India and Nepal 1986: Itinerary

Top: Rail tickets Delhi-Jaipur-Delhi, Jaipur Tour, booking rail to Agra; Bottom: stays at Imperial Hotel, Agra Tour, Nagarkot tour

Although by 1986 both Nicky and I had travelled in Europe and North America, India and Nepal was a more exotic destination for us. I now find that we preserved lots of receipts, pamphlets,  and tickets from the trip which, together with notes kept by Nicky, allow our itinerary to be reconstructed.

I had been invited to the meeting in Delhi at quite short notice so it was a scramble to get visas for Nicky and myself from the Indian Embassy in London.  We arranged for tickets to fly to Nepal, but we had no time to make advance arrangements for any travel within India.

We arrived in Delhi on the Thursday and called in at a travel agent that day. Having learnt that we were staying in the Imperial Hotel, he said he would come to the hotel to make our arrangements. Presumably he was making money for himself rather than for the firm, however the costs he quoted seemed reasonable. By the Friday he had arranged rail tickets and an interesting hotel for us to visit Jaipur over the weekend.

I think I must have arranged the rail tickets for Agra.  The passenger names on each train were written into a large journal when you booked the ticket, making for a lengthy business. However I think we paid for a boy to stand in line on the station for us, cutting the need for lengthy queueing!


Date (Feb 1986) Event
Wednesday 5th Depart Heathrow 1500hrs Air India flight AI124
Thursday 6th Arrive Delhi 0945hrs/6th, visited Travel Bureau
Thurs. 6th – Sat. 15th Room 39 at the Imperial Hotel, New Delhi
Friday 7th Booked Jaipur trip, afternoon Delhi City tour
Saturday 8th 0550hrs “Pink City Express” train to Jaipur, afternoon bus tour city and Amber Fort
Over-night 8th -9th Narain Niwas Hotel, Jaipur
Sunday 9th Morning: auto rickshaw tour of Jaipur, 1700hrs “Pink City Express” to Delhi arr. 2220hrs
Monday 10th – Friday 14th 4th Session TOGA Scientific Steering Group – India Meteorological Department
Thursday 13th Visited Jantar Mantar, sight seeing tour in Delhi?
Saturday 15th Fly to Katmandu, Nepal; flight RA206 0830hrs arriving 1000hrs, pm walked into Katmandu
Sat 15th –  Fri 21st Blue Star Hotel, Katmandu
Sunday 16th Katmandu and Patan
Monday 17th To Bhaktapur by bus
Tuesday 18th walked to Swayambhunath
Wednesday 19th hired bikes, to Bodhnath and Pashupatinath, minibus to Nagarkot
Over-night 19th-20th Hotel Gala, Nagarkot
Thursday 20th back to Katmandu, Post Office, explored Patan, fly back to Delhi (arr. midnight)
Friday 21st Shopping in Connaught Place, bookstores etc.
Fri. 21st – Sun. 23rd Room 148 at the Imperial Hotel, New Delhi
Saturday 22nd Taj Express train to Agra, Bus tour Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort, Taj Mahal, train back to Delhi (arr. 2230)
Sunday 23rd Depart Delhi 1050hrs flight AI135, arrive Heathrow 1930hrs.