) Delhi -> Varanasi -> Sarnath -> Gaya/BodhGaya -> Gorakhpur -> Kushinagar -> Lumbini -> Kathmandu (and somehow back to Delhi.)

I think that the travelling inside India could be easily made by train, but what wonders me is the best way to travel inside Nepal. I think I read from this forum that one can also get to Kathmandu from Gorakhpur by bus? We try to get by with low budget if possible.

Apparently the visa for Nepal is relatively easy to get from the border. How about getting back to India from Nepal? Do we need some special kind of visa for India?

karuna

When you get your Indian visa, make sure you ask on the form for a "multiple" visa. This allows you to go in and out of India during the length of your visa. Don't forget to get entry and exit stamps at the Sonauli border- it's possible to get through without being stopped (I nearly didn't get the right stamps).

Bus/taxi Gorakhpur to Sonauli border, change, new bus to Ktm.

For what it's worth, here are my thoughts on some of the places you'll be visiting.

bhairava

Hi,


I'm travelling to India in March for two months. Flying to Delhi with my girlfriend and friend. I've been there once few years ago so it's not completely new world for me, though I need you advice on planning our route.

I'd especially like to see religious sites connected with tantrsm and naths. These are some places I've planned to visit:

-Delhi
-Varanasi (Maybe Agra on the route)
-Gorakhpur
-(Anything to see in Bhairawa?)
-Kathmandu

I was previously planning to visit the Buddhist sites of Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Kushinagar and Lumbini, but I got the idea to visit Assam, which I understood is filled with tantric history, and thought about replacing the Buddhist sites for Assam.

The distances seem to be great, but does this sound possible or wise? If yes, how would you suggest to plan the route. (Cheap is good.)


Thanks!


ps. Forgot to mention that the return flight leaves from Delhi too.

dhans

Two months will be fine. Do add Agra and then take the bus from varanasi to nepal (you might even add khajaraho). It would be wise to end inepal and fly back to Delhi.

Hans

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bhairava

Thanks for your quick and encouraging reply!

Kajuraho would be a nice palce to see also, if it can be fit to the schedule.

Still I'd like to hear more opinions on this.

How cheaply could we get flights from Nepal to Delhi? I understand the flight wouldn't take too many hours?

bhairava

Hi,


As I mentioned in my previous post (Topic: "Too megalomanic?"), I'm planning to travel two months around northern India and Nepal to visit temples and places that are connected or relevant to the tantric traditions and Goddess worship.

I've already visited Kalighat and Dakshineshwar in Kolkata, Temple of 64 yoginis and Vaital Deul Chamunda temple in Bhubaneshwar, so these I'm not going to visit again.

I'm planning to see these places:

-Maybe Balaji at Rajasthan.
-Kaal Bhairon Temple at Ujjain
-Mahakaleswar Temple at Ujjain
-Khajuraho
-Gorakhpur for Gorakhnath temple
-Kamakhya temple in Assam
-Pashupati temple in Kathmandu
-Bhairava-temples in Kathmandu-valley


Do you know other such places in Northern India that are worth visit?

camelgirl

Two months is enough time to do all your plans.

If you want to go into and around Nepal by bus, it's quite grueling and time consuming. I've done overland into Nepal from Delhi (train to border transfer to bus) and from Darjeeling by bus to Kathmandu, also from Kathmandu to Lucknow by bus. Supposed to be to Agra but my husband got really sick (typhoid) and we left the bus early. All these trips took several days with stops at primitive but cheap places to sleep.

You would have to allow at least a week for just traveling. But it's very cheap!

Better to fly into or out of Kathmandu and bus around the valley. The bus to Pokora is also a long and grueling trip. Nepal is fantastic but there is no getting around quickly.

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