A Spice Tour of the South - ivy.yale.edu Application Is Unavailable

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August 7 – 19, 2015
A Spice Tour of the South
Paul Freedman
Chester D. Tripp Professor of History
Chair, History of Science, History of Medicine
Dear Yale Traveler
My wife Bonnie and I hope you’ll join us next August
to explore India’s beautiful and less-frequented southern landscape.
For ten days, we’ll visit spice and tea plantations, travel through
backwaters by houseboat, and experience plantations located as
high as 8,000 feet.
We will explore the major global city of Chennai
(Madras), where Elihu Yale served as governor between 1687
and 1692, as well as colonial hill stations such as Munnar and
the Periyar Nature Reserve. We’ll visit some the verdant parts
of Kerala state in the southwest as well as historic ports that
have served the spice trade for two millennia. My recent book,
Out of the East, focuses on spices and their popularity during the
medieval centuries and has been translated into several languages,
including an Indian edition.
The quest for spice was a strategic campaign that
led to the discovery of the New World and the creation of the
Portuguese, Spanish, French and eventually British colonial
empires. As most of us dimly recall from school, the European
voyagers to Asia, Africa and the New World were looking for direct
routes to the valuable spices of India which, before 1500, could be
acquired only through Muslim Middle-Eastern intermediaries.
Join us to see close-up what the fuss was about, why India is
the home of so many kinds of spices, and how they are used in
cooking, medicine and contemplation.
We have arranged for special tours of spice estates,
cooking demonstrations and classes, and a chance to learn about
culture and society in a diverse part of India whose contribution to
globalization was underway long before the concept was developed.
I have been on ten Yale alumni trips to Europe and the
Mediterranean. I am looking forward to showing you some of
the culinary and historical monuments and trends I have worked
on and to visiting one of the most fascinating parts of the globe.
Paul Freedman
Chester D. Tripp Professor of History
www.yaleedtravel.org/india15
Reader’s Corner
Yale Study Leader
Want to learn more about the
history and culture of India?
paul freedman
Professor Freedman specializes in medieval social
history, the history of Spain, comparative studies of
the peasantry, trade in luxury products, and history
of cuisine.
Freedman earned his BA at the University of California at Santa
Cruz and an MLS and Ph.D. in History from UC Berkeley. His
doctoral work focused on medieval Catalonia and how the bishop
and canons interacted with the powerful and weak elements of lay
society in Vic, north of Barcelona. Freedman taught for eighteen
years at Vanderbilt University before joining the Yale faculty in 1997.
Since coming to Yale, Professor Freedman has served as Director
of Undergraduate Studies in History, Director of the Medieval
Studies Program and Chair of the History Department. He has
offered graduate seminars on the social history of the Middle Ages,
church, society and politics, and agrarian studies.
More recently Freedman edited Food: The History of Taste, an illustrated
collection of essays about food from prehistoric to contemporary
times. His book on the demand for spices in medieval Europe, Out
of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination, was published in
2008 by Yale University Press. His honors include a 2008 cookbook
award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals
(for Food: The History of Taste) and three awards for Images of the
Medieval Peasant. In 1981, he shared the Medieval Academy’s Van
Courtlandt Elliott prize for the best first article on a medieval topic.
Highlights
Visit a spice plantation in Thekkady
and learn about various types of spices
– pepper, cinnamon, cardamom,
cloves, etc. At the
resort learn about
the uses of spices
in cooking.
Cruise through
the placid backwaters in your private
houseboat. See the
village life along the
backwaters and stop
at villages to meet
with the locals. Enjoy local delicacies
on board.
Enjoy a walking
tour of historic Fort
Cochin area. See
the colonial buildings and the Santa
Cruz Basilica. The
Chinese fishing nets
here make for an interesting sight.
Here’s a good start:
India
by Stanley Wolpert
Wolpert’s reflections on India – its religion and philosophy, its art, culture
and politics – make for a wonderfully
literate, succinct primer.
The Spice Route, A History
by John Keay
John Keay draws on ancient logs,
traveler’s accounts and maps for this
rousing history of trade in cinnamon,
clove, nutmeg, pepper, gums, resins and
other costly goods from antiquity to
the 17th century..
Upcoming Trips
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04/27/2015 - 05/08/2015
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05/19/2015 - 05/26/2015
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06/23/2015 - 07/02/2015
Prof. Jay Ague
An Insider’s Look at Sri Lanka
07/17/2015 - 07/31/2015
Mark Ashton
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Majesty
10/22/2015 - 11/5/2015
Walter Jetz
Yale Educational Travel
Association of Yale Alumni
Box 209010, New Haven, CT
06520-9010
Reservations: 203.432.1952
edtravel@yale.edu
India
Sri
Lanka
Itinerary
Welcome Phone Call
Tuesday, July 23 (tentative)
Join the group at 6PM EST for a pre-trip
welcome call with the professor in order
to learn more about what to expect and
to ask questions.
ARRIVE CHENNAI
Saturday, August 8
Chennaipattinam was a popular spice
and cloth trading center for more than
2000 years. Arrive and transfer to the
Taj Coromandel Hotel.
CHENNAI
(B/L/D)
Sunday, August 9
Start the day the typical South Indian
way with a steaming cup of coffee
and idli (steamed rice cakes)! After a
welcome and introductions, visit Fort
St. Georges on the Bay of Bengal,
where Elihu Yale served as governor
between 1687 and 1692 as part of his
nearly three decades in India with the
British East India Company. Visit St.
Mary’s Church (where Elihu Yale was
married in 1680, the first marriage
registered there), a Hindu Temple,
and the Government Museum,
famous for its bronzes. Drive along
Marine, the second longest beach in
the world. Typical Chennai lunch in a
local restaurant. After, see one of the
famously busy spice markets of Chennai. Welcome dinner at the hotel.
Overnight Taj Coromandel Hotel.
KOCHI - MUNNAR (B/L/D)
Monday, August 10
This morning fly to Kochi, where, with
packed lunches, we set out for Munnar.
We drive through scenic forests with
waterfalls to Munnar, a popular hill
station and South India’s largest tea
growing region with many cardamom
plantations. Overnight Tea County hotel.
MUNNAR
(B/L/D)
Tuesday, August 11
After breakfast, visit a tea plantation
for a guided walk and tour. Learn the
mechanics of tea processing here and
the history of the area and the early
planters. From there, we drive to a fruit
and vegetable market and see the typical
local tea shops, taste freshly made banana
chips, see the herbs and spices for sale.
Return to hotel for lunch. In the
afternoon, a “tea tasting” will be arranged
to try the various types of black tea
as well as cardamom tea, ginger tea
and masala tea. Optional walk in a
cardamom plantation. Dinner at the
hotel. Overnight Tea County Hotel.
THEKKADY
(B/L/D)
Wednesday, August 12
Today, drive through forest, rubber
plantations in the foothills, and fragrant
spice plantations, where we’ll stop and
see tracts of pepper vines, cardamom
bushes, cinnamon, nutmeg. Check into
Spice Village Resort, where lush coffee,
cardamom and other spices surround the
individual thatched cottages. The coffee
you drink and the pepper and cardamom
you taste here are fresh ground from this
www.yaleedtravel.org/india15
What is Included:
• Program of lectures and discussions
with Paul Freedman.
•Accommodation on twin sharing
basis as per the itinerary.
•All entrance fees to monuments as
per the itinerary.
•One boat ride at Periyar.
•Services of Tour Manager during the
tour as per the itinerary.
•Kathakali dance performance in
Kochi.
•Welcome & Farewell Dinner (including glasses of domestic wine/beer).
•Dinner at Nimmy Paul with demonstration of Indian cooking.
•Interactive session with the chef at
hotel Taj Malabar.
spice plantation. Dinner at the Resort.
Overnight Spice Village Resort.
THEKADDY
(B/L/D)
Thursday, August 13
Early departure for Periyar Tiger
Reserve and a boat cruise to search for
elephants, gaur (Indian bison), sambar,
and a rich variety of birds. Lunch at
hotel. Nearby, tickle your senses with
a walk through a bustling spize bazaar.
Our hotel’s ayurvedic doctor will give
a talk on the use of various spices
for stress relief, wellness and various
treatments in ayurvedic medicine. Prior
to dinner at the Resort, an optional
cooking demonstration incorporating
home-grown organic spices is offered.
Overnight Spice Village Resort.
THOTTAPALLY (B/L/D)
Friday, August 14
Set off for the backwaters and our private
houseboats. Stop enroute for lunch.
Mid-afternoon, arrive Thottapally and
board our deluxe 18-person houseboat,
an environmentally-friendly vessel
unique to Kerala’s placid waterways.
These luxurious traditional craft once
plied these waters as rice barges. Coir
(coconut fiber rope) and resin from
cashew kernels, hold the craft together
– shipcraft passed through the centuries.
Settle in and enjoy your first dinner on
board, prepared by the chef.
HOUSEBOAT (B/L/D)
Saturday, August 15
Early morning yoga on the deck.
Today we see Indian life up close as we
slowly cruise along the palm-fringed
backwater canals of the Arabian Sea, a
vast network of lagoons, lakes, and canals
formed by the confluence of Kerala’s
numerous rivers and the Arabian Sea;
daily existence here has changed little
over the centuries. We visit local villages
and farms and churches in a land touched
by early Christianity: Saint Thomas the
Apostle is said to have made a missionary
visit to Kerala in 52 CE. Stop and help
purchase the fish and prawns to be
cooked for the evening meal, and, if
you’d like, assist in their preparation
onboard! All meals on board today.
•All Tipping for Drivers, helpers, hotels,
meals, bathrooms stops, local guide &
for the accompanying Tour Manager.
•Assistance and porterage at the
airports.
•All taxes
•Mineral water and transportation
in Air-Conditioned vehicle.
•Medical evacuation insurance
through Frontier Medex
What is Not Included:
•Expenses of a personal nature like
laundry, telephone/fax calls, alcoholic
beverages, camera/video camera fee
at monuments, medical expenses,
airport departure tax etc.
•Any Insurance.
•Any meals or beverages that are
not specified in the above inclusions.
•Cooking demonstration at Niraamya
Retreats Cardamom Club in Thekkady.
•International airfares.
•Expenses caused by factors beyond
our control like rail and air plane delays, roadblocks, vehicle malfunctions,
political disturbances, taxes, lost luggage, etc.
•Any other services not mentioned
in the inclusions.
•Any further tax levied by the Government of India.
continued next page
yaleedtravel.org/india15
Program Cost
Itinerary, cont’d
KOCHI
(B/D)
Sunday, August 16
After a morning cruise, disembark for
Kochi once more. Lunch at leisure.
This afternoon explore Mattancherry,
a bustling town and spice trade epicenter.
We begin with the Dutch Palace,
originally built by the Portuguese as a
gift in 1555. We see India’s first European
church (ca. 1510) and pay a visit to the
picturesque fishing nets unique to
Kochi, their massive frames balanced
by counterweights. Free time in the
Mattanchery spice market. Tonight, join
celebrated chef Nimmy Paul in her home
for an Indian cooking demonstration,
followed by dinner with her family.
KOCHI
(B/L/D)
Monday, August 17
After breakfast, visit Muzris Heritage
site, an active port in the 1st century BC,
and whose merchants started the IndoGreek and Indo-Roman-Egyptian spice
trade. Pending availability, enjoy a talk on
spice trade history by a local expert. After
lunch, an afternoon at leisure. Tonight,
we experience Kathakali dance, a highly
dramatic and mimetic dance depicting
stories from Indian epics. Farewell dinner
overlooking the sea, where we’ll enjoy
an interactive session with the chef.
Overnight Vivanta by Taj Malabar Hotel.
KOCHI - DEPARTURE
(B)
Tuesday, August 18
This morning, embark on a walking tour
of well-preserved Fort Cochin with its
mix of Portuguese, Dutch, and British
colonial houses and other historic
buildings. Afternoon free for individual
activities. Room until departure for the
airport.
Life on the Houseboat in the Kerala Backwaters
The base cost this program is:
$4,990
(based on double occupancy)
Single Supplement:
$795 (limited availability)
Group size limited to
34 participants
Post-trip extension to Delhi,
Agra (Taj Mahal), and Jaipur
(Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal, City
Palace) available August 18 to 23.
Inquire for details.
Note: Itinerary subject to change. Some
excursions in this program involve a
significant amount of walking.
Included meals indicated each day as
B/L/D = Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner.
Terms and Conditions
MOBILITY AND FITNESS TO TRAVEL The right is
retained to decline to accept or to retain any person
as a member of this trip who, in the opinion of Yale
Educational Travel (“YET”) is unfit for travel or whose
physical or mental condition may constitute a danger
to themselves or to others on the trip, subject only to
the requirement that the portion of the total amount
paid which corresponds to the unused services and
accommoda- tions be refunded. Passengers requiring
special assistance, including without limita- tion those
who permanently or periodically use a wheelchair,
must be accompanied by someone who is fit and able
to assist them, and who will be totally responsible for
providing all required assistance.
CANCELLATION In addition to airline cancellation
penalties, all cancellations for any reason whatsoever will be subject to a $300 per person cancellation
fee. Cancellation from 120 days to 76 days prior
to departure will result in forfeiture of 10% of the
entire cost of the trip per person; 75 days to 30 days,
50% of the trip cost per person; cancellation from
29 days up to the time of departure will result in
100% forfeiture of the entire cost of the trip. All
cancellations must be submitted in writing to our
office.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE A deposit of $1,500 per person,
payable to Yale Educational TRavel, of which $350
is nonrefundable for administrative fees, is required
with the reservation application. Final payment, must
be received 120 days prior to departure. Mail to: The
Association of Yale Alumni, Yale Educational Travel,
Box 209010, New Haven, CT 06520-9010. Or call:
203-432-1952.
HEALTH All participants must be in good health. This
India: A Spice Tour of the South
August 7 - 19, 2015
To register, return this form with your deposit of $1,000
per person to YET. Final payment is due April 7, 2015.
RESERVE YOUR TRIP TO INDIA TODAY
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To book, return the above form with credit card authorization or check payable to “Yale University” to
Association of Yale Alumni, P.O. Box 209010, New Haven, CT 06520-9010. Phone: (203) 432-1952. Fax: (203) 432-0587.
or
Visit www.yaleedtravel.org/india15 to book online
program involves extensive walking over uneven surfaces, climbing stairs at monuments and other locations
not handicapped accessible, and climbing in and out of
various conveyances. Any condition that may require
assistance or special medical attention must be reported
at the time of your reservation.
INSURANCE Yale Educational Travel highly recommends that participants purchase travel insurance as
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CHANGES IN ITINERARY & COSTS The itinerary is
subject to change at the discretion of the Association
of Yale Alumni (AYA) and the tour operator. All prices
quoted are based on prevailing fuel prices, airfares,
and currency exchange rates in effect at the time of
brochure printing and are subject to change without
notice. Deviations from the scheduled itinerary are at
the expense of the individual.
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is limited to educational sponsorship of the program
described in this brochure (The Program). A Private View of Italy (“APVOI”) acts only as an agent
for the participant with respect to transportation,
accommodations, and all other services, relating to
The Program. APVOI, AYA, and/or their agents assume no responsibility or liability for any act, error,
or omission, or for any injury, loss, accident, delay, or
irregularity which may be occasioned by reason of any
defect in any aircraft, ship, train, bus, or other carrier,
or through neglect or default of any subcontractor or
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be responsible for loss, injury, damages, or expenses
to persons or property, due to illness, weather, strikes,
local laws, hostilities, wars, terrorist acts, acts of nature,
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or anything beyond their reasonable control. APVOI
is not responsible for transportation or other program
delays and changes, nor additional expenses or loss
of time that may be incurred. In the event it becomes
necessary or advisable for the comfort or well-being
of the participants, or for any reason whatsoever, to
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Experience the taste and sights of India’s spice heritage
Association of Yale Alumni
Box 209010
New Haven, Connecticut
06520-9010
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Permit No. 519
New Haven, CT
India: A Spice Tour of the South
Paul Freedman
Chester D. Tripp Professor of History
August 7 – 19, 2015
Explore Chennai’s colonial past, ancient
temples and rich culture. Visit a market
for a glimpse of the local life. Savor the
typical cuisine of this region.
Munnar , an erstwhile summer resort of
the British, is a beautiful hill station. See
the interesting countryside with it’s lush
green tea plantations and taste various
types of tea.