India
Hinduism's holiest city on the banks of the Ganges, then a night under the stars amid the dunes
India
A journey between two opposite Indias: Varanasi, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities and Hinduism's holiest site, where funeral rituals and daily ceremonies unfold on the ghats along the Ganges, then Jaisalmer and the Thar Desert, whose golden sandstone citadel rises from the dunes like a mirage before a night camped under a Saharan-like sky.
When
Oct to March
Price
From 3 100€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
7 nights
Ideal length
Days 1-2
The first chapter unfolds in Varanasi, a sacred city where Hinduism situates the most direct path to the soul's liberation, explaining the constant flow of pilgrims coming to bathe in the Ganges or accompany their dead there. The roughly eighty ghats, stone steps descending to the river, come alive with ancestral rituals from dawn, while the evening aarti ceremony, an offering of light to the sacred river, gathers hundreds of worshippers every day.
Day 1
A dawn cruise on the Ganges
A boat outing on the Ganges at sunrise, the most intense moment to observe the morning rituals from the water, before a walk through the old town's narrow lanes.
Day 2
The evening aarti ceremony
A free day to explore the city's temples, then attendance at the aarti ceremony at dusk on the main ghat, a ritual offering of light and chanting to the sacred river.
Days 1-2
A flight to Jaisalmer, nicknamed the "Golden City" for its sandstone ramparts that turn honey-coloured at sunset, India's only inhabited fort, still home to several thousand people within its very walls. The Sam dunes, an hour's drive away, provide the setting for a night camped under a traditional tent, far from any light pollution, in the Thar Desert stretching to the Pakistani border.
Day 1
The Golden City and its inhabited fort
A visit to Jaisalmer Fort, India's only inhabited fortress, and its richly carved havelis, former merchant mansions that thrived on the desert's caravan routes.
Day 2
Sunset and a bivouac in the Sam dunes
A camel excursion to the Sam dunes for sunset, then a night under a traditional tent with dinner and Rajasthani folk music around a campfire.
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