The Final Route
It’s only now, with less than 7 weeks to go, that our route plan has been finalised. Well, as finalised as a trip to India could ever be, especially in monsoon season.
There’s been quite a few changes: we’ve completely changed our plan from going to Ladakh (next time eh?); we’ve change the route from Delhi to Mumbai several times; we’re focusing on different towns than we had planned for (Hampi being the new key focus).
Unfortunately our multiple plan changes have sadly meant that we won’t be able to meet up with some people we’d originally planned to see. I’m really sorry to let down people but somethings just can’t be helped; we’re on a tight timescale as it is to see all the things we want to see.
So, the final route is here. It’s only likely to change if we’re forced to make changes due to the monsoon, illness or other issues. The interactive route plan is available by viewing the page The Route (linked at the top).
Day 1, arrive at Delhi just before midnight
Day 2, Delhi sightseeing, meet up with friends for dinner
Day 3, Delhi sightseeing, meet up with more friends for dinner
Day 4, Delhi sightseeing, meet up with more friends for dinner
Day 5, early train to Amritsar, see Wagah border ceremony and then see the Golden Temple at night
Day 6, sightseeing in Amritsar, Golden Temple again, evening train back to Delhi
Day 7, early morning train to Gwalior
Day 8, early visit to Gwalior Fort before heading off to Orchha, sightseeing enroute. Staying at a homestay that night
Day 9, Orchha and staying at homestay again
Day 10, Orchha again, but a different hotel tonight
Day 11, Orchha during the day, overnight train to Aurangabad in the evening
Day 12, Arrive Aurangabad for lunch, sightseeing in the afternoon if we managed to get some sleep on the train!
Day 13, Ajanta (if our train on Day 11 is cancelled I’ve booked a backup train, as the distance – 987kms! – is so great, it’ll be hard to do any other way.)
Day 14, Ellora caves
Day 15, Daulatabad and Aurangabad, overnight train to Hyderabad
Day 16, sightseeing
Day 17, more sightseeing
Day 18, even more sightseeing, overnight train to Hospet/Hampi
Day 19, sightseeing in Hampi
Day 20, Hampi
Day 21, Hampi
Day 22, Hampi
Day 23, Hampi
Day 24, early train to Goa, passing the mighty Dudhsagar Falls
Day 25, chilling in Goa
Day 26, long day train to Mumbai along the beautiful Konkan Railway
Day 27, sightseeing in Mumbai
Day 28, fly home after lunch 🙁
So I make that 5 day trains and 3 overnight trains and a distance of 4409 kilometres – that’s over 2700 miles. You’d think that total distance on the trains would cost a lot wouldn’t you? Well, we’re going in the near top class on the railways and for all four of us the total cost is £377 pounds…how far would that get you in England?
I was going to list a few of the things that we’re really looking forward to doing/seeing on this holiday but it just be a list like above, listing the monuments or whatever that each place is famous for.I guess I’m looking forward to meeting some of the people that I’ve “spoken” to for ages on IndiaMike and Facebook: people always make travel, not places.
If I had to list one sole thing that I want to see then it would have be the Golden Temple at Amritsar. We’re really going out of our way to see it but it was on the original plan for the Ladakh trip and we were gutted at the thought of dropping it entirely from the itinerary. That’s why we’re doing an one night getaway which involves a 1000km roundtrip with two 6 hour trains.
Now thats one action packed itinerary! Though I have to say, its going to rain a lot and its going to be pretty hot and humid, when it wouldn’t rain. If you love staring chaos right in the eye and tell it to f off, then you are going to really enjoy it :D.
Chaos should be worried 🙂 Although I won’t tell it to f off in front of the kids 😮
It’s actioned pack but after the days 4-7 it’ll be more laid back, with Orchha, Ellora, Hampi all thrown into the mix.
haha sorry about, especially if your kids read your blog.
Don’t worry about that, they probably know more words that you…but if they ever say them they’ll get done. Hopefully they’ll be writing articles in the blog themselves later on.
Did you get a notification about this article in your subscription? It’s only that I’ve changed the permalinks around and think I might have broken the old RSS/Atom feed.
When in the Orchha area try to see Sonagiri, small group of Jain temples not far from Datia.
In Aurangabad have a meal at the surreal Pinky’s
Thanks. I guess we could do that when travelling from Gwalior to Orchha by taxi?
Thanks, haven’t heard of that place yet, will look it up. Why’s it surreal?
Didn’t you stay at the Hotel Classic didn’t you? Was it okay, location okay, restaurants nearby?
If this is not yet set in stone, I’d like to suggest a few things based on my just completed (almost) month long tour covering 10000km (of which 7000km was mostly overnight rail travel).
http://people.sugarlabs.org/anish/distance_travelled
I’d just suggest some of the places along the route which I feel deserve a visit.
In Madhya Pradesh (M.P.)
1. Khajuraho (0.5-1day): The temples!!! How can you miss them :P, if nothing else, for the erotica art 😉
2. Bhopal (2 Days): Surprise! Surprise! There’s a place called Rashtriya Manav Sanghralaya (National Human Archives) that is a MUST SEE for anyone coming close to this region and has a day. I could only spend 4-5 hours at the place but felt it needed atleast a day (if not two). Other than that, there is Asia’s biggest Mosque and India’s biggest manmade lake.
Around Bangalore (In Karnataka)
1. The temples in Belur and Halebeedu. They’re not World Heritage Sites, but the really should be. Also, if you’re interested in exploring a important Jain temple, a place called Sravanbelagola is close (Infact, me and 3-4 friends hired a cab and did Bangalore-Sravanbelagola-Halebeedu-Belur in a day. We we’re stretching it , but just about completed)
I haven’t seen Hampi (but heard that its quite good)
and finally
Goa (Its gonna be peak off-season there, hugely different from the Goa of December, or what its famous for)
Goa-Mumbai via Konkan Rail: As its raining, be prepared for cancelled trains (Mine was cancelled :/). Goa to Mumbai via bus is an overnight Journey.
Good Luck and hope you enjoy India!
-Anish
P.S. if you can, try an include a day in Kerala’s backwaters. They are, as everyone says, breathtaking!
Oh!, and if you’re spending two days at the Golden Temple, try to make it to temple (before the sun rises, around 4:30am) on the second day. The 2-3 hours you spend there in the morning will be unforgettable (they were for me 🙂 )
Hi Anish and thanks for your comments. I’ll look at your trip blog later.
Our train journeys are pretty much fixed as I’ve booked the tickets already and only three of ours are overnight.
I’ve already been to Khajuraho which is why we’re not heading there this time, although we may if we get bored in Orchha (which I doubt). I didn’t really want my youngest daughter to see some of the carvings in Khajuraho anyway.
We’re not going any further south than Hospet/Hampi/Goa as we’ve got to come back up to Mumbai. Kerala will have to wait for another trip 🙂
I’ll be happy with a very quiet Goa, we’ll get a hotel with a pool at least and I’ve already booked a backup train back to Mumbai, just in case the first gets cancelled.
The initiary looks perfect for a month. Hope you will enjoy it to the core.
Will wait for posts from India.