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Behind The Scenes Adventures are specialty trips--small groups of friendly folks with common interests in traditional festivals and celebrations, ethnic textiles and indigenous costume, archaeology, cultural history, art and architecture. If you love going "behind the scenes" to meet the people and experience exotic destinations, savory local cuisine, flamboyant festivals, gorgeous scenery and remote villages where the people still make all their own exquisite textiles, then BTSA is for YOU! Learn More!

Click on trip titles for details and Photo Galleries.

CLICK HERE for PHOTO GALLERY of OUR FABULOUS TRIP TO INDIA THIS PAST SEPTEMBER 2011.


HIGHLIGHTS OF TURKEY: TEXTILES AND CULTURE

May 20 - June 5, 2012

BLUE MOSQUE AT NITE

This exciting trip begins in Istanbul, and circles around through the printing center of Tokat, the fabulous Cappadocia area, and the interesting eastern towns of SanliUrfa, Batman and Van. Then we fly back to Istanbul, have a free day: time for a Hamam bath, another visit to the Grand Bazaar, and more, before departing for home on June 6.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

CARPETS, CUISINE & CULTURE: TURKEY    FULL, sorry!

September 28 - October 11, 2012   14 night tour    

 

 

August 6 through 19, 2012

Travel With the Experts! Join Chloe Sayer, expert in Mexican culture and textiles, and Cynthia LeCount Samaké, expert in indigenous world textiles, on this 14-day discovery tour to the beautiful and tranquil state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

We'll visit many artists' workshops, and learn to dye with cochineal insects. A comfortable hotel in Oaxaca City will be the base for day-trips tovillages, local arts and crafts markets, magnificent colonial churches, and fascinating archaeological sites.  Then we travel south to the Isthmus region to attend the lively Festival of the Assumption, meeting the Zapotec women who are world-famous for their spirit and their gala attire! We will also visit the skilled embroiderers who create the beautiful festival clothing.

Later we return to Oaxaca City for free time to enjoy the charms of the shady plazas, the superb restaurants and the fascinating markets and shops.  

CLICK HERE FOR PRICE AND DETAILS

Click to view the OAXACA PHOTO GALLERY

TEXTILES, ARTS and CULTURE of GHANA

 January 3- 17, 2013

CLICK ON TRIP TITLE FOR DETAILSMan wearing hand-printed adinkra cloth, Kumasi, Ghana

This amazing adventure is designed for quilters, jewelry makers, fiber artists, textile designers, etc -- that is everyone interested in seeing or doing ART!! We take you from ocean beaches to forest canopy, with lakes and traditional villages in between!  Ghanaian kente cloth is still woven in beautiful patterns, and other arts such as music, dance, bead-making, and fabric decoration are thriving, alongside the modern aspect of the capital city, Accra. Arrive on January 3 and fly home late on January 17.

  • Watch Ashanti and Ewe Kente master strip weavers at work
  • Print your own batik cloth with your designs and colors!
  • Visit fantasy coffin carvers and see their huge fish, cocoa pods, ready for a burial.
  • Shop for a fabulous variety of CLOTH--wax batik prints, bold African patterned cottons, etc.
  • Tour Elmina and Cape Coast Castle, the slave forts and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • Relax at beautiful Lake Volta in lakeside chalets.

CLICK HERE FOR GHANA PHOTO GALLERY


CARNIVAL & CRAFTS OF BOLIVIA

JANUARY 31 - February 14

CLICK ON TRIP TITLE FOR DETAILS.

CLICK HERE FOR CARNIVAL PHOTO GALLERY

Women dancing at carnival with feathers in hats. Oruro BoliviaCynthia LeCount Samaké, Carnival expert and author of the Bolivia chapter of ¡Carnaval! (Catalogue for Santa Fe International Museum of Folk Art) and Claudia Avila, Behind the Scenes' Latin American specialist, will accompany you on this exciting adventure to the best of BOLIVIA!

We arrive in LA PAZ ON JANUARY 31. Then, we flyto the beautiful city of SUCRE [to lower altitude] to help us acclimate.  Sucre is the actual capital of Bolivia, and it has a beautiful central plaza with handsome colonial buidings. From there we will visit a traditional haciendas in the countryside near Tarabuco, with a Bolivian friend, and meet the weavers from the village of Candelaria.

Then we head over stunning highland scenery to Potosi, where we sleep at a historical hacienda where the owners make all their own cheese and yoghurt. The rooms contain amazing antiques from the original hacienda; we will be able to appreciate the early colonial furnishings and the beautiful property before departing over the altiplano to Oruro, home of Carnival.

The fabulous Carnival revelry takes place at Oruro, from February 7-10. The Anata Andina or the Indigenous People's Carnival takes place on Thursday and is completely different from the later costumed Carnival which opens on Saturday with devil dancers, bears, jungle Indians, etc.

Then we return to explore the interesting city of LaPaz with its suprelative museums and interesting textiles market. After a free day, we fly home on February 15. Be sure to click the trip title for the details page.

Non-Spanish speakers are welcome; Claudia speaks Spanish and she will be available to help you bargain, find your place in the Carnival bleachers, order food, help whenever you might need to be understood, or bargain for a beautiful sweater!

PRE-CRUISE EXTENSION TO PERUalpacas

Andean knitting villages and Machu Picchu

October 29 - November 5, 2012

Click on title for link to price and details of itinerary

CLICK HERE FOR KNITTERS' INFO

CLICK HERE FOR WEAVERS AND SPINNERS' INFO

  • Spend a day at Lima's best textile museums.
  • Welcome dinner at famous gourmet Astrid y Gaston.
  • Thrill to breathtaking MACHU PICCHU!
  • Visit traditional highland villages.
  • Meet knitters and learn their techniques.

Fly from Lima afterwards, to meet the Cruise Ship in Valparaiso, Chile. CraftCruises will help you arrange round-trip airfare for the entire cruise and extension itinerary.

 



Behind the Scenes Adventures
5580 Sobrante Avenue
El Sobrante, CA 94803
lacynthia@vom.com
+1.510.275.3662