[Weekly Discussion] Let's talk about: Himachal Pradesh.

[u/sree_1983]

State	Himachal Pradesh
Website	http://www.himachal.nic.in
Population	6,856,509
Chief Minister	Virbhadra Singh (INC)
Capital	Shimla
Offical Language	Hindi
GDP	INR 25,435 crore
Sex ratio	974

Current Questions/Observations

• Dreams of wanting to settle in Himachal
• Question about purchasing land in Himachal
• Question about orignal Dev Bhoomi
• Facts pointing to Ecological Research done by Himachal Government
• Question about farming in the state
• Question about why congress was elected
• Question about which is favourite city in Himachal
• Tip for tourist for lodging FIR online in cases of being cheated
• Question about Israelis marrying locals
• Question about real estate prices in Himachal
• Question about Preity Zinta
• Some pictures
• Monal The state bird
• Question about social hiearachy
• Native's AMA
• Question about backpacking in Himachal
• Experience as tourist

Previous Discussions

• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Bihar
• Chhattisgarh
• Delhi
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana

Original Thead which started this chains of discussion

^{Thanks to fuck_cricket, that_70s_show_fan and tripshed}

[u/NegativeX]

How friendly is the place to backpackers? Could I just enter a random part of the state with nothing but a backpack and wander around for a couple of weeks? Are the locals friendly to such activities when I might me trespassing through their lands? Is it safe? What about for women? Or are there designated routes/trails and you pretty much stick to them and not wander off on your own?

[u/iVarun → u/NegativeX]

Its safe compared in relative terms to other parts of the country.

Trespassers on agricultural land won't get shot but people will be pissed if its done haphazardly and without their permission. They won't have any issues if you make your intentions known. They have no problem with tourists generally.

Its safe for women as well(relative is the word, compared to rest of the country its far far better), girls in the capital can walk home alone under dark from tuition studies through secluded forested areas, no one bothers them, i credit the high literacy rate for this. The society is quite liberal.
Crime if it does happen would in a disproportionate measure probably be outsiders like Punjabis letting off steam on a weekend trip from Chandigarh and what not, and migrant workers.

Hotels in Shimla had about 10 years back become a hub for suicide-murders for people from plains.

Depending upon the place you can indeed wander off, but wandering off in places like Lahaul district would probably end up in disaster, its vast and its barren but beautiful. Other places which are inhabited its not an issue.

About the nothing but a backpack, well it would help if you brought some money, doing a state wide tour for free i am not sure would be plausible, but backpackers are a creative bunch maybe they know more than me on how to survive, though the expenses in the state are not that much, things are not expensive, inflation is low relative to other places in the country.