Walking across India

alastairhumphreys

Hi,
I am looking to walk across India (coast to coast) in March / April.
The decision I'm trying to make is whether to follow the Godavari from the sea to its source, or the river Krishna.
I would appreciate your opinions on which would be the most interesting / beautiful etc
Thank you,
Al

capt_mahajan

Can't help, sorry. But how interesting!

__________________
.
Outside the machine

missRenu

yeah! totally!

Haylo

As someone whose natural inclination would be to reach for a map to check the narrowest point across India, I am wholly unsuitable to offer you any advice about this. You will soon find, however, that there are others far more qualified than myself to offer you advice.

However, I do want to take this opportunity to welcome you to the site, which I'm sure will be a lot of help with many other aspects of your journey too.

To maximise responses, may I suggest that you consider adding something along the lines of "- follow Rivers Godavari or Krishna?" to your thread title? That will grab the attention of people who have no interest in walking, but who may know a lot about the areas you're interested in. To amend the title, instead of only the text in your post, you may also have to select "go advanced".

__________________
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful - E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

SitaParityaga

Will this.be your first trip to India?

palerider

Have you read "A Walk Along the Ganges?."by Dennison Berwick.
he walked the entire length of the Ganges, and he decided to depend entirely on the kindness of Indian people. Quite a few adventures.
It's probably nothing as epic as walking coast to coast, but some great insights.

I would have thought that either route would be fine.
As you probably know, travel by foot is interesting in itself.

__________________
I always wanted to be someone when I grew up, I realise now that I should have been more specific.

alastairhumphreys

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the advice! Much more helpful and friendly than lonelyplanet.com!!
This will be my first trip to India, though I do have plenty of experience of challenging expeditions in unknown countries so I'm not too worried; just excited!
Al

AprilFlower

WOW! What an awsome way to experience India for the first time. Take a look at the different temples and sites of interest near both rivers and then decide (ie-Nashik for Godavari/Amaravathi Buddha for Krishna). You might also look into how many dams you will have to negotiate around (if this makes any difference to you). I myself might choose Krishna just from pictures I have seen.
If you have a choice, try to come at the beginning of March, it will get awfully hot toward the end of March and particularly in April.

snonymous

Post in the Andhra Pradesh forum for the Godavari river bit.

All the best and look forward to reading your trip report.

__________________
Some of My Tall Tales at http://www.travelpod.com/members/indianature
My Flickr photos at http://www.flickr.com/groups/snonymous/

huimaster

Hi,

you can contact this german guy. office@bertsimon.com

He is a very experinced long distance walker.

He did several thousand miles in India.

This summer he is doing India from the north to the south in 5 month.(3845 mls)

www.bertsimon.com (german page)

doIhavetoReally

Sounds good. However, I am not sure if you can manage coast-to-coast by following any of the river you mentioned. Walking along the river can be part of coast-to-coast travel...however, you will get pretty close to the coast.

trooooon

hey alastair,

the first question which comes to mind is if you'll be paying your way through . . . it sounds too much like the pilgrims who leave with a loin cloth and survive on alms!

that said, its bound to be an amazing experience, i have heard of a major pilgrimage on the narmada, which has now been decimated by a series of large dams . . . out of your chosen two, though i know more about the godavari, as i was involved in constructing some ghats at nanded in maharashtra though i haven't seen much of the krishna except from the train, i would say the krishna, for more than one reason . . .

the mahabaleshwar hills are supposed to be spectacular
tungabadhra is a tributary and you could take a worthwile detour to hampi
your reaction to the pollution of the river woiuld be interesting
finally its shorter than the godavari . . . :-)

have a great trip
do let us know which river you chose!
cheers,
tj

__________________
what if . . . maybe . . . say . . . suppose!

alastairhumphreys

Thank you to all for the great advice!
I will certainly be paying my way.

I am also looking now at the Kaveri river as I have been told that that is beautiful and interesting. (And it's shorter!)
Thank you,
Al

ganeshs_16

There is a one month itinerary called 'Narmada parikrama' that traces Narmada from source till sea. MAny people do it for religious reasons. I'm sure it will be pretty interesting.
I know no other details. Try your luck with google.

ananda2193

Good luck. I've always wanted to do something like that. Maybe walking north to south. But remember, it's going to be bloody hot at that time. And watch out for tigers, leopards and other assorted dangers.

And are you walking by road or plan to walk in nature along the riverbank?