Long-timers/Multiple Visits/Residents: Favorite Destination?

tacita

You've been to India several times, you live there, or you've done a long-term trip. Under any of these scenarios, you've likely covered a lot of ground. What was/is your single most favorite destination/sight(site)/experience and why? What was the biggest disappointment (i.e., not what you expected/envisioned), and why?

(Mods: please move/merge if there's already a thread--I found none--or if is is better placed elsewhere.)

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zoltan

> What was/is your single most favorite destination /sight(site)/experience and why?

Too tough for a single sorry - I have 3 to list:

1) Jaisalmer (because I now have family there).

2) Ajanta /Ellora caves (because of the amount of work done by so many people over so many years in dedication for the love of their religions.

3) Dholavira (the complete absence of noise; people; pollution and the beauty of the city that I got to explore)

> What was the biggest disappointment

Again, a couple to list:

1) when I returned home after nearly 6 months in India - having to learn to adjust to life in the west again.

2) Agra (quite simply because of the number of pushy touts and the constant scams that were tried on me from *everyone* that I met in the area).

And, I'm sure that as I continue to return there frequently enough, that I'll have more to add to both lists.

Cheers
Zoltan

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tacita

thanks, zoltan. your responses, and especially your "whys," are helpful and appreciated. this thread never got off the ground, so i welcome both the reply and the revival.

i'm trying to plan my next trip to india. and while i recognize the utter silliness of the question "where should i go?", i'm having a dreadful time of things, even with reading four guidebooks, a visit last year (sikkim, darjeeling, kolkata), and having been around IM for a spell. i figured it couldn't hurt to solicit favorites and whys. the caves have been on my short-list for some time.

thanks again.

snonymous

If you intend visiting the Ajanta & Ellora sites, do also make a trip to the Lonar meteorite crater [4-5hr drive from Aurangabad] - it is the second largest in the world and you can walk all the way down to the lake through peacock filled forests. MTDC the state tourist dept, has a hotel on the rim of the crater, check maharashtratourism.gov.in for details.

Have you visited the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu? These are two of my favourite destinations.

tacita

thanks, snonymous!

wow, that sounds cool! hadn't even heard of it.

no, but tamil nadu holds particular interest for me. i'll likely be coming in september, so weather will figure into my plans as well. i realize it may be inescapable, but i don't so well,m physically or psychically, in heat with high humidity. on the other hand, having been to sikkim, i would like to branch out a bit from the himalayan foothills...(then again, amritsar and destinations north of delhi also appeal...) <sigh> the india traveler's perpetual dilemma!

irrespective of my plans, i'm interested to see other people's lists of favorite destinations, both the popular and the remote. i'm sort of an off-the-beaten-path type traveler; however, "major tourist destinations" become that way for a reason. major cities are attractive for their own reasons, but i suffer terribly in the air pollution--kolkata's diesel exhaust was unbearable.

zoltan

If you've never been to the caves, I can add a few other comments then...

While in the area, domake a visit to the Dalautabad fort. It's one of *the* best forts that I've seen in all India. It's worth at least 3 hours - much more than the local tour companies offer.

Also, the ruined city of Hampi is worth a visit.

And, (quite away from the area), Western Gujarat is worth a look-in also.

Cheers
Zoltan

Madhu10

I have not done anything off beat in India but want to and thinking about going down the UNESCO list.

I was reading Zoltan's post and read about Dholavira...and then got to the UNESCO list. I tink some of these places are off course mainstream but others are not.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list

List for India
http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/in

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wonderwomanusa

Ajanta was easily the site that impressed me most in all of India -- but then, I've saved Ellora for 30 years and hope to go there on my next visit!

Another place on my "next visit" list is Bishnupur; if you didn't see the photos in our gallery here, search for them. I've just got to see those terra cotta temples!

Sama

I simply resonate with the temple vibe in Tamil Nadu but it is very hard for me to explain. to paraphrase Louis Armstrong, if I have to explain you wouldn't understand.

Rameswaram...read my "Rameswaram vignette" in the Tamil Nadu forum. it was all about who I was with, walking to Danushkodi, being in the great temple, everything.

I was asked to stay there. I should have, at least for a while.

With my last trip in January this year, it was again the vibe of the temple towns. the energy of being totally alone inside a temple gets to me and I am transported somewhere else in time.

in January I was asked to go to Palani and in hindsight I should have, instead of going to Cochin in Kerala.

it's also about the people in TN that I meet by accident -- you can read about my sweet Pongal adventures that I had in January.

I plan to return to the TN towns I visited this year -- there is something about that Cauvery River delta area for me.

Kodaikanal. reason: the people. I've never posted here about what I experienced two years ago because I'm sure I'd be flamed if I was brutally honest. the hills suffocated me, I felt claustrophobic, and I never felt so alone in India as I did in Kodaikanal. I could not wait to leave.

I would never return to Cochin either -- not because I got salmonella there, but for my interests, I found it extremely boring. nothing there I was interested in, but that's me.

my next trip will probably be for six months, south to north to south again.

if you go to tamil nadu in september, it WILL be hot and humid. Chennai was over 90 degrees every day, and as humid as a Chicago summer, which is very humid. the first time I went was in September 2005 and I was taking three showers a day -- until I got used to it by the end of the month. in January this year, the weather was perfect for me, was even "cool" at night.

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snonymous

I can second that. Daulatabad Fort was, during a first school trip to Ajanta / Ellora, far more interesting than the heritage sites. Subsequent visits to Daulatabad as an adult have always been exciting. Wear very sturdy walking shoes.

Loved Hampi as well but I hear its become rather commercialised these days. Nonetheless it is well worth a visit.

Zoltan, I will get in touch later about cheap hotels that youve recommended in your posts. Cheers.

aadil

Instead of the Taj Mahal which is only about 400 years old and not really in the same class as the Ellora Kailash Temple (the largest monolithic monument in the world carved from a hill which you can also climb and get the best view from the top as if you are seeing it from the air) and other caves from the Buddhist and Jain era too, besides the cave paintings in the Ajanta Caves, there is the Daulatabad Fort, Bibi Ka Makbara (Poor Man's Taj Mahal), Khuldabad (where Emperor Aurangzeb is buried), Aurangabad Caves, Grishneshwar Temple (one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India), Himroo saree weaving workshops, Pan Chakki (water operated flour mill) are some of the other attractions in and around Aurangabad. This I would rate as one of the best places to visit for really beautiful ancient art work which could easily be unrivalled in modern times with even the most modern tools and technology. The Lonar Meteoritic Crater is not really easy to get to but if you have the time then don't miss going there. It will be an out of this world experience.

Khajuraho, Orchha, Sanchi, Hampi, Konark, Varanasi, Sarnath, Sikkim, Bishnupur, Old Delhi monuments, Ladakh, Rann of Kutch, Old Goa, Badami, Aihole, Pattadakkal, Belur, Halebid, Mysore, Mammalapuram, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Bandhavgarh Tiger Sanctuary are some of my other favourites.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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snonymous

Plenty of tour operators offer Lonar tours from Aurangabad or you can engage a pvt taxi to take you there. MTDC has a proper if basic hotel at Lonar - best location there, as with all govt owned properties anywhere !!

aadil

I was refering to the public transport availability which is not so good except for the local State Transport Buses. Hiring a car for a few days becomes expensive; the other alternative is to use your own car.

Cheers,
Aadil.