I'm wondering what made everyone here interested in India as a tourism destination. It might sound weird or silly to some people but the first thing that made me think I wanted to travel to India was the movie The Darjeeling Limited. The main characters travelled by train across India and I thought it looked magnificent. There was also a tourism campaign in my country called "Incredible India" which I thought was interesting too and it made me think more about visiting. What about you?
When a friend of mine traveled to India as a foreign exchange student I became interested in sharing a similar experience. She was there for one year often sharing pictures and basically a diary of her everyday life. She worked with children and lived with several different families and adapted according to their lifestyle. Many of the pictures she shared were of the children and the folks there. Our church has a program with exchange students so I applied to go to India which I would have never done had my friend not shared her experience. I was disappointed when I was not accepted for the program as they wanted a young, strong student that was in college involved in classes pertaining to India. I hope that one day I will be able to afford to go on my own and experience your fabulous country.
To be honest I had never even thought about India as a tourist destination till a few months ago when a friend of mine booked a holiday there, my first reaction was really? India?! What's there? When they came back he was telling me all the stories and showing me about a million pictures he'd took and it does look like a fascinating place to visit.
That's always been a big motivation behind a lot of my travel destinations - friends or family go there and show me pictures, and ultimately it gets the travel bug ignited in me again!
I think the major factor attracting people from other countries is the diversity here. India had been dominated by many countries / dynasties from time to time. That is why India is rich in attractive monuments and historical places which has a lot of stories to tell. All these are contributions of the rulers who ruled India in the past. Geographically also India enjoys some of the best places which are naturally beautiful. Unity in the midst of diversity is the greatest strength of India I think.
The prices being way cheaper than where I live, no offense, but I've heard you can live like a king in India with just a little money. that's a good thing. The second thing that attracts me toward India is the Persians that still live in there, because it's being told that they are the pure people from Persian race and I'm persian and for some reason am curious to see them.
Ahh yes, finances definitely come into it as well! If a destination is way out of my price range I don't have a lot of desire to travel there. If I know that I can find accommodation, things to do, and food for reasonable prices, then it certainly makes it more appealing on my destination radar!
Really depends what everyone's definition of "living like a king" is. Manual labor is cheap but everything else costs more or less the same as it does else where in the world. Cars aren't cheap and fuel is not cheap either but you can get a driver for a lot less then what you would pay in some developed economies.
To me it was my sister. She lived in India for a year when she was in an ashram learning yoga and meditation. She talks about amazing people, places, culture and I’m like obsessed with India now. Besides, I’ve been in almost every continent of this world, I’m just missing Antarctica and Asia, and India seems the most interesting to me. Haven’t seen this movie, I’ll have to find it!
It was primarily all about the food. I'm a passionate cook and spices really add to my life and dishes. One of the best meals I've eaten involved curry and Roti bread, I guess you could say it not only charged my love of cooking but of the country as well. The description of the Taj Mahal, the colorful characters of Bollywood films and Hinduism suddenly interested me-- it's a very beautiful country that will enrich your life.
Oh yes, I hear you about the food! I love trying different dishes whenever I travel, and despite not having been to India yet, Indian cuisine is absolutely one of my favorites. It would be great to go there and experience the best food India has to offer!
I was lucky enough to have an Indian friend who was actually born in the USA. All his life he wanted to go back to his roots, as he called it. I've also always loved the food, music and language so when he wanted to go I was more than happy to get packing and hit the road. Our trip was amazing (no disappointments at all). We even went to Taj Mahal. Beautiful people and beautiful country.
I think for me the story of the Mahabharata and how the battle takes place in Kurukshetra and the kingdoms that many kings ruled in that era and also how the battle was fierce and the place it took place still exits today which is amazing. It is interesting in 2012 the city banned meat as it is a religious city and people do need to be aware of not taking any meat products over here and surprising the area is well developed, and now has a university. I think it is amazing that the land which had a fierce war is well developed, and also people still visit the place and can be good if you are travelling and want to know about the history of the place.
I personally have always been fascinated with India. The culture is so much different than anything I have been exposed to in my life so far. I would love to see all the historic places, and meet the locals. To me, the only real way to understand a culture is to go there, meet the people, eat the food, and just see what life is like there. I would also love to be dressed by the Indian women there. Have them help me pick out a beautiful outfit and see myself through their eyes.
I have always been an avid traveler. India has been on my bucket list for years now and an just so excited to see it. The culture is what really mashes me want to visit. Anytime I've ever visited another Country I've found myself immersed in the future if the natives. From the clothing, to did, religious practices etc, I gave always been enamored by it. When I do travel to Delhi, I plan on visiting more rural areas ( that are safe of course)to gain a better perspective on the culture. I think we do ourselves a disadvantage when we aren't willing to learn about the culture of the country we are visiting. I actually find it quite rude to be honest The dress of those in India is so beautiful. Seeing it on television only helps so much as I am the type of person who likes to see things in person. It makes me excited almost when I see a documentary about India. The fashion alone is amazingly beautiful!
I think it's great that you want to visit more rural areas. I think sometimes in big cities it can be hard to get the 'real feel' of what a place is like, but visiting more rural areas can feel more authentic - at least that has been my experience with some of the places I have visited!
The Indian culture has always fascinated me. It's just so beautiful and I have a lot of respect for it - in fact, I think I respect and like India's culture than my own. That might sound like an exaggeration, but it's actually true. I suppose the culture you grow up in is always less interesting than the foreign cultures. I spent my childhood travelling to modern western countries (Singapore, United States, Japan, England, Australia, Switzerland & more) and of course while they are definitely amazing and are all beautiful and exciting in their own ways, I've always preferred the less-modern, more exotic countries like India. It's just an amazing feeling to experience something vastly different for once; something truly unique.
I believe I have mentioned this before already, but it was a friend of mine who pointed me towards India (not literally), while we were talking about exotic locations. After that I slowly started to do my research, and I've fell in love with the idea. That's also why I'm here, so you can thank my buddy for my presence.
I had an Indian mother and travelled extensively with her back to India throughout my childhood, which only increased my curiosity about the rest of the country. When I married my Indian-born wife we began taking yearly trips back there so she could visit her parents. I've travelled all over the World, but only in India will you find such incredible diversity, a dynamic and emergent economy and an incredible heritage and countless historical points of interest. So many places around the World look so similar due to Globalization and international business models but India alone has retained a unique sense of its history while still emerging as a modern Western country.
The first time I came to India, I was very much against it. I was required to come for business purposes. I did not want to go at all as I thought I would be very uncomfortable and chaotic. I can gladly say that not only was I wrong about not liking the place, I fell in love with it. The ambiance of India is something that cannot be replicated. I have been to China as well and even with similar population densities, I can clearly say that Indian individuals are vastly more kind and accepting than most. I am not downgrading Chinese individuals but it was something that I noted very quickly. The culture of India which I recieved also peaked my interest and convincd me to return one day just to enjoy being a tourist and not a bu
Well, that's a tough question because there is so much reasons. The first thing that's pulling me to India are some of its beautiful cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Then comes their great culture and history that I was interested in since very young age. Mughal architecture is gorgeous and to be honest, I would give any amount of money just to see Taj Mahal up close, haha! Also Indian music and dancing like bhangra. What really had a big influence on my love for India is Disney's animated movie "Aladdin". Since it was my favorite cartoon as a child and since I have watched it over 30 times, it's kinda obvious that I would eventually show interest for this country.
Well, I was born and raised in India so I think it would be kind of natural to "like your country" and wanting to see more of it. I used to go on small trips every Sunday during the Monsoon season in India when I was little. Since then I have grown to liking India more and more and I really want to keep travelling and travelling. The whole of India is on my wish list and I wish to be able to say "I traveled around the whole of India" one day!
I explained before that my reason for going to India in the first place was accompanying an Indian friend of mine who was born in the USA. That was that. We are still great friends. But to be honest, I've been back without him. I was so caught up with the sites, culture and people that I had to go back a second time. My girlfriend playfully hinted that maybe I had a "special interest" more than food and music. We still laugh about that. I think once people go there one time, they will find many nice reasons to go back.
That's great that you're so passionate about traveling around your own country! I think a lot of the time, people look towards international destinations without considering all the beauty and history in their own countries that there is to explore!
I agree! Even people who are from USA want to visit all the countries but to be honest, there are just soooo many good things to see in USA itself, that why would you like to spend so much money to go visit a different country?!
Many of my acquaintances including my best friend's mother and other good friends has been to India several times. All the stories, pictures and memories they shared with me really sparked my interest, that this country is really something that you have to experience for yourself.
It would be kind of strange considering yourself a tourist in a place that is sophisticated as New York. I'm given the impression that India has more of a natural environments, I'm that's what I'm drawn to. India also seems to be the place that has the brightest minds. A few of the guys in my class in high school were Indians and they were extremely bright, on top of the class if I may say so.
I think one of the reasons is my friend who told me a lot about India and people there. I was impressed how impressed he was because i know him and that is not an easy task. He showed me some pictures and videos. We talked about food which is my favourite topic and i was hooked. After that i started googling the places and sites to see in India. Learning about this helped me in my decision to have plans in near future of visiting this beautiful country. Here, i found out that many Indian people are vegetarians so that made even more happy and decisive in this matter.
My interest was sparked when I took an Open University course called 'Introducing Religions' a couple of years ago. Of all the faiths we studied, Hinduism intrigued me the most and ever since the course finished I've felt this yearning to visit India and witness it first hand. Kind of a 'spiritual tourist' I guess - I hope that doesn't sound patronising? I don't mean it to be!
It's the second most populous country on the face of the Earth. I also visited some Indian exhibitions and was pretty impressed with their creativity.
Well, my sister lived in India and she's so in love with the country and its people that it just makes me want to be there now! She's so apssionate about it and is dying to go back, so we're planning a family vacation next year to visit as many places as we can in twenty days. Also the idea of submerging into a whole new world with a culture that's so different than mine sounds amazing. I think this is what traveling is about, entering a world different than yours and absorbing as many experiences as you can. After all this is what life is about and our memories and experiences are the only things we take with us.
India one of the biggest countries known in the world with, beautiful waterfalls, temples, beautiful landscapes, greenery and must more to spend quality time with your family friends and loved ones.
I have been hearing and reading about India since I was a child. It always sounded like a dream destination, so I decided to make that dream come true
I took a class in college that really sparked my interest, and then in my career I have met many Indian people and I got to travel there for work about two years ago and it was the best thing ever. The culture is amazing and the people are even more amazing. I loved it, and I even brought along one of the books from that class with me for whatever reason. The book was The Circle Of Reason if anyone is interested.
India is Nepal's neighbor.Nepal and India shares culture, religion and history.I have been to India many times. When I am in India, I don't feel like I am in foreign country.