TWAontheGo

Would welcome comments on the weather to expect in Mandawa, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur between April 1 and 25, 2007. How hot, what part of the day you may want to seek shade/AC, etc?

Thanks,

Tom

jacketwatch

Rajasthan will be pretty warm. Check this site for world temp averages.
http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/c...=IN&refer=

TWAontheGo

Thanks, I have saved this web page for future travel temperature questions. It does not appear that India has very many cool months. I will just hope for more time at the average temperature than at the high temperature.

Cicerone

April is pretty brutal, I have been in Delhi and Jaipur in several different years in April when it was over 90 F generally, over 100 many days, and one very memorable day when it was 115 F in Delhi. Lots of power outages that day... It is also building up a little humidity then as the monsoon approaching in about 6 weeks. The sun is piercing from about 9 am to about 3 pm, so really there is no way to avoid it, and it’s hard IMO to be out being a tourist. I am there on business going from air con car to air con meeting room and trying to imagine how the tourists are surviving. If you really must go to north India in April, go very slow in terms of trying to fit in things each day, drink lots of water, bring a hat and an umbrella (you will feel stupid for about a minute and then love the shade).

Best time of year is actually right now, excellent temps in north India and great beach weather most elsewhere. From about late October to early March is the best time for north India.

vp_singh

The temperatures start rising by mid March. IMO the bleakest months are May & June. April to a western traveler could indeed be hot, dry & unpleasant, more so in the arid zones of Bikaner, Jaisalmer. However if you hire an ac car / ac hotels & restrict your sight seeing to mornings & evenings you should do fine. You may also avail of low season rates for the various properties. Caution should be exercised in choosing your hotels. Smaller off-beaten destinations should be discarded for electricity is a big problem in rural Rajasthan & the ac may not work. Keep distances short & consume a lot of revitalizing liquids, while eschewing meat dishes untill you are in reputable restaurants.
Best Wishes!

TWAontheGo

April is HOT. I grew up in the Arizona desert and believe I know "hot".

It is hot in April however you can adjust your travels to avoid the worse heat. We got out as early as possible (sometimes we didn't go as early as we would like because a temple, etc. did not open until 9:00 am or later.). We typically returned to our hotel between 11:00 and noon. Then back out into the city or whatever between 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm. The evenings were always cool.

waynehazle

Geez, I hear people talk about this extreme heat in India. I was there in April and it was hot, but nowhere near enough to mess up the GREAT time that I had.

It cooled off wonderfully in the evenings

1608

April is about as hot as you will ever experience in central India. The hot season runs from March through June, but my experience was that April and may were the worst. I drove to Agra in late April or early May and the temp peaked at 47 C, or about 116.6 F. It was unbearably hot at the the Taj Mahal and on the road back to Delhi. The car's AC could not handle the heat and we sweltered.

The morning is the best time to go out. After about noon the ground is so hot it just radiates heat and you can't escape it, even in the shade. The wind can pick up in the afternoon as well, which just adds to the misery; it's like trying to find a cool spot in a blast furnace. I would recommend pool side or napping after lunch until early evening.

I wouldn't plan on much adventure until after 6:00 PM or so. Once the sun does drop it begins to cool pretty quickly unless you're in Delhi, and the concrete stays hot there for hours.

If you haven't been to India previously you need to know that dinner is late...really late, like 10:00 PM or so. Family dining occurs in most major hotels until after midnight.

The temperatures are high, but the rewards are worth the suffering. I have been there 25-30 times, and it is one of the most incredible places on earth to travel. Have a great trip.

cruisinred

I'm considering an india trip in early july next year. Not my first choice for time of year, but may be the only time I can do it next year.
How brutal would early July be in Agra, Jaipur etc?

Cicerone

While still pretty hot, July is actually better than April IMO, because the monsoon typically arrives in north India in about late June or early July, and so at least you get cloud cover and rain to cool things off a bit. (Yes, I agree that April and early May are about the worst, it’s pre-monsoon and no there are basically clouds at all so the sun is really fierce, it is so hot and you keep thinking you can’t possibly be converting centigrade to Fahrenheit correctly, it can’t be 115 F degrees, but at 45 C it actually is....).

You will find temps in the high 80s to low 90s, and may have some days over 100 F. That is still pretty hot. (But better than April/May when most every day is over 100 F). Take a look at weatherbase.com for temps and rainfall. You will have some rain, but that will probably be welcome. The desert areas of course don’t get a lot of rain, but will have clouds which will help with temps and just keeping the fierce sun off of you. North India does not get the deluge of rain that a place like Calcutta gets, so you won’t have the flooding in the streets (you may have some limited flooding during actual downpours). The advice abouve about avoiding the hottest part of mid-day would still largely apply IMO. 90 F and humidity is still not that great for touring weahter at outdoor sights. The plus side would be to be in India during monsoon which is a huge part of their culture and a time of celebration (if its a good monsoon anyway).

Try to include a cooler hill or Himalaya area if you can as well, like Shimla (the traditional hill station for Delhi) or a place like Ladakh or Dharamsala. These would be a relief from the heat, even though they may be a little bit rainy as well.