Overview of the January 2014 India Pilgrimage
This map (click on it for a better view – red = air, green = car, blue = train) shows a high-level overview of where Randy and I will be traveling in January 2014 (along with our friend Ravi Verma, for the first week and a half or so).
Sun 12/29 to Fri 1/3
We start with the better part of a week in Mumbai (Bombay), which is Ravi’s home so he has lots for us to see and do and friends to meet and a New Year’s Eve Party to go to. We’re staying at the Grand Residency Hotel.
Fri 1/3 to Mon 1/6
Then we fly to Tirucharippalli and spend 3 nights at the Saccidananda Ashram founded by Bede Griffiths in Kulithali.
Mon 1/6 to Fri 1/10
From there, Ravi returns to Mumbai and Randy and I fly to Thiruvananthapuram and then off to the Lighthouse Beach in Kovalam for 4 days of sun and surf. Staying at the Sea Face Hotel.
Fri 1/10 to Fri 1/17
Then it’s a flight to Delhi (3 nights, 1/10 to 1/13 – we’re at the Park Hotel) where we spend 7 days doing “The Golden Triangle” of Delhi, Agra (where the Taj Mahal is – 1 night, 1/13 to 1/14 – at the Mansingh Palace) and Jaipur (city of pink palaces and hilltop forts – 2 nights, 1/14 to 1/16 – we’re at the Jai Mahal Palace) and then back to Delhi (at the Park Hotel, again). We’ll have a car and driver for this part.
Fri 1/17 to Sat 1/18
From Delhi we take the train up to Haridwar (a holy city – translation: Gateway to God), which is where the Ganges River flows out of the mountains and meets the great plain – a site where pilgrims bathe in the Ganges to wash away their sins at Har ki Pauri and every evening at the Ganga Aarti lamps floating on lotus leaves are released into the river. Just one night here at Haveli Hari Ganga, then a taxi (or something) up into the foothills of the Himalayas to…
Sat 1/18 to Wed 1/22
Rishikesh, another holy city on the Ganges, where we stay at Sadhaka Grama Ashram for 4 nights – and hope to take a day trip further up into the foothills to the Kanja Puri Temple where we can get a better view of the Himalayas.
Wed 1/22 to Thu 1/23
Then train back to Delhi (at the Park Hotel, again) where we spend one more night before our flight home via Heathrow (where we have an overnight layover and may get into London briefly). Home on the 24th.