How much does it cost to tour india on a cycle?
When people hear you say that you want to do an all-India cycle tour, it raises a lot of eyebrows. One of the first questions you will be asked is, how expensive will the entire trip turn out to be? I was no different when I first conceived the idea.
To understand clearly how much it costs to do an all-India trip, I approached a well-travelled cyclist, Sai Teja (going by the name Sanyasi on Savari) who is halfway through the tour right now. Little did I know at that time that he would turn out to be an inspiration for me to travel. Hopefully, he will turn out to be for you as well.
So how much does an all-India trip cost?
You will be surprised to hear that an all-India cycle tour can cost as much as only rupees 7000 for the entire journey or can even cost rupees 7000 a week. Cost of the tour depends on the network you build along the way, how you figure out ingenious ways to earn money on the move, and also how to spend little and spend wisely on the stay and food.
When I first approached Sai Teja who had been to Bangalore for a 2 month’s vacation from travel, I asked him how much he had spent up until then. With a plain old poker face, he replied saying he had spent 7000 rupees for the entire journey. I was so mesmerized by his answers to all my questions that I just thought I had to make his story heard. So here is the story of Sai Teja who has travelled half the country on a 7000 rupees budget.
Why start with a 7000 rupees budget?
Even having 10 times this amount of money will still instill fear and doubt in us as to whether or not to head out on an expedition of the scale of an entire country. At the time he started the journey, Sai didn’t feel so.
His mom who is his single parent never could travel and Sai decided to pack his bags and allow his mom to see the world through his eyes. While he was getting his second-hand bike built, the dealer at the local showroom promised him a 1.5 lakh endorsement if Sai could simply promote his brand. But things did not work out in his favor when the person who had agreed for endorsing him went mute. With the will to travel, he just left his house on the bike and gear he had collected with only 7000 rupees in his bank account, completely unaware of how cycle touring was going to be.
How far could he go?
His budget could only last him as many as 50 days of travel before which he figured out that he was broke. He had crossed Karnataka and was at the mercy of the uncharted territory of Tamil Nadu. An introvert by nature, Sai struggled to ask people for help. His determination however did not let him stop there. At the time he had set off, Covid was still doing its rounds in the country and he decided to sell masks to make some money for sustenance. Listening to this part of the story gave me goosebumps all over.
People figured out that they were helping Sai for a good cause and sometimes purchased the mask for 100 times its value to support his journey. As hard as it sounds to believe this story, he was able to get past 4 entire states to make it to West Bengal with the earned money.
Figuring out ingenious ways to earn
As Covid subsided, so did the sale of the masks. Sai had to resort to selling tea that he prepared with a huge gas cylinder he was carrying with him. As he spoke, he recalled all the mistakes he made in carrying heavy luggage on him when he initially set off (Read the blog: Common mistakes you need to avoid on an all-India cycle tour). As selling milk tea was not profitable, he started making black tea to make a decent margin.
Somewhere in Kolkata, he saw a tea vendor adding jalgeera powder to black tea which enhanced the taste of the tea. Requesting them for the powder he was able to make a tea that sold enough for him to again sustain his journey all until Nepal.
When tough times strike, good people help
At Kathmandu unfortunately, Sai fell sick and had to resort to contacting people for help. Friends he had made at the other end of India, Kanyakumari, helped him get in touch with a kind man who eventually arranged Sai’s stay and food for 3 whole weeks in a hotel in Kathmandu without taking a penny from him.
He could eventually regain strength and move ahead in his journey to the point of reaching Kashmir where he is right now. When I asked Sai if he finds it hard to travel in such a way, he said that kind people are all over the place who are willing to help him in his travel. His simplicity and belief in his ability to travel with almost no money motivated me several folds and most importantly helped me drop my fear of cycle touring on a low budget.
He pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed me a picture I will never forget. He had a placard that read “Tell me a story and get 10 rupees along with free hugs”. He said he wanted to make people smile and give everything he can back to the community. The biggest message I got from all his stories was that having faith in people and their kindness definitely will take us a long way.
How did he manage to reduce expenditure?
Sai has sustained his journey throughout by pitching his tents mostly in petrol stations, empty lands, and dhabas. Both petrol stations and dhabas have washrooms or a water source which allows him to take a shower and wash his clothes. Occasionally he stays at school grounds and even police stations. He books a hotel room for himself perhaps once a month and otherwise only sleeps in his tent. Along the way, people generously offer him food and water, and at times even a small bit of money. He says that if your stay and food are sorted, you essentially have no expenditure.
The longer plans
Before I left, I wanted to know what Sai had in mind for the future. For the first time in all the talking we had for an hour time, he displayed a broad smile on his face as he mentioned to me that his YouTube channel just got monetized. All the travelling for more than a year and documenting it eventually paid off.
He says he wishes to complete the tour and be able to earn some passive income on the side so that he could travel with his mom someday. I wished Sai all the best and got up and left with a satisfying answer for every question I had in my mind on budget travelling.
If you feel you can help Sai Teja in his travel, follow him on his YouTube channel and get in touch with him. For all you know, you can make his day.
I am a 31 year young PhD graduate who has decided to travel the length and breadth of India on my cycle, to document the journey of meeting a vast array of people. In my journey, I intend to understand the characteristic features of the people of this nation and categorize them based on their demographics, age, profession, gender, traditions, and cultural differences.