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In the Buddha's Footsteps, $745
Take a seven-night guided tour by bus, train, and foot of the revered shrines and monasteries in Nepal and India where the Buddha was born, taught, and died.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007;
The Real Deal: Seven nights' accommodations, local transportation, and sightseeing in the Himalayas, from $595 per person--plus a local payment of about $150.
When: Depart Sept. 30, Oct. 14, 28, Nov. 11, 25, Dec. 9, 23, 2007; additional dates available in 2008.
The Fine Print: Note that the $745 rate is paid as follows: $595 in advance and $150 cash due on arrival to cover local transportation. Expect to spend about an extra $180 for meals and about $50 for some sightseeing tours not included in the package. Airfare is additional, and there is a $26 departure tax. U.S. citizens are required to obtain tourist visas for Nepal ($30) and India ($30). Single travelers will be paired with a roommate of the same sex; no single supplement. Typical group size is 10 people. Read our general guidelines on evaluating deals.
Book By: No deadline; based on availability.
Contact: G.A.P Adventures, 800/708-7761, gapadventures.com.
Why It's a Deal: Booking the G.A.P package provides the reassurance and convenience of traveling with experienced Indian guides to unfamiliar territory. On most trips, circumstances permit guides to arrange for you to speak with monks; the guides translate for you. That would be difficult for many travelers to arrange on their own.
Trip Details: The guided tour includes educational visits to many of the most important historic sites in Buddhism. A bus will take you among shrines, with several opportunities to hike along paths walked by Buddhist pilgrims. During the trip, you'll stay four nights in guesthouses, two nights on a sleeper train, and one night at a monastery.
After a $5 taxi ride from the Kathmandu airport in Nepal, you'll join your group at the 24-room Fuji Hotel. Your first stop will be a tour of nearby Lumbini, where the Buddha was born.
Later in your week, you'll visit Gaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar, IIndia, which are revered locations for Buddhists. You'll also spend a day sailing on the River Ganges, which is sacred to many Indians. (The boats include sunshades for your comfort.) Along the way, you'll observe a sunset and a candle flower ceremony. Another destination on your tour is the fifth-century ruins of one of the world's oldest teaching institutes, the Buddhist University of Nalanda. Your trip ends in Kolkata, India. Expect to pay about $12 to get to the airport. You can extend your stay in India for about $35 a day.
One tip: Bring cash! Local businesses typically don't accept traveler's checks or credit cards, and ATMs are rare.
Suggested gratuities are $10 to $15 per person for the guide and about $2 a day for any bus driver. G.A.P sponsors charity programs, and you may be encouraged to contribute a couple of dollars a day per person to those, too. Also, you may want to give some coins to the Buddha at one of the temples as thanks.
Getting There: By far the most expensive part of the trip will be the airfare for this multistop itinerary. A recent search on kayak.com revealed the following round-trip fares for travel to Kathmandu (returning from Kolata) in early September: $1,490 from Los Angeles (multiple airlines), $1,664 from Atlanta (multiple airlines), and $1,755 from New York City (multiple airlines).
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