Ok Tata Bye Bye: For backpackers in India

Being an Indian, I always get asked for travel tips in India. I can help on the general stuff, but when it comes to routes and places to stay, I have no idea. Whenever I do trips in India, it’s normally with family (a lot of family!) and we book a large guesthouse. The routes normally come out of the brain and adventurous plottings of my grandfather — the rest of us just follow lead.

Until recently, information on backpacking in India has been restricted to that in guidebooks — also, that information is generally written by non-Indian travelers. Online information for travel in India has also been restricted to that advertised by hotels and tour-agents in the country.

However now, Indian travel website Ok Tata Bye Bye has most of the answers you need if you are planning a trip there. To my knowledge, it’s the first, and the probably only, Indian community website with active, registered members from India who are avid travelers in their country. At the moment, there are 146 destination features, an active travel-in-India-query forum, over 400 travelogues, and links to many many India based travel blogs. For the moment, its popularity is primarily amongst young Indian travelers, but I think that’s what makes it authentic and totally off the beaten path. A must look at if you are planning a trip to the subcontinent!