shelleyk

I am thinking of adding a few days in southern India to our 10-14 day trip to Sri Lanka. From my reading, the parts of southern India that interest me the most are the temple towns of Madurai and Tanjore and the area around the palace outside of Mysore.. Do you think it is worth it to fly from Sri Lanka to see either or both of these areas in a week or less. DH does not want to spend a lot of time in southern India on this trip, but I was thinking it is so close to Sri lanka that maybe this might be a good time to see a bit of it. Do you think it is worth the hassle and expense of getting a visa and flying from SL to India to see either the temple towns or the temples outside of Mysore?

Kathie

Shelly, I'd just add those days to Sri Lanka.

Satvik123

Give it a go.
You won't regret, South India is the most beautiful part of India (after kashmir of course)

Cheers

Satvik

MmePerdu

My feeling is it's almost always better to add time to a place rather than fragment a trip by going off to another country for a few days. So I vote with Kathie on this one. Save S. India for another time.

If you add the time to Sri Lanka, you may want to consider leaving the extra days unplanned. You will certainly hear of a place you hadn't planned to go but would like to. Or alternatively, go back to a spot you particularly enjoyed earlier. Having some uncommitted days can be a real luxury in either case.

thursdaysd

The temples are very definitely worth seeing, although if you are short on time I would probably skip Mysore as it is further away and the temples I think you are talking about are a bit of a trek from the town (which has a number of other sights also worth seeing). Do you already have Indian visas? And how long are you planning to spend in SL if you also go to India?

shelleyk

We do not have Indian visas. We would spend about 10-12 days in SL regardless of whether or not we go to India. We are not under any time constraints, but I am under DH's "tolerance contraint". We've been to northern India, so he's experienced India, and he is much less interested in seeing any more of it than I am.

thursdaysd

I was asking about visas because that's an added expense and annoyance. However, if this is an add-on, as opposed to an instead-of, I would go for it.

Southern India is a bit different from the north. (It has a different history, too.) It is a bit cleaner, for starters. The food is different - more vegetarian, and it's the home of dosas. (I met some north Indians on a train in the south who were being transferred, and were quite miserable - everything was different, they said!)

I would go up-market on the hotel in Madurai, I can't recommend the budget one I stayed in. On further consideration I might keep Mysore, it's very clean and green - for India. Click on my name for my south India TR, or go to mytimetotravel.wordpress.com and search for Madurai, etc.

shelleyk

Hi thursdaysd-I have read and reread your south India TR and enjoyed it very much. I certainly admire your travel stamina, something I have a bit of, but certainly not as much as you. I'll read the other link, and then I will have to make some sort of decision. If I include Madurai and Mysore, I would fly from one to the other and fly home from India. I have not purchased my international flight yet, and will not until I decide on the itinerary for SL, as well as decide if I will include south India.

Thank you all for your much appreciated replies.

jacketwatch

Has India started their visa on arrival yet?

shelleyk

Last I read it was not going to start until Oct. (if then) and only if arriving in certain airports. I think neither Bangalore nor Madurai were included, so visa on arrival won't help me. I have to decide if I want to go through the visa hassle and expense to see only my 2 destinations and surroundings.

thursdaysd

Hi shelley - glad you found the TR useful. The text on my blog is the same, but with pix. You might also find one of the entries on my old 2001 trip useful, as it includes Mysore: see http://wilhelmswords.com/asia2001/index.html

If you fly and pick your hotels carefully, you (and your husband!) should be fine. The Madurai temple is quite something, although I would recommend seeing Thanjavur as well, for the contrast. Of course, the best sites for temples are probably those around Badami, but it is such a a pain to get to, unless you take the seriously expensive tourist train (Golden Chariot).

Satvik123

I agree, there is a HUGE Difference between North and South India.
Language, culture, food, history everything is different.

Give it a shot, you will enjoy it more than North India.



Cheers

Satvik