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Parts of the Indian Himalaya region are potentially dangerous. Foreigners have been targeted by insurgent groups in Kashmir, so Lonely Planet advises that travellers do not visit the western part of Jammu & Kashmir state, especially Jammu, Srinagar and the Kashmir Valley.
 Faces of the Indian Himalaya (18K) ShimlaThe `summer capital' of British India sprawls along a crescent-shaped ridge at an altitude of over 2100m in southern Himachal Pradesh. This was the most important hill station in India before Independence, and the social life here in the summer months when the Brits came to escape the torrid heat of the plains was legendary - balls, bridge parties and parades went hand in hand with gossip, intrigue and romance. Today, the officers, administrators and lah-di-dah ladies of the Raj have been replaced by throngs of holidaymakers, but echoes of Shimla's British past remain strong. The famous main street, The Mall, still runs along the crest of the ridge and is lined with stately English-looking houses. Christ Church, Gorton Castle and the fortress-like former Viceroyal Lodge reinforce the English flavour.When you've done the obligatory stroll along The Mall dreaming of Kipling, Burton and Merchant-Ivory, it's worth exploring the narrow streets which fall steeply away from the ridge to colourful local bazaars. There's also an interesting walk to Jakhu Temple, dedicated to the monkey god Hanuman. It's located near the highest point of the ridge and offers fine views of the town, surrounding valley and snow-capped peaks. Other scenic spots nearby include the 67m high Chadwick Falls, the picnic spot of Prospect Hill, and Wildflower Hall - the site of the former mansion of Lord `Your-Country-Needs-You' Kitchener. The ski resort of Kufri is just 16km east, although snowfalls have been so paltry recently that there are plans to suspend tourist operations. If there is snow, the slopes are suitable for beginners and anyone with a decent plastic bag and a thick pair of trousers. Snow is most likely between January and February.
This old British hill station in north-eastern Himachal Pradesh is now known chiefly as the home of the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. Built along a spur of the Dhauladhar Range, close to the snow line, the town is essentially divided into two parts: the lower town, known prosaically as the Civil & Depot Bazaar, stands at an altitude of only 1250m, but the upper portion, McLeod Ganj, is some 500m higher. There's a significant Tibetan influence in the region, and for the serious student of Tibetan culture, there's a Tibetan monastery and a school of Tibetan studies. For the not so serious, McLeod Ganj is a colourful and energetic mini-Kathmandu with lots of Tibetan-run hotels and restaurants, low prices, crowds of western travellers and plenty of those yappy but spry Tibetan terriers. Meditation courses, Buddhism courses and retreats are popular pastimes for the spiritually minded. For those who prefer to reach dizzying heights in a more physical sense, there are a number of invigorating walks in the region, and the local Mountaineering Institute runs eight to ten-day high-altitude treks from April to December.
The fertile Kullu Valley in northern Himachal Pradesh rises northward from Mandi and Aut and heads toward the 3978m high Rohtang Pass. In the south, the valley is little more than a narrow, precipitous gorge, but further north it widens into a beautiful region of stone-fruit and apple orchards, and terraced rice and wheat fields. This idyllic scene is dwarfed by huge deodar forests and the snow-crowned rocky peaks of the Parvati and Barabhangal ranges. The valley is home to friendly, devout and hard-working hill people, and to Tibetan refugees and nomadic shepherds.The valley has always been a popular place, but it managed to retain a very peaceful and unhurried atmosphere until the troubles in Kashmir triggered an uncontrolled tourist boom. The main tourist centre in the valley, Manali, now has a staggering 400 (predominantly badly designed) hotels and is a favoured haunt of Indian honeymooners. The area around Manali, however, is still one of the most beautiful in the valley, with hot springs, waterfalls, temples and pretty villages. Activities include skiing at Solang Nullah, rafting on the Beas River, and trekking to the Malana and Parbatti valleys, and to Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur.
`Little Tibet', `the Moonland' and `the last Shangri-la' are names that have been applied to Ladakh, a barren high-altitude plateau situated north of the Himalaya, geographically in Tibet. This is an otherworldly place of strange gompas perched on hilltops, ancient palaces clinging to sheer rock walls, and shattered-looking landscapes splashed with small but brilliant patches of green. Leh is the major town in the region, and centuries ago it was an important stop on the old caravan silk route from China. Today it's more renowned as a military base and tourist centre. It's scenically located in a fertile valley 10km north of the Indus River.
Ladakhi Village (16K)
Prayer flags, Ladakh (19K) The Leh Palace, built in the 16th century, looks like a miniature of the Potala in Lhasa. It is now deserted and badly damaged, a legacy of Ladakh's wars with Kashmir in the last century. The main reason for making the climb up to the palace is for the superb views from the roof. The Zanskar mountains, across the Indus River, look close enough to touch. The palace was sold to the Archaeological Survey of India by the Ladakhi royal family and an ambitious renovation project is under way. Try to get a monk to unlock the preserved, but now unused, central prayer room; it's dusty and spooky, with huge masks looming out of the dark. It's worth escaping from the handicraft shops and backpacker restaurants to stroll around the meandering laneways of the Old Quarter and catch a glimpse of what the town used to look like before it began to accommodate tourists.
Chemre Gompa, Ladakh (18K) A popular day trip from Leh is the 17km excursion to the Tikse Gompa, which is picturesquely sited on a hilltop overlooking the Indus River. It has an important collection of Tibetan-style books and some excellent artwork. It's also a good place to watch religious ceremonies. The Hemis Gompa, 45km from Leh, is the largest and most important in Ladakh. It is famous for its Hemis Festival, which usually takes place in the second half of June or in early July. It features two days of elaborate masked dances watched by crowds of eager spectators. For those who haven't pumped enough adrenalin simply getting to Ladakh (see Getting There & Getting Around), white-water rafting trips on the Indus River can be organised through several agencies operating from Leh, and there are trekking opportunities in the Markha and Indus valleys. Naini TalThis attractive hill station, located almost 2000m up in the Kumaon Hills of Uttar Pradesh, used to be the `summer capital' of the state. In 1841, the small hamlet was `discovered' by one Mr P Barron, who had his yacht carted up from the plains by coolies in order to indulge in a bit of sailing on Naini lake. The green and pleasant landscape immediately appealed to homesick Brits, who were reminded of the Cumbrian Lake District, and today the town has plenty of colonial villas overlooking the lake. The lake is said to be one of the emerald green eyes of Siva's wife, Sati. She jumped into a sacrificial bonfire and as her mourning husband dragged her charred remains across the country, various bits of her anatomy were scattered across the terrain. There are the plenty of walks through the forest to lookouts with superb views of the Himalaya and you can rent rowboats and pedal-boats on the lake. Naini Tal is very popular during Indian school holidays, over Christmas and between April and July, but at other times it attracts few travellers.
Perched on a ledge high above the River Ravi in north-eastern Himachal Pradesh, the slate-roofed town of Chamba has often been compared to a medieval Italian village. For 1000 years prior to Independence it was ruled by a single dynasty of maharajas, and there are many reminders of this period, including a palace and a museum. The town is a centre for the Gaddis, traditional shepherds who move flocks up to the high alpine pastures during the summer. It's famous for its Hindu temples, especially the Lakshmi Narayan complex of six temples - the earliest of which dates back to the 10th century. Chamba is a busy trading centre for villagers from the surrounding hills, and each August it's the site for the Minjar festival, when an image of Lord Raghuvira leads a procession of gods and goddesses carried on palinquins. Corbett National ParkEstablished in 1936 as India's first national park, Corbett is famous for its wide variety of wildlife and its beautiful location in the foothills of the Himalaya on the banks of the Ramganga River in northern Uttar Pradesh. It may seem incongruous for a national park to be named after a famous British hunter - Jim Corbett is best known for his book The Man-Eaters of Kumaon, and was greatly revered by local people for shooting tigers that had developed a liking for human flesh. However, he was instrumental in setting up the reserve and eventually shot more wildlife with his camera than with his gun. It's not the best place in India to see tigers, but you may get lucky between April and mid-June.More commonly seen wildlife includes the wild elephant, langur monkey, rhesus macaque and several types of deer - including chital, sambars, hog deer and barking deer. There are also crocodiles, the odd-looking gavial (a thin-snouted, fish-eating crocodile), wild boars, jackals and, occasionally, leopards. Corbett is a bird-watcher's paradise, and since the creation of the Kalagarh Dam on the Ramganga River, large numbers of waterfowl have been attracted here. The nearest town to the park is Ramnagar.
Although only a handful of trekkers visit this region in northern Uttar Pradesh, there are some superb trekking opportunities. Treks that follow the outer rim of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary are well worth trying, including the Kuari Pass trek out of Joshimath, and the trek to Rup Kund beneath Trisul (7120m). Other interesting routes go to the Pindari Glacier, to the south of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, and to the recently opened Milam Glacier, to the east of India's second-highest peak, Nanda Devi (7817m). It is important to note, however, that trekking in the Nanda Devi Sanctuary is still banned by the Indian government and at present there are no plans to lift this restriction.There are also treks in the vicinity of many of the important pilgrimage sites, such as Badrinath, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, Gangotri (near the source of the Ganges) and Hem Kund, close to the Valley of the Flowers. The best time to trek in Garhwal and Kumaon is either in the pre-monsoon period from mid-May to the end of June, or from mid-September to mid-October during the post-monsoon period. Rishikesh is the best place to organise equipment, permits and guides.
The mountains of Lahaul, north of the Rhotang Pass, are bare and rugged, and the valleys are devoid of forest and vegetation. It's an alien landscape which would have appeared to ancient travellers as being beyond the habitable world, and it shares many similarities with the terrain of Ladakh. The air is rarefied, as much of the region is at an altitude well over 3000m, and heavy snowstorms close passes between September and May. Because it's outside the main influence of the Indian monsoon, Lahaul is an ideal place to come trekking in July and August, and it has, to some extent, become a transit point for trekkers from the Kullu Valley en route to Ladakh. One of the most popular treks is the route from Darcha to Padam via the Shingo La (5090m). Make sure you bring provisions with you because apart from the abundance of potatoes during late autumn there is rarely any surplus food in Lahaul. Keylong is the main town in the region.
Gang of small girls, Keylong, Lahaul (14K)
Delhi is the most convenient city from which to access the Indian Himalaya, and there are flights to Shimla, Kullu, Leh and Chandigarh. The final 30-minute approach to Leh is regarded as one of the most spectacular flights in the world. There are rail connections from Delhi to Shimla, Haridwar (near Rishikesh), Kathgodam (35km from Naini Tal) and Ramnagar (on the edge of Corbett National Park).
Baby backpack (21K) Otherwise, the rugged terrain necessitates catching buses. There are buses from Delhi to Rishikesh, Shimla and Manali (in the Kullu Valley). Pathankot in the Punjab is the gateway for buses heading to the hill stations of Himachal Pradesh, such as Dalhousie (near Chamba) and Dharamsala. Buses depart from Manali on the two-day haul to Leh (July to mid-September only), and the six-hour trip to Keylong (summer months) in Lahaul. There will be times on these buses, notably those when you careen around hairpin bends and appear to be heading for certain death over cliff edges, that you will question your sanity in ever making such a trip: just close your eyes for a few seconds and try not to puke on the person next to you.
Bringing the message home all too clearly (17K)
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