India

A week in western India, between the two great cities of Maharashtra — a journey that strikes for the intensity of emotions, the richness of contrasts and the extraordinary hospitality of the people.

Mumbai, India's "city of dreams", is a universe concentrated in a metropolis of twenty million inhabitants. Arriving in Colaba, the southern tip of Mumbai, is an immediate immersion: the Gateway of India standing against the sea with its Indo-Saracenic architecture, the legendary Taj Mahal Palace Hotel beside it, the fishing boats and street vendors. Marine Drive, the curved promenade that in the evening lights up to form the famous "Queen's Necklace" — a necklace of lights embracing the bay. Dharavi, one of Asia's largest and most vibrant neighbourhoods, where the informal economy generates over a billion dollars a year in recycling, ceramics and leather. Bandra, the Bollywood district with film stars' homes and fashionable cafés. The Parsi Tower of Silence, where the deceased are entrusted to vultures according to an ancient Zoroastrian tradition.

From Mumbai to Pune, the "Oxford of the East" — Maharashtra's second city, home to prestigious universities, major IT and automotive industries, and the historic capital of the Marathas who challenged the Mughal Empire. Pune is a calmer, greener city than Mumbai, with an extraordinary food scene and palpable cultural energy.

Travelling with local friends makes the experience authentic, far from the tourist circuit: hot chai in the morning from street stalls, the vegetarian thali served on a banana leaf, the blazingly spicy street food — vada pav, pav bhaji, pani puri — that's a total sensory experience. The delirious traffic where cars, rickshaws, motorcycles, cows and pedestrians share the same space in a chaos that has its own secret rules. And above all, the extraordinary kindness of the people — a country that welcomes the stranger as an honoured guest.

India is not a country you understand in a week. But a week is enough to know you'll return.