“How much do you spend while traveling?” is a question that I have been frequently asked. And I have been meaning to write posts on travel expenses for a long time. People often assume that travel is a lot more expensive than it needs to be. Our travel budget really depends on our choices as I highlight below. I stayed in Jibhi, Himachal Pradesh for a whole month in May 2017. And I ended up spending less than 15,000 INR, and I wasn’t even trying to be economical.

The way I see it, there are basically 2 things to figure out about any travel adventure – accommodation & transport. These are the two big expenses pretty much. At least for me they are. Everything else can be figured out within a lesser travel budget if required.

Finding Budget Stay in the Himalayas

In most of the smaller towns of Himalayas, I believe it would be possible to stay at a monthly rent of 10000/month or a lot less also. The question is, how do we urban folks find these places?

#1 Through a Local Contact

The way I managed it in Jibhi is by contacting Ranaji. I had heard from a couple of my travel friends, and also read on some blogs, that Ranaji pretty much founded travel & tourism in Jibhi. He is a pioneer. I took a judgement call, because I have been to Himachal Pradesh before. And I know how the local people are. So I called up Ranaji and asked him whether I can get a place to stay at my budget (10,000/month). And he was totally awesome to find me one place right by his guesthouse 🙂

My requirements for the stay were simple,

• a kitchen, because I can’t eat out every day for a month
• personal bathroom
• if possible, a view 😉

Have your basic requirements clear. And then if you can find a good local contact, you can request them to find something. Usually, these Himachali locals are very helpful and trustworthy.

#2 Land up there and Ask around

This is the more on-the-ground way. Just land up in a village and ask around. This actually lets you wander through a few different villages and then choose one as per your interests. It also lets you bargain with a few different people, weigh different aspects (for example, the view versus accessibility), negotiate terms and other details of the stay.

I am not too comfortable with this approach. But currently, in Tiruvannamalai, I have been seeing a lot of apartments for my next visit. And you know what? It is actually a good way to make friends too. As long as, people aren’t too competitive or desperate to make money off you. Usually, even if you see their place and then choose to stay elsewhere, people are understanding and friendly.

#3 Check with other travellers

If you can’t seem to do either of the two above, search for travel bloggers (like me 😉 ). Nowadays there have been a lot of travellers who have spent months in offbeat places. Their blogs may talk about some places they have stayed at (like my Jibhi blog post does) or you can personally contact them and they will help you out. The only thing is that these travel bloggers have varying budget range and taste, so depending on what you want, you have to find the right blogger for you.

Jibhi Homestay

Here are the details about the place I stayed in Jibhi,

I had a great view from both the windows in the room

Shining Star Homestay owned by a very helpful family. They own the entire building. On the ground floor is their grocery store and own house while the apartment rooms are on the higher floors. Each apartment has one room, kitchen and bathroom. It is a bit small but the view is good. (Right next to Ranaji’s Doli guest house) Contact: Naresh Kumar, +91-98.174.960.43

Transport in the Himalayas

This is kind of a no-brainer, but to spell it out, local buses are available for almost everywhere in the Himalayas. It may be a bit tedious at times though. You have to wait for the bus as per its timing. Sometimes you have to take multiple buses. Sometimes they are crowded.

But they are cheap. So if you are on a tight budget just opt for these local rides. You could also hitchhike actually. If you are new then stick to buses initially. Until you get an understanding of the locals and build some trust, then you can hitchhike. You can also ask friends to let you know when they are heading to certain places, so you can go with them.

Other Costs: Food / Exploration

Kshatra cafe – From my room, I could look right into this quaint cafe, my usual haunt!

Since the apartment has cooking facilities, you can cook your meals. This significantly reduces food costs. I used to eat frequently at the Kshatra Cafe and so my food costs were higher. But there are also a lot of cheap dhabbas in the mountains. So, food costs can be kept quite low – easily below 5k/month.

I had carried my cycle with me… so I cycled a bit too

Exploration: This is where our individual interests come in. I was happy trekking and hiking everywhere solo. On free evenings I would be happy just sitting by the nearby river and dipping my feet in it. So, I don’t think I spent anything on exploration. But if you want guided treks and such, then you need to consider those costs.

So totally I spent,

Stay: approx 10k/month
Food: 4k/month
Transport: Since I had my cycle with me I actually took a taxi to and fro so it cost me about 5k rupees. But as I have mentioned this is not at all necessary. Depending on your luggage and interests, you can just take a local bus which would be much cheaper.

So totally for this trip my total travel budget was maybe a bit higher than 20k/month. There were lot of different options in stay/food/transport/exploration and I could have made it cheaper or more expensive depending on my preference.

For urban folks planning to take a month of holidays or just want to get out of the city and stay on your own for a bit – these apartment stays in the Himalayas can be an amazing break. Consider planning a hot summer month here in the mountains amidst cool clouds and bubbling rivers 🙂

Hope this helps. And if you have some good Himalayan home stay recommendations, share away!