Discover India 'with the locals'

Anyone who is considering booking flights to India may find the experiences of one couple useful when planning their itinerary.

Saurav Jha and Devapriya Roy have both left their jobs and are travelling around their home country, following recommendations by people on social networking site Facebook, Asian Lite reported. The couple told news provider IANS that they wanted to "see India as it is".

"We decided to move the way the locals do in an area - talk with them, hear their stories and become part of them," Jha explained.

Named the Heat and Dust project, the pair will write a book about their experiences once their trip ends, which is scheduled for publication in June next year. So far, they have visited destinations such as Mumbai, Bhopal, Kerala and Pune. Their journey is set to finish at the end of July.

People who have booked flights to India may be interested in one region's latest tourism campaign. The mountain area of Himachal Pradesh has come up with a scheme to promote "traditional cultures of hill villages" in an attempt to develop them as important tourism destinations.