Iran the land of the Peacock Throne- or something else?.
A unique opportunity to experience The beauty, food, controversy and history of iran read more
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November 2014 This is a specialist tour for the photographer AND the non-photographer. We have just cnclude our innaugral tour which departed 16/11/2012 and finished 08/12/2012. It was a great sucess and so we will operate another tour in 2014. The details below pertian to the 2012 programme. We anticipate a few tweaks, but the core attractions will be the same. The editor of this text was on the tour and will over time put up a photo gallery. Prices shown are an indication as they were prices for 2012.
Visit Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam and remote Nagaland the land of the headhunters! This is a rare opportunity to visit a lesser known part of India, one that requires special permits. Travel with the guidebook writer and travel photographer. India This is a country where a myriad of ethnic groups speaking more than the 18 main languages and practicing the major religions of the world all live together and call themselves Indian. There can be few countries with such diversity. Our tour samples a portion of that variety and we hope to give you a taste and passion for more.
Photography The region with its wild scenery, vibrant ethnic communities and diverse wildlife offers a palate from which a photographer can indulge. Our tour will allow sufficient time for photography; we will even stop the bus for that elusive photograph. Non photographers, or those with a more reduced interest in the art, will find no hindrance to the core structure and content of the tour. In fact the 'time out' and locations will only enhance the overall experience. There will be continuing conversations on the art and techniques of photography with personal assistance from Patrick Horton THE TOUR DAY 1: 16 November 2012 – ARRIVE KOLKATA DAY 2: IN KOLKATA DAY 3: KOLKATA TO DARJEELING
DAY 4: DARJEELING
DAY 5: DARJEELING TO PELLING DAY 6: IN PELLING
DAY 7: PELLING TO GANGTOK VIA RUMTEK
DAY 8: IN GANGTOK
DAY 9: GANGTOK TO KALIMPONG DAY 10: KALIMPONG TO BAGDOGRA AND FLIGHT TO GUWAHATI DAY 11: GUWAHATI – NAMERI NATIONAL PARK
DAY 12: NAMERI DAY 13: NAMERI – KAZIRANGA National Park
DAY 14: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK
DAY 15: KAZIRANGA – KOHIMA
DAY 16: KOHIMA DAY 17: KOHIMA Then back to Kisema for more of the Hornbill festival.
Evening, and a visit to the local market for shopping for the distinctive Naga crafts. DAY 18: KOHIMA – JORHAT
DAY 19: JORHAT - MAJULI
DAY 20: MAJULI
DAY 21: MAJULI - GUWAHATI DAY 22: GUWAHATI - KOLKATA Cost: AU$5220 per person twin share. Single supplement AU$1267. We will offer to introduce those who book on their own to others who may wish to share rooms.
Money: Gone are the days of needing to travel with large amounts of cash or travellers cheques. India has ATMs everywhere accepting MasterCard and Visa. Shops and hotels accept credit cards. A good idea is to take a prepaid cash card. You should have some cash to cover remote areas, or a malfunctioning bank ATM! Food and Drink: You may love Indian cuisine or find it doesn’t just agree with you. Indian food is not about screaming hot curries but a delicate balance of herbs and spices. Hotels provide Western-style food as well as the local varieties. Assamese cuisine is a little blander and there’s always the option of a Western breakfast. Tea, in various forms, is widely drunk but real coffee is a rarity and seasoned visitors always travel with their own supplies. Soft drinks are in plentiful supply as is bottled water which should be your preferred drink over tap water. Indian beers are good and they also make decent spirits. Health: Check with your doctor about your medical requirements and say that you’ll be travelling in Kolkata, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland. Photography:
Accommodation This will be midrange with an emphasis on interesting heritage hotels rather than identikit Western brands. Nagaland hotels are simple by weatern standards and we will get the best we can, but do not expect luxury in this part of the tour.
Planned Hotels: As with India plans could change! Client Comments from 2012 tour History of India - well, an abridged summary to fit the next page. WW2 History Calcutta Maps of India and the areas visited.
For further enquiries and expressions of interest email us
We have noted copies of our personally designed tours appearing elsewhere, yes copying is the highest accolade - but.... |
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After breakfast transfer back to the airport for a flight to Siliguri and then by road through the impressive foothills of the Himalaya to Darjeeling and hotel for an overnight stay. On the way we’ll be sharing some of the roadway with the Toy Train,a narrow gauge railway that is one of the few in the world to be UNESCO heritage listed. If our luck is in and it is running from Siliguri we may be able to go by train. Recently, operation has not been consistant. 
If the weather is good we’ll be up before dawn to get to Tiger Hill to see the sun paint in four of the five highest mountains in the world. After breakfast stroll the Chowrasta or Mall, visit the Zoo and adjacent Himalayan Mountaineering Institute with its history section on Himalayan mountaineering, the Tibetan Self-help Centre and a tea plantation, for Darjeeling is famous for tea. Time permitting we’ll venture for a short ride on the steam-hauled section of the toy train railway.
Visit the nearby Pemayangtse Monastery, which is one of Sikkim’s oldest Buddhist monasteries. Also nearby are the Rabdentse ruins the remains of the old capital from where the Chogyals or divinely appointed kings ruled Sikkim. The ruins are on a ridge top providing a magnificent view over a deep gorge. A little farther afield is Kechopalri Lake formed in the shape of a footprint and believed by some to have been made by the Buddha. Another legend has it that birds keep the lake clear of leaves by removing each leaf that dares to fall on its surface. Regardless it’s an atmospheric lake ringed by Buddhist prayer flags. 
Drive to the capital city of Sikkim, Gangtok, the cleanest city in India, via the famous Rumtek Monastery. Rumtek is the home of the Buddhist Black Hat sect and is named after a precious flying black hat woven from the hair of angels. It is kept locked up in a box that nobody dares to open in case it flies away. The hat waits for the crowning of the next Karmapa who is only a few rungs down from the Dalai Lama. In Gangtok we transfer to our hotel and later explore the colourful Lal bazaar.
Gangtok is another ridge-top town with magnificent views of the Himalaya. Visits today include the Enchey monastery with its beautiful murals and stunning mountains viewpoint, the Institute of Tibetology, the Orchidarium for beautiful and are orchids, an exploration of the colourful streets of Gangtok and a trip on the cable car strung above the town.
Drive through Assam’s lush lowlands and tea gardens to Nameri National Park - a Tiger Reserve and birder’s paradise covering an area of 200 km2. Seeing a tiger can’t be guaranteed but they may well be watching us. Overnight at Eco Camp at Potasali in luxury tents, but before settling down for the night enjoying an evening beer beside a bonfire and then dining in an open air restaurant. 
Leave the Eco Camp and drive to Kaziranga National Park. This is a World Heritage Site and Tiger Reserve, covering an area of 430 km2. This is the home to more than 80% of the world’s rhino population and you should see plenty. Overnight at Kaziranga. 
Today starts early with bed tea, an admirable Indian institution that serves both as your wake-up call and early morning tea. Drive into the park and then transfer to an elephant that serves as a safe and high viewing platform for wandering through the park. The rhinos have seen it all before and they are unperturbed by the elephants and their passengers. Elephant travel tends to be slow so afterwards there’s a jeep safari to explore the farther ranges of the park. Stay overnight at Kaziranga National Park.
Japanese invasion of India. This was one of the tide-turning events of those tumultuous years and there was fierce fighting here marked by an exchange of grenades over the net of the tennis court of the District Magistrate. 
After breakfast at hotel it’s a day’s drive back to Assam for a night’s stay in Jorhat. In the afternoon we visit a tea estate and have an overnight stay in a Heritage Tea Bungalow – the luxurious quarters built for the British manager of the tea estate.
From Jorhat drive to Nemati ghat (quay) to join a local ferry plying across the Brahmaputra River to Majuli. Likely as not you’ll be sharing the boat with milk churns, the odd hen or rooster, possibly a goat and a large number of motorcycles up on the roof. Majuli is the largest river island in the world and the centre for Vaishnavite (worship of the god Vishnu) culture of Assam. Simply described, the Hindu pantheon consists of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and all the other gods are avatars of these three. To complicate matters Vishnu and Shiva are also avatars of top god, Brahma. Visit Auniati Satra, the largest satra or monastery on Majuli. Overnight on Majuli. 
Wander the island and visit a couple more of the satras. These monasteries are dedicated to the worship of Vishnu that is celebrated through dance and theatre by acting out scenes from the Hindu Bhagavad Gita epic. Evening, enjoy the Satriya Dance performed by the monks of Komolabari Satra. Overnight at Majuli.
Depending on the equipment you have and your expectations your camera gear could just be a simple digital camera with a video facility to a digital SLR with a range of lenses which should include a wide angle lens, a standard lens and a telephoto lens although most of these options can now be found in one or two zoom lenses. Serious photographers will include a tripod in their gear.
