This underrated nation has sights that rival anything else on Earth

Grand palaces, stunning waterways, ancient walled cities, jungles bellowing with wild tigers and the most colourful street scenes in the world – India is back on travellers’ wish lists, offering sights that rival anything else on Earth. And that’s one of the most compelling arguments for visiting.

Taj Lake Palace on Lake Pichola in Udaipur, Rajasthan.Credit: Alamy

For where else can you see such a vast variety of sights all in the one country, from awe-inspiring hand-built castles and palaces to spectacular natural beauty, from bustling cities to ceremonies celebrating life and welcoming death performed out in the open for everyone to see?

All these attractions aren’t far from each other too and form the mainstay of many organised tours. So it’s a great time now to take the leap and savour a world’s worth of experiences in one mesmerising jaunt.

Instead of the Great Wall of China, climb The Great Wall of Amer

Sunset View of Jaigarh Fort, overlooking the Amer Fort and the Maota Lake, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Credit: iStock

Snaking up along the ridgeline of a steep mountainside as far as the eye can see, with panoramic views over the country either side, the wall around the Amer Fort (also known as Amber Fort) is simply gobsmacking. No one knows how long it originally was when construction started in 1592 as a line of defence around the fort and the old capital of Jaipur, but what’s left is certainly one of the great wonders of the world.

Built among the Aravalli mountains, the majestic stone wall is free to climb and offers striking vistas of the surrounding landscape and the city below, especially during sunrise or sunset. It’s also punctuated by great watchtowers where soldiers would keep watch for any advancing enemies.

The wall is only 12 kilometres from Jaipur itself, dubbed “the pink city” because of the use of pink plastered stone, which the ruling maharaja had painted in honour of the Prince of Wales’s visit in 1876. As a result, the city, with its extensive palaces, pavilions, lush gardens and intricate temples fairly glows in every light.

Verdict: China’s Great Wall is longer, running 8850 kilometres along its best-preserved part from a similar time frame, but it’s harder to climb and, with parts so remote, it can be much more difficult to get to.

Instead of an African safari, search for tigers in India’s Panna National Park

A male Bengal tiger in the wild.Credit: iStock

The chattering of birds, the screech of a peacock and the bark of a monkey shatter the quiet just before dawn as we sit in the deep green of Panna National Park, one of India’s best wildlife destinations.

We sit silently until … there it is! The deep roar of a tiger. We set off in hot pursuit, straining our eyes to see the flash of orange fur and bold black stripes hidden somewhere in the lush foliage of this jungle.

This is probably the best place on earth to see an endangered wild tiger after so many were wiped out during hunting’s heyday, and then by poaching. Now under the care of the nomadic Pardhi community whose mission is to see the Bengal tigers thrive, the thick teak forest, waterfalls and ravines are also teeming with deer, leopard, sloth bear, hyena and crocodile.

And then someone shouts and I think I see two eyes gleaming through a thicket, and the blur of black strips on a white face before they vanish again. They’re among the hardest animals to spot in the wild, but the thrill, I know, will last a lifetime.

Verdict: You’ll see more lions and possibly leopards in some of the big game parks of eastern and southern Africa, but they’ll also be more crowded with humans and there’s something about seeing a tiger in the wild …

Instead of a gondola ride around Venice’s palaces, take a boat around Udaipur’s Taj Lake Palace

The Taj Lake Palace.

It’s a shimmering scene straight out of a fairy tale. As we board the boat on the ice-blue Lake Pichola and head towards the Taj Lake Palace, a former royal retreat sitting on its own island in the middle, no one speaks. We don’t have the breath left in us.

We drift past the magnificent marble palace of Jag Mandir on the mainland, the houses, the reflection of the mountains in the water, before circling the Taj Lake Palace, dating back to 1754, gazing at the vision from every angle.

Then we land there and are welcomed with a shower of rose petals flung from the turrets. I feel tears in my eyes. The beauty is simply overwhelming.

Verdict: The waterways of Venice are gorgeous and the gondolas magical, but they tend to be busy and touristy with your time on the water strictly limited.

Instead of the Amazon, check out The Ganges, with its pilgrims bathing at sunrise and floating funerals at night

The holy city, Varanasi and the Ganges River.Credit: iStock

Varanasi is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the world with the “holy” Ganges believed to be able to wash away all sin.

As a result, the river is a remarkable hive of activity from sunrise, when locals and pilgrims bathe and wash their clothes, to sunset when funerals turn the banks into blazing pyres.

They’re astonishing scenes that scorch themselves into your memory. Drifting down the river in boats gives you a chance to see local life unfold, in all its intimacy, before your very eyes.

Verdict: The Amazon is, of course, a mighty waterway but the villagers who wave from the banks, and the monkeys who swing through the trees of the rainforest, offer nothing like the same view of their lives.

Instead of the Great Pyramids, see the most beautiful mausoleum on earth, the Taj Mahal

The world’s most wonderful mausoleum.Credit: iStock

It’s known around the world as the “monument to love”, an exquisite ivory marble mausoleum inlaid with semi-precious stones, set in gardens on the banks of the river in Agra that took 22 years to build.

Housing the tomb of Shah Jahan’s favourite wife, it was finished in 1648 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. While outside it’s simply dazzling, it’s just as beautiful inside, with vaulted domes, intricate carvings and Arabic calligraphy.

Try to take a private tour outside of peak hours as the crowds can be overwhelming otherwise.

Verdict: The Great Pyramid of Giza in Cairo took only five years longer to build – but that was in the 26th Century BC! – and it was, for a long time, the tallest human-made structure on earth. It’s a thrilling sight too. Call it a draw!

Instead of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, check out India’s myriad festivals

A riot of colour at Holi.Credit: iStock

More than 50 festivals are held throughout India each year, forming an integral part of its vibrant cultural heritage and rich religious and community traditions.

Plan a trip to catch one of the best, like Diwali in November, a festival of light where homes are decorated with lamps and candles and people party like there’s no tomorrow, or Holi, the March festival of colours where you’ll be showered with (washable) paints.

These are festivals for, and by, the people, and everyone – old and young – joins in with an enthusiasm that has to be seen to be believed.

Verdict: The first Mardi Gras carnival was celebrated in New Orleans in 1781 and by the 1830s it had erupted into massive street processions. It’s great to watch and the music is wonderful, but you can’t really throw yourself into it in the way you can at an Indian festival.

The details

Fly
Qantas, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air India, Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Thai Airways all fly from Australia to Mumbai.

Tour
Abercrombie & Kent 14-day small group journey (maximum of 18 people) ‘Taj Mahal & The Treasures of India’, starting in Mumbai and finishing in Delhi with internal flights, travel, 5-star accommodation and meals included. From $22,280 a person twin-share. See abercrombiekent.com.au

Stay
There’s nowhere better to travel upmarket than in India, which has some of the most historic and atmospheric hotels in the world.

Stay on the water at the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur from 68,500 Indian rupees ($793) a night. See tajhotels.com/en-in

The Oberoi Amarvilas features views over to the Taj Mahal from 42,750 rupees ($796) a night. See oberoihotels.com

Stays at Taj Ganges, Varanasi – a beautiful refuge from the madness of the river – start from 15,500 rupees ($288) a night. See tajhotels.com/en-in

Stay at the elegant Oberoi, New Delhi from 22,000 rupees a night. See oberoihotels.com

More
abercrombiekent.com.au

incredibleindia.org

The writer travelled as a guest of Abercrombie & Kent.