Northern India on a short time budget.

JFullerUCSB · Oct 21st, 2008, 15:59

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum. Currently I am an English teacher in South Korea. I've been doing a bit of traveling lately, and I'm considering using my vacation time to go to India in the spring. I have a friend back in the U.S. who also wants to go, but by the spring he will only have 7 days of vacation. With two weekends, that comes to 11 days total, subtracting one day on each end for travel.

We have been talking about itineraries. It looks like we will be starting out in Delhi. From there, these are the places that we really want to go, in order of priority: Agra, Ranthambore National Park, Jaipur (with elephant ride), Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur.

Because of the very limited time we would have, I'm thinking that we should try to combine sleep and travel whenever possible and utilize sleeper trains.

It seems like the longest stretches of travel would be getting out to Jaisalmer and getting out to Udaipur, plus getting back from those places.

What order would you recommend that we do these places in for greatest efficiency? Which ones can we do in one day and then move on to the next place? It doesn't seem like Jodhpur has a whole lot, so we could just spend a couple of hours checking out the fort, then move on to the next city.

I'm guessing we'd have eight total days to do the Rajasthan tour, with the ninth day being used for Delhi.

JFullerUCSB · Oct 21st, 2008, 21:10

Perhaps more specifics would be better. This is a rough draft of the itinerary I'm thinking of:

Day 1: arrive in Delhi, late night train to Agra, sleep there
Day 2: Taj Mahal at sunrise, various other Agra sights, Taj Mahal again at night, evening or night train to Sawai Madhopur. does this exist?
Day 3: Morning and evening safaris at Ranthambore National Park, overnight train to Udaipur
Day 4: Udaipur
Day 5: Travel to Jodhpur stopping in Ranakpur

At this point I need some specific info: about how much does it cost to hire a cab to Ranakpur? I'd love to see that place, but only if it's affordable. Figure we'd be splitting the cab two ways. Otherwise, we'd take the bus. I was thinking we could leave from Udaipur in the morning, stop in Ranakpur, see the Jain temple, then take the bus/train to Jodhpur and check into a hotel there.

Day 6: Jodhpur, overnight train to Jaisalmer
Day 7: Jaisalmer, overnight train to Jaipur (does this exist?)
Day 8: Jaipur, elephant ride to Amber Fort, overnight back to Delhi.

So I'm thinking that I'd try to take overnights from Sawai Madhopur to Udaipur, from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, from Jaisalmer to Jaipur, and from Jaipur to Delhi. I'd be hoping for evening trains from Agra to Sawai Madhopur and from Delhi to Agra.

Does this sound possible?

hal2004 · Oct 21st, 2008, 21:32

Sounds exhausting.

I'd drop Jaipur and one other destination. Consider flying out to Jaisalmer or Udaipur then train and car and driver on the way back.

Look at erail.in for train times and durations.

JFullerUCSB · Oct 21st, 2008, 21:58

Does that really sound like it would be that rough? I figured by combining travel and sleep on a few of the nights, we could make sure that we're well rested.

I really don't think we can drop Jaipur simply because of the elephant ride. Udaipur seemed to be the one that could be most easily dropped, but what do you think? Is Udaipur a must-visit?

Oct 21st, 2008, 15:59	#1
JFullerUCSB Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Daegu, South Korea Posts: 3	Northern India on a short time budget. Hi everyone. I am new to this forum. Currently I am an English teacher in South Korea. I've been doing a bit of traveling lately, and I'm considering using my vacation time to go to India in the spring. I have a friend back in the U.S. who also wants to go, but by the spring he will only have 7 days of vacation. With two weekends, that comes to 11 days total, subtracting one day on each end for travel. We have been talking about itineraries. It looks like we will be starting out in Delhi. From there, these are the places that we really want to go, in order of priority: Agra, Ranthambore National Park, Jaipur (with elephant ride), Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur. Because of the very limited time we would have, I'm thinking that we should try to combine sleep and travel whenever possible and utilize sleeper trains. It seems like the longest stretches of travel would be getting out to Jaisalmer and getting out to Udaipur, plus getting back from those places. What order would you recommend that we do these places in for greatest efficiency? Which ones can we do in one day and then move on to the next place? It doesn't seem like Jodhpur has a whole lot, so we could just spend a couple of hours checking out the fort, then move on to the next city. I'm guessing we'd have eight total days to do the Rajasthan tour, with the ninth day being used for Delhi.

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Oct 21st, 2008, 21:10	#2
JFullerUCSB Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Daegu, South Korea Posts: 3	Perhaps more specifics would be better. This is a rough draft of the itinerary I'm thinking of: Day 1: arrive in Delhi, late night train to Agra, sleep there Day 2: Taj Mahal at sunrise, various other Agra sights, Taj Mahal again at night, evening or night train to Sawai Madhopur. does this exist? Day 3: Morning and evening safaris at Ranthambore National Park, overnight train to Udaipur Day 4: Udaipur Day 5: Travel to Jodhpur stopping in Ranakpur At this point I need some specific info: about how much does it cost to hire a cab to Ranakpur? I'd love to see that place, but only if it's affordable. Figure we'd be splitting the cab two ways. Otherwise, we'd take the bus. I was thinking we could leave from Udaipur in the morning, stop in Ranakpur, see the Jain temple, then take the bus/train to Jodhpur and check into a hotel there. Day 6: Jodhpur, overnight train to Jaisalmer Day 7: Jaisalmer, overnight train to Jaipur (does this exist?) Day 8: Jaipur, elephant ride to Amber Fort, overnight back to Delhi. So I'm thinking that I'd try to take overnights from Sawai Madhopur to Udaipur, from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, from Jaisalmer to Jaipur, and from Jaipur to Delhi. I'd be hoping for evening trains from Agra to Sawai Madhopur and from Delhi to Agra. Does this sound possible?

Oct 21st, 2008, 21:32	#3
hal2004 · · · — — — · · · Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Toronto Posts: 951	Sounds exhausting. I'd drop Jaipur and one other destination. Consider flying out to Jaisalmer or Udaipur then train and car and driver on the way back. Look at erail.in for train times and durations.

Oct 21st, 2008, 21:58	#4
JFullerUCSB Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Daegu, South Korea Posts: 3	Does that really sound like it would be that rough? I figured by combining travel and sleep on a few of the nights, we could make sure that we're well rested. I really don't think we can drop Jaipur simply because of the elephant ride. Udaipur seemed to be the one that could be most easily dropped, but what do you think? Is Udaipur a must-visit?

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