Why have a Cardamom Affair?

India - palaces and pickles, monsoon and marigold, dung and dust, colors and corpses - is a cruel unrelenting place of ineffable sweetness. Much like life itself. Come and experience India with one of her daughters who calls Bay Area her home but India her country, her blood, her poetry, her love and her nightmare.

Cardamom Affair takes a small group of guests to unique destinations in India. We run tours which are normally 2 to 4 weeks long. If you have places of special interest in India that are not under the featured itinerary, we can tailor make a special package for you before or after the tour.

Cardamom Affair was created by Roke Noir to fullfill her dream of sharing her country with people from the west. You will be her guests for the journey and she will show you india through the eyes of a native, tell you its fascinating history, introduce you to its many wonderful gods and godesses and navigate you through its chaos. Having lived in America for 17 years she is perfectly suited to find the meeting place ofthe two worlds so different from each other in so many ways.

Salient features of Cardamom Affair tours:

• Small intimate groups of queer and queer friendly guests not exceeding 14.

• Fascinating destinations in India.

• 2 - 4 week group packages with options to tailor your own trip extension. The packages include all accomodation, all transportation within India, entry fees to all sites on the official itinerary and 2 meals per day.

• Your tour director is a native Indian and your hostess is British, both of whom are partners in love and business, living in California, USA for over 10 years.

• This endeavor aims to bring people from all over the world, the beauty, complexity and magic of authentic India while minimizing the chaos, clamor and confusion that India can be. This trip has been carefully tailored to find a fine balance between mayhem and calmness - intensity and ease.

• Every effort has been made during detailed planning of these trips to enhance the comfort, relaxation and peace of mind of the guests while bringing the experience of real India. These trips are built to feed all your senses while protecting you from some of the overwhelm that can happen.

• You'll live in relative comfort and ease, travel in private coaches, and have flexible days in the itinerary to pursue your individual needs, interests and hearts desires.

• Discovery sessions (4 monthly events) before the trip will prepare you with knowledge on the history, geography and spirituality of India. You will learn basic phrases in more than one Indian language, get the taste of Indian food, and receive Reading Lists of fictional and non-fictional books & videos. You will also receive many practical tips on topics like visas, health issues, sanitation, packing etc.

• Every effort will be made to make this an experience and not just another tour.

Let India entice you. Have a Cardamom Affair.

Roke & Zoe