India and Nepal in January - any insight on weather and temps

Northern India is normally cold and damp in winter time with potentially a fair bit of fog. Check out weatherunderground.com or one of the other websites for historical temps. I wouldn't expect balmy temps.

I too am headed to India but will only spend about 5 days around the Golden Triangle before heading to Goa and then onto Burma for a week.

Enjoy India.

Thanks for the info - I'll study the weather info.

Frances,

I'm sure you've already addressed this, but be sure to obtain a Visa before entering India. There was an editorial in the newspaper here this morning about how cumbersome and awkward it is to obtain Indian Visa's.

India has now introduced visa on entry (or something similar) - you need to apply for this electronically a few days before departure and get an approval and then get your passport stamped on arrival in India. No more going thru the hassles of sending in your passport months ahead to get the visa.

Frances,

Given current events, a visit to Nepal may not be a good idea as much of the infrastructure has been destroyed. If you still want to go, you'd need a Visa for Nepal as well, which I believe you can obtain locally (it's been awhile since I last checked).

You probably want to take Nepal off the list, after the devastation there of the last couple of days.

Ken - thanks for the posts. I'm still scheduled to go on a Gate 1 tour in late Feb and the 9 of us are always talking about
"what to do", I see that Gate 1 is not currently sending their tours to Nepal, but are substituting another place in India for those last 3 days.
As time progresses - it will be interesting to see what the tour company does.

Are you doing relief work in Nepal?

Historical weather statistics:
http://www.yr.no/place/Nepal/Central/Kathmandu/statistics.html
http://www.yr.no/place/India/Delhi/New_Delhi/statistics.html

Edgar - thanks for the links. No this is not a mission/relief trip, it is a tour.
Frances

Depends on when you are going. Right now (or soon) is a good time to go before it gets too hot. Late June or July will be VERY hot.

My husband just got a visa for India and it was very easy. He filed his paperwork electronically, sent his passport to San Francisco, and it was back in less than 10 days. It is not a long process like it once was.
In Kathmandu getting visas on the spot, which was possible until the day of the earthquake, is no longer possible because of the collapse of the internet infrastructure. My husband was informed of this just this week by the guide he had hired.
He was scheduled to go to Kathmandu for 6 days and then on to Llasa and then India but in light of the awful destruction, the strain on resources there, and the fact that there is only one working runway left in the entire country of Nepal, he has changed his itinerary to just include Tibet (now entering through China) and India.
Nepal is going to be recovering from this for many years and by January, when the weather closes in, it is not going to be a pleasant place. Besides, most of what you probably want to see in Kathmandu has been shaken to a pile of rubble even if your nice hotel is still standing.
So horrible.

Hi there
Almost all the questions Frances has asked are already answered. I have seen this thread quite late. Well still I would like to emphasise a few things. The golden triangle is a perfect option to go for...... U should proceed from Delhi to Jaipur n then from there to Agra then to khajuraho n then to Benares n remaining 3 days u can fit before or after Benares n move to Lucknow or Allahabad. In Delhi the best way to explore the best tourist attractions is redline n green line hop on hop off bus starting from Baba kharak Singh Marc near Connaught place. In Jaipur u can take Taxi as well as public transport buses n don't forget to buy a combo ticket for all the 4 major attractions. In Agra to GI to Taj its better to enter from the east gate so that u byepass the extremely congested roads as well as the crowds. In khajuraho hire a local guide n the place is quickly covered as its a small city. Now if u go to Allahabad then it has to fit here. U can see the holy sangam of rivers Ganges Yamuna n saraswati. U can have the feel of old British Raj days in civil lines n cantonment. I think I don't need to explain much y one should be visiting Benares. One can go for spiritual enlightenment or may even enjoy marijuana which though is a banned substance in our country but easily available in Benares in the form of Rick's favorite "ganja". And if u don't go for Allahabad then Lucknow is a great fusion of culture of nawabs of awadh n the British colonial heritage. N of course Lucknow being the capital UP its easier to get a flight to anywhere in India from where u can get connection flight back home n a few international flights are also available from there. N regarding Nepal wat can I say everything is visible on media that it is devastated. And last but not the least India has introduced a new tourist visa policy since DEC 2014 and is adding many countries in phases for this electronic visa options. Right now about 76 countries r getting this facility. United states is one of them along with many European countries n old friendly nations....to get the whole list u can Google the website for ministry of external affairs. I hope this gives some idea. Welcome to my land.
Jai Hind n regards.
Vikas.
P.S. anybody who comes to India is welcome to b my guest or can call me for any kind of help. U can pm me if u want my number.

Vikas - thank you for your informative post. Of course I am reading this on the day when there has been another significant earthquake in Nepal and I'm hoping that my tour company will keep us in India for the 17 days -
But fingers cross that Nepal may open up.

Vikas - I like the items that you suggest in your post.