4 Weeks In India...

Spamalot

Spamalot

Spamalot

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I'm going to India for 4 weeks from the middle of this month. I have a rough plan but I wondered who else has been there and what they got up to, what's hot and what's not? If it helps I'm landing in Mumbai.

Also if you're planning to go there, in the near or distant future, what things/areas do you plan on checking out?

Any (helpful) thoughts welcomed!

Edit- My budget isn't huge, around £600/800 for the month in India.
 
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I'll reply to this properly when I get home, as I had 5 weeks there a few years back, but my first thought would be not to try to get everywhere in that time!
 
Ive done this!

My advise, avoid the big cities unless you have a lot of money to splash, because anything up to western standards cost western money, maybe more. But saying that, some of the hotels are outstanding. The level of service is unreal, you get treated like royalty in the best 5*s.

If I could do it over, I would avoid Bombay - its an absolute hole. Even the indians know it. Its horrible.

Fly straight to Goa, spend 7 days there.. go to the north of goa, not south, its more fun.
If you want to see more of the south, Kerela is supposed to be nice, but I didnt go.

Then New Delhi, but stay somewhere nice, which will cost a lot, so maybe a night only. Then agra, which is close by, to see the Taj Mahal. Possibly Rajastan from here, which is nice if you stay in a nice resort outside of the central cities. Ranthambore is a good choice to try and see some white tigers!

Then I would travel to the north near the Himalayan mountains, and take the railway that connects shimla (?) to calcutta (i think).. Shimla was amazing. And the railway trip is supposed to be unreal.
 
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Just to add, generally speaking, Oberoi properties in india are all outstanding. If you can afford to stay in them, you wont be disappointed!
 
Xandos said:
Decide on north or south really. I did 4 weeks in the south, make sure to keep it as tranquil as possible.
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This was my first thought. India is my first leg of a four month trip. In the 4 weeks I have in India I was going to land In Mumbai go down to Goa then on to Kerala over 2/3 weeks then make my way back up to Chennai, that was going to fill the 4 weeks. Then from there I have a flight booked to the Andaman Island, for 10 days them off to Sri Lanka.

I'm just not sure if the 4 weeks is too long for just the south or if I'm missing out on not going north?

I'm the sort of person that likes going to places more than being there so doing lots of moving around isn't an issue.

Edit- My budget isn't huge, around £600/800 for the first month in India.
 
Spamalot said:
This was my first thought. India is my first leg of a four month trip. In the 4 weeks I have in India I was going to land In Mumbai go down to Goa then on to Kerala over 2/3 weeks then make my way back up to Chennai, that was going to fill the 4 weeks. Then from there I have a flight booked to the Andaman Island, for 10 days them off to Sri Lanka.

I'm just not sure if the 4 weeks is too long for just the south or if I'm missing out on not going north?

I'm the sort of person that likes going to places more than being there so doing lots of moving around isn't an issue.

Edit- My budget isn't huge, around £600/800 for the first month in India.
Click to expand...

india = 1,269,219 sq mi
england = 50,346 sq mi

4 weeks is far too little for such a big country imo, i would pick about 4-8 places depending how far away they are from each other and focus on them.

india has improved a lot and continues to do so in the main cities such as bombay and dehli, etc.

if i were you i would maybe take a trip to amritsar and see the "golden temple" as well as a few other sites in punjab. also the best food on the planet is made in punjab.

south indian you need to try dosa's, etc.
 
South is really beautiful.

kerelah for sure. Then up to goa . Though I have to say goa has changed in the last few years but still worth a visit
 
India is an incredibly beautiful country once you're outside the big cities. You just have to look past the poverty and see the other side of it.
 
I'm going off to India later on today for 2 weeks.

I'm doing a quick "golden Triangle Tour". this consists of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

These tours can vary in costs and i am sure there will be one to suite your budget. Just google "Golden Triangle Tours", even Hayes and Jarvis and Kuoni do these tours.

I am then off to my parents original home towns in Gujurat and then off to Mumbai.

To get around we are using internal filghts (saves so much time).

Hope this helps!
 
I would say my highlights in India were Ranthambore for the tigers (not white ones!) we were incredibly lucky to see tigers on three out of four trips into the park. I would put Agra and the Taj Mahal a close second I wasn't expecting much as I assumend it was over hyped but it is incredibly beautifull and my third highlight would be the food we spent all our time in nothern India and the vegetable curries and the fresh breads were incredible.

I prefered the time we spent outside the big cities, in the cities you have to accept that 90% of the people you will meet or be approached by are trying to con money out of you and the level of poverty is staggering. Outside the big cities people are less likely to be scam artists and more likely to be generally interested in talking to you etc.

To take sensibile precautions to avoid tummy troubles, wash you hands regularly and use anti bacterial gel after touching the money as it is rank. We avoided any unwanted tummy troubles until Virgin poisoned me on the flight home (must have been them it was the only time we ate entirely different meals!).
 
Spamalot said:
This was my first thought. India is my first leg of a four month trip. In the 4 weeks I have in India I was going to land In Mumbai go down to Goa then on to Kerala over 2/3 weeks then make my way back up to Chennai, that was going to fill the 4 weeks. Then from there I have a flight booked to the Andaman Island, for 10 days them off to Sri Lanka.

I'm just not sure if the 4 weeks is too long for just the south or if I'm missing out on not going north?

I'm the sort of person that likes going to places more than being there so doing lots of moving around isn't an issue.

Edit- My budget isn't huge, around £600/800 for the first month in India.
Click to expand...
I went from Bombay, train to GOA (Arambol, where the hippies reside, though to be honest it seems like the vibe was in the process of souring), sleeper bus to Hampi (avoid sleeper busses at all costs if possible, nightmare). Hampi was really amazing in my opinion, a must see for a few days. I then went through Karnataka to Kerela. Everyone goes on about kerela, and it's interesting to see the backwaters and the way they live there, but that wears off in about 2 hours and then you're just sharing the place with loads of white middle class idiots who think they're being worldly by going to see the hugging person and indulging in Ayuverdic crap. If I were to do it again I'd skip Kerela. There is a beach place in Karnataka called Gokarna, which I highly recommend. Get a hut on the beach and chill, good crowd, Bhang Lassi's etc. Best beaching I found there anyway.

Om-Beach-Gokarna-Karnatak-001.jpg


My brother went to the Andamans after I left (he had two months there), and said it was amazing, especially if snorkelling or scuba diving is your thing.

One of my favourite things about india was the train rides, sitting with the wind in your hair and your legs dangling out, with certain death a couple of inches away.

If you really like to keep busy then you could also head north a bit, Himalayas/Rajistan etc. but it can be quite draining travelling hard-core in India.

As mad as it is I found Bombay quite interesting (as well as stressful), and crazy to walk from wealthy high rise buildings to a full on slum in 30 seconds.
 
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*be prepared for the heat
* watch yourself
* trust none
* keep your possessions close to you
* don't give money to beggars you will see lots of these

Admire and enjoy the place here's a video for you


made me lol
 
Giving to the lower caste (beggars) is good form in India, and you will see the locals doing it. They have no options because of the caste system, and it's that small level of charity that keeps them alive. Sure, avoid them when you can, but it won't exactly hurt you to give 10 rupees to someone in a worse position than you a few times a day.

Above poster implies that they're a bunch of theives too, which I think is inaccurate. Whilst many on the tourist path will try to find ways of getting money out of you, I would say that straight up theft is very rare, and that most of them are decent people. Perhaps more so than many places in England.
 
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