Sarina Singh - Lonely Planet India

India bristles with an eclectic melange of ethnic groups; an intoxicating cultural cocktail for the traveller. With such astonishing diversity, you will be taken on a journey that will linger in your mind long after youve left her shores.

Bamboozling. Theres simply no other word that captures the enigma that is India. With an ability to inspire, frustrate, thrill and confound all at once, India presents an extraordinary spectrum of encounters for the traveller. Some of these can be challenging, particularly for the first-time visitor: the poverty is confronting, Indian bureaucracy can be exasperating and the crush of humanity sometimes turns the simplest task into an energy-zapping battle. Even veteran travellers find their sanity frayed at some point, yet this is all part of the India experience. Love it or loathe it and most visitors see-saw between the two India will jostle your entire being. Its a place that fires the imagination and stirs the soul like nowhere else on earth.

With its in-your-face diversity from snow-dusted mountains to sun-washed beaches, tranquil temples to frenetic bazaars, lantern-lit villages to software-supremo cities its hardly surprising that this country has been dubbed the worlds most multidimensional. For those seeking spiritual sustenance, India has oodles of sacrosanct sites and thought-provoking philosophies, while history buffs will stumble upon gems from the past almost everywhere grand vestiges of former empires serenely peer over swarming streets and crumbling fortresses loom high above plunging ravines. Meanwhile, aficionados of the great outdoors can paddle in the shimmering waters of one of many beautiful beaches, scout for big jungle cats on blood-pumping wildlife safaris, or simply inhale pine-scented air on meditative forest walks. And then there are the festivals. With its vibrant mix of religious denominations, India is home to a formidable array of celebrations from larger-than-life extravaganzas with caparisoned elephants and body-twisting acrobats to pint-sized harvest fairs paying homage to a locally worshipped deity.

Brace yourself youre about to jump on board one of the wildest culinary trips of your life! Frying, simmering, sizzling, kneading and flipping a deliciously diverse variety of regional dishes, feasting your way through the subcontinent is certainly one hell of a ride. The hungry traveller can look forward to a bountiful smorgasbord of tasty delights, ranging from the spicy goodness of masterfully marinated chicken drumsticks in North India to the simple splendour of squidgy rice dumplings in the steamy south. So what are you waiting for? Roll up your sleeves, put on your chomp-chomp hat and rumble your way down Indias gastronomic highway!

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Taj Mahal

Dont let fears of tour buses or hordes of visitors get you thinking you can skip the Taj you cant. Even on a crowded, hot day, this world wonder ( ) is still the Crown of Palaces, a monument to love whose very walls seem to resound with the emperor Shah Jahans adoration of his beloved Mumtaz Mahal, the Gem of the Palace. The marble mausoleum is inlaid with calligraphy, precious and semiprecious stones, and intricate flower designs representing paradise.

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Backwaters of Kerala

Its unusual to find a place as gorgeous as Keralas backwaters ( ): 900km of interconnected rivers, lakes and lagoons lined with tropical flora. And if you do, there likely wont be a way to experience it thats as peaceful and intimate as a few days on a teak-and-palm-thatch houseboat. Float along the water maybe as the sun sets behind the palms, maybe while eating to-die-for Keralan seafood, maybe as you fall asleep under a twinkling sky and forget about life on land for a while.

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Holy Varanasi

Everyone in Varanasi ( ) seems to be dying or praying or hustling or cremating someone or swimming or laundering or washing buffaloes in the citys sewage-saturated Ganges. The goddess river will clean away your sins and help you escape from that tedious life-and-death cycle and Varanasi is the place to take a sacred dip. So take a deep breath, put on a big smile for the ever-present touts, go to the holy water and get your karma in order.

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Alluring Darjeeling

Up in a tippy-top nook of Indias far northeast is storied Darjeeling ( ). Its no longer a romantic mountain hideaway, but the allure remains. Undulating hills of bulbous tea trees are pruned by women in bright-coloured dresses; the majestic Himalaya peek through puffy clouds as the sun climbs out from behind the mountains; and little alleys wend their way through mountain mist, past clotheslines and monasteries. Ride the toy train and drink it all in the tea and the towns legendary enchantment.

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Caves of Ajanta

They may have been ascetics, but the 2nd-century-BC monks who created the Ajanta caves ( ) had an eye for the dramatic. The 30 rock-cut forest grottoes punctuate the side of a horseshoe-shaped cliff, and originally had individual staircases leading down to the river. The architecture and towering stupas made these caves inspiring places in which to meditate and live, but the real bling came centuries later, in the form of exquisite carvings and paintings depicting Buddhas former lives. Makes living in a cave look pretty good.

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Dreamy Hampi

Todays surreal boulderscape of Hampi ( ) was once the glorious and cosmopolitan Vijayanagar, capital of a powerful Hindu empire. Still glorious in ruins, its temples and royal structures combine sublimely with the terrain: giant rocks balance on skinny pedestals near an ancient elephant garage; temples tuck into crevices between boulders; and round coracle boats float by rice paddies and bathing buffaloes near a gargantuan bathtub for a queen. Watching the sunset cast a rosy glow over the dreamy landscape, you might just forget what planet youre on.