Backpacking India might seem a rather arduous adventure if you were to believe all the guide books and most of the backpacking blogs. Reading all those pages is sure to make you a believer of the myth that India is a traveler’s nightmare. Sure, India has its own set of social, economical, cultural, political and infrastructural problems, but that does not make India any less, one of the oldest civilizations. All the problems combined, do not make India any less a country with some of the most marvelous architectures, or a country with the most varied culture, languages, friendly people, whole lot of colorful festivals, diverse culinary delights and some of the most exotic landscapes and wildlife.

India has everything a backpacker could ever hope to see and more. Backpacking India is more than simply traveling to ancient architectural marvels, its more than seeing the beautiful flora and fauna, its even more than soaking in the sheer cultural delight this land has to offer. Backpacking India is about coping with the utter turmoil that hits you when you first land and finding yourself at peace in the company of strange yet friendly people. Its about experiencing the complete chaos everything seems to be in and then going on to discover the underlying order to the entire affair. Backpacking India is about getting jolted by the cultural shock and still be able to experience serenity in the never-ending festivities.

Budget wise, backpacking India has always been and continues to be one of the cheapest options in the world. Over the last couple of decades, India, as a tourist destination, has seen a lot of changes. Today, people across the country are conscious of the fact that travelers, from different cultures, with different dressing styles, eating habits and lifestyles come to visit India and staring at them or intruding their privacy is not something you do. People of India, ever so caring and friendly, with this dawn of understanding, have now become the best local resource for the backpackers.

India might not be the best tourist destination in the world but it is a country that’s on a hyper-drive towards completely industrialized future and yet, holding on to all the traditions, superstitions, history, myths and legends of a varied, rich and culturally vibrant past. This precarious balance is something only a traveler, a backpacker can see, experience and understand, because backpacking is not about being a tourist, it is about traveling.