Roccco

Is that a reasonable itenerary? Forgive me for wasting the bandwidth with my possible iteneraries lately, but I want to get this right, because who knows when I will return to India?

2/05 - Depart LAX
2/06 - En Route
2/07 - 2:30 AM Arrival in Delhi. Connect to 5:45 AM flight to Udaipur. Arrive Udaipur at 8:10 AM. 3 nights at Lake Palace Hotel.
2/08 - Udaipur
2/09 - Udaipur
2/10 - 8:10AM flight from Udaipur to Jaipur. I would have a car and driver meet me here that would remain with me for the duration of the trip. 3 nights at Raj Vilas.
2/11 - Jaipur
2/12 - Jaipur
2/13 - Drive to Ranthambhore. 3 nights at Vanya Vilas for Tiger/Wildlife viewing/photographing.
2/14 - Ranthambhore
2/15 - Ranthambhore
2/16 - Agra. 2 nights at Amar Vilas.
2/17 - Agra.
2/18 - Delhi. 3 nights at Imperial Hotel.
2/19 - Delhi.
2/20 - Delhi.
2/21 - 3:30 AM. Depart Delhi.
2/22 - Arrive LAX.

Right now I can get R/T from LAX to Delhi on China Airlines for $1,054 per person. The only downside is that I have to leave on a Thursday early afternoon, meaning that I will end up missing 11.5 days worth of work, translating into a shorter trip to Italy next June. However, I have been to Italy twice already and I think I would rather spend the extra time in India.

The very last night is Delhi isn't so great either. I will likely be checking out of my hotel at 1AM. Perhaps I will stay in a Heritage Suite for my first two nights and then downgrade to a regular room for my final night at the Imperial Hotel, since I will only get to enjoy it until 1AM.

The upside to this trip is that I would arrive home on Saturday at noon, allowing me a little time to regain my senses before Monday morning.

Any comments on how this itenerary sounds??? Any way that I could improve it without sacrificing Ranthambhore???

Thanks.

Roccco

2/05 - Depart LAX
2/06 - En Route
2/07 - 2:30 AM Arrival in Delhi. Connect to 5:45 AM flight to Udaipur. Arrive Udaipur at 8:10 AM. 3 nights at Lake Palace Hotel.
2/08 - Udaipur
2/09 - Udaipur
2/10 - 8:10AM flight from Udaipur to Jaipur. I would have a car and driver meet me here that would remain with me for the duration of the trip. 3 nights at Raj Vilas.
2/11 - Jaipur
2/12 - Jaipur
2/13 - Drive to Ranthambhore. 3 nights at Vanya Vilas for Tiger/Wildlife viewing/photographing.
2/14 - Ranthambhore
2/15 - Ranthambhore
2/16 - Agra. 2 nights at Amar Vilas.
2/17 - Agra.
2/18 - Delhi. 3 nights at Imperial Hotel.
2/19 - Delhi.
2/20 - Delhi.
2/21 - 3:30 AM. Depart Delhi.
2/21 - "Same Day" Arrival in Los Angeles at Noon.

China Airlines also provides the shortest flight lengths. It will take 23 hours to get to Delhi and only 22 hours to return home, a piece of cake after vacationing in Southern Africa two years in a row.

Clematis

Hey Rocco, glad to see you took my advice to go to Udaipur to stay at the Lake Palace. I hope you got a suite?

Cicerone

Rocco, it is a tough call whether to give up a night in Agra or Jaipur to add Udaipur. Most people who do Delhi plus the "golden triangle" of Agra-Jaipur-Udaipur in two weeks like yourself do not include Ranthambore, so trying to all of them in 2 weeks is ambitious. However, I think Ranthambore is more interesting than Udaipur as the wildlife is great, so you obviously should not give that up. The shopping in Jaipur is far superior to Udaipur, so I would not suggest you give that up either. I have a partiality to Agra, but if you were to sacrifice anything here, I would say one night in Agra is OK. You may love the Oberoi there as much as the Oberoi in Ranthambore, however, so who really knows. . . IMO 3 nights in Udaipur is more than you need, 2 nights are fine.

I have to say that your inbound flight to Udaipur looks truly horrible. If appears that you are going to be in transit for more than 30 hours to get to Udaipur, which I am guessing will include a layover in Taiwan if you are flying China Airlines. You will be arriving into India at 2:30 am and will have to collect all your baggage, go through customs and then CHAGNE AIRPORTS to the domestic airport. (They are both called Indira Ghandi International Airport but you need the domestic terminal, which is really another airport about 3 miles away.) This would be at about 3:30 am. Your first experience in an Indian airport and trying to find a taxi should probably not be on your own with all your baggage at 3:30 am. There is a free shuttle bus, but it is quite confusing to locate and not at all convenient esp with luggage. . .You then have to sit around in the domestic airport for a few hours for your departure, and then once you arrive in Udaipur you have to transfer to the Lake Palace, which if my memory serves will take about 40 minutes. You then have a short boat trip to the hotel, maybe 10 minutes. You will be REALLLY jetlagged and just bleary-eyed and exhausted from all the transfers, etc. I don't think you would enjoy your first day in Udaipur at all. I would strong suggest you stay in Delhi for the first few days as you can adjust to your jet lag better here.

Your schedule would not put at the Taj Mahal for Valentines Day, isn't that one of your preferences??

It also looks to me like you are going from Ranthambore to Agra, which as I have mentioned is a terrible drive. What you might do is spend 2 nights in Jaipur, then go down for 2-3 nights in Ranthambore. As you are staying at Oberoi hotels on both ends, the hotels shouldn't mind too much if you move dates around, and the hotel in Jaipur should not have any issue with holding your excess luggage if you want to just bring a small bag (hats and gloves and sweaters!) for Ranthambore. Then you could come back for one final night in Jaipur to get the last minute shopping done, and then take the good road to Agra from here (or fly on to Delhi late on the following day if you have done the trip as Delhi/Agra/Udaipur/Jaipur.)

The Air China fare is hard to beat. However, LAX and Delhi almost on the other side of the globe from each other, so if you have any miles on an airline that flies to Europe, you might consider going via London or Frankfurt, as the overall flight time is about the same as going via the Pacific.

Also, on the return flight, are you sure that you arrive on Sunday the 22nd and not Saturday the 21st? You generally gain a day when flying east across the Pacific, in other words you arrive in LAX at about the same time and on the same day that you left India, i.e., Saturday February 21. That is one of the advantages of returning via the Pacific. It also means you will have one day less in India, so perhaps you can leave on Sunday the 22nd and arrive in LA on Sunday the 22nd.

Roccco

Cicerone,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to another post.

You are correct that I would not be at the Taj Mahal on Valentines Day with my revised itenerary. I would, however, be in Udaipur at the Lake Palace Hotel, which is also supposed to be very romantic.

Now that you have spelled it out for me, I am concerned about having to switch airports upon arrival to the domestic airport.

My flight from LAX-DEL would have one connection in Taipei and would "only" take 23 hours and 30 minutes. With a three hour stopover, that would probably be very rushed since I would have another airport to find, and a 2 hour flight to Udaipur, my total travel time would be 28.5 hours, or about the same time that it took me to get to Johannesburg a couple months ago (since I had to go through Cape Town first, due to a couple flight cancellations by South African Air). I am accustomed to the abuse of long flights.

I guess the other possibility would be to start my tour by skipping Delhi and driving directly to Agra. That would take some time, so even with a 2:30 AM arrival, by the time I cleared customs, collected my baggage and drove to Agra, I may be able to have a sunrise at the Taj Mahal on Valentines Day (since if I chose a Thursday departure to get the Air China flight, I could choose to arrive on February 14th). Was it Fridays or Saturdays that the Taj Mahal was free to the Indian public? I would like to avoid whichever day it is.

I guess under that scenario that I would do the following: Agra (2), Ranthambhore (3), Jaipur (3), fly to Udaipur (3), fly to Delhi (3). It is a bit tricky to get all these places in in under three weeks, but I think I can do it. With the grandeur of these places, I think it will make up for all the hopping around.

Would you say that starting with Agra would be an improvement? Thanks.

Cicerone

I kind of like your idea of driving directly to Agra from your arriving flight. You would certainly not have any traffic, and you could go right to sleep for the 2-3 hour drive. I would ask the Imperial Hotel or the Oberoi/Amravilas to arrange for a car and driver; and would strongly urge you to request a C-Class or larger Mercedes as this will be the most comfortable for the trip. If you don?t request, you may get a Toyota or the infamous Ambassador, both of which would not be great for a long trip in the middle of the night. . .

FYI, Valentine's Day in 2004 is on a Saturday. As it will take you 2 days (in calendar days but not hours) to reach Delhi, you would need to leave LAX on the flight which departs on the afternoon of Thursday 12 February. I don't know which days the Taj is free to Indians, it may only be one day a month. I believe the Taj is closed entirely on Friday as there is a mosque as part of the complex.

The one drawback I see is that Jet Air does not have service between Agra and Udaipur. You may have to take Indian Airlines, which is OK but not as good as Jet; plus I assume you are using the Jet Airways package so you will end up paying for a separate leg. Also, beware of evening and early morning flights into and out of Delhi as fog can cause serious delays in the winter. Try to use late morning or early afternoon flights. You might be better off doing the trip as

Agra (drive from Delhi) for 1-2 nights
Jaipur (drive from Agra) for 2 nights
Ranthambore (drive from Jaipur) for 2-3 nights
Jaipur (drive from Ranthambore) for 1 night
Udaipur (fly from Jaipur on 7:15 am flight) for 2 nights
Delhi (1:30pm Jet flight from Udaipur) for your last 3 days in Delhi.

Also, I took a look at the China Air site, and if you depart New Delhi on the 3:30 am flight on Saturday February 28, you will arrive in LAX at Noon on Saturday February 28. Unfortunately, the China Air flight does not operate out of Delhi on Sundays, which would be better as it would give you one more day. With your flight times and dates, you will have only have 14 full days and 13 nights (from early Saturday February 14 to Friday evening February 27) to see all the places you want; a rather ambitious target.

ssk4f

Rocco:
Cicerone brought up a very good point. You will have to change terminals, rather airports.

They provide shuttles from one to the other. My mom had to do this at some wierd hr in the morning but it all worked fine.

If for some reason, this is not possible that day, make sure to take the OFFICIAL pre-paid taxis. They are monitored by the cops and are reasonalby safe.

good luck

Roccco

Another consideration may be to spend three nights in Bangkok or another gateway city. If I fly on China Airlines for their low fare, that would not be desirable because I have no interest in Taipei, their connecting city. However, if I were to fly Air France, I could spend three nights in Paris, where I have been but my wife has not yet been.

Are there any airlines that fly through Hong Kong? That would be perfect, as it would allow me to run the Hong Kong Marathon on February 15th and then proceed with my Indian holiday.

Any other interesting connecting cities. Udaipur sounds interesting but if it is going to be such a hassle, I would just as soon stay three nights in one of the connecting cities, although I would prefer somewhere not so cold (Paris may be too cold for comfort).

Thanks.

Clematis

Rocco, although I am the one who suggested Udaipur, one of the most romantic "hotels" I have ever stayed in, if it's going to mess up your schedule then skip it. My first reaction to your itinerary was that 3 nights there was too long but I assumed you wanted to get over jet lag or something. I have been to everywhere you mentioned except this Ranthambhore, which sounds wonderful, esp. for us animal lovers.

I personally think that if you're going all the way to India, and the odds are you two will never go back, I would rather you get to see sunrise at the Taj as well as sunset (because it is something you will never forget) than hit Paris or Bangkok (one of my least fav. cities in the world), cities that you can easily see on your way to somewhere else at another time.

Roccco

Clematis,

Please see my new thread, "Am I Sick???", and share your thoughts on my twisted new itenerary.

Thanks.

Clematis

Oh Rocco, you started a thread with the subject, &quot;Am I sick?&quot;... why not just wear a sign &quot;kick me?&quot;... <s></s>

Roccco

Clematis,

I WANT to be kicked until I can form a clear picture on how I should handle my India trip.

I do have good rates available on Asiana Airlines to Delhi for $1,129 per person if I were to leave on Saturday, February 07th @ 12:20 AM (arriving in Delhi at the reasonable hour of 6:40PM on 2/08) and returning on Sunday, February 22nd, with another reasonably timed flight of 7:50 PM. That is 14 nights total. I could do something like this:

2/08 - Delhi. 3 nights at Imperial Hotel in Heritage Suite.

2/09 - Delhi.

2/10 - Delhi.

2/11 - Car Transfer To Agra. 2 nights at Amar Vilas.

2/12 - Amar Vilas.

2/13 - Car Transfer To Sariska National Park. 2 nights at Sariska Palace Hotel. PM Game Drive.

2/14 - Sariska NP. AM / PM Game Drive.

2/15 - Ranthambhore. 2 nights at Vanya Vilas.

2/16 - Ranthambhore.

2/17 - Agra. 2 nights at Amar Vilas.

2/18 - Amar Vilas.

2/19 - Jaipur. 3 nts. at Raj Vilas.

2/20 - Raj Vilas.

2/21 - Raj Vilas.

2/22 - Afternoon flight from Jaipur to Delhi (rather than 4.5 hour drive). 7:50PM Flight from DEL-LAX.

2/23 - Arrive LAX @ 11:00 AM.