dgunbug

Having spent 4 weeks in the Rajasthan area along with Gwalior, khajuraho, and Varanasi, we are planning a return trip to explore the southern region. We will have 4 weeks in India and are considering adding an additional week for Sri Lanka.

We are in the beginning phases and have sought the assistance of castle and king who we previously used. He has suggested the following itinerary after we provided him with a rough idea of where we want to go.

We have beaches in our backyard, so that will not be our focus. We love ancient ruins, history, culture, scenery, interaction with the local people and photography. We normally take things slowly so we can wander the markets and towns, but as you will see, the itinerary below has us going at a very rapid pace. While we don't want to miss a lot, we realize we can't see everything and hope that those of you who have gone before us, can help make this a manageable and memorable trip. We plan to arrive in Mumbai in early November and will spend 3-5 days there. How many do you suggest?


Suggested Itinerary:
Day 01
Mumbai to Kolhapur (By Train: Koyna Express (11029), Dep: 0935, Arr: 2035 hrs: On arrival transfer to hotel. Overnight at Kolhapur
Day 02
In Kolhapur: Full day in Kolhapur City tour Overnight at Kolhapur
Day 03
Kolhapur to Bejapur : PM city tour Overnight at Bejapur.
Day 04
Bejapur to Badami : Pm city tour Overnight at Badami.
Day 05
Badami – Hospet: AM visit Aihole Pattakal then drive to Hospet Overnight at Hospet.
Day 06
In Hospet: Full day visit Hampi/Hospet. Overnight Hospet.
Day 07
Hospet to Hassan Via Saravanbelagola: Drive to Hassan en-route visit Saravanbelagola. Overnight Hassan.
Day 08
Hassan to Mysore: AM visit Belure and Halebedu than drive to Mysore Overnight at Mysore.
Day 09
In Mysore: Full day in Mysore Overnight at Mysore.
Day 10
Mysore to Ooty: Mysore to Ooty via Mudumalai Forest. Overnight stay in Ooty.
Day 11
In Ooty: Full day in Ooty Overnight at Ooty.
Day 12
Ooty to Cochin: Transfer to Cochin. Overnight at Cochin.
Day 13
In Cochin: Full day sightseeing tour. Overnight in Cochin.
Day 14
Cochin to Alleppey: Cochin to Alleppey House Boat Overnight at House Boat.
Day 15
Alleppey to Kumarakom: Alleppey to Kumarakom Overnight at Kumarakom.
Day 16
Kumarakom to Thekkady: Morning transfer to Thekkady. Overnight in Thekkady.
Day 17
Thekkady – Munnar: Thekkady to Munnar overnight at Munnar.
Day 18
In Munnar: Full day Munnar Sightseeing. Overnight at Munnar.
Day 19
Munnar – Madurai: Munnar to Madurai Overnight at Madurai.
Day 20
In Madurai: Full day sightseeing. Overnight in Madurai.
Day 21
Madurai – Trichy – Thanjavur: Madurai Trichy Tanjore Overnight at Tanjore.
Day 22
Thanjavur – Pondicherry: Tanjore Pondicherry via Darasuram Gangaikondachoolapuram Chidambaram. Overnight at Pondicherry.
Day 23
Pondicherry to Mahabalipuram: Pondicherry to Mahabalipuram Overnight at Mahabalipuram.
Day 24
In Mahabalipuram (excursion to Kanchipuram): Full day in Mahabalipuram Overnight at Mahabalipuram.
Day 25
Mahabalipuram to Chennai: Mahabalipuram to Chennai transfer. Overnight at Chennai
Day 26
Chennai Airport Drop: As per flight schedule drop at Chennai airport drop Flight to Hometown.

Thanks for your help.

thursdaysd

I feel rather breathless reading that. I think you need to decide what you really want to see.

Unless the roads in Karnataka have improved out of all recognition since 2010 I would cut out Bijapur, Badami and Hampi. Did you read my South India TR? Maybe start here: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...omment-6847568

MmePerdu

I know you're experienced travelers, but when I see "While we don't want to miss a lot,..." I begin to worry. My feeling is, when covering a lot of ground we must assume we'll miss a lot. But the tradeoff must be, in my experience and especially in India, we can linger in the places we most want to see and feel them, rather than just getting a glimpse. I don't believe you'll be feeling much, other than rushed, with such an itinerary.

Places like hill stations, waterways, nature preserves, I've found, are most satisfying when seen at a walking pace and with the feeling you've got all the time in the world, even when you don't. It's the illusion of time suspended that makes them wonderful, rather than squeezing in the most possible. That's what I believe So. India is most good for. Dawdling.

dgunbug

Thank you both for your prompt reply. I realize this is way too much, which is why I'm trying to find out what to prioritize and how to cut it down to a manageable itinerary. Thursday - I will re-read your report now that we are in the serious planning mode.

thursdaysd

I would be inclined to delete the whole first section, starting the trip in Mysore - flying to Bangalore rather than Mumbai. Sorry to add rather than subtract, but if I were starting in Mumbai I would consider Aurangabad for Ajanta and Ellora rather than tackling Karnataka. You can visit Belur and Halebid as a day trip from Mysore. Starting in Mysore would let you slow down the rest of the trip.

I just reread your North India TR, and see that you were traveling more slowly then. South India won't be any easier than the north. (Although a bit cleaner.)

What does "Ooty to Cochin" involve??

Seriously reconsider the one nighters, like Pondicherry.

rje

Seconding thursdaysd's advice about starting from Bangalore. While not the most exciting city in India, it would make a convenient entry point, and we found the express train from Bangalore to Mysore to be fast and easy.

In addition to seeing Mysore, there's a wonderful temple that makes for a good half-day trip from there - the Keshava temple, which is located about 35 km away. It is near the small village of Somanathapura. Not a large temple, but very beautiful. In addition, if you have a driver (and for this trip it makes sense), you could ask to stop at any of several small villages nearby. I did, and got some wonderful photographs. The people were very friendly, and I was invited into a lovely old home to photograph. Inside, a young woman was sitting on the floor of an inner garden, having her hair given a hot oil treatment by another woman, which made for some interesting shots.

We found Madurai fascinating, although a bit hectic. We wandered the streets, happy to find that there were far fewer westerners than many other parts of India. Many photo opportunities. We went to the Meenakshi Amman Temple three times, including at night, which was very special. Sadly, since we were there they seem to have banned cameras inside temporarily. If that matters to you, you might want to check if the ban is still in effect now. But I would go either way, this is an experience. It looked as though we were the only non-Indians there, but it is a very big temple, so I suppose one or two might have been lurking there somewhere!

Also, if you get the chance, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tanjore is also amazing at night. I see you're planning on going to Darasuram, which we also loved, located on the way from Tanjore to Pondicherry

We liked Pondicherry as a place to relax at the end of our Southern India trip. It has some very lovely buildings in the French quarter, and if you stay there at the end, it does make sense to depart India from Chennai. Others may disagree, but we found Mahabalipuram to be underwhelming after all the other amazing places in Southern India, so if it was us, we'd skip it in favor of more time elsewhere. The drive from Pondicherry to Chennai is around 2 hours, if memory serves, but of course you should check that out.

MmePerdu

I also recommend giving yourself at least a couple of days in Pondicherry. It's a small city that I like very much, and plan to return to. If you can manage it and would like to see a unique community, several hours in Auroville might be time well spent, a taxi ride from Pondy. I stayed there over Christmas and was wonderfully treated.

As rje says above, Chennai airport from Pondicherry is easily arranged by taxi.

rhkkmk

june, I just fell out of my chair in exhaustion

julies

Read my (unfinished) trip report on our India/Nepal trip last winter. We had three weeks in northern India at the pace you are talking about, and it was exhausting! I never did finish that trip report (should put that on my to-do list), but, in contrast to the northern India part of our trip, we arrived in Nepal without any plans at all except for a hotel booking for our first night. And, we got it all arranged and at a much more leisurely and enjoyable pace than our India portion.

Thanks for starting this thread because I, as usual, am just starting to plan for a rather last minute southern India trip--leaving the beginning of February. We'll have more time than you--six weeks. We are flying into Mumbai and out of Bangalore and are looking to have a variety of experiences of all different kinds. So, I am starting to make a list of places that people recommend and then try to highlight those that sound most to our liking.

The one thing I am unhappy about with our plan so far is something I did not discover about the flights until it was too late, and I'll warn other people so they don't have this happen to them. We booked on United, and our return flights are code shares on Lufthansa. Economy passengers flying Lufthansa who bought their tickets through United can't get seat assignments until the day of departure. So, lesson learned, and I'll never do this again because I am envisioning two very long, back-to-back, flights in those despised middle seats in places with a three, four, three configuration.

MmePerdu--It sounds as though you are a Francophile. Is that one of the reasons that Pondicherry appeals to you?

MmePerdu

Julies, I'm more of a colonial-phile, the esthetic of colonial architecture, particularly English, but also French, Portuguese, Spanish. I also love smaller cities and towns. The French part of Pondicherry is low-rise, peaceful and beautiful, not to mention, fronting on the Bay of Bengal, altogether charming & walkable and more intact than many in India, and elsewhere for that matter. I gravitate to these places in Asia & all over the world.

dgunbug

Thanks for the feedback so far. We are on a quick get away cruise and we give this more attention upon our return.

dgunbug

So, I realize that we can't do it all. Thursday - Mumbai has been on my wish list since our last trip along with the Ajanta and Ellora caves. However, given that the caves are a bit out of the way and that we have spent time in similar caves in China (Buddhist caves in Datong and Longmen grottoes in Luoyang), as well as having seen Buddhist carving caves in Gwalior, a side trip to Ajanta & Ellora caves may be redundant. Your opinion??? I hate to give up Mumbai as I have read several books about it. I originally also wanted to get to Calcutta, but will likely abandon that idea as it is out of the way.

We will have 4 weeks in India and were also hoping to add on a week to visit Sri Lanka. (I know...2 weeks would be preferable). The suggestion to cut out the beginning portion of the trip makes sense. If we were to fly into Mumbai, we would ultimately want to end up in Chennai to fly to Sri Lanka and return home from there. How many days should we devote to Mumbai? We are open to suggestions on the southern India portion, keeping in mind that we are not big beach goers (we have beaches in our backyard in Florida), we enjoy temples, but do not want to get templed out, we like a mixture of city and smaller villages, scenery, and interactions with the local people. For those of you who have been to Southern India, what were your highlights and places we should not miss? What could we give a miss to? We definitely want to do some of the hill country and the Kerala waterways. Please help to make this more manageable. All suggestions are welcome.

thursdaysd

I didn't spend long enough in Mumbai to give a good answer on that. On the caves, I have visited Datong, although not the other two. I was not as impressed with Ajanta as some people, I found the paintings hard to see, and I have decided I am not a big fan of painting. I found Ellora much more impressive, especially the Kailasanatha temple (do a search). However, for this trip I think you would be fine skipping them, especially if you are going to see the Dambulla cave temple in Sri Lanka.

Kathie

I can't help with Souther India, but I will say that Sri Lanka is worth more than a week. If you can only spare a week, I'd suggest you skip it and wait until you can devote more time. So you may have another week you can add to Southern India.

dgunbug

Thursday - as you have spent significant time in India, where would you recommend and what would you advise? I am open to anything and having looked at pictures of the Kerala backwaters and the beaches, I am less inclined to visit there as they remind me of trips to the Everglades and florida beaches which are in my own backyard. I am really struggling with an itinerary here. Did you find that the south was significantly different from the northern regions of India and in which ways?

thursdaysd

The south is different enough that the northerners who shared my section on the train to Madurai were very unhappy that they had been reassigned there. The languages are different, the food is different, the history is different, and I think it's somewhat cleaner.

I'm not sure what to advise about Kerala. I enjoyed Kochi, but I was there at Christmas with a friend, and we appreciated the Anglican service and the Catholic Christmas Eve mass (despite being unbelievers) along with the Kathakali dancers and the Chinese fishing nets and the synagogue. We also enjoyed our two nights on a houseboat, but I gather that the population of boats has exploded since then, so it might be less peaceful now (that was 2001).

I would certainly recommend time in the hills. I didn't get to the Munnar area, but I can recommend Coorg and Nilgiri. Certainly, you shouldn't visit the south without spending time in the temple towns, Madurai, Trichy and Tanjore.

As I said above, I would skip the first part of your initial itinerary, flying into Bangalore and starting in Mysore. You can fly home, or on to Sri Lanka, from Chennai. You could skip Kerala altogether on that itinerary, heading to Ooty from Mysore and then going south to the temple towns. In that case I would visit the Chettinads on the way to Pondy, possibly skipping Chennai altogether and going direct to the airport from Pondy.

If you would like myTR without the distracting chitchat, you might start my blog here: http://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com/...ute-to-mysore/ - that would cover much of what I'm suggesting.

dgunbug

Thank you Thursday. I have read through your interesting blog about india as well as Sri lanka. It did not seem like you enjoyed sr lanka as much, but I wonder...was it mainly due to the poor weather you experienced or other reasons?

How lucky you have been to take so much time to wander the world. Which destinations have been amongst your favorites?

thursdaysd

Well, the weather in SL certainly didn't help, but I found the ruins rather too ruinous, and the stupas rather too plain, as well. Plus I have given up trying to be a beach person, so the beach stop was rather wasted. I did like the hill country. I agree with dogster that SL is India-lite, and perhaps I missed the intensity. I don't travel to relax - since I'm retired I can do that at home - but to be interested and informed and delighted.

I took early retirement so I could travel, and I've never regretted it! I have a hard time with favorite places questions. First, because I have seen so many wonderful places, but also because it is so subjective - I love Lisbon and not Madrid, but many people might say the reverse - and also because places change. The Beijing I fell in love with in 1997 barely existed on my last visit in 2004 and is probably all gone now. The Syria I saw in 2009 is now a war zone.

I just finished a European trip that was largely a "go-back-to" trip that included Budapest, Vienna, Ljubljana, Venice, Nice, Lisbon and London, and they are all places I'd revisit. But I want to make it back to Riga, Lviv, Sicily, Georgia... In Asia I want to see more of Japan and southwest China, and I haven't made it to northwest India yet. I could easily go back to Nepal. I've spent a fair amount of time in southeast Asia, but could happily go back to Laos and Vietnam.

dgunbug

I think I read some of your southern Italy report...another place we want to go to. It's high on the list. Riga was terrific. Was there much to see in liviv? My husband's family came from there and he would be interested in visiting his roots.

thursdaysd

For Lviv see: http://wilhelmswords.com/eur2006/index.html - Ukraine West.

Also, for photos: http://kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/E...Kolomiya-Lviv/