Kathmandu - Delhi, Oct '08

Hi all =)

I'm off on an Intrepid trip Kathmandu - Delhi this coming October. Is anyone else going (or have been) on this trip? Although there is an itinary, I've been told there is enough free time to explore on your own. Any suggestions on where to visit?

The trip starts in Kathmandu, Lumbini, Varanasi, Orchha, Agra and ending in Delhi...never travelled before so will be an experience =)

Alice

What, no time in the Himalayas????

nope, no mountains for me this time at least! to be honest i was only really interested in visiting India but when I saw this i couldn't resist killing two birds with one stone.

glad i'm doing it this way around they also run Delhi to Kathmandu as i've heard Delhi can be overwhelming so hopefully this will ease me into it gently.

From Varanasi onwards you should visit Khajuraho (kamasutra temples) - Orchha - Gwalior - Agra - Jaipur and back to Delhi or continue to Rajasthan.
Thanks.
raju India.

Oooh.... when do you leave Kathmundu? Ive just booked the same tour for the same reason as you, ease my way in to India. I plan on travelling around India afterwards for a couple of months (depending on how I find it).

Once when I was time challenged and working to a busy schedule, I took a couple of Intrepid trips and recommend them.
You will be well looked after, you will have plenty of time to explore your own interests, you will almost certainly travel with pleasant people and you will be with an organisation that is both culturally and environmentally responsible.
Your group leader will be full of suggestions as to how you might fill your spare moments, but the important thing is to read up in advance and develop your own ideas. This way you will have more ownership of your trip.
Lonely Planet, Footprints and Rough Guide are all good.

Kiwi_julz - my trip starts sat oct 18th and looking at the trip notes we are only in Kathmandu for two days, leaving Nepal after 6 days. When do you start your trip? It's less than 3 months now and I don't even have a bag yet, so really got to get a move on with the organising!

Really looking forward to it now, thanks Groo was unsure how much time we would really have so back to the Lonely Planets for ideas =)

x

Alice,
If you can get to Kathmandu a few days early you might enjoy a couple of days travelling in the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal is a very easy country in which to travel and even as a single female you should have no problems. Even the Marxist guerillas were quite polite to travellers.

Here's a small excursion I took, and I'd thoroughly recommend it.

From Kathmandu I took an early afternoon tourist mini bus to Nagarkot where, if the weather is right, you have spectacular views of the Himalayas and even glimpses of Everest. There's a viewing platform further up the hill where people go for sunrise but I was quite happy with what I could see from the hotel.

Next morning I took a local bus to the bottom of the hill and struck off along the backroads to Changu Narayan, an extremely interesting ancient temple complex, village and a somewhat eclectic museum.

The walking was interesting, through villages and farms and very friendly people. I'm not entirely sure that I'd take this walk as a single female, however, as I did travel through some forested bits.

Off again, down the hill towards Bhaktapur, again walking through charming rural countryside and past decorated cows (part of Diwali - the previous day it'd been the dogs that wore garlands). When I got tired I flagged down a local bus and, took that into Bhaktapur, found a guesthouse, showered, changed and lay down for a rest.

Bhaktapur seemed a fine and ancient city filled with souvenir shops, art studios, purveyors of the very latest in antiques and people who wanted to take you back to their studio to see their artwork.

An hour or two later I emerged from my room and was greeted by an entirely different city. The tourists seemed all to have gone, the souvenir stands had disappeared and the whole ancient city was lit with small oil lamps. Young people went about singing, there was music in the air, I felt that I was somewhere back in the middle ages. One of the most magical experiences of my life - I had fluked Diwali. Your timing will put you pretty close to Diwali too.

Next morning it was the same medieval city, music, religious processions which I didn't undestand, people butchering water buffalo on the steps outside their houses.

And then, as I sat over breakfast over Durbar square, it all changed again. Air conditioned buses from Kathmandu began rolling in, the streets filled with westerners, some of whom wore face masks to ward off Asian impurities, and the shops and studios began to open.

Took a local bus back to Kathmandu.

I'd second Nagarkot & Bhaktapur, and add Patan as well.

wow, those few days sound amazing. gutted now that i've only got one day to myself before the trip begins now but i'll definately look into visiting those areas even for a few hours!

it's reassuring to hear that it's an easy country to travel in, going to look at the area surrounding my hotel and do a bit of planning!!x

If you only have time for Kathmandu, check out Durbar Square which has much of the architecture of Bahktapur, just on a smaller scale. If you stay in thamel, Durbar Square is walking distance as well as the Monkey temple. Not a short walk, but I like to walk around and just see the life around me. If you need a hotel in Thamel, I would recommend, the family peace house which is near the more well known Kathmandu Peace House which I think has gotten to famous for it's own good. Technically, these places are in Paknajol, which across the road from Thamel. It is much quieter than Thamel.

hey there is some GREAT stuff on this thread, thanks people. I’ve got a week in Nepal before I start the intrepid trip so I will have plenty of time for some of these excursions.

Alice - my tour starts on the 4th of Oct so we aren’t on the same one. no worries, I am sure we will both meet some cool people to travel with. Yay - not long to go now. : )

How did the trip go? I have a friend who is considering doing this trip with Intrepid next year. I would love to get some feedback for her. She will do the trip with her husband, her sister, and her brother-in-law. They have all traveled some and have limited time so they want to get the most out of their trip as possible. Do you recommend it?

Hi KatieInez,

I would most definitely recommend the trip, it was fantastic I had such a great time.
The group was a real mix out of twelve of us there were 4 couples and 4 of us who went on our own. There was a mix of ages too, youngest being 20 the oldest being 60, but most of us were mid-20's to mid-30's.

There is a lot of travelling involved as you would expect but it was well worth it, and I can't wait to return to India in particular. You do also have a nice amount of free time to do your own thing in the various places, however for those in the group that want more activities with the group, the leader was more than happy to accompany them to other attractions during the free time.

If you want any more info, feel free to message me =)

Alice.x

Hi Alice,I'm very excited to have stumbled across this topic - myself and a friend are heading off on the same trip in less than a month. It will be my third Intrepid trip, but my first time to India and Nepal. I'm wildly excited about Nepal, but a bit nervous about India! I consider myself a fairly seasoned traveller, but I know India can be a real challenge. I've heard that things are very different once you cross the border? Also, did you have a chance to take a scenic flight of Everest? I think that's one of the optionals that I would love to do.