3 weeks India in September (First Time)

Might be me (30 years old), my mum (55 years) and my cousin (20 years young), all first timers in India.

India was always a dream destination of my mum, so I promised her that we will go once. The problem is, she has a bad injury at her foot, so hopefully this will be sorted until we are traveling, otherwise she might be a bit struggeling to cover all the miles of walking we have to do.

We are more than happy to experience a culture shock, the more extreme the better I guess . It is all about new experiences.

We are happy to do the journey in Japanese style, which means we dont need to much time to spend at one place and we definitely do not want to hang out at the beach for some days.

Hope this profile helps for some more interesting suggestions

Finally, I booked our flights (2.9 arriving at night - 25.9 leaving early morning), we decided to fly out to Delhi and also to return from Delhi.

The first week we have planned:

2 days Delhi (night train to Kalkotta)
2 days Kalkotta
2 days Varanasi
1 day Agra with Taj Mahal and surrounding sights

The second week we want to stay in Rajasthan, probably something
like:

2 days Jaipur
3 days Jaisalmer
2 days Udaipur

The third week we either

- explore the Himalaya region for 1 week if the weather is alright and spend the last day in Delhi before returning

- or alternatively, spend 3 days in Mumbai and 4 days in the surrounding areas.

This trip was recommended to us by an Indian work colleague, I am not so sure whether it is worth going all the way to Kalkutta, seems a long way out.

Do you think it is worth considering going up North or is it to risky and will it rain too much?

Any fun stuff to explore around Mumbai before heading back to Delhi and returning back home?

THanks Bateman

i agree, kolkata seems a long way to go JUST to see the city. I want to go sometime, but will make it part of a longer trip to the north.

IF you are interested in mountains (you mention the Himalaya) maybe go from Kolkota to Darjeeling and Sikkim???Kolkata is the usual "jumping off point" for that trip. Maybe that could be at the END of your trip: Kolkata-Darjeeloing--Sikkim--Kolkata. I havent been ..yet...Sikkim esp'lly is supposed to be STUNNING. BUT i dont know how the weather is in Sept.

The first 10-14 days you could spend in the north--New Del, Rajasthan.

Any particular reason for Mumbai??

I fnot,

at end of trip, trip, you would connect to a flt kolkata to DEl for the homeward bound flight.

I don't think that it is worth a 17 hour train journey to Kolkata for a 2 day visit. My recommendation would be to spend a couple of days extra in Delhi, taking things at a fairly slow pace while you get used to India. A lot of people seem to view Delhi as merely a place to arrive in and leave from but there is a lot to see and do.

It is quite feasible to visit Agra on a day trip from Delhi using trains to get between the two cities.

For your third week you could then go to Kolkata for a worthwhile visit. Having been to both Mumbai and Kolkata (twice) I think that Mumbai is OK and Kolkata is amazing.

If you have really planned to come to Mumbai, then I think, out of 4 days for surrounding area, you can visit beautiful Matheran for a couple of days (3 hr drive from Mumbai). Foreigners visiting Mumbai do consider this place. Check my latest images here - http://www.abhijitavalaskar.com/late...monsoon-magic/ . You, your mom and cousing might enjoy the Forest feel of Matheran. Let me know in case you need any further info.

Cheers!

Thanks for all your feedback, I will take it on board. One thing I have to say, the only thing that is a MUST in my tour is Delhi and the Taj Mahal, for all the other stuff we are openen minded, as long as it fits in a nice route, ie. neither kalkutta nor mumbai need to be visited if it is to complicated to fit it in. We just want to get a first impression of this wonderful country.

But more important for now is the following question: I just booked for myself and my cousin, we are not sure about my mother yet, as she has problems with her swollen foot for over half a year. Essentially, she cant walk more than 2 - 3 hours a day. So I am wondering whether a visit to India is still doable for her? Is it possible to go around in a rickshaw most of the time? I guess hiring a wheelchair is not really an option for our trip.

Many thanks
Bateman!

Hiring a rickshaw/ taxi shouldn't be a problem !

I'm with Dave W. . .Take in Amritsar and then to Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj. I did this route as part of my first trip and it is an amazing amalgamation of cultural experiences and landscapes. In addition to everything else on your journey, you will be able to experience the Golden Temple, the border crossing, look over into Pakistan, see the Himalayas and Tibetan culture up close. . .plus maybe see the Dalai Lama. Based on the discussion so far, you're going to have a great experience on any of the routes discussed!

Of course you can do the trip with the three of you but you must consider the thing your mother is able to do.
She will have to rest regular, so a journey in 'Japanese' style does not seem wise.

Of course it is possible to hire rickshaws everywhere but to visit the sites one still has to walk.

Walking in the mountain areas will be more difficult for her. Also the visit of the imposing forts of Rajasthan, like that of Jodhpur, requires a lot of walking/climbing inside.

Maybe the following itinerary is something
Delhi - Varanasi - Khajuraho - Agra - Udaipur - Jaipur - Amritsar - Delhi.

Sounds good, because this would allow me to see the Golden Temple.
However, what do you mean with border crossing? To be honest, I have no intentions of going in the Pakistan area . Is it dangerous up there, I heard there are quite some issues with Terror in India in general, especially close to Pakistan border!

Couldnt the monsoon be a problem in this area at this time of the year?

Like the tour, and if Monsoon wise there is no problem, I guess this is what we want to do. How much walking time would you estimate per day when we take it easy and use the Rickshaw as often as possible and leave the walking to the sights? Could we limit that to 3 hours per day?

How much do this Rickshaws cost, lets say when we are going around for 3 hours?

Many thanks!

The border ceremony at Wagah is perfectly safe but you do have to walk the last mile or so to the seating. I don't suppose that this would suit your Mum and I didn't notice any buggies for disabled access.

The ceremony itself is a bit of an oddity and is probably not something everyone would enjoy. This video clip might help you decide if it is for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC9NeJh1NhI

There a second, less well known temple, in Amritsar called the Durgiana Mandir. Anywhere else this would be sensational in its own right. In Amritsar its up against tough competition.

I have no idea about the impact of the monsoon on your trip.

Earlier this year we visited Patiala and hired a rickshaw for a full day for 350 rs. It is not a very touristic place so elsewhere it will be somewhat more costly.
Five years ago we did the same in Udaipur for 500 rs.
But in both case we saw many sites without much walking.

If you are visiting Taj Mahal, make sure that you don't visit on Sat/Sun as weekend normally has a long que (though foreigners have a separate que).

Also, I think, on Friday Taj Mahal is closed. Please get this confirmed.

50 km from Agra is a beautiful Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary (one of the top bird sanctuaries in Asia and is a UNESCO site). You can use Cycle-rikshaws or have a leisurely walk in the park. You can Leave Agra in the morning and return back to Agra (or stay at Bharatpur .. has pretty decent hotels around the park). This is a perfect family outing place in nature :-). Check my pages here -
http://www.abhijitavalaskar.com/late...ikri-jan-2012/

http://www.abhijitavalaskar.com/late...ges/bharatpur/


Cheers !

Gents,

After my VISA finally arrived, it is time to actually plan our route in detail. We have 22 full days, arriving and flying out from Delhi, the first four days seem to be set in stone

Mon, 3.9, Delhi
Tue, 4.9, Delhi (Night train to Varanasi)
Mi, 5.9, Varanasi
Do, 6.9, Varanasi

Now it is getting more interesting, we where thinking of having a stopover in Khajuraho before heading to Agra. However, I am not sure if it is worth it to do this. I think it is not easy with public transport from Varanasi - Khajuraho and then from there to Agra. On the other hand, there would a direct convenient night train from Varanasi to Agra.

Then one day for the Taj Mahal and surroundings, this should apparently be doable. After that we want to head to Rajasthan, and we would like to get an impression of all the cities, so roughly we have planned something like this:

2 days Jaipur (Marudhar Ex Agra at 06:15 arriving Jaipur 11:30)
2 days Jodhpur
2 days Udaipur
3 days Jaisalmer with camel safari

After that we would like to visit Amritsar with the Golden Temple.

So the question is in which way we should do the Rajasthan cities, are there good links between them, for instance, night trains or buses so that do not loose too much time traveling?

And the big problem is of how to get from somewhere in Rajasthan to the Golden Temple?

Would be great someone is here a masteridea how to do this best, we have planned to book the trains very soon

Thanks so much,
Bateman

What do you think of
Agra - Udaipur by train
Udaipur - Jodhpur by bus
Jodhpur - Jaisalmer by train
Jaisalmer - Jaipur by train
Jaipur - Amritsar by train