Ahmedabad

Bustling and chaotic, Gujarat state's capital Ahmedabad is at first glance just like any other Indian city. But give it a bit of time and you'll notice a difference. There's no hassle. No touts, no persistent rickshaw drivers, no beggars, no shopkeepers calling out as you pass. The only attention you'll receive is in the form of cheerful greetings from curious locals. This could possibly be India's friendliest city.


There are a few sights to occupy you if you have a day to spare here, as we did after watching New Zealand thrash Zimbabwe in the world cup cricket. The spooky Dada Hari step well, built in the 16th century as a communal water source, comprises a staircase leading down to a small octagonal well a few storeys below ground. Carved stone columns hold up a semi-roof, allowing dusty strips of sunlight into the lower depths. The stone walls are intricately carved with floral designs and Arabic script (the well was built during Mughal rule). There are many such constructions in Gujarat and Rajasthan, their elaborate carving reflecting the importance of water in these drought-prone northwestern states.

The modern city also conceals a number of historic houses, tombs and mosques, including the beautiful, open-air Sidi Sayad mosque. Open on three sides to keep worshippers cool, the 16th century cloistered stone structure features intricate, lace-like carved screens - some depicting organic tree and leaf designs, others geometric patterns. 

Museum buffs will also be at home here, with an eclectic selection including a kite museum, utensil museum and the Calico Museum of Textiles, with its world-leading collection of Indian silks.


But that's enough sightseeing - it's time to eat. With 90% of the population vegetarian, Gujarati cuisine is balanced and varied enough to satisfy even the most dedicated carnivore. Protein-rich lentil dishes sit alongside a mind-boggling array of snacks, side dishes and main courses. It's well worth giving yourself extra time in Ahmedabad just for the food. 


Two of the city's best eateries can be found at the House of MG, a wonderful boutique hotel housed in a historic merchant's house near the river. At the casual Green House restaurant downstairs, the extensive snack-focused menu offers treats such as makai ghugra (deep-fried crispy dumplings filled with onion, cabbage, almonds and coriander); and bataka vada (balls of light gram flour batter enclosing spicy mixed vegetables flavoured with herbs and chilli). They're all served with lashings of hot and sweet dark red chilli sauce, fiery green chilli sauce and a dried red chilli to crumble over.

Come back for dinner to try unique Gujarati curries based around small gram flour dumplings, vegetables or paneer cheese.


The hotel's rooftop restaurant, Agashiye, dishes up legendary thalis (traditional round alloy plates holding a variety of mini-dishes) on a grand and delicious scale. The daily-changing offering comprises several vegetable preparations - we had okra curry, spiced potatoes and a complex and delicate dhal - with four different accompanying curry sauces; two of them milky and slightly sweet, a unique feature of Gujarat's food. There were so many different chutneys - some hot, others sweet - that they required a separate plate on the side. Two types of roti bread, two types of poppadom and sweet, sticky Gujarati rice thrown in will have you loosening the belt buckle a notch or two.

The only downfall - Gujarat is under total prohibition, so there'll be no cold Kingfisher to wash your curry down with. Don't let that put you off visiting though - foreigners can easily obtain liquor permits from the major hotels.

Kashmir

Squeezed between the Himalayas on one side and the Pir Panjal range on the other, dotted with terraced rice paddies, fruit orchards and rows of poplars, the Kashmir Valley is a picture of tranquility. Or at least it should be. Ever since Indian independence, the valley has been periodically marred by violence. The drive for independence, and three wars with Pakistan, have divided the population and nearly ruined the tourism industry. While visitors are now creeping back following the latest spate of violence in summer 2008, the situation is still tense, discouraging many.

The result of this is poignantly obvious in Srinagar, the region's summer capital. On Dal Lake, row upon row of colonial-style house boats - over a thousand of them - float forlornly at their moorings, bereft of visitors. House boats have been a feature of the lake ever since the Raj era, when the British were forbidden to own land. While most of the boats on the lake today are less than 40 years old, you wouldn't know it. Stepping aboard is like entering a time warp: poky rooms bedecked with chandeliers, carved walnut panels, chintzy curtains and frilly lamp shades. 

The struggling house boat owners, for whom tourism is their lifeblood, long for an end to conflict in the region. The visitors' book on Morning Glory, the floating palace of kitsch on which we spent a night, revealed only three or four groups had stayed in 2010. No wonder many boats have been abandoned, listing into the water lilies, their wooden hulls rotting as their owners seek an income elsewhere.

Waking before dawn and boarding a shikara (a gondola-like boat) to visit the floating vegetable market on the lake is a magical experience. As you drift through the canal-like passageways in the pre-dawn greyness, the eerie, wailing call to prayer from half a dozen different mosques echoes across the water and off the black shadows of waterside houses. By the time dawn breaks, the floating market is in full swing. Dozens of growers and buyers perch on shikara filled with vegetables, eyeing up each others' produce. Dressed in pheran (long woollen capes) and huddling over kangri (wicker baskets holding pottery bowls filled with hot coals) to keep warm, they weigh vegetables on rudimentary scales and transfer purchases from boat to boat.

Winter tourism is making a positive impact on the region's economy. The world-class backcountry skiing at Gulmarg, on the flanks of Mt Apharwat in the Pir Panjals west of Srinagar, has attracted crowds every winter since the gondola opened six years ago. Skiing here is a truly unique experience. Many of the creaky, old-fashioned hotels are heated with wood-fired stoves. Domestic tourists learn to ski using 1980s equipment on the snow-covered golf course. Sledge-wallahs tout for business and will drag your skis up the hill to your hotel for a few rupees. Soldiers from the nearby High Altitude Warfare School thunder through the village in giant trucks. Groups of pheran-clad locals, clutching kangri underneath for warmth, gawp at the skiers and boarders arriving at the bottom of the gondola.

Reflecting the region's geographical isolation, Kashmiri cuisine is deliciously unique. Elaborate spice combinations are used and sometimes meat is cooked in yoghurt or milk - resulting in pale-coloured but flavour-packed sauces. Popular dishes include goshtaba and rista (meatballs in spicy sauce); Kashmiri biryani (almost Chinese in its flavour combinations) and kanti; deep-fried diced chicken served in an oniony, sweet and spicy sauce. But let's not forget the Kashmiri dish that has travelled far beyond this small valley to become a favourite at your local curry house: the world-famous, fiery-rich, lamb rogan josh.