Where is weather ok mid to end of May?

India is on my radar and one of several possibilities for a trip in late spring. Unfortunately, I%26#39;ve read that May is peak summer heat, and then the monsoons come. I can get a reasonably priced flight into Dehli leaving around the 15th of May, and we%26#39;d have just over 2 weeks. Are there any places that wouldn%26#39;t be too unbearable then? Traveling when it is beastly hot is not my favorite.

We%26#39;ve never been to India and don%26#39;t necessarily need or want the typical tourist itinerary. We want to see the real culture, some history is interesting, we like active outdoor activities, we aren%26#39;t looking for a luxury trip, we don%26#39;t want a resort experience, and are more than willing to go off the beaten path. I guess we should also comment that we are 60. Thanks.

Where is weather ok mid to end of May?

Yes, May is going to be very hot all over India. You could go to a hill station, but there too it would be just about pleasant and nothing better. And, you will have to travel by rail/road to get to any hill stations.

I think I could recommend Ooty in the South. This is about 3-4 hrs drive away from Coimbatore or about 6 hrs from Bangalore. In the North, you could travel towards Simla. There are other smaller hill ststions too.

What I%26#39;m essentially saying is that weather may be bearable only in hill ststions in India during May.

Where is weather ok mid to end of May?

I would strongly recommend that you pick a different time to visit India. Unless you come from an other warm country like Mexico, you will find India unbearably hot. April 15 is where I draw the line.

The only way would be to hire a car with A/C, go to hotels with A/C and pools, sightsee in the early morning and in the very late afternoon, and travel during the hot hours.

Did u say offbeat? There is something that I can recommend. How about camping along a thick forest in the prestine hills of Uttarakhand (near chamba, 50 kms away from rishikesh near a small hamlet called Thangdar). The places that u can cover from there are haridwar, rishikesh, shivpuri (rafting?), Rajaji national park (elephant reserve) chamba, Uttarkashi, yamunotri, gangotri, dev prayag, Jim corbett(tiger reserve), dehradun, tehri dam, barkot, mussorie, dhanaulty, kempty falls...basically the entire of uttranchal...the camp is equipped with host of adventure activities and nature treks (my fav destination for summers, not touristy at all and yet very close to so many popular ones)

There are several hotels as well near by just incase u do not feel comfortable in camps

The only sore point wud be around 9 hr drive from delhi to Thangdar

Shud u need ne more info, feel free to write a mail.

cheers

Thanks for the replies which more or less confirmed what I was coming to as a conclusion. One problem is my job and when I can get away. India will probably have to wait until I can get away at a more favorable time of year. Thanks.

Phoenix Park

Just a couple of last minute questions I wondered if anyone could help with.

Are the safe deposit boxes in the rooms or in reception?

Does anyone know how much it costs to upgrade to a room in the new building?

And finaly, does the hotel provide pool towels.

Many thanks

Phoenix Park

Icsee you have managed to change hotels and i assume that you have changed to the phoenix park when are you traveling as we may be there the same time. We are travelling this saturday and we are there for two weeks. we would be very interested in any replies that you get. My aunt stayed at the phoenix last year and loved the place.

Phoenix Park

Hi we came back from the phoenix park on the 21st.january, some safe deposit boxes are in the rooms and some are at the reception.Our safe was in our room but you can choose to use the ones at reception. The new rooms had just been finished so not sure how much the would cost to upgrade but they looked fab. The hotel also provides pool towels and also lets you take them to the beach. We were there for 3 weeks and loved everything about phoenix park we will sure be returning.

have a great time

Bev

Think we%26#39;ll just miss you, we go 7th March. Yes we did manage to change, we were booked in the Magnum but after taking advice decided to change. We%26#39;ll probably have a look at the room they give us and then decide wether to upgrade or not.

we will be back before you we are back on the 2nd I will try to find a little more for you when we are there unless we find out in the meantime. I work nights and this is my last shift tonight and I have one more sleep after that and then we are off cannot wait.

Silvie

Have a great hols and enjoy all that lovely food. Look forward to reading your report when you get back. Travel safe.

Goangrasshopper.

Hi, I love red wine.

We arrive on the 8th, two Welsh couples, not sure where you are from, promise we wont talk Rugby.

We requested on booking of a nice room as we are celebrating our Pearl Wedding, should have fruit and flowers or cake ?.

Have been told from people who were there xmas the rooms in the old block they had, were big rooms, and overlooking pool,and very nice,that sounds good to me.

Thought i would just mention before you part with money.

Hi Taffy,

Please feel free to talk rugby LOL. Might be a whole different story by the time we arrive.

Any ideas where we can watch the last matches? perhaps if we have a whip round we can get the hotel to put it on in the bar for us?

We%26#39;ll keep our eye open for you and raise a glass to your wedding anniversary.

Pam %26amp; Gary

We had room 2201 and the safety deposit box was in the wardrobe. It is free however you have to pay a 2500 rupee deposit whichis returned when you return the key.

The hotel does provide pool towels however there are a number of signs requesting for them not to be taken from the hotel

We didn%26#39;t pay extra so therefore did not get a new room, they looked fine but the addtional nightly amount makes it an expensive holiday

hi red wine returned yesterday really enjoyed our holiday. The hotel was much better than our last hotel with a decent matress as some of them can be a bit thin. Bedding was very clean. Any problems that you have go straight to reception they are very good and will do the best to sort it.

If you arrive early as most of the flights do book in and go straight for breakfast. Breakfast consists of (the chef is at the top of the steps) eggs cooked to order, Fruit juice(it always look empty but it is not)toast, jam, marmalade, there is always a hot selection and sometimes there is bacon. you also get rolls and cake. If you are really daring there is an indian selection sorry we didn,t try it.

If you want a very careful driver we can give you a driver who is stationed outside the hotel.

Hi Sylviebabe

Did you stay in the New or old buildings, what did you think.

Heard that some rooms did not have sink or bath plugs, did you find this.

Which beach shacks do you recommend.

We go on Saturday.

engine oil

Restaurants to try

Just got back. Everyone has there favourites.

Restaurants to try

Whoops.

We found Cecelia%26#39;s, Little Palms and The Stonehouse nice. But opposite the Stonehouse is The Octopus Garden. Exceptional food and fresh garlic bread cooked for you as you sit down.

Restaurants to try

Ive been to all those restaurants, do you still have to book for Cecilias ? Stonehouse i use a lot, but am sometimes irritated by the lack of service. Stonehouse has a good atmosphere. I think little palms can be a bit hit and miss, and lacks ambience. Would recommend their chicken lollipops though. And the staff are very attentive. We discovered new restaurant other end of candolim called Rising Waves, run by Sam from the Bistro. Best to book. excellant food and prices. Roll om next saturday, back there for 4 weeks.

Whoops, typing error back there for 3 weeks

Recently tried Stonehouse,after seeing recommendations on TA. Was very disappointed,had to wait over an hour for the food-when it arrived it was cold.The place was severely under staffed and the food was not of a very good standard. Would not go back there again

Try the Mermaid which is opposite the whispering palms it is that busy if you want to guarantee a table book in advance. We had an excellant fillet steak and the strawberry pavlova is to die for.

we also enjoyed just chinese which is not far from the mango grove. We had an excellant meal and the owner is only a young man but very nice and good service and good food is his main criteria.

ittwit

Mosquito repellant - name of product

Hi

Could anybody please help with a name of a ';local'; brand of mosquiteo repellant with the ';sufficient amount'; of DEET. We need a procuct suited for both children and adults.

Thanks in advance;-)

Mosquito repellant - name of product

Name of repellent usually mentioned on here is Odomos which is readily available I believe (going myself in 4 1/2 weeks).

Not sure about whether it%26#39;s suitable for children but I%26#39;m sure someone who knows for sure will be along shortly - would be quite interested to know that myself actually!

Mosquito repellant - name of product

Yes, very safe to use on children. Not everybody is a fan of odomos but I have no problems with it and rarely get a mossie bite.

Odomos always seem%26#39;s to get poor reviews on here from what i have read. I would personally(and am) stick to some good quality repellant bought back in europe with 50% deet such as AUTAN, JUNGLE FORMULA or EXPEDITION. Not sure what you get in Denmark but its probably the best bet.

autan with deet worked for us not 1 bit between us

We used Odomos. 2 adults and 2 children. Bought it in resort very cheaply and didn%26#39;t have a single bite between us. I%26#39;ll be using it again.

Odomos does not contain DEET, and it doesn%26#39;t work for all people - me for example. Just seems to make me more attractive to mozzies. I use Jungle Formula tropical. I think they also do a children%26#39;s version. Autan is also very good.

I am a great fan of Odomos. Have used it for 8 years, and only been bitten on the bits of skin I missed putting the cream on! It%26#39;s only c. £1 per tube, I%26#39;d definitely give it a go, and it says on the packaging it%26#39;s suitable for children.

Like LondonGoa.girl, Odomos doesn%26#39;t work for me. I use another local brand called Good Knight ~ cheap and very effective.

I agree with MadaboutGoa, the GoodKnight spray was great, worked on me, smelt pleasant, spread easily and after I started using it I got no more mossie bites. But don%26#39;t forget to use the plugins in your rooms.

ODOMOS or Good Knight.

I prefer good knight it smells niced and fresh and goes on easy.

Most people use the odomos which can be bought at the pharmacy or super markets

havelock in early

Hi,

We plan on visiting Havelock with our 2 kids (5 %26amp; 3) this summer. We will be there June 26 to July 5. Is that a good time to visit? Please advise.

This is our third family trip to India, so we have some experience traveling (mostly to beaches) and dealing with health issues in country. However, I am a little concerned about traveling away from the mainland with little kids. Does anyone have any advise on traveling to Havelock with children? Thanks!

havelock in early

july is rainy season in havelock.bring some raincoats and medicine against fever.you will get 50% discount in accommodation in resorts at havelock

havelock in early

I would recommend to avoid Andaman Islands between June-September as it rains a lot further the beauty/clarity at Beaches is not good especially when you do things like snorkelling. Last year I had been twice during March %26amp; August and i know the difference much better.

Ecoandaman: In another post you had mentioned that Ferry tickets are given three days in advance, last time we went to collect the tickets in Advance but they said they do not issue in advance so had to go early at 5.30am.

Now they issue tickets in 3 days advance, but only from port blair. From Havelock you have to get the ticket on the day of travel.

Exchange Rate

Hi

Going to Goa in 6 weeks can anyone tell me what the exchange rate is like. I was there at Christmas and it was terrible i think it was 65 rups to the £. Has it got any better?

thank you

Exchange Rate

Showing as 80.18 today with the site I use which is xe.com - that%26#39;s the best it%26#39;s been for a bit I think.

Hope that helps.

Exchange Rate

Hi

Calangute 2100 Monday 3rd March 79.30 on the street.

Think you must be mistaken StellaLiverpool

We were over there in December and the lowest we got was 75.

T%26amp;J

We were there in January and got 77 first week and 76 the 2nd.

hi have a look on the reuters web site.

The rate is creeping up slowly. Got back last night and it was around 78/79 to the pound. It was around the 76/77 mark when we first arrived.

Katie did you have a good time?

what to wear on a night

going to goa in two weeks , five of us for partners 40th , when we went to thailand we just had tshirt and 1/4 shorts on .. is this ok for candolim ... is there a dress code in the bars ........

thanks

what to wear on a night

No dress code that I have seen, Tshirt and short will be fine.

what to wear on a night

Came back from Thailand 3 weeks ago and wore same clothes on an evening in both Thailand and Goa.