India in June and July are we insane??

Hi there me and my best mate are off to India June 15th we arrive in Delhi and have about 1 1/2 months to see as much as possible.

Which direction should we head due to it being the monsoon season??

We can not change the dates we arrive and now i am starting to worry we have made a bad choice.

Any tips, advise e.t.c would be so appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Wendy

June 15 is not monsoon season in Delhi, it is the height of summer. When the searing dust storms ("loo") come in, it is best to stay indoors in a hotel where the AC actually works. If you don't keep drinking, you will die.

But you can enjoy a trip during this period if you don't expect to run around like mad dogs and Englishmen. When the rains come, it will cool things down and eveything will turn green. There will be travel disruptions and mud and other inconveniences, but if you take it slow and don't have a tour-group-type schedule, it is one of the best times of the year. Indians consider it a very erotic time, perhaps because the summer is so hot it forces a long abstinence. Certainly the mood changes when the rains hit, and you'll be there to see it.

There is no particular direction you should go in. Certainly some parts have more rain than others, but you can't make avoiding rain your primary goal. You could go to Chennai because it doesn't rain much, but there is nothing much to see or do. Plus it could rain when you are there. You could go to Kashmir, where there is no monsoon, but there are other risks.

You can visit hills in North India during summer which have very pleasant weather compared to plain areas. Once the monsoon comes, you can visit Rajasthan (since there is less rain in Rajasthan). You can also plan to visit South. Though it is a monsoon time, but the freshness of nature is definitely one can enjoy,

It's indeed not the best of time to visit India. It will be incredibly hot.
You may wish to start your trip in Ladakh. But it also obviously depends on your interests.

mid june in Delhi is hell, pure and simple, if you want to breathe you have to head for the Himalayas. By august the rains would have begun and then its not so pleasant there either, Ladakh and Spiti are dry in August but if youre not into trekking I wouldnt bother, cant you go in the winter !?

You may very well be insane . . . but I don't think going to India in June/July makes you any more or less so.

I spent February - August of last year in Varanasi. In Varanasi during the months of May through August, HOT and HUMID are a given. Months of 40 ( + or - ) degree days . . . then the winds came . . . then the slow build-up of clouds . . . and when the rain finally hit . . . Yahoo! I traveled on the Rs500/day plan. Spent about Rs150 for my room (hence, no AC, and at times - due to the power shortages - no electricity/no fan). Whatever I wanted to see/do during the day, I did early or late. As strawberita said, it is not the "best" time to see India; especially if the heat will drive you into the mountains, and only the mountains. Not that there aren't wonderful things to be seen in the mountains; but there is so much to India and I, personally, don't think the heat and humidity should keep you from going and seeing what you want.

The monsoon weather (see: rain) can hamper travel plans. We got no appreciable rain last year in Varanasi until mid-July, and through August much of the rain was confined to evening/night.

A couple of pluses to the monsoon - many hostels are cutting deals, as fewer people are around (in Varanasi, I was the only one at my place for two months); even rickshaw drivers and touts feel the heat, I found them less aggressive as the temperatures rose into the 40's; and, as I've always said: the Best Time to go to India is when you can.

Have a Great Trip
Scott

#5 As you say ,you were in Varnasi between feb-august which gives plenty of time to get used to the climate, the way of life and the gradual increase of heat as the summer approaches, a totally different situation to arriving in mid june in Delhi( especially if its your 1st time in India ), the conditions for the unaware planning to travel in the heat of the plains in June should never be understated. Also the monsoons dont start to cool things down(relatively !) until August by which time the OP will have left !

#6 - You're point about acclimatizing is a good one, in theory. In my six months in Varanasi I never "acclimatized"/never "got used to" - per se - the heat . . . it's like a mammal "acclimatizing" to breathing underwater - you just can't do it for long. What you can do - as I did - is realize your limits, when you can go out and how much you can take. True, there are other factors, as you mentioned, first timers/etc, India comes at you full-strength in every season, but, that being said, there's still much to see and do, and if done sensibly; I still believe the Best Time to go to India is when you can.

Some great advice/ideas from you all thanks so much we are heading into delhi down via agra and kanpur and then into Varanasi and then we will figure out the rest from there thanks again.