The program in India concluded, and Willis and the other students began making preparations to travel to other destinations in Asia. She and Elea decided to visit Nepal, where they found themselves in Kathmandu Valley during a three-day celebration honoring the Buddha’s birthday, located at Swayambhunath. 

After climbing hundreds of steps up to Swayambhunath, Willis watched the Tibetans and the Newari Buddhists circling the stupa in a clockwise direction, briefly pausing at each altar for a short prayer. At the conclusion of the silent prayer, each pilgrim pressed a bell; the sounds transported Willis to a “heavenly” realm.

Elea encouraged Willis to go inside a doorway to her right, where she met a “crush” of people inside. As she listened to the chanting monks, she noticed that their eyes revealed that they “were gone completely to some other place”; as she stood there, they took her to this same unknown place where she felt completely and utterly blissful. She had never felt as happy and light as she did at that moment. 

When she felt Elea tugging at her shirt, indicating that they needed to leave, Willis had no idea how long she had been in this “blissful state.” She adamantly whispered that she was never going to leave this place. Before leaving Nepal, she met a charming monk named Lobsang Chonjor, who always made time to talk. When Willis had to return home for her senior year at Cornell, she knew that she and Lobsang would someday meet again.