Find out why you should include India in your travel plans
Varanasi
India as it is. Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world and dedicated to Shiva, the main Hindu god. Bathed by the Ganges River at its holiest moment, this is where millions of Indians would like to die. And countless of them do, migrating to Varanasi as the time for the last trip approaches. Don’t expect to find postcard beauty, but you can be sure that Varanasi deeply marks every traveler who passes by.
McLeod Ganj
McLeod Ganj is an unusual village. Lost in the middle of the Himalayas, this village is proof that India goes far beyond that stereotype of desert, camels and maharajas: there, a lot of snow in winter, houses in the clouds and a place of refuge and contemplation. So much so that McLeod Ganj is the home of the Dalai Lama and the seat of Tibet’s government-in-exile.
Rishikesh
Another city on the banks of the Ganges, but at a point high above it, closer to the source and the Himalayas. In Rishikesh the Ganges is clean – you can swim and even do adventure sports like rafting. Beautiful and relatively quiet, Rishikesh became famous outside India in the 1960s. Blame it on the Beatles, who lived through one of their most creative phases in an Ashram there. And to top it off, they put India on the world tourist map.
Udaipur
Few Indian cities are nicer than Udaipur. The lakes, palaces and temples prove this – no wonder this little corner of India is called the Venice of the East. There, the tourist’s commitment is to rest: choose a terrace to watch the sunset, visit religious sites and see life go by on the shores of Lake Pichola. In two days you can see everything, but Udaipur is the kind of place where you want to stay a lot longer.
Amritsar
On the border with Pakistan, Amritsar is a city that tends to be left out of the route of that tourist who passes quickly through the country. And that’s a shame, after all, there is the Golden Temple, a sacred place for Sikhism, the fifth-largest religion in the world in terms of number of adherents. The setting for important episodes in Indian history –and many of them not at all peaceful–, the Golden Temple enchants for its religiosity. Amritsar is the center of the Sikh world.
agra
Wonder of the modern world and the main postcard of India. This is the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum that Emperor Shah Jahan had built for Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj is in Agra, which is about three hours by train from New Delhi. As the capital of the Mughal empire in India, Agra also has other important buildings such as forts, gardens and more mausoleums.
goa
The past that India and Brazil share is in Goa (and also in Kerala, further south). It was there that the Portuguese disembarked, after that “discovery” of Brazil. Filled with Portuguese-style houses and churches and streets and surnames that still retain good old Portuguese, Goa is a unique place. The beaches, which each year attract thousands of foreigners, from Russians to Australians, also help.