Transformative Travels | India 2014

TRANSFORMATIVE TRAVELS 2014 | INCREDIBLE INDIA

Transformative Travels | www.transformativetravels.org | 510.681.9740 | transformative [email protected] 1

ItineraryCastles and forts, stories of queens and goddesses, camel fair and safaris, ancient temples and Taj Mahal, boat rides on the River Ganges and relaxing on white sandy beaches of Puri, visiting a remote Bengal Village with mango groves and paddy Cields...

Come and experience India with one of her daughters who is deeply rooted in the eastern philosophies, arts, culture and has strong bonds with her family and villagers.

14 Days or 21 Days travel packages are available. Travel to and fro India from your home is not included. This tour is for women from around the globe.

Day 1 | Monday, Oct. 27Off to a relaxing and romantic start!

We $ly to Udaipur. Beside shimmering Lake Pichola, with the ochre and purple ridges of the wooded Aravalli Hills stretching away in every direction, Udaipur has a romance of setting unmatched in Rajasthan and arguably in all India. Fantastical palaces, temples, havelis and countless narrow, crooked, colorful streets add the human counterpoint to the city’s natural charms.

A land so old with a soul so deep, India continues to mesmerize millions of travelers from round the world. With contradicting diversity and indomitable human spirit it is a country hard to travel as a foreigner, specially a woman, but magical if shown by a local. India, is not a dream vacation - but you will never be the same again.

Desert & Camels

14 or 21 Days in Incredible India October 27 -‐ November 16, 2014Forts and Palaces Temples Bazars & Festivals Beaches, Lakes, Rivers Dance & Culture

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Once in Udaipur we check in our hotel and relax. Facilities include Restaurant serving local and western cuisine and full service bar. After you settle down you will join us for an evening of introduction and Invocation & Grounding Ceremony followed by dinner.

Day 2 & 3 | Tuesday - Wednesday, Oct. 28-29

The lake, the palace, the alleys and the roof tops

We stay in Udaipur. Udaipur, a city of cream, rose and honeysuckle hues is the home of huge, cupola-‐crowned City Palace with its balconies gazing out at Udaipur’s other famous landmark, the Lake Palace – a fairy-‐tale confection that seems to $loat on the lake’s waters, gleaming by day and spotlit by night. Eastward, away from the lake shore, extends a tangled inner city of lanes lined with homes, temples, shops and businesses that is fascinating to explore.

Day 4 | Thursday, Oct. 30On the road to Jain Temple arriving in Jodhpur, Pal Haveli

After breakfast we travel to Jodhpur in a luxury coach. We stop at Ranakpur on our way. Ranakpur is an incredible feat of Jain devotion. Carved from milk-‐white marble, the complicated series of 29 halls, supported by a forest of 1444 pillars (no two alike), is the $inest in Rajasthan, and one the most important in India. The devotion of its builders is encapsulated in the intricate carving. We stop for Lunch.

Arriving at Jodhpur we settle down at our hotel, an old haveli (house of a prominent person), maybe go for a stroll in the market place and enjoy roof top dinner overlooking the clock tower as we watch $locks of green parrots come home to the trees nearby for the night

Day 5 | Friday, Oct. 31The Fort, Tales of Kings & Queens and puppets!

Today we visit the Mehrangarh Fort. Mighty Mehrangarh, the muscular fort that towers over the Blue City of Jodhpur, is a magni$icent spectacle and an architectural masterpiece. Rising perpendicular and impregnable from a rocky hill that itself stands 120m above Jodhpur’s skyline, Mehrangarh is one of the most magni$icent forts in India, if not the world. Still run by the Jodhpur royal family, Mehrangarh is chock-‐full of history and legend which comes through the audio tour we will all take.

Back at out hotel we will enjoy dinner accompanied by famous Rajasthani puppet show.

Day 6 - 8 | Sat. - Mon., Nov. 1 - 3To the Pushkar Camel Festival and back

Rajasthan’s most famous festival, now an international destination for festival lovers, is an experience of once in a lifetime. The dunes outside of Pushkar are a sight to behold when the cameleers come to town. Drawing in 50,000 camels and 200,000 people, the fair is ostensibly a time when Rajasthani farmers gather to buy and sell their camels, cattle and horses.This 7 day festival embraces and incorporates locals and visitors into a fair with camel races, camel dance, mustache competition, turban tying contest and many such fun and unique activities.

Outside the mela ground, there’s a fairground-‐cum-‐market, where you can buy the $inest of camel or human decorations before taking a spin on a Ferris wheel for a view over the vast expanse of camels.





You can spend most of your time in the camel festival, or walk around the alley ways, do some shopping and relax on the roof top restaurants.

Pushkar is a holy Hindu town and November is a time of pilgrimage, so we will visit he lake to view the faithful as they bathe, worship and $loat candles on the water. We will end the day with relaxing and have dinner on a roof top restaurant by the lake. For those who like temples, we will go to Pushkar’s Brahma Temple which is the only temple in India dedicated to Lord Brahma.

On the last day after lunch ride our coach back to Jodhpur.

Day 9 - 11 | Tues. - Thu., Nov. 4 - 6Deep in to the desert fort of Jaisalmer

We leave Jodhpur on coach after a relaxing breakfast to the western most desert fort town of Jaisalmer. The fort of Jaisalmer is a breathtaking sight: a massive sandcastle rising from the sandy plains like a mirage from a bygone era.

No place better evokes exotic camel-‐train trade routes and desert mystery. Ninety-‐nine bastions encircle the fort’s still-‐inhabited twisting lanes.

Beneath the ramparts the narrow streets of the old city, where no cars are allowed, conceal magni$icent havelis, all carved from the same golden-‐honey sandstone as the fort – hence Jaisalmer’s designation as the Golden City. It’s hard not to be enchanted by this desert citadel specially at sunrise and sunset.

We will stay for three nights at an old haveli inside the fort walls and take a day trip deep into the Thar Desert on the back of a camel to have an unforgettable experience.

Day 12 | Fri., Nov. 7To Delhi we come!

Today we will board our coach early morning and drive to the nearest airport which is in Jodhpur. from where we will catch a $light to New Delhi. Once at India’s capital, we will settle down in our hotel. This is the longest day of traveling and an early night is suggested to be refreshed for next day.

Day 13 | Sat., Nov. 8A full day Trip to Taj Mahal in Agra

Today we will visit Taj Mahal in Agra, without which a trip to India is not complete.

“Rabindranath Tagore described it as 'a teardrop on the cheek of eternity', Rudyard Kipling as 'the embodiment of all things pure', while its creator, Emperor Shah Jahan, said it made 'the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes'. Every year, tourists numbering more than twice the population of Agra pass through its gates to catch a once-‐in-‐a-‐lifetime glimpse of what is widely considered the most beautiful building in the world. Few leave disappointed.”




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Day 14 | Sunday, Nov. 9Goodbyes & Off to the beaches

Guests of the FAST TOUR (14 days) will be taken to the International Terminal to catch your $lights home.

We will travel to Puri in Orissa from the Domestic Terminal. Upon arriving at Bhuvaneshwar we drive to Puri and settle down for a restful night.

Day 15 - 17 | Mon. - Wed, Nov. 10 - 12Beaches, Temples and Wild Life in and around Puri

Spend luxurious days relaxing on the beach, swimming, visiting the famous Sun Temple of Konarak and enjoying wild like as you take a boat ride on the Chilka Lake. A serene ending is only proper amidst water, nature and ancient curving that Orissa offers.

On our last day we take a train to Kolkata.

Day 18 | Thu., Nov. 13A Half Day trip to Roke’s Ancestral Village and off to Puri

We are whisked away from the train station to Roke’s ancestral village where we experience a remote Bengal village untouched by many modern day practices. You hang out with the village kids, walk through paddy $ields and

around many ponds, have a lunch cooked with local and fresh vegetables and $ish and take a siesta before you head out to the train station to go to Varanasi.

Day 19 - 20 | Fri. - Sat., Nov. 14 - 15The holy town and the River Ganges

Brace yourself. You're about to enter one of the most bl indingly colourful , unrelentingly chaotic and unapologetically indiscreet places on earth. Varanasi takes no prisoners. But if you're ready for it, this may just turn out to be your favourite stop of all.

Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities and is regarded as one of Hinduism's seven holy cities. Pilgrims come to the ghats lining the River Ganges here to wash away a lifetime of sins in the sacred waters or to cremate their loved ones. It's a particularly auspicious place to die, since expiring here offers moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death), making Varanasi the beating heart of the Hindu universe. Varanasi is unique, and a walk along the ghats or a boat ride on the river watching the evening ceremonies will live long in the memory.

On Saturday night you $ly to Delhi in preparation of your $light back home the next day.



http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/sights/river/ghats

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/sights/river/ghats



Day 21 | Sun., Nov. 16Goodbye India!

Today you will be taken to the Delhi Airport to catch your $light home.

The Cost

Packages By March 30 By July 31

FAST TRIP | 14 Days $3,200 ($250 DISCOUNT) $3,450

FULL TRIP | 21 Days $5,150 ($250 DISCOUNT) $5,400

Price includes:• 20 nights of accommodations (13 nights for FAST TOUR) in double rooms shared between 2 guests• All land, air and train transportation in India (DOES NOT INCLUDE International Flights to and from India)• 2 meals per day• All entry tickets, entertainments and activities• 7 (3 for Fast Trip) Transformative Group Circles/Ceremonies -‐ our signature.



Transformative Travels | India 2014

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