The time capsule that’s Fatehpur Sikri
Often missed but very much a part of the ‘Golden Triangle’ in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India; this abandoned city encapsulates Murghal life in a way that the tourist-smothered monuments of Agra fall short. Fatehpur Sikri is only an hour’s drive – 40kms – west from Agra but is often by-passed in favour of heading in all haste to Rajasthan. Don’t be tempted to give it a wide berth. For us, this ancient capital, which...
Our 2018 Five Favourite Luxury Hotels in India
This year’s choice of top accommodation experiences in India As with many countries, India offers a huge variety of hotels and lodges of all styles, degrees of opulence and price. The service levels, decoration and overall ambiance changes year on year, such that a favourite this year can slide down the rankings by next. We thought we’d like to update you on this year’s favourites, so that when you plan your next trip to India...
Jehan Numa – Gateway to the ‘Tiger State’
We’ve long been fortunate enough to know the Rashid family, owners of the Jehan Numa collection of lodges and hotels – from the days when theirs was our only haven of respite from the jungles we lived in within India. In those days they were in the formative years of turning their ancestral home – formerly the palace of the Begum of Bhopal (the first female ruler of a principality) – into a charming and impressive heritage...
Samode Safari Lodge – a fine heritage
If ever there is an argument for visiting a wildlife park and never leaving your hotel then Samode Safari Lodge has to be it! It’s not often that we’re taken aback on entering an hotel room but at Samode Safari Lodge on the edge of Bandhavgarh National Park in India we experience a definite double-take! We should have expected a treat as Samode’s other hotels (beautiful heritage properties in Rajasthan) had, on previously visits to...
Satpura‘s wonderful wilderness
India’s Satpura National Park – the most stunningly natural tiger wilderness in India. Watch Mugger crocodiles slip noiselessly into the reservoir as you approach by boat, the exhilarating flash of a tiger’s markings amidst the foliage as you amble on elephant back, a Barrasingha deer wading at the water’s edge, huge Gaur blocking your way or vultures and eagles soaring overhead as you ride the dusty tracks amidst dense forest...
Picture pitching-up in Pachmarhi
On a road to nowhere, there’s nowhere more pleasant in India than this Queen of the Central Highlands. Set atop a 12sq mile plateau in the heart of India on a road to nowhere, Pachmarhi, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh has to be one of the most beautifully preserved examples of Indian rural life and colonial heritage. First ‘discovered’ in 1857 by Captain James Forsyth of the British Army, Pachmarhi, although historically...
