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

We land in New Delhi, visit the Q'tub Minar and bustling markets, 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. You will have the opportunity to buy their work directly from the artists, and see how it was made.

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; see the group photo to the right.

We tour the world-famous Calico Museum in Ahmedabad, with its exceptional textile collections. And 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 rural 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 also visit the delightful Rabari women who do the intricate mirror embroidery, near the Little Rann of Kutch, in northern Gujarat. We will visit many archeological sites such as the famous Rani Ki Vav stepwell. These enormous and elaborate fresh water wells were built between the 11th and 16th centuries, with 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. We stay at the renowned Spice Vilage Hotel, in the midst of a private botanical garden. We spend two nights here in comfortable bungalows; the second day is free to relax in the gorgeous surroundings or shop the surrounding areas.

Finally we spend 24 hours floating in the gorgeous backwater lagoons, on private houseboats with our own chefs! Birdife is abundant on the water; we will float by trees full of weaver bird nests! Thoroughly relaxed from our houseboat cruise, at the end of our great tour, we fly from New Delhi early on September 30.

This unforgettable 18-day trip includes 17 nights hotel accommodations (double occupany) in comfortable

boutique or heritage hotels, all meals excpet lunch and dinner on last day, three interior flights, hands-on workshops, private van transportation, and expert English- speaking guides. Single supplement available.

Price: $6250  includes international airfare from San Francisco.