For those who believe that communing with nature may be the ideal way to spend the arrival of 2000, the jungles of Madhya Pradesh should do well. These forests, straight out of Kipling, are actually inhabited by a serious tiger population as well a range of other species. You won't be able to peg your tent down in the middle of a forest clearing, as folks all over the world are doing, unless you want become history this millennium.
But there are forest lodges in the heart of Kanha and some more upmarket lodges on the edge of the dark, deep cool jungle where one can have a candlelit meal and down some champagne. Don't forget to bring some major woollens because Kanha is very cold this season. Close to Jabalpur in central India, the 1,945 sq km sal jungle is home to sambars, barasinghas, chital, leopards, bison, peacocks and a wealth of bird life.