Indian Recommendations

IamtheWalrus

I am due to go on a 10 day holiday in India in January. I am undecided as to what parts to go to. I ave been befoee 2 years ago in Calcutta.

I woukd like to avoid tourist traps if possible. One must is the Taj Mahal so I think I'll fly into or out of Delhi.

I want to experience authentic India. I am very interested in natural beauty and animals. I'd like to visit somewhere that isn't baking hot.

A friend of mine told me Kerala is nice. Anyone been there?

With this in mind, can anyone give me recommendations for my trip?

Walrus

schemingbohemia

Bit of a weird contradiction between avoiding tourist traps and seeing the Taj Mahal!

I was in Kerala for a few days last year and thought it was great, did a couple of trips to the tea plantations and the backwaters which were amazing.

You could then continue south and perhaps head inland.

The one problem is that by having the Taj Mahal as a "must" if would probably make sense to stay up north. Flying is relatively cheap in India so you could fly from Delhi to Kerala after doing the Taj, but if you're insisting on flying in and out of Delhi you're going to lose a couple of days on an already short holiday if you decide to go south. You could fly with Etihad into Delhi (i think) and out of Kerala.

The problem I had with Kerala was the humidity was fairly tough - i was there in March, not sure what it would be like in January.

IamtheWalrus

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Bit of a weird contradiction between avoiding tourist traps and seeing the Taj Mahal!

I was in Kerala for a few days last year and thought it was great, did a couple of trips to the tea plantations and the backwaters which were amazing.

You could then continue south and perhaps head inland.

The one problem is that by having the Taj Mahal as a "must" if would probably make sense to stay up north. Flying is relatively cheap in India so you could fly from Delhi to Kerala after doing the Taj, but if you're insisting on flying in and out of Delhi you're going to lose a couple of days on an already short holiday if you decide to go south. You could fly with Etihad into Delhi (i think) and out of Kerala.

The problem I had with Kerala was the humidity was fairly tough - i was there in March, not sure what it would be like in January.

Thanks. I'm not sure about the humidity though. I wilt in those conditions.

recommendations.... bring some ciprofloxacin with you.

IamtheWalrus

schemingbohemia wrote: »

You could fly with Etihad into Delhi (i think) and out of Kerala.

That's what I've decided on. Considering flying into Kashmir but not sure how dafe it is.

jonniebgood1

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

I want to experience authentic India. I am very interested in natural beauty and animals. I'd like to visit somewhere that isn't baking hot.

A friend of mine told me Kerala is nice. Anyone been there?

With this in mind, can anyone give me recommendations for my trip?

Walrus

Hey Walrus,

If you are worried about the temperature in January you should be OK in most parts particularly in the North. You said you are flying into Delhi and intend to visit the Taj Mahal- You will have no problem with temperatures there. I think from your mention of Kerala that you are underestimating the distances between parts of the country. It is a massive distance from Delhi or Agra (taj mahal) to Kerala, Delhi to Agra as a guide is about 4 hours by bus from memory. Did you intend to travel this journey over land or fly?

There are other things to do in the North. If you like nature there is Ranthanbore national park. You could easily spend 2 or 3 days there. North of Delhi is the former summer capital Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas. There are other cities such as Jaipur also.

IamtheWalrus

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Hey Walrus,

If you are worried about the temperature in January you should be OK in most parts particularly in the North. You said you are flying into Delhi and intend to visit the Taj Mahal- You will have no problem with temperatures there. I think from your mention of Kerala that you are underestimating the distances between parts of the country. It is a massive distance from Delhi or Agra (taj mahal) to Kerala, Delhi to Agra as a guide is about 4 hours by bus from memory. Did you intend to travel this journey over land or fly?

There are other things to do in the North. If you like nature there is Ranthanbore national park. You could easily spend 2 or 3 days there. North of Delhi is the former summer capital Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas. There are other cities such as Jaipur also.

Yea, I plan on flying from north to Kerala. I would like to avoid the heat so maybe I could spend more time up north and only do 3 or 4 days in Kerala. I plan on doing a boathouse. Have you done that?

Have you been to Kashmir?

jonniebgood1

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Yea, I plan on flying from north to Kerala. I would like to avoid the heat so maybe I could spend more time up north and only do 3 or 4 days in Kerala. I plan on doing a boathouse. Have you done that?

Have you been to Kashmir?

I have'nt but I was told by people from Kashmir that it was beautiful. I have not tried a boathouse. There is alot to do in the north and it may be a pity to not try some of these while in that area. Trying to decipher tourist traps from worthwhile sites is not that hard. The problem being that the most popular sites are that for a reason. Visiting popular places at early hours may be an option in some places, I visited Agra fort at 8am and had the place to my self. There was also an abandoned city between Jaipur and Agra that was worth seeing, name escapes me.

schemingbohemia

When I was in Delhi twenty years ago, we went to the Kashmir tourist board to get some info and head up there, a guy outside said it was dangerous for foreigners and not to go, so we didn't. 3 months later we heard about a Norwegian tourist who was kidnapped around the time we were going to go there and who was found decapitated, have always been grateful to that guy.

I'd keep a very close eye on indian websites and perhaps pakistani websites in advance of going there to see how quiet things are there now, there may be lots of low level stuff that wouldn't be reported here.

magicgal

Just back from travelling Rajastan - loved it!!! Don't woodruff about the temp - can you imagine the heat myself and our tour had to go through - up in the high 40s constantly!! As a result no tourists when we were there but def prefer that.We flew into Dehli - did mixture of trains/ overnight trains, publics buses and private mini buses - we went Dehli, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaipur, Agra, orcha, Kajahurao , Varanasi and Dehli
Really loved Udaipur as it's really easy and safe to get around as a tourist - loved Varanasi - so surreal watching bodies being cremated!! I never got sick once there and have been sick a few times in some European countries with food.One thing i soupy about a India is to go there with an open mind - loved it!!

ardmacha

The TaJ Mahal may be a well known tourist site, but it didn't disappoint me, world class. I was in Delhi in January and the nights were cold (3C), my hotel wasn't really designed for cold and had few blankets. Rajastan might be a bit warmer and it should be ideal to visit.