I have just added an extra week to my Delhi-Agra-Ranthambore-Varanasi India trip. This extra week is different for me since my wife will not join me. Instead, I will have the freedom to go deep into the country to places that she isn’t interested in and in hotels that would rightfully refuse to stay in Yes, this is an opportunity to add deeper adventure to this trip and I am grasping the wheel to identify remote locations in India sort that I can add to my itinerary.
My research of remote locations that are within a reasonable distance by plane to Delhi came up with the following amazing places. All of them require a flight from Delhi to get there.
Remote India Location: Ellora and Ajanta Caves outside Aurangabad
What’s so amazing about Aurangabad?
It is the best location to fly into in order to see the fabulous Ellora Caves, Ajanta Caves, and optionally the Aurangabad caves. These ancient caves have been carved out into their own unique art forms including temples and various rooms inside them. Exploring these caves in this remote region is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I would like to have.
Remote India Location: The Thar Desert, Jaisalmer
What is so cool about the Thar Desert? For starters, I have always dreamed of going to a desert where there are no plants, where as far as the eye can see there is only sand. In the Thar desert, I can spend a night right in the middle of that desert in a luxury tent for pretty cheap. Also, there’s an opportunity to go on a hot air balloon and get a real desert overview. Plus Jaisalmer is an exciting place. The pictures show that the entire city is made of sandstone which gives me Alladin vibes. Absolutely an option!
What is so cool about the Thar Desert?
For starters, I have always dreamed of going to a desert where there are no plants, where as far as the eye can see there is only sand. In the Thar desert, I can spend a night right in the middle of that desert in a luxury tent for pretty cheap. Also, there’s an opportunity to go on a hot air balloon and get a real desert overview. Plus Jaisalmer is an exciting place. The pictures show that the entire city is made of sandstone which gives me Alladin vibes. Absolutely an option!
Remote India Location: The Living Bridges of Cherrapunji
Cherrapunji is definitely the most remote place on this list.
The thing to see here is the tree bridges – bridges that are made from these rubber trees. However these are not just bridges made from trees, instead, the people of this area encourage the trees to grow in ways that actually form what appear to be natural bridges. If there is anywhere with a fair tale location this is it, it just takes 4 hours to hike there and 4 hours to get back. Cherrapunji also has some fantastic waterfalls that can be seen all over the area!
So, Where will I go?
Here are my thoughts on these 3 places. The caves I must see. Going to the desert without my wife will probably be less fun but less strenuous and finally the tree bridges. If I can get over the amount of hiking required to enjoy them it would be a great place to go.
But I also have limited time when I will be completely jet-lagged. Some downtime would be good. Traveling from Delhi where I land late at night after my long flight, will require an overnight in Delhi before I go on another flight. This means that I have max 6 days to really work with including travel time. So I can’t go to all 3. If I limit it to two then I can likely enjoy both locations.
So I choose the more remote 2 locations. The tree bridges of Cherrapunji and the Ellora and Ajanta caves. I’ll have to leave the Thar desert for my next lifetime.
