Advice on my itinerary please

Bwass

Hi Guys, I'm going to India for three weeks next december/january (one week travelling, two weeks doing volunteer work in a Delhi orphanage) and I'd like people here who are familiar with the Indian ways to help me and give e advice with my projected itinerary:

26 dec.: Departure from Montreal around 4h30 PM

27 dec.: In flight

28 dec.: Arrival in Delhi towards 12:35 AM, Night in Delhi and day in Delhi. Departure by the night train to Varanasi.

29 dec.: Morning, arrival in Varanasi, day in Varanasi and night at a couchsurfing host's place.

30 dec.: Day in Varanasi. At night or following morning, train to Agra.

31 dec.: Day in Agra

1 jan.: Day in agra. Bus Agra-Jaipur. Night in youth hostel in Jaipur

2 jan.: Day In Jaipur. Other night in hostel.

3 jan.: Half-day in Jaipur,then train to Sawai Madhopur. Late afternoon safari in Ranthambore. Night in Sawai Madhopur hostel.

4 jan. : Other half-day of safari in Ranthambore then train to Delhi

5 to 19 jan: Volunteer work in Delhi,stay in a host family.

I,d like to know if there's anything impracticable in that, what you guys recommend me to see in those places if I've never been to India and anything else you may find useful. also, is the train "sleeper class" OK for foreigners or is it just impossible to deal with, to uncomfortable, dangerous, etc. ?

Mickey S

Others will have opinions on your itinerary - it looks fine to me - but I would recommend not travelling sleeper class unless your budget is really tight (and, since you're couchsurfing and youth hostelling, I guess it might be?). It's not at all dangerous, but it can be crowded, uncomfortable and very noisy. If you can afford it, spend the extra few $$ and go 3A or, better still, 2A.

Make sure you book the trains 3 months in advance or you might find that they're sold out.

zoltan

Personally, I prefer SL to the AC coaches. You get to meet an interesting variety of people, there are more photo opportunities (AC coaches usually have scratched or dirty windows & you can't get good photos).

The only caveat that I would append to the details above is the prevalence of drugged food/drink being offered seems to be high on trains serving the Varanasi route.

Do not accept food or drink from anyone, no matter how sincere they may appear.

Cheers
Zoltan

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capt_mahajan

Seems a little rushed to me. 4 places in 7 days (excluding Delhi), and Varanasi is not close to the rest.

Only other comment, be prepared for fog delays at that time, specially around Delhi/Agra/Jaipur

steven_ber

Although the number of druggings on trains is increasing, there's still only a minute chance that this could happen to a tourist.

I'd advise a person to judge any situation as it happens, though caution on popular tourist routes is always best.

I've still not refused food or drink when offered by locals on trains, I've probibly accepted food (mostly) on about 40 occations, and it's always really tasty.

I've only been offered food by a man travelling alone once, I accepted, I had noticed his whole family saying goodbye to him at Madgaon station, so it just didn't seem likely that his intention was to drug a tourist.

Almost all the other times have been families offering food, so again, I had no reason to be suspicious.

There has been a rise in reported druggings on trains in the last year or two, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh seem to have more druggings than the rest of the country put together, though I've also read the occational story of druggings in AP, TN and on the Mumbai-Goa route.

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Train information.

Bwass

Thanks guys, lots of great stuff in there