5 week North India tour + Nepal

samihe

Hello all!

I'm going to India for the first time, flying to Mumbai on the morning of May 30. I've got 5 weeks to spend and considering it's summer thought it would be best to spend most of the time in the Himalayas. (I'm also bit of a mountain buff) I also really like the desert and first plan was to go to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer after Mumbai but dropped that idea.. The summer heat may be too much.

The plan I have so far goes something like this:

Mumbai 3 nights
Night train to Pipariya and drive to Pachmarhi for 2-3 nights.
Night train to Varanasi, 2-3 nights
Night train to New Jalpaiguri / Siliguri, spend 5-7 days exploring Darjeeling and Sikkim.
Then across the border to Nepal. First Dharan and travel towards west to Kathmandu and Pokhara. About a week for that too.

After that I am not sure of the route to Uttarakhand and HP. Should I keep travelling in Nepal or head south back to India and then go west?
Also not sure of the itinerary in Uttarakhand and HP. Possibly visit Kedarnath and/or do some trekking if I come across with something suitable. Also Manali and roadtrip to Leh is an interesting option. Will have to see how much time I have left. Maybe I could end the Himalayan tour to Leh and Fly to Delhi from there.
After Delhi I should head back to Mumbai to catch flight to home on Jul 6. probably via Udaipur.
To see Taj Mahal is not really that important for me. After the Himalayas I don't think I would be so impressed In general I am mostly after natural beauty, caves with paintings and such are not worth a siginificant detour for me. But, of course if something like that comes along the way I'm not opposed.

Please comment if you have any suggestions or thoughts about this trip. The plan is not final and I will alter it if I have missed something interesting.

ananda2193

Just curious but why are you flying into Mumbai since your staying in the north. Why not Delhi? Is it because it's cheaper!

Might want to stay longer in Nepal. It's very nice and theres lots to see.

I would not make concrete plans as they always change once there. It's ok to plan the above but in reality you might like a place alot and stay longer than planned, which always happens to me. Just go with the flow and things will work out once there.

samihe

Well it is little bit cheaper yes, but I know that the price of the train tickets from the south alone make up that difference so it is not the reason. It's just that I think Mumbai will be interesting city to see and Pachmarhi is conveniently on the way to northeast. Have read that it should be nice and beautiful too, not so crowded. Even if not as cool as the real Mountains.

Yeah, I also think that Nepal might take few days more than a week. Been spending time with google earth and it looks gooood! Can't wait.

If I stick with my current plan I would most likely book train tickets in advance up to Sikkim and get to the flexible part after that. Travelling by bus then anyways. It's so strange having to decide on train tickets weeks in advance if you want to travel on rails! I know the tourist quota, but I want to minimize stress potential. (Did I pick the right country to travel to? )