I will be spending 4 or 5 weeks between June and July 2012 in India with my brother, sister, and cousin. We want to fly into Delhi and mostly stay in the North.
Hello,
I posted a few months back about which countries in Asia to visit with my brother, sister, and cousin. We have decided on India. There is just some allure to India, and my cousin has visited India many, many times.
Anyways, I was hoping I might be able to get some advice here of where to go, what to see, and what to do. So far, we know we want to fly into Delhi and travel around the North. We want to visit Dharamsala, Agra (Taj Mahal), and Manali. My cousin visits Manali every year, so she really wants to return. However, I am a little nervous and unsure about transportation into the mountains in the north. I have heard that it can be rough and dangerous, and was wondering the safest/best means of transportation up there.
We would love to visit towns/cities with historical, cultural, religious importance. I would also LOVE to get to visit some national parks. We want to experience a diversity of quiet towns and more bustling cities, but would prefer to avoid extremely crowded cities as much as possible.
Also, we were thinking of spending a week or two in Nepal. We are all very interested in Buddhism, and think Nepal would be a fascinating place to see. Where in Nepal should we go, and how easy/hard is it to enter Nepal from India.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Lena
Reply to this In response to: Msg #150015
Hey. If you like snowfall, you are in for a treat here in north india especially Manali and surroundings. The weather in all of North India would be cold, as you might know. Anywyays, since you plan to see north, you could visit the states of Himachal (city of Manali & Dharamshala fall in this state),Uttaranchal, Uttarakhand, few areas of Punjab, J&K (Jammu & Kashmir)and Rajasthan (famous for its heritage). Since you are looking for less crowded places, I'd advice you to explore places like Nahan, Parwaano, Kandaghat, Dalhousie-all of them in Himachal. As far as Uttaranchal is concerned, you could visit Nainital outskirts and Jim Corbett National Park. However, Corbett park is normally crowded. Dudhwa National Park which is relatively unexplored and less frequented by adventure lovers and others alike is a good bet. Also, Rajaji National Park could be visited. Other places in Uttaranchal would be Binsar, Mukteshwar, Kasauni and Chamba. If you plan to go further north, you could consider Srinagar and Rohtang Pass in the state of J&K.
You could travel by air to any of the major cities in these states and then hire a taxi OR you could hire a taxi from Delhi itself. It is advisable if you have some locals alongwith. Nothing much to worry but its better to be well equipped.
What to see would really depend on where you want to go- out of the above or otherwise. You could go trekking, wilderness walks and do various other stuff.
I am an adventurer and stay in Delhi.
In case of anything else, do post.
PS: Where are you from?
Reply to this You may not get snowfall in June/July. Missed that!
Reply to this Thanks for your reply, Gaurav Butan. How cold would the North be in June/July?
And I'm from Seattle, Washington.
Reply to this The north would be somwhere between 10 °C to 25 °C, the mountains that is! Probably the same what Seattle might have during that part of the year.
June is like the hottest month and July gives way to the monsoons. So invariably, the weather is going to be hot, especially Delhi and surroundings (35-42 °C).
Reply to this Namaste G!!
i went to India for my first time travelling last winter for three months(nearly). ive put a lot of my experiences into several blogs on here.
in my oppinion, theres a few places that i thought were absolutely incredible and im definately going back. firstly, Dharamsala, or rather Mcleod Ganj, is absolutely gorgeous!! the place, the people, the climate, all spot on!! Dharamsala is a dusty grey concrete working town at the bottom of the slope where as Mcleod Ganj is a tibetan colony up the top(also a traveller hub). id say do Mcleod rather than Dharamsala. Some other places that i absolutely loved were Pushkar, a little town around a holy lake, really nice but full of touts. and Bundi, an even smaller town with not much in it but a huge castle and palace sprawling over the valley sides! Bundi was a fantastic place to relax in and enjoy some time not doing a right lot!! Apart from that theres a little island off the coast of Gujarat called Diu which is like a step back in time to the days of the portugese and dutch east india company!! absolutely spellbinding!! those are places that im going back to without a doubt!!
Delhi was mad but in a good way where as Mumbai felt a lot more threatening to me... we stayed in the Pahar Ganj in Delhi which i think is a good introduction to india.
hope this helped 😊 Let me know if you want to know any details... if i find my bag of momentos, i should be able to point you to some good hotels as well 😊
Shanti shanti.
Alan.
Reply to this We just returned from 22 days in Northern India touring with Intrepid Travel. You can visit our blog and look at our trip and chose the cities you like. I would highly recommend Jaisalamer, Udaipur, Agra, Varanasi and then you could head up to Nepal. It is common for people to go to Nepal from Varanasi. We were told by our guide the border at Nepal only takes $25 in USD. He even said they only take two $10 bills and five $1 bills, not sure about this as we didn't go there but he was a trustworthy person. Hope this helps you out and get ready for the heat as June and July will be quite hot.
Reply to this There are many places in India which you will love to visit...starting with north...Jaipur is a good tourist place then Agra, then in Mumbai you can also find many tourist places and Delhi which is the capital of India..there you can find tourists places...but it will be little bit crowded place...south India will be good place for you ...as you are religious there you can find many temples...like tirupati balaji...in east also you can find many temples like in Puri..jaganath temple...Kaziranga national park is good national park...
Reply to this We just spent 4 weeks in the North - my 2nd trip (first in 2003). I would suggest Varanassi - it is not off the beaten track but the Ganges at Dawn with people bathing and worshiping plus the Crematoria Ghats is well worth the trip. I would also suggest Khajuraho - the temple complex there is famed for the erotic carvings on the temples but there is far more to them than that. It is easy to get "templed out" in India but this one is my favourite. We flew from Varanassi to Khajuraho as my Mum (72) was with us and the roads are very bad but I did the trip 10 years ago by road and it was doable. Jaisalmer is my favourite Rajasthan town and although the desert trips are now very touristy you may enjoy it if you have never slept in the desert before. I would not bother with Ranthanbore (tigers) - we actually did see a tiger but the whole experience was very unpleasant - far too many trucks and people and hysterical local tourists talking and shouting the whole time. Have fun and keep a sense of humour - you will need it!
Reply to this Hai lenalena111
Thanq for visiting in india.india is a great country, lots of historical places in india.when you enter into india first you go and take one tourguide in one good travel agency.they will expalin you. one thing dont forget to visit hyderabad.hyderabad is a superb city.
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Reply to this Hi lena,
If you want to see Buddhism culture , you just turn to north- east states of India like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, all these places have well grown Buddhism culture. Just enjoy it.
Reply to this Good one Lena, North India has something different for every tourist which want to meet a new excitement. There are several fascinating travel circuits, attractive tourist places in northern region of India which hypnotize travelers from all over the world.
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[Edited: 2012 Sep 21 05:02 - Rat on the Road:23681 - No links in signatures please]
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