Spiritual India - Foothills of the Himalaya

Today we arrive in New Delhi, India's bustling capital. The city is the perfect blend of new and old, with monuments and temples hidden amongst its glittering skyscrapers. For those arriving in time, our tour leader will meet you in the hotel reception at 2pm for a welcome meeting followed by a city tour. We'll take to the winding lanes of the Chandni Chowk bazaar by rickshaw, whizzing past stalls selling everything from household wares to souvenirs. We'll also view the Red Fort and the Jami Masjid Mosque - one of the biggest in India. Please note, if you'd like to join today's tour, you'll need to arrive at the hotel by 2pm. If you're organising your own travel, we recommend giving yourself at least one hour to clear the airport, plus at least 45 minutes to get to the hotel. To make it in time, the latest your flight can arrive would be around 12.15pm. If you miss the welcome meeting, your tour leader will catch you up as soon as possible. If you'd like an airport transfer, you'll need to arrive into New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), a 45-minute drive from our hotel.

We'll set off to explore the two sides of Delhi this morning. Old Delhi is a maze of old, narrow streets, lined with bazaars and dotted with mosques and temples; while New Delhi feels a world away with its wide, leafy boulevards and grand colonial-era buildings. We'll start in the calmer area of New Delhi, driving along the avenues and taking in the major sights that begin to tell the story of India's rich history. We'll visit India Gate, the impressive column of Qutab Minar and the UNESCO-listed Mughal site of Humayun's Tomb - a precursor to the great Taj Mahal. After lunch, we'll take cycle rickshaws to explore the winding lanes of Chandni Chowk bazaar in Old Delhi, a sprawling market where you can buy almost anything from household wares to souvenirs. Here we'll sample some tasty street food from some of Old Delhi's most famous vendors, such as freshly-made vegetable samosas, pakoras and jalebi - a crispy sweet treat. We'll also view the incredible and imposing Red Fort and the beautiful Jami Masjid Mosque (from the outside).

Leaving the capital behind today, we set off on a five hour drive to the state of Uttarakhand and the holy city of Haridwar. Set on the banks of the sacred River Ganges, Haridwar has long been a pilgrimage site for Hindus. Every 12 years the city hosts the Kumbh Mela Festival, a mass-pilgrimage where Hindus travel thousands of miles to take a ceremonial dip in the river, which is thought to be the biggest gathering of human beings in the planet. Aside from this festival it is still a popular destination for Hindus, hosting several important temples such as the Mansa Devi Temple and the Kankhal Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. Perhaps most iconic though, is the nightly Ganga Aarti ceremony that takes place on the riverside. Several Brahmin priests line the Ghats and perform a coordinated ritual involving fire-lit lamps, chanting and bell-ringing, making their offerings to Mother Ganga. We have some time to explore Haridwar's temples, markets and to soak up the atmosphere before heading down to the Ghats for sunset to witness this atmospheric ritual.

Leaving Haridwar this morning, we continue our journey northwards, heading further up the Ganges on a short drive to Rishikesh. Often dubbed the 'yoga capital of the world', Rishikesh plays host to numerous ashrams, retreats and wellness centres. Although it has long-been one of the leading spiritual centres of India, Rishikesh first entered the Western psyche in the 60's when John, Paul, George and Ringo came here to study transcendental meditation. The Beatles stayed at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram for three months in 1968, cementing its place in pop culture. Rishikesh, in turn, exerted its own influence over the future music of the Beatles. We spend some time in the Ashram today, as well as exploring the town on foot and its temples. This evening we make our way down to Triveni Ghat to witness another spectacular Aarti ceremony.

Not only known for its yoga and wellness, Rishikesh is also renowned as a base for outdoor activities, thanks to its picturesque location in the foothills of the Himalaya at the confluence of two rivers. Today has been left free, with a number of optional activities possible. There is the option to go white-water rafting (half day) along the Ganges - a 16 kilometre route with Grade III-IV rapids along the way. No previous experience is needed and full safety equipment is provided. It's also possible to take a three hour safari in Rajaji National Park, home to wild elephant, deer, peacock, leopard and an array of birdlife. In addition to this, walks can be arranged in the surrounding forests of Rishikesh, or you could choose to visit an Ashram for a meditation and yoga lesson. Alternatively you could just take the day off and soak up the town's atmospheric feel-good vibes.

This morning we continue our journey through the foothills of the Indian Himalayas as we head to Chandigarh, a drive of approximately five hours. In stark contrast to the haphazard nature of most Indian cities, Chandigarh came to life in the 1950's as a so-called 'planned city'. Designed by the architect 'Le Corbusier'- Chandigarh is laid out in an orderly grid system with the city being divided into quarters, dissected by wide-leafy boulevards and interspersed with plenty of green parks and spaces. We spend time this afternoon exploring the city's grand buildings including its Capital Complex, including a visit to the Rock Garden - a unique sculpture created entirely from industrial and household waste. We end the tour at Sector 17, a popular area full of local markets and excellent street food.

Continuing on this morning, we make the short drive to Dharampur Station where we swap modes of transport and begin winding our way along a narrow-gauge track aboard the remarkable 'Toy Train'. Climbing from the plains below, the train negotiates a meandering journey of 62 kilometres in a little over three hours, ascending over 1000 metres to the heights of the old British hill station of Shimla. Whilst traditionally the Toy Train was pulled by steam engines, today they are mostly pulled by diesel engines. The journey takes us through 103 tunnels and some of the most scenic landscapes in the region. Finally we reach Shimla itself, stretched out along a crescent shaped ridge, with alpine-style houses shaded beneath dense forests of fir.

Today, we'll have the full day to explore Shimla. We'll start with an orientation tour of the town, taking in some of its colonial ambience. The opening of the Kalka-Shimla railway at the turn of the 20th century allowed the well-to-do families of the Raj to escape the heat of Kolkata and Delhi and spend the hot summer months amongst the cooler landscapes of these verdant hills. We'll take in the ageing charm of the Christ Church and Scandal Point, where the mock Tudor architecture presents a surreal imitation of old England against the magnificent backdrop of the Himalayas. We'll also have the opportunity to visit the Viceregal Lodge, the former residence of the British viceroy and site of a number of important negotiations that preceded Indian independence. This orientation tour is done on foot, where it should take around four hours. The afternoon has been left free for further exploration of the town, or walks are available in the surrounding forests.

A full day of driving today takes us from one hill station to another, to the town of Dharamsala. We break the drive with a lunch stop in the town of Mandi, with a chance to stroll through the town's narrow lanes and eclectic markets. We then continue our drive to the iconic hill town of Dharamsala, arriving in the late afternoon after a journey of around 7-8 hours. Until 1959 this was a quiet and unassuming town, but that all changed when the Dalai Lama settled here after fleeing Tibet at the time of the Chinese invasion in October of that year. McLeodganj is the upper part of the town situated 500m above Lower Dharamsala and is the area with the greatest Tibetan influence. It's also where we'll base ourselves for our visit. On arrival, we'll have an orientation walk which includes the Church of St John in the Wilderness, the Buddhist Namgyal Monastery, known locally as Little Lhasa, and Kalachakra Temple.

We'll spend this morning exploring McLeodganj on foot. If the Dalai Lama is giving one of his occasional public audiences, we might be lucky enough to be granted permission to attend. In the afternoon we will drive down to lower Dharamsala to visit the Norbulingka Institute - named after the Dalai Lama's summer palace in Lhasa, Tibet. This institute was set up in 1988 to preserve Tibetan heritage and culture, providing education as well as showcasing Tibetan arts, crafts and also hosting a series of festivals over the years.

Departing Dharamsala this morning, we drive down from the cooler climes of the hill station to the plains of Punjab and on to Amritsar. This drive should take about five hours. The holy city of the Sikhs, Amritsar was founded in 1577 and is home to the spectacular Golden Temple. The city has played a key part in the subcontinent's history and, despite extremist unrest and destructive invaders, it remains the spiritual centre of the Sikh religion. This afternoon we make our way out to the Wagah border. This important gateway is in fact the only open border crossing between India and Pakistan. The state of Punjab itself far pre-dates this border. However, the state was split in half in 1947 following on from Independence, with one half of Punjab now sitting in present-day Pakistan. It is here, every evening that crowds gather for the 'Flag Down' ceremony, which sees soldiers on each side of the fence put on a dramatic display with much pomp and ceremony, each side trying to outdo one another. It's a good-natured tradition that has endured for many years, in spite of less-than cordial modern relations between the two nations.

Today we'll visit the centrepiece of the city, the incredible Golden Temple. The temple is a fusion of Hindu and Islamic influences and home to the revered texts of the Sikh Holy Scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib, and its gilded dome is covered in over 700kg of pure gold. The temple was the scene of a massacre of hundreds of Sikh protesters in 1984 when the Indian army, acting on the orders of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, evicted extremists from the temple - an act that led to the assassination of Indira Ghandi by Sikh bodyguards later that same year. Upon entering, we'll need to remove our shoes, cover our heads and wash our feet. The temple itself is a surprisingly small building surrounded almost entirely by tanks of holy water in which the Sikh pilgrims bathe (the name of the town itself comes from the Amrit Sarovar - the Pool of Nectar). The atmosphere is one of incredible calm, with devotees taking their turn to pass through the main shrine, where there is a continuous and melodic recital (known as the Akhand Path) from the Guru Granth Sahib. Later, we will visit Jalianwala Bagh, the site of a bloody massacre and a dark day in British history. On the 13th of April 1919 a large crowd gathered in Jalianwala Bagh to protest against the arrest of some pro-independence activists. The crowds were surrounded by the British Indian Army, the exits were blocked and General Dyer gave the order to fire into the crowd. Although condemned by the British government and the then-Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill, the Jailanwala Bagh massacre resulted in irreversible damage to the Anglo-India relationship and is thought to be one of the keys events that put India on course for independence from the British. The rest of the afternoon has been left free for further explanation, or for some shopping in the city's excellent local markets.

The trip ends today after breakfast. There are no activities planned today, so you're free to depart at any time. If your flight leaves later in the day, luggage storage facilities are available at our hotel. If you'd like a hotel transfer, you'll need to depart from Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport (ATQ)