Hello,
In the process of deciding whether to go to India this summer with our two chdn who will be 4 and 5.5 at the time of trvael.
Aim is to spend 4/5 weeks in total between late Jul and end of August 2011
Planning on flying into Delhi and heading north to Shimla, Manali, Chanigarh, Amritsar etc.
Anyone been at that time of year?
What's the weather like?
Would you advise taking kids?
Any other suggestions ideas would be most welcome....
Thanks and look fwd to your responses.
Thank you
We went to India with our 7 y.o. boy in the summer of 2009 for a 2 month period!! We started off for 7 days in Varanasi for the total eclipse of the sun and then went to Agra for 2 days and then back through Delhi and up to Dharmasala (7days), Manali (7days) and then Ladakh/Leh for 3 weeks!! Even though plains India was so fascinating to all of us, it was soooooooo sweltering hot and it limited our enjoyment because we were steaming all of the time. Luckily, there were plenty of cold plastic-bottled clean drinking water available everywhere in stores and we took great advantage of that.
What a refreshing breath of cool air that hit me when i first stepped out of the taxi in Dharmasala/McLeod Ganj! And the rest of the trip was all above 7000 feet so it was fantastic and so good to be out of the heat.
A big surprise to us was how kid (and adult) friendly Ladakh was!! We loved it there and the prices were great! We ended up staying at the Padma G.H. in Leh for the entire time and it was special to us because the owner's son was also 7 y.o. and he and my son would play for hours at a time!! That was a special treat for us!
Anyway, we enjoyed our time in India so much and we look forward to our next big journey!! (Peru/Bolivia??)
ron
We are going to India soon and hear even in June it is already unbearably hot. Most of my Indian friends leave India in the summer because it is so hot. Can you change this to a different time?
Hi,
Thanks, sounds like some good advice!
Can't go any other time due to school hols and my own unfortunately.
Slight concern with extreme wet weather-landslides etc. as last year rains were particularly heavy.
Was this a problem?
Also, anyone been to Rajasthan that time of year? I last went in October and it was fine in terms of temp etc.
June is the peak of Summer up there I think - it differs in different parts of India. The monsoon will have hit by August which keeps things cool, but it can be humid. August should be a better time than June in terms of heat though - it isn't like Europe. The main problem in the monsoon is that is when many of the major health issues develop. You need to be very cautious with food and water, perhaps also look into typhoid vaccinations for the kids (Hep A if the haven't had it) (at least talk to a doctor about it). There will also, most certainly, be alot of dengue about, although some of the northern regions may be OK. Last year there were also malaria outbreaks in several places where you don't usually here much about it. Every year there is cholera around, typhoid, hepatitis outbreaks.
I would ask on the India branch about travelling in those regions if it is still monsoon. It could be tough if the infrastructure isn't good, but perhaps that adds to the adventure? If it could be a big problem then perhaps the better developed places may be better for getting around. I know someone whose train was delayed 36 h during the monsoon once. That wouldn't be much fun with young kids (although the trains themselves are great with kids).
I haven't seen the north yet so can't give any specifics sorry. We visited Rajasthan with the kids, and several places in the south (where we live).