2016-2017

INDIA SPECIAL INTERST TOURS

Handicraft Textile Tour 2

India: Handcrafted Textiles Tour 2

16 days: from NZD7620 per person Twin share

Auckland – Singapore – Delhi – Srinagar – Kolkata ––Bishnapur – Murshidabad – Kolkata –Singapore – Auckland Cotton and silk were first spun and woven in the Indus Valley over 5,000 years ago and India remains the world’s heart of hand-loomed fabric and floor rugs, embroidery and block printing. Indian silk and cotton textiles are as diverse as the country’s culture. We begin our journey in Delhi, exploring its fabulous bazaars and magnificent architecture. In Kashmir we experience spinning, weaving and embroidering of pashmina. Then we fly to West Bengal for the many different techniques of spinning, weaving and embroidering cotton and silk. Our tour finishes in Kolkata, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. The Groups are escorted from New Zealand by qualified, highly motivated and friendly Hosts Our Hosts of Textile Tours Liz Light (November 2016 and November 2017 Tours) Janie Randerson (February 2017 Tours) Departure Date 2016: 27 Nov Departure Date 2017: 12 Feb; 12 Nov

Liz is an award winning writer and photographer who have been in love with India and Indian textiles since she saw a picture of a group of women wearing saris when she was nine years old. She has visited this magnificently diverse country many times and loves the warm welcome and humour that is special to India, the vegetarian food and, of course, the carefully handcrafted textiles. Janie is an English language teacher and a weaver. She has raised two lovely daughters, who have now flown, so she is free to follow her long-held interest in India and India textiles. In 2014 she taught in a street school in Delhi for children whose parents couldn’t afford to send them to a regular school. She loved it. Janie says that Indian food is delicious, the textiles are amazing but it is the people who really win your heart

Day 01 (Sun): Auckland Arrive this evening at Auckland Airport to check-in for your Singapore Airlines flights. Day 02 (Mon): Auckland - Singapore - Delhi Take your flight from Auckland to Singapore (0115/0645 hrs) connecting to Delhi (1900/2050 hrs). Due to long transit time in Singapore, we will arrange shower and change facilities at the Airport. Stay in Hotel Royal Plaza (or similar) for 3 nights Day 03 (Tue): Delhi (B) This morning visit New Delhi, built in a typically British colonial style, in unique Indo-Victorian architecture; Parliament House, the Secretariat buildings and the Vice Regal Palace, the residence of the President of India, and India Gate, the War Memorial Arch. Visit Connaught Place, the city centre with wonderful shops, excellent restaurants, lots of fun and up-town bustle. Day 04 (Wed): Delhi (B) Take a heritage walking tour of Old Delhi, the British base until 1920 and the home of many Mughal Emperors. We visit Raj Ghat, an impressive shrine to Mahatma Gandhi. Then visit the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, before taking a rickshaw ride and a walk through the crowded lanes of the Chandni Chowk bazaar. Rest of the afternoon is at leisure. Day 05 (Thu): Delhi – Agra – Delhi (B) Drive to Agra to visit Taj Mahal & Agra Fort. Visit Taj Mahal, built with perfect symmetry, wonderful proportions and exquisite detailing. Taj Mahal is one of the great architectural wonders of the world. Visit sprawling Agra Fort which was

the seat of power for four generations of Mughal emperors and its architecture is an almost perfect fusion between military might and lavish beauty. Drive back to Delhi Day 06 (Fri): Delhi – Srinagar (B/D) Take a flight to Srinagar (Kashmir). This afternoon, watch women spin pashmina then masters handloom- weaving this delicate fibre. Pashmina, one of the finest fabrics and is made from Pashm fibre that is 1/10th the width of a human hair. Pashm goats are herded high in the mountains. Stay for 3 nights in Deluxe Houseboat Day 07 (Sat): Srinagar (B/D) This morning, take a heritage walk of the old city of Srinagar. Walk through history at Zaina Kadal and narrow streets into Jama Masjid and Shah-e-Hamdaan. Meander through old bazaars bedecked with dry fruits, silks, spices and much more. Afternoon, visit Kani weavers and discover how, several thousand lines later, a two-meter, pashmina shawl is a picture of beauty and colour. Then go to Bakara Village and watch master embroiderers work with silk thread on Jamavaar shawls that take between 9 months and 1.5 years to create. Day 08 (Sun): Srinagar (B/D) This morning, visit and see crewel work, an aari-based chain stitch, in action. This is intricate stitching on shawls, bedcovers and cushions. This will be followed by a visit to a carpet weaving house to see the glorious silk and wool carpets, which Kashmir is so famous for, being hand-knotted. Rest of the afternoon is at leisure. Possibly visit a papier-mâché factory and watch the fine painting on papier-mâché products. Day 09 (Mon): Srinagar – Kolkata (B) This morning, take a shikara ride on Lake Dal to visit the floating vegetable and flower markets before your flight to Kolkata. Stay for a night in Hotel Fern Residency (or similar) Day 10 (Tue): Kolkata – Phulia – Krishnanagar (B) Drive to Phulia, known for its handloom weaving and specialising in a combination of jacquard and jamdani silk weaving and fine handloomed cotton shawls, dhotis and saris. Phulia has over 125,000 handlooms, churning out Shantipuri, Tangail, and Jamdani handloom fabrics. Cross Hooghly River on a ferry and visit the beautiful Hindu temples of Kalna. Also visit superfine cotton muslin weaving master and his family. After the visit, drive to Krishnanagar. Stay in Krishnanagar is for one night in Hotel Haveli (or similar). Day 11 (Wed): Krishnanagar – Murshidabad (B/L) Drive to Murshidabad and visit Sericulture Research and Training Institute. See silk production from mulberry trees, to caterpillars, to cocoons, and how it is then spun into fine thread. Visit, Hazarduari Palace, The Palace with Thousand Doors, and other sights of this ancient city of nearby Hazarduari. In the afternoon, visit a village that specializes in lustrous dupion silk weaving. Stay in Murshidabad for one night in Hotel Sunshine (or similar). Day 12 (Thu): Murshidabad – Shantiniketan (B) Drive to Shantiniketan, made famous by Rabindranath Tagore, a genius who reshaped Indian literature, music and art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is the author of Gitanjali and with which, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. In the afternoon visit the Viswabharati University along with Uttarayan Complex. Stay in Shantiniketan is for 2 nights in Mitali Homestay (or similar) Day 13 (Fri): Shantiniketan (B) Visit the village near Shantiniketen to meet women who do kantha embroidery. Traditionally kantha was used to make quilts when layers of fabric were quilted together with running stitch and then the top of the quilt was decorated with embroidery. Now days, besides quilts, the women use their embroidery skills to make sarees, shawls, cushion covers and lengths of fabric. Visit a Batik workshop. The word batik actually means ‘wax writing ‘. It is a way of decorating fabric by covering a part of it with a coat of wax and then dyeing the fabric. The waxed areas keep their original colour and when the wax is removed the contrast between the dyed and non-dyed areas makes the pattern. Day 14 (Sat): Shantiniketan – Kolkata (B) Explore Kolkata by walk, starting with spice market to the nearby flower market. Then walk to over the Hooghly River Bridge to Howrah Station. Take a local ferry back across the river to Kumartuli, the potter’s village, from where the bus will pick us up. Visit the Kantha section of the Gurusaday Dutt Museum to view the magnificent heritage kantha collection. Return to your hotel and have the rest of the afternoon free to explore. Option to visit the superb Kolkata Museum which hasn’t changed since it was established in 1814. Stay in Kolkata for 3 nights in Hotel Peerless Inn (or similar) Day 15 (Sun): Kolkata (B) Take a heritage tour of the Park Street area. Visit the white marble Victoria Memorial designed in Italian Renaissance-Mughal style now a museum housing Imperial memorabilia. Check out St Paul’s Cathedral, a fine example of rural Sussex in central Kolkata. Visit the heritage Park Street cemetery for some quietness in amongst Kolkata’s buzz. Visit the Mother

House, the home and mission of Mother Teresa. Optional lunch at famous Flurry’s, a traditional British café and confectioner in Park Street. Rest of the afternoon is at leisure Day 16 (Mon): Kolkata – Singapore (B) Visit the Jain temple richly decorated with mirrors and Venetian glass mosaics. Then a tour of the Dalhousie Square and some heritage buildings from Victorian times, including the imposing Writers Building, Town Hall, the St John’s Church and gothic Kolkata High Court. In the afternoon, visit Dakshinapan market, famous for handloom fabrics, handcrafts and Indian ethnic ware. Silence, is a highly recommended shop run by people with disabilities. Transfer to Kolkata Airport to connect flight to Singapore (2145/0435 +1 hrs) with connecting flight to Auckland (0850/2345 hrs) Day 17 (Tue): Singapore – Auckland Arrive in Auckland Note: We may have to alter the above itinerary to adjust with unforeseen flights schedule changes. Inclusions: Economy class international and domestic flights as indicated in the program, accommodation on twin sharing basis including breakfast, other meals as specified (either in Hotels or local restaurants), aircon transport, NZ Tour Host, local guides, monument entrance fees, baggage handling at Hotels. Excluded: Domestic flights in NZ, India Visa, Travel Insurance, excess baggage penalties, meals not indicated in the program, beverages during pre-arranged meals, gratuities and personal expenses Options: You may also choose to take Tour 1 as well, prior to starting with Tour 2