Hemmed in by the Pir Panjal mountains and the western Himalaya, the Kashmir Valley straddles India and Central Asia. In both culture and appearance, this Muslim heartland is closer to Afghanistan or Iran than the neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The countryside inside the valley is flat and heavily cultivated, with low, terraced fields delineated by fruit and nut orchards and rows of pin-straight poplar trees, backing onto a wall of snow-capped mountains. Kashmiris even look different to their southern and eastern neighbours, with their green eyes and grey flowing pheran (woollen tunics).
Author: WorldTravelDB.com
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Jammu And Kashmir India Travel
The mountain retreat of Mughals and Buddhist lamas; the Alps of India; Jehangir’s Valley of Paradise. All these terms have been used to describe Kashmir, one of India’s wildest and most controversial tourist destinations. After 20 years of isolation, travellers are slowly drifting back to this legendary backwater, returning to Srinagar’s famous houseboats and walking the trekking routes north of Pahalgam. Kashmir boasts some of the highest and most rugged landscapes on earth in mountainous Ladakh, and one of the most sublime in serene Dal Lake.
If Srinagar is the City of Gardens, Jammu is the City of Temples. The winter capital of Kashmir is awash with Hindu shikharas (temple towers) and Sikh gurdwaras (temples). Founded in 1730 as the capital of the Dogra Rajas, Jammu is the main bus and railhead for Kashmir, and an interesting place to break the journey from Delhi to Srinagar. Unfortunately, the city is also a major target for extremists – make sure things are calm before you come.
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Jalgaon Maharashtra India Travel
Built on the passing rail trade, you might be forgiven for thinking of Jalgaon as nothing more than a dreary transit town – which, in fact, it is. However, it’s not all bad news because the town keeps a couple of alluring aces stuffed up its sleeve. Firstly, despite a population of some half a million, Jalgaon feels like a small country town full of happy people. Secondly, and much more practically, Jalgaon makes a great base for the Ajanta Caves, 60km to the south.
This rarely visited sanctuary (262239; Indian/foreigner Rs 25/100; mid-Sep–mid-Jul) protects 114 sq km of forests and grasslands along the Torsa River and is a refuge for over 50 Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis).
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Jaisalmer Rajasthan India Travel
Jaisalmer is a giant sandcastle with a town attached, an emblem of honour in a land of rough and tumble. The fort is a living monument to long-lost desert might, a Golden City of dreams that exceeds expectations of the most travel-sick tourist or hardened history buff. Rising high from Trikuta hill, 99 enormous bastions hide havelis of crumbling beauty, and former Raj retainers, who now raffishly run guesthouses or flog bedazzling mirrorwork and embroidery. Like a Hansel and Gretel wonderland, the enclosed palace is carved from the same near-edible golden sandstone.
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Jaipur Rajasthan India Travel
Jaipur, the City of Victory, is chaotic and congested, though it still has a habit of tickling travellers pink. Stunning hilltop forts and glorious palaces fit like footprints from a rich royal past, candyfloss-bright turbans blaze a trail through brilliant bargain-filled bazaars, and fluttering saris catch the eye like butterflies.
Fifty years ago, the maharaja would stand atop Jagdalpur palace shooting at animals in the surrounding jungle. Since then, Bastar’s amiable capital has claimed a patch of forest and the palace has been joined by imposing statues of Hanuman and a Bison Horn Maria tribesperson. Jagdalpur is a good base for meeting the tribes and discovering their artwork.
A military and industrial centre, the capital of eastern Madhya Pradesh is a grimy city of chowks and working men’s taverns, which will likely give you a dose of culture shock if you’re emerging from the surrounding bush. The High Court is one of the buildings left by the British, for whom Jabalpur was capital of the Central Provinces.
Indore is Madhya Pradesh’s business powerhouse – nearby Pithampur is known as the Detroit of India for its car factories. Check your emails, and perhaps imagine the days when the city reached its cultural peak under the Holkar dynasty, before fleeing the traffic, flyovers and crooked smiles.