Itinerary for the January tour

The itinerary is almost complete. Here is the latest on the trip with web links for all hotels as the schedule currently stands.

January 2nd: arrive Mumbai, drive to lower Mumbai and check into Taj President Hotel in Colaba.
http://www.tajhotels.com/Business/Taj%20President%20Hotel,MUMBAI/default.htm
January 3/4, tour Mumbai visiting architectural heritage sites, among them:
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus- the most exuberant Gothic building in the city. Even though it is a train station, it has more the look of a lavishly decorated cathedral or palace. It was built in 1887, and was designed to be the headquarters of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company.
Crawford Market - colourful indoor market, called also Phule Market, is reminiscent of the times of British Bombay - before the boom of the central bazaars.
In Mumbai we will benefit by the guidance of several local design professionals, from Indian Institute of Technology and other design institutes and private offices.

January 5: Early departure to Pune. The city of Pune has become one of the centers of design in India.
http://punedesignfest.blogspot.com/
In Pune we will have a symposium on design with members of the Pune Design Association, arranged by Sudhir Sharma, Elephant Design, http://www.elephantdesign.com
We will stay in Pune at Symbiosis Design Institute, http://www.symbiosisdesign.ac.in/
In the evening we'll have a dinner with design professionals and students and be treated to some Indian Classical music, which Pune is famous for.

January 6: Morning tour of old Pune with architectural historian, Ms Darpana Athale, then taking car to Mumbai airport for evening flight to Jaipur; Jet Airways #371, departing 5:55, arriving Jaipur 7:30 pm.
In Jaipur we'll be picked up at airport by our driver Sanjay. We're staying at Mandawa Haveli (a haveli is a small 'in-town' palace for the wealthy of India from back in the day).
http://www.castlemandawa.com/mandawahaveli_intro.shtml

January 7/8 tour sites of Jaipur and meet with faculty and students of Rajasthan Craft Institute. We hope to tour a papermaking facility, a block printer of textiles, among other local craftspeople. In Jaipur we'll visit the Amber Fort, The Palace of the Winds, and the magnificent Jantar Mantar Observatory.

January 9: early morning departure to Tilonia, home of the Barefoot College
http://www.barefootcollege.org/
Late on the 9th we'll drive to Ajmer to catch the overnight train to Ahmedabad. The train departs around 10 pm and arrives around 7.30 am.

January 10th: Ahmedabad. We are staying at the Cama Hotel
http://www.camahotelsindia.com/
The Cama is a wonderful location in the old city of Ahmedabad.
Ahmedabad is home to the National Institute of Design (NID) and we have two NID students traveling with us, Priyanka Singh and Sagarika Sundaram. It is also where I have taught 3 times and spent my Fulbright. In Ahmedabad we will visit the following places: The Calico Museum of Textiles, The Gandhi Ashram (where we'll purchase their handmade papers), a traditional textile printer, a marvelous and unique all-organic store for food and housewares (run by two Jain brothers), several new design entrepeneurial endeavors in clothing and housewares, and some contemporary architectural masterpieces by Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. We will spend ample time wandering the lanes of the old city, and we'll see the mind-blowing Sunday Market.
On Monday, January 14th, we'll celebrate Uttarayan with the rest of the city, better known as Kite Day when the entire city goes to the rooftops and fights the kites of their neighbors. An incredible send-off as we depart for the airport that evening to return to the US.

Posted on November 5, 2007.