Exploring India in 29 Days

Desperado

hello people,

We would like to explore india as much as we can in 29 days.
Below are the places of our interest . please help us cement a route. thanks.

Mumbai
New Delhi
haridwar
Rishikesh
Corbett National Park
Shimla
Manali
Agra
shivpuri
ajmer
jaipur
jodhpur
Udaipur
jaisalmer
Goa
Mysore
Kerala

Please feel free to add and eliminate places... we are looking for places with 1)culture, 2)history and 3)important monuments. Also suggest one place where we could check out a buddhist monastery on the way.

indiaprof

And be prepared for things to go wrong, and for chunks of your itinerary to be set aside....

Are you planning to live on thousands of rupees a day, or hundreds? That makes a big difference with respect to being able to do this much in 29 days. For the kind of trip you have planned, it's going to take money-money-money. If you've got it, great.

I think if you check around the forums, you'll see that even much lighter itineraries (even with air travel connections) have to be cut down to account for delays. Don't want to wish you ill or anything, but delays in India are inevitable. It's a huge country with a billion people and semi-developed infrastructure. The plane ride is quick enough, but once you're on the ground, things can slow to a crawl really quickly. Try to imagine the United States with no freeways.

Don't lose heart, though. A group of my students went over a few years ago (without me) and managed to do a lot more in two weeks than I thought they could have done, but they had top-flight accomodations and transport the whole way, and didn't really stray outside the major cities. Still, they managed to pack in a train ride (for the experience) and a little of Kerala. The secret to their success was that almost everything was arranged for them in advance.

machadinha

Suggest (besides getting a guidebook if you haven't already) checking also this thread: How to get the most out of the Itinerary section. & To kindly not post the same query more than once, which can only get confusing to everyone, including yourself. (By the same token, it is helpful if people keep their related queries together in the same thread.)

And do follow Indiaprof's advice. Another standard reply of mine: Try to look up India on a map that shows it on the same scale as your home country. And bear in mind the infrastructure and speed of transport may not be what you're used to.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

Desperado

Thanks a lot mac, professor and hani...
we realized we cannot see them all... thats why posted this thread to know which ones are the most important and rich in experience. So we will save south india for a trip later in future

This is what we have planned...

Land in Mumbai >> fly to delhi >>> move up north to haridwar >> Rishikesh >>> Shimla >> Manali >> Dharamshala...

Fly Back to Delhi >>> Move to Agra >> then Jaipur >> Jaisalmer >>
Back in Mumbai.

Once we are back in Mumbai.. we can take a call if we have time for Goa and Hampi. What say?

indiaprof

Desperado,

I'd vote for Hampi, personally. But that's just me.

Actually, Hampi is something you won't see anywhere else in the world, or even in India. I still remember my first view of the ruins at the perfect point of a brilliant Deccan sunset.

Problem is: you can't fly there. May be fly to Goa and take a taxi?

Desperado

Yes yes.. i saw the pics.. Oh my!

we cannot leave out Hampi at all. We will need to plan our route really well so that we land up in Mumbai from Agra in time.

So please help us plan the northern route to the T. We dont wanna miss out on Hampi.

indiaprof

I think if I could either see Jaipur and Jaisalmer, or spend more time in Jaisalmer (and may be do a camel safari), then I'd opt for the latter. Jaipur has a few things to offer, but Jaisalmer has those same things: Jaipur is also one of those places that photographers make look a lot better than it actually is. This will save you some time, and I think you could even fit in a day or two in Goa.

How are you getting around in the mountains?

Desperado

Mountains as in Dharamshala and rishikesh?

i have heard we can get a cab there... whats the best way to move around?

Thanks again.

indiaprof

Probably a cab. If money is no object, anything you can't fly should be covered by a cab. That allows you to maximize your coverage - and also spend less time in transit and more time touring. A short train journey might be interesting, though, and certainly gives you a feel of the country. India is becoming more vehicle-oriented, but it's really a pedestrian-bicycle country, and from inside a car you miss a lot of the details - and also an entire class of the population. Make sure you get out and mingle a little.

Desperado

Thanks a lot indiaprof.
Yes we are looking at flying anywhere where it takes more than 4 hours of travel time... and yea we love mingling.
Do you think it would be easy for us to get hotel accommodations on the spot when we land in these places or we need to reserve in advance?
i appreciate your help a lot.

Desperado

Alright this is the list of places we have in mind now:

Delhi
varanasi (only if you guys think its not realllly out of the way)
haridwar
rishikesh
manali
dharamshala (we can skip, if you say so?)
Agra
Udaipur (we can skip, if you say so?)
Jaipur
Jodhpur
Jaisalmer
Hampi (Depends on time)
Mumbai