Assistance with Itinerary for a pathetic decision maker

imhere0905

Hi all, I would appreciate some assistance in working out my itinerary for the first few weeks that I am in India. I don't want to follow a strict itinerary for the whole time I am there but there are certain places I want to be for certain times initially.

I arrive in Delhi on 22nd Oct at 10pm for a 2 month stay, depart for Zurich on 23rd Dec. I have arranged accomodation for 22/23rd Oct at Master Guest House, plan is to leave Delhi on evening of 23rd or 24th.

From Delhi
Train to Jaisalmer (is it really worth it?)
Jailsalmer to Bikaner
Bikaner to Amritsar (want to be in Amritsar by 31st Oct in time for Diwali, not sure how to get there)
Amritsar to Delhi (possibly stopping along the way)
Delhi to Agra
Agra to Jaipur
Jaipur to Pushkar (want to be in Pushkar for the Camel fair on 8th Nov)

I'm not much a planner and I keep reading about this place or that place and it is making it hard to make a decision.

Any feedback or advice would be much appreciated. I better warn you now that I have approx 7 weeks to go and am starting to get a tad stressed...

Thanks S :-)

guerik

I think Jaisalmer's worth it, it's a pretty interesting town, nice to stay in the old fort and look out over the desert etc. Plus a good place to go on a camel safari if that's your thing (it's mine, I've done three now - just love camping out in the desert really and I don't mind riding around on camels either )

I'm not a massive fan of Bikaner however, when I was there I didn't find much of interest and the touts were worse than anywhere else I've been in India - or at least they got to me the most. The Karni Mata temple (the rat temple) was interesting but not too different from what you see on National Geographic etc. I'm not sure how you could get from Bikaner to Amritsar either, you might have to go back to Delhi in between.

I don't know if you're interested but you could go up into the hills on your way to Amritsar, see Shimla or Dharamsala etc and then head over to Jaisalmer after the Pushkar fair - I know there are direct overnight buses but not sure about trains.

SHIMLA

Your route planning is quite okay.

There is no direct train from Jaisalmer to Bikaner. You have to go to Jodhpur and change trains there.

Similarly, there's no direct train from Bikaner to Amritsar; you change trains at Jalandhar.

As you'll be travelling during Diwali, ensure you have all your rail tickets booked beforehand.

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bijapuri

"From Delhi
Train to Jaisalmer (is it really worth it?)"

Is the train worth it, or is J worth it?
J is an amazing place, with a lot of visitors.

"Jailsalmer to Bikaner
Bikaner to Amritsar (want to be in Amritsar by 31st Oct in time for Diwali, not sure how to get there)"

Assume there's some reason you want to be in Amritsar on that date . . . otherwise, the best way to visit there is via Delhi, which has a daily shatabdi express train that leaves at dawn abd gets in for lunch. You might be able to find a bus direct, but more likely you'll be going back thru the capitol.

"Amritsar to Delhi (possibly stopping along the way)"

err . . . no too much to see in between, unl;ess you scoot up to the mountains- dharamsala is possibly the easiest mtn stop, but more of a triangle than a straight line.

Delhi to Agra
Easiest way by far is train, the taj ex[ress in the morning is non-stop and takes a few hours. It takes a few hours by road just to get the F#ck out of Delhi traffic these days!

"Agra to Jaipur"

haha- that way you can compare which place has the more agressive touts ;( Bharatpur is on the way, and recommended.

"Jaipur to Pushkar (want to be in Pushkar for the Camel fair on 8th Nov)"
This is one stop you had better plan your accomodation asap.

"I'm not much a planner and I keep reading about this place or that place and it is making it hard to make a decision."

KISS: Keep It Simple, Sahib!

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imhere0905

Hi, thanks for looking my plan over,

Guerik, my initial plan was to go Himachal Pradesh on the way to Amritsar but I thought that I would be too rushed and I wouldn't be able to do any walking which I would like to do but I would like to check out the himalayas from the Indian side...

Bijapuri, I know KISS but I keep forgetting it!!

I'm going to make a decision this weekend and book some trains etc... Thanks again

guerik

8 stops in 2 months isn't too bad - you could fit in a trip up to the mountains in there too.
I just love the mountains though so I'm sad to think anyone would be in the area and not stop by

steven_ber

I would suggest you replace Bikaner with Jodhpur, mainly because Bikaner is said to be similar to Jaisalmer and because I enjoyed Jodhpur.

You could then take the following trains.


You can get a well timed train from Amritsar direct to Agra...

Train 8238 departs Amritsar daily at 16:10 and gets to Agra Cant at 09:35.

2A = Rs 1188
3A = Rs 762
SL = Rs 281


Agra - Bharatpur - Jaipur

Train 4853 (Tu, Th, Su.) and train 4863 (M, W, F, Sa.) departs Agra Fort at 06:15, gets to Bharatpur at 07:18 and gets to Jaipur at 11:40 (2A, 3A, SL).

Train 9778 departs Agra Fort daily at 18:00, gets to Bharatpur at 19:00 and gets to Jaipur at 22:30 (2A, 3A, SL).

Agra Fort - Jaipur fare.

2A = Rs 554
3A = Rs 355
SL = Rs 137

You may want to consider just getting a bus from Jaipur to Pushkar as trains are likely to be booked up long in advance.

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Train information.

bijapuri

jodhpur's a good one, the for takes away one's breath. I second that, Steve!

OzThumper

You can always get a bus from Bikaner to Jaisalmer .... a few hours for little cost

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imhere0905

Thanks, going to do the Jodphur thing for about 2 days, lucky I was thinking of missing that. Now that's decided what about Udaipur over Bundi? I'm only going to go to one of them, I'm thinking Bundi but would love to hear opinions...

machadinha

If you want touristy and well-catered for, go for Udaipur. You want a bit more quiet with plenty a good sight & enough for a couple of days of taking it easy, go for Bundi. That's just my opinion though.

I think it's a very good idea not to overstretch one's itinerary but in two months I think yours is very very laid-back, you might find yourself with plenty of time for impromptu sidesteps as you go. So in that general area doing both places and then some might not be too far-fetched at all. Or include the mountains indeed after all, will get very chilly come Decemberish mind. Once you get into a certain rhythm you can cover quite a bit esp. as you stay longer, although you'll just want to sit down and take it easy every now and then, probably at places that you had never expected to or that's my experience.

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imhere0905

I'm already going to Jaisalmer, Jodphur and Jaipur so I've deliberately not made definite plans after 8th Nov, I figure I am going to want to go somewhere quieter and have a little break, I would love to do some walking and Bundi seems to be a place to do some of that as well. It may look laidback but I haven't put everything I want to do, I have definite plans till the camel fair then it is come what may really. I have a good idea where I would like to go but I don't want to put myself in a position that I can't just stay somewhere if I like it, I've been heeding the great advice people have put here about not trying to do too much....

machadinha

No, yes, you're right. I'd normally advise not to plan to do too much and I had a sense you were gonna see how it develops. I just wanted to encourage you that two months is a whole different story than one month however, you pick up a pace at some point which is harder to do the shorter your time is (the time it takes to get in and out of the country and acclimatized at all also becomes less taxing). On a several-month stay I averaged about three days per place I think including several +/- week stays so you can imagine how this also included staying in other places for a day or so. I guess this is my average on many trips, including lengthy spells of lazily hanging about & reading a book and so on.

Anyway Bundi about 10 years ago was peaceful enough and from what I read here it still seems to be, the way it seems to get advertised here let's hope it still will be in another 10 years. It made for a welcome retreat from the bigger places, then again so much depends on your mood of the day and blah that it's really hard to say. You can visit places repeatedly and have a totally different experience, it all depends on the ambiance at the time & the state of your belly and whatnot I guess.

Have fun with it, don't overplan it, you seem not to. Walking around Bundi I'm not so sure about btw, could be doable, just didn't try. Hiring a bicycle there to see a bit of the countryside would probably be an option.

imhere0905

Thanks Machadinha, Steve mentioned Mt Abu and after reading up on it I'm pretty sure I am going to go there, I can do some walking then move on. I think it'll be a good place to stop and chill hopefully anyway...I agree about your state of mind whether you appreciate a place or not and how the whole vibe of the place is whether you enjoy it or not.

skell

A stay at the Master Guest House is a great way to start a visit to Delhi. Try to take their half day 'Hidden Delhi' tour on Wednesday or Saturday.

I was in Pushkar last year for the Camel Fair and absolutely loved it! From there I went to Bundi for several days. It's a great town to walk around and I saw a lot of the surrounding area on horseback. From there we took the train to Chittaugarh for a couple of days, then the bus to Udaipur.

If you can fit them all in, you should try. I wouldn't have wanted to miss any of them.