Indien

The fort of Jaisalmer is a breathtaking sight: a massive sandcastle rising from the sandy plains like a mirage from a bygone era. No place better evokes exotic camel-train trade routes and desert mystery. Ninety-nine bastions encircle the fort’s still-inhabited twisting lanes. Inside are shops swaddled in bright embroideries, a royal palace and numerous businesses looking for your tourist rupee. Despite the rampant commercialism, it’s hard not to be enchanted by this desert citadel. Beneath the ramparts, particularly to the north, the narrow streets of the old city conceal magnificent havelis (traditional, ornately decorated residences), all carved from the same golden-honey sandstone as the fort – hence Jaisalmer’s designation as the Golden City.

Explore beyond the city center in Mumbai and you'll uncover furious energy, unique bazaars, hidden temples, hipster enclaves and India's premier restaurants and nightlife.

Kachchh, India’s wild west, is a geographic phenomenon. The flat, tortoise-shaped land, edged by the Gulf of Kachchh and Great and Little Ranns, is a seasonal island. During the dry season, the Ranns are vast expanses of dried mud and blinding-white salt. Come the monsoon, they’re flooded first by seawater, then by fresh river water. The salt in the soil makes the low-lying marsh area almost completely barren. Only on scattered ‘islands’ above the salt level is there coarse grass, which provides fodder for the region’s wildlife.

Bihar is the birthplace of Buddhism – indeed its very name derives from vihara, the Sanskrit word for Buddhist monastery. Thousands of pilgrims from around the world throng its many places of religious significance. Most extraordinary among these spots is Bodhgaya, the site of Buddha's enlightenment, where getting caught up in the spiritual atmosphere is a major draw for travelers. In tribal Jharkhand, holy Parasnath Hill is a revered Jain pilgrimage site, and joining devotees on the hike to the top is a surreal highlight. That apart, the forests of Betla (Palamau) National Park promise a date with elephants and leopards, and maybe even the odd tiger.

Välkommen in i en myllrande verkstad som upptar en hel stadsdel i norra Kolkata. I Kumortuli ser man vidden av festivaler, firanden och den indiska gudavärlden – här tillverkas nämligen skulpturer för hinduismens miljoner gudar och att vandra genom kvarter och gränder är konstnärligt och kulturellt häpnadsväckande.

Vandra i världens högsta bergskedja, ro på världens heligaste flod, upplev världens äldsta gränder och ett av världens sju underverk. Ta del av Vagabonds bästa tips på en långresa genom Indien, Nepal, Maldiverna och Sri Lanka.

A thriving, vibrant metropolis, Pune is a centre of academia and business that epitomises ‘New India’ with its baffling mix of capitalism and spiritualism (ancient and modern). It’s also globally famous, or notorious, for an ashram, the Osho International Meditation Resort, founded by the late guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

North Goa is the Goa you might have heard all about: crowded beaches, upbeat nightlife, Goan trance, cosmopolitan cuisine, hippie markets and yoga retreats. If you like a fast pace and plenty of things to do, this is the place.

På fastlandet råder alkoholförbud. Men här på ön Diu flödar vinet, ölen och spriten. Inte så konstigt att den före detta portugisiska kolonin blivit ett populärt resmål för indier som vill släppa loss.

When travelers talk of staying in Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj is usually where they actually mean. A couple of miles north of Dharamsala proper (or six miles via the looping bus route), McLeod Ganj is the residence of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and home to a large Tibetan population, including many maroon-robed monks and nuns. The Tibetan government-in-exile is based in between at Gangchen Kyishong. McLeod attracts thousands of international visitors, many of them volunteering with the Tibetan community, taking courses in Buddhism, meditation or yoga, trekking in the Dhauladhar mountains, shopping for Tibetan crafts, or just hanging out enjoying the spiritual vibe and the plethora of good cafes where you're never far from an interesting conversation.