"Good company in a journey makes the way to seem the shorter." --Izaak Walton
Although our program was jam packed, we were never rushed, and we were able to spend as much time as was needed at each stop. Free time, though scheduled, somehow managed to slip away as we spent our time visiting schools and talking with the women. I never missed having free time. It seemed that the time we spent interacting with the people we met was more valuable than having free time.
Program Schedule Bela and Chiya provided us with lots of background material and an extensive written Program Schedule. The following information is taken from that schedule.
Day 1 - Delhi The "Drop-Off Exercise" Demonstration of Indian Classical Dance Visit Dilli Haat-A Artisans' Bazaar
Day 2 - Delhi Visit Mother Teresa Orphanage Visit Amar Jyoui NGO Lecture on Indian Spices Lecture on Indian Folk music Trip to FabIndia to buy our Indian clothes Meet Indian women at dinner
Day 3 - Delhi Sight Seeing Qutb Minar Bahai Temple Indira Gandhi Museum Lecture on Clothing Attend Sikh Temple
Day 4 - Dundlod Tour the Fort and settle in Visit a local family - lower income Cultural Program
Day 5 - Dundlod Visit Indo International School Lunch with a farm family Tour Dundlod - Havelis, chhatries etc
Day 6 - Bikaner Tour Junagarh Fort Unscheduled meeting with the Princess Dinner with entertainment Folk Singing and dancing
Day 7 - Bikaner Visit URMUL Pratihsthan at Lunkaransar Interact with students and staff
Day 8 - Jodhpur Visit the Karni Mata Temple Detour and unscheduled stop in Osiyan Visit the Jain temples Tour Mehrangarh Fort Conversation Mrs. Prithvi Singh at dinner
Day 9 - Jodhpur Visit the Bishnoi Villages Ms. Sudha Rajhans talks about textiles Visit textile shops in the bazaar
Day 10 - Jaisalmer NOTE: This tour was scheduled to visit the Desert Festival- considered the highlight of the program. However, due to the earthquake in Gujarat on Jan.26, the festival was cancelled. Jaisalmer has much to offer and we were not disappointed. Visit the Havelis Visit a silver merchant
Day 11 - Jaisalmer Visit the Chhatris outside Jaisalmer Visit the Jain Temple outside Jaisalmer Camel ride to see the sunset
Day 12 - Jaisalmer Explore Jaisalmer fort on our own Fly to Jaipur Dinner with our host family
Day 13 - Jaipur Relax with our host family receive Mehndi decorations on our hands Lecture and demonstration on gems and jewelry Shopping in the bazaar
Day 14 - Jaipur Visit hand made paper factory, Sanganer Visit University of Rajasthan Home Science Dept and interact with the students Visit Vividha
Day 15 - Jaipur Sight seeing Hawa Mahal Amber Fort City Palace Jantar Mantar We wear traditional Rajasthani dress as guests of honor at tonight's party Lecture and demonstration The legend of Solah Sringar
Day 16 - Bharatpur An unscheduled trip into Bharatpur Visit Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary Dinner at the Sanctuary hotel
Day 17 - Deeg/ Fatehpur Sikri/ Agra A side trip to Deeg Fatehpur Sikri
Day 18 - Agra/ Delhi Visit the Taj Mahal at dawn Free time in Delhi
Day 19 - Delhi Free time Farewell dinner Depart
Day ??? Arrive home much jet lagged and trying to sort out a fantastic journey!!