Travellers have certain amount of vulnerability and uncertainty attached to them. They are not aware of the tricks played by locals and they invariably fall for it.
I was no exception and at times I too fell for certain tricks.
1. Hotels & credit cards – After a tiring bus journey to a new town & after checking 3-4 hotels/guest houses as per my budget I did not have anymore strength or patience. Then I check the last decent place. It has fair tariff, and accepts credit cards as well ! Since …

It was my first visit to Trivandrum or even Kerala.
I was apprehensive about the place I was going to stay. I needed a budgeted, clean and safe place. On Googling I found, hotels near Trivandrum station were all of similar nature and class.
As soon as you put your foot on the ground, the touts swam you with offers to take you to a nice hotel. They get commission, hotel gets a customer and you pay the bill. To tell you the truth, I am susceptible to these pressure tactics, especially …

So, it’s on.
The air tickets were booked more than 5 months back. And that was it. Travel insurance and other paperwork was done last week and I am off……
I have started my 48 day solo backpacking trip to two countries and am in first leg of the journey. To tell you the truth, it wasn’t a great start. I would call it risky. On this later,  if I feel like writing here.
But I am told I am the first Indian female to go solo backpacking abroad ! Is that so? Then Yayy!! …

Some of you are aware that I am going on a 48 days solo backpacking trip to 2 countries…. Two countries where language will be a big barrier. And I am going totally unprepared. A few months back I had booked just the to & fro air tickets and did nothing else after that.
And the time has come now.
After a few days in first country, I will be heading towards neighbouring country overland. This is interesting. Flying into any of the city there can get you a 30 day tourist …

When we go out of our house even for a few hours, the most common thing that we need first, is water. I generally carry a bottle of water with me but it is not always possible. This is more true if we are out to a different place or country.
Nevertheless, albeit small, daily we end up spending a few bucks on mineral water alone.
Like any other country, in Malaysia one can get a variety of mineral water starting from RM 2.20 upwards (Malaysian mineral water bought in a food …

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[I had mentally prepared to see three major landmarks in Amritsar before getting back. We reached Amritsar at 10:30 AM.]
The moment we got down, horde of rickshawalas and autowalas surrounded us to take us to hotels. New to the city, lack of direction and short on time forced us to take one rickshaw to one of the hotels from his list. Knowing well about the trap I asked him how much commission he gets. “Rs 20 for ordinary room and Rs 50 for an AC room” prompt came …

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[We too went to our sleeper berths and slept. I guess, the bus must have started at around one after filling up the rooftop and giving that family a double sleeper seat.]
I was in a tee and jeans. During night I felt cold, but didn’t have anything except for a filmsy cotton shawl. Hey we had not planned to go to Amritsar, where sometimes the temperature goes down as low as 0° C.
I was oblivious of how many times the bus had stopped but when I opened my …