Northern India

Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Jodhpur, Pushkar, and Jaisalmer

Our 10 Day Itinerary

India is a destination not to be missed. You have to see for yourself and take it all in as it hits all of your senses at once. The overwhelmingness of it all leaves you exhausted, but always wanting more. The taste of the curry, perfectly spiced. The smell of the street vendor stalls mixed with sweat and sometimes open sewers. The sights of the many temples and the people going about their daily chores. The sounds of horns beeping in every direction. And the touch of the finest silk cloth. It would take months to explore India and we only have 10 days, so we're doing our best to see as much as we can, and one day will return. If you follow this itinerary and have more time, we would suggest an extra night added to each city if possible. It is a misconception that you need to join a fancy expensive tour to see India. You absolutely can self-see India and get to experience more of the real people, away from the tourists. Ask us questions, we are happy to help!

 

Fly Denver to Montreal to Delhi (via Zurich), Sightsee Delhi

Sightsee Delhi

Night train to Varanasi, Ganges river and Ghats

Night train to Agra, Taj Mahal, Agra Fort

Train to Ajmer, Pushkar annual camel festival

More Pushkar, train to Jodhpur, evening in Jodhpur

Jodhpur fort, monkey temples, stepwell

Overnight train to Jaisalmer, sightsee fort / city, overnight camel desert adventure

Return from camel overnight, flight to Delhi, final dinner, travel home

 

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Our route through Northern India

 

 

Day 1 & 2: Travel from home to India

Well, it finally happened. We missed our connecting flight in Dallas which caused us to not be able to get to Montreal, which was where we had booked our roundtrip business tickets. It turns out a combination of de-icing and weather in Denver plus sitting on the taxiway waiting for a gate to open up in Dallas was too much. In the meantime, our next flight departed. After panicking for a minute, we tried everything we could, including talking to both United and Air Canada counters, and trying to get tickets at all cost to the one flight leaving for Montreal, but we kept running into issues with time cut offs for buying tickets. After a frustrating couple of hours we finally decided to just cancel our entire trip with Air Canada, luckily getting most of it back in future credit, and we forfeited our comfy business class for new roudtrip tickets in economy on Finnair and Lufthansa.

We waited in the Capital One lounge, one of the only benefits to being stuck in the Dallas airport, and finally boarded our Finnair flight to Helsinki. we were excited to finally be on our way, with only about a 6 hour later arrival in Delhi than originally planned. All that meant is we would cancel a night at the hotel in Delhi and instead land around 6am. An added bonus to our new travel plan was that we had a 7 hour layover in Helsinki, during the middle of the day.

We quickly researched a few things to do in Helsinki and how to get there from the airport. It turned out taking the train to Helsinki was cheap and fast, with a train right from the airport to city center for only about 5 Euros. It was a bit chilly and cloudy, and the sun never made it up too far in the sky, but we managed to spend a few hours walking around the downtown area. We spotted a few of the must-see buildings such as the central train station and cathedral, strolled the waterfront market, and found a cute but rather expensive caviar / seafood place where we had some oysters, truffle pasta and a caviar and vodka tasting. Back at the airport, we were exhausted and ready for our middle seats on another 8+ hour flight, attempting to get as much sleep as possible before touring Delhi all day!

 
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The Helsinki central train station
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Sun setting on Helsinki square
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Trolley in central Helsinki
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Oysters for lunch


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Day 3: Delhi

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The India Gate, New Delhi
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View from the Jama Masjid tower
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Jama Masjid mosque
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Agrasen ki Baoli stepwell


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Day 4: Varanasi and the Ganges River

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Varanasi Ghats
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Flowers for sale
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Man on the steps
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Manikarnika Ghat
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Assi Ghat snake charmer
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A busy ghat on the Ganges


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Day 5: Agra

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The Agra Fort view
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Taj Mahal
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Taj Mahal
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First view of the Taj
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Marble details in the Agra Fort


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Day 6: Train to Pushkar, Camel Festival

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Women in the sand
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Carnival with temple behind


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Day 7: Pushkar / Jodhpur

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Mustache competitor
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Jodhpur clock tower and market
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Another strong competitor
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One of these guys the winner?
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Indian train at Ajmer Junction station


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Day 8: Jodhpur

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Blue streets of the Old City

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Chai walla
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Tree in the Jodhpur Fort
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Donkey on blue city street
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Turban in the Fort


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Day 9: Jaisalmer

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Cows near abandoned village

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Camel ready for safari
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Jain temple Jaisalmer Fort
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Jaisalmer Fort
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Jaim temple ceiling


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Day 10: Jaisalmer, Delhi, Travel Home

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Sunset camel safari

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Sunrise in the desert
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Lookout from the haveli
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Out the old haveli window
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Camel in the morning


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