Having spent several months a few years ago being gloriously assaulted by the wonderful sights, smells and sounds of South India, I had braced myself for my visit to North India as I had imagined Delhi to be dusty and dirty and horrendously polluted. I could not have been more wrong. The city of New Delhi is surprisingly green and the air surprisingly unpolluted and I enjoyed visiting the cities major sights.

From Delhi, my always smiling driver took me to Agra where I made a long awaited visit to the majestic and ethereal Taj Mahal. Being a visitor in June, the off-season, I was fortunate enough to be one of a relatively small number of tourists. My guide not only kept me transfixed with his history of the Taj but also shared with me stories of his childhood playing hide and seek in the beautiful grounds. I dragged myself away from this wonder of the modern world only to be impressed further by the imposing and spectacular Agra Fort.

Already all expectations of north India had been exceeded so I was excited about what was to come next. My journey took me to Jaipur, the Pink City and the third point of the Golden Triangle. Here I found myself riding an elephant up to the resplendent Amber Fort, hanging on tightly! My reward at the end of this short but slightly hair-raising journey was the amazing Amber Palace.

From pink my next destination was blue, in the shape of the Blue City of Jodhpur. Yet another fort greeted me, but it had its own personality and set high above a sea of blue painted houses a wonderful sight to behold. A highlight for me here was a walk through the colourful local market where I found myself inspecting fabulous Rajasthani patchwork textiles in an emporium previously visited by none other than Prince Charles, and by Brad Pitt! Soon I was heading into the Rajasthani desert on my way to the Golden City of Jaislamer. The desert heat didn’t prevent me from enjoying the sand castle-like Jaisalmer Fort and the medieval old town with its spectacularly carved old mansion houses called ‘havelis’. One evening I asked my driver to take me into the desert, as I wanted to see the dunes. We were ‘gently’ persuaded by an elderly gentleman with a huge powder blue turban to take a ride on his camel. Marvellous!

The desert landscape gave way to a rural one as we journeyed to a village called Luni, where, that afternoon I took a village safari by 4WD. First I met an ancient Rajasthani couple who lived in a small, thatched mud hut, but had a battery powered wireless telephone! They belonged to an unusual caste who looked after trees and antelopes. They were wonderfully dressed, he all in white with a giant turban, and she head to toe in glorious reds with so much nose jewellery it was a wonder she could hold her head upright! I then met another family where another weathered gentleman in white demonstrated a traditional opium ceremony, before six of the nine sisters who lived there dressed me up as a Rajasthani woman!

Soon we took to the road again but unfortunately the monsoon rains were travelling in the same direction. The roads soon became flooded yet some of the sights were wonderful to behold: five men in turbans knee deep in water carrying umbrellas, a lady dripping wet in a colourful sari stoically riding a scooter, children soaked and splashing and screaming with excitement.

The rains subsided as I made my final port of call, which was Udaipur, cited by many as India's most romantic city, the Venice of the East. Situated around three lakes and surrounded by hills there is no other city like Udaipur in India. A walk through the old town seeing the locals bathing and washing their clothes on the steps, called ‘ghats’, and visiting a stunningly carved Vishnu temple where a man sang in worship, was a really special experience.

Two weeks passed and I left India happily overwhelmed and wanting to return. Being there in July and having to put my umbrella up a couple of times in no way marred my enjoyment of this confounding, contrasting and most colourful of countries.

p.s. Here are my tips on staying healthy in India:

1. Brush your teeth with bottled water

2. Wash your hands after handling money

3. Drink lots of water!!!