Rajasthan Itinerary Questions

Looking at doing Rajasthan starting around Feb 21st next year.

WIP itinerary so far is -

New Delhi (3 nights)
Early morning train to Agra (3 nights)
Train back to New Delhi then overnight train to Bikaner (1 night)
Three night/2 day camel trek in Thar desert
Bikaner (1 night)
Bus to Jaisalmer (3 nights)
Bus/train to Jodhpur (2 nights)
Bus/train to Udaipur (3 nights)
Train to Jaipur (2 nights)
Train to New Delhi for 1 night then home to Perth

Questions -

1) Too much or too little time at destinations?
2) Is it better to camel trek from Bikaner or from Jaisalmer?
3) Have I missed any destination out?
4) I might be able to squeeze another 7 days into the trip. Would it be worth visiting Varanasi and Amritsar (India/Pakistan border ceremony sounds interesting)

Any info on accomodation ($50 to $80 USD per night with 100 max) appreciated.

Thanks

Anthony

I would change a few things around.
First of all, 3 nights in Agra is not necessary. Very few people like the city, and once they've seen the Taj and the Fort prefer to keep on moving. If you get there in the morning you could see most of the sights that day, stay one night, and take off the next day. There is of course Fatephur Sikri which is a worthwhile visit, but I think it's nicer to stay there a night rather than just day tripping from Agra.
Heading back to Delhi to head to Bikaner seems like a waste of time. Why not head to Jaipur and then on from there, returning to Delhi after Bikaner. Personally though, I wouldn't even bother with Bikaner. It was an OK town and the rat temple was interesting, but with little time, I would concentrate on the other places. Unless someone else can report that a Bikaner camel trek is way better, I think you'll be happy with one in Jaisalmer. Doing it there will save you going all the way to Bikaner. The other places on your list look pretty good with times.
So I would say go - Delhi - Agra - Jaipur - Udaipur - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer - Delhi. Or vice versa of course. If while on the road you feel like you have time to add a place, I would recommend Pushkar. Some people don't like it there, but I think it's a nice little town, and it would fit in well between Jaipur and Udaipur.
You are pretty good for time in Rajasthan and I wouldn't try to do anything more, but if you can get another week, Varanasi is definitely worth going to. I my mind it's the most interesting city in the country, if not the planet.
Sorry, can't help you with accommodation - $50 was pretty close to my weekly accomodation budget.

Quoting wotthefiqh

Questions -

1) Too much or too little time at destinations?
2) Is it better to camel trek from Bikaner or from Jaisalmer?
3) Have I missed any destination out?
4) I might be able to squeeze another 7 days into the trip. Would it be worth visiting Varanasi and Amritsar (India/Pakistan border ceremony sounds interesting)

Any info on accomodation ($50 to $80 USD per night with 100 max) appreciated.

Thanks

Anthony

U can consider the route as suggested by Dego because it does not make sense to rush back to Delhi from Agra, instead u can proceed to jaipur--Ajmer--Pushkar---Udaipur and onwards.

coming to ur questions:
1. i think u can cut a day each from Agra and Udaipur as 2 days for each of the two towns are sufficient
2. Camel trek is surely better from Jaisalmer as it has a host of option from a 2 day to 15 day trek and they also organise lot of activites at the camps where night halt takes place.
3. U can consider visiting Fatehpur Sikri( near Agra), Ajmer and Pushkar(Between Jaipur and Udaipur), Chowki Dhani( near Jaipur) and if possible try to visit the Chittaurgarh fort near Udaipur.
4. Varanasi and Amritsar are nice but keep in mind that it involves long train journeys.

u can get decent accomodation for around 30 USD at most of the places. Rajasthan tourism Corporation (RTDC) has good hotels at most of the places and they are safe, reliable and affordable. Check their website www.rajasthantourism.gov.in

hope this helps

Do let me know if u need more info

Cheers
Arif

Well those sweet little jihadis certainly fucked my India trip big time.
Had it all planned out and was going to book the flights and accomodation next week.

Quoting wotthefiqh

Well those sweet little jihadis certainly fucked my India trip big time.
Had it all planned out and was going to book the flights and accomodation next week.

Really, you are thinking about not going to India now?

We fly in 12 days and haven't cancelled, we plan to do Rajasthan, Mumbai, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Our friends are also due to fly in from Nepal around the same time as us and they haven't cancelled either.

If I were single I'd still go but -

1) my wife no longer wants to which is understandable. She loves adventures (e.g. trekking Colca Canyon and the idea of camelling the Thar desert from Jaisalmer) but dudes holding Korans and Kalashnikovs leaves her cold
2) we are expecting twin grand-children to pop out next May and our 3 children all expressed outrage at us going after the islamic slaughter in Mumbai

I'll take my grandchildren to Rajasthan when they finish university around 2030 if zimmer frames match future technology

The fact that two failed moslem states (Pakistan and Bangladesh) border India and harbour ultra-violent jihadi nutters was also taken into consideration.

Fair enough, hope you find an alternative destination for your holidays

Grabbed the LP books for the Phillippines and Rarotonga/Cook Islands on friday from the library but found myself all researched out after the India itinerary work.
Just want to go with minimum organisation so looks like back to Sumba (Indonesia) late Feb to finally see the Pasola festival then boat to Sumbawa/Komodo/Rinca/Flores for dragons and some great snorkelling.
Ignore the zimmer
Will use the existing India itinerary in 2010.

[ Edit: Edited on Nov 30, 2008, at 7:39 AM by wotthefiqh ]