Tourism in India is a tale of amazing potential, confusing paradoxes, missed opportunities and massive under utilisation of resources. Compared to rest of the tourist hotspots around the world, India has mind boggling variety of tourist attractions of all types which can attract almost every single type of tourist out there. Ancient archaeological heritage of India which goes back to nearly 4000 years is spread all over India, from Laddakh to Kanyakumari.
India is blessed with such awe inspiring ancient monuments at a scale unrivaled by any other country in the world. Forts of Rajput rulers in Rajasthan, artful temples of Bundels, luxurious monuments constructed by Mughals, amazingly beautiful Konkan temples are just a small fraction of this wealth spread across it’s length and breadth. Adventure tourists have some of the best and virtually untouched destinations in Laddakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, Sikkim, Mizoram and other north-eastern states . Wild life enthusiasts have the option of seeing some of the rarest wildlife not found anywhere else in world in Gir, Jim Corbett and many other national parks.
Adventure tourism, specially in north-eastern states has a lot of potential but hasn’t been explored even partially. The north-eastern states states have some of the best places for adventure activities like trekking, mountain climbing, camping and much more. Culinary tourism in India which has the biggest potential is just a small speck. Considering the vast culinary diversity of India, the country should be the top destination for all foodie tourists.
So many religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism originated in India and their followers from all over the world wish to visit places important to their faiths. Medical tourism in India due to high quality healthcare at very low prices attracts people from all over the world. Culture and food junkies can’t find any place better than India with it’s diversity in languages, people, food, music, literature and culture which go back thousands of years. To top that, India is one of the cheapest tourist destinations compared to most of western countries. There is no other country in the world which offers so much diversity in such a package. Anyone would think that with so many blessings, India would be the tourist hub of the world. To top it all, India is one of the cheapest destinations in the world for tourists.
In 2011, 62 lakh foreigner tourists arrived in India. Tourism sector in India employs nearly 4 crore people and is $ 121 billion dollar industry. Seems impressive, only till compared to 2.5 crore tourists per year Malaysia which has little to offer except beaches and and cheap shopping. Top tourist destination in world is France with 8.2 crore tourists in 2011 and 8.3 crore in 2012. India is not even in top 10 tourist destinations in world or even Asia. It’s actually ranked 38, preceded by countries like Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Egypt and even Tunisia. Just for sake of perspective, go through the following list:
( 1 million = 10 lakh, 100 lakh = 1 crore)
Country No. of tourists
Tourism in India is more than just Taj Mahal, Chandratal Lake, Spiti
Turkey 3.5 crore
Morocco 92 lakh
Tunisia 69 lakh
South Africa 80 lakh
China 5.8 crore
Saudi Arab 1.7 crore
Egypt 94 lakh
Thailand 1.9 crore
Looking at these figures, one can’t help but wonder what is wrong with Indian tourism sector. It’s not that people around the world are unaware of what India has to offer. Established travel forums like TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet are full of foreigners discussing and asking for information related to travel in India. Sections related to India are the ones with maximum number of posters. On Tripadvisor, India section has more than 10000 threads, exceeded only by 15000 threads of Thaliand. A lot people from all over the world wish to visit India but are turned away by numerous factors.
Some of such issues are:
1) Complicated visa procedures: Infamous Indian red tape and bureaucracy is a nuisance outside the country too. Unlike other tourist hotspots, India makes it much more difficult and expensive for tourists to get a visa. India offers on arrival visa to only a handful of countries including Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and 4-5 others. In comparison, Malaysia offers on arrival visa to majority of countries except Israel, India, China and some African countries.
2) Bad infrastructure : Even though rapid development is happening, India is still a long way from having a world class tourist infrastructure.
3) Safety : Image of India has taken a severe beating recently due to various factors. Pakistan sponsored terrorism in various parts of India is also a big turn 0ff.
4) Lack Of Promotion Unlike other countries where governments and private organisations, spend large amounts of money and effort to promote tourism in their own countries, Indian efforts in this case have been very limited. Incredible India campaign which was launched with much fanfare a few years back ran out of steam pretty quickly.
Above mentioned points are not unique to just India. A lot of countries face similar problems, have very little tourist attractions but still manage to attract many more tourists than India. We need to learn from them and make necessary changes as soon as possible. Some recent high profile projects like Golden Quadrilateral Highway project, Delhi Agra expressway, high speed trains with bio toilets etc are steps in right direction. But a lot more needs to be done. A lot of our customers are solo travelers, men and women of all ages. Some of them spend months or even years traveling inside India without facing any problem. But the recent bad press and selective reporting has messed up image of India badly. In an industry where perception counts for a lot, an effort has to be made to promote the attractions and good points of India rather than just the bad news.
Development of infrastructure accompanied by positive publicity should be the top priority for us. There have been small baby steps, but what we need is a sustained organised effort.
Indian Food Blog: Himachal Pradesh The snow-clad mountains, lush green valleys, the freshness in the air, tranquillity in the environment, these are a few things that describe Himachal Pradesh at its best. From the road vendors to the authentic cafes and restaurants, Himachali people will pour their hearts out in their dishes. Akotri is made with buckwheat mixed with wheat that is usually prepared on occasions of festivities.The thought of a buckwheat cake might not sound so great but is both scrumptious and healthy. With the goodness of ghee, it provides you with enough nutrients and calories to survive a good hike. Sidu is a local bread made from wheat flour. The flour is kneaded and set aside for some hours for the yeast to settle and the dough to rise. The dough is put on the bonfire to be par-cooked and then later steamed to complete the cooking. This distinct bread is usually enjoyed with ghee . Ambal has mouth-watering taste due to the mixed sweet- sour flavours. Ambal is pumpkin dish usually served with rice and rajma. The dish is neither totally liquid nor totally dry. This dogri dish packs a lot of flavours and is a must try during the winters. Madra is a delicacy that belongs to Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. This dish consists of the soaked chickpeas or vegetables. Madra is one of those dishes that represents the food culture of Himachal Pradesh and is available at every restaurant, and on festivals, offered to you with utmost love. Rajma Chawal is a delicious dish and contains good quality of carbohydrate and protein that can suit your taste. This popular dish is loved by people of all age groups. Rajma Chawal is perfect for a Sunday brunch or on a get-together with family and friends. It is cooked by using rajma(kidney beans) rice, onions, tomatoes and melange of spices. Kheru is a very tasty and authentic himachali dish. It is served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Kheru is prepared with sour curd, coriander seeds, onions. Kheru is usually served with piping hot rice but can also be eaten with rotis or parathas. Sepu Vadi is simply a mouth watering dish. Sepu Vadi is cooked mostly on wedding occasion in Himachal Pradesh .Normally this dish is made with spinach , curd gravy and split Urad Dal.
Chaat – Indian Street Food Various varieties of Chaat are some of most popular Indian street food dishes and quite more than just snacks for people in India. Chaat is among the lightest, cheapest and most convenient meal to have when someone is in a hurry. Indian street food is incomplete without a mention of chaat. A confusing point that many people don’t get is that a lot of Indian street food items are called chaat. Some of more popular chaat dishes are papdi chaat, gol gappa also called paani puri,and bhalla chaat. Chaat is a street food dish, but some kind of it always served during most parties in India. Even posh, high-end restaurants have started serving chaat items, but they are often beaten by the street food vendors who have been doing it for generationsA large number of chaat food items exist in India, many with completely different flavours, looks and ingredients from the rest. Many chaats are eaten cool and thus are enjoyable even in summer. Pani puris for example, are just water flavoured with digestive spices served in hollow balls made of crisp flour. Sometimes they are garnished with chick peas and boiled mashed potatoes. The flavoured water is usually salty made using pudina (mint), rock salt, pepper, and some other ingredients depending upon where you eat it. For people who like sweetness, bit of sweet and tangy tamarind chutney is added. A number of different flavours among pani puris are available catering to almost every type of fan. The flavoured water is considered to help with digestion and is useful in preventing dehydration during hot summers of India. Many people drink pani puri water by cups. Puris are the most common ingredients for other types of chaats. They are small, crisp and crackle loudly when broken. Boiled or fried potatoes and two or more types of chutney ( a type of sauce) are also used. One chutney, made of imli (tamarind) is sweet and tangy . Second one is spicy and made of pudina (mint), ginger and green chillies. Many street food items, including chaat may or may not have dahi (curd, yooghurt), another popular food item in India. It helps with digestion and makes tolerating excess spiciness easy for people who are not used to it. Dahi bhalla chaat is a very popular and tasty street food item, specially popular during summers. The yoghurt is thickened and sometimes sweetened, giving it a smooth creamy texture which gels really well with bhalla . It is sometimes sprinkled with chaat masala, onion garnishing and bits of fried potatoes.Chaat masala is another thing which helps with digestion but is used more in a wa, not just to increase the flavours. It may have different varieties and ingredients in different places. Most popular are powders of , dried raw mango (aam choor), ginger, pepper, rock salt and dried pomegranates ( anaar daana). Apart from their use as chaat masala, these ingredients are also used in combination with other different ingredients as churan to help with digestion. Bhel puri, from Maharashtra is a very tasty light snack made of sev ( thin noodle like crisps made of besan) and puffed rice. They are sprinkled with chaat masala, chutney and garnished with tomatoes and onions. It’s a good snack to have, light on stomach and low on oil. Aaloo tikki is another very popular chaat dish made of boiled and then crisply fried potato cakes. They are served as soon as they are cooked, garnished with chaat masala, chutney and sometimes yoghurt. It’s a heavy dish due to fried potatoes but it’s popular all the same. McDonalds in India even launched a McAaloo Tikki burger to cash in on its popularity.Even if the chaat may seem heavy or tough to digest, yoghurt and chat masala make sure that your digestive system stays fit and healthy. As with everything else, it’s not good to eat chaat in excess, especially if you don’t know about Indian food in details How to eat chaat or any other food in India While traveling in Delhi or any other Indian city, you will find a number of street food vendors selling different varities of food with chaat vendors being a significant majority. Some of them will be there just to make a quick buck and be done with the whole thing, while others serve their food with pride and care for customers. Important thing is to know how to distinguish between the two. Good street food vendors care for their clientele and serve only the best quality food. You can tell it from their loyal customers. Make sure that the food vendors you visit obey basic hygiene rules. Confirm that the food ingredients are covered and protected from dust and flies. Most street food vendors use disposable plates, but if they are not, make sure that they are clean. Read this article to know more about how to keep safe from water and food related problems while traveling. We hope that this article will help you enjoy Indian street food, specially chaat better. Happy munching. Contact us for feedback, queries or for booking an Indian street food tour. Image courtesy: Wikipedia
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For tourists all over the world, it’s hard job to avoid getting cheated by different kinds of tourist scams. Touts and middlemen are a bane of tourists everywhere. They are pesky, greedy, dishonest and always looking for a way to con unsuspecting tourists out of money by any means possible. This article is intended to help tourists avoid getting cheated by scams perpetrated by such touts and other scammers. But first, we’ll explain what we are talking about by the help of some real life incidents. Examples of travel scams 1) Tea tasting scams There are numerous versions of this tourist scam all over the world. In this, a very friendly local will ask you for a minor favour like taking a picture, then try to gain your trust by any means possible. Then they offer to take you to a very unique restaurant, festival etc for a special tea tasting session, best food in town or something similar. When it comes to the point of paying for it, they show their true colours by presenting an amount that could buy enough food to feed 100s of people for weeks. 2) Providing wrong information The most recent one we heard was from an American tourist who wanted to see Delh’s Red Fort (Lal Qila). He got out of his hotel from Paharganj, which is only 10-15 minutes drive from the fort and started looking for an auto-rickshaw to get there. A tout came up to him and offered him to take him there in his ‘private car’, which would have cost 5-6 times what auto-rickshaw would have charged. When the tourist refused, the tout told him that due to terrorist threat, only private cars were allowed inside the fort and auto-rickshaws and other vehicles are not. Fortunately, the tourist was smart and he ignored everything the tout said. He hired an auto-rickshaw and visited Red Fort without any issue. 3) Tour of workshops, showrooms One of the most infamous scams in many tourist hot-spots is touts, guides, taxi-drivers etc taking to you for a tour of a workshop, garments factory, rug factory etc and claim that it’s just part of the tour and they are under no pressure to buy anything. But the unsuspecting tourists are tricked in to buying some useless trinket at vastly inflated prices by the silver-tongued touts. 4) Recommending shady businesses Touts and middle-men like to recommend particular hotels, shops or relevant business establishment by promising good deals and discounts. Everyone from taxi drivers to guides to travel agents and hotel owners are guilty of this. In some cases, they can get you something you may or may not require, but it’s almost always at inflated prices due to commissions involved. The business owner is obligated to pay sums as high as 50% of the sale value to the referrer. How to avoid travel scams while traveling As evident, any tourist is very likely to be approached by unscrupulous touts in a wide variety of situations. Here is how you can avoid losing your money in any of common travel scams: 1) Read reviews Most of reputable businesses worth their salt have an online presence by the means of a website, reviews of forums and various travel related sites like Tripzar, Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor and many others. Look around for what other travelers are saying about them. Many businesses will have some bad reviews. In that case check how they responded or did anything to make up for the bad experience. There are many business with no online presence which can be good, but always ask fellow travelers before spending your money. People who are in business for long care about their reputation and are more trustworthy than small time touts who care only about money. 2) Contact in advance and keep things clear It’s important that a tourist knows every relevant detail before handing over the money. It’s easy to fall for common travel scams if you don’t know how your money will be spent by agents. If you are planning any trip, make sure to have information about every hotel, car, guide, driver, food, sightseeing etc. written down for quick reference. It’s helpful in more than one way. Not only you have a good idea of what you are paying for, but you can also weed out the things you don’t need or ask for upgrades and better facilities. 3) Avoid the shops random strangers and untrustworthy guides insist on As mentioned above, most business owners pay a very large percentage of their sales amount to whoever brings clients to them. . While a small commission is OK, most of the time, it’s so much that the tourists end up buying things at many times their reasonable cost. Taxi drivers may offer you reduced fare if you agree to visit some showrooms or shops on the way. Avoid them at all costs. If you absolutely have to go, then always check for reasonable price and bargain hard. 4) Keep low profile This may sound strange to some, but do not show off your expensive branded clothes, electronics, wads of cash etc as a status symbol. Keep a low profile, don’t let other people know of your economic status. People who look rich attract more unsavoury characters than simple and broke backpackers. 5) Ignore them, don’t engage A lot of places frequented by tourists will have numerous vendors, guides and beggars trying to sell you something or asking for money. Don’t pay any attention to them or make eye contact or do anything to make them think that you might be interested in buying something from them. Not everyone is a tout, but most such people are poor who just want to make some money qucik. 6) Call bluffs of fake officers Some travel scams involve scammers pose as officers of some government agency and try to fleece money.It’s rare but if you ever have the misfortune of meeting any such low-life, ask
Being a state which produces staple food in abundance, a great part of the foods of Chhattisgarh consists of the staple crops such as Rice, Bajra, Jawar. The food of Chattisgarh is mostly inspired from its neighboring states. Aamat is considered as the Sambhar of Bastar region . This delectable delicacy is prepared with mixed vegetables which is cooked along with the ginger garlic paste and various spices to enhance the flavor of the dish. Traditionally, the dish has been prepared in the bamboo shoots. Bara is a unique variant of the Vada. Bara is basically a light snack which is made from fermented Urad Dal . Various vegetables and spices are added along with the fermented lentils to add perfection to this famous dish of the state. The minimum oil usage makes Bara super light and super healthy to eat. Chilla is also known as Chhattisgarhi dosa.It is made up of rice flour and Urad dal. An official dish of morning or evening served with different types of chutney with no filling inside the chilla. Fara is a dish made up of rice flour, cooked in steam and then shallow fried. This dish has to be served with complimentary green chutney or even sauce can work. Fara are made in the form of dumpling . Sabudana ki Khichdi is one of the most healthy and delicious dishes of Chhattisgarh. Sabudana Ki Khichdi is prepared with the soaked Sabudana balls. To add the flavor to the dish, vegetables and spices are added that provides a delicious taste to the plate.
Gujarati food is more than just Dhokla. North Gujarat, Kacch, Kathiyawad and Surti Gujarat are the four major regions of Gujarat and each of these bring their own uniqueness to Gujarati cuisine. Dabeli, Kutch dabeli or double roti is a popular snack food originating in the Kutchof Gujarat. Dabeli literally means “pressed” in Gujarati.It is made with mixing boiled potatoes with a special masala and served with chutney, pomegranate and roasted peanuts. Fafda is a popular Gujarati snack. Fafda is usually yellowish in complexion. It is eaten with a chutney and salty fried-green chilis. Jalebi is sweet and crunchy making this sweet-savoury dish a favourite. Khaman is a food common in the Gujarat , made from soaked and freshly ground chana dal .The final touch to the soft and fluffy khaman is added with a garnishing of sesame seeds, mustard seeds, coriander leaves. It is a variant of Dhokla and has a lighter colour. Khichu is a dough for making papad made from rice flour, however, a few other flours are also used. The snack is prepared by cooking flour in water like porridge with cumin seeds and an alkaline salt known as Papad Khar.The name khichu is derived from the ductile nature of the dough. Khandvi consists of yellowish, tightly rolled bite-sized pieces and is primarily made of gram flour and yogurt. Khandvi is readily available across India and is commonly eaten as an appetizer or snack and is served with garlic chutney. Muthia is a staple of Gujaratis.The name is derived from the way it is made, from the ‘gripping’ action of the hand. Muthia assembles a shape of sausage. The inclusion of fenugreek makes Muthia good for bowel movement. Sev Tameta is made using juicy tomatoes served with heaps of besan sev. The gujrati version of the dish is a bit sweeter with the inclusion of jaggery.
Traveling makes everybody a better person. We end our adventure happier than we started off. Travel makes one a better individual as well as a more interesting one as well. This makes one type of a person people float towards and want to associate with them. Following are some approaches to become a better person while having enjoyable travel experiences : 1. Happier Travels Travel tells you the best way to be cheery. You’ll end up being free, progressively sure and believe them to be an increasingly impressive spot. Being neighbourly, entertaining, social, cheery, certain are generally attributes that make people progressively productive in a standard day by day presence. Travel improves people. When you get acquainted with the world , push your cutoff points and try new things become an undeniably open, cheerful, and incredible person. 2. Say no to materialism All over the place, you adjust precisely how little stuff you truly need. You’ll comprehend that the stuff they sell at the mall is totally useless in life. Returning home, you’ll get yourself a moderate just in light of the fact that you comprehend what you need to live and what you don’t. 3. Easy going attitude Simply take the path of least resistance. Continuously be loose and accommodating while at the same time voyaging. Travel might most likely show new something new when you are calm and willing to realize what ‘s out there .4. Become sharp and smarter While voyaging you’ll get some answers concerning people, history and culture and arcane convictions about spots a couple of individuals could simply dream about. To put it doubtlessly, you’ll have a predominant understanding about how it capacities and how people continue. That is something that can’t be picked up from books; you can simply lift it up without and about experience. 5. Adapt to the Environment Various places have various foods and encompassing. Regular voyages make you increasingly versatile to new places like attempting fiery nourishment, encountering an entirely different world. Venture out of your customary range of familiarity to encounter. 6. Be confident while travelling In the wake of voyaging so much and achieving so much, you’re going to feel significantly increasingly positive about your capacity to accomplish anything you set your focus on. In this way, as you banter with an ever increasing number of outsiders your confidence normally develops. 7. Be good at ConversationsTravel does not simply fulfill you with chatting with outcasts, it improves you at it also. Unavoidably, you couldn’t think less about where people are from, where they are going, to what degree they’ve been voyaging. 8. Be more social You ought to be progressively open to individuals. You figure out how to make new companions and get progressively agreeable to outsiders. Make sense of how to make new buddies and get continuously content with bantering with new people.
