Hi I want to backpack by myself around the south of India My main goals on this journey are to jungle treck, see some temples and go to an ashram. Money for the journey (flights apart) : 900£ Planning to stay 1 month. Arrive: 10th jan airport kochi. Leave: 10th feb airport Goa Stop by: -Munar, Kerala for jungle trecking. - Coimbatore to stay at a ashram for a few days. - Mysore. for city seeing, temples, markets etc. - Hampi, for bouldering, monkey temple, lake. - Palolem, touristy easy going to party bit, chill and then fly home. Any traveller that could give me any tips, tell me whether this is not enough time, the journey too long, too little money, better places to see..... ANYTHING HELPS! thank you. Here is the route on the map: https://goo.gl/maps/qjCLiUqsPNQ2
I like your itinerary, it's got everything in there. Converted into Rupees you have a budget of Rs2580 per day and that should be okay for backpacking. Eat and drink what locals do and you will have some money left end of every day. OYO rooms is an application that could get you some decent accommodation well within your budget. Traveling I assume will be mostly by either train or bus and if you travel at night you will save atleast 4-5 nights hotel expenses. It would help to have specific questions. My opinion would turn into a never ending post so will wait for more specific questions.
Hi Admin, first of all thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. And can you recommend me any other ashram that doesn't fall too far from my route please? How much i should spend on them? What about getting a sim with interenet data, is it worth it, will i get any internet anywhere haha?
I am not familiar with the ashram scene to be honest but I am sure other members would be able to help you out on that. I have used Airtel and BSNL in South India and they both have 3g available in even the most remote areas. There is a detailed post about plans and stuff, will post a link once I get to my computer as I am on my phone right now.
This is what it costs to stay connected using 3g. The prices I have mentioned in that post have come down by a lot recently so expect to pay around 30% less now. You would be surprised to see the wide availability of 3g and 4g networks in India. If you can get hold of a Reliance JIO sim card and have a 4g handset then you won't have to pay anything at all as 4g data is free with Reliance JIO until 31st of March and calls are free too. I normally get 10mbps+ speed on it and have used it while traveling in North India without any problems. Airtel would be my first choice for your kind of itinerary. Trekking is best in the Himalayas but it would be too cold in the days you will be traveling. Your budget is fine in my opinion.
thank you guys, i guess ill find a mobile shop in kochin ? also do you know a website or a way to find tours and activities, all i find ion the internet is either not telling me the price or is really expensive.
Day tours? What kind of activities? It is best to get your sim card at the airport you arrive. All international airports have an Airtel outlet and it is super quick to get a sim card from them as you won't have to argue with them about not having an address or an Indian ID as they do it every day. They will take a photo copy of your passport and may be click a picture of you and your sim card will also be activated quicker. Here is the page for their tariffs : 3G Plans in India | 3G Tariff Plans for Prepaid and Postpaid | airtel Rs999 for 10GB data valid for 28 days doesnt look bad atall. In case Cochin airport does not have an airtel shop you can get your hotel reception to help you get a new sim card in the city as well.
Just so you know, the data you buy for example 10GB for Rs999 you can use it any way you like and also do tethering and use it on a laptop or a tablet unlike UK where they have restrictions on how you can use their data plans. Just thought you would have that question in mind.
They are all ripoffs. Find where all you want to go and do your own thing. The organized tour ecosystem is mostly nonexistent and if there is something available there is no competition so they charge what they like. Transportation is extremely cheap even taxis cost a lot less than you would imagine. Get OLA or UBER app on your mobile phone and pay them cash at the end of your journey. You will also get an estimate even before you book your taxi so it is pretty good.
I believe your number of days match perfectly. If you like places like Hampi you would like temples around Kumbhkonam but it is a long way from your route. If you like old temples it would be well worth it, make Kumbhkonam your base and visit 10-15 different temples in 4-5 days using public transport you will love it. The only problem is that some temples are in remote areas although very safe but you wont find a place to eat so would need to carry your dry rations with you. I spent 10 days at Kumbhkonam and used a taxi to visit around 15 temples and I liked it there. All the temples in that area have the same rituals since those temples were built with no change atall, most of them are over 1000 years old and some even older. No one in India has any cash these days and I suspect situation wont be much different in February so pay a very small amount and don't go overboard. An ashram is an ashram not a hotel and is not for profit so pay what you believe is their expense as they don't want to make a profit any way.
I mean for example, if i want to go bouldering in Hampi, or jungle tterecking in Munnar, or find a hotel to saty in any of those places. At the moment all i know about india, is the name of these points, and what things are to do there, but i dont know anything else, so my question is , is it fine for me to just get there and once there ask around for a hotel or activity, or should I have all these looked up online before hand, if so, is there any source of information for such things.
For hotels it will be cheaper to prebook using OYO Rooms application. This application has rooms in your budget. I would advise having a good look at bathroom pictures before you book or just book for one night first so you have a place to stay the very first day and then check out a few hotels yourself and compare prices online and do whatever is best. There are others like booking.com as well or just use trivago to compare on different websites for the same property. Looking around on the net will help. Activities are best booked at the destination itself. Just turning up at the location of activity would also work.
This question a bit random: I am a musician, i play guitar and sing, and I wanted to learn how to play/sing traditional indian music, or get a taste of it at least, Im not very sure what i am looking for, maybe theres an event, or a gathering of musicians or school, festival.....?
@Tanmaya would be the most appropriate member to answer that. I haven't seen her online lately but this tag would hopefully bring her to this thread.
