Hitchhiking in India

Tips for Shoe-Stringing Through India

The following is a guest post by Gina Williams. Gina Williams is a guest post and article writer bringing to us information on traveling through India on a shoestring budget.

Gina also writes about motorcycle accidents.

Plan, plan, plan!

This is perhaps the most important step of all when traveling on a budget.  To buy a plane ticket to India and wing it from there is a mistake.  Planning allows you to get as much as possible out of your trip, and to know where you’re going and what to expect when you get there.  This is especially imperative if you are traveling to multiple cities within India, which most people do when they travel there from long distances.  Ill-planning can lead to your having to search for sleeping and travel accommodations instead of enjoying the very trip you’re on. 

You should:

• Book all lodging and travel accommodations ahead of time; this ensures that you get quality lodging in safe areas for reasonable prices. 
• Be aware that India’s bigger cities, like Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumba, will be more expensive for lodging and food; plan accordingly.
•  Do research so that you can set a daily budget for food, lodging, and overall budget for your trip. 
•  Read other travelers’ experiences; forums and travel blogs are a great way to gain inside information about cultural practices, safety, and so on. For instance, you’re doing the right thing reading this blog.  The below chart of expenses by city was found on another blog about traveling through India:

Save Money on Expenses

The typical trip to India will involve 3 expenses that make up the brunt of your budget: travel, lodging, and food.  One way to save on all three is to go to India during its off-season, which is from the end of January to the middle of May and the beginning of September to the end of October. 

Here are other ways to save money on them.

 Save Money – Travel

To save money on traveling from city to city, you should travel by train rather than plane.  Opt for 3-tier reservations or, if you are on a really tight budget, Sleeper Bunk reservations.  The 3-tier class has air conditioning and is more comfortable than Sleeper Class, which does not feature air conditioning and is much more crowded.   Choosing bus travel over taxi travel is also a great way to save money.

Save Money – Lodging

When many people consider lodging while traveling, their first thought goes to a hotel.  But not us shoe-stringers; when we travel, our first thought, is, “how can I not spend too much for a room I might at most spend 8 hours a day in, sleeping?”  When I traveled through India, I used Hostels.com to find and book my hostels.  There are, however, many different websites that offer hostel booking; here are a few more:

• Youth Hostel India
• Hostel Bookers
• Hostel World 

Save Money – Food Expenses

Saving money on food in India is not difficult as long as you are conscious when you choose your restaurants; eating at local restaurants is usually cheap, at least until you get into some of the bigger, more expensive cities.  An interesting option is thalis, which are reasonably priced all-you-can-eat meals at local restaurants. 

Tips:

• When looking for a place to eat, ask other travelers you see where they’ve eaten and if the prices are reasonable. 
•  Eat at local street food stands.  These are usually inexpensive and will give you a taste of the local cuisine.  Be sure, however, to eat at places that won’t make you sick; only eat food from these stands if it looks fresh and clean.
• Avoid tourist restaurants; they’re overpriced and usually not that good.
• Dine at sit-down restaurants once per day, preferably at lunch, when food prices are cheaper.
•  To avoid getting sick (and incurring medical costs):  Eat meat only at restaurants that are nice and  Do not eat in empty restaurants.

Talk about our trip at Lamakaan

We were at Lamakaan yesterday speaking to members of the GHAC about our trip. The first part (took more time than I had expected) was showing them pictures from the trip and then told the entire story of the journey. These pictures are already on our website and at the Hitchhikingindia fan page.

While on our trip, we asked some of the people we met what they would do with Rs. 150, here’s a small video we had made out of the responses which we showed yesterday.

The last part was where I talked about the 10 things we learned on this trip. Here’s the presentation. Unfortunately, I completely forgot switching on the audio recorder or I would have posted that as well here.

10 Things we learned on our Hitchhiking trip

Thanks to all who came and relived our trip in those two hours :).

The end of an adventure

Over a period of one month, we explored the North East of India. A region usually considered remote and often times, dangerous. Tourism has picked up only recently here, after a long period of insurgency and political turmoil. That may be a blessing in disguise however, as most places are untouched by touristy commercialism.

Our trip was not just about visiting the touristy destinations; our plan was to do the trip on a very tight budget. Our target was to spend no more than Rs. 150 per day – a ridiculously low amount in these days. If we had to achieve this target, we would have to get ingenious – we would have to hitch rides and get the cheapest possible accommodation and food. Hitching rides is something our few friends in the north east had not heard of while they were there. Also, with things the way these days are, it is considered extremely unsafe to pick up a stranger along the road. We had no idea where we would stay or what we would eat though. It was a challenge unlike any other.

In the one month we were traveling in the north east, we have lived in homes big and small; ridden trucks, buses and every other kind of surface transport; eaten simple and rich food; faced danger at times and were treated royally at other times. We never knew what the next day would bring but we learned to adapt quickly and coped with surprises.

Our trip may have been about adventure travel, but we ended up discovering the abundance of human generosity and making friends where we hardly had any. The people in the North East are beautiful not just in appearance but they are equally beautiful inside. We have been welcomed into homes very warmly and have been helped by complete strangers many a time. We had never imagined in our wildest dreams that we would not be paying for accommodation for 26 of the 31 days we were in the North East.

What has also helped us is the support we had from the hundreds of folks following our travels from across the world. They have encouraged us, given us advice and tips and motivated us to do more. 

Our final expense figure of Rs. 221 per day may have been higher than what we had our target expense and we may not have hitchhiked all the way as we aimed to but we achieved much more – exposing the better side of the North East to the world and proving that budget (shoestring in fact) travel in India is possible. And that is what made our trip successful.

Do leave your comments and let us know what you thought of our journey or if you have any ideas/brickbats/suggestions/etc.

Update: If you are on Indiblogger, do vote for us in this travel related contest - http://www.indiblogger.in/indipost.php?post=21967

Gear we used in our trip

In case you ever wondered how we brought you the pictures and the articles we did, while we were traveling, here’s a list of the important equipment we carried.

Backpacks - Wildcraft Alpinist

We have put these 55l backpacks on trucks, buses, trains and don’t remember what else. The backpacks have been very resilient all through the rough use. The padding on the back and the shoulder is good too. Have since used it on a 50km trek and didn’t disappoint at all.

Computer - Lenovo Ideapad S10-3

Our requirement of a tiny computer in order to keep you all updated as we traveled was only going to be satisfied by a netbook. After a little research, we bought the Lenovo because of the wide service network. Performance has been good - of course we had to load Windows XP instead of the default Windows 7 starter pack which is completely useless.

Internet - Tata Photon+

We were warned while buying the connection that the internet speed won’t be of Photon+ but only of Photon (slower than Photon+) in the NE cities, but it has been enough for our purposes. Internet has worked in most places - wherever Tata Indicom mobile connection works and it has been ok. Will have to compare internet speed in Hyderabad though.

Cameras

Canon EOS 450d

As with other DSLRs, the main advantage is you can take great pictures in very varied conditions, however the camera is bulky and needs special lenses to unleash its full potential.

Panasonic DMC TZ1

This is a very old model, at one time was the smallest camera with a 10x optical zoom. The biggest advantage is that you can carry it your pant pocket and leave your hands free.

Tent - Quecha T2

This was a 2 person tent which we were able to pitch in Tawang, but could not actually sleep in it. We were able to pitch it in about 15mins - it is quite straightforward even for newbies like us. The weight (3.4kg) was on the higher side though.

Sleeping bag

We got a Himalaya sleeping bag with us which we only got to use once - in Bomdila. Mostly we got got accommodation where we had bedding too, but it must have made a good impression on our hosts when we looked prepared for any situation!

GPS - Garmin Etrex Vista H

We haven’t uploaded any of the tracks we have recorded yet, but they will be coming soon. Duracell batteries worked for 18hr approximately. The sensitivity was also good - works even inside cars/buses (if you are near the window). The UI is a little bad though. 

Audio Recorder - Zoom H2 Recorder

We never got a chance to use the recorder (to record local music) because of several reasons so can’t comment on its performance.

Flashlight - Mini Maglite (2cell AA)Never underestimate the need for a good flashlight - we realized that early on when we had to walk 2km in pitch darkness near Siliguri. This flashlight throws pretty powerful beam for its size. Good things do come in small packages.

Multifunctional Headgear

This was one of the more useful gear we carried - especially in the cold climes of Arunachal. We could use it like a muffler around the neck or cover our ears and nose and other stuff too.

Disclosure -

The headgear, flashlight, tent and sleeping bag were sponsored by OntheRocks.

The netbook and GPS were sponsored by Makemytrip.com.

The backpacks were sponsored by Wildcraft.

The internet connection was paid for by upto75.com.

We bought the audio recorder ourselves :).

Guwahati - Once burned, twice lucky

The capital city of gateway to the North East (Assam), Guwahati is a bustling cosmopolitan city. We were in Guwahati thrice – first time when we got there from Silchar, second time when we were on our way to Arunachal and the last time at the end of our trip. Our experiences there have been different each time and they only got better each time. The first time, we had to spend a fortune (relative to our budget) and book a hotel room as our host had to leave town on some urgent business. The second time, we got an amazing host and were treated royally. The third time, we became good friends with someone who we had only known online earlier.

Our first visit to Guwahati was quite chaotic. We got there after multiple tedious bus/taxi rides from the Assam border via a supposedly disturbed area (Bodoland) and it was already dark by the time we reached. We were not only tired, but hungry too. To add to this, our host had left town on some urgent business. Now we were hungry, tired and without a place to stay. After a few frantic phone calls, it was clear we were not getting any other hosts for that night. So we got to the hotel our ex-host booked for us and crashed. The hotel room was totally out of our budget, but we had no other option at that time. The next morning, we were clear that we had to leave the hotel room but had no plan of where we were to go next. When we got to know that there may be a bandh the next day, we decided to get to Shillong (which resulted in one of our most interesting rides).

The second time we got to Guwahati, we had a little more experience traveling and so had a plan, accommodation set and a backup plan too. Plans have a funny way of not working out though. We wanted to leave Guwahati as soon as we got our permits for Arunachal Pradesh (we had accounted for one day), but things got mixed up and we had to actually stay there longer. Our hosts were ever so gracious and didn’t mind our sudden change in plans though. Talk about coincidence though - remember the beautiful paintings painted by school kids on the walls of the stadium compound? Our host was the principal of that school! We got to hang out with our host’s son and his friends for a bit too. The interesting part was that our host was a great traveler and motorbiker - his most recent ride was to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. We later met his nephew who had done a solo motorcycle ride from Pune to Pondicherry!

While we were in Guwahati and not running around the Arunachal office, we visited the Kamakhya temple. The temple sits atop a hill and is one of the 51 Shaktipeethas. We were lucky to have an informative gentleman standing next to us while waiting to get a darshan of the deity. He explained to us the importance and the history of the temple and why there is no statue of the deity in this temple - which would have flummoxed us if we hadn’t heard the story first. The big surprise for me (Ajay) was when I saw animal heads inside the main temple! I got to know later that animal sacrifice is common in temples built for Kali mata. A little distance before the temple, you can great views of the city.

One of the sacrificial altars at the temple

Views of the city from the viewpoint near the temple

The third time we were in Guwahati, we stayed with another traveler friend - Subhadeep. He had already helped us with tips and advice for traveling in the NE. He is a motorbiker too and a travel freak. He had earlier driven to Tawang on his bike! Not just that, he had driven there in the winter when there was snow and ice on the roads. We were just back from Arunachal and now knew what a task it must have been! It is not easy to drive there even in a 4X4, let alone a bike. Our stay this time was marked by heavy rains, waterlogged streets, warm hospitality and a celebratory dinner to end our trip.

With Subhadeep - our celebratory dinner.

Journey to Tawang

After our hair-raising Sumo taxi ride to Bomdila, we were more careful this time and booked our tickets early to Tawang. This time we asked for the front row seats and got them too – that meant we could get better views of the drive. After traveling in the last row of almost every vehicle we had boarded (excluding trucks where the first and last row are the same), this was a welcome change. Imagine our surprise when we saw that our driver drove ever so gently on the winding roads. Added to that we had music playing too in his vehicle! This journey was going to be a lot of fun – or so we thought. Right after we got out of the town, he boarded more passengers – now we had a lady sitting with us in the front row, 3 passengers and the driver in total. It gets really tough when the driver had to change gears and you have to move and on these roads, changing gears is required almost every half kilometer. Result – you cannot sleep. And, sleep is the best medicine for enduring long uncomfortable rides in our experience. The journey to Tawang is very scenic and is mentioned in numerous articles. The big draw that Tawang holds over Indian tourists is that it snows there in the winter. With most Indians never seeing snow because of the temperate or sub-tropical climates, seeing snow and experiencing snowfall is high on the list of any must-do items of an Indian. (However, we had seen enough snow in Chicago and Sweden earlier and were hoping there wasn’t any. We were planning to pitch our tents to save on hotel costs – we had enquired at the tourist lodge and they were booked full. Having snow would mean we would not be able to camp either.). At this time of the year though, there was only a slight chance of us encountering snow.

Bad roads on the way to Tawang

One big reason for the drive being scenic is that the road goes beside the river Kamang for the most part. Although we could only see the dry river bed most times, the effect of a river at the foothills of misty mountains is ethereal. We also saw some yaks on the way, but we couldn’t click any pictures of them as they were always in a military area. There is heavy presence of the army in Arunachal Pradesh because China considers it to be a part of their country – One China policy (sic). We requested our driver to stop for a little while at Sela Pass – the highest pass (13700ft) on the Tawang road. Sela pass can only be described in pictures.

Once we crossed Sela Pass, it was easy going and we got to Tawang by afternoon.

Journey from Aizawl to Guwahati - Trucks and Trains!

Our stay in Mizoram had been amazing thanks to the ever hospitable Mizos. Alas, all good things must come to an end and we travelers had to move on to our next destination. After getting rejuvenated in Mizoram, we thought we should go to Arunachal – the most touristy of the north-eastern states. We were ready for the arduous journey ahead – nearly 800km – going down from the hills (Mizoram) to the plains (Guwahati) and climbing up treacherous roads in the hills (to Bomdila and Tawang) again. 

This time we were determined to get back into the truck circuit and push our average expenses even lower. Also, we were really bored riding in public transport vehicles. This meant a full evening researching the best way to hitch a truck ride and also alternatives in case we couldn’t. The next morning we got out of the city and stuck up our thumbs, again. We were on the road by about 7am and were a little apprehensive because usually trucks leave at the break of dawn. There were very few trucks coming along our way and that did not help soothe our apprehensions at all. Also, some of the truck drivers were pointing ahead and that caused us some confusion – we thought they would stop a little distance ahead and catch up – but they just kept going without stopping. One driver who did stop then told us the reason – there was a truck depot some more distance ahead and most trucks were going there to stop. We debated whether we should go there too, but going there and not getting a ride would mean we would have to take an expensive taxi back to the city and then take a Sumo (public transport). We finally decided that we would stay put and wait for some more time before calling it quits. That decision proved wise as we got our ride just a little while after!

Waiting for a ride

However, there was a catch – this was not going to be a free ride - the driver was charging us some money. We negotiated a little bit and got in and on with our journey. The truck had carried groceries from Silchar the previous night and was heading back to get the next load to Mizoram. They were regulars to Mizoram and knew the local language very well too. Our plan was to take the train from Silchar to Lumding and then another one to Guwahati the next morning. If we could get another truck from Silchar, we would prefer to take that instead. As this truck had already unloaded, we thought the ride would be faster than the one to Aizawl (which had taken nearly 7hrs including breaks). This was not to be, we went about 20km and then the driver was told to go back half the way to get a signature on the delivery receipt! And then, our driver had to take a snack break too. We got talking to the driver at the hotel and he suggested we take the train rather than go by road from Silchar to Guwahati as the road was a little dangerous and there was no telling how much time it would take at the checkpoints. We noted that and decided to take the train – but that meant we had to get to Silchar by 5.30pm or we would miss the train which would leave at 6.30pm – and our pace had not been great till then. We still had hope of making it in time though. 

On the way, our driver picked up more passengers like us – now this was another first for us. We had not encountered a driver who charged for rides and picked up so many passengers too. Drivers in these parts are very wary of any passengers at all! We picked up some passengers of the plant variety too on this ride. On the way, our truck stopped in the middle of nowhere and everybody got down. We were wondering what they were up to and then saw the navigator climb up a tree and jackfruits dropping from it! Then we understood – they were taking unripe jackfruits from the jungle home to make some curry. But when the number of jackfruits they cut got more – nearly a dozen – we surmised that they planned to sell them instead. This whole exercise took nearly a half hour and we had all but lost hope of making it in time for our train. We prepared ourselves mentally to spend another night at Silchar railway station (we had spent one on our way to Aizawl earlier).

Our journey after here included stops at various towns and our driver’s attempts to sell the jackfruits, all unsuccessful. Once we were out of the hills, we picked up pace though and got hopeful about our train again. All our co-passengers, except one got off the truck at various places before Silchar. The one who had stayed back was a transporter himself and had overslept and gone further into Mizoram instead of getting off at the border as he intended to, the previous night. He gave us a few insights about the trade on this route and other topics. I mention this person because our talk with him had dispelled our driver and navigator’s doubt that we were drug runners! Have we mentioned that there is a huge drug problem in Mizoram? Apparently, young folks cross over from Myanmar, strike deals with the locals and then hitch rides back. The drugs are then brought over in private vehicles. Most of the crime (whatever little) in Mizoram is attributed to drugs – either the addicts or the Myanmarese people who come across the border. A friend had earlier remarked that nothing good comes into Mizoram from the east except the sun. 

Once we got rid of our ‘drug runner’ tag, the driver and cleaner got a little friendlier. We did reach Silchar with enough time to rush to the railway station. We clicked a picture of our driver and talked a little more before getting down. He got so happy that he gave us a Rs. 50 discount on the price we had negotiated for the ride at the start – even got the navigator to stop a taxi for us to take us to the taxi stand near the railway station.

We rushed to the railway station, bought tickets to Guwahati and grabbed some food too. Since the train was starting from Silchar and we were traveling in the unreserved compartment, we had another problem now. The seats were all taken up already – many by jawans (soldiers) of the armed forces going home on vacation. We only wanted place to sit, but most people were not ready to part with any space as they wanted to sleep instead. We just put our bags in the walkway and got on with the dinner we had picked from the platform. After the train started, one of the soldiers invited us to their cabin and gave us place to sit. They were even ready to adjust so that we could take turns sleeping in the limited space available. We spent that night trying to get some sleep, although that wasn’t very easy. 

Our train in Lumding was an hour after we got down from our train from Silchar. Enough time to wash up on the platform and get some breakfast, again on the train platform. If our train ride the previous night was hard, our next ride was harder. As the train was coming from another city before Lumding and going to Delhi, it was completely packed. Added to that was that this was an early morning train and there were many passengers to Guwahati, where we were headed too. We were told it was only 3hrs to Guwahati, and we believed it too. We put up our huge backpacks alongside us in the walkway and got busy – doing nothing but standing still. The ride actually took us nearly 5hrs.

Sitting on the floor in the train

It is very easy to tell when you are in Assam – there are lush green paddy fields all around, if not farms there are ponds, and the air is all sticky. Maybe it was just the season we were traveling in, but it is not easy when you standing in a train compartment packed so tight that there is no place to move your foot and you are sweating like a pig. The only comfort is that you are in a moving train and there is a little air flowing in. We managed to get through it in our ways – Inder found a place to sit at the door for some time and I just sat down in the corridor and made myself comfortable (not very comfortable for the people around me, but nobody complained!). Tough times come to an end too and we finally reached Guwahati in good if smelly condition. We were picked up from the railway station by our host’s driver and taken to his home – in an air conditioned car – what a change in fortunes, eh!