Travelers eager for refuge from a strife-torn world are increasingly vacationing in the shadow of the Buddha. More and more Westerners are embracing Buddhism; according to a survey by the City University of New York, the number of Americans identifying themselves with the faith jumped 150 percent–to more than 1 million–between 1990 and 2001. No wonder so many are eager to visit the sites associated with the ancient sage. There are now nearly 50 Indian tour operators conducting Buddhist trips. Among the top destinations: Lumbini (now in Nepal), where the Buddha (originally named Siddhartha Gautama) was born; Kapilavastu, where he spent his childhood; Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment; Sarnath, where he gave his first teachings; and Kushinagar, where he died.
What visitors find in each is a place suspended in time. On the plains of the Ganges River, farmers till the land with bull-drawn ploughs, women cook on wood fires in mud huts, monkeys romp through trees and maroon-robed monks chant in temples. Although these sites are among the poorest in India, many travelers are captivated by the locals’ lives. “Despite their poverty, the Indian people are some of the happiest I have ever met,” says Ben Redmon of Oregon.
However lotus-eating that may sound, today’s Buddhist travelers are hardly the hippie backpackers they once were; they come from all age groups and backgrounds. And even though Buddhism teaches simplicity in all things, hardship is not a prerequisite; air-conditioned hotels, hot showers, bottled drinking water, Western food and English-speaking guides all help facilitate the quest for enlightenment. Indian Airlines offers a special fare package and a 20-day luxury pilgrimage, conducted by Buddhist teacher and tour guide Shantum Seth, that costs about [Pound sterling]1,500, and is so popular that it has to be booked months in advance. “[Western visitors] are seeking some kind of spiritual experience without forsaking their own spiritual or cultural heritage,” says sociologist Dipankar Gupta of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
Some Western visitors end up finding more than inner peace. Joe Hawk, a former drug addict, recently ditched his successful Los Angeles real-estate business and moved to Dharamsala, where he found a Tibetan lama to be his teacher. And when Yuki Inoue arrived in Bodh Gaya from Japan a few years ago, she fell in love with her Indian interpreter–and married him. The two now run a small hotel together. Not all Buddhist travelers have such drastic experiences, but few return home unaffected. “[The pilgrimage] impacts your life in a way that you can never predict,” says Jon Lea Fimbers, a former U.S. State Department official from Arizona. “I take the world now a little more slowly and feel at ease.” The Buddha wouldn’t want it any other way.
