[Kipling India Travels (KI) is a subsidiary of Explore Himalaya (EH). KI specializes in operating unique tours with class and comfort throughout India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Some of the special tours being operated regularly by KI are culinary tours, Snow Leopard Tour, Birding Tour etc. In this series, we are writing about these tours to share the unique experiences had by KI clients to EH travelers so that our travelers will know, consider, or maybe plan for the next holiday. ]  

 In October 2015, Kipling India had its “all-lady” group of six members from the US and Canada. As it was the first time ever for both Kipling India and the visitors, the excitement was at par for both. The trip was a mix of culture, history and spiritual beauty while indulging the palate with exotic Food and drink where the bustling populous land and its vibrancy reveal the true essence of a culturally rich country. This unique trip began in Delhi, where the members prowled the alleys in bazaar in search of tantalizing street food, luncheoned at a traditional Haweli, and explored the old city in rickshaw before heading to the magical city of Jaipur, where the adventurous food walk was accompanied by the heritage tour of Amber Fort. After the trip, they headed to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, the wondrous architectural masterpiece and finally the whole tour culminated at Lucknow to experience the best of Awadhi cuisine before finally heading to Delhi. Since the tour is blend of cultural simplicity and culinary sophistication, no wonder, it is one of the best trips Kipling Travel has ever operated.

Outline Program:

Day 01 : Arrive Delhi.

Day 02 : Tour of the city with cooking class.

Day 03 : Food walk of Old Delhi.

Day 04 : Drive to Jaipur (280 kms/06 hrs). Evening food walk.

Day 05 : Tour of the city with cooking class.

Day 06 : Drive to Agra (250 kms/05 hrs) via FatepurSikri.

Day 07 : Visit Taj Mahal and Fort. Evening food walk.

Day 08 : Express train to Lucknow (05 hrs). Dinner of Awadhi cuisine.

Day 09 : Tour of the city with Culinary walk in the evening.

Day 10 :Tour of the city with cooking class.

Day 11 : Fly Delhi. Evening farewell dinner.

Day 12 : Depart Delhi for home.

Detailed Activities:

25 Oct: Upon their arrival in Delhi, they were greeted with warm welcome and then transferred to their hotel. At hotel the briefing session added real fuel to their excitement.

26 Oct: If you think today is the day of ruins, forts and statues, you’d be wrong! The tour started with food walk of Old Delhi, where the guests experienced heritage and bazaar walk, cycle rickshaw ride with some street food tasting followed by local home visit with traditional lunch in a Haveli (Old private mansion). Delhi is a city of fascinating contrasts where the old and new, cultural and contemporary, rural and urban, all blend harmoniously. Food walks in Old Delhi can be best enjoyed in its original setting, in noisy labyrinthine by lanes of Chawri Bazaar and Chandni Chowk. The dishes on can savor in Old Delhi are large, thick and juicy jalabis, Aloo Chaat (Crisp fried potato) dunked in a mélange of chutneys; varieties of stuffed paranthas (potato, onion, cottage cheese, cauliflower etc). For desserts one can try out the creamy, delicious phirni and Kulfi. Followed by city tour of New Delhi, the guests really enjoyed the visit to Sikh Temple (Bangla Sahab Gurudwara) to witness the Community kitchen and try their hands on making rotis (Chapatis).

27/28 Oct: After Delhi they departed to Jaipur, the Pink City and the Capital of Rajasthan, the city which has always fascinated visitors with its vibrant people, magnificent forts and food.  They spent two days in this magical city to experience the magnificent Amber Fort and amazing food walk. The walk gave them a fantastic experience of street food, colorful shops and plenty of photo opportunities. Compared to Delhi, Food walk in Jaipur is different for its much organized lanes and colorful shops. They visited LMB (Laxmi Mistan Bhandar) sweet shop, one of the oldest restaurants established in 1949. It is famous for its delicious snacks like Paneer Ghewar, Doodh Feeni, Rasmalai etc to name a few.

29 Oct: Today is the day when the guests had the opportunity to visit the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum that defines architectural grandeur and immortalized love. They left  just before sunrise to be the first in line to visit the Taj Mahal in the cool morning and in the best light. The best part at this time in the morning is there are so few tourists you practically have the Taj to yourself- No crowds to fight through and plenty of opportunities to take photos in the most dramatic lighting. The Taj experience was an incredibly moving experience to them. In the evening they proceeded for food walk in the busy non-touristy market where they indulged in some of Agra’s best local food and sweets including Petha, Kababs and Kulfi (Indian Ice cream).

30 Oct: They boarded the Shatabdi train early in the morning for a six hour comfortable ride to Lucknow, the city of the Nawabs which is  famous all over the world for its Tehzeeb, “the graceful etiquette”. It can very well termed as a city that has carved a niche by attracting gastronomes for the want of discovering and re – discovering the Awadhi Cuisine. Lucknow has a colony of chefs called “Bawarchi Tola”. In the evening guests were treated with Awadhi dinner. They had experienced the concept of food loyalty and the real taste of the original Tundey Kebabs, Raheem’s Nihari and Mobeen’s Pasanda Kebabs. Besides food tasting tours, they had an Awadhi cooking session with an expert at the place of a local host to give them a first-hand experience on the use of spices and method of making an authentic Indian Cuisine. The cooking workshop was followed by an orientation session.

31 Oct: On the last day we flew back to Delhi and in the evening we concluded our tour with an amazing farewell dinner at Indian Accent, the restaurant popular for showcasing inventive Indian cuisine by complementing the flavors and traditions of India with global ingredients and techniques. Indian Accent is the only award winning Indian restaurant to be featured in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017.

01 Nov: As it is said every good thing must come to an end, the concluding day of this eventful tour also came close. The guests bade final goodbye with lots of memories to cherish forever.

This tour made a simple traveler a sophisticated foodie who explored the culinary maze with closed eyes and let their taste buds do the rest! Kipling India’s Culinary tours stood out as it operated in small group rather than a bus full of strangers, with a local host that made them feel quite at home. The whole experience allowed them to be connected with trendy neighborhoods with smart cafés, bars, restaurants and interesting shops and boutiques. They also used the metro and auto rickshaws to zoom around these places with ease – just like a local. In the meantime, however, they didn’t miss the opportunity to focus major sites but in a whole interesting way. To sum up, the members had the experience of lifetime that feasts both their soul and palate! If you are also interested in experimenting your taste buds and being a member of the gastronome community in some of the finest cultural cities, the trip is the made for you!

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