Off to India

Hiya, we're off travelling in September for a year. Our first stop is India, starting off in Delhi. Will have 4weeks and want to see as much as possible. Any ideas of a route to take, must see's, transport? Will be leaving by crossing border into Nepal. Any suggestions or stories to share, Tracy and Stephen Reply to this

4 weeks is a very short time in India, so you will have to be fairly selective, and I would recommend as much as possible, deciding where you want to go in advance and booking the train/plane journeys in advance...otherwise you can end up waiting around for days waiting for seats to become available.

I've spent about a year all up in India, and have seen much of it, I would advice trying to fit in some chilled, smaller places in between the hussle and bussle places...otherwise India can make you fairly stressed at times. Make sure you do a good few train trips also...train travel is the heart and soul of traveling in India.

I would say 1 day is enough for Agra...it's quite a horrible place, the worst hassle in the whole country...and you can get both Taj Mahal and fatehpur sikhri done in a day.

Goa, again not worth going to, it's a sleazy, crime ridden area which in my opinion is one of the worst places to go in India...

If I had 4 weeks and it was my first time in India I would do the following:

Delhi (2 days)
Jaisalmer - Jodpur - Udaipur (2 weeks)
Agra (1 day)
Orcha (3 days)
Khajuraho (2 days)
Varanasi (4 days)

That leaves you about a week to do whatever, recover from Delhi belly, or even enter Nepal from the East border.

I would also recommend checking out a forum called India Mike...it's great for getting info & preparing your journey for India.

Have fun, it's a great country!
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Hello Kirsi,

I don't think you should be too worried, I will tell you all the potential dangers which you could pass on to your son. I've spent nearly a year in India, and have been 4 times now...I traveled by myself in my mid 20's and had some of the best times of my life.

He should probably avoid Kashmir, it's quite bad at the moment there...even if kashmiri travel agents say it's perfectly safe. Maybe it will be safer in 10 months time, but look at Western news sources to ascertain whether its safe...if it is...he should consider going there...it's absolutely beautiful.

Goa can be a bit dodgy, there are many robberies there of peoples rooms...so if he goes to Goa, he should consider staying in a place that is safe...i.e. not a basic beach hut in Anjuna for example. Goa is ok, it can be a nice break from India, but many people end up staying there for months and is a bit of a waste of a trip to India..he would be much better off going further south and having a good look at Kerala, Tamil Nadu & the Andaman islands. More beautiful and safer.

I hope you don't take offense, but a lot of young people who do travel to India at some stage buy and consume marijuana or other drugs..a real danger is your son getting caught by the police with this stuff....he could end up in prison and possibly for years...and prison in India as you can imagine is not nice...so you should warn your son to be sensible and very cautious. If he buys hashish...smoke it discretely and buy it discretely even if everyone around him are smoking it openly and thinking that it's "ok" in India...It is not...and those people can end up in a lot of trouble. He should be smart with drugs, buy small amounts at a time, don't travel with it, and be very wary of whoever they are buying it from..don't let the person he buys it off know which guest house you are staying in.

Then there are health issues, he will probably get food poisoning at some stage..it's not a big deal and something you just have to get through...although food hygiene does seem to have improved in the last few years...last time I went to India was January this year and didn't get ill at all.

There is also getting lost in spirituality...not really dangerous...unless your son has mental health issues. I have met some young people in India, quite lost people, telling me they were going off to live in the hills and live off of wild berries...I doubt they lasted too long.

I hope I haven't made you overly worried, these are the dangers besides the obvious crossing the road and getting ripped off. But India is an amazing country and while things happen in India that do get in the news, such as terrorist activities committed by the Maoists and such, keep in mind that India is a massive country, bigger than the whole of Europe, and for example...if you heard a bomb went off in Ukraine...would that stop you traveling to Sweden?

Anyway, the most important thing for your son, is to have some common sense and street smarts, if he has this, he will be fine...if he doesn't...he will by the end of the trip. There are internet cafes everywhere, so he should keep you informed as to where he is..so you won't worry if something does happen in India while he is there.

If you go yourself, have a wonderful time..Places that are lovely in India, and good for a first timer are Udaipur, Bundi, Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.....and in the South I would recommend Cochin, Allepey, Madurai, Thanjavur & Mahalbalipuram.

Cheers Matt Reply to this