the India Budget Travel & Backpacking N00b starters guide

Oh, India. Backpacking through India is a budget traveler’s dream I’ve been fortunate to have experienced firsthand. December – January 2010, I spent 3 weeks on a fairly typical route through India. I embarked from Bangkok, Thailand with a 1200 CL backpack (glorified school bag), US Visa, Traveler’s checks, bank cards, and a ragged out dated Lonely Planet: India from Khao San Road.

When I decided to spend a few weeks following my studies on a large trip, India was the only option in my mind. Its mystique, massive population, rapid economic growth and prowess, and completely foreign culture drew me in quickly.

When I tried reading up on India and getting started, I immediately realized I knew very little about the place and how manageable a solo trip would even be for 3 weeks. So here, I’ll quickly cover the main points and to help you plan and prepare for an extended trip through India and let you use my trip as a quick case study….the point you to a few resources to continue your due dilligence.

India Big Picture:

India is huge. A billion people, and pretty diverse landscapes and peoples. As a former British colony, everyone speaks English, so fear not knowing Hindi, Urdu, or one of the other 67483 Indian languages.
With a few weeks, you’ll likely wish to explore a combination of the following, major areas.

Dehli – Agra
Dehli is a likely entry point as it’s the capital and a huge city. Tons of typical urban things to do in the massive, ruthless urban center. A hop skip and a jump away is Agra, relevant because of a little attraction called the Taj Mahal. It’s worth the hype especially after escaping a big city.

Rajasthan
The desert. Ancient fort cities and oasis-es in the sand. Camels, food, desert, sun, and majestic describe this area. Easily my favorite part of India so far. Likely path includes holy city of Pushkar, possibly Jaipur, forts of Jodhpur, and maybe Jaisalmer if you venture even further west.

Goa
fIf you’re aware of party destinations, this is it. Some beautiful, warm southern beaches and raging parties if you so wish. Personally I never set foot in a bar there and enjoyed a quieter beach. It can accommodate all types. It’s developed, so easy to get to and navigate

Mumbai / Bombay
Yes, just a city, but a great one at that. Mumbai/Bombay is a great metro area. Nearby is Pune, which is something to look into if you’re one to meditate for weeks at a time.

More South
More south = everything south of Goa. More beautiful, less people, better culture, but also slightly harder to get to than Goa. This includes Karnataka and Kerala ‘backwaters’ which you may have heard of. Area can definitely be explored for a long, long time.

Kolkata and the East
If you’re around Kolkata, I bunch this as the east. Kolkata is a nice city (Mother Theresa, duh). Somewhat nearby must see includes Darjeeling and super holy city Varanasi more west.

Other
Variety of other little regions worthwhile for special interests or business, but generally less so for the typical traveler. If you know of such areas, this article may be too amateur for you anyways.

My Trip:

For my trip, I had 18 days. I attempted to run through India and hit all that I could at a reasonable pace. This was a preferable strategy as well as a solo traveler to cut down on lodging costs, even though they were negligible in some cases.

I traveled..
Dehli – inbound flight
Agra - train
Pushkar – bus to Ajmer, transfer to Pushkar
Jodhpur – bus
Goa – bus to Pune, then to Goa (not recommended at all)
Bombay - bus

So essentially, I was able to hit 4 of the 6 major areas I mentioned. This was doable, but fast. Hitting more regions would’ve been impossible, especially considering how much time the South and East demands to get a full experience and the transit times.

Fort in Jodhpur, shot by me from tent at the top of Cosy Guesthouse

Traveling through India

Getting through India can be done a variety of ways. I suggest taking advantage of all mediums.
Bus
Private and public buses run everywhere a traveler will want to go. I found no trouble booking the day of or a day in advance in a local travel agent’s office.
Pre-booking is possible as well, but a little trickier in some cases. Most sites require an Indian phone number, but I found one that allows booking without: MakeMyTrip.com.
The fares are okay, but not the greatest. And finding pickup/drop off points is more of a hassle versus receiving directions from a local agent.

Public Bus:
In addition to the private bus companies, there are even cheaper Indian buses that are run by the state or localities, I believe. These are an absolute riot. Take one for a short jump if possible for the authenticity of it. I’d imagine it’s comparable to chicken buses of Latin America.

Conclusion: use buses for point to point legs and book on the fly, not before

Train
Train is the preferable mode of transportation throughout India. The system works. How, I still don’t know. It is somewhat complex for noobs and requires some studying to truly understand the entire process.

The train system gives preference to tourists to facilitate those that fly by the seat of ther pants. There are a variety of classes that vary in quality. I recommend taking one of each, again for an authentic experience. I recommend, again, to read more on trains if you choose them at India Mike’s Train guide – great resource that explains it. Seat 61 has a supplemental guide on Indian trains as well. For booking train tickets in advance, I recommend ClearTrip. Here, you can also check statuses for wait lists (PNR) as well, unless you prefer using the Indian Railway Official website.

Flights
India budget airlines are getting up and going. Fares are still a bit less economical than desired and don’t make sense as a strategy to get around. However, for time crunches and going from Dehli or Rajasthan in the northwest to Bombay or somewhere in the south, flights DO make sense economically and time wise. Sometimes losing 24-35 hours in transit with trains or buses is a poor mistake. Personally, my bus from Jodhpur to Pune was scheduled to last 24, but ran at 30 hours in all. Not worth it at all.

Conclusion: for jumping between Kolkata, Dehli, and Bombay, budget Indian flights make sense. Indian airlines are growing super fast and im sure my knowledge is already out dated, so check flights regardless at Cleartrip or your other favorite flight search.

Final Word, India

India’s an interesting place. It’s an entirely different animal as far as culture and people go from my experience comparing them to Southeast Asia. It’s extremely easy to communicate and get around, and purchasing power of Western monies is spectacular. One warning is just to be very cautious and wary of scams and hustlers.

To go on your way, here are my favorite Indian travel resources which will answer all the questions you really need:

• Forums - India Mike and Bootsnall
• Indian Railways Guide - India Mike and Seat 61
• Train and Flight Booking - Cleartrip.com
• Bus Pre-booking - MakeMyTrip.com
• General India Wiki - WikiTravel, of course