A trip to Inida in 2024 – still TBC (- dependent on interest and cost)

I have taken three groups of students to India in the past few years.

The trip starts with a flight to Chennai, which is old Madras on the south east coast of India (flight not included in price of the trip).

We stay at The Rain Tree Hotel which is a modern eco-friendly building, in the old part of the city.  Our stay here is brief, one or two days maximum to acclimatise, as Chennai is busy and noisy.  However we do include a visit to the Krisnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) which is the yoga centre Sri TKV Desikachar created in memory of his father.

We then board an overnight train to Tanjavor, much further south and inland to a beautiful rural quiet area as a contrast.

We arrive at the Ideal River Hotel for breakfast, this is a more traditional Indian hotel, set on a slow flowing river with lots of space and gardens, the food here is mostly home grown on the hotels’ farm. We usually spend several days here where we practice yoga twice a day and have time to relax and sightsee.

The next venture is by minibus to Pondicherry a sea port colonised by the French centuries ago, which has a lovely French and Indian mix.  We stay two or three nights at The Promenade Hotel which is overlooks the sea, enjoying the sights and shopping.

We then travel by road again to Malmallapuram, still on the coast and a World Heritage site for its temple, Five Rhatas and Arjuna’s Penance Wall.

We stay two or three days at the sister hotel of the River which is Ideal Beach where we practice yoga and sightsee.  Here the trip ends as it is about an hour from the airport.