I grew up in Amish country. All of my neighbors were amish. I guess when you practically live amongst them, you tend to get a different opinion of them. First, they are not as pure and honest as one might think. There's many secrets to their world that most never get to witness. I've seen many occasions where they place a higher value on their livestock than they do their own kids. Most are quite friendly when you are around them. One of my best friends growing up was amish, but when other amish kids would come around, I soon found myself on the outs. It was that way with the adults too. Most of my neighbors had a phoneline that they would share with the english neighbor that ran underground to a phone in their basement... That was pre-cell phone days though...now nearly all amish have cell phones. It's a big business in my parts to be a "Yoder-loader" aka, amish hauler. A teacher at our school had her car hit by an amish buggy...yes, by an amish buggy..pfft. He ran the buggy down the side of her van and he eventually came back when he had control of the horse... no phone, no insurance... He said the church will pay for all the damages. Not a bad thing I guess. Here's an interesting read from an autobiography of a fella that lives near us... pretty wild story.
http://www.amishabuse.com/
Although that would be a short trip for this fellow. 
All the New Yorkers from the city come to Amish country by buses. Don't know what the lure is?
