4 weeks in August

Marvin · Feb 4th, 2009, 05:46

Well, end of July/August.

I'm planning to fly to Delhi on 27th July and leave Mumbai on 24th August.

At the moment I'm looking for rough ideas of how much is achievable that time of year in that time. I am not too worried about monsoons, and in fact some aspects of the season quite appeal, but obviously I'm aware it can cause some problems with travel in certain areas.

Ideally I'd quite like to arrive in Delhi, spend a few days there, visit Agra but just for the day, and spend some time in the north - nowhere set in stone yet but many ideas.

Then possibly get a flight to Kerala, spend a week or so in one area there, before heading up to Mumbai.

Does anyone have any suggestions of places we must go to or travelling arrangements?

Amalfi · Feb 4th, 2009, 10:35

Delhi/Agra - 3 Days

Rajasthan - Jaipur , Udaipur , Jodhpur , Jaisalmer - 10 Days

Leh / Ladakh - 5 days - Fly from Delhi to Leh . Budget airlines fly to Leh at a steal. This area will be monsoon free.

Rishikesh / Haridwar - 3 days

Kerala - 5 days ( Heavy monsoons usually)

snonymous · Feb 4th, 2009, 11:49

As Amalfi rightly points out, it would be mid monsoons in Kerala. You could consider visiting Tamil Nadu instead which does not get rain at this time.

nayan · Feb 4th, 2009, 12:05

Agree with Amalfi and snonymous

my suggestion - skip rishikesh haridwar... add the extra 3 days to leh-ladakh

Marvin · Feb 4th, 2009, 21:50

Thanks guys, all very useful.

Will be discussing with my partner later a bit more.

I know it's going to be heavy monsoons in Kerala but as long as travel isn't affected too severely we don't mind the rain.

I definitely want to spend some time in Rajastahn and that looks like a good itinery for that part and I'll definitely give some thought to Leh.

Marvin · Feb 4th, 2009, 21:51

We're happy to get cheap flights where it'll save us a huge amount of time too but we do want to take a couple of train journeys.

Indizen · Feb 4th, 2009, 22:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvin

We're happy to get cheap flights where it'll save us a huge amount of time too but we do want to take a couple of train journeys.

Towards the end of your trip, visit Goa for two days to experience the freshness of the wet and green landscape, visit the churches, temples and spice plantations, as well as the waterfalls.
Spend a couple of days amidst the amazing monuments and landscape of Hampi.

Amalfi · Feb 5th, 2009, 11:33

You will have to take lots of Train journeys in order to cover the itinerary I suggested. Some of them overnight to save time.

Delhi to Agra - 6 am early morning Bhopal Shatabdi train . Reach Agra at 7.55 am. Return in the evening by the same train.You could also go to Agra directly from the Rajasthan Loop(Jaipur) instead of from Delhi.

Delhi to Haridwar - 6.50 Am morning Dehradun Shatabdi train. 4 1/2 hours Journey. Rishikesh is 30-40 minutes by Auto / Bus. I reckon the white water rafting there will be really adrenalin rushing at that time as the Ganges is likely to be in spate during the monsoons. Return journey by same train (evening)

Rajathan Loop-

Delhi to Udaipur - Overnight train Mewar express. leaves Delhi 7 pm reaches udaipur 7 am.

Udaipur to Jodhpur by road (taxi) via Ranakpur/Kumbhalgarh

Jodhpur to Jaisalmer - Night Train - Leaves Jodhpur 11 pm reaches jaisalmer 5 am.

Jaisalmer to Jaipur - Overnight train - Dep 4 pm Jaisalmer arr Jaipur 4 am in the morning.

Jaipur to Delhi- Host of trains throughout the day. Can be covered by road also . You could also go directly to Agra which will be 4-5 hour train journey.

Whatever itinerary you choose, pre booking the train journeys is a must especially during the 15 Aug Independance day weekend as a lot of indians will be on Holidays especially in Rajasthan.

Marvin · Jul 5th, 2009, 03:31

Hi everyone, thanks for your earlier advice

just bumping this thread as we're gradually getting their with our plans.

Currently:

28th July AM arrive Delhi (arriving 6am)
29th July Delhi
30th July AM flight to Leh (arriving 7.40)
31t July - Ladakh
1st August - Ladakh
2nd August - Ladakh
3rd August - Ladakh
4th August - Flight to Delhi (arriving at 9.30am)

at this point we'd like to go to Agra and spend some time round Rajasthan, given that we're arriving at half 9 in Delhi and have been recommended to go to Agra first thing in the morning not sure what is the best plan here really.

In Rajasthan I'd be interested in seeing Jodhpur, Udaipur (although have heard lake is empty?), Jaipur and maybe Jaisalmer and/or Pushkar.

Then eventually heading south to Mumbai, not sure whether to get a flight here or take train and break journey somewhere en route worth seeing to get to Mumbai by 15th August, then planning to take a scenic journey on Konkan railway down to Cochin, where we'll be meeting a friend for a day before spending a few days in Kerala, probably Allepy for backwaters etc,

then 23rd August - Flight from Cochin to Mumbai (arriving 2.30pm)
24th August - Flight from Mumbai to London (departing 2pm)

Any advice or tips would be greatly received, as you can see we're still deciding on various aspects.

Strider77 · Jul 5th, 2009, 04:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvin

Hi everyone, thanks for your earlier advice

just bumping this thread as we're gradually getting their with our plans.

Currently:

28th July AM arrive Delhi (arriving 6am)
29th July Delhi
30th July AM flight to Leh (arriving 7.40)
31t July - Ladakh
1st August - Ladakh
2nd August - Ladakh
3rd August - Ladakh
4th August - Flight to Delhi (arriving at 9.30am)

at this point we'd like to go to Agra and spend some time round Rajasthan, given that we're arriving at half 9 in Delhi and have been recommended to go to Agra first thing in the morning not sure what is the best plan here really.

In Rajasthan I'd be interested in seeing Jodhpur, Udaipur (although have heard lake is empty?), Jaipur and maybe Jaisalmer and/or Pushkar.

Then eventually heading south to Mumbai, not sure whether to get a flight here or take train and break journey somewhere en route worth seeing to get to Mumbai by 15th August, then planning to take a scenic journey on Konkan railway down to Cochin, where we'll be meeting a friend for a day before spending a few days in Kerala, probably Allepy for backwaters etc,

then 23rd August - Flight from Cochin to Mumbai (arriving 2.30pm)
24th August - Flight from Mumbai to London (departing 2pm)

Any advice or tips would be greatly received, as you can see we're still deciding on various aspects.

Marvin - A friend of mine and I are planning on being there around the same time... The way we thought about it, most of out (your) trip with the exception of Leh/Ladakh are going to be in the craziness of the Indian cities (and I mean that in a good way) - so why not tackle them first and have Leh/Ladakh at the end... a final pinnacle sort of.. I understand that you are going to be flying out of Bombay, which would involve some additional logistics.. but thats just my 2 paise worth of advice.

Marvin · Jul 5th, 2009, 04:22

Hiya, we originally planned to do just that, unfortunately it was more of a financial issue, as we decided we didn't have time to go to Ladakh by road and flights to Ladakh were quickly going up in price, it was considerably cheaper to go at the start of our Northern leg, and it would waste too much time to go down South, back to Ladakh and back to Mumbai.

As it is we'll have to enjoy Ladakh first, before the craziness!

Hopefully we'll enjoy some peacefulness in Kerala amongst the rain!

EDIT - just to clarify, our flights to Ladakh and from Cochin to Mumbai are already booked.

Strider77 · Jul 5th, 2009, 04:27

Thought as much... We are flying in and out of Delhi - so it made it easier for us to switch it around.

My brother went on a house boat trip in the Kerala backwaters... for 3-4 days, I think and had a lot of positive things to say about it. Good luck on your travels.

Feb 4th, 2009, 05:46	#1
Marvin Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 12	4 weeks in August Well, end of July/August. I'm planning to fly to Delhi on 27th July and leave Mumbai on 24th August. At the moment I'm looking for rough ideas of how much is achievable that time of year in that time. I am not too worried about monsoons, and in fact some aspects of the season quite appeal, but obviously I'm aware it can cause some problems with travel in certain areas. Ideally I'd quite like to arrive in Delhi, spend a few days there, visit Agra but just for the day, and spend some time in the north - nowhere set in stone yet but many ideas. Then possibly get a flight to Kerala, spend a week or so in one area there, before heading up to Mumbai. Does anyone have any suggestions of places we must go to or travelling arrangements?

Feb 4th, 2009, 11:49	#3
snonymous xxx Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,693	As Amalfi rightly points out, it would be mid monsoons in Kerala. You could consider visiting Tamil Nadu instead which does not get rain at this time. __________________ Some of My Tall Tales at http://www.travelpod.com/members/indianature My Flickr photos at http://www.flickr.com/groups/snonymous/

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Feb 4th, 2009, 10:35	#2
Amalfi Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 206	Delhi/Agra - 3 Days Rajasthan - Jaipur , Udaipur , Jodhpur , Jaisalmer - 10 Days Leh / Ladakh - 5 days - Fly from Delhi to Leh . Budget airlines fly to Leh at a steal. This area will be monsoon free. Rishikesh / Haridwar - 3 days Kerala - 5 days ( Heavy monsoons usually)

Feb 4th, 2009, 12:05	#4
nayan Forum Leader Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: hyderabad/tokyo Posts: 1,895	Agree with Amalfi and snonymous my suggestion - skip rishikesh haridwar... add the extra 3 days to leh-ladakh

Feb 4th, 2009, 21:50	#5
Marvin Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 12	Thanks guys, all very useful. Will be discussing with my partner later a bit more. I know it's going to be heavy monsoons in Kerala but as long as travel isn't affected too severely we don't mind the rain. I definitely want to spend some time in Rajastahn and that looks like a good itinery for that part and I'll definitely give some thought to Leh.

Feb 4th, 2009, 21:51	#6
Marvin Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 12	We're happy to get cheap flights where it'll save us a huge amount of time too but we do want to take a couple of train journeys.

Feb 5th, 2009, 11:33	#8
Amalfi Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 206	You will have to take lots of Train journeys in order to cover the itinerary I suggested. Some of them overnight to save time. Delhi to Agra - 6 am early morning Bhopal Shatabdi train . Reach Agra at 7.55 am. Return in the evening by the same train.You could also go to Agra directly from the Rajasthan Loop(Jaipur) instead of from Delhi. Delhi to Haridwar - 6.50 Am morning Dehradun Shatabdi train. 4 1/2 hours Journey. Rishikesh is 30-40 minutes by Auto / Bus. I reckon the white water rafting there will be really adrenalin rushing at that time as the Ganges is likely to be in spate during the monsoons. Return journey by same train (evening) Rajathan Loop- Delhi to Udaipur - Overnight train Mewar express. leaves Delhi 7 pm reaches udaipur 7 am. Udaipur to Jodhpur by road (taxi) via Ranakpur/Kumbhalgarh Jodhpur to Jaisalmer - Night Train - Leaves Jodhpur 11 pm reaches jaisalmer 5 am. Jaisalmer to Jaipur - Overnight train - Dep 4 pm Jaisalmer arr Jaipur 4 am in the morning. Jaipur to Delhi- Host of trains throughout the day. Can be covered by road also . You could also go directly to Agra which will be 4-5 hour train journey. Whatever itinerary you choose, pre booking the train journeys is a must especially during the 15 Aug Independance day weekend as a lot of indians will be on Holidays especially in Rajasthan.

Jul 5th, 2009, 03:31	#9
Marvin Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 12	Hi everyone, thanks for your earlier advice just bumping this thread as we're gradually getting their with our plans. Currently: 28th July AM arrive Delhi (arriving 6am) 29th July Delhi 30th July AM flight to Leh (arriving 7.40) 31t July - Ladakh 1st August - Ladakh 2nd August - Ladakh 3rd August - Ladakh 4th August - Flight to Delhi (arriving at 9.30am) at this point we'd like to go to Agra and spend some time round Rajasthan, given that we're arriving at half 9 in Delhi and have been recommended to go to Agra first thing in the morning not sure what is the best plan here really. In Rajasthan I'd be interested in seeing Jodhpur, Udaipur (although have heard lake is empty?), Jaipur and maybe Jaisalmer and/or Pushkar. Then eventually heading south to Mumbai, not sure whether to get a flight here or take train and break journey somewhere en route worth seeing to get to Mumbai by 15th August, then planning to take a scenic journey on Konkan railway down to Cochin, where we'll be meeting a friend for a day before spending a few days in Kerala, probably Allepy for backwaters etc, then 23rd August - Flight from Cochin to Mumbai (arriving 2.30pm) 24th August - Flight from Mumbai to London (departing 2pm) Any advice or tips would be greatly received, as you can see we're still deciding on various aspects.

Jul 5th, 2009, 04:22	#11
Marvin Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 12	Hiya, we originally planned to do just that, unfortunately it was more of a financial issue, as we decided we didn't have time to go to Ladakh by road and flights to Ladakh were quickly going up in price, it was considerably cheaper to go at the start of our Northern leg, and it would waste too much time to go down South, back to Ladakh and back to Mumbai. As it is we'll have to enjoy Ladakh first, before the craziness! Hopefully we'll enjoy some peacefulness in Kerala amongst the rain! EDIT - just to clarify, our flights to Ladakh and from Cochin to Mumbai are already booked.

Jul 5th, 2009, 04:27	#12
Strider77 Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: US Posts: 2	Thought as much... We are flying in and out of Delhi - so it made it easier for us to switch it around. My brother went on a house boat trip in the Kerala backwaters... for 3-4 days, I think and had a lot of positive things to say about it. Good luck on your travels.