Need advice - where to go in India from August-September

Hi travellers,
Me and my girlfriend will be booking flights for a trip to India from August 9th - September 10th. I know this is fairly bang in the middle of the monsoon but unfortunately due to university commitments we don't have another opportunity. We have found a good deal for a flight to Delhi and fly out of Mumbai. Because this may be our only opportunity to go we would like to see the 'Golden Triangle' from Delhi-Jaipur-Agra-Delhi and also some time in the beautiful south!
We are concerned that the North may be unreliable due to the monsoon. So would it be wise to spend more time in the south of india, around Kerala or Tamil Nadu? We are both active people and would love to hike the mountains and being vet students would love to see some exotic wildlife in the reserves...
Any suggestions would be so much appreciated even if it is to slate my ideas and come up with something entirely new!!!
Look forward to hearing your opinion
Yours sincerely
Will

Will, the bad news is that South India also experiences monsoon around this time. However, I'll try to put down a couple of itineraries for you.

NORTH INDIA Itinerary

--> Arrive in Delhi - 09/08. Spend 3 days in Delhi - visit the famed historical monuments and experience the charm of Old Delhi.
--> leave for Agra (there's an early morning Train that takes around 4 hrs to Agra). Spend 2 days - visit the Taj, Agra Fort, Humayun's Tomb etc.
--> leave for Benares (plenty of trains connecting the two cities). spend a couple of days in this spiritual hub and see the Ganges at her furious best.
--> if you want to go for a trek - go to haridwar and further up to Hrishikesh, Kedarnath, Badrinath and Valley of Flowers. Spend a week here.
Alternatively, you can go to Khajuraho and visit the temples there for a couple of days and utilize the time saved elsewhere in the trip.
--> leave for Jaipur (you'll have to go to Delhi first and get a connecting bus from ISBT / Bikaner House to Jaipur). Spend 2-3 days - visit the forts and palaces.
--> leave for Jodhpur and also try to cover Jaisalmer and Udaipur during the next week or 10 days.
--> leave for Mumbai. spend a couple of days and fly out.

• * I haven't included any Forest Reserves of the North in the itinerary because most of them are closed during the monsoon months.

SOUTH INDIA Itinerary

--> Arrive in Delhi. Spend 3 days in Delhi - visit the famed historical monuments and experience the charm of Old Delhi.
--> leave for Agra (there's an early morning Train that takes around 4 hrs to Agra). Spend 2 days - visit the Taj, Agra Fort, Humayun's Tomb etc.
--> leave for Jaipur (I'm sure there are direct trains but can't think of one off the head). Spend 2-3 days - visit the forts and palaces.
--> not too sure how well Jaipur is connected to South India, if not , leave for Delhi / Mumbai and proceed with the onward journey.
--> Take a train to Hampi. Spend a couple of days there exploring the temples and enjoying the serenity of the town.
--> Head South to Bangalore - not much to see here - Take an overnight bus to Wayanad in Kerala - spend 2 days - you can trek the Chembra peak (2100 mtrs), visit the natural dam, neolithic cave with carvings, a few waterfalls etc.
- go to Cochin and proceed to Kovalam to see some of the finest beaches in india (I know Monsoon might not be the best time )
- go to Munnar - visit the famous tea gardens.
- As for Forest Reserve - you have a plethora of options - Coorg & Nagarhole / Mudhumalai / Bandipore / Thekkady etc.
Monsoon might not be the best time to spot animals though, since the vegetation would be quite dense.
- leave for Mumbai and fly out.

• * I haven't included Goa in the itinerary because Monsoon is just not the time to visit Goa.

• * For Train bookings, visit the Indian Railways official website - irctc.co.in

• * while this is a rough plan, I'm sure this will help you prepare a more solid / concrete itinerary on your own.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

have a good one!

[ Edit: Edited on 23-Feb-2009, at 02:15 by kidintown ]

Hi Will

I think that monsoon should not be a big problem in Rajasthan. So it wold be good if you spend 2 weeks exploring the Desert Beauty of India in Rajasthan. Here is what I would suggest you for an itinerary:

August 9th in Delhi

9, 10, 11 in Dehi. There is a lot to see there. Afterall, it is the National Capital. It is a historic city and the food is wonderful especially if you are a non-veggie.

Start on 12th morning to Delhi by train. It hardly takes 4 hours. Spend 12, 13 in Agra then back to Delhi by 14th morning.

15 to 28 in Rajasthan covering Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and finally back to Jaipur. Remember that 15th August will be a national holiday but the public transport like trains and govt. run buses will run without interruption. But there is a possibility that some markets may be closed in some cities on the Independence Day.

29 fly from Jaipur to Chennai and continue to Pondycherry by bus the same day

30 to 31 in Pondycherry then continue to Ooty by bus.

1 to 4 in Ooty and Conoor (another hill station above Ooty by toy train)

5 back to Chennai and fly out to Mumbai. I am skipping Chennai as I dont think there is too much to do there except the beach which has been covered with Pondycherry.

6 to 10 in Mumbai with trips to Lonavala (a hill station near Mumbai) and other tourist sites around.

The earlier you book the air tickets, the cheaper you will get them. For example, a one-way from Chennai to Mumbai according to the above dates is 6K INR today on various travel websites like makemytrip, yatra, etc. The train tickets and schedules are available on indianrail.gov.in They open 90 days before the date of journey and are booked pretty quickly. So make sure that you look out for your travel date and book the tickets soon.

Will keep posting if any other info hits me.

Wish you the best of the Indian holiday.

Travellingtechie!

I would recommend two places in India which become even more fascinating in monsoons. One is Kota in Rajasthan and the other is Manda in Madhya Pradesh provinces. Kota which is usually a sun-drenched land becomes fascinatingly covered by lush vegetation in the monsoons. The landscape there totally changes during monsoon season. Savoring Rajasthani dishes whiling breathing in the monsoon fragrance is an experience to relish.

In Manda, one activity would get the value for your tour. Visit Manda Fort and look at the Narmada River flowing at distance from its rampart. View of the river from the rampart becomes much much impressive during monsoons. And pray to Rain God to flash during your visit. When you look at the Narmada during rain, it would seem as if it is flowing in mid air with all its majesty. Just try your luck.

i also went in the monsoon (end of July), although we stayed in the west/south so i can only really give info on the weather.

basically we had some very nice days. when we got there (mumbai to Goa to Bangalore) we were told they hadnt had rain for 15 days and we actually got slightly burnt. but when the rain came, we had thunder, and as youd expect it was seriously heavy but never lasted that long, and didnt spoil anything/affect getting from place to place (except a flight was delayed).

hope that helps the weather side of things.

Thankyou all so much for getting back to me. Your advice has been so helpful and now getting more excited than ever... shame it's still so far away. I was intrigued by the valley of flowers (thankyou kidintown) and also ooty and conoor (thanks techie1983) but I read in a lonely planet that you can hire pony treks? Sounds great but was wondering if you prehaps know any more about this. Also do you have any suggestions of what to do in Ooty?
I think my final itinerary will be a slight blend of all your ideas. I will post this in the coming days!
Thankyou all again so much, didn't realise this forum would be so helpful
Will_Liz x

Ooty is a hill station in Tamil Nadu, one of the southern states of India. It is reachable by bus from Chennai and Bangalore. I went there during my stay in Bangalore in June-July 2007....we were all college friends and had rented a mini bus to ourselves.....its an over-night bus journey from Bangalore and I am not sure about the time taken to reach Ooty from Chennai.....the accomodation is not a problem as there are plenty of good hotels with available rooms even if you book on the day you check-in....but it will be advisable that you book in advance (if possible) so that you dont get confused once you reach there.....the road journey to Ooty is very scenic....Ooty is a hill station for relaxation....there is a beautiful botanical garden (I forgot the name) in the city....there is another very beautiful spot called Doddapetta some 5-6 kms from the city which is a very beautiful place and a must-go-to place....also you can take the Toy Train from Ooty to Conoor which is around 40 kms from Ooty and is another beautiful hill-town....but the journey is more fun than the destination....atleast this is what I think and found out....also Ooty chocolates are pretty popular in this part of the country so when you are there do try a few....I personally do not prefer pony treks as long as I can walk the way so cannot comment on that.

and if you plan to return to Bangalore on your way back from Ooty then you can very well go to Mysore, which is on the way from Ooty to Bangalore, as well for a day...it is a beautiful and historic city with the Palace and other historic monuments to visit!

Hope you enjoy your stay in India.

Happy Travelling!

Travellingtechie!

Hi,

I'm just back from three months Delhi-Varanasi-Bodhgaya-Haridwar-Agra-Jaisalmer-Jaipur-Udaipur-Pushkar-Dharamsala-Manali.

I did a beautiful trek around manali (you can see it on my video website www.video-india.com) and I think it is good during the summer time (not too hot for sure).

Rajasthan was beautiful as well, especially Jaisalmer.

The only city I wouldn't go to is Varanasi/Benares. Hard city, very dirty even if very interesting historically and spiritually... I can't imagine it with hot and rain...

Olivier
video india