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Not long ago, did I find myself on a road-trip to Lumbini with people I'd never met before. With strange but comfortable first meetings, and excitement we started our journey on a small café in Pulchowk with a sweet couple, a Buddhist scholar, a videographer, a student and me; a wannabe travel writer. With delayed breakfasts and new found friendships we started the journey to this holy land Lumbini; birthplace of Gautam Buddha. It was a long road trip and the under construction roads gave us with bumpy rides giving us the silly strange sense of adventure. We were leaving clouds of dust behind us and making an entrance among the clouds of dust left by the vehicle in front of us. It felt like we were on a race and to our west we could see the spectacularly beautiful sunset. I had seen the sun rise and set in hills but never before had I witnessed a terai sunset and it was beautiful. Finally, we arrived at our destination when the sun left its mark in the far west. Great food and midnight talks outside our rooms was just what we needed. With a sweet birthday wish on the middle of the night and a sweet goodnight forehead kiss among the sweetest couple the first night on Lumbini came to an end. Just like the sunsets, the sun rise in Terai is just as beautiful and spectacular. A cup of tea and we head out to the main Lumbini area. Through the gates of the Lumbini and inside the Sacred Garden, one cannot overlook the spiritual environment. It was a great privilege to witness Lumbini on Lord Buddha’s birthday, with hundreds of people from different countries gathering together in this holy place. The environment was a whole new world with monks surrounding the peepal tree and chanting prayers by the sacred pond making it almost impossible to ignore the faith and spirituality of the place. Full of life, mystic and magic some slept lazily on the garden, some meditated peacefully under a nearby tree and many worshipped the peepal tree. Even with many pilgrims hovering around, one can still find peace and quiet unlike anywhere else and if you take just a moment to breathe, to see, to be present with the birds, the wind and the nature around the garden, you can sense the calm and the magic of this place. It was like being lost in the peaceful tranquility of heat, noises, wind and everything that would fall right in its place creating a beautiful harmony. Everything and everyone was in sync and if I close my eyes and just think of this moment, I can almost feel what it felt like and let me tell you, it was worth it and if time allowed me, I would do it again and again. Next stop was the World Peace Pagoda which looked like a giant tiered vanilla cake. In the soft twilight, the whole Lumbini as seen from the pagoda turned golden and we could see some deers in the far west. With a promise to come back here the next morning, we headed off towards the light display in the Korean Monastery and mesmerized by the light display, we spent an hour there. The cold breeze, the calm environment, the chanting of the monks in the distance, the colourful lights and the smell of fallen dried leaves; everything was in symphony and what a great way it was to end our last night on Lumbini with stars up above us, colourful lights around us with kind people and conversations. As promised, we visited the peace pagoda in the morning and it glimmered on the nearby pond with lotuses. The white pampas grass in the surrounding garden looked like snow and the smell of the fresh dew, flocks of birds singing and the sun slowly rising in the east gave the white pagoda a golden hue breathing life to everything around it. The sunrise by the pagoda is just as magnificent as the sunset. Lighting candle on the pagoda and seeing the golden hues by the sunrise, it was a perfect ending for our short trip.