India at less than 5000/- per day including travel

As the description says, this one will be about documenting and writing about domestic India travel by surface, aimed at a not higher than 5000/- rupees per couple per day all in effort - which is a reasonable number in this post-COVID world. Travel, board and lodging, with sight-seeing.

We actually managed that last month, May 2022, Goa - Udupi - Coorg - Bengaluru. 5 days, 4 nights, driving a 9 year old WagonR.  And we've done it in the past too, though COVID put a bit of a gap in the proceedings.

Both of us are in our mid-60s and so we also aim at a similar profile of readers, not in a very big hurry, and where the journey is also the best part. If you feel tired - stay another night! Every which way, if you are no longer fascinated by paying vast sums of money for doubtful holiday experiences abroad, then India awaits. The Indian tourist in India is the big focus for the smarter tourism industry - especially outside the larger cities, where real estate is still affordable.

Our primary focus whilst travelling is safety, sanitation and seeing the better aspects of India. At, as mentioned before, less than 5000/- rupees per couple per night. Having pretty much done most of the world, on work mostly but also sometimes on leisure, a realisation that India provides a much better tourism value for money as well as experience combination was something we sensed about 15-20 years ago and which is simply getting stronger in a post-COVID world.

I mean, visa costs and efforts alone can end up costing a lot of money, with no guarantees on getting the visa! Attitude from the visa issuing types is something which one can do without too, when the idea is a holiday, and India is giving us so much more now. In India, with smart-phones and access to all languages therein through the said smart-phone and the lowest communications costs going, the last barrier of not knowing the language is also gone.

And this is not just in the smaller towns, where really good hotel rooms with breakfast are in the 2000 to 2500 rupees per night range, but also on the outskirts of many of our larger cities. Ofcourse, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai are very expensive, and so we shall avoid writing about them - but also because in all three of these cities we have homes available to us free of charge!

Trains shall play and have always played a major part, simply put, I love the Indian Railways. So shall road journeys, simply put, we love driving. I also love the new generation of luxury buses, especially in South India, though I can do without sleeper buses. Likewise, vegetarian food, not because we are vegetarians, but because it is simply safer and more frugal to eat vegetarian food whilst travelling. It has been our experience that vegetarian hotels tend to provide a higher level of sanitation as well as safety for women travellers too. 

Railway food, obviously, is now a separate category by itself. Online ordering for delivery at seat is an art form and often introduces one to food of the regions being travelled through.

On alcohol, as a sort of policy, we actively seek out the beverages of the State or area we are travelling through. 

For local movements, especially if we have had a few the night before, we rent a local transport, one that gives us a good view - which often means an auto-rickshaw with a gentle driver instructed to keep the speed down and hired on a generous full day basis. 

We do prefer to book direct, using the many online resources available, and have, at times, started looking for a hotel for the night a couple of hours driving time ahead, whilst sitting down for lunch. Open laptop, start searching, and sometimes the best tips we have got are from the restaurant people themselves. Staff, other travellers, drivers outside in the parking area - every which way, nowhere else in the whole world do you get so much usually good free guidance.

Yes, we have run into experiences where the linen is not very good, but then, an old habit going back decades, we tend to carry our own towels and bedsheets. It is also wonderful how that trusted Indian garment, the quick-dry gamcha, comes in useful for multiple purposes.

Railway retiring rooms, also online, are another great way to travel. More and more are coming available to travellers now. Seek and ye shall find. 

When I was much much younger, growing up in Delhi, I would take a bus to one of the many hill stations North of Delhi. Waking up very bright and early the next morning, I would hop on to any random mini-bus headed further into the hills, and manage at 5 rupees per day plus bus fare. I can't do that anymore, sure, but this blog will, hopefully, emerge in the same spirit of seeking out destinations within India which can be done without breaking the bank.

Which is why, last but not the least - we prefer to start moving to our next destination comfortably after breakfast, and aim to reach there well before sunset, if we are driving. Day trains are preferred, but overnight trains will also do. Buses - day only. For us - seeing the country is like a day at the movies.

Join us!!

Veeresh Malik