Footsteps of Gandhi 14 Days | Starts/Ends: Mumbai

TRIP NOTES

Footsteps of Gandhi 14 days | Starts/Ends: Mumbai

PRIVATE TOUR: Commencing in available upon request. Accommodation Days 2-3 : Mumbai Mumbai and travelling through rating – See Trip Notes for details • the historical state of Gujarat - Touring and excursions as per itinerary • Boat excursion to Elephanta Caves homeland of Mahatma Gandhi, this • Services of English-speaking Indian innovative itinerary incorporates specialist guides for all included sight- coastal Porbandar, princely Rajkot seeing and flourishing Ahmedabad - the • Entrance fees for all included sightseeing starting point of the legendary salt • Economy class flight: Mumbai to march. Porbandar • An airport arrival transfer day 1 and a departure transfer day 14 Mumbai or Bombay, as it was formerly known HIGHLIGHTS AND INCLUSIONS • All relevant transfer and transportation - remains India’s city of dreams. We enjoy in private modern Chauffeur driven air- a full day city tour including the Gateway of Trip Highlights conditioned vehicles India monument, the Prince of Wales museum, • Mumbai - 'The City of Dreams' - Gateway Marine Drive, Mani Bhawan Jain temple and of India, the Prince of Wales Museum, What's Not Included the Elephanta Caves. Marine Drive, Mani Bhawan Jain Temple • International flights and visa and Elephanta Caves • Tipping - An entirely personal gesture On day 3 we take a guided Heritage Walk • Coastal Porbandar - Gandhi’s birthplace in the morning before visiting the Afghani • Rajkot - Old city, Gandhi’s home DETAILED ITINERARY Church and holy Banganga Temple and water • Dandi - The scene of the famous Salt tank in the afternoon. Tonight we enjoy a March Day 1 : Mumbai scenic horse and buggy ride along Marine • Ahmedabad - Old city and largest city in Once you arrive into Mumbai, you will be met drive toward Chowpatty Beach. Overnight - Gujurat at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Mumbai (B:2) • Baroda, Surat and Sultan of Gujarat’s The rest of the day is yours to explore Mumbai Castle or relax at the hotel. Overnight - Mumbai What's Included • Breakfast daily • 13 nights STANDARD hotels. SUPERIOR and DELUXE hotel options are also

Footsteps of Gandhi - 14 days updated on 29-09-2021 08:11:35 www.onthegotours.com This information has been compiled with care and good faith. They give an accurate illustration of the proposed arrangements for this holiday. Circumstances beyond our control such as changes in local conditions, inclement weather or other reasons could force us to make changes to UK 020 7371 1113 [email protected] this itinerary. Any costs shown are subject to change, though are an accurate reflection of costs at time of writing. Please also note that visa AUS 1300 855 684 [email protected] requirements are subject to change and are the responsibility of the traveller and not that of On The Go Tours. NZ 0800 44 77 69 CAN 1 866 890 7038 - 1 - USA 1 866 606 2960 SA 0800 990 311 TRIP NOTES

Footsteps of Gandhi

Day 4 : Porbandar the place where he launched his celebrated Day 14 : Mumbai march against the Salt Law. Hotel check-out and included onward transfer to airport.(B) On day 9, we can wander through the vibrant bazaars of Ahmedabad and visit Jami Tipping Masjid, built in the 15th century. Also worth Tipping is an essential part of the culture. For a seeing are the tombs of Ahmedabad’s Muslim job well done, we would suggest for your tour rulers plus Hindu and Jain temples. The guide: USD$4-7 per traveller, for each day of afternoon is free, so perhaps a stop at the sightseeing. Calico Museum of Textiles with its excellent For your driver and On The Go Representative collection of antique and modern textiles. Mumbai - Porbandar. Morning flight to we'd recommend USD$2-3 per traveller for Of course, no visit to Ahmedabad would be Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, each day of service. Tipping is an entirely complete without a textile purchase. Patola born in 1869. Afternoon city tour to Kirti personal gesture and ultimately the amount is silk saris and Ahmedabad block-prints are Mandir, the memorial erected to Gandhi and up to you. prized. Overnight - Ahmedabad (B:2) his wife, in the 1950s and Gandhi’s birthplace, Accommodation ratings a 3-story 300-year-old house, with time to Days 10-11 : Surat stop at the Chowpatty seafront and shop in On our Private trips, you can often choose Ahmedabad - Baroda - Surat. Travelling south the local bazaar. Overnight - Porbandar (B) your style of accommodation. The price to Baroda, we arrive mid-afternoon. Perhaps quoted on our website is reflective of the stroll through Sayaji Bagh, a large green Days 5-7 : Rajkot included accommodation, please see the park housing a number of museums and Porbander - Rajkot - Ahmedabad. Travelling “included” section on the first page of this planetarium. On day 11 we continue south to north east, we arrive at Rajkot. Mahatma document for details. Should you opt for Surat on the banks of the River Tapti and visit Gandhi moved to Rajkot in 1881, he attended an alternative hotel category, this will be to the Sultan of Gujarat castle built in 1546. school here and was popularly known as confirmed in writing with the respective price Overnight - Baroda (1) Surat (1) (B:2) Mahatma (Sanskrit for ‘great soul’). On day on your invoice. 6, we visit the old city and ‘Kaba Gandhi Day 12 : Dandi For further details about the indicative hotels, No Delo’, the house where Gandhi grew up, please see the “hotels” tab on our website. which now holds a small exhibition of Gandhi Here we rank hotel’s in their respective artifacts and photographs. Rajkot is also country (REGIONAL CATEGORY) - but we also famous for its Bandhani saris, mirror-work, tell you how it ranks by Western standards patchwork, beadwork, and silk embroidery. (OUR CATEGORY). On day 7 we travel to Ahmedabad. Overnight - Rajkot (2) Ahmedabad (1) (B:3) STANDARD - Equates to a Western 3-star standard, always featuring en-suite rooms and Days 8-9 : Ahmedabad usually a restaurant. SUPERIOR - Equates to a Western 4- Surat/Dandi. Its a short drive to Dandi star standard, featuring en-suite rooms and where we arrive at the most famous scene usually a restaurant and often a swimming of Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha (Salt pool and/or a fitness centre. March). Mahatma Gandhi, along with several DELUXE - Equates to a Western 5-star thousand of his followers walked from standard, usually featuring spacious, en-suite Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi on the Gujarati rooms, a restaurant, swimming pool and coast. Today we follow this same path down fitness centre and an array of amenities, to the water's edge. Overnight - Surat (B) excellent service and customer care. LUXURY - Equates to a Western 5-star plus Ahmedabad is a mix of medieval and modern, Day 13 : Mumbai along with the coexistence of Hindu, Muslim standard - the creme de la creme. Featuring Surat - Mumbai. Arrival to Mumbai and hotel and Jain communities, a compelling place to spacious, en-suite rooms, a restaurant, check in. The later part of the day remains explore. Our city tour leads us to the old city, swimming pool and fitness centre and an free for you to do as you please. Overnight - to view the finest blend of Hindu and Islamic array of amenities, this accommodation is a Mumbai (B) architectural style known as Indo-Saracenic. cut above the rest. Sheer opulence! We also visit the site of Gandhi’s ashram and

Footsteps of Gandhi

tour accommodation to save you waiting until Domestic flights - Baggage KNOW BEFORE YOU GO hotel check in time, which is generally 2pm. allowance India Country Guide Visas & passports If your holiday includes a domestic flight or you have independently booked domestic Visa requirements are subject to change and flights separate to that of your international Welcome to India - Arrival visa procurement is the responsibility of the flights, please be mindful that that free transfer traveller and not On The Go Tours. Please also baggage allowance for Economy class travel If your holiday includes a complimentary ensure that your passport is valid for at least 6 on flights within India is near always 15kg, airport arrival transfer (as indicated in the months from your planned date of departure with 5-7kg allowance for hand luggage. 'Inclusions' section of these Trip Notes from India. Additional weight is charged per kilo and is on page 1) from Delhi's Indira Gandhi After booking your holiday, please provide us payable by you directly to the airline at check- International Airport, our arrival procedure is with your passport details as soon as possible in. If travelling with more than 15kg on a flight as follows: so that we can proceed to book all services. included within your holiday, please contact Arrive to Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Please be advised visa requirements are us so we can confirm the exact luggage Airport, where after you have attended to subject to change, therefore it is essential that allowance for your flight and give you the customs and immigration formalities, please you check current visa requirements with the current per kilo cost for additional weight. proceed to the arrival hall. Please have your embassy before travel. For information about tour voucher handy and make it available to visas, head to www.onthegotours.com/India/ What to expect our representative who will be waiting for you Visas Please visit www.onthegotours.com/India/ in the arrivals hall, holding a prominent On The Travel-tips-and-useful-info for local customs, Go Tours logo signboard, ready to escort you Health requirements currency, WiFi and other helpful information to to our awaiting transportation and onward to You should seek medical advice for prepare you for an enjoyable holiday. your start hotel. vaccinations and about medications before travelling. Train travel in India If, for any reason you have trouble locating Travelling by train in India is an unforgettable our representative (after waiting 20 minutes Water local experience where you will get to meet in the arrival hall) or your flight is delayed, As tap water is not safe to drink in India, only Indian people and experience daily life as they please call or send a text message (standard drink bottled mineral water which is readily do. The Indian Railway system is the world’s text message, not Messenger or WhatsApp) to available in hotels, shops and restaurants. second largest, with over 108,706 km of track, the emergency contact number as stated on You should also avoid salads which may be connecting more than 7000 stations. Every your Tour Voucher. Please do not leave the washed in unhygienic water. day, more than 7000 trains run, carrying some airport or go to the hotel on your own. Call 14 million passengers, including us. Several our emergency contact number and follow the Essential packing our holidays include train journeys, some by advice given by our local team. Please check local temperatures so day and others overnight. If your holiday does you can pack accordingly. Visit include train travel, we have noted within the If travelling on our other India holidays that www.worldclimate.com itinerary the coach/class of travel that will be don't arrive into Delhi Airport (with arrival booked. Below is some further information • A small daypack for your day-to-day needs via Kochi, Cochin, Goa, Mumbai, Chennai, that may assist you in planning for your • Tour Voucher and a copy of your travel Trivandrum, Kolkata and Dimapur Airport), the journey. procedure for meeting you at the airport is the insurance policy, spare passport photos and a same as those detailed above. photocopy of your passport AC CHAIR CAR • Universal travel adaptor If travelling on a daytime journey, you will Pre and post tour accommodation can be • Insect repellent to guard against mosquitos travel in an air-conditioned seated carriage arranged upon request, please contact us for • Spare camera batteries and memory cards (called AC chair car), similar to that of a rates. If you are arriving early and book pre • Consider packing some pencils, pens or standard city trains in most western countries. tour accommodation with us then you will still modest educational supplies that can be When travelling to loftier destinations where qualify for our complimentary airport arrival given to village schools or street children the weather is cooler, air-conditioning may not transfer. • Buy some Indian Rupees at the airport on be provided. arrival and keep a supply of small notes for If arriving prior to 9am on day 1 (essentially local transactions 2nd AC COACH/SLEEPER on a flight that arrives very, very early in the If travelling overnight, we accommodate morning) consider purchasing a night of pre- passengers in the 2nd class sleeper air-conditioned category (unless otherwise

Footsteps of Gandhi indicated at a higher level). 2nd class sleeper We do not include 3rd AC coach travel will seem almost too much to bear. Yet, it’s air-conditioned cabins consist of 2 upper and within any of our tours, though if you were all worthwhile! While India is far from the 2 lower bunks, plus a double-decker set of considering it for personal arrangements a easiest country in the world to travel around, bunk beds on the opposite side of the cabin description can be given as follows. 3rd AC On The Go will try their upmost to make shared by you and other Indian travellers. You coach is very similar to 2nd AC coach with the your holiday as seamless as possible. Our can sit up on your bench seat during the day only difference being that there is a middle holidays combine comfortable transportation, and simply lie down once you are ready to go berth ie not just a 2 bunk bed but a triple bunk comprehensive sightseeing and good hotels, to sleep. bed, hence making it possible for 6 people allowing you to concentrate on getting the to be accommodated within the space. Like most out of your stay. All cabins are mixed sex. Your cabin is not the 2nd AC coach there is also another set self-contained as such. ‘Cabins’ are separated India is a country of unparalleled contrasts, of bunk beds on the opposite side - running from the carriage corridor by curtains, serving parallel with the length of the train. Like 2nd a destination where you’ll be afforded plenty as an artificial barrier that can be drawn AC, there’s no door just curtains and again you of unique encounters, and if you can travel at night. Luggage, including hand luggage sit up on your bunk bed during the day and lie with an open mind you will have a wonderful should be locked (as you would do when down to sleep. time here. In return, please remember to travelling on any overnight train anywhere in demonstrate sensitivity and respect for local the world) and can be stored underneath the Travel Operators for Tigers customs. lower bunks or on the floor. The carriage is Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT), is a Begging manned by an attendant who will distribute UK based campaign, set up to encourage With more than 350 million people in India linen, free of charge. Dependent upon the sustainable wildlife tourism in tiger reserves living on less than USD$2 per day, inevitably service, a variety of snacks and drinks or full and national parks. Funds generated through you will come across many people begging dinner service can be ordered at an additional TOFT will be used to fund tiger conservation for money. Begging has a legitimate place cost (except for the Shatabdi Express and initiatives and local community development, in Indian society. Even poor people give to Rajdhani Express where meals are included through their two partner conservation beggars or charities to earn religious merit. within your fare). Food aboard the Shatabdi organisations - Global Tiger Patrol and the The Indian government, however, would like Express train is most often exceptionally Environmental Investigation Agency. On The to regulate begging more stringently. Though good, though on many other train services Go Tours are members of TOFT and we begging is common, you are not under it is probably best to buy snacks, fresh fruit happily pledge a USD$20 contribution to obligation to give money. If you choose to that can be peeled or meals prior to the start TOFT for each of our clients that choose to give money to beggars, we advise you to do of your journey. In addition, there are WC travel on a wildlife tour to India with us. facilities (European and ‘squat-style’) at each this from the vehicle and not on the street. end of the carriage. Cleanliness varies, so Not like home... & begging Alternatively, consider donating pencils, pens or modest educational supplies to village be prepared and take your own anti-bacterial Travelling to far–flung corners of the earth schools. hand wipes and toilet paper. often involves encountering lifestyles and conditions that are very different from 1st AC COACH/ SLEEPER what you are used to back home. As Shopping All Indian trains offer 2nd and 3rd AC coaches, such it is important to come prepared for India is a virtual Aladdin’s Cave. At the many but only a handful of trains offer 1st AC unusual situations, local inadequacies and bazaars known as ‘chowks’, the cardinal rule coaches, which can accommodate a tiny total unpredictable events as and when they occur. is to bargain hard. State run craft emporiums of 18 people. 1st AC coach/ sleepers only have Foreign travel is definitely not suitable for that stock the best of what a state has berths on one side of the train hence making people who expect or demand everything to to offer can give you a reasonable idea the cabin more spacious. The cabin may have go exactly as planned, as things can and do of what is acceptable in terms of price 2 berths or 4 which seat/sleep 2 or 4 persons. change in foreign countries. and quality. You'll find carpets of quality You can sit up a on bench seat during the equal to those of Persian origin, Rajasthani day, which is folded into bunk beds at night. The people, customs, creed, food and pottery and metalwork, embellished slippers The 1st AC coach also has a door making it languages of India are different from one known as jootis, jewellery in breathtaking fully closed and lockable for 2 or 4 persons. region to the next. It is as vast as it is designs. Likewise, leatherwork, silks and saris Beds are a tad wider and mattresses more crowded, and as opulent as it is squalid. in spectacularly colourful designs, paintings cushioned. Each cabin has a 'bell' switch, India is exciting, intense and diverse - an and clothing make excellent souvenirs. which when pressed summons the attendant all-embracing experience, a veritable assault of the coach. on the senses. Sometimes the poverty will In the tourism industry it’s common practice get you down, Indian bureaucracy can test for commission to be offered in exchange for 3rd AC COACH/ SLEEPER your patience and facing another traffic jam recommending particular shops or suppliers.

Footsteps of Gandhi

This can become an issue when clients feel obliged to purchase goods. We do our best to avoid this by monitoring all shopping experiences offered.

All shopping experiences on your tour have been noted in the itinerary and they been carefully selected based upon positive feedback from On The Go travellers. You are under no obligation to partake in a listed shopping experience and you are most welcome to wait inside or outside the premises.

Although we only visit reputable retailers, please note that we cannot explicitly guarantee the quality of their products. All purchases made whilst on holiday with us are at your own discretion. Please make sure that you are completely happy with your purchase. On The Go cannot be held responsible for any items that you buy if they fail to meet expectation, or any shipping arrangements. Proceed with caution.