Journey to Himalayas

Our pilgrimage with Journey to Himalayas was a miracle of organizational efficiency. Our guide Sarju also provided us with a significant amount of deep cultural background for modern India and well as India’s Buddhist past.

We arrived in Sarnath about 2500 years after the Buddha first spoke of the Four Truths and the Eightfold Path, the foundation of a set of teachings he would gradually develop over his very long life. From Sarnath we followed his steps across the plains of north India. Each of the major sites we visited reflected a theme in the Buddha’s teachings: What is birth? What is death? How do we lead a meaningful life? An ethical one?

As we followed the path of the Buddha’s life we looked for ways to travel with each other according to the Buddha’s teachings – to be open and kind to friends and strangers, to maintain a reasonable level of mindfulness while we toured and shopped and ate meals together, and to tolerate and even appreciate each other’s quirks and foibles.

The sites we visited and groups we met resonated with the depth of the Buddhist tradition. The Great Stupa at Sarnath. The sublimely beautiful ruins at Nalanda. A full moon over the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya. Placing a shawl over the reclining Buddha Rupa at Kushinigar. Meeting our Buddhist cousins from Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Tibet, or Ladakh – friendly, happy, possibly many having the same imaginings as us of the life of the Buddha and life in the ancient Sangha.

And flowing through and around us each day was the life of India itself, vibrant and dynamic. As we travelled through large towns and small, we glimpsed the lives of thousands of people in the fields, in workshops and factories, in roadside stands in the most unlikely locations. The roads and villages were pulsing with activity; everyone seemed to have something to do, even if that was watching over three cows on the edge of a forest grove.

As we travelled daily events in India itself helped make the trip richer and deeper: We left Sarnath at 4:00 in the morning to get ahead of the pilgrims descending on the Ganga from all over India for the Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela, the twelfth cycle of twelve-year cycles that would see 450 million people seeking to bathe in the waters of the holy river. Google led our giant bus down a narrow shopping street in Patna, and many of the shopkeepers and passers-by helped the driver navigate the street, which Steven said felt like trying to move a house. In Dharamshala we had the good luck to participate in an evening party for a group that had travelled from Delhi for a destination wedding. … wonderful and harsh and beautiful all mixed in together.

We returned to Delhi exhausted and happy (and coughing). We then reluctantly prepared for our return to the deserted streets of our Canadian and German homelands, grateful for the ancient teachings of the Buddha and the modern and timeless teachings of India.

It was an absolute privilege to be travelling under the guidance of Sarju Sooch on The Buddhist Pilgrimage tour. The combination of sites visited, travel types and hotel accommodation by far surpassed my expectations. My first visit to India was a perfect balance of experiences rural and urban. I would love to return again.

The food was excellent!

I’m so glad I took the opportunity to go on this Buddhist Pilgrimage tour. It truly was a trip of a lifetime for me.

I really appreciated and felt confident so far away from home, having Sarju as our guide. He had everything organized for us, with all the tour details, meals, rooms and transportation nicely taken care of. Each day was a new adventure, seeing the pilgrimage sites and getting to know each other without having to worry about or plan a thing.

Sarju’s relaxed, friendly attitude fostered a sense of community and fun within our group, along with our spiritual focus throughout the pilgrimage.

I returned home with wonderful memories and a deeper connection with Buddhism.

Unsere Reise, die buddhistische Pilgerreise, war sehr gut organisiert und die Hotels waren gut gewählt, komfortabel mit abwechslungsreichem und sehr leckerem Essen. Sarju war immer engagiert und wenn es Probleme oder Fragen gab, fand er durch seine Erfahrung und Landeskenntnis gute Lösungen.

Die Orte, die wir besuchten, waren sehr beeindruckend und voller spiritueller Ausstrahlungskraft. Unser spezieller Gast in der Gruppe, Brian McLeod aus Winnipeg, Kanada, verlieh der Reise durch seinen Unterricht und seine Betreuung eine große menschliche und spirituelle Tiefe. Die Reise war für mich eine großartige und ganz besondere, tiefe spirituelle Erfahrung in meinem Leben. Vielen Dank an Sarju und alle anderen in der Gruppe! Herzliche Grüße von Julia aus Deutschland.

30 days! 30 full days! That awakened me intellectually, spiritually, physically, culturally, and emotionally. Travelling through this incredible and spacious landscape. I felt I had been transformed to another world! When the area is viewed on a map, it looks so small in comparison to the rest of India. However, as we travelled across and through the massive and dramatic Himalayas, it felt so large and expansive. For long stretches on the gravel roads several thousand meters above sea level, it seemed like there was little life living here and then we’d round a corner, cross a bridge, or crest a hill and meet a herder moving his animals, see workers repairing/building the road, trucks moving produce or fellow travellers. Sometimes, we’d round a corner and arrive in a little village – nestled in the midst of a steep ravine or a rolling valley – and there perched high above the village was a stately and prominent white monastery like a kind, compassionate and loving parent.

During our stay in an area, we often explored the area on foot, walking through the village, along paths from one little village to another and of course, the long and arduous inclines to the sacred monastery. As I walked along the ancient paths, an incredible sense of joy and contentment washed over me. I enjoyed the challenge each hiking/walking path presented to me.

Another striking aspect of this trip – whether it be in the bustling, noisy and crowded cities or out in the isolated little villages or along the desolated and seemingly devoid of life roadways, there was endless joy! People are happy and full of life. Everyone is working but everyone has time to talk and time to smile. Even the traffic is happy – horn honking has its own communication. No one lines up – everyone just moves patiently and slowly and one by one we get through – joyfully and peacefully.

So, thank you to Sarju for aptly and carefully weaving together these past 30 days for me to experience in this way. Your incredible knowledge of the area, your numerous contacts of individuals who are compassionate, kind, caring and ethical and your priority to provide an authentic and local cultural experience made this trip second to none. I especially appreciated that each of our accommodations were not only the best each area had to offer, but also cared for their employees and treated them well. You are intuitive and check in regularly to ensure that each of us were doing well. Our safety was number one for you. A simple thank you seems insufficient for all that you did to ensure that we were not only safe but also had the experience of a lifetime! Thank you!

I know I am a privileged white woman who was invited to embark on a transformative journey through the Himalayas. By privileged, I mean that I can stand humble and proud to have said “yes” to Sarju, despite my fears about India. I realize now that my fears were based on my ignorance of a foreign country which was painted to me (via media and other people’s own apprehensions) as dangerous, misogynistic, poor and where I would get sick.

As a traveler, I have come to learn that when you are privileged enough to own a passport, have health care, have opportunities to travel to foreign countries – the first thing you do is be respectful to the local culture. I was prepared to go to India under Sarju’s kind and professional guidance. I educated myself about the local customs and made sure to dress up with respect. I observed, joined my palms and bowed, loved the food, never got sick, always felt safe, made friends and was cared for from start to finish.

Little I knew about the depth of transformation that I would experience in India. I was and still am a Yoga guide (teacher) and “Nature” is where I belong (like all of us). We “lived” Yoga along this entire journey. Our morning classes were the lessons from our past (previous day), the acknowledgment of how we felt in the present (tired, sore, grateful, emotional, excited) and the foundation of our future (walks). This morning ritual was living and transforming within us throughout our day, reminding us to slow down and connect to our breath.

I discovered the true meaning of yoga through connecting with myself, nature and others … in silence.
Ready to do it again!

Pour moi, ce voyage était la réalisation d’un rêve. Combiner mes deux passions, soit le yoga et la randonnée, tout en découvrant la culture du Zanskar et le bouddhisme, c’était tout simplement magique. La bonté des gens rencontrés, leur sourire, leur générosité m’ont émue et nous ramène à l’essentiel… ouvrir son coeur! Tellement inspirant! Profitons en ce sens de chaque journée! Merci pour ces moments précieux, ces beaux partages, et merci aux organisateurs pour cette magnifique expérience.

We covered an amazing amount of ground in our “Journey to Himalayas” across the “roof of the world.” An extraordinary trip with extraordinary guide! The trip was for me, an enriching odyssey of spiritual, landscape and cultural elements, which I will always remember. The territory we journeyed across was remote, distant, at high altitude, rugged, and for few days very cold! There were physical and emotional challenges for us, which you navigated with skill and professionalism. As a guide you showed that you were fully informed about the people and places on the tour. I enjoyed the authentic experience with local people. This “journey” was not only about going places and seeing things, but about learning new things about a fascinating part of the world – and oneself in the process.

Sarju, I am still processing the experience of this trip, and foregoing seems inadequate to fully cover it all. For now, however, many thanks for an amazing journey “there and back again!” Cheers, Bob

May the wind be always at your back.
Bob’s word. Ditto for me!

India is a dance between chaos and order, and Sarju provided the steps necessary to safely improvise as we became part of the jostle and jam. The members of our group soon became old friends – though many of us had not met before. Sarju’s sense of humour and his sense of honour for all allowed us not only to do a quick step with chaos but to waltz with acceptance through timeless traditions, faiths and cultures. We danced well within our group, too, with kindness and generosity, our ears tuned to the needs of others. We ate brilliant food in the hotels, all organized and patiently supervised by Sarju. Travelling often by bus, we bounced, laughed, and gasped through landscapes of extremes: a whirling dervish of beauty and dust, of commerce and poverty, of nature and waste, of old and new. Observing and observant, we gathered in temples, gardens, museums, memorials and monasteries, welcomed warmly wherever we went.

Highlights for me? The people. The cows. Rickshaw rides in honking traffic. Sitting in Deer Park listening to Bonni. The monkeys. The early morning boat ride past the ghats on the Ganga in Benares, the Sikh Ceremony of the Book at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the temple devoted to Buddha’s mother in Lumbini, Nepal, the Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Ram Ghat in New Delhi, and a moment forever crystal — looking into the kind eyes of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamsala. Sarju-ji, thank you.

Joining others on this pilgrimage was such a privilege and a pleasure. We were all able to relax into the experience of being in these powerful and significant places without having to concern ourselves with where we would stay, what to eat and how we would get around.
Sarju in his calm and cheerful way managed all of this for us. It was clear he had done a huge amount of preparation beforehand and he navigated the unforeseen issues that naturally pop up with ease and clarity.

His attention to detail and concern for others is admirable. He went above and beyond to ensure we were all catered for.

I would highly recommend Sarju and his company of you are considering a trip like this. It was simply WONDERFUL!!.

India and the Buddhist pilgrimage we experienced as a group of practitioners was a profound and moving experience. From the ghats of Benares to the views from Vultures Peak there were constant reminders of the ephemera of life and the importance of being fully in the present in order to be able to appreciate them.
The entire adventure was flawlessly overseen by Sarju, who worked extremely hard to facilitate the best possible experience for the group. Without his organizational skills I am sure the journey would still have been worthwhile but definitely much more exhausting and difficult.

India, “a code word representing the letter I, used in radio communication”.

Communication is the basis for understanding one another, both culturally and spiritually. Sarju is a person who knows no strangers, and therefore the gift of communication is fluid within him. The patient adaptation of this gift allows for the intimate discovery of the people around us, and in this case our trip to Northern India. For about a month Sarju expertly navigated us though the most dangerous roads, and most remote areas in India, the northern reaches of Himachal Pradesh. You cannot buy this trip from the commercial vendors because it does not exist.

I could talk endlessly about the experiences that we had in the Himalaya’s, but the pictures of the trip amply fulfil that task. Suffice to say exquisite comes to mind.

Throughout the entire trip Sarju captured each opportunity of discovery by striking conversations with the locals and bridging the gap from us, the inquisitive tourists, and the locals. We received the usual remuneration from the landscape and ambiance that the culture purveys. But what made the experience truly unique was the personal interaction and conversation with the monk at a local monastery, or an invitation for tea from an elder in a remote village a 13,000 feet. This fell out from Sarjus’ patient nature and knowing of when to speak and what to say. Over and over again, Sarju presented these opportunities and more importantly allowed the group to capitalize from them.

Some things are beyond words…. You just have to experience them to understand…

The idea of taking a guided group trip has never appealed to me. I have always enjoyed traveling for the sense of adventure and spontaneity. This trip surpassed all of my expectations. The breadth of different scenery and culture we saw in such a short amount of time was amazing. Looking back on it it’s actually hard to believe how much we experienced.

Sarju’s specific experience, connections, and know-how of the region allowed for us to experience things a normal tourist would have never gotten to see or do. Everything was taken care of for us with plenty of room for each individual to explore and make the trip his or her own experience. We were provided with excellent services all around whilst maintaining what felt like a true local grass roots experience. This trip would not be for someone without a sense of adventure, but I could not think of a better way to experience a taste of the real Indian Himalayas.