Northern India by Train
In April 2009, I spent a busy and wide-ranging month travelling through four Indian states: Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. Covering around 3,800 kilometres by train, bus, rickshaw, horse and on foot, I moved through a constantly shifting landscape of cities, deserts, mountains, and sacred sites.
The journey began in Delhi and took me east to Varanasi, where I went to scatter some of my mum’s ashes. It was a personal and emotional part of the trip, and Varanasi, with its dense spiritual presence and layered history, provided a powerful setting. From there, I travelled west by train through Agra and Jaipur, continuing into Rajasthan. Each place offered its own textures and rhythms: the faded grandeur of Jaipur, the deep blue of Jodhpur. In Jodhpur at a railway station I slipped and broke my foot—an abrupt shift that somewhat altered the rhythm of the trip. I met with a stranger who offered me knidness and a trip to the hospital on the back of his motorbike. My foot duly bandaged and with a stock of painkillers I continued by train to the quiet eeriness of the Thar Desert around Jaisalmer, and the surreal encounter with the rats of Karni Mata Temple in Deshnok near Bikaner.
After leaving the desert, I moved north to Amritsar, arriving unexpectedly in time for Vaisakhi—Sikh New Year and harvest festival—at the Golden Temple. It was early morning, around 4 a.m., and the temple was lit up with hundreds of lights, reflected in the water and accompanied by the hum of prayer and music. It remains one of the most memorable and atmospheric moments of the journey.
From Amritsar, I continued to Pathankot and boarded the ‘Toy Train’ through the Kangra Valley. The train moved slowly through the foothills, passing tea gardens, river valleys, and small villages, before arriving in Kangra and then Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj, and Bhagsu Nag.
Bhagsu Nag became a base for a while. From there, I travelled up toward the snowline above Triund, with the Dhauladhar mountain range rising behind. A sudden storm one night brought lightning, snow, and intense conditions—but also allowed for some of the most striking photographs I took on the trip.
I returned to Delhi tired but full of images and stories. The experience left me with a lasting sense of connection—to place, to people met along the way, and to a feeling of movement that was at once external and internal. I look forward to returning when I can, with more time to stay still.
