Mystical Southern India Tour

Theyyam, a ritual dance form popular in northern Kerala. © Bobinson

NOTE: Andrew Harper is happy to offer a complimentary Premier Online membership (a $350 value) to any non-member who wishes to join this tour.

Southern India, with its lush and tropical beauty, feels like a different country from the northern region. Long known as the “Spice Coast” for its valuable harvest of cloves, cinnamon and pepper, the southwestern coast enjoyed a strong trade with the Middle East and Mediterranean, fostering a unique local culture. Thanks to the demands of its newly wealthy citizens, infrastructure has been significantly improved, and travel in this once-isolated region is easier than ever. Join us as we explore mystical Southern India by private aircraft, and immerse yourself in the wonders of this unspoiled land.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:

• Travel on private chartered flights within India.

• Explore the many faces of cosmopolitan Mumbai, India’s most populous and dynamic metropolis. Browse the colorful markets, learn about the city’s fascinating Jewish heritage or view fifth-century rock sculptures in the nearby Elephanta Caves.

• Enjoy a private performance of the world-famous martial art form, Kalarippayattu.

• Receive a formal introduction to Ayurvedic medicine, which focuses on cleansing the body of disease-causing substances.

• Embark on a day journey by houseboat on the backwaters of Kerala, a green and pleasant state wedged between the Arabian Sea and the lovely forested hills of the Western Ghats. The backwaters comprise an intricate network of lagoons, lakes, canals and the estuaries of four rivers.

• Explore the cottage industries of Cochin, an attractive city where an inlet from the Arabian Sea spills into a vast, sheltered bay. The placid waters are always busy with boats, and the seafront of Old Town is lined with stately old warehouses and offices of shipping companies dating from the days of the British Raj.

• Visit the Temple City of Madurai, located on the banks of the Vaigai River and the site of the Meenakshi Temple. This was an important cultural and commercial center as early as the fourth century B.C.

• Learn about the Chettinad banking community, which has amassed great fortunes venturing into Southeast Asia; its legacy mansions have to be seen to be believed.

• Take an exclusive tour of Hyderabad’s Falaknuma Palace with the official palace historian.

• Learn about the cultured pearl industry in Hyderabad.

• Enjoy an in-depth visit to Goa, India’s smallest state, filled with whitewashed baroque churches punctuating vivid green rice paddies. Four hundred years as a Portuguese colony left an indelible imprint on Goa’s architecture, food and the character of its inhabitants.

For a complete itinerary, please click here.