1.
You can get blissfully lost in the colorful, sprawling alleys.
2.
The standard workday has two or three chai breaks, samosas included.
3.
Eating fruit is an exciting experiment in flavors.
4.
Auto-rickshaws will make you wonder why anyone ever needed windows.
5.
India is staggeringly diverse and you'll learn a new language, but English is still widely used.
6.
Bargaining is an insanely useful skill that you can take everywhere with you.
7.
If you get tired of the hustle and bustle, you can spend an evening at an air-conditioned mega-mall and catch a new Bollywood flick.
8.
The traditional Indian cinema is nothing to sneeze at either.
9.
You can catch a sleeper train to nearly anywhere in the country for spare change.
10.
Good lassi is addictive and dangerous in all the best ways.
11.
Cricket-watching is a sport in its own right and it's easy to become a fan.
12.
There are tons of passionate young Indians who want to discuss politics and culture.
13.
The Taj Mahal is more beautiful in person than in photos.
14.
The Taj's big brother, Humayun's Tomb, is less crowded but equally as gorgeous.
15.
If you have time to visit, the Himalayas offer a view like none other.
16.
You can spend a weekend enjoying musical fusion at one of many awesome musical festivals, like the NH7 Weekender.
17.
You can buy colorful inexpensive fabric directly from a bazaar...
18.
...and have a tailor sew together the shirt or kurta of your dreams for mere dollars.
19.
You can also shop in Connaught Place for some new jeans and a great view of modern and colonial New Delhi.
20.
Homecooked Indian food is better than anything you can get in a restaurant.
21.
If you're feeling experimental, you can try bhang, which is made from the bud of the cannabis plant.
22.
WhatsApp and SMS messaging in India have a whole wacky culture of their own.
23.
You'll gain a better understanding of the word "monsoon."
24.
No bread can compare to the fresh wheaty flavor of naan, chapati and kulcha.
25.
If you’re vegetarian, you’ll have more options than meat-eaters for probably the first time in your life.
26.
If you're not ready to branch out too far, you can enjoy Indian-exclusive fast-food menu items.
27.
In the breadth of one country, you can find serene glaciers...
28.
...and expanses of soft desert sand.
29.
The street food is to die for.
30.
There's nothing more relaxing than a cheap beer and some masala-covered chips.
31.
If you're brave, India is a great place to take a road trip.
32.
The country is so vast and beautiful, you can barely fathom it.
33.
Pictures taken on Holi are FABULOUS.
34.
Religious sites are everywhere and you'll learn how to respect practices different from your own.
35.
The country has beautiful historical sites for nearly every world religion, like the Golden Temple in Punjab...
36.
...Brihadeshwara Temple in Tamil Nadu...
37.
...the Dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya in New Delhi...
38.
...Ranakpur Temple in Rajasthan...
39.
...Bara Imambara in Lucknow...
40.
...and Se Cathedral in Goa.
41.
While you're in Goa, take a day or ten to enjoy the beaches.
42.
Everyone loves the smells and sights of a good bazaar.
43.
You'll learn how versatile red sandstone is as a building material.
44.
A thali or tiffin has every food you could possibly want for lunch.
45.
Nothing beats a fresh bottle of Thums Up on a hot day.
46.
If you happen to be in India during a festival, the experience is wonderfully overwhelming.
47.
You'll gain a new understanding for the word "crowd."
48.
You'll mostly be drinking tea, but coffee-houses are hotspots of youthful activity.
49.
Street vendors have often hilarious ways of getting customers to stop at their store.
50.
There are more types of mithai than you'll know what to do with.
51.
Best of all, the country is far too big to explore even in one year abroad so you’ll come back again and again.
