Recently, we went to India for having a long journey. However, we discovered that most people do not know how to manage their finances when it comes to India. They spend a lot more on souvenirs that most locals chuckle at and get themselves into fixes where the people take them for a ride.
How to avoid that, and still get the most out of your trip? Here’s a guide.
- Go to the remotest of places
Our travel itinerary was not built from the get-go. We landed in the Delhi airport and asked some of our local friends about where to go. So, we got some recommendations that did not exist in most tour packages and got through to making quite a decent saving regarding those packages.
We also got a lot of time to spend on the simple joys of travelling instead, of investing in places which were not “us” when it came to the whole deal. So, we ended up going to the North-Eastern hills, to the tribal areas in Kerala and the top-rated beaches in Andaman.
- Stay moving
With the advent of online hotel packages in India, we did not have to invest too much time in thinking about which one would suit us best. So, when it came to hotels in Wayanad, a remote, tribal place in Kerala, we got the most rustic taste imaginable.
Because we kept shifting, we got a taste of the rustic cuisines from all over the place and made friends with locals who would not let us go alone into the night. This meant that we had a lot more experiences at half the price.
- Trek and hitchhike
We admit that India is often not the safest place for hitchhiking. But, after checking into the hotels in Wayanad, we tried to do it anyway.
This meant we were riding the domestic vehicles driven by animals and visiting these places. We also managed a trek through a stretch of green which ended at this tribal house where we could rest, and see them dance.
We not only saved thousands in travel money, but we also saw more of India than most tourists did.
- Invest in friends
India is not the friendliest of places when it comes to guides. So, getting some friends who know the place well is a must if you want to start exploring. One of the best parts of our journey was that some traveler friends came along with us and shared their valuable wisdom as we went through the hills in the North East and the forests of Wayanad.
There you have it. Having a cheap Indian trip is not much of a headache and will not require a credit card. However, you need to be resourceful. India welcomes you sparingly at first, and then all at once, so, hold on and have a great time while you are at it.
Leave a Reply