Art and Literature

Literary Festivals India

(Held December/January annually) India’s literature festivals host some of the finest local and international writers and performers today and are considered important to the country not only to preserve this cultural heritage but to offer opportunities to young writers who aspire to be heard. You begin in Kolkata, exploring sites which have greatly influenced writers […]

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Beats in India

France had its bohemians and America had its Beats. The original Beat Generation, or Beat writers, were a core group of close friends who met in a neighborhood near Columbia University in the mid 1940’s. A San Francisco migration extended their group consciousness. In 1962 Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky, two main figures in the […]

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Gertrude Stein’s France

Gertrude Stein’s fame derives from a private modern art gallery she assembled, from 1904 to 1913, with her brother Leo Stein in Paris. One of the most famous bohemian ex-patriots of her time, Gertrude was outré not only for her Salon where artisits and writers such as Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway and Pound would meet every […]

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Picture Myanmar (8 days)

Picture Myanmar gives you a chance to take photos of sunrises over pagodas, colonial architecture and street markets.  Visit mountains and learn to use natural lighting to shoot outdoor landscapes.  Photograph cottage industries and local artisans. Begin in Yangon ad continue onward tosee the unique Golden Rock Take pictures from a hot air balloon over Bagan […]

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Discover India’s Book Fairs (8 days)

Old books

Book Fairs held in Calcutta and Delhi each year are an unique experience for a lover of books. Calcutta’s annual book fair showcases the best of not just Indian publishers, but also booksellers, writers and bibliophiles from all corners of the globe. Visitors to the fair make their way in and out of the colorful stalls, […]

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Twain’s India (10 days)

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist who travelled the world and developed a deep affection for India.  He preferred travelling India by train.  “In other countries a long wait at the train station is a dull thing and tedious, but one has no right to have that […]

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Kipling’s India (11 days)

Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling is perhaps best well known for his tale of the Jungle Book, Kim and Gunga Din.   Kipling was born in Bombay in 1865. His family, as did many wealthier families, spent summers in the hill station of Shimla to avoid the heat of the plains. He later went to England and the United […]

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Tagore’s India (21 days)

Rabindranath Tagore

(Departure November – April) Rabindranath Tagore was born to one of the leading families of Kolkata regarded as a key influence during the Bengal Renaissance.  Rabindranath Tagore, the youngest son born in 1861, was the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize and was the most famous in the family. Rabindranath is best remembered in […]

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Textiles of the Golden Triangle (10 days)

India, Jaipur, Rajasthan fabrics

The textiles of India’s Golden Triangle reflect the rich heritage and diversity of tradition believed to originate in the Indus Valley civilization.  Learn about this heritage by visiting silk factories in Varanasi, carpet weavers and marble cutters in Agra and puppet makers in Jaipur. Take a sunrise boat tour on the Ganges River. See Sarnath, […]

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Discover the Art of Laos (8 days)

Laos, Vientiane, Buddhist Temple detail

Laotians have a variety of regional and rural art forms which include basket weaving, silverwork, goldwork, silk weaving and paper making.   Their life is greatly influenced by their religious belief system, Buddhism, and can be seen by their plentiful Wats or temples through out the country.  Architecture has a French as well as Laotian influence […]

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