Looking for the best india travel package? You’ve come to the right place. Wonderfully different, there is nothing quite like India. Travel a lot? No matter how much you’ve done or how many countries you’ve visited, when you first arrive in India it will hit you like a gale force wind. A hurricane of sounds, smells and colour where nothing is as it seems. Travel to India reveals a country that is both mesmerizing, exotic, exciting and mystical but at times frustrating, confusing and chaotic. Relax, stay calm, be patient and smile and India will open up herself to you in all her splendid glory.
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Places To See
Kerala Backwaters
Fringing the coast of Kerala and winding far inland is a vast network of lagoons, lakes, rivers and canals. Travelling the backwaters is one of the highlights of a visit to Kerala. The larger boats are motorised but there are numerous smaller boats propelled by punting with a long bamboo pole.
The boats cross shallow, palm-fringed lakes studded with cantilevered Chinese fishing nets, and travel along narrow, shady canals where coir (coconut fibre), copra (dried coconut meat) and cashews are loaded onto boats. Along the way are small settlements where people live on narrow spits of reclaimed land only a few metres wide.
Although practically surrounded by water, they still manage to keep cows, pigs, chickens and ducks and cultivate small vegetable gardens. Prawns and fish, including the prized karimeen, are also farmed, and shellfish are dredged by hand to be later burnt with coal dust to produce lime.
A comprehensive listing of backwater tours throughout Kerala is available in the brochure The Backwaters of Kerala Tourist Guide, available from tourist offices. The brochure includes prices and telephone booking contacts. More information is available on their website.
Taj Mahal
Described as the most extravagant monument ever built for love, this poignant Mughal mausoleum has become the de facto tourist emblem of India. Many have tried to sum up its beauty, but even the poets of the time were unable to do this magnificent building justice.
The spectacular white marble mausoleum seems as immaculate today as when it was first constructed, although in recent years there has been growing concern about the damage that atmospheric pollution is causing the Taj.
The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth in 1631. The death of Mumtaz left the emperor so heartbroken that his hair is said to have turned grey overnight.
The Taj is accessed through an outer courtyard which has gates facing west, south and east (most tourists enter from the west gate which is closest to the car park). Entry to the inner compound is through a vast red sandstone gateway on the south side of the forecourt, inscribed with verses from the Quran in Arabic.
The Taj Mahal stands on a raised marble platform at the northern end of the ornamental gardens. Purely decorative white minarets grace each corner of the platform. The red sandstone mosque to the west of the main structure is an important gathering place for Agra’s Muslims.
Sunset is an extremely impressive time to see the Taj – the white marble first takes on a rich golden sheen, then slowly turns pink, red and finally blue with the changing light.
Ajanta Caves
The Buddhist caves of Ajanta date from around 200 BC to 650 AD, predating those at Ellora. As Ellora developed and Buddhism gradually declined, the Ajanta caves were abandoned and eventually forgotten. But in 1819 a British hunting party stumbled upon them, and their remote beauty was soon unveiled.
The caves’ isolation contributed to the fine state of preservation in which some of their remarkable paintings remain to this day. Ajanta is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Many of the caves are dark and a torch comes in useful. If possible, avoid coming here on weekends or public holidays when Ajanta can get very crowded with tourists and very persistent hawkers.
There’s a free guarded cloakroom near the entrance where you can safely leave gear, so it is possible to arrive on a morning bus from Jalgaon, look around the caves, and continue to Aurangabad in the evening, or vice versa.
Jaisalmer Fort
This is perhaps the liveliest fort in India – about 25% of the old city’s population resides within the fort walls. There are homes hidden in the laneways, and shops and stalls are swaddled in the kaleidoscopic mirrors and embroideries of brilliant Rajasthani cloth.
Sadly, the fort is suffering from tourism numbers and government indifference and is on the World Monuments Watch list of 100 endangered sites worldwide. Built in 1156 by the Rajput ruler Jaisala, the fort crowns the 80m/262ft-high Trikuta Hill. The fort is entered through a forbidding series of massive gates leading to a large courtyard. The former maharaja’s seven-storey palace fronts onto this. The 360° views from the summit are spectacular.
Khajuraho temples
Khajuraho’s temples were built during the Chandela period, a dynasty that survived for five centuries before falling to the Mughal onslaught. Most date from one century-long burst of creative genius from 950 to 1050 AD. Almost as intriguing as the sheer beauty and size of the temples is the question of why and how they were built here.
The temples are superb examples of Indo-Aryan architecture, but it’s the decorations with which they are so liberally embellished that have made Khajuraho famous, especially the erotic sculptures. Around the temples are bands of stonework showing many aspects of Indian life a millennium ago – gods and goddesses, warriors and musicians, real and mythological animals.
The temples are divided into three groups, with the western group the most popular and the only group that attracts an entry fee. You can wander the eastern and southern groups for free.
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