Some 2500 hundred years ago a young prince of the Shakya clan, perturbed by the sufferings of this world, left his clan, family, titles and other worldly possessions and headed off to find the answers that would bring peace and harmony to the world and the individual lives of its inhabitants. He would find the answer while meditating under a Bodhi tree in Gaya of India and be proclaimed the Buddha and set in motion the birth of a new religion based on tolerance and good deeds.

Almost every known branch of Buddhism is practiced in Nepal. In the northern reaches, it is the Tibetan Gelupa version of Mahayana Buddhism with it heavy Tantric influence, while in parts of Kathmandu and the southern belt the more sedate Vajrayana version holds sway. In between, pockets of other Buddhist sects have flourished even though the population of Nepal is overwhelmingly Hindu. In fact, the two religions have mingled and mixed and co-existed peacefully for millennia in an exemplary testament to religious harmony and tolerance.

Sites associated with the growth of Buddhism are scattered all over Nepal but, the valley of Kathmandu and Lumbini in the south western Terai plains are especially noteworthy. While Lumbini and its environs are associated with birth of the Buddha himself the sites in and around Kathmandu open up a window in to the Buddhism practiced today and in the times pre-dating modern Buddhism. On this tour spend time exploring the power places of Buddhism in and around Kathmandu including Namo Boudha where legend has it that the Perfect Buddha, coming upon a starving tigress unable to feed her cubs, offered up his own body for her consumption. Head off to Lumbini to learn about the early life of the Buddha himself.