Himachal Pradesh : Ruffled by the lower ridges of the Shivalik Range in the far south, cut through by the Pir Panjal and Dhaulandhar ranges in the northwest, and dominated by the great Himalayas in the north and east Himachal Pradesh is India's most popular and easily accessible hill state, Sandwiched between the Punjab and Tibet, its lowland orchards. Together with deep gorges cut by rivers crashing down from the Himalayas, these mountains from natural boundaries between the state's separate districts.

An obvious way to approach the state is to head north from Delhi to the state capital, Shimla, beyond the lush and temperate valleys of Sirmaur. 

Visitors to the densely populated Kangra Valley west of Manali invariably make  a beeline fro Dharamsala, whose large community of Tibetan exiles includes the Dalai Lamba himself. Trekking paths lead east from here to the tea growing district of Palampur, and north  across the treacherous passes of the Dhaulandhar mountains into the Chamba Valley.