Cheap travel in India

Here's what i've figured out about traveling. The biggest expenses when traveling are usually i) getting there and ii)Staying there.

That might seem like a no brainer, but it really isn't. If the actual act of traveling is about getting somewhere (rather than comfort and luxury), then you can save a lot of money on traveling. The prices a ticket on the same train can vary from 95 rupees to 2500 rupees. The only tickets that area always available are the cheapest, in the unreserved compartment. The ticket only gives you the right to enter the train, not the right to a seat. If you board the train anywhere after the station where it originates, you're unlikely to get a seat. That means that you will be sharing the floor and passageways with drunks, tribals on the way to a funeral, the occasional bunch of soldiers in the wrong compartment, obese men from central delhi, with their wives feeding them, labourers on the way home and hungry uncoordinated men dropping sambar on your backpack.

While this is cheap, I can't do this sort of travel too often (but, i do plan to do it tomorrow, from Kolkata to Jamshedpur). It's very tiring. Now, the next category of ticket, (sleeper class) I think, isn't too expensive either. A couple of hundred bucks at the most. But the problem is, unless you book it in advance, you're not going to get a ticket. If the train is popular, you need at least a few weeks. A few days is alright for a faraway destination that doesn't get too many travelers (for instance, Ballarshah). 3 tier a/c tickets are hard to come by, while 2 tier a/c tickets are slightly easier. But the problem is that they're much more expensive (if available).

If you want to fly, you're not getting a ticket at short notice for anywhere less than a few thousand (unless you're really lucky). And I don't enjoy flights anyway, they go against the spirit of traveling in India.

So, the secret to traveling really cheap is planning ahead. Now I know this goes against the essence of backpacking, but, it helps. If you know you're going to be going to hyderabad, just walk to railway station anywhere, and you can book a ticket. Of course, as with anything in india, booking ticket from different stations can be a bit complicated (quotas and nonsense), which is why, there is the very beautiful irctc.com or indianrail.gov.in

Its the same with bus tickets. If you can, find out where the bus leaves from, and if you can book a ticket in advance (you usually can't for state transport buses). It's also the same with getting to the airport, in case you do take the flight. In hyderabad, i paid 600 bucks to take a call-cab to the airport, since i overslept and missed the bus that costs 100 bucks.

So, be early, be on time, and you can travel cheap.

(Ironically, i type this post at 1 am, when i shuold be up at 4.30 for a 6.55 train to Jamshedpur, from where I need to get to Hazaribagh, and I have NO idea how to do that.)