Arrival in Kathmandu | Yeru Nepal Pilgrimage 2022 #1
Introduction
Yeru Bon Center recently held a pilgrimage to Nepal. While the final destination was the Bön village of Lubra (Lu-dak in Tibetan), this 3-week journey led to many Bön and Buddhist holy places throughout the land of Nepal.
This is the first in a series of posts that will journal our pilgrimage. Each blog post will include several photos.
Kathmandu & Rokpa Guest House
Groups of people began arriving at Kathmandu airport and taxiing to Rokpa Guest House in the days leading up to September 13th.
Rokpa is a beautiful guest house that uses its funds to support a children’s home and the children living there. The guest house itself has two main buildings and its own small restaurant. In the center is a beautiful oasis of a courtyard, full of beautiful trees and tables of eating, and decorated with Tibetan prayer flags.
Being a Buddhist establishment, it has a beautiful statue of Tara in the entrance courtyard and a small shrine room on the top floor of one of the buildings.
Responsible Treks
It was here at Rokpa in Kathmandu that we met our amazing guides with Responsible Treks, led by Chhewang Lama. This group of guides would all go on to do an absolutely amazing job over the course of this journey. You’ll hear more about them in upcoming posts.
Boudhanath
One of the wonderful attributes of Rokpa Guest House is its proximity to the Boudhanath Stupa.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a holy place that Bön and Buddhist practitioners circumambulate while reciting nyenpa. It is an amazing experience to be circumambulating, visualizing, and reciting, alongside a crowd of others, everyone accumulating.
There are also several temples and monasteries located right in the area surrounding the stupa.
Early in the morning, shops along the outside ring and in the surrounding alleys of the Bodhanath, open to sell their wares. Most provide various tools and instruments for Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, but there are also coffee shops, clothing stores, and a variety of cultural establishments. We ate at a few of the different restaurants in the area as well.
This was a very amazing place for everyone to meet and to kick off our pilgrimage.
From Kathmandu, there were several other holy places we pilgrimaged to, which we will share with you in upcoming blog posts.
