Amaco Small Group Tours in partnership with Glyyn Lavender from Creative Photo Workshops invites you to join our Photographic Tour to India departing in November 2024.
Travel opens up so many incredible possibilities for great photography and we have carefully designed a fully escorted travel experience allowing participants to journey effortlessly through vibrant India – capturing all the colour, sights and sounds of this wonderful country.
The itinerary begins in Delhi, a cacophony of modern India but embedded amongst this metropolis is an India that will enthral and delight you with its narrow lanes and iconic historic sites and a million (or 10) incredible faces.
You’ll then journey to Varanasi, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, to photograph pilgrims as they wash away their sins in the waters of the mighty Ganges River. Varanasi is a place that changes you, inspires you and will draw you back.
Jodphur is next on the itinerary. It’s famous for the distinctive colour of its buildings, a reminder of the Brahmins, who used to paint their houses blue to deter insects and keep the dwellings cool during the summer. Founded in 1459, the old city is encircled by an imposing wall and accessed through eight magnificent gates. A broad, open street connects Jodhpur’s modern centre with the bustling heart of the old city, the Sardar Market, where a hubbub of bustling bazaars is tucked beneath the landmark clock tower.
The Pushkar Camel Fair is the next destination on your remarkable itinerary and is so much more than the camel and cattle trading that takes place. It is an opportunity for you to witness spiritual rituals and experience the unique culture of the Rajasthani people. The ‘matka phod’ – longest moustache and bridal competition are site to be seen!
The penultimate stop on this Indian itinerary is the beautiful city of Jaipur – a fascinating mix of ancient forts, royal palaces and vibrant bazaars. At the heart of Jaipur is the historical old city, surrounded by huge fortification walls and entered through eight towering gates. Wide avenues packed with camel carts, cycle-rickshaws and wandering cows divide the old city into neat rectangles, each one specialising in a different type of Rajasthan’s renowned handicrafts. Timeless bazaars are crammed with colourful textiles, beautiful pottery and the region’s famed jewellery.
No visit to India is complete without seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra – designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983. A complex mausoleum, the Taj Mahal is often considered to be the world’s best example of Mughal architecture and is stunning no matter what direction you’re viewing it from.
With this photo tour all the hard work is taken care of for you.
You can just relax and concentrate on the important things – getting great photos and having an amazing time.
With locally sourced knowledge, professional tour operator organisers and a guiding hand from your pro photographer Glynn Lavender it has never been easier to capture THE SHOT!
This tour is perfect for beginners through to experienced photographers. You’ll learn skills and techniqes along the way to ensure you get the shots you are after. Camera gear is dependent upon the tour you go on and you’ll be given lots of information and direction on this front as well.
Spending time with like-minded people who ‘get’ your passion for photography is wonderful. You’ll not only come home from the tour with amazing images but new friends as well.
The India Photographic Tour Travel Package includes all accommodation, all the entrance fees and touring costs, and all meals. On top of that, we’ve also incorporated many specially arranged activities not available to the general public.
We certainly hope you can join us as we travel through India in November 2024.
Register today or risk missing out – the group is limited to no more than 8 people.
* All photos relating to the India Photo Tour 2024 on this site are copyright to Glynn Lavender
Do not hesitate to give us a call. One of our expert team is available and would be happy to answer any questions you have.
1300 668 149 or +61 3 9545 0906
2nd November 2024 @ 7:00pm
14th November 2024 @ 7:00pm
Starts: Delhi, India
Ends: Delhi, India
Photographic Tour Travel Package: $8,995 pp
Single Supplement (if traveling alone): $2,645
On arrival at Delhi Airport, you will be met by Amaco’s local representatives and transferred to our group hotel – the beautiful Le Meridien Hotel Delhi.
Following check-in at the hotel, you’ll be transferred to the Lodi Gardens. Spread over 90 acres, it contains Mohammed Shah’s Tomb, Tomb of Sikandar Lodi, Shisha Gumbad, Bara Gumbad, architectural works of the 15th century by Lodis – who ruled parts of northern India.
In the evening you will enjoy a Welcome Dinner back at the hotel. It’s a great opportunity to meet your fellow participants, possibly renew old friendships, and start new ones.
Overnight: Le Meridien Hotel Delhi
Included Meals: Welcome Networking Dinner
After breakfast at the hotel, transfer by vehicle to India Gate. At 42 metres high, it is counted among the largest war memorials in India. Built in 1921, it was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, a leading war memorial designer at that time. The names of all the soldiers who were martyred during World War I and the Afghan War are scripted on the walls of India Gate.
Then transfer to Humayun’s Tomb. Constructed in 1570, it is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal. Elements in its design – a squat building, high arched entrances that let in light, topped by a bulbous dome and surrounded by formal gardens.
You’ll then visit Agrasen ki Baoli (the Stepwell) – this stepwell with 108 steps is located in the heart of city and it is among a few of its kind in Delhi. The visible parts of this historical step well consist of three levels. Each level is lined with arched niches on both sides.
Lunch will be served at Veda Restaurant (Indian cuisine) after which you’ll visit Qutub Minar – the tallest minaret in the world made up of bricks. The minaret forms a part of the Qutab complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site monument. You’ll also visit Nizzamudin Dargarh (if time permits), and Jantar Mantar – consisting of 13 architectural astronomy instruments. The site is one of five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur in 1724. The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon, and planets.
Depart by vehicle for Dinner at Lazeez Affaire restaurant (Indian cuisine).
Overnight: Le Meridien Hotel Delhi
Included Meals: Dinner
Early morning tea & coffee will be served after which you’ll be transferred to the Yamuna Ghat for a Sunrise visit by boat (Subject to water level and water quality).
Return to the hotel for breakfast and a quick refresh.
Your tour of Old Delhi follows. Visit the Red Fort from outside, before enjoying a walking tour of old Delhi in narrow lanes spice market. Proceed for a cycle rickshaw ride in the narrow lanes.
Lunch at Dharampura Haveli in Old Delhi.
Following lunch, visit the Jama Mosque – Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Jama Masjid between 1644 and 1656. The mosque was completed in 1656 AD. About 25,000 people can pray in the courtyard at a time and it is sometimes regarded as India’s largest mosque.
You’ll also visit Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, one of the prominent Sikh pilgrimage centres in Delhi. It is easily recognised by its golden dome with a sculpted bronze cupola and also a tall flagpole called as Nishan Sahib. People from various religions, castes and places visit this holy place. (Note – photography is not allowed inside the temple).
Dinner at the restaurant of hotel.
Overnight: Le Meridien Hotel Delhi
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast at the hotel, check out and transfer to Delhi Airport.
10:40am – depart on Air India flight AI406 to Varanasi (15kg per person baggage allowance applies).
Arrive Varanasi at 12:00pm and transfer to the hotel. Enroute, stop at village & brick making factory.
Continue to the hotel and proceed for lunch followed by check-in. You then have some free time.
Late afternoon you’ll be transferred to the river bank (Ghat). Arrive and transfer by cycle rickshaw and then walk to our photographic position.
Once sunset begins, you’ll have the chance to witness the evening aarti ceremony by boat.
Return to the hotel for dinner.
Overnight: Radisson Varanasi
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Proceed for an exclusive boat ride on the River Ganges. Sunrise at the holy river is truly a tranquil and breathtaking sight with pilgrims standing waist-deep in water, praying to the rising sun.
After the boat ride, walk through the myriad of narrow lanes in the old city, past the many ancient temples, shrines and little shops.
Visit the Kushti (Wrestlers) centre and then return to the hotel for breakfast.
After some free time, depart by coach for the excursion to Sarnath – which is one of the four most important Buddhist pilgrimage centres of India. After achieving enlightenment at Bodhgaya, Buddha, the ‘Awakened One’, delivered his first sermon here.
Return to hotel for lunch and some more free time.
Evening Dinner at the hotel.
Overnight: Radisson Varanasi
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Very early start today… with a 4:00am departure and packed breakfast from the hotel and transfer to Varanasi Airport.
Depart on Indigo flight to Jodhpur via Delhi at 6:35am (again 15kg baggage allowance applies).
Arrive 12:00pm and transfer to the hotel for check-in and buffet lunch.
Late afternoon begin your walking tour of the Blue Alleys of the Old City. Walking tour in Sadar Bazar Market – voted one of the 100 best markets in the world by Condé Nast Traveller –a popular landmark in Jodhpur with its Clock Tower. Sadar Bazaar is a treasure trove for shoppers and is full of interesting characters. It is in the heart of the old city and has a fascinating cluster of shops selling silver jewellery, lacquer bangles, and clay figurines.
You may choose to ramble whilst relishing its quirkiness.
Dinner at the rooftop restaurant of Hotel Pal Haveli overlooking the Mehrabgarh Fort.
Return by coach to the hotel.
Overnight: Ratan Vilas Jodhpur
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast at the hotel, transfer by Jeep for a visit to Bishnoi Village. Drive through the various tribal villages of the “Bishnois”, who are well known lovers of nature and staunch environmentalists.
All Bishnois believe in the sanctity of animal and plant life as laid down by the 15th century Guru Jambeshwar in the form of 29 basic tenets, hence BIS (twenty) and NOI (nine). They further believe their ancestors are reincarnated as deer, so there are usually herds of deer found near Bishnoi villages during the tour. Also witness the weaving and pottery making.
Have tea with smiling Bishnoi tribes’ woman, brightly clad, heavy bangles up the whole length of arms
and followed by lunch with a local family in the village.
Return to Jodhpur in the afternoon where you’ll do another walking tour in the Blue Alleys of the Old City.
Return to the hotel for dinner.
Overnight: Overnight: Ratan Vilas Jodhpur
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast at the hotel, check out and head for Jaswant Thada, which was built in the memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, in the 19th century. This cenotaph is a royal mausoleum and a classic
example of the Rajputana style of architecture. Its impeccable design and architecture is symbolic of the fine craftsmanship of the bygone era.
After the visit proceed to the Mehrangarh Fort which was built in the 15th century by Rao Jodha and is located at the centre of the city on top of a high hill. It features some of the finest palaces and preserves many priceless relics of Indian courtly life. The fort and the various buildings inside were built over 500
years ago, vary in architectural style, and are quite fascinating to see the buildings from different periods existing side by side.
Descend the fort on foot and pass through the narrow street and lunch with the local family.
Following lunch, transfer by vehicle to Pushkar (allow 5 hours). On arrival Pushkar, you’ll check-in to the hotel and then walk the short distance to the town to familiarise yourself with the location.
Return to the hotel for dinner.
Overnight: Puskar Palace
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Early morning Sunrise at Pushkar camel fair.
Return to the hotel for Breakfast.
Free time from Breakfast until Lunch which will be served at the hotel.
Return to Pushkar Camel Fair mid-afternoon and enjoy the sunset at Camel Fair.
Following the evening shoot, return to the hotel for dinner.
Overnight: Puskar Palace
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Early morning Sunrise at Pushkar camel fair.
Return to the hotel for Breakfast.
Free time from Breakfast until Lunch which will be served at the hotel.
Return to Pushkar Camel Fair mid-afternoon and enjoy the sunset at Camel Fair.
Following the evening shoot, return to the hotel for dinner.
Overnight: Puskar Palace
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
You’ll have your final sunrise at Pushkar camel fair today before returning to the hotel for breakfast.
Check out and transfer by vehicle to Jaipur (allow 3 hours).
Arrive in Jaipur and proceed for lunch in the restaurant of hotel.
Following lunch, head to Patrika Gate. You’ll also walk in the local market and visit Hawa Mahal which was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. Hawa Mahal or Palace of Wind was essentially a high screen wall built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals while unseen from the outside. The main highlight of Hawa Mahal is its pyramid shape and its 953 windows or
‘Jharokhas’ which are decorated with intricate designs.
You’ll have some free time in the local market to do some shopping for yourself and your friends and family back home.
Dinner at the hotel.
Overnight: Samode Haveli
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Check out of the hotel following breakfast and transfer to Agra (allow 4 hours)
Lunch will be served at Laxmi Vilas Palace in Bharatpur following which you’ll head to Fatehpur Sikre – listed amongst the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fatehpur Sikri is one of the best-preserved examples of Mughal architecture in India. Some of the must-visit monuments in Fatehpur Sikri include: Buland Darwaza, Diwan-i-Khas- Hall, Panch Mahal, Tomb of Salim Chisti, the Palace of Jodha Bai and Diwan-i-Aam.
You’ll then continue to Agra – a journey of around 1 hour and head straight to the Taj Mahal for a sunset photo shoot.
Check-in at the hotel with some free time before dinner at the Indian specialty restaurant “Peshawri” located at the ITC Mughal Hotel.
Overnight: Taj View Hotel
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Proceed for Sunrise visit of Taj Mahal.
Return to the hotel for breakfast after which you’ll check out and depart for Agra Fort – another UNESCO World Heritage site. It is also known as the Red Fort of Agra. This former imperial residence of the Mughal Dynasty is described as a walled palatial city. There are a number of exquisite buildings like Moti Masjid, Diwan-E-Am, Diwan-EKhaas, Musamman Burj, Jahangir’s Palace, Khaas Mahal and Sheesh Mahal to be visited.
Lunch will be served at a local hotel or restaurant.
Afternoon transfer from Agra to Delhi – allow approx. 4 hours.
Arrive Delhi where we’ve arranged rooms at a hotel near the airport for you to wash and change.
You’l be transferred to the airport for your onward flight.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Given everything that has happened in the travel industry of late – you’re correct to be vigilant about where you spend your travel dollar.
Amaco is not only a member of ATIA (the Australian Travel Industry Association) and CATO (Council of Australian Tour Operators) but we are also ATAS Travel Accredited. This means we have met strict industry financial, operational, and management standards and criteria. Only the best industry agents achieve this accreditation meaning that you can travel with us knowing that you’re in safe and very capable hands.
With almost 30 years’ of experience in planning and running conferences, we understand that participants often want to add additional travel destinations and adventures either before or after the small group tours we run.
Other operators might discourage you from doing this. Sometimes, it’s because of the added complexity it creates and at other times they’ll try to talk you out of it simply because they don’t have capable or experienced consultants with the breadth and depth of the advisors we employ.
We encourage all participants to make the most of their time away. This might mean departing earlier than the rest of the group and visiting other destinations before meeting up with the main group on the tour or staying on at the conclusion and doing some additional travel.
Either way – our advisors are perfectly positioned to assist you with making these arrangements and will do all the hard work for you – seamlessly combining your personalised itinerary with the group program.
Yes… not a problem. We understand that people may have a preferred Travel Agent they want to use and we don’t have any issues with you doing so. We’ll advise you of suggested arrival and departure times to allow you to make use of our group transfers.
That said though… we do have experienced consultants who are ready and waiting to help… even if that means just giving you a comparison price – nothing wrong with some competition.
If you do book your own flights, we do ask for a copy of your full itinerary so that we can double-check it to ensure that it fits with our program and group itinerary.
One word of warning, however, when booking flights independently – as the non-ticketing Agent we’re not notified of any time changes or cancellations to your booking. If anything changes with your booking, it will be up to your agent to contact you and then for you to contact us.
It is also worth pointing out that even though we’ll have experienced staff members escorting the group during the conference, as the non-ticketing Agent we are unable to make contact or deal with the airline on your behalf.
We used to include flights in our travel package but found that in many cases the fares were more expensive than the best available daily fares or were not applicable for people who were looking to extend before or after the main conference travel dates.
We also felt it was unfair on you, as a participant, to unknowingly pay a premium for a more flexible group fare when you are already committed to attending the conference.
By not including the airfare in the package, you are able to work with one of our experienced and knowledgeable Travel Consultants to arrange flights on any airline and from any destination depending on your preferences…. including the class of travel.
In short….. Yes!
You’re encouraged to talk to our experienced travel advisors to learn more about the options open to you either before or after the photo tour itinerary. We will gladly work with you to put together a personalised itinerary that can include as much or as little as you want.
We believe it is important for your own peace of mind to know that our advisors are all employed directly by Amaco Small Group Tours and are located in our office.
We don’t subcontract out the travel to a third party which means you can be comfortable knowing that whatever arrangements you make through Amaco will be tied together with the conference program to make one continuous, seamless travel itinerary. We’ll put as much care and effort into your extension as we put into the planning of the conference.
Whether it is simply booking some airport transfers with a couple of nights accommodation through to more elaborate arrangements we are perfectly positioned to incorporate any individual travel plans into your overall itinerary.
Email or call us so we can put together your perfect itinerary.
Much has been said about the value of travel insurance – especially given the broad-based exclusion policies many underwriters had in place which protected them from claims resulting from pandemics and epidemics.
A lot has changed in the past 12 – 18 months and many of the reputable travel insurance policies available in the market now not only include the usual cover for luggage and emergency medical expenses but also include coverage for COVID.
All members of the Amaco team are trained and authorised to provide information to clients regarding travel insurance. We routinely attend product updates on the various policy options and inclusions and stand ready to assist you in finding the right policy for you.
Please call our office and we will gladly explain the various different scenarios to you in greater depth.
