Indian Winter

rosiejo

i am travelling to north india in Feb and south india in March. going as far north as Hardiwar and as far south at Verkala. i am torn as to whether i will need closed toe shoes or whether i can get by with a pair of crocs and a pair of thongs. i love my hiking boots but don't want to spend weeks lugging them around - any tips??

also i am intending to wear salwar kameez - will this be warm enough in the the northern winter or do i need to add some thermal underwear to my bag.

machadinha

Hi and welcome to IndiaMike For starters, try this thread: India climate chart

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rosiejo

thanks - great resource.

i am having a bit of trouble imagining how cold is it going to be during the day vs overnight (when i am snuggled up in bed).

am keen for some info from anyone else who has been in delhi, rajastan and hardiwar in winter to know whether they survived with open toe shoes and without thermals. i hear there are things called toes socks but am not sure if i like the sound of them

Lakshmi Bhabi

I found it to be especially cold inside my home at night (Bareilly, UP and Delhi area), since there is often no central heating in homes. People in my family wear mittens and hats around the house! Needless to say SOCKS, heavy duty ones, for cement floors.

I think I wore closed-toe shoes, but wore open chappal a few times with fancier things for parties, etc. I never wore thermals, but had I brought them, I might have worn them at night as blankets were thin. I wore woolen salwar kameez with a large, heavy woolen dupatta and a sweater over top. It can also get quite hot in the sun in the middle of the day, so layers are good. Haven't quite figured out what to do when you then go INSIDE and get too hot in the massive wooly duppatta. Do I have to wear TWO duppattas? Or do I just suffer with the woolen thing on?

Rishikesh, Dehradun, Mussorie & Haridwar and can get chilly, but I found it ok to be dressed as described above. My woolen SK's are my favorite items of clothing ever. I also bought a few woolen shawls in Mussoorie. I don't remember Jaipur being too cold...I didn't wear anything woolen there, just a light sweater over every-day SK. In fact I think I remember it being quite warm there in winter.

The worst part about northern India in the winter, for me, was not the cold, but the air quality. Lots of folks burn things (tires, garbage, whatever can be found) to stay warm; the air was thick and uncomfortably smoky at times.

I have never been anywhere other than Bangalore in the south, but I am off to Tamil Nadu in a few weeks, where the wise ones of IM have warned that it will just be hot. Hope this helps!

wonderwomanusa

Take your thermals, or silks, if you can get them. Inside at night is more of a problem than outside during the daytime. And yes, it's nice to have some socks; you can always give them away when you leave for the warm South.