Need advice for 30 days in India and Nepal - solo traveler

hsaad

Hi,

I'm new in India Mike, and it has been a great source of informations. There so many informations that I have to confess I get confused where to go..because it's my first time in India.

From the informations I got here and from LP guide, I figure the following itinerary. But of course I have a lot of doubts on it, so any suggestions for the itinerary would be very very welcome!

Need suggestions if I should skip any city to fit better, or include others, or staying more days to know a city, suggestions of trains..etc.

So here it goes:

31/12 - arrive 16:00 in Calcutta (is there any clebrations for the new year? of course I'll be tired from almost 2 days flying from Brazil..but what the hell..it's new year's)

01/01 - Calcuta and get a flight to Katmandhu
02/01 - Kathmandu Sightseeing ( Pashupatinath, Boudha Nath, Kathmandu Durbar square and Soyambhu Nath)
03/01 - Patan durbar square sightseeing
04/01 - Kathmandu to Pokhara (200 km/ 6-7 hours)
05/01 - Pokhara to Tikhedhungha: bus for one hour, trek
06/01 - Tikhedhungha to Ghorepani: Trek
07/01 - Ghorepani to Poon hill to Ghandruk
08/01 - Ghandruk to Nayapul to Pokhara - Trek and bus.
09/01 - Pokhara To Kathmandu by bus and get a flight to varanasi (hope there is one in the end of afternoon)
10/01 - Varanasi
11/01 - Varanasi
12/01 - varanasi/sarnath
13/01 - sarnath
14/01 - sarnath/varanasi/allahabad (train? bus? probably overcrowded because of the Kumbh/Ardh Mela)
13/01 - allahabad
14/01 - allahabad/agra (can i go directly by train? )(try to get the sunset at taj mahal)
15/01 - sunrise at taj mahal and see Agra Fort. Get a bus to Fatephur Sikhri and back to Agra at night to get an overnight train to Jaipur
16/01 - Jaipur
17/01 - Jaipur/jodhpur
18/01 - jodhpur
19/01 - jodhpur/jaisalmer
20/01 - jaisalmer
21/01 - jaisalmer
22/01 - jaisalmer/udaipur (need to stop at jodhpur?)
23/01 - udaipur
24/01 - udaipur
25/01 - udaipur/delhi
26/01 - delhi
27/01 - delhi and fly back home in the first hours of 28/01.


I don't know if it is doable or not..but it seems like a plan. Hope it can get better with your experienced recomendations!

One option could be skiping one or two cities of rajhastan and in the beggining of the trip going to Darjeeling (mainly for the sunrise at tiger hill and the toy train), just before going to Nepal.

Other option would be including Bodhgaya in the route.

I could say that it's a mid budget trip (U$ 20/25 per day) and my preference would be getting trains. But I could get another flight in the middle of the trip if it helps to get a better plan and the ticket for one way is around U$ 130,00.

Well, I hope IMers can help me in this itenerary!

Greetings,

Henrique

mountaingirl

Hi!
Welcome to Indiamike!

PRETTY GOOD Program you have!

I have the following suggestion:

1. Trekking in Jan - will be extremely COLD. So BE PREPARED! Add one more day to deal with any altitude or general problem.

2. The Delhi airport is under a lot of fog during this period. Therefore, keep 2-3 extra days in hand.

3.You can cut down a few days in Varanasi. sarnath could be taken care of as a one day excursion.

4.Going from Jaisalmer to Udaipur - you will need to connect through Jodhpur (train - I am not sure about bus).

The program you have is really very nice and 'DO'able. Keep it in your mind and since you are travelling SOLO - you can always amend it if you don't like something or if you like a place more, you could always stay a few more days there.

Good LUCK!

hsaad

Hi Mountain Girl!

Thanks for your reply
I hope I don't have to face the fog in the beggining. But in the end would be nice anyway...because I would have a good alibi to postpone my return to work and stay a little bit more in this great country!

Thanks!

Henrique