India is almost too much.

A trek through the country offers an all-out assault on the senses, with overpowering smells, tastes and colors, and constant noise, congestion and chaos. Its beauty and people, though, make it a photographer’s dream – especially a photographer who prefers things over the top.

I don’t normally track the number of photos I take, but on this two-week trip I fired off more than 10,000 frames. India is bursting with vibrant visual treats and its people are welcoming and incredibly open to photography.

An assignment teaching photography brought me to northern India. The tour was led by Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa, an American Sikh, and offered a steady course of spirituality as well as a photographic feast. We reveled in grand sights such as the Taj Mahal as well as small temples and back alleys.

It helped to have a guide such as Khalsa who knows the country so well.

Spirituality in India is deep-rooted and ever-present. The nation is the birthplace of four world religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism – so it’s no wonder spirituality serves as a strong part of its fabric.

Hindus dip, bathe, pray and play in the Ganges River (also known as the Ganga) while bodies burn nearby in day and night cremations that choke the air with smoke on the banks of the country’s most sacred river.

About 80 percent of Indians are Hindus. The rest are mostly Muslims (13 percent), Christians (2 percent), Sikhs (2 percent) and Buddhists (less than 1 percent). It’s a country one-third the size of the United States, with three times its population.

Throughout India, streets teem with pedestrians, cows, rickshaws, bicycles and a hodgepodge of vehicles, most of them wildly overloaded with passengers or goods.

Braving the crowds in a city such as Varanasi is not for the faint of heart but well worth the adventure. Don’t pass on a chance to ride one of the three-wheeled Tuk Tuks (auto rickshaws) that are ubiquitous.

India has three main seasons – summer, winter and monsoon. It’s best to avoid the summer months (March through June) because of the stifling heat and the monsoon (June through October). From November to March, however, visitors can expect comfortable days and chilly nights.

Our chilliest nights in February came in the foothills of the Himalayas in Dharamsala, the home of the Dalai Lama. Hot ginger tea became a staple and hot water bottles greeted us in our beds nightly at the Chonor House, a charming guesthouse.

Dharamsala provides a little taste of Tibet in India. If you’re lucky (and we were), you’ll catch a glimpse of the Dalai Lama’s motorcade passing through narrow streets lined with his followers.

Dharamsala is also where I fell for a common scam. A man on the street noticed my shoes were in poor shape and very nicely offered to repair them during lunch for only $2. He then asked me to accompany him to a nearby shop to buy rice and milk for his children. I was happy to help. Unfortunately, after being charged $25 for a bag of rice and powdered milk, I then realized the man was in cahoots with the shop owner. Still, it was a small price to pay for a life lesson and, frankly, I admire their creativity in finding a way to separate me from my money. The experience in no way changed my opinion that Indians are the warmest and kindest people you’ll meet anywhere.

Fellow traveler Jennifer Foreman described India as a place “where outward poverty can be eclipsed by the beauty and inherent richness of spirit in the people and place.”

The land that gave us Gandhi still carries his portrait on its currency. His quotes grace signs and walls in hotels, alleyways and shops. I didn’t, however, spot my favorite quote attributed to Gandhi: “I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.”

I’m confident that if these were his words, they were spoken with tongue planted firmly in cheek. His land is any photographer’s dream destination.