Agra or Goa

Agree very much with Kayden.

If I only had 12 days in India I wouldn't bother going to Goa. Of course if you love beaches, or have never seen a real tropical beach it might be worth it for you. But it's just not really India. It is where you go to get AWAY from India after 2 months on the road, imo. At the end of the day it depends on what type of person you are, what you like and so on but I'd give Goa a miss on a trip like that. If you've been to Thailand you've seen it all before, and better. Taj Mahal or Agra is something you won't find anywhere else in the world.

And AndiArry is right. If you do decide go to Goa a trip to Hampi is a MUST-DO!

Pictures and stuff from Hampi on my weblog. Start from bottom.

I agree wth *10, if you've been to Thailand, Goa will disapoint, and if you know Indian prices Goa will drive you nuts.

I enjoyed Goa, just not in the way I enjoy the rest of India, if I wan't a Goa type holiday I'll go to Thailand next time.

If you do decide to go (and don't decide against because of what I say, I'm not a beach person), just don't think you're going to find a paradise, you'll get a nice break near a beach, how good that is will depend on how much research you do, the main problem is that the perfect location 2 years ago is now a place crowded with people looking for that idylic location.

Same with restaurants, research them well.

800 bucks! sheesh ;-)

Have to agree with giving Goa a miss, although i have to say i don't agree with "it's not really India" tell that to the Goan Hindu majority. 12 days would be better spent in Maharastra or Karnataka owing to more temples, monuments and places of interest.

Goa has in the past few years seen a decline in social conduct from tourists and locals alike, the two week package crowd are only interested in getting third degree burns and an extended waistline, dropping litter and generally pleasing themselves. While the locals who are only too pleased to panda to their whims, do a moonlight garbage run from the coastal wonderland to the inland dumping grounds (villages). Go see some of "Incredible India" and give Goa a miss.

assago - I would have to ague your "dropping litter" accusation. If you travel through every part of India - you will notice how much the local people disregard the notion of disposing of littler properly. It is a filthy place with garbage strewn everywhere. All their waterways are septic and the cities stink. This is not caused by tourists. Visitors to the country generally are educated and habitual in their "proper" disposal of rubbish. It is only with long term exposure will a foreigner join the local mindset of "what difference will it make with one more bit of littler out of the window".

Wow I must say Im completely overwhelmed with your responses, all extremely helpful. We fly out of Mumbai to Singapore and up through Vietnam and Cambodia for Two months so I think this kind of rules Goa out.
However, this brings me to anyother line of questioning, How easy is it to get to Agra and Delhi via train from Mumbai?
I can fully appreciate and relate to your thoughts on the sunburned, fried breakfast, rowdy drunken stumblers that haunt these once untouched areas of India, I have seen the same thing elsewhere, and I think as travellers it is kind of our duty to avoid these places, and find our own paradise, whatever that may be.
I can imagining travelling overnight saves time for us, but I dont think Im going to want to travel through India with my eyes closed?
Shame we will probably miss out on Hampi, perhaps someone may have further suggestions of places/experiences in/on route to/ and around Agra/New Delhi?

Thanks again

Alex

I don't know exactly how tight your budget is, but you REALLY should consider flying if you are going as far north as Agra and New Delhi. Plane tickets are not horribly expensive in India these days (2-4 times what your train ticket would be), and especially not on a route such as Bombay-Delhi. With Spice Jet you can get a one way ticket for less than INR2500 incl. tax. And it'll save you a heck of a lot of time. 17 hours is the quickest train connection according to Footprint - going back and forth will thus cost you at least 34 precious hours. Consider the plain at least one way.

Once you get to Delhi, getting around to Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi, Amritsar or wherever you fancy is easy enough by train.

I took the train from Agra to Mumbai and it took about 22 hours. Don't miss out on an epic train journey as these are brilliant and you get to meet the true Indian people - not just the beggars and touts. (Don't do A/C) But you should consider flying back to Bombay to get your forwarding flight. Couldn't you change so that you fly out of Delhi?

BTW Jaipur is a place that you should see and it is not too far from Agra/Delhi.

Cambodia and Vietnam won't be such a shock once you leave India. I envy you as I love all of these places - India is the best travelling experience, but Cambodia wins my heart. And Vietnam is the friendliest place on earth. Don't ignore the touts in Cambodia and Vietnam - they are nothing like India.

But is it really the time for an epic 22-hour train journey when you only have 12 days in India?

duh. yes 800 bucks is 800 rupees in an indian context.. common sense no?