3 1/2 weeks, think i might have planned too much!

melf31

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are going to India next week, all planned with trains booked etc but now I'm worrying that we're trying to pack too much in. We wanted to get a good mixture of holiday and sightseeing/cultural immersion. Our plan is as follows:

6th Fly out of London, arrive 0140 next day.
7th - 9th Delhi
9th - 11th Jaipur
11th, Arrive Agra PM stay one night
12th see Taj at sunrise then night train to Varanasi (arrive 13th am)
13th and 14th (inc nights) Varanasi
15th and 16th (inc nights) Bodhgaya
17th Gaya to Bandavgarh (all day train, arrive 1620)
18th and 19th Bandavgargh (night train on 19th to Mumbai)
20th Mumbai (then night train to Thivim, Goa)
21st - 24th Goa (night train on 24th to Alleppey)
25th Alleppey (arrive in afternoon)
26th Houseboat (stay one night)
27th Finish houseboat and head to Kochi
28th and 29th Chill Fort Kochi/Cherai beach
30th Fly Cochin to Delhi
31st Fly homme

I think we're packing in a lot and it seems do-able, but I'm concerned that we're not going to make the most of any of the places by not spending enough time there. e.g my girlfriend is really keen on learning more about Budhism and taking meditation lessons, but I don't see that she'll get much out of 2 days in Bodhgaya. Similarly, we really need to have some propper R and R time (we have stressful jobs) and I don't think spending a maximum of 3 nights anywhere is giving us enought time to unwind.

Incidentally we've got indrail passes so we can change our bookings and travel plans within the time we've got.


Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks

steven_ber

Sorry, no time to go through the whole thread, but just to add an option.....

Train 2296 departs Patna (thursday & Saturdays) at 19:55 and gets to Katni at 06:35 (2A, 3A, SL.)

The train seems like a good choice, however, I think it takes 3 hours to drive to Patna, and you really should arrive before 18:30, but on the plus side, the train starts it's journey from Patna.

But it's got to be better than getting a train at 05:30 then spending the whole day on it.

As long as you can find availability on the trains.

The night train to Thivim, then the train to Kerala will be hard to change as everything gets booked really quick on those sections.

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machadinha

I was thinking the same. My understanding is an Indrail pass will allow you unhampered travel in whatever period you book, however you need to book all your journeys beforehand, or you'll be dependent on availability just like the next person.

Suggest looking into this. See also http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-travel.html#indrail .

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vandy

Hey melf31,Have you been to India before ?

vandy