India, one honest guide at a time

Leh–Ladakh Where the air teaches patience Manali A crowded town under uncrowded mountains Spiti Valley & Kaza A cold desert that keeps its own hours

Agra Grief, in white marble Amritsar A kitchen that never closes Delhi Seven cities on the same patch of ground Dharamshala–McLeod Ganj A capital in exile, under the Dhauladhar Jaipur Geometry, colour and a great deal of noise Jaisalmer A fort with a town still living inside it Jodhpur A blue city under a wall of rock Pushkar A lake town that runs on faith Rishikesh Where the river is still young Shimla The empire's summer address Udaipur A desert kingdom built around water Varanasi The city older than memory

Ahmedabad A walled city that still works Darjeeling A ridge in the clouds, and one enormous mountain Gokarna A pilgrimage town that happens to have beaches Kolkata The city that would rather argue than agree Mumbai A city built by people who came from somewhere else North Goa 451 years of Portugal, two lanes inland South Goa Where Goa keeps its afternoons

Khajuraho A thousand years of stone, mostly misread Orchha A capital nobody got around to demolishing

Bodh Gaya Where the Buddha stopped looking

Kaziranga Grassland, rhino, and a river that redraws it every year Shillong & Cherrapunji Rain as a way of life

Alleppey Where the roads are made of water Bengaluru The city that keeps rebuilding itself Chennai Madras, still keeping its own time Hampi An empire's capital, left out in the open Hyderabad The Deccan's capital, still cooking Kochi A port built out of everyone else's leftovers Madurai A city arranged around a goddess Mahabalipuram A workshop in granite, left half-finished Munnar A landscape that somebody planted Mysuru A kingdom that kept its manners Pondicherry A French accent in a Tamil town Varkala Where mourning and holiday share a beach

Andaman Islands — Port Blair & Havelock A prison colony that became a sea