Advice appreciated on itinerary - North India 20 Oct - 8 Nov

Yarita

Hi everyone!

I've tried to put a schedule for this trip (20 Oct - 8 Nov).
I wanted to make the most of our short stay in India but I hope I haven't exagerated with the night journeys...

Do you guys think the below is a sensible itinerary?

I have checked Agra - Khajuraho and Khajuraho - Varanasi by train but I haven't been able to find any suitable option (not sure if it's my fault). Anyway, do you know if there are enough buses available, or is there the possibility of doing these journeys by car at a reasonable price?


21 Oct Delhi - Jaisalmer
4059 DLI JSM EXPRESS DLI 17.40 - JSM 11.00 (17.20)

24 Oct Jaisalmer - Jodhpur
4809 JSM JU EXPRESS JSM 23.15 - JU 05.20 (06.05)

26 Oct Jodhpur - Jaipur
4060 JSM DLI EXPRESS JU 22.45 - JP 04.50 (06.05)

29 Oct Jaipur - Agra
2308 JU HWH SUPFAST JP 02.00 - AF 06.35 (04.35)
Arrival at Agra Fort (I've read that this station is better located than Agra Cantt. to visit the city)

30 Oct Agra - Khajuraho
Any chance of doing this by bus? The train is not av. on Fridays

2 Nov Khajuraho - Varanasi
Gotta check the bus for this as well... How much could this cost to do this by car?

5 Nov Varanasi - Delhi
2561 SWATANTRTA S EXP BSB 00.30 - NDLS 12.35 (12.05)


8 Nov Delhi - Back to Spain


Thanks in advance

labrol

There will be plenty of buses from Agra to Jhansi. Also trains. From Jhansi to Khajuraho you could take a 2.5 hrs taxi ride or a 4.5hrs bus ride. Also you could spend a night at Orchcha 12km from Jhansi, off the road to Khajuraho. It is a lovely exprience exploring ancient buildings and the rocky river bed on foot. Small town, quaint bazaar.

Lots of buses from Khajuraho to Mahoba or to Satna. From either place, train or bus to Varanasi.

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Jorge Reverter

Train 2448 Nizamuddin - Khajuraho 21.35 - 07.50 (only days 2,5,7)
stops in Agra Cantonnement 00.25 - 07.50 (days 1,3,6 because is already the following day)
Station Codes: NZM - AGC - KURJ (take note there is an slip route in Mahoba 05.58-06.20)

You haven't direct trains from Khajuraho to Varanasi. Probably the best and cheaper option is bus to Satna (14.00/15.00 it takes 3 1/2 hours) then train to Varanasi. Several trains. Best options: 19.30 - 04.40 or 00.10 - 07.05 (I'll choose last one).
Stations Codes: STA - BSB

You have another option taking a bus from Khajuraho to Varanasi, if I remember well is 05.00 pm - 07.00 am bud the roads are not good and the bus are not confortables. I'll choose the train option.

If you must travel on friday from Agra to Khajuraho, my advice is to spend a day in Orchha, is a lovely place. The train stops in Jhansi and I think now has also an stop in the new Orchha station.


Jorge

Yarita

Thanks for your replies, Labrol and Jorge, your help is really appreciated

Coming to the next step: booking the train tickets... and unfortunately I'm struggling to register in the Indian Railway web. It's been almost two hours already and I keep getting a blank screen when I try to create my account.
Hopefully I'll get more luck tomorrow. We have only 20 days left for the departure date and I'm dreading that we may have availability issues for some of the journeys

labrol

Access the rail site www.irctc.co.in during India time 8AM to 10PM.

Yarita

Thanks, guys,

I was able to register today and I have booked some of the tickets: Delhi - Jaisalmer (there was WL for the 2A, not huge but even though I booked 3A, I hope this was sensible), Johpur - Jaipur and Varanasi - Delhi.

Appart from some little issues with my credit card, I have to say that the process went quite smoothly. I had read so many posts about people having issues with the IRCTC web that I was dreading I wouldn't be able even to register!

One more question:

I'm looking now for the Jaisalmer - Jodhpur ticket. I had thought of taking the
4809 JSM JU EXPRESS - departure at 23:15 and arrival at 05:20
But I'm not sure whether the following one would be better:
4060 JSM DLI EXPRESS - departure at 17:15 and arrival at 21:45

I mean, if we take the first one we'll arrive really early in the morning. I guess our only choice would be going to a hotel and 'sleeping'? for a couple of hours... I'm not sure if that makes much sense, or if it's better the second choice, though it means loosing one afternoon in Jaisalmer...

What's your opinion in this regards?

delhiwala

I opted for the night train, saved hotel charges for a night.....

Well actually not, I stayed in my office guest house. But I utilised my time at Jaisalmer to the max and spent night in travelling.

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labrol

Take the night train by all means. People are up and moving at 5AM. If you have the energy, you can hire a jeep at the railway station to take you on a drive through the Bishnoi villages to see Chinkara and black bucks roaming amongst homes. This trip is best at 5AM. Return to hotel at 10AM and catch the rest of the day.

You did the sensible thing by taking the confirmed reservationof 3A.

Yarita

Again thanks a lot for your help!

I have booked almost all the tickets now, all night journeys.

I have left for last Agra - Khajuraho. I need to dedicate some time to see if we can manage to spend a day in Orccha as you guys suggested, these days time seems to fly and I haven't been able to look at it properly.

Labrol, your suggestion on visiting the Bishnoi villages is now in my note pad. I've taken a quick look at this and seems really interesting!

steven_ber

The Agra - Khajuraho train departs Agra on a Friday, well, actually a saturday, but at 00:25 on a saturday, so you'd leave your hotel on a friday to catch the train.

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labrol

Yarita, if you follow the New Delhi meetups thread in the meetups forum, you will see there is one meet planned for Oct 21. Seems to be just for you!

Yarita

Dhanywaad for your replies, Steven, Labrol (I've posted in the Meeting Ups forum, the 21st Oct my friend and I are taking the 17.40 train to Jaisalmer, but if there's a way to join the meeting we'd love to).

I was trying to figure out how to manage to spend a night in Orccha and when I was looking more carefully at the train time tables and at my booked tickets I realised that I made a stupid mistake when booking!
My intention was to arrive on Friday the 30th to Agra, in the early morning, but I booked the tickets for the 29th, train of the 2AM, so we'll be arriving on Thursday instead. Silly, silly me!

I know eventually we could cancel and re-book accordingly, but that's not the problem. The point is that we are due to catch the train Satna-Varanasi the 3rd Nov at 00.15 (I've double checked and at least this one I booked it properly), so we have 5 days and 5 nights for Orccha and Khajurajo, and this part of the trip seems a bit trickier to me.
How would you arrange it? Train from Agra to Jhansi in the afternoon - then taxi to Orccha (as no train available late in the afternoon)?

Bear with me, I'm aware I'm taking advantage of your time and patience but I've never done a trip like this and some times I really think I'm getting crazy by trying to coordinate all the dates. I wish I had a whole year to travel

labrol

You are not taking advantage because we have a free choice to reply or not to. We reply because we love to. The 'why we love to reply' is something that would need a philosophical dialogue beyond the scope of this thread. So just keep asking. You are actually helping us live the experience of travel even while we are not physically travelling.

In this situation, I would visit Fatehpur Sikri on the 29th morning after four hours rest in hotel at Agra(Travelling 2AM to 6.30AM is going to leave me craving for more sleep). At 11AM I would leave for Fatehpur Sikri. Keep one hour each way for travel and two hours at the site. Figure in a one hour lunch break and arrive at the Taj Mahal by 4pm and stay there as long as I can.
On the 30th I would start the day early to visit the Agra fort,Itmad-ud -daulah's tomb and Akbar's mausoleum at Sikandra. I will miss Sikandra if time gets short. Then I will take the train to Jhansi and a taxi to Orchcha.
31st Orchcha including the fort, the temple at Aarti(Prayer) time, the river bank walk, the cenotaphs and dinner at the roof top restaurant at the square between the fort and the temple.

On the 1st I take a bus or taxi to Khajuraho, visit the western group of temples in detail during the day time. Attend the sound and light show in English at the same place at night.On the 2nd I will hire a jeep to take me to the Ken river sanctuary(16km) for a view of the landscape and Neelgai herds and then return to explore the other groups of temples by jeep or autorickshaw.

On the 3rd I will take it easy and take a bus to Satna making sure it is not one of the last buses so that there is hope of another bus coming my way even if one breaks down(In these parts consider yourselves somewhere in the 19th century in some respects)
I hope this is useful.

Yarita

I must be going mad, as the info I wrote in my previous post was wrong. We had actually 5 days and 4 nights altogether for Agra-Orccha-Khajuraho... and after putting all the train time tables together I've concluded that as much as I'd love to visit Orccha, it'd be too much and we'd be in a hurry all the time (I mean, our schedule is already tight enough, unfortunately).
So Orccha has become now part of my to-visit in the future list.
All the tickets are booked now, except for the bus Khajuraho-Satna, that we'll arrange on site. And the schedule is as follows:

20 Oct. Spain - India / Delhi (arrive at 03.10 AM)
21 Oct. Delhi / Train to Jaisalmer (leaves at 17.40 PM)
22 Oct. Jaisalmer
23 Oct. Jaisalmer
24 Oct. Jaisalmer / Train to Jodhpur (leaves at 23.15 PM)
25 Oct. Jodhpur
26 Oct. Jodhpur / Train to Jaipur (leaves at 22.45 PM)
27 Oct. Jaipur
28 Oct. Jaipur / Train Agra (leaves at 02.00 AM)
29 Oct. Agra
30 Oct. Agra / Train Khajuraho (leaves at 00.25 AM)
31 Oct. Khajuraho
01 Nov. Khajuraho
02 Nov. Khajuraho / Bus to Satna (afternoon) / Train to Varanasi (leaves at 00.10 AM)
03 Nov. Varanasi
04 Nov. Varanasi
05 Nov. Varanasi / Train to Delhi (leaves at 19.15)
06 Nov. Delhi
07 Nov. Delhi / Flight to Spain (leaves at 05.00)

So now I'm going to take a look at the hotels and to try and plan what to do in each place!

Labrol, regardless the fact that you people enjoy participating in this forum, for whatever reasons, as far as I'm concerned I can't thank you enough. I'm still a bit overwhelmed with information and doubts regarding many things but without your advice I'd still be desperate trying to figure out where to go and where not!

delhiwala

Very Well said....