[cyberhippie]

My pleasure

Chues bis morgen

[cyberhippie]

Where are you from in Germany I lived there for 5 years, near Monchegladbach.

Loved Germany, especially around the Detmold area, with Herman the German, Exterstein, forests.

Great beer.

[Mina]

I've to admit I've never really been to NRW - only Cologne once. I've been living in Stuttgart for the past ten years.

[Mina]

I've tentatively drawn up an itinerary.

18.6 - 21.6. - Bangalore
21.6. - 23.6.  - Mysore
23.6. - 30.6. - Cochin & Area

-- travel up to Goa --

5.7. - 8.7. - Goa
8.7. - 9.7. - Pune (?)
9.7. - 14.7. - Mumbai
14.7. - 16.7. - Aurangabad
16.7. - 18.7. - Indore
18.7. - 21.7. - Udaipur
21.7. - 23.7. - Jodhpur
23.7. - 25.7. - Jaipur
25.7. - 27.7. - Kota (go to Bundi)
27.7. - 30.7. - Jhansi/Gwalior
30.7. - 2.8. - Allahabad (Fatehpur etc)
2.8. - 5.8. - Varanasi
5.8. - 16.8. - Delhi (incl. Agra)
16.8. - 18.8. - Shimla
18.8. - 20.8. - McLeod Ganj
20.8. - 21.8. - Amritsar
21.8. - back to Delhi

I'm flying back in early September, so I've got two weeks left to distribute over the course of the journey if I get tired of travelling. I probably will at some point, so I don't expect to really move on to the next place on the dates mentioned and may skip some places altogether.

I suppose ten days and then some at the very end in Delhi is a lot, but I may meet some friends. I also considered spending some more time in the mountains, but I'm not interested in trekking, so I think I'll be fine with just seeing them.
From what I've heard, Bangalore is really not very exciting, but I'd like to get used to the country/weather a bit, shop for the essentials and clothes and so on.

I am wondering about travelling from Cochin to Goa - I don't want to to do it all at once as it seems to be quite a distance, so I'd be grateful for any suggestion for stops on the way. Is the Kudremukh National Park worth seeing?

Edited by Mina, 23 January 2009 - 10:57 PM.

[cyberhippie]

Hi Mina, nice to see you online again, I'm a bit tired tonight after a long hard week flowering the world (I work in the flowerbulb industry)

Your itinerary looks nice, and well thought out time wise, I think I can probably help with the travel logistics, as there are a couple of places that can be rearranged for ease of travel.

You mention Indore, are you planning to visit Mandu? Lovely place one of our fav destinations in India, Fruitbat everywhere!!!!
In Indore, there's a delightful restaurant near the bus station.

Crisply uniformed waiters, serve up the most delicious Punjabi veggie fare, all for a rediculously low price, the place is always packed by locals, which always a good sign, the surroundings are quite nice and the service second to none.
It's called the Guru Kripik, there's a large waiting area outside for customers eager to eat..........

Really delicious food.

I'll get back to the itinerary tomorrow.

[Mina]

Yes, I was thinking about Mandu. I hadn't heard of it before you suggested it earlier in this thread, but now I think it sounds interesting. And travelling from Aurangabad to Udaipur would be quite a journey I think, so I figured I might as well stop in Indore - not sure yet what it's like sight-wise

Thanks for the restaurant tip, I'll definitely check it out. Tips like that are great I think

And I'd be very happy if you could help me with the logistics.

[jyotirmoy]

July/August is monsoon time in India. Expect heavy rainfall and traffic disruptions especially in the coastal areas. The hills will also see rains so plan your travel accordingly. Delhi will be quiet hot & humid. Protect yourself from mosquitoes diseases like Malaria and Dengue breaks out during monsoon and also be careful about drinking water.

[Mina]

Yes, I suppose it's not the most perfect time to visit India... but I'm trying to expect the worst (and I'm counting the days all the same!), particularly in terms of heat and humidity, so hopefully it will be alright. I'm planning to only buy bottled water anyway. Still thinking about how I'm going to rid myself of the mosquitoes - I'm delicious to them.

[cyberhippie]

Hi Mina, had a look at your itinerary, and the most obvious change would be in getting from Rajasthan to Madhya Pradesh. getting to Jhansi from Rajasthan isn't all that straight forward, so I's suggest travelling to Agra from Kota (Bundi) instead of tacking it on to your Delhi visit.
It's easy to get to Agra from Kota, Jaipur or Jodhpur and from Agra it's easy to travel to Jhansi some three hours away

The rest of the intinerary looks great, between Cochin and Goa you could try Coorg or Murudeshwar (near to Jog falls) a pleasant coastal town with a huge statue of Shiva looking out to sea.

For some other suggestion bewtween the two have a look  at my web pages on the states of Kerala and Karnataka.
They offer some different ideas.

Kerala

Karnataka

[iwanttogoback]

Quote

Still thinking about how I'm going to rid myself of the mosquitoes - I'm delicious to them.

my advice is always to travel with someone even more delicious.

seriously though, i'd be taking anti-malarials, using a tropical strength DEET insect repellent, and covering up as much as possible. in mumbai we used roll on repellent on our exposed skin, and then sprayed a repellent on our clothes! possibly a little overkill, but none of us got sick, and only a few of us got bitten at all.

[Mina]

^ Yep, I was thinking of all of those things..repellent, malaria medication (although everyone seems to have a different opinion on this), covering up... and probably a net of sorts. It'll be insanely hot underneath it but we'll see.



cyberhippie..once exam madness is over I'll take some time to read through your blog and look all the places up. So far Murudeshwar is definitely going in my itinerary - I have to see that statue, and even more so the waterfall! The pictures I've found look truly awe-inspiring. And I've never seen a proper big waterfall


I'll edit the Rajasthan/Madhya Pradesh bit too. Thanks a lot again.

[jyotirmoy]

If you are really interested in water falls look up Jog falls.

[Mina]

Yes, that's the one I'm talking about.

[priya]

Mina, just to give you a little something of what to expect on your trip, have a look at Cameleer's virtual tours in our photography section.  You'll really be impressed, and it'll add to the excitement, I'm sure.

[Mina]

Wow, thanks for that! They sure are impressive. It's almost like being right there.

[Mina]

Just to let you all know how my trip went, and to thank you again for your help. I pretty much followed that itinerary - dropped a few places, added others, but the general idea remained the same. Mostly due to the fact that I completely unexpectedly ended up loving the big cities and stayed there longer than intended -- Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Kochi etc! I took me a week to get over the madness of it all (in Pondicherry) and another to really start loving India (Trivandrum), but then it was definitely the best time of my life. Pity I'm only a poor student   Delhi in particular felt like a second home from the minute I set foot there, but I fell completely in love with nearly all the places I saw. I hardly even look at my pictures anymore since that just makes me want to go back even more  

[dzibead]

Thanks for the report, Mina!  It's great to hear that you had a wonderful time.  So when are you going back?   

[iwanttogoback]

excellent - another satisfied customer!

thank you for dropping by to let us know that it went well.

[cyberhippie]

Hi Mina thanks for reporting back, you are now officialuy a India lover, like so many of us here and elswhere.