The Ultimate Guide For HITCHHIKING In India...

Some of you must be unaware of the term "HITCHHIKING", no worries it's totally understandable because hitchhiking is a new thing for Indians.

●What is Hitchhiking...?

- Hitchhiking simply means asking people for lift, it's a simple way to travel for free and also one gets to meet new people each time you get a lift. Although Hitchhiking is new to India, there is a growing Indian hitchhiking community and the rise of the car-owning middle class means that hitchhiking from cities to popular excursion sites is increasingly simple.
- Hitchhiking in India can be an incredible experience, although travelling in India is pretty much cheap across the entire country. Hitchhiking would perhaps be one of the best ways to move around the diverse, enormous and beautiful country.
 

●Things to keep in mind to successfully do hitchhiking :

1. LOCATION :
- Yes, the most important thing to keep in mind is the location where you are going to hitchhike. One should always hitchhike on the OUTSKIRTS of ant city or town because most of the people in the city are going to nearby places only. That won't help you to cover longer distances.
- Finding the RIGHT LOCATION will massively boost your chances of being seen by people travelling in your direction and therefore increase your chances of getting picked up.
- Traffic lights, petrol & service stations can be good places as it allows more time for drivers to assess you

2. SAFETY FIRST :
-. Believe in your six sense, never take a ride if you feel a bad vibe from the stranger. Assume you have waited for hours and someone has finally stopped. You walk to their car and you instantly pick up on a bad vibe. You don’t like how they look; they may have phrased a question weird or you can smell alcohol on their breath. Just because they offered a lift it does not mean you have to take it.
- In this case just say no to the ride.

3. APPEARANCE :
- Second most important thing to keep in mind is to look neat and clean. As the other person needs to build a trust that you won't "robe" him, your first impression is the thing that really matters.
- Always keep a smile on your face, wear light coloured clothes, make eye contact with drivers passing by and if possible then carry a cardboard to write the place you're heading towards.
- These little things will help the other person trust you and hence let you in their vehicles.

4. PATIENCE IS THE KEY :
- It takes time to successfully get a ride from a stranger, sometimes you could have to wait a few minutes or even a couple of hours in worst condition to get a ride.
- Hitchhiking sometimes test your patience to extreme level but all you need to do is be positive, don't panic you're surely get a ride.

5. TIME :
- You can't stand on the roadside at 2 AM and ask for ride, most of the time you'll just be wasting your time, energy and sleep !!
- I strongly recommend you not to hitchhike at night it's really risky as you're more prone to lead any mishappening.
- If you opt for walking, check your map and be sure that you can hike to the next town before nightfall. If you are in remote areas, local people will be so fascinated by you you will probably be offered food and a bed anyway. 

6. YOUR DUTY AS A PASSENGER :
- You’re finally in the car, now it’s time to do your part. The driver picked you up because they want some company, that means do not sleep.
- They want to hear about your stories: where you’re from, where you’ve been and what your plans are. For the sake of the whole hitchhiking community, do your very best to entertain them and create a positive image of hitchhikers.
- They will then tell their friends of the super-cool awesome hitchhiker they picked up, thus in turn making more hitchhiker friendly drivers !!

Now that you know what Hitchhiking really is,

●Here are some of the famous routes you could start hitchhiking with :-

1. MANALI TO LEH :

2. MUMBAI TO GOA :

3. JODHPUR TO JAISALMER :

4. CHANDIGARH TO MANALI :