West Begal/Delhi May/June 2 weeks

stevenhiggins

Hi everyone, I've been reading this forum and find it very informative and was wondering if you can give me some specific advice regarding my time in India. I fly into Delhi at the start of May, and then fly to Bagdogra straight from there. I am volunteering in a village near Darjeeling up to the 24th of May. I fly out from Delhi on the 7th of June so have 2 weeks to see a bit of India. I would like some advice on the best way to spend my time. Is it fesable to travel by train from Darjeeling to Delhi, and if so where is best to stop along the way? Or would it be better to travel closer to Darjeeling and fly back to Delhi from Bagdogra? Or maybe combine both idea, by spending a week close to Darjeeling and then flying to Delhi and spending a night or 2 there and traveling to visit Agra, Japuir etc? I would love to visit these places but from what i have read it seems it may be too warm at this time and it may be better to stay in the north east? I am interested in doing some trekking as well and would appreciate any advice on the best place to go for this. Thanks for taking the time to read this post, i would appreciate any advice you have to give me, Steven Higgins.

machadinha

The weather aside, I think these all sound like decent options yes. I suppose going from D'ling to Delhi (just around 24 hours by direct train I think, departing from New Jalpaiguri, and discounting any delays which are quite likely on this route I believe, it's just a long cross-country stretch, with trains starting from Guwahati), most people would stop at Bodhgaya and/or Varanasi. From the latter, one could easily visit Sarnath and/or Jaunpur. Not so easily but probably doable (and quite possibly blurdy hot), Khajuraho. There'd be any number of other, perhaps less obvious options along the way of course. Just pick up a guidebook or read our forums and see what takes your fancy You could end up with Agra & Jaipur.

But any other option sounds just as good. Ah, choices, choices...

The weather I always find hard to comment on. Try this whole thread & see if it is of any help: India climate chart. I'm sure the mountains around Darjeeling and Sikkim would be more agreeable yes, just check if the rains don't start there by then, resulting in possible landslides and consequent transport problems and so on, and generally not seeing very much because of the rains and fog. Maybe moving through the mountains towards Delhi could be very interesting, I'm not at all sure how doable this would be though, or if you'd need to pop back into and out of the plains & generally deal with transportation hassles all the time.

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machadinha

ps

OK did a quick check there; unless others can correct me, looks like you have a choice between scorching hot (possibly 40C+) and mostly dry in the plains, or quite agreeable if not somewhat chilly but decidedly wet in the NE mountains (naturally limiting your trekking options as well I imagine). Your call They're just averages of course, I suppose one can always get (un-) lucky.

stevenhiggins

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply

Since i last posted i have booked flights from Delhi to Bagdogra, flying out on the 4th of May and back to Delhi on the 6th of June. I decided that since i will be in Darjeeling anyway it is worth while staying in the area. I plan on doing the Sandakphu - Phalut Ridge Trek which will take 7 days leaving me with another 7 days before flying back to Delhi.

If anyone has any suggestions on how best to spend this time i would really appreciate it. From reading the Lonely Planet Sikkim seems like it is worth a visit and I'm also interested in visiting the Jaldhapara wildlife sanctuary.

I am from Scotland so not put off by a wee bit rain!

machadinha

Y'r welcome; check our Sikkim forum by all means. There's a West Bengal one as well, and the NE should mostly be covered under Other Areas. I suppose trekking in all those areas also gets covered in the Trekking forum.

I've rambled before about Jaldapara, just search the site for the spelling you just used, and the spelling I used here. There's this recent thread: Kalimponng to Jaldapar

Websites featuring promising pics of rhinos and so on notwithstanding, we saw absolutely no wildlife there mind (except for my now legendary fleeing deer's ass -- and the ubiquitous monkeys you'll see most everywhere anyway), I'm not sure if it's really worth going out of your way for. If you do, I suppose planning a couple of days there to up your chances is well worth it. It's very pretty and peaceful out there though, so that alone might merit a stay, even without any spectacular animal sightings, and riding an elephant is just fun, even if the local leopards don't generally hang around to wait for you to come crashing through the bush

ps

Dundee eh, how could I oversee it Cheers, a good mate of mine is from there

btw There are lesser visited towns in the Darjeeling area that some people rave about, and some treks in the region, so you could look into those some more. I guess your LP will have some pointers, and there are a number of decent sites for the region.

stevenhiggins

Thanks for that mate much appreciated.

I posted in the Trekking forum and got some good advice re the Sandakphu - Phalut Ridge Trek, really looking forward to it, looks great from pictures i found online.

It was the elephant ride that was appealing, but i head to Thailand after India so there should be plenty of opportunities there, really depends on time and what else i plan on doing.

It's a small world!

cheers, Steven.