16 December,2010 06:36 AM IST | | Soma Das
Whether you're planning a holiday to the Himalayas or want to sign up for an eco-friendly trail, logging on to incredibleindia.org will throw up a fair share of interesting options
The Government of India's Tourism Ministry's official website (www.incredibleindia.org) might not capture the imagination of the average holiday planner. However, a patient browse-through will ensure you volumes of India-centric holiday information.
Almost like an instant put-off, the home page didn't exactly appeal. Luckily, our mood was salvaged when we clicked on the many tabs that are linked to several pages offering tons of facts on India's history, geography, arts and culture, fairs and festivals, cuisine and languages. The Help Desk tab earns brownie points for useful travel information including maps, phone codes, weather updates, baggage rules, visa and embassy
information.
We loved their Trip planner application which allows you to choose an area within India that you wish to know more about; this goes on to give you details on specific places, accommodation, packages, interconnecting trains and heritage sites; depending on your budget and tourist attractions, almost like anin-house travel agent.
There's a link that will help you browse this site in Hindi as well. Nice touch, we thought. There's a mix of holiday choices too ufffd from adventure sports retreats to eco-tourism hotspots. You'll also find useful links on their homepage, to websites of the Youth Hostels of India (YHAI), Air India, and the Eco Tourism Society of India.
However, the site can do with better photographs, considering it is a travel-centric site. Playing to the non-Indian gallery, the only images that popped up throughout were those of the Taj Mahal. We also noticed that the wallpapers went through a fair amount of Photoshop work, bordering on the absurd. How else can you explain the picture of a beautiful lotus pond juxtaposed with images of a woman doing various asanas?u00a0
log on to www.incredibleindia.org
