Nagaland: 15 pictures of India’s most fascinating tribes

India is a country that’s almost a continent. From the sky-high peaks of the Himalayas to the waterlogged jungles of Kerala and the dry-as-a-bone deserts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, this enormous nation covers an astonishing variety of terrain. There’s always somewhere worth visiting no matter what the weather is doing.

In India, every journey is an experience, whether you rumble across the subcontinent on a classic Enfield motorcycle or rattle through the hills in a chartered 4WD.

India serves up travel on a massive scale. The journey from northern Ladakh to the tip of Tamil Nadu covers 3214km (2000 miles), and it’s a 2933km (1822-mile) trip from the western edge of Gujarat to the eastern border of Manipur in the Northeast States.

India is heaven for budget travelers. Few places on earth offer quite so many rewarding travel experiences for such a pocket friendly price, particularly if you travel in cheaper classes on buses and trains and stay in budget hotels or hostels.

Riding the rails is one of the greatest joys of any India adventure, whether you’re trundling high up into the hills aboard a Unesco-listed miniature train or clattering along the sun-drenched, coast-hugging Konkan Railway.

Enter the Liberty Richter “Kitchens of India” sweepstakes by June 15, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a six-day trip for two to New Delhi, India, including air, transfers, and hotel.

Editor’s Note: For the latest version of this story, see The World’s Most and Least Expensive Cities, Ranked.

The White Musk Resort in the Himalayas is the perfect blend of luxury and natural beauty. Located in the serene Kaudia Range, the resort offers a breathtaking view of the mountains and forests, and a connection to your natural surroundings that’s pretty tough to replicate. White Musk is the perfect destination for travelers looking to escape and unwind in a peaceful environment.

Despite India’s vastness, foreign travellers tend to clump together in a relatively small number of well-known regions or cities, leaving plenty of destinations to the more intrepid few who are willing to take the challenge of escaping the tourist trail. Here’s a selection of our favourites:

Professional photographer Matt Garceau shares his experience of photographing Cartagena, Colombia .

Twenty years ago the facades of the wood-built buildings in Lunenburg, a UNESCO-listed fishing town in Nova Scotia, were white with black trimming. The only exceptions were the red buildings down by the wharf.

Whether it’s a friendly face at check in or a taxi driver who’s full of useful tips, nothing beats getting a warm welcome on your travels – and our interactions with local people have a huge impact on how we view countries as a whole. We asked our Facebook and Twitter followers to share where they’ve found the most hospitable places around the world. Here’s what they said.