Meals indicated by B,L,D
When you clear immigration, you will be met and transferred to our hotel where we stay for three nights.
Breakfast and a brief orientation meeting will be followed by a tour of Old Delhi, the 400-year-old walled city that remains a tumultuous maze of narrow streets and colourful bazaars. See the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in the world, Raj Ghat, the tranquil memorial site of Mahatma Gandhi, and Chandni Chowk, the old market area teeming with people, scents and sounds.
Lunch will be at a typical Mughal restaurant specializing in charcoal-grilled kebobs. Afterwards, visit the Craft Museum, a folksy and entirely unexpected take on Indian handicrafts and the village life that inspired them. Outside formal galleries filled with rare and exquisite pieces, see on-site craftsmen working amid authentically constructed village houses and shrines from all over India. B,L
Today, drive through New Delhi, a city of wide, tree-lined streets and gardens that was the glory of British colonial India. See the memorial India Gate, the stately Government buildings and palatial Embassy area before touring Humayun’s Tomb, a peaceful oasis that is the prototype of the Taj Mahal.
After lunch, visit the Qutb Minar, a victory tower built in 1199 to commemorate the Muslim conquest of northwest India. Inside the complex are the oldest mosque in India and the Iron Pillar, still mysteriously free of corrosion after 1600 years. Dinner tonight will be at a trendy eatery frequented by the city’s upwardly mobile middle class located in Connaught Place, the upscale shopping complex. B,L,D
After breakfast, fly to Varanasi, the world's oldest continuously inhabited city and the holiest of holies for Hindus. Check into our hotel for the next two nights before driving to nearby Sarnath, the serene place where the Buddha preached his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. While there, visit the Archaeological Museum containing the enormous lion capital that once crowned a pillar erected by the Maurayan Emperor Ashoka to mark the spot where the Buddha preached, and the Mulagandhaq Kuti temple with its beautifully executed murals depicting the Buddha’s life.
Dinner tonight will be Hakka Chinese, a fusion of Chinese recipes and Indian spices developed by the Chinese workers who built India’s railroads. B,D
Take a soul-stirring sunrise boat ride on the Ganges River past the ghats, wide stone steps descending into the water. Watch the devout bathe, do their laundry and perform religious rituals against the backdrop of the rising sun. Step back in time as you walk the narrow streets of the Old City to visit the Golden Temple. After a late breakfast, tour the modern city visiting the Mother India temple and the Tulsi Manas Temple, noted for its murals and engraved verses from the Ramayana. End the afternoon browsing among the stalls of the Gadolia Bazaar, where the streets are filled with the sounds of rickshaw bells, the smell of spices and undoubtedly a bargain or two. Before dinner, take a sunset cruise past the fiery cremation ghats to see the candlelight Aarti ceremony. B,D
The morning is free to sleep in or spend a little more time exploring the bazaars before our flight to Khajuraho. After checking into our hotel for one night, spend the afternoon touring the temples of Khajuraho, famous for their taboo-breaking erotic carvings which many consider to be the finest temple art in the world.
Before dinner, enjoy a sound and light show recounting the history of the mighty Chandela dynasty that built these multi-spired temples known as "stairways to heaven." B,D
Today, drive to Orchha, where we will check into the Orchha Resort for one night’s accommodation in a luxury tent. After lunch, explore the abandoned Royal Citadel, a gem of 16th century Mughal architecture entered through a multi-arched bridge. Inside the fortified complex are many palaces, the most noteworthy of which is the Jahangir Mahal, built in honour of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in case he came to visit the city. We will also visit the Chaturbhuj Temple, an unusual structure laid out in the form of a cross on top of a vast stone platform. B,L
Following a leisurely breakfast, drive to the Jhansi railroad station to connect with the train to Bhopal, the capital of India’s largest state – Madhya Pradesh. Built around two lovely lakes located in the city centre, it is the gateway to Sanchi noted for its masterpieces of early Buddhist art and architecture, and to the prehistoric cave dwellings at Bhimbetka. Check into our hotel for one night. B,D
Today, drive to Sanchi, a serene hill crowned by stupas, monasteries, temples and pillars dating from the 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD. Among the most notable carvings is the story of the Maurayan Emperor Ashoka’s (273-232 BC) conversion to Buddhism.
After lunch, visit the rock shelters of Bhimbetka, which are located in the densely forested foothills of the Vindhyan Mountains. Discovered in 1957, these massive sandstone outcrops contain hundreds of natural rock caves, decorated with paintings that are among the oldest prehistoric art works on earth. Depicting animals, hunting, everyday life and magical scenes, scholars judge them comparable in power and skill to the Lascaux cave paintings in France and the Kalahari bushmen cave paintings in Africa.
This evening, fly to Mumbai where we will stay for two nights. B,L
After breakfast, tour Mumbai, India’s commercial capital and home of Bollywood. See the Gateway to India, a huge stone archway erected to welcome to King George V and Queen Mary of England in 1911. Drive along the Marine Drive, past Chowpatty Beach and through ritzy neighbourhoods to the top of Malabar Hill and the Hanging Gardens where we can admire a beautiful panoramic view of the Arabian Sea. Also visit Mani Bhavan, the house Mahatma Gandhi called home from 1917-1934. In it are his personal Bible, Koran and Gita as well as his spinning wheel and rope bed. Finally, gawk at the immensity of Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat, the municipal laundry where some 5000 men wash thousands of tons of clothes in primitive open-air facilities.
After lunch, the rest of the day is free for independent exploration. Downtown Mumbai is very European in its architecture and street planning – with an overlay of Indian colour, smell and sound, of course. Just wandering around in the Colaba and Fort areas is great fun. Also nearby are the city’s famous outdoor markets. B,L
Take a morning boat ride through Mumbai Harbour to the tiny island named Elephanta by the Portuguese. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, the Elephanta Caves were hewn from solid rock between 757-973 AD and dedicated to Shiva, the Lord of the Universe. Although ravished by the Portuguese, the caves, which contain a temple to Shiva, are filled with exquisite carvings revealing the god in his many incarnations.
After lunch, the rest of the afternoon is free until it’s time to transfer to the airport for our flight to Aurangabad where we will stay for two nights. B,L
Start early to explore the astounding Ajanta Caves. Dating from the 2nd century BC, the 30 rock-hewn caves are located in an immense rugged horseshoe-shaped ravine. Carved with little more than a hammer and chisel over some 600 years, Ajanta was a monastic complex of chaityas (chapels) and viharas (monasteries) – exquisitely decorated with wall and ceiling paintings, panels and sculptures. The murals depict the Jatakas or tales of the previous incarnations of the Buddha. They also portray surprisingly sophisticated scenes of court life. Considered one of the world’s most important cultural treasures, the caves are the only remaining proof of religious painting styles first developed in India, then exported with Buddhism to the rest of Asia. They are also said to be the inspiration for some of the William Morris wallpaper designs. B,L,D
After breakfast, visit the Ellora Caves. Its 34 temple caves carved, between the 5th and 10th centuries AD, are the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture.
The 12 Buddhist, 17 Hindu and 5 Jain caves, built in proximity to each other, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history. The piece de resistance is the Kailasantha Temple, a gargantuan structure – designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Chiseled by hand from the top down from a single slab of rock by some 7,000 labourers, this freestanding, multi-storeyed temple complex covers an area double the size of the Parthenon in Athens.
After lunch, the rest of the day is free until we fly back to Mumbai where we stay for one night. B,L
This morning, tour the Prince of Wales Museum which boasts a spectacular collection of miniature paintings and a fascinating exhibit of ancient artifacts from the Indus Valley in northwestern India, home to the 5,000-year-old Harappan civilization. Inventors of the grid system of city planning. the Harappa used a complex – and still undeciphered – hieroglyphic writing system.
The rest of the day is free until our farewell dinner.
After dinner, transfer to the international airport for your flight back home. B,D
