NORTH INDIA -5 weeks september

jacquie

Hi
I have been reading this forum and it has been really useful in preparing an itinerary.I am so excited - I have
wanted to go for ages.I have redone this itinerary so many times I could probably quote it in my sleep.
We are going to be in india for 5 weeks from mid september.we fly in delhi and out of mumbai.
My boyfriend would like to see manali and dharmasala as he has previously been to agra,delhi and jaipur.
He does not like big cities - he did not like delhi previously (he's more into the great outdoors) but we compromised and we will probably get a driver for the day to look round delhi.

do you is this itinerary too rushed ?
we have left a few spare days at the end in case we have problems (missed trains,stay an extra day somewhere etc)
Any suggestions on places just outside mumbai as we we will probably stay our last night in mumbai.
I was having a look at going to the ajanta caves maybe.

we thought we would hire a taxi for the day in 3 cities (delhi,jaiselmer and jaipur). what do you think?
Would also like to stay in an old palace hotel in rajasthan for a night or two (depending on budget!) - does any one have any recommendation

Tue, 18/Sep/07 arrive Dehli noon (Sleep delhi)
Wed, 19/Sep/07 looking round delhi and in the evening.( overnight bus/sleep delhi -not sure)
Thu, 20/Sep/07 travel by bus to Kullu/manali (sleep Manali)
Fri, 21/Sep/07 Kullu/manali Kullu/manali (sleep Manali)
Sat, 22/Sep/07 Kullu/manali Kullu/manali (sleep Manali)
Sun, 23/Sep/07 travel to dharmasala.(to check)
Mon, 24/Sep/07 dharmasala (sleep dharmasala)
Tue, 25/Sep/07 dharmasala (sleep dharmasala)
Wed, 26/Sep/07 dharmasala(flight to delhi arrives around 3pm).travel agra. (sleep agra)
Thu, 27/Sep/07 trip to taj mahal early morning and then bus to Bhraptapur (sleep Bhraptapur)
Fri, 28/Sep/07 Bhraptapur-Keoladeo (sleep Bhraptapur)
Sat, 29/Sep/07 Bhraptapur-Keoladeo (11.00am train to Sawai Madhopur) (sleep Ranthambhore)
Sun, 30/Sep/07 Sawai Madhopur(Ranthambhore) (sleep Ranthambhore)
Mon, 01/Oct/07 morning train to jaipur (sleep jaipur)
Tue, 02/Oct/07 jaipur (look round the city) (sleep jaipur)
Wed, 03/Oct/07 jaipur (maybe hire taxi for the day) (sleep jaipur)
Thu, 04/Oct/07 morning train to Ajmer (sleep pushkar)
Fri, 05/Oct/07 pushkar (sleep pushkar)
Sat, 06/Oct/07 ajmer to Jodhpur (sleep jodhpur)
Sun, 07/Oct/07 jodhpur (sleep jodhpur)
Mon, 08/Oct/07 early morning train to jaiselmer (sleep jaiselmer)
Tue, 09/Oct/07 jaiselmer (sleep jaiselmer)
Wed, 10/Oct/07 jaiselmer (maybe hire taxi for the day - sleep jaiselmer)
Thu, 11/Oct/07 jaiselmer (sleep jaiselmer)
Fri, 12/Oct/07 All day travel to udiapur (not sure best route yet) (sleep udiapur)
Sat, 13/Oct/07 udiapur (sleep udiapur)
Sun, 14/Oct/07 udiapur (sleep udiapur)
Mon, 15/Oct/07 udiapur to chittogarh (sleep chittogarh)
Tue, 16/Oct/07 chittograph to indore (sleep indore)
Wed, 17/Oct/07 mandu indore
Thu, 18/Oct/07
Fri, 19/Oct/07
Sat, 20/Oct/07
Sun, 21/Oct/07
Mon, 22/Oct/07 mumbai
Tue, 23/Oct/07 mumbai


thanks

capt_mahajan

Looks nice and relaxed.

Hiring a taxi for the day is a good idea, gives you some flexibility and saves you some hassle.

Dunno about your budget, but Lake Palace Udaipur could be one contender for the hotel.. which is way above my budget!
http://www.tajhotels.com/Palace/Taj%...UR/default.htm

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Arun

That's a lot of time in Jaisalmer unless you are going on safari.

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jacquie

Thanks, think we will cut a day off in jaiselmer.a few more questions. getting from jaiselmer to udiapur is going to take a while. does anyone have any suggestions on where we can stop maybe for a day or two to cut the journey time down. Also we will have a few days at the end before mumbai - any suggestions where we can go for a few days .I would have like to go to shimla for a day before manali - will this be pushing it . thanks

incitatus

You might find the trip back from Jaisalmer less of a strain if you change the order of your itinerary.

After Jaipur ,rather than travelling to Pushkar go directly to Jaisalmer.There is a direct train every day leaving around midnight arriving at Jaisalmer 13 hours later.
Then travel back to Jodhpur by bus or day or night train.

There are direct buses to Pushkar from Jodhpur and direct trains from Ajmer, and direct buses from Pushkar and Ajmer to Udaipur.

Note that using the overnight train to Jaisalmer saves you a day's travelling and also travelling overnight back to Jodhpur is possible enabling you to use daylight hours for sightseeing or lazing by the swimmingpool rather than sweating it out in daytime bus journeys!
This should give you an extra day or two.
Stay longer in Udaipur ,hire a car for the day and visit the Jain temples at Ranakhpur.Even better, slot in a trip to Mt Abu between Ajmer (Pushkar) and Udaipur.
You'll find it worthwhile.

greengirl

yes you could go to jaisalmer directly from jaipur by train and then see ajmer on the way back from udaipur. dont eat too much street food and carry some medications too as you will be journeying around for long...

jaisalmer, udaipur will be a long stretch so better to see some places on the way like ranakpur. you will need extra time to recuperate from this part of the journey.

you will love jaisalmer and enjoy yur days there. the desert music fills yur lungs and soul and you never want to leave...

happy travelling...