How did I figured out places to stay during my long distance cycling (2200 KM)?

Finding a safe place for a night stay was one of the most challenging aspect through out my solo travel till now. Not just during this long distance cycling to Delhi, earlier during a solo backpacking trip to Leh Ladakh I faced the same issue.

The cycling route I have chosen from Chennai to Delhi is purely on the highways, and one cannot find a hotel or lodge facility in most of the places. Then, how did I prepared for night stays before starting my journey?

My past solo travel experiences gave me lot of confidence and belief that people always help travelers. During my first ever solo trip, which was to Hong Kong and it was my first ever abroad trip as well. I didn't face issues at Hong Kong for stay as I booked dorm rooms through Airbnb before starting itself. Next, I backpacked to Srinagar and from there hitchhiked to Leh Ladakh. I went prepared with Camping gears and all, still what you could do if you reach Leh (3500 meters above sea level) by 1 AM?

I hitchhiked an Indian oil lorry from Sonmarg towards Leh and fortunately (I am thankful what happened to me) the truck driver dropped me at Leh by 1 AM and went ahead as his destination was way ahead. What happened for me that night is a long story, total chaos with the street dogs and all, will detail this story in a dedicated post.

Just experiencing the driver seat while the Lorry is not at motion

Finding places to stay while cycling:

Thankfully, by the end of cycling day 1 I was suggested to stay at a big temple by a gentleman along the way. That gave me one hint but not all days one can find temples for stay. Day 2, I stayed at a bus stand suggested by local youngsters at Gudur and days went by that. Then after took some rest in a railway station, and a random Dhaba hosted me and even a local family in Madya Pradesh hosted me.

Staying at Ayyappan Temple, Kavali

Tips to find stay for free:

My situation was in such a way similar to this quote, "If you want to take the Island, then burn the boats." I was in a random village or small city and I have to definitely find a safe place to stay at night. I used Smartphone effectively, I just cautiously use applications like Google Maps, Instagram, and Facebook because I cannot spend hours on it as I didn't carry any power bank with me.

Google Maps

Utilizing applications like Google Maps, Instagram, and Facebook have helped me big time. With Google Maps, I just zoomed in and out to see whether a particular temple nearby the highway is big enough or not. I will see its compound block representation in the Google Maps and guess whether it can be helpful for me or not. I search and note down a handful of temples a day before and finalize after reaching in person one after another until getting approval from someone there for the stay.

Instagram

I just search for the village name in Instagram and comment on the recent images that were uploaded. I comment my name and convey them that I am cycling from here to here and I request them to suggest me places to safely stay for the next day night, asking for suggestions like big temples, bus stands, Gurudwaras, etc. Without any hesitation I comment on hundreds of images, give some time and check for people response.

Facebook

I didn't intentionally used Facebook to ask for people help for stay but I just started to upload stories about my cycling on cycling groups online. Many a people shown me kind gesture, lots of love, appreciation, motivation having read my posts. Few of them invited me to their cities, I gently refused with a heavy heart. I hope one day I meet all those kind souls and get their blessings.

There are lots more to tell about how these social media applications helped big time in finding a safe place to stay at night. Hopefully, I will write separate blogs detailing how it helped me and how you guys can also make use of it.

Are you a traveler as well, share in the comments if you have any particular (It will be great if you have personally benefited by that already) tip or trick which can be used to find safe places to stay at night.

Author's Note

Like the article? If so, like my social media pages. In case you hate it, please do let me know in comments about where I sucked. Either way, it will help me improvise. Thanks.

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Help me achieve my lifetime dream - Cycling solo from India to Western Europe

I have recently rode 2200 KM by bicycle for the first time and that inspired me to attempt even bigger things in life. I have decided that I will attempt solo cycling from Chennai, India to Western Europe in the near future. I am researching on to rope this epic ride with a social cause/charity work. Whatever you are funding me will help me on the road as well as some percentage of amount will go for the charity.

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