A guest post  by Mary Hamilton-Smith of AUSTRALIAN WOMENS TRAVEL.
Mary leads regular trips for women to India and Europe – why not join her?

Whist on our recent trip to India, my friend Ashiq’s cousin was getting married in Jodhpur, and so we were invited to attend.  February is the wedding season in Jodphur and there were 28 on the night of the wedding we attended! The wedding celebrations go on for 4 or 5 days!! It is full on , and nothing like we are used to here in Australia! We were so lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of this celebration and where treated like celebrities!! Read more

Dianne Sharma-Winter is a New Zealand whose passion is India, and she spends much of her time there.  She lives there, organises tours, gives advice, promotes fair trade and Ethical Travel along the way – here she writes about what all that means…. Read more

Guest post by Ashwin Sharma

While most stereotypes about India are true – India is poor, rowdy and noisy,  it is also full of wisdom, knowledge, beautiful sceneries, rich in tradition and culture. And this culture shows in its wonderful people not only they are nice but really friendly and that makes visiting this chaotic country such a joy.

Here a few tips for solo travelers to keep in mind while enjoy their journey to a sparkling India: Read more

Guest Blog Post by Natasha Dogre:

A lot has been said and written about India, but the mere fact is, India is Taj Mahal, India is Sundarbans, India is Bollywood, and India is beautiful. This tourist paradise has numerous must visit destinations, but the top 10 holiday spots in India are: Read more

I have recently come across this great Indian Tour Company Periplus Getaways. There are quite a few women who lead some great tours for women to India, but Periplus is different in that is owned and run by a local Indian woman Nutan Thangan. Like Moksha of Back and Beyond Motorcycle Tours,  Nutan is keen to work with people in other parts of the world to organise tours for women in India. Read more

Dianne Sharma-Winter writes:

One of the many names for the river Ganga (or Ganges) translates to “Roaming around delighting in Apple Tree Island”

Anyone who has plotted the course of this river knows that this is exactly what the Ganga likes to do. Her riverbanks have changed many miles over the course of time and then there is the monsoon where she breaks her banks exuberantly.

Slow travel is a bit like that. I have had the luck to roam around delighting in India like a river, slow and languid at times and rushing with purpose and intent at others. Read more

Studying Ayurveda in Kerala

Dianne Sharma-Winter Writes:

Every cloud has a silver lining, sometimes even gold.

This belief had sustained me through the first month of a course of training in Ayurveda in a small-unexplored area of Kerala, India’s premier state for the practice and study of this ancient science.

Even though I was aware that one-month course would barely scratch the surface of the vast ocean of knowledge that is Ayurveda, I was more interested in learning about the practical forms of massage and herbal treatments to adapt to my own massage practice in New Zealand. Read more

Moksha is India’s first woman to become a professional in motor-biking. She has set up a motorcycle touring company in India and offers 11-22 itineraries for biking around India. Get a group of 10+ together, and head off with Back and Beyond – a journey beyond imagination

Motor-biking has been Moksha’s passion since teen-age. She was never encouraged to have her own bike in a conservative Indian society.

Her father had a progressive thinking and was aware of the confidence Moksha had her in driving skills. He taught her how to ride a scooter. From there, she never looked back. She never learnt riding a motor-cycle from anybody.

She used to ride her friends’ bikes around. Now she has her own Royale Enfield 350cc mo-bike and she enjoys riding it for hours together. Woman, riding a bullet, is not a common sight in India and she gives a bright smile when she finds onlookers watching her in amazement.

For 18 year Moksha worked in hospitality industry and adventure tourism. Her job took her to different places in and around India. She got valuable experience in travel & tourism industry. Being very well qualified and well read person, she worked in middle and top management level with different organizations. She always wanted to venture into motor-biking as a professional which was her passion. As there is a saying,’ Dreams do come true. We should never stop dreaming’. She started her own co. three years back in Manali. Since then, she has led various groups to Lahul & Spiti, Ladakh, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Nepal and Tibet. She plans to expand her tours in the other parts of India and Bhutan.

Contact: Back and Beyond – a journey beyond imagination

Lyn Baker the founder of Tiger Travel spent many years travelling extensively throughout India as a professional photographer  – she has an eye for the country, for its people and its culture.

The idea of sharing India with small groups of women travellers seemed a great way of adding to her relationship with India.  So Tiger Travel was born. Read more

I have just added a whole lot more tours for women to India onto the Women Travel the World Tour Calendar. There is so much choice from some wonderful companies, you can do a tour, and add some extra stays to explore by yourself once you have gained some confidence.  As a woman travelling on my own, I find this a great way to travel.  Join a small tour where I can get the feel of a country and then branch out confidently to explore on my own.  There is now a choice of 17 tours in India on the Tour Calendar on Women Travel.

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