Yumthang Valley: Sikkim, We Booked the Tour at Gangtok
The problem is we travel almost like backpackers in India (my blog posts are a testimony to it) and this trend is broken only when I absolutely put my foot down (which rarely happens). Sesha just loves rundown hotels.
We do not pre-book almost anything on our trips (apart from the train or air tickets). I must say initially, I would almost go crazy at the idea of not having a hotel booking in advance. I can also assure you our entire family feels quite uneasy when we travel without any bookings but for the past 6 years we have managed to do fine at a variety of places ranging from Almora, Jageshwar, Chail, Ladakh, Sikkim, Joshimath, Bhunter, Manali, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bharatpur, Agra, Renuka Lake, Bharmour, Hadsar, Rajaji National Park, Dalhousie, Kaudiala, Auli, Mussoorie (this is all I have traveled in last six years? What am I doing with my life? Ok, I have left the treks out of this list cause you anyway live in a tent then, if I count the treks Goa, Har-Ki-Doon, Sar Pass and Kuari Pass get added to the list).
Soul-searching questions apart, how do we manage to do it in a crowded country like India? Here is why traveling in India without pre-booking is possible.
- Travel in the Off-season: Not all places can be visited with equal ease in the off-season (Ladakh readily comes to mind) but if you go to places like Sikkim, Auli or Manali in off-season, it is almost the buyers market. I remember going to Auli in August once. It was pouring and there were few people around. So, we could get a place at the GMVN guesthouse without any booking. What if we would have found it full? We would have come back to Joshimath and stayed there, Joshimath is not full even in June. Traveling a few times in the off-season is a must if you wish to escape the crowd. However, not having a booking at Goa in December (peak season) or Agra in season will make life difficult.
- It is Full of Tour Operators: Anyplace that is well known on the tourist map of India is full of hundreds (if not thousands) of tour operators. So, if it is absolutely essential for your peace of mind, pre-book your hotel. Any trips that you desire to take (like Pangong in Ladakh or Yumthang in Sikkim) can be booked after reaching the hub cities like Leh (Ladakh) or Gangtok (Sikkim). The prices charged closer to the destination also tend to be cheaper and you can shop around with tour operators.
- Sometimes you Stumble Upon Places: While coming back from Auli (in August, I have been there in June too) our bus stopped about 30 kilometers before Rishikesh, at Kaudiala for evening tea. GMVN has a guesthouse right at the bank of the Ganges here. We asked if there was a vacant room and we got it. Now if we had pre-booked a hotel at Rishikesh or Haridwar, this change of plans would not have been possible.
very valid post.. 🙂 Sometimes a pre-booking can spoil the whole fun of travelling. Especially if you end up in a bad place that was sold to you with fancy ads..
U know its very much possible to avoid prebooking ur tickets, have U ever tried hitch-hiking? U should have so many +es and -es for that. Best places for hitch hiking are in MP, if possible try to give it a TRY U will certainly love it.
Mridula, you have travelled to so many places and then you say “this is all I have traveled in last six years? What am I doing with my life?”. you should consider yourself lucky for having travelled so much (offcourse you could be putting more efforts for travelling but still i would consider you as lucky 😉 )I will have to think hard for remembering places i visited in last 6 years, even to come up with 2 names, if i don’t count my work travels.
Thats a lovely picture of the valley. BTW which digital SLR did you get ? We are also thinking of getting one and could use some pointers.
Very valid and apt post. To me I think I’ll prefer a mix of two. Sometimes when you are going in a peak season and you the place very well then probably you can book in advance. Otherwise it is fun to wander around and get something on the spot.
Wow, you’ve posted a lot!if I didn’t have small kids, I could travel without prebooking rooms. With small kids – no.
Arun, I understand exactly what you are saying, particularly about the fancy ads part.Karnail, hitchhiking seems quite daring to me! I don’t have enough courage to do it but thanks a lot for mentioning the possibility.Pooja, I ended up with a Canon Digital Rebel 350 XT. If you are interested in details, do let me know.Cuckoo, I agree, say going to Goa in December without booking can turn out to be quite an experience I am sure, but as I said we travel more in off-season and almost like backpackers.Yes Teri, I am posting a lot these days. I absolutely agree with you, I would probably not even dream of traveling without a booking with young kids.
hmmm…travelling without reserving a hotel room is ok in the off-season, though it might make things very difficult in the tourist-season. I agree.
Nilesh, really good to see a comment from you. I totally agree that I am lucky but I know people and of people who managed/manage to travel 16-17 times a year! That is my benchmark, though I know I will never be able to achieve it.Sidhu, even in season many places are possible, like Ladakh and Joshimath but definitely not Goa or Agra but of course the trick is to know what is possible and what is not.
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