Pachmarhi

Captain James Forsyth came upon this saucer-shaped plateau in 1857 while surveying the forests, and the British made it the summer capital of the Central Provinces; the churches, bungalows and cantonment order remain. The name comes from panch marhi, five caves, the Pandava Caves cut into a sandstone hill that were in fact Buddhist cells of around the 1st century BCE. Around the town the Satpura Tiger Reserve protects one of India's oldest forests, and a day here alternates between short walks and long views.

Bee Falls, or Jamuna Prapat, is a plunge pool you can swim in beneath a 35-metre cascade; Rajat Prapat, the Silver Fall, drops 107 metres and is viewed from a ledge beyond Apsara Vihar; Duchess Falls needs a steep scramble. Jata Shankar is a Shiva shrine in a cave under a hanging boulder; the Mahadeo cave and, above it, Chauragarh at 1,326 metres, with its forest of iron trishuls left by pilgrims at Mahashivratri, is a 1,300-step climb. Dhupgarh, at 1,352 metres the highest point in Madhya Pradesh, is where everyone gathers at sunset for the view across ridges to the Narmada plain.

Handi Khoh is a 90-metre gorge; Priyadarshini, or Forsyth Point, is where the captain first saw the plateau. Gypsy jeeps take you inside the reserve to the falls and viewpoints; a guided trek to Dhupgarh or along the buffer trails is the best way to hear the forest. Pipariya, 50 km down the ghat, is the railhead.