So here is the list:

Arrive into Mumbai mid-January, then head up to Aurangabad to visit the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. By then I’ll be ready for some beach time, so I’m heading to Palolem Beach in Goa for a few days before moving on to Hampi, and then down to Kochi. By then it should be time to meet up with the Intrepid Travel crowd for a circuit of the South (Ooty, Mudumalai National Park, Mysore, Mamallapuram, Pondicherry, Madurai, Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary), some chill-out time on the Kerala backwaters, then a quick flight (hah) from Kochi up to Delhi for the more traditional “Golden Triangle”: Agra, Jaipur, Ranthambore National Park (tigers?), Bundi, Bijaipur, Udaipur, tussling with camels in Pushkar, then back to Delhi.  Bidding farewell to Intrepid I’ll head up to Jim Corbett National Park for a few days (tigers!!) then on to Rishikesh……

And then it’s anyone’s guess!! I have a list of places that I’d like to see, but who knows how I’ll be feeling by then and where I’ll want to be.  Could be I’ll continue on from Rishikesh up to Dharamsala (I’m guessing it’ll still be too cold for Leh/Ladakh), down to Amritsar and Wagah (ministry of funny walks aka border closing ceremony), I hear Jodphur is stunning, and then there’s the Orccha-Khajuraho-Varanasi trail, or up to Darjeeling in the north east and maybe a little trekking in Sikkim… all suggestions and tips warmly welcomed!