Travelling in the monsoon, and why we recommend it

Most people plan around the monsoon. A fair number of our guests plan for it, and they are not being contrary.

The landscape is a different place

Dry hills go green in a fortnight. Riverbeds that were sand become rivers. In Rajasthan the change is hard to believe if you have only seen the place in season — the Aravallis look like another country.

The light

Photographers know this one. Overcast skies are soft and even, storms build and break with an hour of extraordinary light on either side, and everything is washed clean. Midday in the dry season is flat and harsh by comparison.

It is quiet

Fewer people everywhere. You get a place more or less to yourself, and the difference at a popular spot is not subtle.

What it actually asks of you

Flexibility, mostly. Rain arrives when it arrives, and an afternoon plan may become an evening one. Some paths get slippery; some water activities stop. Roads are slower.

None of which matters much when you are staying in a house with a covered terrace and a kitchen. That is the trick: the monsoon is difficult if your plan depends on being out all day, and delightful if you have somewhere good to be.

What to bring

A light waterproof rather than an umbrella, shoes that can get wet and dry overnight, and a second pair. Something for the evenings, which turn cool. Nothing that needs a dry cupboard.