update
Morocco
The past month has been full of activity. It began in Morocco as I led another wonderful tour around that beautiful country. I especially enjoyed spending more time in two of my favorite places on the planet - the Sahara Desert and Dades Valley. If there's one country I can never get enough of, it's Morocco.
India
Once that tour ended, I immediately flew from Casablanca to Delhi. It was time to lead my first Wander Across India tour since March 2020 as I naturally had to cancel all of my India tours once Covid kicked in.
This was my 41st visit to India. And I had no idea what to expect after such a long hiatus.
Luckily, everything went so very smoothly. My excellent friend and trusted driver for all of my tours, Bhudiman, was at the airport waiting for me. The group arrived without any major hassles. And then the trip began and we were wandering through all my favorite neighborhoods of Delhi, eating my favorite foods (I love those
famous paranthas!) and interacting with such kind people everywhere we went.
The tour continued as we visited Agra (staying at a friend's
family homestay), Ranthambore (where we saw a tiger in Ranthambore National Park and roamed the massive fortress) and
then to Bundi, my favorite town in all of India.
When we arrived, the local
Bundi Festival was taking place and thanks to my good friend Ashwani, we were soon front and center at this incredible event. We were given VIP treatment, invited to a private lunch at a palace, welcomed as
honored participants in a huge 2 hour parade and taken to the VIP section of an evening ceremony that involved traditional folk music, Bollywood singers, yoga dancers and a ventriloquist.
Everyone...and I mean EVERYONE...was so welcoming and warm. We interacted with locals from the town, villagers who had never seen foreigners, hundreds of school kids, Bollywood actors and actresses and endless politicians. We danced, ate, laughed and learned so much over the 2 days. It was nonstop, it was wild and every minute was memorable.
After Bundi, we continued on to the laid-back city of Udaipur for some quiet time before flying across the country to Varanasi, a city that leaves a deep impression on every visitor. This was an ideal end to the tour as we roamed the mesmerizing ghats and intense lanes, observed the open cremations and drank spectacular saffron and dry fruit lassis.
By the time we returned to Delhi after the two weeks ended, it was almost impossible to remember every single thing we did during the tour. I had a brilliant time myself and based on the feedback, it seems that everyone who participated in this Wander Across India tour had an absolute blast as well!
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Japan
Once India came to an end, I boarded a flight to Osaka, Japan. I've now been in Japan for 5 days and this trip too has been magical. I'll be sharing more of my thoughts, and plenty of recommendations, in my newsletter next week!
But here's a teaser...the food experience in Japan is obviously one of the highlights of visiting this country. But enjoying the local cuisine simply would not be possible without the
artistic fake food that can be found everywhere :)
