Kolam Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Tamil Nadu GroupTour
Travel to Tamil Nadu, India
Led  by a Tamil woman living in Hawaii

Next Trip: Vi and Charlie will lead a tour in January 2010. There are a few  more
spots available. If interested, contact Vi Herbert at vi@kolam.info

Recent Trip: January 6th - January 28th, 2009 - Trip to Tamil Nadu, India
from Hawaii, U.S.A. Vi & Charlie Herbert took 20 people to India. It was a
very enjoyable trip. The group saw ancient Hindu and Jain temples,
Pondicherry (old French colony), Mahabalipuram, Tranquebar (old Danish
colony), took a boat ride in the mangrove forests, celebrated Pongal
harvest festival in a Tamil home, went to the rainforest areas, and spent a
couple of days at our charity school.

First Trip: Janaury 2008 - Vi and Charlie took 18 people on a 21 day tour to
Tamil Nadu.

Here's where we went:

Chennai (Capital City of Tamil Nadu, British Buildings, St. Thomas Church)
Mahabalipuram (Archaeological structures all over town)
Pondicherry (Old French Colony)
Arikkamedu (Ancient site where Tamils traded with Romans & Greeks)
Pitchavaram (Mangrove Forests)
Chidambaram (Famous Siva Temple)
Tranquebar (Old Danish Trading Colony)
Poompuhar (Ancient Tamil destroyed by a tsunami)
Thanjavur (See Raja Raja Cholan's Temple built in the 10th Century)
Sittannavaasal Jain Temple Complex
Madurai (See Meenakshi Temple and Palace)
Imayam High School (Our Charity School)
Tiruchendur: (Active temple from 200 A.D.)
Manappadu: (Fishing Village where St. Francis Xavier lived)
Cape Comirin (Tip of India)
Tirunelveli (Old Temple)
Kalakaddu Wildlife Sanctuary (Tigers & Elephants)
Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary (Tigers & Elephants)
Ambasamudram (Waterfalls)
Papanasam (Bathe in a waterfall)
Courtallam (Waterfall town)
Rameswaram (Ancient temple, closest point to Sri Lanka)
Kancheepuram (Silk Weaving town, old Hindu andJain temples)
Chennai (Capital of Tamil Nadu, saw British colonial Buildings & shopped)


Contact Vi at vi@kolam.info for information.


Future Trips to India:

Vi will lead future trips to Tamil Nadu and other parts of India.  

January 2010: Three week trip to Tamil Nadu, India

There will be future trips to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka & Goa, Delhi & Agra

Please contact Vi Herbert for details. Email to vi@kolam.info, or call her at 808-828-0540

Shopping:  Tamil Nadu is a great place to shop for silk saris and silk material, bronze statues, wood
carvings, hand-loomed cotton fabric, hand-loomed bedsheets, batik art, 22 carat gold jewelry, silver
jewelry, brass articles, semi-precious stones, carved wood furniture and more....
(lentil and mixed vegetables) and coconut chutney for breakfast.
(lentil and mixed vegetables) and coconut chutney for breakfast.

Lunch is usually a big meal that is served on a clean banana leaf.  Lunch consists of steamed rice, sambar,
rasam (thin lentil soup), a few vegetable curries, yogurt, lemon pickle and appalam (thin lentil wafer).
Dinners are pretty much like lunches. You can opt for the full meal or eat wheat chapathis (tortillas), kuruma
(coconut based mixed vegetable curry or any of the breakfast items that most places serve.