what's near Delhi?

[Voley]

Rutabowa said he's got 'about 5 days'. But yeah, alright, maybe the trek's still pushing it in that limited timescale.

Mussoorie's definitely do-able in around 5 days from Delhi, though. You'd have a couple of days there to enjoy the cool climate and Himalayan foothills. Maybe give you a taste of what trekking can be like. I've not been to Mussoorie but I've heard good things about it from other people.

If time was really tight you could pay the extra and get a taxi to take you all the way from Delhi - probably around Rs. 3000 to Rs. 4000-ish.

 

[Juice Terry]

I've been told that the lake has dried out though, so the lake palace might not be as impressive as it once was

I can confirm that lake piccola (udaipur) definitely has water in it, I was there 4 weeks ago! I think it may dry out in the summer but thats not til May/June.

quite fancy this... how far would it be not flying, possible? or the mountain villages sound good too. thanks for all suggestions

Theres an overnight train, Mewar Express, leaves Nizamuddin station, Delhi at 19:00 and arrives in Udaipur at 7:00am the next morning, there will be sleeper cars on it so you could sleep the whole way.

Best way to look up trains and book tickets anywhere in india is on www.irctc.co.in they even do etickets that you print yourself now.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

seen the taj mahal on tv loads.

Doesn't matter. It will still blow you away.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

You could make it to Pushkar in a day, I think. Get a train to Ajmer and then a bus up the hill. 3 days in the desert, then back on the train to Delhi.

You could, but it would be a bit of a, cough, Push, wouldn't it?

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Rutabowa said he's got 'about 5 days'. But yeah, alright, maybe the trek's still pushing it in that limited timescale.

Mussoorie's definitely do-able in around 5 days from Delhi, though. You'd have a couple of days there to enjoy the cool climate and Himalayan foothills. Maybe give you a taste of what trekking can be like. I've not been to Mussoorie but I've heard good things about it from other people.

If time was really tight you could pay the extra and get a taxi to take you all the way from Delhi - probably around Rs. 3000 to Rs. 4000-ish.

Yeah Mussoorie is gorgeous

 

[Belushi]

Budget airlines have really taken off in India last couple of years, so if time is of the essence it may well be worth looking at flights rather than travelling by rail.

 

[moonsi til]

what if i had about 5 days free after a work trip to Delhi? where could i go? i am not that into tourist sites, i wold kind of like to go somewhere peaceful and relaxing, but not a million miles from Delhi.

What time of year would you be going as some destinations suit some months better ?

 

[Sunray]

How about a 12 hour bus ride up to Dharamsala. Chill out with the Dalai Lama and the tibetan community at the foothills of the Himalayas.

Chilling out would be the name of the game right now. Your gonna freeze your arse off, Delhi right now will be in single digits at night, McLoud Ganj is at 1800m so might even be in the snow. Places don't come with Central heating.

No need to go by bus there, train and cab is best.

 

[Lea]

Chilling out would be the name of the game right now. Your gonna freeze your arse off, Delhi right now will be in single digits at night, McLoud Ganj is at 1800m so might even be in the snow. Places don't come with Central heating.

No need to go by bus there, train and cab is best.

Yes, I forgot. I went in the height of summer so the weather was perfect then.

 

[hipipol]

Sunray - not wrong

I'd been reading all this trekking stuff and wondering just how many feet of snow are regarded as insignificant by the hardened Mountain Man that is NVP (how yuose doin mate?)
Rajasatan this time of year is way better than spring, say march time, as its as cool (physically) as it will get but will get a bit touristy
re Udaipur, the lake apparently has been drying up in the summer, just pre the Monsoon, but should in fine fettle now - Suzy stayed in an old boat house on the lake, with a view of the Lake Palace - she only paid R5/- per day - but that was in '87!!!!!

 

[rutabowa]

i'm there in early february... i guess i really don't have that much time, it's from Saturday and then my flight back from Delhi is on the next Friday.

 

[souljacker]

I can also recommend Udaipur. Its a wonderful city. Incredibly beautiful with excellent food and loads of Indian hustle bustle.

Jasialmer is good too. A big fort in the desert. You could go on a camel trek in the desert for a couple of days.

 

[Voley]

I'd been reading all this trekking stuff and wondering just how many feet of snow are regarded as insignificant by the hardened Mountain Man that is NVP (how yuose doin mate?)

Heh ... Very well thanks, mate

Snow?! No fucking chance!

My idea of 'trekking' is get up, have a leisurely breakfast, walk for an hour or two, stop for chai frequently, walk a bit more, stop for lunch, call it a day and retire to a comfy chair with a view of the Himalayas. Preferably accompanied by a big fuck off mug of hot chocolate with a generous slug of Khukri rum in it.

Sorted.

Nepal's ideal for this with all it's teahouse routes - it tends to be a bit more difficult in India.

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

seen the taj mahal on tv loads.

no mate you really haven't seent he taj til you've seen the taj it's not white for a start, it's floral...

go to the taj go to any of the following really

the Akshardham temple to amber fort is impressive the red fort isn't ghandis house is better than ghandis grave. the baha'i loutus temple is amazing piece of architecture but full to the brim of loonies ...

i appreaciate you don't like touristy type things however these are really worth seeing for the architeture if nothing else as the craftmanship is supurb it really is you can spen ddays looking at the carvings seeing different things it's like a magic eye picture...


e2a if you go to the taj go on a friday it's free cos of prayers... the rest of the time it cost about a fiver ...

 

[Sunray]

Heh ... Very well thanks, mate

Snow?! No fucking chance!

My idea of 'trekking' is get up, have a leisurely breakfast, walk for an hour or two, stop for chai frequently, walk a bit more, stop for lunch, call it a day and retire to a comfy chair with a view of the Himalayas. Preferably accompanied by a big fuck off mug of hot chocolate with a generous slug of Khukri rum in it.

Sorted.

Nepal's ideal for this with all it's teahouse routes - it tends to be a bit more difficult in India.

I did this trek,

http://www.bigfoottrek.com/sikkim/yoksum_gochela_kanchenjunga_trek.htm

book with them and your a pussy.

I got up there and booked it all myself. 9 day up and back. I was fucking shafted at the end of that, nearly froze to death. 5500m up. I have never eaten so much in one day in my life and I was still hungry.

You need to book the trek in India as there is no support/guest houses at all up there, its just a path. If anything goes wrong its too high for helicopters, and I'd not want to go in an Indian chopper unless my chances of dying if I didn't, were higher.

NVP has just added more weight to a lot of what I heard about Nepal trekking. All a bit better organised. Thats half the charm of India in someways. All a bit functionally disorganised.

 

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

I second Udiapur, but it's still quite a distance from Delhi but I suppose it's do-able.

I thought Agra was awful tbh, but my opinion is mostly based on their station.

 

[hipipol]

Nvp

How could I have ever doubted your fine good sense in these matters???
Sounds like my kind of trek, tho in Indai it'd be Old Monk in the hot choccy!!

It would be possible in the time given to get the train to Chandigar - which as every ex resident tells me is the "cleanest city in India" - tho that sounds like a marketing slogan - and take day type trips to the surrounding niceties such as Mussorrie, (even Simla, not far then, hehe!) but it also has all the lovely old city and the Corbussier Modern Movement stuff.......
I'm only saying all of those as its somewhere I REALLY want to go.!!
Heres a decent rail map
But it doesnt even give the slightest clue of the actual SIZE of India huge, huge, huge and then some
Honestly, the price of internal flights is very reasonable and it saves sooooo much time.....
Hope all goes well etc

 

[Belushi]

I thought Agra was awful tbh, but my opinion is mostly based on their station.

Its a shithole, but worth visiting because of the Taj.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Its a shithole, but worth visiting because of the Taj.

And the red fort - the view of the taj from which is something else.

 

[Sunray]

Rutabowa: 27/7/1978 to December 2007

"He said he had a cast iron stomach"

RIP​

I was sick the first three times I went - mind you, only two of those were Delhi Belly - and I have a fairly strong stomach too.....


In all seriousness though, I have never had any time left over on my various work trips to Delhi to explore, so I don't know what to recommend.

Your best bet is probably to ask one of the guys in the office there for suggestions - assuming that there is an office with guys in it.

I was there 6 months and never got sick a single time, ate pretty much everything, except meat.

 

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

I got food poisoning at an English bar.

 

[crustychick]

I had the misfortune of having to spend far too long in and around delhi when I lost all my belongings when in india a few years ago...

I would say - definitely go to the Taj Mahal. Get there for 6am and watch the sun come up and marvel at the changing colours. It's a truly amazing building - beautiful and breathtaking - seeing it on tv in no way does it justice... imho you'd be mad to miss it!

I'd also recommend tattapani. not much there - very few tourists, although a few honeymooning indians perhaps - famous for having natural mineral baths which are very nice and chilled and you can probably get a nice ayurvedic massage to.

I would say don't go to Rajasthan unless you want tourist hell. it's okay - but expensive and completely for the tourists. unless you go to some of the out of the way places...

shimla is a bit crap - hillstation from the days of the raj but has a cool mountain railway if you're into that kinda thing.

 

[Voley]

NVP has just added more weight to a lot of what I heard about Nepal trekking. All a bit better organised. Thats half the charm of India in someways. All a bit functionally disorganised.

I hear what you're saying but the way they've got it set up in Nepal means you can be more disorganised - you can plan a lot less, if at all.

As you just set off and stop when you feel like it, you can be as disorganised as you like. I can't imagine doing that trek you mention without food, maps, a compass, a reasonable idea of how long you're going to walk each day etc. Or you do it as part of a group and are tied to their schedule. If you've got the Trailblazer Guides To Annapurna / Everest (both of which are excellent) in Nepal you don't need any of that.

That's just the teahouse routes, mind. Head off onto the Tibetan plateau up around Mustang or the Nepali side of Kanchenjunga over the border from Sikkim and you're on your own.

Best of both worlds really.

I loved trekking in Nepal and can't wait for the weather to warm up again so I can go back and have another go at it.

 

[Sunray]

I hear what you're saying but the way they've got it set up in Nepal means you can be more disorganised - you can plan a lot less, if at all.

As you just set off and stop when you feel like it, you can be as disorganised as you like. I can't imagine doing that trek you mention without food, maps, a compass, a reasonable idea of how long you're going to walk each day etc. Or you do it as part of a group and are tied to their schedule. If you've got the Trailblazer Guides To Annapurna / Everest (both of which are excellent) in Nepal you don't need any of that.

That's just the teahouse routes, mind. Head off onto the Tibetan plateau up around Mustang or the Nepali side of Kanchenjunga over the border from Sikkim and you're on your own.

Best of both worlds really.

I loved trekking in Nepal and can't wait for the weather to warm up again so I can go back and have another go at it.

I don't think I will ever tire of being up in the mountains.

 

[Voley]

Yeah, totally agree.

It's absolutely the best part of the Subcontinent for me. It's funny, really - before I went to India I always imagined it to be hot, dusty, hassley etc. but the bit I liked the best looked a bit like Switzerland.

I wish Kashmir was a bit less dangerous these days - I'd love to do some trekking around Gulmarg / Pahalgam etc. Dal Lake was weird enough for me, dunno if I'd risk it up in the hills around there ...

anyway, this ain't about Delhi, is it?

 

[Sunray]

...
As you just set off and stop when you feel like it, you can be as disorganised as you like. I can't imagine doing that trek you mention without food, maps, a compass, a reasonable idea of how long you're going to walk each day etc.....

FYI There were 3 of us and we had 2 guides, a cook and 9 porters to carry all the food, gear and tents. If you didn't have them, towards the top of the trek its not out of the realms of possibility that you could die up there if the weather turned on you. It was a snowscape anyway.

 

[Voley]

I thought so - the Singalila Ridge (sp) one's pretty drastic, too - I wouldn't even contemplate attempting something like that on my own.

Arranging it once you get there like you did's the best way all round - you're gonna get a better deal and the money's gonna go to the guys working on the hike. I have a bit of a problem with these foreign trekking agencies setting up stuff on the 'net then creaming the profit straight out of the country. It's not such a big deal for a country of India's standing but it's bad news all round for somewhere like Nepal. The trekking industry was suffering badly enough due to the political situation without entrepreneurial types taking their cut, too.

Apologies to the OP about the derail, btw.