Rajasthan and Varanasi
Experience the colors of rajasthani culture and visit the khajuraho temples (kamasutra), experience the real north indian culture, visit one of the most ancient city of the world Varanasi, discover the culture across Ganga and watch one of the ancient civilization of the world, which is living like the same since hundreds of years.
Strengths:
Wellness:
-boat ride on Ganga River
Peaceful-Nature
Yoga outdoors
Therapeutic Yoga
-Meditation in nature
Massage
Enriching encounters:
-sharing activities with the strret children
-meeting with elephants and their breeders
Culture:
-Visit Temples: Akshardham, Khajuraho temples...
-Visit the old Mughal capital Agra: Taj Mahal, Red Fort
Day 1
Morning arrival at Delhi
We will visit the "Tomb Humayun 's", which is inscribed on the list of "World Heritage" by UNESCO. The Mughal emperors wanted to go to heaven after death. In the Qur'an, the paradise is described as a beautiful garden, with a beautiful river, superb trees .. So they built their graves following the explanations of the Qur'an. This means that once you are in the tomb of Humayun, you will feel being in Paradise! Colors and architecture of this tomb will fill your heart with joy!
Then we will go to "Qutub Minar", an other site listed as World Heritage by UNESCO. It is the highest brick tower in the world.
This is one of the architectural wonders of India which combines Hindu and Islamic architecture. You will see the oldest mosque in North India and it is a component of Qutub Minar. But the most surprising part is the "Ashoka Pillar", which is older than 1600 years and remains a scientific mystery unsolved: it has never rusted!!! It is hard to believe! So come and see by yourself!! The only thing that comes to mind is that our ancestors were very smart!
Then we will travel through time! We will jump back 500 years! When you enter in the market Chandni Chauk, you will find yourself in the Medieval period. This colorful market has not changed since that time. Oh! We bet you have never seen so many beautiful colors together in one place in your life! Watch these narrow streets, with these beautiful decoration shops, these small food corners, these jewelry stores and precious stones, old traditional ways to carry goods, these very old houses. This is the famous "Paratha Wali Gali" (the famous street food) with girls and women dressed in traditional garments saying you "namaste!" "Oh! it's really a different and beautiful world! "(We are sure you will tell us that).
Before dinner time, you can enjoy a relaxing massage.
Night stay at Delhi hostel
Day 3
Arrival in Bikaner.
Bikaner , jodhpur and jaiselmer are the desert cities of rajasthan that was on the overland caravan trade route to central asia and china. this was a very important trade/business city in old times(yore). Bikaner is also called the 'camel country' this city is famous for its camel, they are consider the best camel of the world.
You can feel the medieval aura everywhere, in its forts, palaces, temples...
We will first go to visit one of the most amazing Fort of rajasthan 'junagadh fort' it was built around 16th century by maharaja(king) Rai Singh. this fort is a architectural masterwork in red and yellow sand stone. The architecture is a mixture of rajput and mogol architecture.Iinside the fort, there are many beautiful palaces.One of the palace names badal mahal (cloud palace). That palace was built by king who was very fond of music and used to sing "raag malhar" (special music to bring rain). So its walls are decorated with clouds, rain, lightening! the palaces inside the fort has beautiful latticework and filigree work.
We have a great chance to visit world's most bizzare temple, The Rat Temple!!!!!
This is a temple karni maa who was considered the incarnation of hindu goddess durga, the rats are considered holy and are considered the reincarnation of storytellers. Interesting thing is there are more than 20000 rats and all are in same size and shape!!! they are fed from bowls of mil and given sweets (offering). It is considered lucky if you see a white rat.
If you are afraid of rats, you will be free to walk around Bikaner market for shopping.
In the evening we will visit the beautiful market of Bikaner!
Day 4
Arrival in Jaiselmer, which is one of the most incredible city of the world. This is a unique city where around 25% of inhabitants live in a Fort! This fort was built in 1156. Because of its golden yellow color walls, this city is called "the golden city". We will spend our evening in this gorgeous city where we will enjoy watching the beautiful sunset while visiting the cenotaphs.
Visiting inside a 12th century fort where more than 4000 people live is an amazing experience. Inside the fort, there are many beautiful places, like Patwaon-ki-haveli, 'Salim singh ki haveli' , nathmal ki haveli..the architecture and the craftsman work on these haveli will amaze you.
Inside the fort walking through the narrow lanes, watching the old houses, havelis, temples, museums, palaces, beautiful shops and artisans, the panaromic view of the city is truly a wonderful experience.
Day 5
Next morning, on the way, we will visit a beautiful old village "kuldhara". People called it 'ghost village' and no one goes to there in the night!! Actually this area have 84 villages and all are empty? But this kuldhara village is the biggest and the most beautiful. In the 18th century, villagers left all these villages, there are many stories to explain it but no one knows the exact reason.
Jaiselmer is a place where true ancient rajasthan resides. There you will see the colorful turbans, beautiful women with colorful veils, lovely girls with mirror-worked skirts, decorated camels, houses, shops, the beautiful view of burnished fort in golden color.
We will go to visit the beautiful 'Gadisar lake' and visit the Jain temple, Jain architecture is india's best architecture (in our opinion)
After the lunch we will go for camel safari in Thar desert which is india's largest desert. in the evening we will take Rajasthani food in the desert while watching the folk dance and listening to folk music, the stars in the desert are very beautiful!! The story of Arabian Night will come true but this time it is with rajasthani music!!
Day 6
Every city in rajasthan is peculiar and known for its different different specialties. where jaipur is called the 'pink city' , jaiselmer is called the 'golden city' Jodhpur is called the 'Blue City' for its blue colored houses. When you see it from the Mehrangarh Fort you will feel that someone has made a painting of blue colored houses.
Mehrangarh Fort is one of the largest Fort of india and was built in the 15th century . it sits around 400 feet high above the jodhpur city. Inside the fort, there are very beautiful apartments and small palaces, like phool mahal (palace of flowers), moti mahal (pearl palace), sheesh mahal (palace of mirrors).... these palaces are decorated with rich gold filigree and the amazing miniature paintings, the craftsman work is speechless. inside the fort there is a very beautiful museum also.
On the way to fort we will visit one more architectural masterpiece of rajasthan "jaswant thada"., It is a final resting place of king Jaswant Singh 2 . it has the ornamented garden and the the cenotaphs are made of white marble where one can see the amazing lattice work.
In the evening we will visit the beautiful market. this market contains more than 7000 match-box size old shops. Jodhpur is famous in the world for its hand made things. in the market you can see the beautiful shops of bangles, scarves, shops of lovely handmade bags and jootis (slip on shoes with a pointed front), hand embroidered leather shoes, lacquerware (lacquer ware), hand made carpets, quilts and blankets, beautiful puppets in typical rajasthani dress.......
Dinner at the hotel
Day 7
Udaipur via Ranakpur.
On the way to udaipur we will visit a place which comes in 7 wonder of india and in the list of top 50 wonders of the world. Ranakpur temple. It is a jain temple and one of the five major holy places of jain community. This temple is made of light color marble stone. After visiting the temple complex, we will take our lunch and then we will reach to Udaipur.
Udaipur is one of the most romantic city of india. it is also called 'city of lake'. We will reach here in the afternoon and after installing in the hotel we will go to take a boat ride in one of the most beautiful lake of udaipur, Lake pachola. The shimmering water and the beautiful view of surrounding palaces will mesmerizing you.
in the evening we'll go to watch an amazing music and dance show (Bagore Ki haveli) in a 18th century palace, these shows you will never forget!! There are five different kinds of dances, in one, rajasthani women with colorful traditional dresses dance with flaming pots in another they dance with knives and in last they start with two pots on her head and finishes with eleven!!! there is a beautiful puppet show also where the musician explain the history of rajasthan along with many interesting things.
Day 2
We move towards one of the most beautiful place of India: Shekhawati. This region was very important around 14th century when it was on the Silk Trade Route between the ports of arabian sea and Ganges valley. The rich Shekhawati merchants (locally called 'Thakurs') built the magnificent 'Havelis' (ornamented house)decorated with Frescos and painted murals.
There are numerous of beautiful havelis in the region, which is also called "the open art gallery". Some of the famous havelis are "the Aath (eight) Haveli complex, Jodhraj Patodia Haveli, Bansidhar Bhagat Haveli, and Chokhani Haveli" . One can see the typical art of rajasthan in this region.
Other than these beautiful havelis, you can see the beautiful forts and the beautiful local markets. People are very friendly, you can see children waving their hands and saying you namaste everywhere. You will get the chance to visit the small villages where life is same as it was hundreds years before. The small villages with beautiful houses and traditional folk music will surely give you a feeling that you are in a different planet!
Day 8
Next morning we will visit the very beautiful palaces. Udaipur is also a favorite destination for Bollywood, many movies has been shooted here. For instance, Hollywood famous James Bond movie "Octopussy" was shooted in mansoon palace. We will visit one of the most romantic hotel, the Lake palace which is situated inside a lake.
After visiting the city palace we will take our lunch and then we will leave to Pushkar!
Day 9
Pushkar is a very beautiful small town which is famous for its temples, ghats and lake.
There are around 500 temples. The most famous temple is Brahma temple which is 2000 years old and considers as the only temple of Brahma (the God of Creation). In the middle of town there is a beautiful lake. Along this lake there are around 52 ghats where various religious rituals and ceremonies are performed. Lake is surrounded by the hills.
Pushkar is a very peaceful town, where we will visit the lake the beautiful temples and the market.
After the lunch we will move to Jaipur.
In the evening, we will have a Rickshaw ride in the famous colorful market of Jaipur.
You have option to watch a Bollywood movie in the most beautiful cinema hall of india "Raj Mandir"
Dinner then go to bed!
Day 10
You certainly have read about elephants in books or seen them on television. What would you feel if you get a chance to communicate with an elephant, or get a chance to feed them with your hands, or get a chance to make a painting on them or get a chance to love them and let them love you by their trunks? All these activities you will do with us! Today morning we'll go to a place where you will have a meeting with elephants! Here the experts will tell you about the lifestyle of elephants. They will also tell you how to communicate with elephants and you will communicate with elephants. When you will stroke elephants and when elephants will stroke you from their trunks the feeling you both will get can't be expressed through words.
Elephants like bananas a lot, you will feed them with the bananas and sugarcane.
Another exciting activity is to paint the elephants!! These elephants will be a walking canvas for you. So you have a chance to show your creative skills of painting (on them). The colors we use are natural colors and easy to wash and give no harm to elephants.
Then you will sit on the elephant and will go for a ride in a beautiful sanctuary. You will have a majestic view while riding on elephants.
Then we will go to visit the Galtaji temples. These are very old temples surrounded by the Arawali hills, the whole area is very beautiful.
Here we will visit one very special temple 'Ramgopalji Temple' which is called Monkey Temple, due to many monkeys in the temple area!! These monkeys are very gentle, friendly and funny. You can even feed them from your hands and in return they will show you some acrobatics!!!!
This temple is made of white marbles and is one of the most beautiful temple in Jaipur. In the evening, the temple is very beautiful. We will visit this temple and also watch the beautiful evening aarti .
Day 11
After breakfast, we will visit the most amazing fort of India Amer Fort "We'll take a ride on elephant back to the fort, located on a hill. Then we will enter the fort, hosted by traditional music at the entrance, there will be a sense of Maharajas!
India, has many different architectural styles: Hindu, Mughal, Jain ... but Rajasthani architecture is one of the most incredible architectures, not only in India but worldwide.
Watch the amazing architecture of the fortress and visit the Sheesh Mahal, the palace of mirrors in the fort will definitely amaze you. The view over the valley of Amer Fort, including hills, lakes, temples, beautiful houses require you to say "Wow!"
Then, we will visit the ‘Kanak Ghati’ :from here the entire Jaipur city looks stunning.
Hawa Mahal (Palace of the wind) was built for the women of the royal family of Jaipur to see the traditional "Krishna painting" every year and to relax during the warm season of Jaipur. We will visit this place just after our lunch. Its architecture is truly unique!
We will also visit the Jantar Mantar which is a ‘world heritage site’. It is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments. It was built in 18th century. There are lots of astonishing information there about the measurement of days, months, years.
After that we will visit Man Sigh Palace Museum which is considered like one of the best museum of Rajasthan.
We will visit the beautiful pink city during this time. It is a unique city, traditionally designed, with beautiful gates, special architecture, nice shops, houses, streets, and people who make this city so beautiful and different from other cities.
We bet you will never forget the evening today!
We will go to "Chauki dhani" What is it? It is a paradise! It is a small village near Jaipur is considered as the most beautiful village in India!
We tour camel here to visit this beautiful village! and you'll be mesmerized by the beautiful houses of the village, by the inhabitants wearing traditional Rajasthani dresses and singing folk songs. The most adventurous thing here is the food! Here we eat traditional food in ancestral Rajasthani style. How is it? It's a surprise for you! Listening to folk music, watching folk dances, magic shows villagers and many others ... before going to sleep.
You might be thinking, as I would have been unhappy if I had not come to this place!
Good night!!
Day 12
After breakfast in the morning and take the long memories of the life of this wonderful land, we are leaving for Agra.
Along the way we will visit an interesting place called "Chand baori" which is located in a village named "Abhaneri".
It is the most beautiful "baori" (step well) in India and the largest in the world. During this visit, you will feel as if you are visiting the MC Escher painting! Hollywood films such as "The Dark Night", "Fall" was filmed here because of its incredible beauty!
After our lunch, we now turn to one of the most sightly architectural indian site called "Fatehpur Sikri." It was the capital of India at the time of the Mughal emperor "Akbar".
Akbar was a great lover of architecture. Let's see here: the architecture of the city, including the magnificent Royal Palace, the palace of queens and amazing gardens.
We will also visit the largest portal in India called "Darwaza of Buland" which is located at the edge of a hill.
From here you can watch the beautiful views of the surrounding villages!
The tomb of the Sufi saint "Chishti" is another masterpiece of architecture. A special feature of this place is that it is composed of elements of a Hindu temple, a Muslim mosque and a Christian church! This site is an evidence of the great soul of India that allows all religions to live in peace and harmony!
We will spend our night in Agra where we will enjoy good regional cuisine.
It is time to visit the Taj Mahal just wait until tomorrow morning! Good night!
Day 13
When we get to the Taj Mahal, you automatically understand why this building is a wonder of the world classified by UNESCO: its architecture, beauty ... we do not have words to describe it.
Here is what the famous Persian poet once said in speaking of the Taj Mahal:
"Agar Firdous baroye zameen ast, Hami Asto, Hami Asto ast"
(If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here)
Then we will visit another wonderful monument called the Agra Fort, which is another masterpiece of Mughal architecture of the reign.
After lunch, we will go to Orchha.
Dinner and night at Orchha.
Day 14
After the breakfast we will leave to Orchha but on the way we will visit one of the biggest and most astonishing Fort of india, Gwalior fort. This fort comes in the list of 7 wonders of india. The area of this fort is 3km . It was built in the 8th century. Gwalior Fort played a very important role in the history of India. Inside the Fort, there are beautiful palaces which we will visit.
At lunch time, we will reach to Orchha, a very romantic and peaceful town. It was one of the capital of Bundela Rajput Kings. There are many beautiful palaces and Temples. We will visit the Jahangir Palace, Raj Palace, Rai Parveen Palace... Lakshmi Narayan Temple, Ram Raja Temple... The very beautiful river named Betwa River is considered as the cleanest River of india. It is a tributary river of Yamuna (one of the holiest river of india which flows through Delhi and Agra (behind Taj Mahal)). The sunset from this river side is amazing.
We will have our dinner and will sleep in the hotel.
Day 15
After the breakfast we will move to Khajuraho.
According to hindu philosophy the four aims of life are Dharma (duty), Artha (money), Kama (sexual pleasure) and Moksha (liberation/salvation/enlightenment). The ultimate aim of our life is to achive Moksha (enlightenment/salvation), but this moksha can not be achieved without fulfilling Dharma, Artha and Kama. The khajuraho temples explain the Kama is a part of life and blessing from god to all living beings. These temples with great artistic work has many theories, philosophies as why erotica is on temples. You need a long lecture class to understand all that! But don't worry, during your trip, we will explain you everything!!
These temples of Khajuraho are more than 1000 years old. Initially there were more than 80 temples but now there are only 20-22 temples. The mugals destroyed the remaining temples. We will visit all these beautiful temples. During the day, we will go to explore a very beautiful waterfall also!!!!
Dinner and then go to sleep!!
Day 16
Today, we are going to Varanasi.
We will visit world famous Kashivishwa Nath Temple, We will watch the well-known evening ganga arti of varanasi. Then you have free time to visit the market and narrow streets of Varanasi. Then we will have a discussion about varanasi and spirituality of the country on the bank of Ganga in the evening.
Dinner and then go to sleep!!
Day 17
In the morning, we have boat ride in Ganga.
Then departure to airport for Delhi.
Arrived in Delhi, we will visit the ‘Raj Ghat’ , It is a memorial to ‘Mahatma Gandhi’. We will go to there and will give our tribute to the Great man. Raj ghat is just next to Yamuna River.
After that we will visit ‘National Museum’. It is one of the largest museum of india. We will see the articles from pre-historic era to modern works of art. We will see the articles of one of the oldest civilization of the world, of Harappan civilization and the Indus valley civilization. Infact you will see all the history of India.
Then, we will take you directly to the Akshardham temple, located away from the bustle of the city. Here we will take you to a dream world! It is the largest Hindu temple in the world and its architecture is one of the most brilliant of India since no steel was used for its construction! It is entirely based on the traditional technics of construction, old of centuries! Watch the sunset from the temple is a wonderful time of your stay.
Inside the temple, an IMAX film shows the beauty of India through the eyes of a child, narrating amazing facts, with breathtaking scenery and fantastic sound. There is also an open-air museum, ideal by fine weather in a beautiful garden, dedicated to the heroes of India with bronze statues.
We will see a great show of electronic puppets, which depicts the life of Swami ji.
Einstein could not find the machine to travel back in time, but we have it! It is here, in the Akshardham temple, believe us! When you go on a boat trip in the caves of the temple, looking at the heritage of India, 5000 years old history, culture, science .. you'll say yes! This is the most amazing part of the temple.
Then you will enjoy the wonderful sound and light show in which you listen to classical Indian music at a high show color around the fountain.
We guarantee that when you leave this magic place, you will say: "Yes, we were in the dream world! "
Night in Delhi hostel.
Give us a call:
(+33) 06.82.09.35.83
Give us a call:
(+091)98.18.45.93.55
This price includes:
This price doesn't include:
-Ticket of flight
-The reception and assistance at the airport by your tour guide.
-Transfers airport / hotel: roundtrip.
-Transportation by car or minibus with driver from 1st day until last day of your trip.
-The services of your guide
-The base-housing double room for 16 nights in hotels.
-all breakfast, lunch and dinner
-entrance and fees in visits
-all activities described
-Mandatory Visa (about 65 Eur) obtained by you.
-Drinks
-Tips.
-The personal expenses.
-Optional insurance.
Day 18
After a good breakfast at the hotel, it is unfortunately time to leave us and accompany you to the airport.
Departure of the airplane irport Delhi: 1:10 p.m.
Arrival at the airport in Paris: 18hoo the same day.
ANURAG EVASION
anuragevasioninindia@gmail.com
Tel France: (+33) 06.82.09.35.83
Tel Inde: (091) 98.18.45.93.55