On the Subject of India

So I think if you guys all came just a few days right before the wedding is gonna work out pretty well.

Fly on the 21st of March, get there on the 22nd. Wedding is on the 25th so we can show you around KTM before the wedding. Again this page has some amazing info, so in the few days before we can show you all the places in KTM in one day, and on the 2nd day we can do Patan and Bhaktapur.

Because of the paper work I can’t leave until the 3rd day after the wedding, there may be wiggle room on this. We can go to Pokhara in the mean time. Or go jump off a bridge! More on this stuff as I know more.

Ok we’d love to go to India and show you guys what it’s all about, and I was talking to Linh and we figured when else are do you guys are ever going to come to this part of the world again? I mean places in south east asia is always gonna be on your list to be done sooner or later, so while in Rome, do as the Indians do.. I think that’s how that goes.

I don’t expect you to read all these links, they’re more for looking at photos purposes! I also normally dont usually plan it all out this but thought this would give off the vibe off i know what I’m doing and would be more reassuring than just saying ‘Let’s go to India!’

I came up with 2 different routes that we could do. Both very different from each other and in a different part of India. I have actually been almost all these places before (unless stated over wise) so I think you’re gonna be in safe hands. 3 trips to India and still have one kidney left!

These are just suggestions, happy to tailor a shorter version or separate after some days or something. I think most places listed are pretty interesting one way or the other so have a look at it all and decide for yourself! (I have now added a third shorter route)

So both start from flying from Kathmandu to New Delhi (About $90-120). There’s nothing to do here. If you thought KTM is shit, this is the worst. I’m kidding, but is too crazy busy and polluted and nothing really worth seeing beside the Bahai Lotus Temple, even that is a crappy variation of the opera house. There’s better versions of other sites else where in India too. Sooooo is literally a transit point.

Route 1 South India

Pros: Better food, nicer people, a more nature orientated trip. Less busy and easier going in general.
Con: Is gonna be hot. There’s a long travel time for one part.

Day 1

Once we get to New Delhi, fly to Kochi for $70 (No direct flight from KTM sorry) Go to the Backwaters in Alappuzha. I haven’t been to the backwaters myself, but lot of tourists comes here to hire a house boat and have it slowly sail just kick back for the day and sleep there for the night. The boats can be as amazing as you want it to be or average or cheap haha. Or we could also just check it the areas on a local boats and stay on dry land.

Day 2

Spend the rest of the day in Kochi before leaving on an overnight night train to Mettupalayam.

Day 3

Had to take an overnight train because there is a toy train journey that goes up to Ooty at 7 in the morning! Is like a mini Harry Potter train.. through the hills of india! We get to Ooty and stay there for the night.

Day 4

We can do a day trek through the Teas plantations of Ooty. Or go on a nature safari at the national park near by. Is part tiger reserve too. I have not done these so I’m not sure how good they are. The trek I’ve done and is not bad, lots of eucalyptus trees actually… not sure why we came all the way here to see eucalyptus trees. When in India… do as the Australian’s do and bring this tree over so they blow up and burn the forest down..

Day 5

Wake up early and get the bus to Mysore. We can see the Mysore palace there. Could choose to spend the night there, otherwise just have to take an over night train to Hampi.

Day 6

Trek around Hampi. Is amazing, here is another video about it. There was a restaurant with a river view that does the best mango lassi on the planet! (It was also the first time I ever had a mango lassi so don’t take my word for it.)

Day 7

Take the train to Goa. The beach mecca of India. From there we can part ways as you fly from Goa to lots of places overseas! Having said that if we’re not sick of each other’s shit by then we could spend the day there and stay on in a ‘beach hut’ (I bet these look a lot nicer than you thought ay ;p) depending on the beach they can be literally right on the beach. Beaches range from really quiet to party party. They’re not super far from each other, so we can say pick a quiet one to stay, check out a busier one then just come back to our hut at night. The sea food in Goa literally comes from the sea right next to the beach so is fresh and amazing and cheap as chips Indian prices. I stayed in Agonda I’m pretty sure… (As Elvin will know, I’m not a massive beach person so this is pretty optional for me especially I’m gonna go to Thailand later on.)

Option 2 Rajasthan

Pro: More touristy landmark things, A Camel Safari, sleeping under the stars in the desert
Con: More busy and dirty, people are way more pushy for your tourist dollar.

Day 1

As soon as we get out of New Delhi airport, we can take a train to Agra. If we get to Agra early enough we can go and see this.

Day 2

If not we can wake up early and see the Taj from across the river at Sunrise. After seeing the Taj, we can tuk tuk to see Fatehpur Sikri. Before coming back to Arga for the night.

Day 3

Take the train to Jaipur. I’ve never been here before and have always wanted to go, and based on this link here it looks awesome, lots of things to see!

Day 4 Optional

Option 1: Bus to Pushkar. We can kick back here and relax, there’s not that much here to do. Besides seeing some temples and checking out life over the lakeside. Haven’t been so yeah.

Option 2: Train to Udaipur. Some people call this the Venice of the East. Having been to Venice and Udaipur, they are wrong. Is still really nice though! With some different things to do.
Is a nice place but I feel this could be optional because is slightly out of the way so have to watch the travel time.

Day 5

Train to Jodhpur. This is where the blue city is. We’re getting closer to the desert now. So it starts to have a very Indian afghan kind of vibe! Here’s another link because more nice pictures! There’s a really cool Flying fox that goes over the fort!

Day 6

Train to Jaisalmer. We are really in on the outskirt of the desert now, we can do a Camel safari and sleep under the stars. I’ve done before and it is was definitely an experience, this link and this link gives you a pretty good impression of what is like. Jaisalmer is also known for it’s government approved Bhang Lassi. Is a weed lassi and is totally legal hahah.

Day 7

Explore the fort and city in Jaisalmer, then take the train/plane back to New Delhi. We can actually do the last few cities in a different order. I know is cheaper to fly back from like Jodhpur than Udaipur or Jaisalmer. So yeah, from New Delhi we can separate once more!

Oh this page has a great table of how much things cost in general. I honestly think the per person spend is gonna be less than $500 for the whole week on either options unless we go pretty crazy on accommodation.

Thanks for making it this far. I just thought of a shorter route.

Option 3 A shorter Visit

Pro: Is shorter, see Mumbai. The Ajanta and Ellora caves!
Con: Is Mumbai really worth seeing. Ehhhh… Also lots of rock stuff.

Day 1

Fly to Mumbai . Is a not bad city to walk around to see how an major Indian city functions. Some not bad sites, tourists come here usually do like a slum tour or be an extra in a Bollywood film.

Day 2

Take trains to see the Ajanta caves. Want to be like a tomb raider of sorts? This is it… kind of. I have not been but have wanted to go since my first trip! Stay the night there.

Day 3

Travel to the near by Elora caves. Stay the night in there or take the night train to Hampi.

Day 4

Hampi refer to Option 1 Day 6. Stay the night there.

Day 5

Take the train to Goa. Refer to Option 1 Day 7.

P.S.

There are a lot of different places in India but option one and option two is mostly what people do their first time here! With the Taj if you guys are really keen on seeing it anyways can add that onto Option 1 or 3 and it adds like an extra day and a half.

I haven’t really looked into accommodations but there’s a wide range from amazing to basic available generally everywhere we are going to, some can be really interesting like sleeping in an old fort, or village stay, stuff like that.