Advice from the experienced

From Chris Dohler-Bandzierz: [a little boy I know from the tennis club. He has an insatiable appetite for gifts from yours truly and when he hears I am going somewhere, he suppresses a desire to whine about what I will bring him back :)]

Well what you can see is endless. It all depends really on how far you want to travel. To be honest my list would be a little different then one provided to you. I spent more time in northwest and northeastern India. If you have time the number one city in terms of experience would be Varanasi hands down!! It is the oldest constantly inhabited city in the world and is the Hindu's holiest city. Delhi is much like the rest of the big cities in Asia really.

There are some neat museums to see, Jama Masjid is a must see while your in old Delhi. Otherwise I would try and stay out of Delhi as it is a grind for what was little reward. But if you do go to Delhi stop by the town of Agra home of the Taj Mahal, it is literally a day trip from Delhi and you can hire a driver on the cheap. The Taj Mahal, and the baby Taj Mahal are the only two things to see in Agra so 1 day is enough.  I spent much of the rest of my time in the province of Rajasthan, it is probably the most visited in terms of tourism. There are multiple desert cities to be marveled at here, drivers are cheap to hire. Jaipur and Jailsamer are must sees if you are there.

If you don't get to the north then I would check out Calcutta over Delhi, and head to Kerala or Pondicherry. I have heard from passing backpackers when   was there that it was a wonderful place. If you do go to Mumbai you should stop by in Goa and get a tan.

Any way you cut it you will have an amazing time. Hope you brought purell, and be prepared to walk barefoot everywhere, and god be with you if you stand face to face with the notorious Delhi Belly. If you take anything out of this, go to Varanasi no other place on earth like it!

Have fun!

From the infamous Marc Fielding:[a colleague at Pythian]:

Backwater cruise in Kerala
Goa beaches (it's where the hippies (see ** below) went after being kicked out of the US)
Himalayas: Shimla (northwest) or Darjeeling (northeast).  McLeod Ganj (Dalai Lama's HQ) is pretty cool too
Golden triangle: Taj Mahal, Jaipur forts, Delhi. 


Naturally time will tell what I end up doing in my free time while there. I did a lot when in Africa the first few times since I befriended a few locals who did a good time looking after me. I will know the Pythianites in Hyderabad and, if they have the time, am looking for some guidance on what to do. As all of us know, there is nothing like seeing the sites with locals.

** Funny Marc should speak of hippies ... I have wondered all my adult life what it would have been like to be a hippie ...