Woven Tours
An off-the-beaten-track exploration of the textiles of Gujarat
“Woven” is an off-the-beaten-track 16-20 day adventure in India with a focus on the state of Gujarat, the centre of textiles in India.
This is a deep delve into the traditional old India where modern cityscapes are yet to grow. We will be focusing on the threads of Arts, Textile design and embellishments, Architecture as in palaces and religious buildings and Food, all of which are woven to create the fabric that is India and which will also provide incredible opportunities for photographs to capture it all.
India is a full-on sensory experience – the sheer numbers of people and the enormity of cities, buildings, the pace of life and traffic, the temperature, colours, smells and abundance of things is a complete sensory assault for those who have not been before. In the last 20 years India has significantly westernised its major cities as a result of huge international leaders’ conferences and the like. Now the India of old hangs on only in the outer reaches of the states where westernisation and industry have yet to take hold. This former India is the one we are going to be experiencing because this is where the generations of craftspeople and artisans still exist.
During this trip we will spend each day taking in the rich variety of artisans in their workshops and villages, the museums of history and textiles, markets and restaurants, and a sprinkling of unusual one-off experiences.
This is an experience rich in those things fading fast from sight in most cultures with ancient roots. You will see craftsmanship and skills inherited from generations past that now only survive in tiny enclaves and villages of artisans, barely scraping by. We will visit places where few tourists go to see block printing, quilting, Bandani dyeing, Patola weaving, Rabari and Meghwal embroidery and much more. On the way to these textile-focused highlights we will drop in on the best of the nation’s archaeological, architectural and cultural sights or regional curiosities. We will see the surrounding land transform from tropical greenery to vast desert and salt plains.
Luckily our guide knows these people personally so we will be visiting their houses and workshops, learning about techniques and practices and doing it ourselves from tie and dye textiles to a visit with the last Gujarati bell-maker and staying with the royal family. We will eat the fabulous food from a full range of restaurants, peruse markets, jewellery shops, antique emporiums, see miniature painting galleries and Kalamkari painters at work.
Quite by accident last year when I went to Gujarat to make my own adventure happen (with my dearest friend) armed with a list of 40 things to see and do, we met a man who proved to be the best guide/driver I have ever encountered. He, Shaikh, will be our guide and between us we will tend to all your needs and answer all your questions. His English is impeccable and he has excellent insider knowledge and people on his contacts list. He inspired me to share the experiences we had with other like-minded adventurous women who want to continue living life to the full.
So if you would like a workshop on block printing or a cooking class along the way, perhaps pause for a henna tattoo, just let me know and we will fit it in on the way.
This experience is magical. Incredible.
It brings joy and with it a sad realisation that great skills and detailed beauty are gradually becoming things of the past.
Best to experience it now before it completely disappears.
Itinerary
This trip is planned for early October and depends on a few things, like at least 4 committed travellers. We can move the start date by a few days if that better suits potential travellers, however early October is the best time in terms of temperature. The temps will be in the 30s. When we did it in July ’24 it was mid to late 40s so believe me this is as cool as it gets. It is also best at this time so that we can see the Rabari tribes in the north at home before they take their herds on the road.
We will arrive in Mumbai and spend 3 nights there. We arrive in the middle of the night so this will be night 1.
Day two. A late start but as we will be staying in Colaba district on the shore on the Indian Ocean, we have a short stroll to the India Gate on the water’s edge then cross the road to the Taj Hotel and peruse the handful of jewellery shops for the morning followed by lunch in the upstairs tearooms. It’s quite delightful and ladylike.
Afternoon includes a short walk to the National Museum and Textile Museum, pop into Philips Antique emporium which we have to walk past anyway, then a rest at the hotel until dinner at a popular restaurant.
Day three. We tour the highlights of Mumbai: the colonial aspects, railway station, oldest Bombay market. Stroll around Fort area and have lunch/cake and coffee at a trendy café. Followed by a visit to the National Art Gallery then the old town market. Hotel for rest until dinner.
Days four, five and six. Fly to Ahmedabad, meet our guide and settle into the hotel. Then in no particular order we will visit the oldest regional mosque, pop into House of MG to have a coffee, see the hotel and visit the gift shop because it is all very cool. We visit the Swaminpatayan Jain temple, wander the old town, take in Ghandi’s ashram, the Folk Art Museum, night market, Calico Museum. Many of these visits are several hours long and we will eat and drink and lounge (if needed) between them.
Days seven and eight. On the road with a drive to Patam to see the double-sided ikat woven silk saris being made. On the way we visit the largest stepwell and stay overnight in Modhera on the way to Khuchch and Bhuj visiting villages on the way.
Days nine to thirteen. In Bhuj, we visit Pragmahal and Ainamahal (ancient palaces), home of an exceptional antique textile collector, and make daily forays into the surrounding areas to see Rogan painting, copper works, a bell-maker, lacquer worker, Bhandhani dyeing, block printing, Indigo dyeing, intricate mud houses and much more. It is difficult to say exactly what we are doing each day because our guide will be setting things up days or hours before we arrive. Unlike other tours we do not visit a group of women sitting chatting as they embroider together because that is not their life: it is a show for tourists. In reality they actually embroider at home whilst juggling the family and cooking, milking and running the house and multiple other things so that is how we will see them, see their homes and their work and all this depends on who will be home in which villages each day. Shaikh will be organizing all of these visits for us.
Day fourteen. Return to Ahmedabad and cram in a few more treasures.
Day fifteen. Fly to Mumbai, if you have had the Taj Mahal experience already, to catch a flight back to New Zealand.
Or fly to New Delhi if you are continuing the journey to see the Taj Mahal. In which case there will be a night in New Delhi with the afternoon to take a tuktuk ride and maybe see the Red Fort (if open) around the markets. Next day is a three-hour drive to get to Agra. Veg out for the remainder of the day, swim in the pool, eat and drink, and on the second day we go to the Taj Mahal, just down the short incline. The third day it is up early to get back to Delhi and then on to the plane home!
I’m Sandy Palmer
I was a secondary school English teacher in my first career for 20 years in NZ, London and Turkey. I have always been involved with textiles of all sorts, sewing for customers and for sale, knitting, embroidery, rugs – shooting a video on their making in 1985 when I lived in Turkey. Then, at 40, I decided that I should have a go at what I had always loved doing and had done for free for friends, so I started an interior design shop called Urban Mythology in Petone, importing fabric from a friend’s mill in Izmir. This immersed me in my passion for fabrics and design. 25 years later I closed two shops – Palmer Interiors in Wellington being the other – and am now semi-retired in Greytown.
I have always had a love for travelling and languages, have degrees in English and French, my last one was an MBA from Paris. I studied 6 languages and have lived in New York, London, Paris, Izmir and Auckland. I draw stimulation from seeing the world and all its variety, the colour of other cultures and their physical environment. I love to explore a city or province thoroughly rather than a whistle-stop approach.
I have visited 46 countries and this will be my fourth trip to India. I intend to travel until I can no longer do it physically.
This trip to Gujarat is definitely one of the best experiences I have ever had.
It was fantastic. Do join me.
Pricing
On the basis of twin share rooms, the cost for the 16 day trip is $7,900 including flights from Auckland.
Should you wish to add the Taj Mahal visit, the price will be an additional $2,000. We stay at the Oberoi in Agra which is an amazing place and was voted top hotel in India by Condé Nast Traveler last year.
This price includes all hotels. In Mumbai we will be staying in the most central area, Colaba, a key position to walk to those buildings we will be visiting. It is important to note that we may have to overlook the odd difference in standard between the Indian way and the Western.
In the case of the Gujarat experience we will find the most comfortable accommodation possible. We will be staying at two places here, with the royal family in their compound for a couple of nights and in a chic modernised Haveli for the remainder.
The price includes all meals as well as coffee and cake and other snacks. We provide all water which will be bottled and cold because we need you to drink a lot every day.
The price includes all the guide’s costs, hire of the van, petrol and drivers.
It includes all visitors’ entrance fees.
It does not include a tip for Shaikh which is expected to be around US$100 per person. He is worth it.
Other than that, your jewellery, textile purchases (possibly antique), antique carvings or paintings etc will have to be self funded! Most people you buy from will expect cash in Indian rupees, very few in US dollars. Most shops or dealers take credit cards.
Many more tips and information on visas, vaccinations and insurance to follow when you decide to come with us to wonderful full-on India.