Douglas Bodhi Orton
I will be your guide on this ten-day journey through Ladakh. For many years now, I have been traveling and studying in various countries around the world, where I have taken great delight in getting to know the local peoples and cultures and discovering how they live day-to-day. From 1999 to 2001, I did a tour in the US Peace Corps in Kenya. I worked with rural subsistence farming families and community groups doing agroforestry projects and cooking stove design and construction.
I spent five years as a wild-land firefighter in the Western United States, serving as the crew driver, the EMT, and a crew leader, spending many long summers out in the wild areas of the Western United States, Canada, and Alaska. This is where I developed a real love and appreciation for the wilderness and living outdoors. I then moved to Mt Shasta, California, where I began doing photography. By chance, I took a summer yoga class there and then attended a 200 hour Yoga Teachers Training School at Sivananda Ashram in Quebec, Canada.
It was then that I became interested in meditation. On the advice of a shopkeeper who had traveled to India many times, I attended a ten-day silent Vipassana retreat taught by SN Goenka. This is an ancient technique taught by the Buddha 2,500 years ago and, according to this school, has remained unchanged in technique. I have now completed six ten-day retreats and volunteered at a number in California and Oregon, United States.
In the summer of 2013, I felt the pull to travel to the Himalayas to do some backpacking and photography. I planned to primarily travel to Nepal, and on the way there, I stopped off in Leh, Ladakh, to see what it was like after hearing many stories about this remote mountain region. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I had an overwhelming feeling that I had arrived home. I felt like I had seen and lived in this mysterious place before. I spent a few months in Ladakh backpacking and exploring the monasteries.
I spent the next six summers returning to Ladakh to backpack through the mountains, practice photography, and learn about the history and culture. In my first year in Ladakh, I met a French aid group who suggested I return the next summer to volunteer for them. After a solo six-day trek through the Zanskar Valley, I arrived at Muney Monastery, where I was asked to manage the daily construction crews remodeling a guesthouse attached to the monastery. I spent the next five weeks working with the construction workers from Bihar State and Nepal and completing the guesthouse remodel.
After five seasons of traveling around, exploring, and photographing Ladakh, I now wish to share the very best of the beauty and tranquility of the powerful spiritual energies here with you. Journey with me and meet the incredibly friendly, humble, and peaceful Buddhist people of Ladakh. We travel in small groups to some of the most famous locations throughout Ladakh. We have the opportunity to explore the powerful energies of this land and the temples.
This unforgettable trip-of-a-lifetime is one you will want to share with friends and family. Many tour options are available, from the ten-day tour to a small group of trekkers or photographers wanting to get off the tourist trail and into the real heart of Ladakh and the many hidden treasures there.
I spent five years as a wild-land firefighter in the Western United States, serving as the crew driver, the EMT, and a crew leader, spending many long summers out in the wild areas of the Western United States, Canada, and Alaska. This is where I developed a real love and appreciation for the wilderness and living outdoors. I then moved to Mt Shasta, California, where I began doing photography. By chance, I took a summer yoga class there and then attended a 200 hour Yoga Teachers Training School at Sivananda Ashram in Quebec, Canada.
It was then that I became interested in meditation. On the advice of a shopkeeper who had traveled to India many times, I attended a ten-day silent Vipassana retreat taught by SN Goenka. This is an ancient technique taught by the Buddha 2,500 years ago and, according to this school, has remained unchanged in technique. I have now completed six ten-day retreats and volunteered at a number in California and Oregon, United States.
In the summer of 2013, I felt the pull to travel to the Himalayas to do some backpacking and photography. I planned to primarily travel to Nepal, and on the way there, I stopped off in Leh, Ladakh, to see what it was like after hearing many stories about this remote mountain region. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I had an overwhelming feeling that I had arrived home. I felt like I had seen and lived in this mysterious place before. I spent a few months in Ladakh backpacking and exploring the monasteries.
I spent the next six summers returning to Ladakh to backpack through the mountains, practice photography, and learn about the history and culture. In my first year in Ladakh, I met a French aid group who suggested I return the next summer to volunteer for them. After a solo six-day trek through the Zanskar Valley, I arrived at Muney Monastery, where I was asked to manage the daily construction crews remodeling a guesthouse attached to the monastery. I spent the next five weeks working with the construction workers from Bihar State and Nepal and completing the guesthouse remodel.
After five seasons of traveling around, exploring, and photographing Ladakh, I now wish to share the very best of the beauty and tranquility of the powerful spiritual energies here with you. Journey with me and meet the incredibly friendly, humble, and peaceful Buddhist people of Ladakh. We travel in small groups to some of the most famous locations throughout Ladakh. We have the opportunity to explore the powerful energies of this land and the temples.
This unforgettable trip-of-a-lifetime is one you will want to share with friends and family. Many tour options are available, from the ten-day tour to a small group of trekkers or photographers wanting to get off the tourist trail and into the real heart of Ladakh and the many hidden treasures there.
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Ladakh is truly enchanting and Douglas is a gracious and knowledgeable guide. His experience of Ladakh really comes through as I was taken on an amazing deeper level adventure into the beauty of the land, the culture and the people. If you feel a call for Ladakh, go. You could not be in better hands and care while on this unique journey. -Jane Hunter, Aukland New Zealand
Thank you Douglas for organizing the most memorable trip i have had so far. Your knowledge and passion for Ladakh was felt through out. From guiding us to beautiful hikes leading to ancient Buddhist monasteries encrusted on the hill tops to introducing us to the friendly and happy Ladakhi locals. I really hope to it again in the short future. -Fernando DaSilva, Miami Florida
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