Backpacking in India will be always wonderful experience. Whether you are on solo trip or group traveler, I will give some tips which will make your travel experience better.
Transport: How to get around
If you are international traveler then most probably you will arrive at one of the big metro city of India. So here, prepaid taxi will be available. I recommend you to book taxi online with Uber or Ola for local travel to reach your hotel. For traveling in India, you have many low to medium budget options. If you plan in advance then you can travel in advance. Most cities of India are well connected with railway network.You can book ticket from sleeper (non AC) to advance 3 tier, 2 tier (with AC) class ticket. But booking start before 3 months in Indian railway website. So book your train tickets in advance for long journey. You can also contact any travel agency for tickets.
Now for short trip you can opt out bus option. There are lots of ac sleeper buses available for travelling to any place where train network is not available. You can check websites like redbus, 12 Go for advance booking and simple search in google with departure and arrival station. We will now get idea regarding local travel. Check first hired bike is available or not in a city you are visiting. It is best and cheap way to get around in local area. You can also search for hired taxi. Other option is Hop-on Hop-off buses availability, city bus availability. If you are on long trip then you also have to save money. So you can use google maps mostly every where in India.
Last but not least advice for hiring rickshaw, taxi.
Please confirm price you will give before sitting in hired taxi or rickshaw except you have booked
Accommodation:
For accommodation you can plan with asking yourself how many days you want to stay. For long stay you can book a room with kitchen. You can find good room from airbnb, hostelworld. You can do couch surfing in India. You can get new idea by meeting local people. Take rooms near by road or little crowds location to stay safe. Always use bottled drinking water and avoid tap water. Finding rooms in India is not a big thing as there are many high to low cost option you have in India. Only choose your room wisely. Book first room for two to three days. and book room for remaining days after arriving in that area. It may possible, you can get better deal for accommodation after roaming in local area.
Shopping
First, try to shop in fixed price shop.India is also famous for shopping in its local market. But you have to always bargaining to buy things in local market. So I will give you an idea for shopping. First decide what you want to buy. If not decided then only go in a different shop and get idea about the price. Also, ask other backpackers for the price range. Then after buying the things. Also, agree with the shopkeeper for the price before you buy anything
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