Total Solar Eclipse Experience in India

High Country Passage offers a solar eclipse tour to India Oct. 15-26, led by Glenn Schneider, who works with the Hubble Space Telescope program at Steward Obervatory in Tucson, Ariz. On the itinerary are Delhi, a private tour of Jantar Mantar Observatory in Jaipur, the Taj Mahal and the Festival of Lights.

Cost: $3,990 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York, lodging in hotels and in a deluxe tented camp for viewing the eclipse, most meals and sightseeing excurions. Contact: High Country Passage, 943 Emerson St., Palo Alto, CA 94301; telephone (800) 395-3288.

More Eclipse

A Tibetan astrologer who works with the Dalai Lama will guide a Snow Lion Expeditions tour Oct. 20-27 to view the eclipse from a vantage point directly below the moon’s trajectory over the Thar Desert in India’s Rajasthan state. The trip begins in Delhi, with a tour of the city, before heading for Jaipur. After a visit to Nawalgarh, participants ride camels into the desert, where they will watch the eclipse from the Path of Totality Camp before going to Agra, location of the Taj Mahal.

Cost: $2,883 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York, accommodations and some meals. Contact: Snow Lion Expeditions, 350 S. 400 East, Suite 2G, Salt Lake City, UT 84111; tel. (800) 525-TREK.

Palaces of India

A 19-day tour Dec. 21 visits the country homes, castles and palaces of India, where maharajas and royalty lived a life of opulence until they lost their titles after a democratic government was established. Many of their royal residences are now Heritage Hotels. Participants will stay in these palaces, dining under crystal chandeliers, reclining on chairs inlaid with ivory, and walking on ancient Persian rugs. Arriving in Delhi from Singapore, guests will see the Qutab Minar tower, Humayun’s tomb, presidential palace and the Red Fort. In Udaipur, guests stay in the Lake Palace, have dinner and take a boat trip to Jag Niwas Palace in the center of Lake Pichola. A stop is made at the Ranakpur Temple, and members take a village safari near Jodhpur and visit its fort. Guests will see the profusely painted country homes in the Shekhavati region of Rajasthan and stay at Mandawa Castle. In Jaipur, participants can take an elephant ride, then drive to Agra with stops at Fatehpur Sikri, the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. They will fly to Varanasi to see ancient temples and take a boat ride on the Ganges River and witness Hindu rituals. The group then flies to Katmandu to visit Durbar Square, Swayambunath and Patan.

Cost: $4,295 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, hotels, most meals, tours and transfers. Contact: Worldview Travel, 125 Lakewood Center Mall, Lakewood, CA 90712; tel. (800) 782-4754.

Japan’s Landscapes

The medieval Zen Buddhist temple gardens, imperial palace gardens and tea gardens of Kyoto, Takamatsu and Okayama are on the itinerary of UCLA Extension’s eight-day garden tour of Japan, which departs Nov. 1. This travel study tour reviews the history, cultural context and design concepts of some of Japan’s large-scale public and private gardens, including all the palace gardens of Kyoto.

Led by artist and designer Norifumi Hashibe, the tour begins with four days in Kyoto visiting the gardens of Sento, Katsura and Shugakuin palaces, along with several tea gardens and residential gardens. Participants will also explore the Buddhist temple gardens of Phoenix Pavilion and the Silver Pavilion. The latter, also know as Ginkaku-ji, is a villa built in 1482 that soon became a cultural center for the visual and performing arts. Its garden has a traditional pond walkway, as well as sculptural white sand compositions.

In Takamatsu, participants visit the 75-acre Ritsurin Koen, one of the first examples of the Daimyo, or feudal lord, gardens. The Lord Matsudaira family began construction of this garden in the 16th Century and continued building it through many succeeding generations. The tour ends in Okayama with a visit to the Korakuen garden, a Daimyo garden built by the Ikeda family.

Cost: $2,800 per person, double occupancy, including tuition, accommodations, entrance fees, transportation within Japan, and air fare to and from Los Angeles. Contact: Landscape Architecture Program, UCLA Extension, 10995 LeConte Ave., Suite 414, Los Angeles, CA 90024; tel. (310) 825-9414.

Blues Cruise

The “Ultimate Rhythm & Blues Cruise” leaves Jan. 7 for a seven-day Caribbean sailing. Ten rhythm and blues and zydeco acts are scheduled to play more than 35 performances during the seven-day cruise. Some of the acts scheduled are Taj Mahal, Magic Dick/Jay Geils Bluestime, Koko Taylor & the Blues Machine, Lonnie Brooks and Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band.

Passengers get stage-front and poolside dancing and seating alongside the artists. Jam sessions begin about 1 a.m. and last until sunrise, allowing musicians and passengers to perform together. Blues workshops will be hosted by artists, and 24-hour blues radio and video will be played throughout the ship and in every cabin. The cruise leaves from Port Canaveral, Fla., for St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama.

Cost: from $1,100 per person, double occupancy, including port and departure taxes, and gratuities. Contact: Ultimate Rhythm and Blues, 4800 Main St., Suite 251, Kansas City, MO 64112; tel. (800) 886-6132.

Spain and Portugal

A 14-day escorted tour of Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Torremolinos, Gibraltar, Seville and Salamanca in Spain, and Lisbon leaves Nov. 4. Participants will visit Toledo’s Gothic cathedral, the Alhambra Palace in Granada, and relax on the beach at the Costa del Sol in Torremolinos on the Mediterranean coast. The group will visit the Rock of Gibraltar and in Seville a monument to Christopher Columbus. In Lisbon, sightseeing includes the medieval quarter and the Hieronymite Monastery. Also seen is the Shrine of Fatima, the scene of religious miracles. Returning to Madrid, the group visits the Royal Palace, Cervantes Memorial Prada Museum and Puerta del Sol for shopping.

Cost: $1,795 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, transfers, baggage handling, taxes and service charges, daily buffet breakfast and five dinners. Contact: Jones Travel, 4533 Fairfield Drive, Corona Del Mar, CA 92625; tel. (714) 760-0777.

New Mexico Festivals

Fly into New Mexico Dec. 1 for the 15th annual Red Rock Balloon Rally and the Shalako Dance at Zuni Pueblo. Starting in Albuquerque, participants will eat lunch in a historic Pueblo Revival-style building before heading west to Acoma Pueblo. Situated atop a 367-foot-high mesa, the pueblo has been continuously inhabited since the 12th Century and is famous for its beautiful, thin-walled pottery. Continuing to Gallup for a two-night stay, participants will arise early to witness 100 hot air balloons lift off at Red Rock State Park, and will gather to toast the fliers at a champagne breakfast.

Participants will then spend a night at the remote pueblo of Zuni. Only recently were non-Native Americans allowed to witness the Shalako ceremony. The masked gods proceed from house to house, accompanied by many costumed dancers, to bless the new homes of the Zunis.

Cost: $595 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from LAX to Albuquerque, some meals, all hotel accommodations, ground transportation, tours, entrance fees and gratuities. Contact: Spectrum Tours, P.O. Box 50608, Santa Barbara, CA 93150; tel. (805) 969-9665.

*

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.