South India Tour with Daily Hatha Yoga
(Registration still open! Registration Deadline extended to the end of August 2019)
January 2 — January 18, 2020
All-Levels Hatha Yoga with Fran Gallo
Chennai to Cochin! Experience the natural beauty, stunning architecture, and the intriguing cultures of South India. This journey combines daily yoga and a fabulous tour including colorful culture, a cooking class, and wild elephants! Explore the relaxing beach town of Mamalapuram. Marvel at the intricately carved temples of Madurai, covered in vividly painted figures of deities, mythical creatures and monsters. Cross over the Western Ghats to Periyar National Park, India’s earliest wildlife sanctuary and one of the best places to see the Asian elephant. Walk in a spice plantation and learn about the many different uses of spices, both in medicine and food. Cruise on a wooden rice boat through Cochin’s maze of backwaters to observe village life along the shore.
Highlights:
- Visit the famous temples of Kanchipuram, one of the seven most sacred cites to the Hindus of India
- Early morning visit to Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary with a trained bird guide
- See Mamallapuram’s celebrated ancient stone carvings
- See the granite “Bull Temple,” the temple of Brihadeeshwara
- Observe Asian elephants in Periyar National Park
- Go on a 1-3 hour forest trek in Periyar National Park with local trekking guides
- Visit a spice plantation
- Enjoy a relaxing stay on a Kerala houseboat
- Learn how to cook a South Indian dinner with a local cook
- Relax in and enjoy 5-star hotels
The trip begins in Chennai and ends in Cochin. There are international flights departing from Cochin. On the departure end of the trip, some people may choose to fly Cochin to Mumbai or Delhi and depart internationally from these larger cities, which offer more international flight options.
View 2020 South India Itinerary
Cost/Registration Information
Cost: $4950 per person, double occupancy. Includes yoga, guide fees, all flights and other transportation within India, 5-star hotels, breakfasts and dinners, hotel and driver tips, entrance fees, and guest experts on Indian culture. Cost does not include tip for guide, drinks, room service, non-group activities, personal expenses, or international airfare. (This trip and the following trip to Rajasthan can be combined for an incredible month-long trip, as the two tours are back-to-back. Spiritual India Journeys will book and cover the cost of your internal flight from Cochin to Delhi.)
(Please note: If you would like to have your own private hotel room during the entire tour, please inquire about the price of a single supplement. )
A deposit of $500 will reserve your spot (fully refundable before July 20, 2019). 50% of the total cost of the tour is due by July 30, 2019. If the retreat/tour is canceled due to lack of participants, you will be granted a full refund. A minimum of 10 people is required for the trip to occur. We do anticipate meeting our goal of 10 participants. We will contact you by July 30 (or as soon as possible!) to let you know if we have met our minimum so that you can go ahead and purchase your flight. Please send in your check with the registration form as soon as possible to guarantee your place and help us make all the train and hotel bookings in a timely manner. Group size is limited to 16.
To Register: (1) Please mail your deposit of $500, payable to Spiritual India Journeys, to the following address: Kelley McHenry 1240 NW Richmond Beach Rd. Shoreline, WA 98177 and (2) Please complete the on-line Registration and Release Forms
Your Hosts for this Trip
Fran Gallo, Arvind Singh, Kelley McHenry will be your hosts for this trip:
Kelley McHenry, trip organizer, is a librarian at Seattle Central College and holds an MA in International Studies, South Asia, from the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington. She has lived and worked in Kenya and the Netherlands and traveled widely in Asia and Europe, but India is her passion. In addition to academic studies, Kelley has been to India many times, lived with Indian families, studied Hindi, and been leading tour groups to India for the past 12 years.
Dr. Arvind Singh, guide and trip organizer, holds an MA in Indian History & Culture, an MA in Indian Philosophy & Religion, and a PhD in Indian Archaeology. He has published three books and 16 research articles on different aspects of Indian culture, ecology, numismatics, and archaeology. He was a Senior Fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, and taught for several years at Banaras Hindu University.
Fran Gallo has led several trips to India with Spiritual India Journeys. This will be her seventh visit to India and sixth journey leading yoga classes with India Spiritual Journeys. Formerly an English instructor at Green River Community College, Fran now devotes herself to teaching hatha yoga to share its healing and empowering effects. She studied Hatha Yoga at Ananda Yoga Centre in Nepal and furthered her studies at Ved Niketan Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh, India. For Fran, yoga’s magic is in discovering how to go beyond what we perceive as our limits and in the profound sense of wholeness, peace, and balance one obtains from cultivating a yoga practice.
