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Juliana

Hi everybody
I'm a newbie here, planning a trip to india in September so now I have lots of questions.
I decided to stick to Varanasi, Rajastan and perhaps a bit of Goa as I'm portuguese and there's a lot of historical influence there.

Am I being too ambitious?
Is it possible to fly from Udaipur to GOA for how much ?

What are your considerations on
Rishikesh
Pushkar (heard it's a must)
Jaisalmer
Deeg


Thank you all very much

bijapuri

how much time do you have?

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Juliana

sboivin

If you arrive in Delhi, I think you should forget about Goa!

guerik

If you're planning to fly to Goa then it might not be as crazy - few days in Varanasi, 1 1/2 weeks in Rajasthan, week or so in Goa? Could be fun, if you've got the money to fly around in between..

Of the places you named, I've only been to Rishikesh. It's lovely, not a very exciting town however. Just good to relax and hang out in, and go for a dip in the Ganges if that's your bag (wasn't mine, but feeding giant fish was just as good).

Daman and Diu are a bit closer to Delhi and were also Portuguese for some time, I don't think they have quite the same scene but it could be worth checking out?

SHIMLA

You may do:

Delhi - 3 days
Rishikesh - 3 days
Varanasi - 3 days
Jaipur - 3 days
Udaipur - 3 days
Fly from Udaipur to Mumbai on the third evening and proceed to Goa the next morning by train. You can spend 6 days in Goa.

I could not fit in Deeg and Jaisalmer in the above.

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Bryan

Unless its essential you see Rishikesh or have some desire to do yoga there I would say leave it for another trip

3 weeks is not long for the distances you want to travel though if you fly it would make it possible
Internal flights can be purchased outside of India

Jet Airways fly to most places in India and are very very good
They have offices throughout the world so you could purchase them before you go.

Jaisalmair is great ...but look at spending 12 hours to get there 12 hours to get back (to Johdpur) and look at spending at least 3 days there as the camel trek is essential.

Pushkar is good ...and is not far from Jaipur so makes sense

Udiapur is further south ...can't remember the travel times now as its been so long since i was in udaipur ...(makes mental note to self to visit Udaipur again)
Its really beautiful ...Mount Abu is also interesitng

I would say there is more Portuguese cultural legacy in Goa than Diu & Daman ...in the sense of more churches and interesting colonial architecture
You may even find some older Goans who still speak Portuguese which should bring a really interesting dimension to your trip there

BTW Old Goa has great architecture

Do you fly out of Delhi again?
If you do I'd recommend you try and get an open jaw i think its called, where you fly in one place and leave another

In 3 weeks you'll definetly need to fly most of the longer routes or you will spend half your trip travelling on trains ...which is no bad thing actually hahaha

Found info on Jet Airways for you
they have a representative office in Portugal

Address
AV. COLUMBANO BORDALO PINHEIRO
No 108-5 B,
1070-067 Lisbon
PORTUGAL

Telephone 351 21 3157567/8
Fax 351 21 3155786
Email f.torrado@atr.co.pt

Just checked...they fly from Udiapur
They fly daily to Goa via Mumbai
From the times given on the website you leave at 08:40 and arrive in Goa at 13:00 with a couple hour stop over in Mumbai

When you arrive at the airport in Goa there is a taxi prepay stand and all areas have a fixed price ...

Hope this has been of some assistance
Oh...the Jet Airways site is: http://www.jetairways.com

Bryan

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Then let us pray that come it may
(As come it will for a' that),
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree an a' that.
For a' that, an a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That man to man, the world, o'er
Shall brithers be for a' that.
- Burns

lonelyaztec

Hi Bryan,

Seems like u r in Scotland and know lots abt India. Are you a travel agent.

Coz i live in India, and am Indian, and can't write stuff in such details for guys who wish to travel into India.

Way 2 go.

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Aztec

My photoblog

Bryan

Lol thanks
No just a lover of all things India and too much time on my hands I also hoard websites in my favourites and so have the info at hand ...Have considered trying tog et a job in the travel industry but well procrastination is my one true god given talent

Bryan

Juliana

Thanks a lot to you all.
Brian, you should really consider a career as a travel agent

cyberhippie

Bryan has pretty much covered everthing I think, although In my humble opinion giving either Jaipur or Pushkar a miss wouldn't be such a bad thing!

Also have you considered training it down to Goa it's a long trip I know but also a very pretty ride especially when you get on the Konkan railway!!

There are direct trains to Goa, from Mt abu, Jhodpur, and Jaipur and Kota, these only run once a week so you would have to plan carefully how you go about this!!

I noticed on my last trip that long distance trains are getting busier as the new found wealth of India enables more and more people to travel!!

So try to plan ahead, this is a short trip for the distances you're talking about so you may want to think about booking your whole trip in advance this give you slightly less flexiblity but on a short trip it's nice to know that you will see all the places on your itinery!!

I would be thinking along these lines
Delhi- Varanasi-Jaipur-Kota(bundi)- Margao-Delhi
(or Mumbai if you can purchase an open jaw ticket)

Or Alternativly Delhi- Varanasi-Jaipur- Johdpur-Mt Abu-Goa-Delhi(or Mumbai)

I have chosen Kota or Mt Abu as jump of points for heading south to Goa, it's a long trip but from these two southern cities the journey is few hours less!!
Also from Kota you can take the Rajdhani Express which cuts down the journey time considerably! Nice way to travel too!

Portugues influence is to be found wherever you go in Goa from the wonderful churches to the beatiful old houses they built along the length of Goa, so plenty to see and of course in September the beaches should be coming back on line so you can catch a few rays before going home!!!

Here's a few pointers on the trains you can use!!

Delhi-Varanasi train No 5206 Delhi-Muzaffarpur Lichchavi exp

dep New Delhi 15.45

Arr Varanasi 05.25

Varanasi-Jaipur train No 4853 Varanasi-Jhodpuu Marudhar exp

dep Varansi 18.15

arr Jaipur 14.00

Jaipur-Kota train No 2956 Jaipur-Mumbai exp

dep Jaipur 14.05

arr Kota 17.30

Kota-Madgaon train No 2432 Nizzamuddin-Trivandrun Rajdhani exp (Sundays and Thursdays only)

dep Kota 15.30

arr Madgaon 12.25

Jhodpur/Mt Abu-Madgaon train No 6311 Trivandrum-Jhodpur exp (Thursdays only)

dep Jhodpur 23.35 dep Mt Abu (Abu Road) 05.55

arr Madgaon 07.35

There are many other options of course, to be found here on the Indian Railways website


rail times

Happy travelling!!!

skell

Cyberhippie,

You seem to know the trains very well. Do you know if there are direct trains from Cochin to Goa - and if so, how long is the trip? Thanks.

cyberhippie

Hi Skell

There are loads of train in this direction!! Not a worry at all you can take it easy up through Kerala and Karnataka and still catch a train North at several railheads within the state!!
Or you can catch one of the many expresses heading north to destinations such Delhi and Mumbai, these take in a lot of the stops you might need on a trip to India,
Jhansi, Agra, Bhopal, Jaipur, Jhodpur, Mt Abu, Kota, Indore, Margao, Pune, as well as places in Gujarat who's names I don't know as I ain't been there yet!!
So getting to Goa won't be a hassle it takes about 14/19 hours depending on which train you take and where your going!!
Thanks for the compliment by the way, but I'm afraid my knowledge of the train isn't as sharp as it seems I just look it up on the Indian Railways site!!!!

So for specifics look up your train here!!!!

Indian Railways

The site is great and is simple to navigate.

On the ground I reccomend the "trains at a glance" wonderful bed time reading as you try to get to grips with the mammoth Indian rail system!! (tip : find yourself a partner who is really good a deciphering these things, a wonderful aid to a trip around India, and if he/she cuddles up nice, well who needs the sleeping bags)

skell

"find yourself a partner who is really good a deciphering these things, a wonderful aid to a trip around India, and if he/she cuddles up nice, well who needs the sleeping bag"

Good advice cyberhippie. It sounds like you speak from experience!

cyberhippie

I'm nothing without my better half!! Mrs cyberhippie done all the logistics on the last trip!!
I had the luxury of being only a bit part on the whole trip and what a trip it was!!!.

As for "Trains at a glance" well you have to be a Database engineer to understand it (don't you???)