Itinerary
Information updated 7th August 2006.
Gourmet Tour Information
Our 18 day tour Visiting Lucknow, Kanpur, Khajuraho, Varanassi, Delhi, Darjeeling, Bagdogra, Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bangalore. And a must for all curryholics ... a unique 7 day extension to the land of the UK curry restaurateurs ... Bangladesh visiting Chitagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Himchari Teknaf, Sylhet, Mouli Bazaar, Srimongal and Dhaka.
Route/ Destinations
I have a had a strong demand from a number of people who have been on my Gourmet Tours to India in the past. Some have been twice before and they want to go to Indian destinations they may not have been to before. Thus the routing is unusual, and we will go to destinations which are not in very heavy tourist demand, so the tour is likely to be a one-off.
Date
I hope the Tour can depart in late October early November 2007, but it all depends on current hotel bookings and flight connections. Departure should not be later than February 2008.
Flights
Economy. Upgrades can be priced and are subject to availabilty.
Hotels
I have specified the best hotel in each destination, and they are mostly Taj hotels.
More info on www.tajhotels.com
Rooms
Standard rooms based on two people sharing.
Upgrades can be priced and are subject to availabilty.
Singles welcomed. Single Room supplement.
Meals
The plan is full cooked breakfast and dinner each day. On one or two occasions, (e.g. long coach travel days) a set lunch will also be provided (eg: see days 4 & 9).
As to the content of each dinner, I will consult in advance with all the exec chefs at each hotel we visit to advise them what is needed. It will be a set meal concentrating on regional specialites. This is never a standard hotel buffet nor is it often a la carte. This will not always be possible, but we will always try to get the best from the chefs.
Chef Cooking Demonstrations
This is a special requirement for my tours, and is not a normal hotel activity. Naturally there is a charge from the hotel for this – it is a lot of work for the demonstrating chef(s) and relies on their goodwill and it needs a private room (or gardens) to operate in. But it is the essence of the Tour and I have always found that chefs and hotel managements like doing it.
Coaches
Please be aware that Indian coaches are not of the standard that we get. But we are specifying air-conditioned coaches of best quality. Suppies of bottled water to be on board on long journeys.
Accompanying Personnel
Dominique and Pat Chapman (Tour Leaders) will be on the tour with you, meeting up in Lucknow on your arrival there. We will have a full-time experienced Tour Manager with us the whole way through our Indian tour and a Bangladeshi Tour Manager with us in Bangladesh. The Tour Manager’s duties will be to ensure smooth running by managing the welfare of the group. This includes greeting on arrival into India, sorting out arrivals/ departures at hotels, luggage counts on arrivals / departures, liasing with local agents, ensuring prompt arrivals of coaches and local guides, departures at airports, dealing with minor group member queries and problems and all such matters.
Without these duties, Pat and Dominique will have more time to socialise and to manage the culinary aspects of the tour. Communications are of the essence, and to ensure that everyone is in the day-to-day picture, we will hold brief regular meetings throughout the tour. This is mainly a social opportunity, where Pat will expand on the immediate day(s) activities and gourmet aspects. It also enables the group to have the right forum to tell us and the Tour Manager their views, enabling us to deal with matters arising if appropriate.
Local Guides
English-speaking local guides will be employed for all sightseeing outings. All costs of admissions, etc. are included in the overall price.
Included in the price
Economy flights, accommodation in twin/double rooms with bathroom; full breakfast and dinner, lunches where stated, chef demos, coaches for transfers and sightseeing, local Guide, Tour Manager, Pat and Dominique Chapman Tour Leading.
Not included in the price
Items of a personal nature; phonecalls, laundry, room service breakfasts; room service drinks, mini bar (including bottled water, beverages, gratuities, airport taxes, visas, holiday insurance.
Our Special Gourmet Tour to the Subcontinent Provisional Itinerary
Departure Date Oct or Nov 2007. Exact date tba.
This is being booked and priced right now.
Some details may change to fit to Autumn 2007 flight schedules, etc, but the essence of the tour will remain the same.
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Thursday ~ London to Delhi
Evening BA flight to Delhi arrives early Friday
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Friday ~ Delhi to Lucknow
Group met by Tour Manager at Delhi international for transfer to Delhi Domestic terminal for transfer to morning flight to Lucknow.
Taj Residency Hotel (Stay 2 nights).
We advise you to sleep for three or four hours then get up, so to be sure you do get up, we invite you to a party at 1730.
Pat and Dominique look forward to meeting and greeting you at their welcoming Cocktail and Kebab party, (chat and chaat) during which Pat presents his fast-moving slide-show (as shown on the QE2) about the history of Indian food, and a pictorial resumé of our exciting tour to come.
Dinner: At hotel
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Saturday ~ Lucknow
am: Coach and local guide for Sightseeing.
Afternoon: at leisure.
Dinner: at Hotel’s Oudhyana Restaurant.
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Sunday ~ Lucknow to via Kanpur to Khajuraho
am: Coach to Kanpur. Sightseeing then early lunch at Hotel Landmark, Kanpur (set lunch included in overall price).
Coach onwards to Khajuraho (further 160km). A long trip but it is the best way nto see India. Comfort breaks en-route.
Taj Hotel Chandela. (1 night)
Dinner: at the hotel.
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Monday ~ Khajuraho and Varanassi
am: Coach and local guide Sightseeing Khajuraho temples and onwards for transfer to airport for afternoon flight to Varanassi.
Taj Ganges Hotel, Varanassi (Stay 2 nights).
Dinner: at hotel
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Tuesday ~ Varanassi
Early rise to view dawn ghats.
return to hotel for breakfast.
then: Sightseeing in town.
afternoon: at leisure or optional coach trip to surrounding area.
Dinner: at hotel.
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Weds ~ Varanasi to Delhi
Morning at leisure. Or coach available for shopping etc in Varanassi.
Coach transfer to airport for 4pm flight to Delhi.
Taj Mahal Mansingh Hotel (Stay 2 nights).
Dinner: At the hotel’s Haveli’ restaurant.
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Thursday ~ Delhi
am: Sightseeing: New Delhi.
c1300 Return to hotel.
pm: Sightseeing Old Delhi.
Cooking Demo: by Chef Director Arvind Saraswat and Chef Irshad Ahmed Qureshi about the dinner they have cooked.
Their special dinner follows.
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Friday ~ Delhi to Darjeeling via Bagdogra
Mid morning flight to Bagdogra.
Coach transfer from airport to hotel (about 55 miles).
A set lunch will be provided and included in overall price).
Timings permitted a short journey on the celebrated two-foot gauge ‘Toy-Train’.
Fortune Resort Hotel. Darajeeling (Stay 3 nights).
Dinner: at the hotel restaurant.
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Saturday ~ Darjeeling
early am: Dawn trip to Tiger Hill and Ghoom monastry.
Return to hotel for breakfast.
Later: Sightseeing Darjeeling.
Dinner: Coach to and from Sinclair’s Kanchenjunga Restaurant.
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Sunday ~ Darjeeling
Sunday is the group’s day of rest, but you may need an outing. We are working on it!
Dinner: At hotel.
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Monday ~ Darjeeling via Bagdogra to Calcutta (Kolkata)
am: Coach to Bagdogra airport (c 55 miles).
Afternoon flight to Calcutta.
Taj Bengal Hotel (Stay 2 nights)
Dinner: At the Hotel’s Sonargaon Restaurant.
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Tuesday ~ Calcutta
am: Sightseeing.
afternoon: At leisure.
Evening: Cooking Demonstration of Bengali Food by Exec Chef and his brigade, followed by the dinner they have cooked.
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Wednesday Calcutta to Hyderabad
Mid morning flight to Hyderabad.
Taj Krishna Hotel (Stay 2 nights).
Afternoon: Coach for shopping trip.
Dinner: at Hotel’s Firdaus Restaurant.
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Thursday ~ Hyderabad / Secunderabad
am: Sighteeing.
Afternoon: At leisure (but, no promises, we are attempting to lay on a visit to somewhere special).
Dinner: Short coach ride to Taj Banjara Hotel’s Kebab-E-Bahar Restaurant.
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Friday ~ Hyderabad to Bangalore
Morning flight to Bangalore.
Taj West End Hotel (Stay 2 nights).
Afternoon: Coach for Shopping Trip.
Dinner: at Karavali Restaurant (Taj Residency) for Karnatakan food.
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Saturday ~ Bangalore
Morning: Sightseeing.
Afternoon: Coach and local guide to/from Grover Winery and vineyard estate (c 40 miles from city). This to be confirmed.
Dinner: at Hotel’s Blue Ginger, India’s only Vietmanese.
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Sunday ~ Bangalore to Heathrow
Hotel rooms retained.
Coach for international check-in for early morning BA non-stop flight to Heathrow.
EXTENSION TO BANGLADESH
We hope you will choose to stay on for a few days more. In fact we are leaving India and making a unique and rare tourist trip to Bangladesh. Most of the standard curry houses in the UK are owned by Bangladeshis and nearly all of those serve standard formula curries, ranging from mild to very hot, bearing absolutely no realtionship to real authentic Bangladeshi food. Bangladesh suffers from many misconceptions. One is that it is perpetually flooded. True the heavy July to August monsoons do cause floods every year, but it is not everywhere. By the time we go, it will be the best time of year for weather.
Another is about poverty. Yes, Bangladesh has extreme poverty, as does India, but like India it is an exporter of food stuffs, and only rarely an importer. There is nothing to see in Bangladesh. Untrue. Its history is one of the subcontinents longest. Relatively recently the Moghuls were in occupation, and they leaft behind palaces and forts. Hotels are as good as it gets in Dhakka, and whilst not at the same level elsewhere, service efficiency and cuisine is good. Decor may not be ‘state-of-the-art’, it is perfectly safe and sound. Scenically it cannot be bettered, with wonderful tea plantaions contrating with the longest sandy beach in the world. What is outstanding is the fact that tourists simply do not put Bangladesh on their wish-list. You won’t find it in any glossy holiday company brochure.
Yet there is a small tourist industry which caters for domestic tourists. Not all Bangladeshis are impoverished. Some quite pleasant hotels and motels are government-owned and run under the brand-name Parjatan. There is also an independent sector, and we will be under the wing of one of Bangladesh’s most influenetial hoteliers and travel operators , Mr H.M.Hakin Ali, CEO and shareholder, Agrabad Hotel Chittagong, a good friend of mine from years back.
We have a number of real friends in Bangladesh. Captain A. Ekram, general manager Dhaka airport, Abdul Kalam, Sales Manager and Senior Sous Chef Dominic Gomes (son of Exec Chef Albert Gomes, Bangladesh’s most celebrated chef) all from Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka, Sheik Faruque, owner Polash Hotel, Sylhet, Muquim Ahmed, owner Café Naz Group and Chairman British Bangladeshi Chamber of Commerce. Our restaurateur friends all of are numerous, with special mentions of frienships which go back many years. Wali Udin J.P., Edinburgh; Lodue Miah, Liss; Abdur Rouf, St Andrews; Bajloor Rashid, Ashford Kent; and Syed Ahmed, Hook, all of whom I have been in Bangladesh with. Some or all are likely to come if they know we will be there, and they and many others will ensure our hospitality will be outstanding.
We will visit the following destinations: Chitagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Himchari Teknaf, Sylhet, Mouli Bazaar, Srimongal and Dhaka.
Extension to Bangladesh ~ Provisional Itinerary
Please note: This can be taken as an extension to the main itinerary or as a holiday on its own.
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Sunday ~ Bangalore to Chitagong via Calcutta
Hotel rooms retained.
Early start for flight to Calcutta.
Breakfast and brief rest will be provided in Calcutta.
Onwards midday flight to Chitagong.
Hotel Agrabad (Stay 1 night) www.hotel_agrabad.com
pm: Coach and local guide for Sightseeing: Chitagong.
Dinner: Bangladeshi Cooking Demonstration at hotel (rooftop?) followed by dinner.
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Monday ~ Chitagong to Cox’s Bazaar
Coach and local guide for drive 150km to Cox’s Bazaar.
Seagull Hotel (Stay 1 night).
Afternoon: Coach and local guide for sightseeing.
Dinner: at Seagul hotel’s Niharika roof-top restaurant.
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Tuesday ~ Cox’s Bazaar to Sylhet
Mid morning flight to Dhaka.
Coach for transfer to restaurant nearby for lunch (set lunch included in overall price).and transfer back to airport for afternoon flight to Shylet.
Hotel either Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Hotel (2 nights) near Sylhet airport, or Polash (in town) or at a new development being built in a tea plantation, if ready.
Dinner: at hotel or tba. If pos: dance by Monipur tribal maidens.
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Wednesday ~ Sylhet
Coach for Day trip to Mouli Bazaar and Srimongal, and return to Sylhet.
Gala Dinner: Our British Bangladeshi Sylhetti friends plan to host it.
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Thursday ~ Sylhet and Dhaka
Coach for transfer to airport for mid-morning flight to Dhaka.
Pan-Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. www.pamnpac.com
Afternoon: Sightseeing.
Dinner: Cooking Demonstration at hotel by Bangladesh’s foremost chef Albert Gomes (if we can pursuade him out of retirement, or his son Dominic) followed by Dinner at hotel’s Jharna restaurant.
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Friday ~ Dhaka
Morning: Coach and local guide for Ahsan Manzil Museum.
or Shopping Trip for Jamdani saris, the jade and ruby centre and pearls.
c 1300: Return to Hotel.
Afternoon: Coach for Sightseeing.
Motijheel Commercial Area, the Diplomatic area then onto Baridhara & Gulshan, for hosting by Abdur Rouf (owner Balaka restaurants Dundee and St Andrews) at his Holiday Village in Baridhara.
Dinner: Hosted by Abdur Rouf.
Coach return group to hotel.
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Saturday ~ Dhaka to London
Coach for early check in at airport for British Airways non-stop flight to Heathrow
Our Special Gourmet Tour to the Subcontinent
Price per person:
We will have this information hopefully by end August 2006.
Information updated 7th August 2006.
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