The Indus Valley Civilization Journey
Indus Valley Journey – 10 Days
Global Context
Early mankind went through roughly 200 millennia of gradual development before some communities began settling into organized agricultural societies. From these settlements emerged the first three great centers of civilization.
The Indus Valley Civilization in current Northwest India and Pakistan
Egypt along the Nile
Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates
These three are called the “Cradles of Civilization.”
Nothing matches the incredible monuments that have survived and thrived in Egypt.
Settlements on the Indus River were easily the best-urbanized of the three cradles, distinguished by precise city planning, sophisticated drainage, standardized building systems, and remarkable civic engineering. India gets its name from the River.
There are very few remaining places we can now experience how they lived, and this journey follows the major sites of this Indus Valley Civilization across Haryana and Gujarat, visiting sites that they inhabited almost 5000 years ago.
This is our sole journey that is unavailable at our two travel levels, due to hotel availability in the three archaeological destinations. Besides Delhi and Ahmedabad, lodging is spartan by our standards, but comfortable, clean, and the best existing in the region. All our other luxury services are included.
Day 1: Delhi Arrival – Greeting & Transfer to Hotel
Fast Track Arrival Services. Most flights arrive either in the evening or at night. Meet your assigned representative from Fast Track Arrival Services as you exit the jet bridge from your plane at Delhi Airport. You are privately escorted through the complete arrival process, including immigration, baggage claim, and customs.
Welcome to India. We strongly recommend that our guests consider arriving a day earlier as this allows you to recuperate from jetlag and serves as insurance against international flight delays and cancellations. An additional night’s stay can be added at the time of reservation, including the option to add services for the afternoon.
Now you are greeted by your Accompanying Guide for North India and ushered to your hotel’s luxury vehicle. You are driven to the Oberoi Gurgaon which is near the airport and assisted with your check-in if it is 3 pm or later. The next day's plans are briefly reviewed, and you are at leisure for the remainder of the day.
(Overnight – Oberoi Gurgaon)
Day 2: Delhi - Hisar
You depart your hotel with an included packed lunch and drive northwest to the Hisar region. The drive follows the city’s outer suburbs into open farmland: as Delhi recedes the landscape softens into a patchwork of wheat and millet fields, irrigation canals, and small market towns. Village lanes, roadside temples and seasonal stalls give frequent opportunities for short stops to photograph rural life, stretch your legs, and enjoy a cup of chai. The unhurried countryside provides a clear transition into the region where some of the earliest Harappan settlements were located.
In Banawali you’ll find the remnants of a compact Harappan town notable for its fortified layout, exposed walls, and clear domestic plans. These visible remains—room outlines, fortified platforms and short street traces—offer a direct, unvarnished window into household organization and communal life. Your guide interprets these features and explains how Banawali complements the larger urban centers of the Indus world.
After your visit you proceed to your lodging and are assisted with check-in at your boutique heritage mansion, the best lodging in the region. Your guide gives a concise introduction to tomorrow’s exploration of Rakhigarhi and answers any remaining questions about what you experienced earlier.
(Overnight – WelcomHeritage Sheikhpura Kothi)
Day 3: Hisar - Rakhigarhi – Delhi Airport. After breakfast and checkout you depart on the short drive to Rakhigarhi. The route continues through rural Haryana—fields of mustard and wheat, irrigation canals, seasonal ponds and small brick kilns—where roadside shrines and market carts give frequent, photogenic glimpses of daily life. Your guide points out local farming rhythms, crop rotations, and the small-scale industries that have long supported these communities; short stops are made for photography and to stretch your legs.
At Rakhigarhi—a principal city of the Mature Harappan period (c. 2600–1900 BCE)—you walk the excavated mounds and foundations. Much of what you see are structural outlines, exposed drains, multi-room brick houses, and the base of a large communal granary, all offering evidence of large-scale planning. Your guide interprets the grid-like street pattern, civic drainage, burial zones, and material culture, explaining how these features reflect the social and economic organization of Mature Harappan urban life.
For lunch you stop at a rural scenic spot enroute back toward Delhi; your cold packed lunch is provided from the hotel. After lunch you continue the drive to the luxurious Oberoi Gurgaon, timing the return to arrive by late afternoon and avoid peak-hour traffic. Retire early to prepare for tomorrow’s pre-dawn transfer.
(Overnight – Oberoi Gurgaon)
Day 4: Delhi – Bhuj - Dholavira
Your hotel delivers a pre-ordered cold packed breakfast at 4:45 am. You are assisted with checkout at 5:15 am and driven to Delhi Airport for check-in for your 7:00 am flight to Bhuj. Upon arrival at Bhuj, you are greeted by your Easy Tours facilitator and escorted to your vehicle.
Begin the fascinating overland drive to Dholavira on Khadir Bet in the Great Rann of Kutch. As you leave Bhuj the countryside moves from the city edges into semi-arid plains—the land opens into salt-touched scrub, with acacia and hardy grasses, seasonal pastoral settlements and, at intervals, salt pans and nomadic settlements.
After a brief rest, you head out with your guide for a short orientation drive around the site, giving you an initial sense of the city’s scale, its prominent mounds, and the surrounding desert terrain. The stage is now set for tomorrow’s detailed archaeological exploration.
(Overnight – Evoke Dholavira)
Day 5: Dholavira
After breakfast, you spend a full day at Dholavira, one of the Indus Valley Civilization’s most important and long-lived cities (inhabited roughly c. 3000–1500 BCE). Much of what is visible today consists of substantial stone foundations, reservoirs, city walls, gateways and clearly defined settlement zones that illustrate an advanced approach to urban planning and water management.
Your guide interprets the citadel, middle town, lower town, engineered reservoirs and drainage systems, showing how these civic works supported life in a challenging desert environment.
You return to your lodge for lunch and an afternoon break. Later you may visit the site museum or walk to a nearby viewpoint that frames the site against the pale Rann horizon—an apt setting to reflect on the city’s engineering and long occupation.
(Overnight – Evoke Dholavira)
Day 6: Dholavira - Little Rann
After breakfast you check out and begin the drive south toward the Little Rann. The road carries you across the stark salt flats that surround Khadir Bet, with long open vistas, seasonal salt workings and the occasional herd of grazing livestock. As you move farther from the island plateau the terrain softens into semi-arid plains where pastoral communities and small artisan villages work the marginal land.
Arrive in the Little Rann area in the afternoon and begin your introduction with two focused experiences: a visit to a traditional salt-working settlement to observe age-old brine and solar evaporation methods, and a short visit to a nearby village that showcases local Kutchhi architecture and craft traditions. End the afternoon with a gentle walk to an open desert viewpoint chosen for the day’s light.
You are then driven to your eco-lodge at the edge of the Rann, where you check in. All 3 meals are included at Rann Riders.
(Overnight – Rann Riders)
Day 7: Little Rann - Wild Ass Sanctuary Excursion
After breakfast you set out in private Rann Riders 4×4 vehicles for a full day in the Little Rann, beginning with a properly organized safari into the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary. The sanctuary protects the last substantial population of the endangered khur—an animal whose lineage speaks to an ancient Asian steppe-desert fauna. In addition to the khur, the plains support desert foxes, nilgai, jackals and seasonal bird concentrations in shallow monsoon wetlands.
After the safari you visit a nearby village (Rabari, Bharwad or artisan community subject to access) to learn about pastoral lifeways and handicraft traditions adapted to saline soils and limited water. Late in the afternoon your guide leads a short guided walk or gentle trek to another panoramic point for photography and to appreciate the Rann’s shifting light and geology.
(Overnight – Rann Riders)
Day 8: Little Rann - Ahmedabad
After breakfast you check out and drive from the Little Rann toward Ahmedabad. The drive moves from salt flats and scrub into agricultural plains—patchwork fields, small towns and the occasional roadside shrine—offering a clear sense of Gujarat’s geographic and cultural variety. Short stops are made enroute for refreshments and photographs.
Arrive in Ahmedabad and check in at your top ranked hotel and your luxurious 1 bedroom suite. In the afternoon you take a guided walk through the UNESCO-listed Historic City of Ahmedabad: one or two traditional pols, examples of carved wooden façades and an historic stepwell or temple (subject to access). Your guide places the old city’s urban form into both climate and craft contexts.
(Overnight – ITC Narmada)
Day 9: Ahmedabad - Lothal Excursion
After breakfast you depart with your guide and chauffeur for a private excursion to Lothal (c. 2 hours). Established c. 2400–1900 BCE, Lothal was a principal Harappan port and offers rare evidence of maritime engineering and trade. Your visit begins at the Lothal Museum where seals, beads, tools and weights introduce the port’s material world.
You then walk the excavated site: exposed foundations, the brick-lined tidal dock and sluice remains, warehouse bases, street outlines and drainage works. Your guide explains how the dock and water-management features supported export and coastal trade across centuries. A picnic lunch is provided at the site. After further photography or a museum revisit, you return to Ahmedabad.
(Overnight – ITC Narmada)
Day 10: Ahmedabad – Delhi – International Flight
Flight to Delhi – Departure Full Fast Track. You are assisted with checkout at any time before noon, depending on your international departures timing. You are driven to Ahmedabad Airport for your flight to Delhi. Arrive at Delhi and your guide will introduce you to your Fast Track Rep who will assist you through the full departure process.
If your international flight timing requires additional assistance, transfers, an airport hotel, we will arrange these at your request.
Our services end here.
