Category: India

Dochula Pass: Himalayan Views, Chortens and the Road to Punakha

Dochula Pass: Himalayan Views, Chortens and the Road to Punakha On a clear morning the road east out of Thimphu climbs through blue pine and hemlock until the forest opens onto a saddle of grass, a small temple, and 108 whitewashed chortens banded in red, with the whole eastern Himalaya laid out beyond them. This […]

Gorumara National Park: Wildlife and Forests in India’s Dooars

Gorumara National Park: Wildlife and Forests in India’s Dooars Gorumara National Park covers only about 80 square kilometres, yet a late afternoon at one of its watchtowers can bring Indian rhinoceros, gaur and elephant to the same stretch of riverbank. It lies in the Dooars of northern West Bengal, where the last ridges of the […]

Dooars, India: Tea Forests and the Himalayan Foothills

Dooars, India: Tea Forests and the Himalayan Foothills Somewhere below Gangtok, the road stops climbing for good. The terraced hillsides of Sikkim give way to sal forest, then to tea bushes clipped flat as a lawn beneath rows of shade trees, and the mountains that filled every window for days become a blue wall along […]

Rumtek Monastery: Sikkim’s Dharma Chakra Centre and the Karmapa Tradition

Rumtek Monastery: Sikkim’s Dharma Chakra Centre and the Karmapa Tradition Rumtek Monastery sits on a forested ridge across the valley from Gangtok, its gilded roof ornaments catching the light long before the town below has properly woken. It looks ancient, and in one sense it is: a monastery of the Karma Kagyu school has stood […]

The Kingdom of Sikkim: A Himalayan History Between Tibet, India and Bhutan

The Kingdom of Sikkim: A Himalayan History Between Tibet, India and Bhutan For three hundred and thirty-three years, a line of Buddhist priest-kings ruled a small mountain state wedged between Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. The Sikkim kingdom was founded in 1642 and lasted until 1975, when it became India’s twenty-second state, and in between it […]

From Sikkim to Bhutan: Crossing the Eastern Himalaya by Road

From Sikkim to Bhutan: Crossing the Eastern Himalaya by Road For much of the year, the road out of Sikkim runs through cloud. Pine ridges give way without warning to the flat, steaming plains of the Dooars, and within a single day’s drive the traveller passes from misty Himalayan forest into warm lowland grassland, then […]

Darjeeling Heritage: A Hill Station Between Sikkim and the British Raj

Darjeeling Heritage: A Hill Station Between Sikkim and the British Raj Long before Darjeeling appeared on any colonial map, the ridge that carries the town today belonged to the Kingdom of Sikkim. Its name comes from the Tibetan words dorje (thunderbolt) and ling (place), a reference to a Buddhist monastery that once stood on what […]

Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan Itinerary: A 14-Day Journey Across the Eastern Himalaya

Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan Itinerary: A 14-Day Journey Across the Eastern Himalaya Three destinations rarely sit on the same itinerary, and fewer still make sense together the way Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan do. A tea-growing hill station built by the British, a Himalayan kingdom absorbed into India within living memory, and an independent Buddhist nation […]

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway: Mountain Engineering and the Toy Train

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway: Mountain Engineering and the Toy Train At Darjeeling station, a squat black steam engine no larger than a family car pulls out onto rails set barely two feet apart, and for the next two hours it climbs, loops and reverses its way up to Ghoom, the highest railway station in India. This […]

Gangtok, Sikkim: A Himalayan Capital Between Pilgrimage and Modernity

Gangtok, Sikkim: A Himalayan Capital Between Pilgrimage and Modernity Gangtok sits on a forested ridge at roughly 1,650 metres, wrapped in cloud for much of the year and looking out, on the clear mornings, toward Kanchenjunga. It was a scattering of hamlets and a single monastery until the 1840s, then the seat of an independent […]

Darjeeling Tea: Terroir, Gardens and the Story of a Himalayan Cup

Darjeeling Tea: Terroir, Gardens and the Story of a Himalayan Cup At just over two thousand metres in the Himalayan foothills, the hillsides around Darjeeling carry a particular kind of quiet: rows of glossy tea bushes running into cloud, cut by narrow paths where pluckers move without hurry through the mist. The tea grown here […]

Asian Empires throughout History: The Definitive Guide

The empires of Asia were expansive both in geography and in tenure.  The Mongols had an empire that spanned the entire Asian continent as far as Europe, and the Ottomans ruled for almost 700 years, far wider and longer than any of their European counterparts.

Walking tours for active travellers – tips for seniors

Walking tours for active travellers – tips for seniors Why walk? Because for the traveler , as a couple or solo traveler , walking tours are a great tour to access sites off the beaten track. Exploring on foot, on a guided walking holiday, as a preferred travel style gives you access to more authentic […]

Tiger Hill, India

Tiger Hill is located 11 kilometres from Darjeeling town in West Bengal, India, and one of the places to visit in this town famous for its tea gardens.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, India

Known as the Toy Train, this historic railway is one of the three Indian railways listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site

Delhi, India

Delhi, India Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi. If Jaipur is historic India, and Mumbai its modern heart, Delhi is where the two collide: a frantic mix of medieval architecture, broad avenues, and modern design. Few cities have been built and rebuilt as many times as Delhi, with at least eight independent cities being established here, each leaving […]

Mumbai, India

Mumbai, India Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus), Mumbai. One of the world’s great metropolises, Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is India at its most vibrant; a city of contrasts, where Bollywood stars and finance billionaires live in luxury, and those left behind populate Dharavi, the world’s largest slum. The financial, commercial, and entertainment capital of […]

Cochin (Kochi), India

Cochin (Kochi), India ‘Chinese fishing nets’ are a testament to the multicultural history of Kochi. Known as the ‘Queen of the Arabian Sea‘, Kochi has long been among India‘s most cosmopolitan cities. A center of trade and cultural exchange, Kochi has been shaped by a number of cultures: Indian, Chinese, Jewish, Portuguese and British. In […]

Agra, India

Agra, India The Taj Mahal. Tourists come to Agra from all over the world to view the amazing Taj Mahal, one of the world’s most celebrated and iconic buildings. But while the Taj more than lives up to the hype, make sure to get off the tourist trail on your Agra visit, and you’ll find […]

Jaipur, India

Jaipur, India Amber Fort, on the outskirts of Jaipur. The legendary ‘Pink City’, Jaipur epitomises the beauty and grandeur of historic India. The city takes its name from its founder, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, one of 18th century India’s most enlightened monarchs. Part of a dynasty that could trace their lineage back to the 12th […]

Taj Mahal, India

Today, the Taj Mahal attracts around 8 million visitors a year. One of the most spectacular things about the Taj Mahal is the way white marble changes colour throughout the day.