COLOURS OF INDIA:Historic buildings glimmer above Udaipur's romantic lake (above), a red-robed Buddhist monk steps out of Leh Palace (left), while (right) a Rajasthani cameleer leads his animals over the dunes. The desert is in stark contrast to the Himalayan peaks (lower right) that guard the north,
INDIA is one of those names that rolls effortlessly off the tongue. Everyone knows someone who has trudged its wilderness, gorged on its spices, choked on the fumes, ridden the rails, ogled its temples, marvelled at palaces and returned with a tale of epochal adventure, quite unlike the pedestrian shoebox five megapixel trivia of modern travel.
Everyone claims a musty uncle from the Raj, an aunt who married a maharajah, a son lost to The Beatles and contorting maharishis and, perhaps, more lately, a chat with a bloke in a backroom office in Bangalore who had a Scottish accent. There is nothing pedestrian about the experience. Incredible India it is. The place is a headrush of legend, history, dust, cows, charlatans, wildlife, heritage,
heaving airports and bawling infants. Yes, India rolls effortlessly off the tongue. But it takes more than a fair bit of effort to visit – or indeed, comprehend. Imagine a country the size of Europe, with several languages and scripts, a torrent of diverse cultures, harbouring the world’s highest peaks, verdant Alpine valleys, expanses of shimmering desert, vast plains, forests, and tropical beaches lapped by azure waters. Then imagine a nation of over one billion people all nodding their head to say yes, or was it a no…
With every State a complete destination, India is best done in bite-size morsels. Pick a theme, or a region. Negotiate the airport scrum at 2am and the rest is a doddle. Put away your watch. This is Indian Standard Time at its serene best. It’s the way history was meant to be savoured, timelessly.
Girdling the north, the majestic Himalayas rear up from the scalding plains like a mirage of green fir, dappled with snow, apple orchards, and colourful rhododendron. Here Siberian cranes soar above snow leopards and hardy mountain goats. Leh, where three empires once met, is at the heart of Ladakh, a rugged mountain desert best know for its awesome Buddhist monasteries, the mighty Indus River (which can be rafted in season) and one of the highest roads in the world that winds past Khardung-La pass (at 18,340ft) to Nubra Valley and its two-humped Bactrian camels.
Ladakh is little Tibet at its best, pickled in the rarefied air at 10,000ft, where red-robed monks blow long horns, and prayer flags importune the Gods. Neighbouring Kashmir has long been a fabled Garden of Eden, prized as much by the Mughals – who planted flowering gardens – as by latter-day Delhi-ites escaping the scorching summers. Srinagar serves up handicrafts and woven carpets by the acre and, for lazy afternoons, the mirror-smooth Dal Lake with its houseboats and shikaras.
Closer to New Delhi are the hill stations of Shimla and Mussourie offering panoramic views. Himachal is another Himalayan hideaway with heritage hotels, mountain streams, and Dharamsala, the residence of the Dalai Lama and wellspring of Tibetan art and culture.
The Himalayas trudge majestically eastwards to Assam, skirting Nepal and Sikkim, piercing the skies every once in a while with carelessly arranged 8,000m peaks. It is a proud landscape. The eastern ranges offer considerable distraction with Sikkim, and Darjeeling, both popular haunts for urbanites from Calcutta.
FROM SKY TO SEA:A white chorten (top) watches over Leh Valley, the astonishing blue of Pangong Lake, Ladakh (right), an inlaid tomb at Delhi's Lodhi Garden (below), smiling lass with green-faced Kerala Kathakali dancer, rafting the Indus, and (bottom) devotees crowding the banks of the Ganges at Varanasi.
ODE TO LOVE:Agra's enduring marble ode to love, the Taj Mahal (left), a tiger gambols in the dirt at Ranthambhore (top), Udaipur Lake ignites at dusk, India Gate and the central gardens of New Delhi (right), and a cameleer heads home near Jaisalmer.
Delhi, the capital, is an amalgam of seven cities, an absorbing pentimento of hints and history. Historians still ponder its secrets, as families stroll through the haunting tombs of Lodhi Gardens. Peruse the majestic Red Fort, or gape at the perfect dome of Humayun’s tomb. Modern Delhi radiates out in almost perfect concentric circles and ramrod straight arteries from Connaught Place to India Gate and the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan harbouring the government secretariat and the president’s residence.
The sacred Ganges flows east, revitalising the plains, coursing past the temples and saffron-robed sadhus and ascetics of Varanasi, before expending itself in the Bay of Bengal. In Bengal, Calcutta, a former colonial capital, still proudly wears its past and maintains a jaunty stride as teeming millions throng its roads, parks and historic sites. The city was the first to run an underground metro train service (now emulated by Delhi).
West of Delhi lies the rugged expanse of Rajasthan and the Thar Desert, dotted with regal palaces, hardy forts and impregnable mountain redoubts. This is the state of legend, its royal families claiming descent from the moon and sun dynasties no less. Shop in the Pink City of Jaipur, visit the Udaipur Lake and wander amidst the camels and minstrels at the annual Pushkar fair. The dunes are easily accessible from Jaisalmer at Sam and, at Ranthambhore, majestic tigers roam free.
Agra, the former Mughal capital, is a two-hour drive from Delhi on a rapidly-improving highway. The city lays claim to one of the wonders of the world, the achingly perfect Taj Mahal, a monument to love built by Emperor Shah Jehan. The best time to visit is early morning as the white marble glints beneath the laundered blue skies of a new dawn. Agra is often combined with Jaipur and Delhi to form the so-called Golden Triangle for visitors seeking a whiff of bottled India and curry in a hurry.
WELLNESS AND WORSHIP:Goa's beaches (top) still draw the party crowds, a Sikh at the Golden Temple, Amritsar (above), ornate church in Goa (right), Mumbai's Gateway of India lit up at night and (bottom right), limbering up for some morning Yoga.
Mumbai on the west coast is the country’s financial heart. Its energy is infectious, its warmth legendary. The brooding Gateway of India stands testament to its historic past. From Mumbai the new Konkan coast rail line snakes down to the international playground of Goa and its arcing beaches, swaying palms, breathtaking churches and spicy vindaloos.
First discovered by hippies in the ’60s who threw off their clothes and inhibitions with great abandon to introduce full moon parties and topless beaches to a welcoming, if bewildered, local population, the former Portuguese enclave has matured as a destination with fine resorts and fine food. Its laid-back attitude and strumming guitars have endured. Are you still looking at your watch?
Just a tad farther south is Kerala, promoted as God’s Own Country. It is. In the summer when the monsoons break and the rains wash over a grateful country,
as Arabs flock to Mumbai and the coast to marvel at the floods and spatter, Kerala blossoms with unimagineable shades of green as the rice paddy ripens and thrusts up from well-watered fields. Islands of coconut flutter amidst the emerald sea, boats chug down the backwaters laden with camera-clicking tourists, and long, untouched beaches welcome new footprints.
Kerala is also one of the country’s main exponents of the Ayurveda tradition. There are more spas in the south than you can shake a stick at, but holistic wellness is a countrywide tradition. As children, Indians of a certain age were pummelled by parents and slathered with coconut, or even stinging mustard, oil. Now they are giving it back to the world. It is a refined art, natural, and timeless. Breathe deeply in the hills, do your yoga stretches on a remote white-sand beach, or in the pampered confines of a five-star spa retreat in Chennai, Bangalore, or Shimla. Incredible India it is.
INDIA is one of those names that rolls effortlessly off the tongue. Everyone knows someone who has trudged its wilderness, gorged on its spices, choked on the fumes, ridden the rails, ogled its temples, marvelled at palaces and returned with a tale of epochal adventure, quite unlike the pedestrian shoebox five megapixel trivia of modern travel. 
