States
Kerala is rained on twice a year and only the first monsoon is famous
The southwest monsoon arrives from the sea in June and the retreating monsoon comes back over land in…
· 4 min read
States
What a region is actually like to travel in, month by month.
20 articles · page 1 of 2
States
Rajasthan’s travelling year turns on night temperature, not on the daytime heat
A dry climate under clear skies loses at night everything it gained at noon, and that swing decides what is comfortable, what is bookable and what is not worth attempting.
States
In the Northeast the road decides your day, not the distance
Hill gradients, shared vehicles and a time zone that does not fit the longitude matter far more here than…
· 4 min read
States
Gujarat is three separate landscapes and they do not share a calendar
A salt flat that floods, a coastline that does not, and a hot interior between them mean the state has no…
· 4 min read
States
Karnataka changes climate three times between the sea and the plateau
A wet coast, a drenched hill belt and a dry interior sit within a few hours of each other, and the…
· 4 min read
States
Central India’s tiger reserves shut for the rains and the ground is the reason
Earth tracks that cannot survive heavy water, a breeding season the forest departments protect and animals…
· 4 min read
States
The script on the signboard changes several times across one Indian journey
State boundaries were drawn along language lines, so crossing one changes the alphabet on a platform board…
· 4 min read
States
Every Indian state runs its own hotel chain and the standards are not comparable
Government tourism corporations built accommodation in places private operators never bothered with, which…
· 4 min read
States
On the northern plains the river is the obstacle and the bridge is the route
Very flat country crossed by very large seasonal rivers means journeys bend towards the few available…
· 4 min read
States
Maharashtra’s hills fill up during the monsoon, which reverses the national pattern
The Sahyadri escarpment turns into waterfall country for three months, and weekend traffic out of the big…
· 4 min read
States
In dry western India the water building came before the palace
Stepwells, tanks and reservoirs were the expensive infrastructure of an arid region, which is why they are…
· 4 min read
States
A district town makes a better base than a metro for most of what you came to see
Second-tier Indian towns sit closer to the sites, hold the transport connections that actually serve them…
· 4 min read