Introducing India ( My Country)

[Times]

Hampi

The fascinating ruins of the 15th-century city of Vijayanagar, near the village of Hampi, are set in an extraordinary landscape of giant granite boulders, lush paddies and banana plantations. The clock seems to have stopped at this World Heritage site, and you can spend a surprisingly large amount of time gazing at the weirdly balanced rocks, wondering how millions of years of erosion could achieve such formations.

Given its magical atmosphere, Hampi is a major pit stop on the traveller circuit, with November to March (the cooler months) being the peak season. The ruins cover a wide area, but it’s possible to see the main sites in a day or two. However, this goes against Hampi’s relaxed grain, so plan on lingering for a while.

[Times]

Haridwar

Propitiously located at the point where the Ganges emerges from the Himalaya, Haridwar (also called Hardwar) is Uttarakhand’s holiest Hindu city and pilgrims arrive here in droves to bathe in the often fast-flowing Ganges. The sheer numbers of people gathering around Har-ki-Pairi Ghat give Haridwar a chaotic but reverent feel – as in Varanasi, it’s easy to get caught up in the spiritual clamour here. Within the religious architecture of India, Haridwar is much more significant than Rishikesh, an hour further north, and every evening the river comes alive with flickering flames as floating offerings are released onto the Ganges.

Dotted around the city are impressive temples, both ancient and modern, dharamsalas (pilgrims’ rest houses) and ashrams, some of which are the size of small villages. Famous for its Ayurvedic medicines, the city is relatively hassle-free and is also the gateway to nearby Rajaji National Park.

[Times]

Havelock Island

With one of the Andaman’s most dazzling beaches and plenty of cheap bamboo-hut accommodation, Havelock is the island of choice for travellers wanting to kick back and enjoy the slow (but not comatose) pace of island life. It’s easily accessible from Port Blair, and offers excellent snorkelling and scuba-diving opportunities. Although Havelock is the most developed of the islands, it’s still very low-key and simple – a world away from the beach resorts of mainland India or Southeast Asia.

Inhabited by Bengali settlers since the 1950s, Havelock is about 54km northeast of Port Blair and covers 100 sq km. Only the northern third of the island is settled, and each village is referred to by a number. Boats dock at the jetty at No 1 Village; the main bazaar is 2km south at No 3 Village; and most of the accommodation is strung along the east coast between villages No 2 and No 5.

[Times]

Himachal Pradesh

Crowned by the rugged peaks of the western Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh is North India for the thousands of foreign and domestic travellers who come here every year. Few states can match such incredible diversity – rolling foothills, lofty hill stations, madcap traveller towns, serene pine forests, endless apple orchards and the high-altitude deserts of Lahaul and Spiti, cut off from the outside world by snow for six months of the year.

The mystique of the mountains is overpowering. The mighty peaks of the Dhaula Dhar, Pir Panjal and western Himalaya ranges rise above Himachal, providing a setting for a host of adventure activities from treks and rafting to skiing and Buddhist meditation. Tibetan Buddhist culture abounds in the ancient monasteries of Lahaul and Spiti and the bustling traveller centre of McLeod Ganj, home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile.

[Times]

Hyderabad & Secunderabad

Hyderabad and Secunderabad, City of Pearls, was once the seat of the powerful Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi dynasties. Today Hyderabad’s west side is, with Bengaluru (Bangalore), the seat of India’s mighty software dynasty; ‘Cyberabad’ generates jobs, wealth and posh lounges like she was born to do it. Opulence, it would seem, is in this city’s genes.

Across town from all this sheen is Cyberabad’s gorgeous and aged grandmother, the old Muslim quarter, with centuries-old Islamic monuments and even older charms. In fact, the whole city is laced with architectural gems (just like the garments of Asaf Jahi princesses threaded with gold) : ornate tombs, mosques, palaces and homes from the past are tucked away, faded and enchanting, in corners all over town. Keep your eyes open.

[Times]

Jaipur

Jaipur, the City of Victory, is chaotic and congested, though it still has a habit of tickling travellers pink. Stunning hilltop forts and glorious palaces fit like footprints from a rich royal past, candyfloss-bright turbans blaze a trail through brilliant bargain-filled bazaars, and fluttering saris catch the eye like butterflies.

As the gateway to the desert state of Rajasthan, however, it’s also a city permanently under siege. Package tourists are captivated by (and offloaded on) the bustling bazaars, world-class hotels and clammy sophistication, while camel carts and cows waddle through diesel-soaked streets, rampaging rickshaw drivers hustle and burn past businessmen and tourists, and scores of street children beg outside huge jewellery shops and palatial hotels.

[Times]

Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer is a giant sandcastle with a town attached, an emblem of honour in a land of rough and tumble. The fort is a living monument to long-lost desert might, a Golden City of dreams that exceeds expectations of the most travel-sick tourist or hardened history buff. Rising high from Trikuta hill, 99 enormous bastions hide havelis of crumbling beauty, and former Raj retainers, who now raffishly run guesthouses or flog bedazzling mirrorwork and embroidery. Like a Hansel and Gretel wonderland, the enclosed palace is carved from the same near-edible golden sandstone.

But Jaisalmer is in trouble. Overcrowding and poor drainage – coupled with devastating monsoons – have seen the fort sinking into Trikuta hill. Add to that the high hassle factor for camel safaris and your precious rupees, and the atmosphere is a touch strained. Yet Jaisalmer is still the stuff of legend – as the night sky spreads thick across the scrubs and dunes of the Great Thar Desert, most travellers will find themselves happily trapped in this exotic trade route town.

[Times]

Jaldhapara Wildlife Sanctuary

This rarely visited sanctuary (262239; Indian/foreigner Rs 25/100; mid-Sep–mid-Jul) protects 114 sq km of forests and grasslands along the Torsa River and is a refuge for over 50 Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis).

The best time to visit is mid-October to May, particularly in March and April when wild elephants, deer and tigers (rarely seen) are attracted by new grass growth. Your best chance of spotting a rhino is aboard an elephant (Indian/foreigner Rs 120/200 per hour); these safaris are booked by the tourist lodges. If staying elsewhere, you’ll be last in line for elephant rides.

[Times]

Jalgaon


Built on the passing rail trade, you might be forgiven for thinking of Jalgaon as nothing more than a dreary transit town – which, in fact, it is. However, it’s not all bad news because the town keeps a couple of alluring aces stuffed up its sleeve. Firstly, despite a population of some half a million, Jalgaon feels like a small country town full of happy people. Secondly, and much more practically, Jalgaon makes a great base for the Ajanta Caves, 60km to the south.

[Times]

Jammu & Kashmir

The mountain retreat of Mughals and Buddhist lamas; the Alps of India; Jehangir’s Valley of Paradise. All these terms have been used to describe Kashmir, one of India’s wildest and most controversial tourist destinations. After 20 years of isolation, travellers are slowly drifting back to this legendary backwater, returning to Srinagar’s famous houseboats and walking the trekking routes north of Pahalgam. Kashmir boasts some of the highest and most rugged landscapes on earth in mountainous Ladakh, and one of the most sublime in serene Dal Lake.

Many people panic at the idea of travelling to Kashmir, so it’s important to dispel some myths. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is actually three separate regions: Hindu Jammu, Buddhist Ladakh and the Muslim Kashmir Valley. Ladakh to the northeast is almost untouched by the Kashmiri conflict, while Jammu and the Kashmir Valley are safer than they have been for decades. However, the Kashmiri insurgency is ongoing and it is essential to check the security situation before travelling to either Jammu or the area around Srinagar. Remember that the dispute over Kashmir has been the cause of three wars between India and Pakistan.

[Times]

Jammu & the Kashmir Valley

Hemmed in by the Pir Panjal mountains and the western Himalaya, the Kashmir Valley straddles India and Central Asia. In both culture and appearance, this Muslim heartland is closer to Afghanistan or Iran than the neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The countryside inside the valley is flat and heavily cultivated, with low, terraced fields delineated by fruit and nut orchards and rows of pin-straight poplar trees, backing onto a wall of snow-capped mountains. Kashmiris even look different to their southern and eastern neighbours, with their green eyes and grey flowing pheran (woollen tunics).

Unless you fly, there are only two routes into the Kashmir Valley – the summer-only highway from Srinagar to Kargil and the southern highway to Jammu, exiting the valley via the 2531m-long Jawahar Tunnel. Once a vision of tranquillity, the valley has been scarred by violence ever since Indian Independence, when the majority-Muslim kingdom joined with India instead of ceding to Pakistan. However, recent peace overtures have gone some way towards quelling the violence, and both Jammu and the Kashmir Valley are safer than they have been since 1989, when the tourist industry collapsed after a series of deadly attacks on foreign tourists.

[Times]

Jamnagar

Jamnagar is another Gujarat delight, a fabu*lous, little-visited city, overflowing with ornate, decaying buildings and colourful bazaars displaying the town’s famous, brilliant-coloured bandhani – produced through a laborious 5000-year-old process involving thousands of tiny knots in a piece of folded fabric. It’s an ideal base for exploring the surrounding coastline that stretches to Dwarka, where rare birds flock to ankle-deep islands, and fine beaches are empty all year-round.

Jamnagar is best known for having India’s only Ayurvedic university, where you can learn the techniques of ancient medicine and yoga, and a temple that’s hosted nonstop chanting since 1964 (it’s in the Guinness Book of Records; see opposite).

[Times]

Jharkhand

One of three new states created in India in 2000, Jharkhand was hewn out of neighbouring Bihar to meet the growing demands of the Adivasi (tribal) population. Despite the fledgling state having a jaw-dropping 40% of the country’s mineral wealth (mainly coal, copper and iron ore), rich forests, several major industrial centres and the healthy budget of a newly formed state, it still suffers thanks to the crippling demands of tribal populations, poverty, corruption, and outbursts of Maoist and Naxalite violence. For travellers, Jharkhand’s prime attractions are its national parks, a few waterfalls around the capital Ranchi and the chance to explore a tourist-free northern India – with Jharkhand off most visitors’ radars, you may well be the only foreigner in the state.

[Times]

Jodhpur

Glorious Meherangarh Fort mushrooms from beneath a huge rocky cliff to dominate the once indomitable Blue City. At dusk you feel a part of a real-life movie, as the camera-shy palace peeks over awesome stone walls, and citizens mill about in the hemmed-in chaos below. Jodhpur proper stretches beyond the 16th-century border, but it’s the immediacy and grandeur of the old city, once a stop on a vital trade route, that has more and more travellers raving.

New Jodhpur is dirty and – bless those errant cows and those open sewers – smelly, but dive into the Brahmin-blue laneways of the old city to find boxes of snuff and boxed-cuff trousers (oh yes, the baggy-pants brigade started here!) bejewelled regalia and sensual spices – you name it, you can get it, half-price and giftwrapped. There’s hassle here too though, particularly around the clock tower, but it’s nothing a shopping expedition down Palace Rd, a foray into the nearby craft villages, or an excursion to the Mandore gardens can’t cure.

[Times]

Joshimath

Reached by a hair-raising mountain road from Rishikesh that hugs steep-sided valleys for the final few hours, Joshimath is a ramshackle two-street town that serves as the gateway to Auli ski resort, Badrinath Temple, and treks to the Valley of Flowers, Hem Kund and Kuari Pass. As such it’s a major destination for Hindu and Sikh pilgrims as well as trekkers.

The town itself is a rather ugly administrative centre full of rusting rooftops, erratic power supply and limited places to eat, but it’s a good base to organise some of Uttarakhand’s best treks. Auli – with spectacular views of Nanda Devi – stands directly above Joshimath and can be reached by a 4km cable car.