4 weeks in India 😍

Incredible India.
My soul's home.
Take me back!
(ASAP please.)

Travel Wallet: 

CCY:  ₹ INR
Visa (British Passport): Required in advance, unless you are an OCI and have valid documents already.
Vaccinations: Required
Backpacker budget: £

Peaks in pictures (split into three parts):



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Our route over 4 weeks:

Delhi
Amritsar
Shimla
Rishikesh
Jaipur
Udaipur
Mumbai
Lonavala
Mahabaleshwar 
Pune
Goa
Munnar, Kerela 
Thekkady, Kerela 
Alleppey / Alappuzha, Kerela 
Delhi
Agra

Favourites over four weeks: 

Delhi
Explore Gate of India
Eat at Veg Gulati restaurant
Explore the different parts of Chandni Chowk
Explore Red Fort
Visit Swaminarayan Temple 
Explore Hamayun's Tomb (inspiration for Taj Mahal)

Amritsar  
Visit Golden Temple 
Eat at Brothers Dhaba or Bharawan Da Dhaba
See the Wagah Border crossing (we actually missed this, but had intended to go!) 
Walk through Hall Bazar 
Go back to Golden Temple (completely different atmosphere at night) 

Shimla
See Green Valley / do a Pine Tree walk
Visit the Ridge
Visit Scandal Point
Explore Mall Road / Old Town
Trek to the top of Jakhu Temple 
Take the Toy train ride to Kalka 

Jaipur 
Visit Elefantastic - ethical elephant sanctuary, run by Rahul 
Explore on a Textile block printing tour
Visit the Jantar Mantar observatory 
Visit Hawa Mahal, City Palace and walking tour of Pink City 
Visit Jaigarh Fort
Visit Nahargarh Fort
Visit Fort Amer
Visit Monkey Temple

Udaipur 
Eat at Millets of Mewar 
Explore Bagore ki Haveli 
See the Vintage Car collection  
Visit Fateh Sagar Lake 
Ride across Lake Pichola by boat at sunset 
Walk along Ambrai Ghat 
Take a City Palace tour 
Visit the Bagore ki Haveli puppet show  
Eat at Upre 

Mumbai 
Eat at Elco Pani Puri
Visit Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat 
Visit Haji Ali mosque 
Go to Leopolds Cafe 
See gateway of India 
Visit Taj hotel and towers
Explore Colaba and Marine drive
Chill out on Queens Necklace waterfront
Eat at Naturals Icecream (with family!) 
Visit Jain Temple (our one and only mandir stop this trip) 
Do a Dharavi Tour (one of the largest slums in the world, where nearly 700k people live) 
Visit Shidhivaniyak temple, Andheri station

Day trip to Lonavala 
Visit Lions Point

Day trip to Mahabaleshwar
Eat pizza and strawberry and cream at Mapro gardens

 Pune
Eat at Sassy Spoon, Koregaon Park (then we chilled at our friend's home in Sopan Baug)
Eat at Shakahari or Paasha (JW Marriot Senapati Bapat Road) and drink at Mi-a-mi (the hotel club) 
Visit friends and family (Wanowrie area)
Visit EON business park (work!)

Goa 
Explore beaches and do water sports 
Visit Mount Mary church and street, St. Xaviers church and St. Francis church 

Kerala 
Munnar: trek in tea leaves of heaven!  Visit the tea factory and learn about different types of tea. 
Thekkady: eat, visit city centre, watch a cultural show  
Alleppey: boat trip (I would fully recommend only doing a daytime trip and not an overnight trip!) 

Agra 
Visit Taj Mahal by rickshaw from train station 
Visit Agra fort by rickshaw


Peaks:

The colours. The atmosphere. The people. The smells. Even the horns; after a while it actually sounds logical! The food. Family. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but the hikes too (you can see my strained hiking face in Udaipur on the video!). 

 Also, the rain. The warmth. All the bazars; artistic prints and indoor décor. And everything I learnt: the culture, history, politics, spices, architecture, fabric printing, jewellery making and herbal remedies. Masala papad, chai, and roadside sweetcorn. 110/100 -and not biased at all. 

Pits:

None. 
Take. me. back. right. now.

Ok, if I had to choose two things, it would be (1) some of the seriously terrible hostels we stayed the night in (including that house boat in Alleppey with the huge spider!), and (2) seeing the difference in admission prices for tourists vs local (even though I totally understand why, given the economy and exchange rate).   

If I could go again, I would also:

Visit Shimla in October to go skiing / skating 
Visit Manali (there were landslides when we were here that made it unsafe to travel) 
Visit Darjeeling (I went when I was younger and loved it, but there was political unrest around this time that stopped us going there) 
Do water sports in Goa and visit the UNESCO site Panjim
Extend our visit, trek the Himalayas and go to Nepal! 

Do you have any other recommendations or tips? Leave a comment below and let me know,  

Enjoy India! 
Priya x 

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