The tour of India is confirmed. Here are the details:
Oct. 18 - Damon & Nicole fly from Vancouver to Seoul, @ 2:00pm, They will spend 5 days with their Australian friends, Jeanette, Guy & Oliver.
Oct. 23 - Corol & Rupee fly from Vancouver [2:00pm] to New Delhi with brief stops in Seoul & Singapore.
Oct. 24 - Damon & Nicole leave Seoul bound for New Delhi with arrival about 10pm. They will be met and transferred to the Connaught Hotel.
Oct. 25 - Rupee & Corol arrive in New Delhi 6 hours after D&N for an early morning transfer to the Connaught. The day will be free for us to adjust to the culture shock and time difference.
Oc.t 26 - A tour of New Delhi with the evening free to explore.
Oct. 27 - A tour of Old Delhi starting at the Red Fort and ending with bazaar shopping at the famous Chandni Chawlk.
Oct. 28 - Drive to Sikandra and visit Akbar's mausoleum before proceeding to Agra for a tour of the Taj Mahal. Our overnight stay in Agra will be at the Jaypee Palace Hotel. This is the first day of the 5 day Diwali celebration [Hindu festival of lights]. I'm sure it will be exciting.
Oct. 29 - Our tour takes us to Fatehpur Sikri, an abandoned, perfectly preserved city in the desert [1640 era]. From there we travel to the pink capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Here we spend 2 nights at the Trident Hilton.
Oct. 30 - To celebrate my birthday we will tour the city of Jaipur and ride an elephant on our visit to the Amber Palace. This evening we will enjoy dinner with a traditional folk dancing show and a cultural exploration of the Jaipur bazaars.
Oct. 31 - We fly from Jaipur to Delhi and Delhi to Varanasi, the holy city of the Hindu faith located on the Ganges River. Three nights will be spent adjacent to the river at the Rashmi Guest House.
Nov. 1-The morning will see us rising very early for a sunrise cruise on the River Ganges. After that we will visit several of the city's famous temples, the university and some of the houses where silk sarees are woven.
Nov. 2 - This is the last day of the Diwali Festival. We travel to Sarnath where Buddha gave his first sermon. We will also enjoy the experience of some local culture and customs.
Nov. 3 - Our flight back to Delhi arrives mid-day. We stay at the Connaught again for 2 nights and will explore Delhi on our own.
Nov. 4 - A day of leisure, perhaps some shopping, maybe a cricket match or some Indian entertainment.
Nov. 5 - We take the train to Jalundhar [Rupee's birth city]. Here we spend 5 nights at the Maya Palace. In Jalundhar we will make arrangements to visit the villages of Rupee's parents, the house built by his grandfather in the 1930's, the Pallan Cloth House, Rupee's Uncle Amar Singh Birk and his family. We will also hire a car and driver to take us to Amritsar, the site of the famous Sikh Golden Temple and the 'Well' known for the terrible massacre of Indians by the British.
Nov. 10 - Today we travel by car to the capital city of the Punjab, Chandigarh, where we will spend 2 nights at the Shivalik View Hotel. We plan to explore this modern city nestled in view of the Himalayan Mountains.
Nov. 12 - The train will return us late in the evening to New Delhi and the Connaught Hotel for 2 nights. We should be Delhi experts by now - maybe even ride the subway.
Nov.13 - A day of leisure-not sure what we'll do.
Nov. 14 - We leave India at 11:15pm on Singapore Airlines for the very long flight back to Vancouver.
Nov. 15 - Arrival in Vancouver is scheduled for 11:05am. We will catch the first available ferry and land back in Victoria in the late afternoon.
