Greetings from Ireland

Hello from Dublin.

Firstly I have to complement you all on the site - by far the most informative about India. But then you knew that already! I've been lurking for weeks now and must have read nearly every post.

Myself and a friend are arriving in Mumbai a week from today and spending about seven weeks in India on a mid-range budget. Our (flexible!) itinerary is as follows: Aurangabad first, then up to Udaipur, Jaisalmer and a few other places in Rajasthan, over to Varanasi, then up to UP/HP, then down to Delhi for a few days before flying out. We agreed on the bones of this itinerary so that after seeing some of the bigger towns and cities, we could 'escape' for a while to quieter places - Jaisalmer and the hill stations. Any comments or suggestions would be welcome.

I have a question or two...
1) We will be in the north in the middle of January. How cold will it be in UP/HP at that stage?
2) Obviously we would like to see some high peaks. How close will we be able to get to the 6000m+ ones?
3) Is it worth going to the Corbett park at that time of year?
4) I still don't have a hotel booked in Mumbai. Should I be concerned about this?

Getting mad jittery now. So it's off for a feed of pints tonight to calm the nerves.

Thanks in advance,

Tim.

Hi Tim, finally another Dublin lad here at IM. Afraid I can't answer your questions though, haven't been to India yet.

Anyway, enjoy yourself, you'll get all the info you need here.

Good Luck!

Conor.

Hello timbob,

1.The hills of Uttaranchal and H.P. will be extremely cold in January and February.
2. Not advisable to visit the high hills in Jan./Feb.
3. Yes, Corbett Park is certainly worth visiting in Jan./Feb. !
4. You need not book a Mumbai hotel in advance for early December.

Have a nice and safe trip !

Thanks for the replies and advice. We were thinking of heading for Shimla itself, and Rishikesh and a few other places up north.

But are we talking really cold up around there? Like minus ten Celsius? Or around zero degrees? I can't seem to find out.

Rishikesh and other places on the North Indian plains will have single digit temperatures at night in winter, but will not touch zero.

Shimla is in the hills and receives snowfall during Jan. and Feb. The temperature here can touch zero. The Kalka-Shimla highway can also get blocked at times due to excessive snowfall. You have to find out the weather condtions on the eve of your visit.

Thanks again Shimla, you're a treasure trove of information!

Tim.