Why do travellers opt for India ?

Loads of travellers come to India because of

1. India's history, people, culture and heritage
2. India's beautiful geography - snow capped peaks, beaches, deserts, backforests and wild life
3. India is a cheap travel destination
4. India appeals to the spiritual aspects of people
5. Friends say going to India is cool
6. Others...what specifically

Work brought me here, 1-4 above kept me here.

Well, There is a typo in the poll answer options..

Option 2 is : India's beautiful geography - snow capped peaks, beaches, deserts, backwaters and wild life

Good answer Mark !!

Hope there will be more friends like Mark, so Aztec, ‘Work’ option is missing. BTW what could be the option for Indian IMers like me? What about ‘I do not have a passport” or “no one is ready to give me the visa”?

Hey Som,

This thread is meant for foreign travellers in India, or people like Mark.....well, did not think of the people comin to India for employment option.

May be after 2 yrs or so, i will be good idea to add as one of the options....for now, the trend is still in the nascent stage.

my boyfriend is from india and i wanted to see what it was like. i also have some internet friends, who invited me for the pongol (sp...pongal ?) festival. traveling to india was the best thing i could have done. it may not have been right to marry my guy without first experiencing the place i will end up living in a few years. it's sooooooooo different than the us, but i LOVE it !!

I picked two, though it's incredibly closely followed by one. I must admit that 3, whilst not the motivation, is, if all of us westerners here are honest, a helpful plus for the western traveller.
And all your mates in the pub do go 'cool' when you say, 'I went to India'.


Nice survey though!

Well I've not been yet, but looking forward to 1 and especially 2, and like Rob said, 3 is a bonus. As for 5, well, a few of my mates are going to Thailand soon, so India is cool, but not that cool apparently.

6. Others...what specifically
__________________

When I first came to India in 1970 I didn't know I was coming until I arrived. There was no plan to come, It just happened to be about the furthest point you could get to from the UK without flying,,,,,,,,,,,
There was no oh I want to visit here or there or see that place or another we just played each day as it came,

The rest is history,,,,,,,,,,,

Volunteer work got me there. 1 made me stay and 1,2 and 3 are reasons for my return.

Only 5 days to go

i write and live in london. and although i welcome the many distractions that london brings, after i've finally prepared and fleshed out what needs doing with my work, i then remove myself from here and deposit myself over there, knowing that i am going to get the main body of work down on paper, something i couldn't ever hope to achieve in anywhere near the same time scale at home.

with regards to the poll, i would have to say 1 & 2 definitely, 3 certainly helps and 4 may very well be why i find it so easy to write without distraction in a country so very full of distractions!

oh, and option 5 doesn't quite have that effect with many of my friends. believe me.

Hey Padma,

Have a great time in India.

Thanks lonely,
I've spent the day making weird impulse purchases and getting myself way too excited. It really is impossible to work this close to a big trip.

I just can't wait to see the kids I work with again

When I first went to India, it was because it was as far from San Francisco as I could go....then I became enchanted and keep going back.

i have no idea why people go these days . . .
I had no idea where I was going when I first went . . . I keep going because I wanna see what happens next!