Insider Tips: Backpacking Through Indiaby Katya KruglakIt is often said that the trip is as much about the journey as it is about the destination. When it comes to backpacking through India this probably holds doubly true. At a certain point all the planning and research stops to matter: the train just isn't going to come, the guesthouse your guide book spoke so highly of closed a month ago, or the monsoon season is lasting late this year. However it doesn't hurt to have some insider tips before heading off. Top ten things I learned backpacking through India:1) Learn to let go. Learning patience and learning that I can't control everything around me was hard, but I soon found those things made the difference between being miserable and enjoying my time. I set off to India with a notebook full of carefully researched information ranging from train schedules to restaurants I should go to. Within a few days I realized that most of these notes were completely useless; the train schedules were more of a suggestion that an actual time table and the lack of street addresses in most places often made it hard to find the places I had written down. I realized I had to embrace adventure. The whole point of backpacking was to let go of that sense of control and routine that technology and familiarity with my surroundings often affords me; if I wanted to be able to Google popular restaurants and map them on my Blackberry I would have stayed home. Likewise, I spent the first few weeks in India clutching my bottle of hand sanitizer like a good luck charm that could ward off disease. There comes a point when no amount of hand sanitizer will help: a late monsoon season saw me traipsing through knee-deep water (and likely raw sewage) in Goa and I realized I could either worry about the various pathogens I might have been exposed to or not worry and deal with the situation if I got sick, but otherwise not think about it. I decided to not worry, and given Given that I didn't get sick I'm glad I didn't waste my time unnecessarily worrying.  2) Give yourself plenty of downtime. My biggest mistake  was thinking that I needed to see everything in India, even if it meant often only spending a day or two in each place. After about a month of this I was completely exhausted and found that all the places were starting to blend together. I would suggest spending at least a week each month resting in one place like a beach or small mountain town.
3) Budget travel allows you to interact with the culture in a way that people traveling in private cars and staying in fancy hotels never will never be able to. Sketchy budget buses are often to start to a crazy adventure and probably worth taking at least once. That said it helps to keep perspective and remember that sometimes it's worth spending the extra 100 or so Rupees (about two dollars) to go in a slightly nicer bus. Remember if you are too sleep deprived from the bus ride it's hard to enjoy the sights the next day. 4) Don't worry if you are traveling on your own; it's easy to meet other backpackers in India. If you are traveling on your own don't be shy; it can feek awkward to just walk up someone and introduce yourself, but chances are they might feeling the same thing. I would also suggest picking up a cheap cell phone if you are on your own; I found myself frequently calling and texting with people I met to figure out future meet-up plans.  5) Be prepared: most tourist sites in India will charge foreigners at least ten times as much as locals, and even more if you want to take photos. These areas also often have long lines to get in and clear security and you should expect to be mobbed my beggars, touts, and scammers upon leaving. Some of the attractions, like that Taj Mahal, are worth the hassle, but I found many weren't. Some cities will have scores of "must see" sites; plan in advance which ones you really want to see and go there first and then decided if you have the energy to go elsewhere.
6) Don't try and make the weather fit your plans. If the guide book says the monsoon will still be going on or a road might be closed believe it. It is possible you could get lucky and the monsoons will end early, but more than likely you'll be hanging out alone on a wet beach. 7) Check out guesthouses around the ones the guidebook recommends as well. Many budget guesthouses let themselves slide after being included in popular guidebooks. Cheaper, but often equally nice, guesthouses often spring up around the ones in the guidebook in hopes of attracting overflow visitors. 8) Bring an Ipod or something you can use to escape if it gets to be too much. One of my most treasured possessions while traveling was my video Ipod. On long bus rides or on particularly bad days I found it to be an invaluable escape. If you are worried about being able to charge your Ipod look into the chargers that work off AA batteries. 9) Booking trains in India doesn't have to be scary and you don't need to use a travel agent. I booked all my trains myself through the Indian Railways website and didn't have any problems. 10) You can backpack around India alone as a woman. I had some people try and scare me off of the idea and several other people who just thought I was insane, but with the exception of a few isolated incidents I didn't find it to be an issue. Be prepared to firmly tell people to back off the second they start to invade your space or ask inappropriate questions. If that fails make a scene; I found people aren't used to women yelling back when harassed and would immediately back off. All photos taken by Katya Kruglak | 