Indien

Ena dagen mitt i de myllrande basarerna i Indiens hektiska huvudstad. Andra dagen långt ute i den ödsliga öknen, bland sanddyner och kameler. Per J Andersson tar Ökenexpressen till Jaisalmer.

Spectacularly jagged, arid mountains enfold this magical Buddhist ex-kingdom. Picture-perfect gompas (Tibetan Buddhist monasteries) dramatically crown rocky outcrops next to fluttering prayer flags and whitewashed stupas, while prayer wheels spun clockwise release merit-making mantras. Gompa interiors are a riot of golden Buddhas and intricately colourful murals and home to red-robed monks. It's a little corner of Tibet marooned in the furthest reaches of India.

Steeped in history yet overflowing with modern life, colorful, cacophonous Delhi pulsates with the relentless rhythms of humanity like few other cities on Earth.

Följ med till en myllrande megastad med kaféer, skuggiga trottoarer och egensinnig matkultur. Den forna imperiehuvudstaden är känd för sin fattigdom men kallas också The city of joy – njutningarnas stad.

The rolling hills around Munnar, South India's largest tea-growing region, are carpeted in emerald-green tea plantations, contoured, clipped and sculpted like ornamental hedges. The low Western Ghats scenery is magnificent – you’re often up above the clouds watching veils of mist clinging to mountaintops. Munnar itself is a traffic-clogged administration hub, not unlike a North Indian hill station, but wander just a few miles out and you'll be engulfed in a sea of a thousand shades of green.

With mountain adventures beckoning from all directions, Manali is a year-round magnet. Backpackers are well catered for in parts of Vashisht and Old Manai where numerous agents offer trekking, climbing, rafting and skiing according to season. Meanwhile, so many Indian families and honeymooners come for a first taste of snow that greater Manali now has an estimated 800 to 1000 hotels and guesthouses. Tight-packed resort buildings already fill the town center and are now steadily devouring former orchard terraces as far south as once-rustic Prini village. But while the whole area gets jam-packed in season (mid-April to mid-July, mid-September to mid-October, and over Christmas–New Year), it doesn't take too much effort to get off the main tourist trail. And in November, clear skies plus slashed prices make Manali a bargain – if you can handle the cold and the closure of some restaurants.

Hyderabad, one of Islamic India's greatest cities, is reason enough on its own to visit this region. Its skyline is a sight to behold, defined by the great domes and minarets of ancient mosques, mausoleums and palaces of once-mighty dynasties. Delve inside the city's fabled old quarter for fascinating street markets, Sufi shrines, teahouses and biryani restaurants. Meanwhile, Hyderabad's newer districts are awash with the upmarket restaurants of IT-fuelled economic advancement.

When Swiss architect Le Corbusier was commissioned with the job of designing Chandigarh from scratch in 1950, he conceived a people-oriented city of sweeping boulevards, lakes, gardens and grand civic buildings, executed in his favourite material: reinforced concrete. Seventy years on and the parks, monuments and civic squares are all still here, albeit somewhat aged.

Imponerande Taj Mahal är en omåttligt populär turistattraktion beläget i indiska Agra. Men populariteten medför även problem i form av trängsel och slitage på de vackra marmorytorna. Nu vill myndigheter minska antalet turister.

Welcome to the British Raj. New Delhi was designed on an imperial scale after George V decided to move the capital of British India from Calcutta to here in 1911. Much of the colonial footprint remains today, including the circular, colonnaded shopping precinct Connaught Place, the imposing government buildings that look out along Rajpath, and the rambling bungalows, some of which now house museums.