This delightful trip covers New Delhi and the Taj Mahal, plus the most fascinating parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kerala States.

We land in New Delhi, visit Red Fort and the market, then go to nearby Agra to see the breathtaking Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then we head west to the famous textile and art producing states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, where we will visit many textile artists in their workshops and homes.

Master textile artists will hold private textile workshops with natural dyes, just for our groups: block-printing, tie-dye on silk, and more! We will make silk scarves in our dye workshop, tying off the areas to be resisted from the dye; photo to the right.

We tour the world-famous Calico Museum in Ahmedabad, with its exceptional textile collections. Meeting the double-ikat weavers of Patan and seeing their complex masterpieces is a fascinating past of the visit to the far north-western part of India.

We stay in fascinating Heritage hotels in towns, [even a Majarajah's palace!] and new, traditional bunghas in the little-visited northern Gujarati area of Kutch. The round earthen bungalows with thatched roofs are embellished with floral scrolls of bas-relief mud decorations around the windowns and doors; because they are made of earth, they are cool in summer.

We meet the delightful Rabari group women who do the intricate mirror embroidery, when we head for the Little Rann of Kutch, in northern Gujarat. We will visit many archeological sites such as the famous Rani Ki Vav stepwell. Most stepwells were built between the 11th and 16th centuries and we will visit the most interesting of these fresh water wells, admiring their carved marble columns, decorated niches, and other details.

When we have made some wonderful projects in our workshops, and have seen all the art that we can possibly absorb, we head south to relax a bit in the tropical state of Kerala. We land in Cochin and drive to the interior to visit plantations of rubber, tea, coffee and spices. Cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger all grow in the area. Finally we spend 24 hours floating in the gorgeous backwater lagoons, on private houseboats with our own chefs!

Thoroughly relaxed from our houseboat cruise, at the end of our wonderful tour, we fly home from New Delhi on September 30, arriving home on

October 1.

Price: $5795 includes international airfare from San Francisco; 17 days hotel accommodations (double occupany) in comfortable boutique or heritage hotels, all meals, three interior flights, hands-on workshops, private van transportation, and expert English-speaking guides.

Fly to New Delhi on September 12, to arrive on September 13. Depart New Delhi on September 30.