Throwback in time

Travelling through India. It is more than simply travelling through a country, rather it is like travelling through space and time. Landscapes change from beautiful beaches over sandy meadows into rough mountains. A loving kind of landscape into a dangerous and treacherous terrain. So much beauty, and yet so much frustration. If you ask me what my biggest frustration is about India, that is an amazingly easy question to answer: the crazy price difference they charge for visiting places and monuments for tourists compared to Indian citizens or lookalikes. They often easily charge 10 times the price or more for foreigner and they are not ashamed about it. Often it is neatly written down on the board indicating the different prices. Luckily, if you would ask me what I like about this mysterious country in the East, my answer is much longer. It is a country that never stops surprising. When you think you have seen everything, it shows you yet another side of itself. India seems to be more of a little world than a country. A place with many faces combining the old and the new. In the morning you can be stuck in the big city traffic for hours, but when leaving the city you may encounter several farmers pulling a plough by hand through the red coloured earth. Life is everywhere, moving around in a flying colourful manner.

After leaving Kovalam behind we headed up into the mountains at Coonoor, Kotagiri and Ooty to then slowly descent back to the coast at Gokarna while passing through the shimmering National Parks of Mudumalai and Badipur, the lively city of Mysore and the rural areas around Shimoga and Sagar. Roads went from impeccable to non-existent, riding at 70km/hour to moving at hardly 10km/hour while combatting the reddish sand and the rocks. Off-road skills, I am surely still working on them! Reaching Gokarna yet another throwback in time was awaiting us. We found a cute little hut to stay in directly on Kudle beach, and with a hut I really mean a hut. A little hut made from bamboo sticks and the leaves from coconut trees. No floor, only sand to softly place your feet in every morning. No bathroom, just a small bed with several layers of blankets taking over the function of a mattress and a mosquito net hanging above. The sound of the waves breaking on the beach to keep you company. Basic, simple and yet mesmerizing. Dreaming of how beaches must have been when they were discovered by merchants and pirates suddenly feels natural. A life so different, so far away of how we all know it in so many countries and yet so special. It makes me wonder why we make life so complicated when it can be brought back to this simpler, slower version. I could keep on talking about this attractive place, but all I can really say is, if you want to go back to basics and can cope with the lack of, well nearly everything, this is the place to go! For sure it is a place I plan to return to before it loses its beautiful simplicity to the tourist industry. After Gokarna we headed to Goa, surely as amazing as Gokarna, but the huge tourist business has found its way here for already many years. Probably Gokarna still is what Goa must have been many years ago.

Following our stay in Goa we continue our journey further North, towards Rajasthan and Nepal, towards colder climates, desserts and the ancient mountains of the Himalayas. Living on our motorcycles, falling in love with people and the ever changing landscape, moving with time, being frustrated and finding utter peace. Living life, discovering the unknown, observing natural beauty, feeling human kindness and experiencing what the world has to offer.