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India travel in August?

Alter

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I am planning a trip to India in the first week of August with my wife and 6-year-old son. I know it is monsoon season so wondering if anyone has any opinions on the best cities to avoid, or the best to visit?
 

feynmix

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avoid bombay. delhi should be okay. i will try to get some more info for you.
 

globetrotter

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hmmmm..... the big problem is the monsoon, it can be pretty nasty in monsoon, and it could really make the week difficult, or you may be lucky and have hardly any rain. hard to plan.

I haven't taken my kids to India, so I am not all that sure what a 6 year old would really like. since it is a week, I wouild also suggest that you only hit two cities - maybe Delhi (with a side trip to Agra) and chennei or trivendrum - that will give you some north and some south.

if you can, stay at a good hotel (basically, oberoi, Taj, or Leela). that will keep you clean, safe and comfotable. talk to the conceirge before hand and arrange a car with driver to travel with. I'd have the hotel conceirge also arrange to have a session with an elephant - you can get somebody with an elephant to give you a long ride, but now it has to be outside of the big cities. that would be a blast for your son.

in Delhi I would go one day to the taj mahal, one day to the red fort, maybe one other day for everything else - including Katab Minar and the large sikh temple

in the south, I would go someplace where you can see a southern temple, to a cave carving site. if you go to chennai, I would also take the train to Bangalore and back.


by the way - have you thought about Sri Lanka? it is like india, only a little less intense. there is an elephant orphanage and it is a little cleaner, the people a little less invasive. for you, the prices should be about the same. also, sri lanka has nicer beaches, or at least more accessible.

let me know if you have specific questions.
 

Alter

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Feyn and Globe,


Thanks! That is helpful and matches my thoughts on the locations and type of hotels.

I will see what the wife thinks about the Sri Lanka idea. She has been dreaming of this India trip for a long time so I doubt she will be swayed at this point.
 

globetrotter

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Originally Posted by Alter
Feyn and Globe,


Thanks! That is helpful and matches my thoughts on the locations and type of hotels.

I will see what the wife thinks about the Sri Lanka idea. She has been dreaming of this India trip for a long time so I doubt she will be swayed at this point.


Alter,

is there anything specific that she wants to see in india? can you put it off till the rains stop?
 

Alter

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Originally Posted by globetrotter
Alter,

is there anything specific that she wants to see in India? can you put it off till the rains stop?


The problem is my work schedule. Early August is the only time this will be feasible for the next year or so.

Nothing specific to see but we hope to blend a bit of the pleasures of India (the elephant rides and nice hotels) with some of the realities (the poverty and...humanity). I should mention my wife has been there before briefly (I haven't). One of the main impulses is to take my son. This may be related to Kwilk's thread about growing up affluent; we think it would be good for him to see that life is not so easy for everyone on this planet.
 

globetrotter

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Originally Posted by Alter
The problem is my work schedule. Early August is the only time this will be feasible for the next year or so.

Nothing specific to see but we hope to blend a bit of the pleasures of India (the elephant rides and nice hotels) with some of the realities (the poverty and...humanity). I should mention my wife has been there before briefly (I haven't). One of the main impulses is to take my son. This may be related to Kwilk's thread about growing up affluent; we think it would be good for him to see that life is not so easy for everyone on this planet.


I understand.

if that is the case, then I could make a good argument for Mumbai, too. you can see the slums of mumbai and get a very good feel for that part of india, and there is elephantine island which is just an hour or so from the hotels in mumbai that has cave carvings and monkeys.

if you move forward with this, let me know and I could probrably whip you up a pretty good set of suggestions.
 

Mblova

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If you are spending a week, I would honestly stick to 1 city. Stick with Delhi, and then travel to Agra for the day. It's a one day trip there, and def go with a reputable company(ask hotel). As for hotels, there are numerous hotels in New Delhi, and all are around 250 and up for a night. There is a really famous resturant(albeit over priced) in delhi named "Bukahras". also visit this website for ideas and don't be afraid to PM me as i used to live in delhi. http://www.geobeats.com/ go to top and click on New Dehi in the scroll down menu, and then click on any video. Its a decent start.
 

California Dreamer

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Some feedback from my offshore team...

Monsoon aint a very great time to visit India. But some places are beautiful too. How long is the stay? It also depends on that.
I have mentioned a few places below

1.\tKerala - very beautiful during the monsoons, I shall send some pictures across to you. But then you cannot do much.
2.\tAgra - the Taj Mahal, a very beautiful sight in every season
3.\tThere are a few places in Pune, which is close to Mumbai. They have waterfalls and a lot of greenery. Strawberry farms and the likes. Maybe of interest too.
4.\tIf they are interested in culture then they can check out some places in Karnataka.
5.\tGoa too is a good place to go too...
6.\tJaisalmer in Rajasthan is another place you can check out. Rajasthan has a desert.

Some generic advice on monsoon travel....Mumbai is bad....at times the traffic can stand still for hours and hours. And God forbid there is flooding, then we can camp in our cars for a day or two.

Chennai is kind of bad too, not a very great spot to go to too. It is a very humid city.

Mostly places would be humid....and also streets would be wet. So we need to take care. And not that it rains all through the day. In places where there is a coastline it does pour through the day, not otherwise.

Generic care with regard to health n water and food has to be taken...you wouldn't want to fall sick during the vacation!
 

Alter

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Originally Posted by California Dreamer
Some feedback from my offshore team...


Thanks, CD! Very useful info.

The timing is shaping up to be around Aug 8 to 20 for around 10 days.
 

oscarthewild

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India has a very rich culture and past. I would rec some reading i.e. The age of Kali as an intro.
William Dalrymple has proved himself to be one of the most perceptive and enjoyable travel writers of the 1990s.
If you are planning to spend some time in Hyderabad, White Mughals is excellent.

If Delhi is you destination, the "City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi " would be my choice (note: I have not read this yet).

I like Dalrymple for he has a keen understanding of the culture and norms and how they are markedly different in different parts of India and that he is able to convey the wonderful texture this gives India to western readers.
 

globetrotter

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Originally Posted by California Dreamer
Some feedback from my offshore team...

Monsoon aint a very great time to visit India. But some places are beautiful too. How long is the stay? It also depends on that.
I have mentioned a few places below

1.\tKerala - very beautiful during the monsoons, I shall send some pictures across to you. But then you cannot do much.
2.\tAgra - the Taj Mahal, a very beautiful sight in every season
3.\tThere are a few places in Pune, which is close to Mumbai. They have waterfalls and a lot of greenery. Strawberry farms and the likes. Maybe of interest too.
4.\tIf they are interested in culture then they can check out some places in Karnataka.
5.\tGoa too is a good place to go too...
6.\tJaisalmer in Rajasthan is another place you can check out. Rajasthan has a desert.

Some generic advice on monsoon travel....Mumbai is bad....at times the traffic can stand still for hours and hours. And God forbid there is flooding, then we can camp in our cars for a day or two.

Chennai is kind of bad too, not a very great spot to go to too. It is a very humid city.

Mostly places would be humid....and also streets would be wet. So we need to take care. And not that it rains all through the day. In places where there is a coastline it does pour through the day, not otherwise.

Generic care with regard to health n water and food has to be taken...you wouldn't want to fall sick during the vacation!


having spent 3 monsoon seasons in India, I would suggest that somebody has been smoking something - the problem with the monsoon season is the simply unrelentlance rain, mixed with very high temperatures. it is entirely possible to have 5 days straight of heavy rain, making pretty much any sightseeing difficult. also, for many of us, the response to rain that we are used to is to put on a rain coat - in temperatures of 40 plus celcious, that doens't work, so the hot rain can be very unplesant


on the positive side - the rains started earlier this year than they have in recorded history, apperently (I am in delhi now and it is pouring rain) and there is a chance that the rains will end early.
 

California Dreamer

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Originally Posted by globetrotter
having spent 3 monsoon seasons in India, I would suggest that somebody has been smoking something

Not sure what you're getting at. I'm just passing on the comments of people who've lived in India all their lives.
 

Matt

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Eric - come to Vietnam instead man
smile.gif
 

Alter

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Originally Posted by m@T
Eric - come to Vietnam instead man
smile.gif


I'm saving that for a trip when I don't have the wife and kid in tow
devil.gif
 

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