So my train got delayed this Saturday and I had 4 freaking hours to kill 😭

I was NOT about to sit at the station for that long or spend the whole time pretending to work at a coffee shop. I’d seen people mention hourly/day-use hotels before, but honestly, I always thought they sounded a little sketchy lol.

But I was desperate, so I figured, why not give it a shot?

Booked a room for around 3 hours in the afternoon. I was lowkey awkward walking up to the front desk because I had no luggage and thought they’d be like 👀 “Why is this person here?” 😂

But nope. The guy checked me in like it was completely normal. Didn’t even care.

And honestly? The room was actually clean. Like, genuinely clean. No weird smell, no “leftover room” vibes. I showered, took a nap, redid my makeup, watched YouTube for a bit, and just chilled. It was actually kinda nice.

The only annoying thing was that the app wasn’t super clear about the exact checkout time, so I called the front desk to double-check. They were totally chill about it.

And the math actually made sense. I probably would’ve spent almost the same amount on food and drinks just to sit somewhere for 3 hours. So why not get an actual bed, a shower, and some privacy instead?

Not gonna lie, I went in thinking, “This is probably gonna be weird,” and left thinking, “Okay... I might actually do this again.” 😂

I did Udaipur solo in just 3 days and I'm honestly annoyed at myself for being scared to book this trip for so long

Throwaway — ish post because I want to actually be honest instead of doing the "everything was magical" thing. Backstory: I'd wanted to do a solo India trip for like two years and kept talking myself out of it. Finally just booked 3 days in Udaipur on a whim because flights were cheap. Here's the real, unfiltered version — how I got around, what I ate, where I stayed, and two moments that still make me laugh.

Okay but first is Udaipur actually easy to solo travel?

Yes. Genuinely didn't expect the old city to be this walkable. Everything worth seeing is basically in one compact zone around Lake Pichola, and when I didn't feel like walking, autos were cheap once you know the going rate. My guesthouse owner literally wrote fair prices for 5 common routes on a sticky note for me before I even asked — unprompted, day one. Told me "Udaipur mein koi jaldi nahi hoti, bas ghumo aur maza karo" (there's no rush in Udaipur, just wander and enjoy), and honestly that became the whole vibe of the trip.

Day 1 — landed, got lost, ate my body weight in ghee...

Checked into a small haveli-style guesthouse near Jagdish Chowk and just... walked. City Palace, then straight into the bazaar lanes with zero plan, which is how I like it. Dinner on the rooftop: dal baati churma, which I'd never had — baked wheat dumplings crushed up and drenched in ghee, spicy dal on the side, sweet churma to finish. My host watched my face when I realized how much ghee was involved and just laughed: "Rajasthan mein ghee kam nahi hota" (there's no shortage of ghee in Rajasthan). No lies detected.

Day 2 — Kumbhalgarh, and the incident that still lives in our group chat...

Did a shared day trip to Kumbhalgarh Fort with 4 other solo travelers I'd literally just met at the guesthouse — split the cab, made it cheap, made it fun. On the drive back we stopped at a roadside dhaba, and I very confidently ordered myself a chai. It came in a little clay kulhad. Nobody told me the whole point is you just chuck it when you're done — I did not know this — so I tried to hand mine back to the shopkeeper like it was a mug he needed returned. Man looked at me like I'd handed him a live animal. Then just started cracking up and going "Fek do, fek do!" ("throw it, throw it!") while my new travel friends absolutely lost their minds laughing at me. I will never live this down.

Dinner: laal maas, the famously fiery Rajasthani mutton curry, with bajre ki roti (pearl millet flatbread), at a total no-frills local spot a fellow traveler recommended. Best meal of the trip AND the spiciest thing I've eaten in my life, eyes watering, everything. Waiter just grinned: "Rajasthani khana toh aisa hi hota hai, thoda tez!" (Rajasthani food is just like that, a little strong). Understatement of the century.

Day 3 — sunset boat ride, and my second public humiliation...

Morning at the ghats, then a sunset boat ride on Lake Pichola which is genuinely one of the best 45 minutes I've had traveling anywhere — City Palace and the Lake Palace just glowing gold on the water. Right before, I made the mistake of getting overconfident with street food and ordered kachori with the "spicy" green chutney from a stall that only had locals in line (should've been my first clue). Coughed so hard I nearly cried in public. The old vendor didn't say a single word, just calmly handed me a free glass of chaas like this happens to some tourist every single day. It probably does.

Where I stayed...

Haveli-style guesthouse in the old city near Jagdish Chowk can't recommend this area enough for a first solo trip. Walkable to everything, full of other solo travelers so it never feels lonely, most places in this range have rooftop restaurants with lake views (built-in evening hangout spot, which matters more than people think when you're alone). Cheap by any standard, breakfast usually included.

Where I ate...

• Dal baati churma — have it once at an actual local place, not a hotel menu version
• Laal maas — if you eat meat and can handle heat, non-negotiable
• Street kachori and chaat near the ghats — cheap, fast, and where you actually see local life (bring tissues)
• Rooftop cafés if you need a break from spice — Udaipur has plenty of traveler-friendly comfort food too

So was it actually safe alone?

Yes, comfortably. Solo women are a completely normal sight here, the old city and ghats are lit up and busy well into the evening, never once felt unsafe walking back to my guesthouse at night. Genuinely the biggest risk on this trip was ghee and my own overconfidence with chutney.

Guidelines if you're doing the same trip...

• Base yourself in the old city near Jagdish Chowk — walkable, social, safe after dark
• Agree on auto fares upfront, or ask your guesthouse for fair local rates
• Do a shared day tour for Kumbhalgarh instead of a solo private cab — cheaper and way more fun
• Eat where the locals are eating, especially street food
• Cover shoulders/knees for temples, carry a light scarf
• Don't try to return your kulhad. Just throw it.
• Eat the laal maas. Trust me.
• Learn "shukriya" (thank you) and "kitna hua?" (how much?) — tiny effort, big goodwill.

3 days was tight but genuinely enough to fall into the rhythm of the place instead of just checklist-touristing. Wish I'd stopped being scared and booked this two years ago.

So this one's from Gokarna, Karnataka — beach town, five of us, and honestly the actual "trip" barely went as planned but the mess-ups ended up being the whole point.

We had this whole itinerary — sunrise point, some fort, a boat ride, all planned to the hour because one of my friends is a certified control freak (love her though). Day one itself we missed our early train from Yesvantpur Junction because someone (not naming names but her name rhymes with Sneha) set her alarm for PM instead of AM. We reach the station panting, bags falling apart, and the train is literally pulling away. The chaiwala on platform 4 just looked at us and went "itni jaldi thi toh raat ko so jana chahiye tha na," and honestly he wasn't wrong, we deserved that.

So new plan — next train's after 6 hours. We're sitting on the platform floor, sulking, hungry, hot, and someone spots a tiny dhaba just outside the station gate, near the auto stand, literally three plastic tables and one bench. We go in expecting sad maggi and instead the owner bhaiya turns out to be the most entertaining man alive. He's cooking, gossiping with customers, and randomly asks us "bangalore se ho kya, itna loud kyu hai" and we could NOT stop laughing because yes, guilty as charged.

We ended up spending like 4 hours there. Ordered food twice because we kept talking instead of eating. At one point my friend tried to explain an inside joke to the owner and he just shook his head and said "tum logo ki baatein mere to samajh se bahar hain bhai" That line lived rent free in our group chat for weeks after.

By the time we boarded the next train, we hadn't seen a single "sight" from our itinerary. No fort, no sunrise, no boat ride. Just a dhaba, bad chai, worse jokes, and a stranger who fed us and judged us affectionately for four hours straight. When we finally reached Gokarna the next morning, someone said "yaar sabse acha toh kal wahi tha," and honestly? Nobody disagreed.

Moral of the story — the itinerary died, the trip didn't. Anyone else have a trip where the "failed" part turned out to be the actual memory?

ok so this happened last month and I'm still not over it, log kya kahenge energy activated
booked a solo trip to Rishikesh, told my mom I'm "going with friends" (sorry mumma if you're reading this, love you). Reached there, checked into a hostel near Laxman Jhula, and decided pehla kaam is to just walk around and vibe.

The Ganga Aarti Disaster

Evening aarti at the ghat, everyone's sitting cross-legged, diyas floating on the river, priests chanting, full spiritual mahaul. I'm sitting there trying to look peaceful and enlightened for the Instagram story. Suddenly a stray dog decides MY lap is the most comfortable seat in all of Rishikesh and just plops down. Not sits beside me. ON me. Mid-aarti. I'm frozen because everyone around is in bhakti mode and I'm out here like "bhai please get up, log dekh rahe hain."

An aunty next to me starts laughing so hard she nearly drops her diya in the river. She looks at me and goes, "Beta yeh Baba Rishikesh ka aashirwad hai, accept kar lo" (child this is Baba Rishikesh's blessing, just accept it :). I have never felt more exposed on camera in my life. That video is somewhere on my phone, unposted, because the sheer chaos on my face is not for public consumption.

Enter Meena Aunty

So this same aunty — turns out her name is Meena — basically decides I'm too skinny, too alone, and too clueless to be left unsupervised in Rishikesh. Next thing I know she's got my number, has invited me to her homestay for dinner ("nahi nahi paisa nahi lungi, bas aa jao"), and has already told her son to "keep an eye" on me at the market the next day because apparently solo ladki + Rishikesh bazaar = unsupervised chaos in her book.

I went. Best decision of the trip, ngl. Her rajma chawal > any 5 star hotel meal I've had. Her son turned out to be super chill and actually gave me legit tips on which cafes are tourist traps (RIP to the "German Bakery" that charges 400 for a plate of pasta, I see you).

The Bungee Jump Plot Twist

Day 2, I go do the bungee jump at the jumping heights place because yolo. I'm strapped in, absolutely regretting every life choice, staff is counting down "3...2...1..." and right as I'm about to jump, some random guy in the queue behind me shouts "JAI SHREE RAM BOL KE JAA!"

I did not plan on going into freefall laughing but yahan life had other plans. Jumped, screamed, laughed, cried a little, felt reborn. 10/10 experience, would recommend the spontaneous stranger commentary as a free add-on.

Overall

Solo travel in India is genuinely equal parts chaos and warmth. Ek taraf you've got dogs hijacking your spiritual moments and randoms hyping your bungee jump, doosri taraf you've got aunties who will feed you like their own bachcha within an hour of meeting you. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

Sharing this because it's been living rent-free in my head for a week now

So I went to Goa solo, not the party hostel-hopping kind of trip, more like "I need to sit near the ocean and pretend my life is together" kind of trip. Landed in North Goa, dropped my bags, and decided pehla kaam beach pe jaake baithna hai.

The Chai Stall Encounter

Second morning, I'm at this tiny chai stall near Anjuna, sitting on a plastic stool, staring at the waves like a sad Bollywood heroine. Chai-wala uncle hands me my cutting chai and casually asks, "Akeli aayi ho?"

I said, "Haan uncle, solo trip hai."

He just nodded slowly, like he was processing some deep philosophical statement, and said, "Accha hai. Bhagwan ne do kaam khud ke saath karne ke liye diye hain — khana aur safar. Dono akele karo toh pata chalta hai apna swaad kya hai."

I sat there stunned for a second because bhai literally dropped a life philosophy over 10 rupees ki chai and went back to washing his kettle like nothing happened.

Round Two of Wisdom

I ended up staying there for like 40 minutes because more locals kept showing up and uncle kept dishing out random advice between pouring chai. At one point some tourist guy asked him for directions and got mildly scammed level directions (sent him the long way to a beach that was literally 5 mins away), and uncle turned to me, completely deadpan, and said, "Jo jaldi mein rehta hai, use thoda ghumaana padta hai, warna zindagi ka maza nahi aata."

I don't know if that was actual wisdom or if uncle was just having fun messing with tourists but either way I wrote it down in my phone notes like it was scripture.

The Actual Funny Moment

Later that evening I go to this beach shack for dinner, tell the waiter "kuch spicy suggest kariye," thinking main bhi thodi adventurous hoon. He brings me this prawn curry that was so spicy I nearly started crying in front of an entire beach shack full of strangers. Waiter comes back, sees my face, and goes "Madam pani se kaam nahi chalega, yeh lijiye" and hands me a plate of curd like it's a medical emergency kit. Man had clearly seen this exact scene play out a hundred times before with a hundred other overconfident tourists.

I somehow finish the entire curry out of pure stubbornness while sweating through my kurta, and the waiter just stands there shaking his head going "bahadur ho aap" (you're brave) in the most sarcastic tone possible.

Rest of the Trip

Spent the remaining days doing absolutely nothing productive — sunset at Vagator, one badly executed attempt at parasailing, and an entire afternoon just reading a book at a cafe while the owner's dog slept on my feet like he'd known me for years. Solo travel really does hit different when random strangers keep adopting you for a few hours at a time.

Overall

Went solo to Goa, got unsolicited life advice from a chai-wala philosopher, nearly cried eating spicy prawn curry in public, dog adopted me at a cafe. 10/10 trip, would recommend both the chai and the humility check.

ok so context, i consider myself a fairly street smart traveler. was.

I'm in pushkar doing the whole lake ghat thing, buy some marigolds off a guy to do the whole offering deal bc when in rome. im holding this little leaf bowl of flowers feeling very spiritual and zen about my life choices.

and then out of NOWHERE a cow just walks up and headbutts my arm. not even mean about it just very "excuse me" energy. and i full on panic, drop half the flowers, and start APOLOGIZING TO THE COW OUT LOUD like a lunatic. and mid apology some guy appears next to me with a brass plate going "sister sister very good luck holy cow give blessing" and i was so rattled i just. gave him 200 rupees. for what. the cow didn't even want anything from me the cow was just walking.

didn't even clock it until like 10 min later when i see the SAME GUY do the SAME THING to a german couple by a different cow (possibly the same cow tbh i have no proof but i have thoughts) and i just stood there laughing so hard a chai guy asked if i needed help.

told this story at my hostel that night and turns out THREE other people got got by the exact same setup at the exact same lake that same week. one dude got blessed by 4 different cows in one afternoon before he caught on. we basically formed a support group over dinner, very unserious, very healing.

moral of the story: cow touches you in pushkar, that is not the universe speaking to you, that is a business. do not apologize to the cow. keep your rupees.

still love pushkar tho 10/10 just bring small notes and trust issues.

So this is from My Varanasi leg, still slightly annoyed but also weirdly impressed

day one i get to the ghats at like 5am for the whole sunrise boat ride thing everyone says you HAVE to do. immediately swarmed by boat guys, i pick one, agree on a price of 300 rupees for like an hour, feel very proud of myself for negotiating like a real adult

get in the boat. rower is this kid, maybe 13 14, doesn't say much, rows me around, it's genuinely beautiful, im having a moment watching the sun come up over the ghats, feeling very cultured and enlightened

then he starts talking. asks where im from, how long im traveling, the usual. very sweet. then casually goes "you want to see aarti ceremony spot up close? very good view, i take you, only if you want" and i said sure why not

we go further down, he stops the boat right in front of this whole setup, and THEN goes "you want flowers for ganga maa? bring good luck for your travels" and produces a little diya flower boat thing from literally nowhere like a magician

i already got cow'd in pushkar a week before this so alarm bells are going off but also. we're in the middle of the ganges. in his boat. i am not exactly in a position of leverage here

buy the diya. it's 100 rupees. fine whatever, it's actually a nice moment, i light it, send it off, feel spiritual again

THEN as we're heading back he goes, very casually, not even looking at me, "also boat ride is 300 for one person, but you sat one hour 45 min, so 500 more" and i was like WE AGREED ON 300 and this child just shrugs and goes "sun was very beautiful no? worth it" AND KEPT ROWING SLOWLY. slowest boat in the history of the ganges. daring me to argue with a minor about pricing while stranded on a river

i paid him the 500. i want to be very clear i was defeated by a person who cannot legally drive a car

told the hostel owner later who just laughed for a solid 20 seconds and said "yes they all do this, the kids are worse than the adults, they know tourists won't fight a child" which. fair. deeply fair

anyway 0/10 do not recommend negotiating boat prices with children who have home field advantage on a holy river, they will win, they know they will win, they've probably been doing this since age 8

still cried a little at the aarti ceremony that night though, worth every rupee tbh, scammed and moved, a Varanasi special.

Okay this happened in October but I keep thinking about it so here goes.

I was doing a solo trip through Uttarakhand, mostly Nainital and Almora area, and I'd read about this tiny village called Dalar (or something close to that, my memory of the actual spelling is fuzzy ngl) that had homestays run by local families. No proper booking site, just a number some guy at my hostel in Almora scribbled on a paper chit and said "call Meena didi, tell her Rohit sent you."

So I called, half expecting no one to pick up, and this woman just goes "haan aa jao" like I was a relative she'd been expecting. Took a shared jeep, then had to walk the last 25 mins uphill because the road just... stopped. My backpack straps were digging into my shoulders and I genuinely questioned every decision that led me there.

Then I see the house. Stone, blue window frames, marigolds literally everywhere, and Meena didi standing outside like she'd heard me coming from a mile off. She fed me before I even put my bag down — rice, some pahadi dal I don't know the name of, and this insanely good bhang ki chutney (the seed kind, not the other kind lol, though the jokes wrote themselves).

That evening her mother-in-law, who must've been 80+, sat with me on the porch and just started talking in Kumaoni. I understood maybe 10% of it. Didn't matter. She was telling me about the terraced fields below, pointing at which crop was where, and every so often Meena didi would translate a bit while stirring something on the chulha. At one point the old woman just grabbed my hand and started teaching me some hand movements, like a folk song gesture thing, and I have never felt more like an idiot and more welcomed at the same time.

No wifi, no signal really, just the sound of some stream lower down the hill and her son's radio playing old Kishore Kumar songs from somewhere inside.

Next morning Meena didi woke me up at 5:30 (did not ask for this, was not consulted) to show me the sunrise over the peaks from behind the house. Worth it obviously but I was so unprepared for that wake up call.

I stayed only one night because my itinerary was dumb and packed, and I regret that more than almost anything else from the trip. I've messaged her twice since on the number she gave me (her nephew has WhatsApp apparently, relays messages), just to check in. Planning to go back for longer next time, no itinerary, no rush.

If you're doing Kumaon and want an actual local experience over another "boutique cafe hill station" trip go find the villages that don't have a listing anywhere. Ask literally anyone, someone always knows someone.