Difficult to select destinations in a country of such size: 22 official languages, more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, an area equal to six times the size of France.
A “subcontinent”, a country where no region resembles the other.
India is both the crowds of New Delhi and the Himalayan desert.
The snow leopard and the beaches of Goa.
The Taj-Mahal, Hindu temples, Buddhist monasteries or the forts of Rajasthan.
This is what this selection offers, to dive into destinations where the heart of India beats: Ladakh, firstly, the Indian Himalayas located on the border of Tibet, with its cliffside temples and its apricot trees.
Chandigarh, then, the ideal city built by Le Corbusier, with its wide avenues and concrete buildings.
Darjeeling, finally, the Indian capital of tea at the foot of the green Himalayas.
Ladakh, castles in the sky
A winter in Ladakh
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First, we look through the plane window: ocher, dry, lunar hills.
Sand slopes capped with snow.
There it is, the Indian Himalayas.
A high altitude desert where apricot trees grow like hedgehogs.
Welcome to Ladakh, a region in the far north of India, stuck in a cul-de-sac between China and Pakistan.
A headache accompanies the first steps.
This is normal: Leh, the capital, is located at an altitude of 3,500 meters.
You need to rest and start by visiting the town, its twisted streets, its jewelry stalls, its prayer wheels.
This region has the nickname: Little Tibet, because it is here that Tibetan refugees landed during the Chinese invasion of 1950. Part of Ladakh has been Buddhist since at least the 10th century, which can be seen in the prayer flags. , stupas and monasteries, so numerous.
Ladakh is the region in the world with the highest concentration.
Also readWinter trip to Ladakh, a land of great spirituality
After the acclimatization period, you have to go see them, built on the side of a cliff or at the top of an improbable sand hill.
They are located on the trekking route, the main attraction of Ladakh: there is the Indus valley, behind the border reached by Alexander the Great or the Nubra valley, more green, with its apple trees and poplars.
To get there, you have to go through the Khardung-La, a road pass considered to be the highest in the world, at 5,360 meters.
On the roads, we come across soldiers.
Border area, Ladakh is coveted and disputed.
Treks require a permit, called an “Inner Line Permit”.
They are obtained from agencies present everywhere in Leh.
Getting there:
Leh airport is connected to several major Indian cities.
Allow 1 hour 15 minutes from New Delhi and one hour from Chandigarh.
Many airlines.
Chandigarh, the ideal city... and a few horns
The Capitol Complex in Chandigarh, built by Le Corbusier in the 1950s following India's independence.
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The province had been mutilated by the war.
Its capital, Lahore, given to Pakistan.
Nehru, Prime Minister of India, wanted a new one for Punjab.
This city would be the symbol of freedom, of the future.
It will be Chandigarh.
It is the very beginning of the 1950s, just after India's independence.
The statesman called on Le Corbusier, who visited the site in 1951. For the first time, the Franco-Swiss architect implemented his urban planning theses on a large scale: a city divided into rectangular sectors, of large boulevards, neighborhoods each housing a market, a school, a green space.
When you arrive in Chandigarh from New Delhi, the contrast is obvious: less dust, chaos, horns.
A feeling of space, order, greenery.
Le Corbusier also built buildings, listed as UNESCO world heritage sites for his architectural work.
They can be seen to the north of the city, near the Shiwalik massif: the Capitol Complex includes three masterpieces: the Secretariat, the High Court and the Legislative Assembly.
All are made of concrete, monochrome and rectilinear in shape: brutalism, the mark of Le Corbusier.
Inside the Complex, a mythical monument: La Main Ouverte (The Open Hand), symbol of peace and reconciliation.
For a visit, two solutions: go to the Capitol Complex tourist center or book a guide with the Alliance Française de Chandigarh.
Getting there:
Chandigarh airport is connected to several Indian cities.
Allow one hour flight from New Delhi.
By train, allow between 3 and 5 hours from New Delhi.
Read alsoIndia: itinerary, budget, security... All our advice for preparing your trip
Darjeeling, Indian tea capital and gateway to Sikkim
Darjeeling, misty and twisted, sitting queenly on a hill.
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First there is the road, steep, rising through tea plantations and stilt houses.
Then there is the city, foggy and twisted, sitting queenly on a hill.
Darjeeling, a traveler's fantasy, a former British colony renowned for its black tea.
Darjeeling, an English name?
Not really, the name comes from Tibetan (Dorjee-Ling, “The Place of Lightning”).
Before being British then Indian, the city was owned by the Buddhist kingdom of Sikkim then Nepal.
It sits in the very east of India, in the state of West Bengal, between Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.
A tightrope walker at an altitude of 2000 meters.
To tell the truth, the city has a nasty character: hairpin streets, long staircases and steep climbs.
But what an environment: subject to harvest, the region is a steep and luxuriant garden.
The hundred or so tea plantations can be visited when the mist subsides.
Otherwise, they can be seen from any height.
In Darjeeling, perhaps the best view is from Observatory Hill, near the central Chowrasta Square: plantations run right up to the feet of the Himalayan giants.
There, just opposite, the pyramid of Kangchenjunga, the third mountain in the world and one of the most sacred, 8856 meters.
It stands on the border with Nepal, in neighboring Sikkim, an ancient kingdom that has become a trekker's paradise: valleys scratched by glacial rivers, terraced crops, humid forests and Kangchenjunga standing silent watch.
Getting there:
the easiest way is to land at Bagdogra airport (2 hours from New Delhi) then board a shared taxi or book a private taxi.
From the airport, it takes around 3 hours of winding road (70km) to reach Darjeeling.