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Even passionate hitchhikers often resort to train travel in India, as it offers its own kind of adventure. Most trains in India, with the exception of the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi and Garib Rath express trains, have four carriages marked General class (two at the front of the train, two at the rear). Riding in these carriages requires only that you buy a ticket just before boarding or paying the conductor, while other classes require reservations days or weeks in advance. General Class carriages do not guarantee a place to sit. You might encounter carriages where people are packed together as tightly as cattle, while at other times the carriage might be half-empty and you can lie down and sleep. An overnight journey in a General Class compartment costs only around 100Rs, making them a good alternative to hitchhiking. Drinking water is available at train stations. A few tickets on each train are reserved for foreigners ("Foreign Tourist Quota") and can often be purchased just before boarding or a day or two before. These tickets are available at major stations and must usually be bought from a special office at the station. You will be asked to show your passport.

Sleeping outside is accepted in India, and millions of urban poor do it. Theft is rarely a concern if you are sleeping among a large crowd, though you ought to secure your bag in some small way. If you need a place to overnight, head for the nearest train station, where you can spread out your sleeping bag and no one will bother you. Often there is a waiting room for those with train reservations (called "Upper Class Waiting Room" or similar), and foreigners can usually enter those and sleep without being asked to show a ticket. Earplugs are useful.In the Golden Temple in Amritsar foreigners get free accommodation. The rooms are located next to the train ticket counter on the south-eastern side of the Golden Temple. Sometimes, Buddhist temples will also be able to provide free accommodation. Just ask for it :)

* [[New Delhi]]

* [[Kerala]]:(Well, Kerala is not a city, but a continuum of heavily urbanized 'villages' with [[Kochi]], [[Thiruvananthapuram]],[[Kozhikode]],[[Thrissur]], [[Kollam]] and a dozen more places as cities in their own might.) == Personal Experiences == [[User:Halt, Stop! Reudnitz kommt.|Craig]]: ''Iran turned out to be the best country to thumb up lifts. Even the other countries were far easier to hitchhike than Germany. With one exception … India. We had an awesome time hitching Indian tractors etc. but hitching there is exhausting: Sometimes it takes you more than half an hour to simply explain what you do. Other reasons: Extreme cheap public transport and scarce long distance traffic on roads. Can you imagine that one of the four principal highways leaving 20-million-Mumbai is a two-lane (!!!) road? Anyways. If you can stand long waits go for it! It '''is''' possible! [http://thumbingasia.blogspot.com/] ''

[[User :Rumunskoje|Rumunskoje]]: ''I have just finished my hitchhiking trip through India. So here are some tips to share which I hope will be helpful. But keep in mind, that they are based on my experience so there can be some variables. 1. Hitchhiking in India IS possible. Be self-confident and never give up, even if everybody tells you that it's impossible. 2. HH here is easy, but a little bit complicated. First of all, it's not possible to catch a ride inside of the city because of thousands of rikshaws, motor rikshaws, cabs and other vehicles. The suburbs are endless and hardly walkable. The only way to get out of the city is by bus or train. But the thing is that bus drivers don't speak English, so it's quite challenging to explain them what you need. However, when I was walking throughout the city I was given a lift by couple of bikers without hitchhiking. 3. NOBODY actually knows what hh is. The best answer is: "I'm walking". If they keep on questioning continue by saying that you're walking along the road, stopping cars and asking for a free LIFT". The key word is a LIFT. 4. If you say that you don't have money for transport, Indians will offer you some money, food, bus and train tickets, accommodation and even alcohol. Sometimes it's really difficult to refuse. 5. Be prepared for being picked up by trucks and motobikes. Normal cars are rare here. 6. Truck drivers don't speak English, and sometimes they do not speak Hindi. Illiteracy level is quite high here. 7. ALWAYS stress that you will not pay for a ride. There are lots of types of public transport with the fixed fees. After a while you will be able to distinguish them. 8. White people are privileged. 9. If you are not extremely lucky, you will not cover more than 400 km a day. 10. There are often ring-roads in bigger cities, so once you leave one, you risk not to get inside of the big city again. 11. Although HH in India is safe, it's better not to trust Indians too much. 12. NEVER EVER say that you support Pakistan National Cricket Team. Once I did it for fun to check the reaction. Driver stopped the car and asked me to get off. 13. FOR NOMADS: It's a good idea to stay overnight in temples. They are very clean and monks won't disturb your rest." [www.rumunskojetravels.wordpress.com] ''  [[user:PhysicsHipster|PhyiscsHipster]]: ''I hitched around Kashmir in May 2016 and found it quite easy. Traffic is much more scarce, so people understand the concept better. Lots of trucks will stopped, and didn't expect payment. Knowing hindi was a huge asset, as most people don't speak English in remote areas. Also be careful of the altitude, as it can mess with you.''  [[user:Dadoo|Dadu12]]: ''Me an my friend hitched from Dharamshala to Srinagar via Jammu. As PhysicalHipster wrote, its quite easy if you know how to wave. Additional Infos about hitching in Kashmir: You may find some locals trying to get a lift from trucks. We also sat in tracks together with Kasmiris going home after sunset. Be aware that the road condition of the Jammu-Srinagar Highway it quite bad and it takes long time. Hitching in Leh/Ladakh: It was a blast and worked okay, since many regions are quite remote. Be prepared to freeze on a pickup at -temperatures. Also, be aware of high passes/streets (f.ex. Kardung La). You may also like to hitch without destination and see what will happen.. Some guy took us to a REAL bad road leading to some workers midst of a National Park, and it was beautiful.''  [[User:Halt, Stop! Reudnitz kommt.|Craig]] ''hitched along the Silk Road and wrote about his experiences here: [http://thumbingasia.blogspot.com/]''  [[Jo_hannaaah]] ''hitchhiked almost the entire length of India in the summer of 2018 and this is a short recap of her experiences: Hitchhiking in India is easy, although people do not understand what the heck you are up to. If you're white, they'll think you're very very rich and they won't understand what you are doing outside an air-conditioned taxi or bus or train. Almost all my rides brought me to a busstation rather than allowing me to stay on the highway. Apart from that , hitchhiking in India is amazing! People are curious and kind and inclined towards helping you. I have to add here that I am a blond, white female solo traveler, not extremely unappealing. If you're not, your experiences might slightly differ from mine. Remember; everything in India moves slow; busses, trains , but cars as well. You won't be covering the distances you're used to in other countries maybe. 250 km is a good distance for a day. Trucks offer great long-distance rides and high views, but they mover extremely slow. Sometimes the truck drivers got a bit sexual, but not on a dangerous level.. just slightly uncomfortable. The Roadhouses next to the highways offer the greatest food I had in India so far. I started in Madurai and Hitched all the way up to new Delhi. In the south, people are generally more friendly and less money-driven than the people in the north (Rajasthan and Delhi). The hitchhiking itself became easier further up north, as the private cars slowly appeared. In the southern states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala , Karnataka) I hopped on every vehicle I flagged down, but the greater variety of available cars in the north (Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi) allowed me to be picky and to stop thumbing up so many trucks. If you are alone, motorcycles offer great rides, although some of them were slightly uncomfortable in a physical sense. The roads were surprisingly alright , apart from the occasional dead cow or dog! The highways are the best for hitchhikers, since you can just stand on the actual highway, and people just stop for you. It's very normal to park your car on the middle of the highway to chat you up or let you in (love it). In short: hitchhiking is easy and safe, although people don't understand it. It is slow, but remember that everything moves slow in India.. hitchhiking is probably one of the fastest options to reach your destination. Please make sure for yourself to be comfortable with what you are doing. It is simply not for everyone.''

 [[Bangladesh]]: Most borders are open. [[Bhutan]]: The main border is Pheuntsholing, with a number of smaller ones to the west. In theory, all are open, however Bhutan's strict visa process requires a guided tour that costs 250 USD a day. There is word that border guards will sometimes let tourists explore the Pheuntsholing border town without a visa, but all onward travel will require police and visa checks. A better option could be going to nearby Sikkim, which is very similar in terms of culture and geography. [[China]]: There are no land borders open to foreigners. Going through Nepal is also generally not an option, as Tibet is heavily controlled and not open to independent travel. [[Nepal]]: Most borders are open. [[Myanmar]]: The only border crossing open is [[Moreh]] - [[Tamu]] in Manipur. Moreh is around 100 km away from Imphal (capital of Manipur state) through a mountain road. A special border permit is needed to enter Myanmar through this border, and it can be obtained via email through a travel agency in Myanmar, provided one has already a Myanmar visa in his/her passport. EDIT 2017: Obtaining a cross border permit from Myanmar'please add more info's government is no longer possible without booking an all-inclusive tour with a state-approved Myanmar travel agent (we're talking several thousand USDs). Also there is a stupid Myanmar regulation that says that, unless you are coming in the country with your own vehicle, you can only exit Myanmar through the same border you used for entering. The rule does seem to be enforced at major airports (they will not let you check out immigration if your entry stamp was at Tamu, but there have been reports that it is relaxed at land border crossings with Thailand and people have been able to cross the country in that direction (back when you did not need a tour to get the border crossing permit...)

[[Myanmar]]: The only border crossing open is [[Moreh]] - [[Tamu]] in Manipur. Moreh is around 100 km away from Imphal (capital of Manipur state) through a mountain road. A special border permit is needed to enter Myanmar through this border, and it can be obtained via email through a travel agency in Myanmar, provided one has already a Myanmar visa in his/her passport. == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}