Taj Mahal (Wikepedia image)

I am so excited!  India has been on my wish list for a long time.  I am hoping to get “THE shot” of the Taj Mahal.  You know, the one you see on all the travel brochures.

This particular tour includes an extension to Nepal for a few days.

We will be flying to New Delhi in early March, several days before our Gate 1 tour begins so that we can experience the Holi Festival (also known as the Festival of Colors or Spring Festival).  This colorful event sounds like a combination of Mardi Gras, Carnival and a good old-fashioned water fight with a rainbow of colors mixed in.  To see a short clip of what we are getting ourselves into click here.

Holi Festival -photo credit newhdwallpapers.in

The tour itself will do the triangle – New Delhi, Jaipur and Agra which allows us to visit several UNESCO World Heritage sites, the famed Pink City, take an elephant ride to the Amber Fort, visit the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort.

From there we will take a train to Jhansi, then bus to Khajuraho with sightseeing stops along the way.  Flying on to Varanasi where our Ganges River events take place.  We will take a boat ride at dawn on the Ganges River and have signed up for an optional evening Sacred Prayer Ceremony also on the river.

Another flight will take us on to Kathmandu, Nepal for three days where the highlight will include a visit to Durbar Square, another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We plan on staying on in Europe when the tour ends.  Now we just have to decide where we want to go from there…