I also met Ben, 28, from London, left his job to do a world tour before moving to Canada to start a new career. After meeting him, I realized that even though one’s religion, color of skin, family background, education level and everything else can be different but one thing that can bind two people together is “experiences in life” and then everything else becomes immaterial. I realized that with similar experiences in life, two people of same age, grown up in completely two different cultures can be thinking so alike. So, I and Ben decided to travel together for some more days.We started from Palolem -> Karwar -> Gokarna -> Om Beach (night) -> Krishna valley -> Jog falls -> Murdeshvar -> Udupi -> Mangalore (night) -> Kasargod -> Kannur -> Kozhikode (night) -> Vypeen -> Fort Kochi (stay for few days) and day trips to Alleppey, Munnar, Jews town. This is when I met Silvia just a day before biding farewell to Ben who was to travel to Delhi to Hongkong to Japan to Australia to South America to London to Canada. We enjoyed each other’s company very well and met so many people like Mahesh (from Kochi), Gabby, Afonso and Penelope (all from Portugal), seen so many places and shared so many moments filled with different experiences together. I would love to meet him again, someday.
If I think back now, I feel, it was quite incidental and surprising how I met Silvia in Fort Kochi, just a day before bidding farewell to Ben. And how she was searching for some means to explore real India (not like a foreign tourist), how we got along so well even though we shared quite complementary thoughts about life, how a level of trust was developed between us so fast. We started traveling together from next day onwards (19th sep).
Overall, my trip so far has been so very satisfying in terms of all aspects of life. I have also seen so many contradictions in India that seems like various pieces of a single puzzle and will fit perfectly to make a bigger picture at the end of my tour. So many of my conceptions about India have changed so drastically and now I feel more peaceful with the way our country is today and the way it is going to be tomorrow. I can see a sunny today and a brighter tomorrow.
Some picks of my travel so far –
My favorite place(s) –
Rameswaram, Fort Kochi, Panchgani, Palolem
The place that I didn’t like –
Minaxi Temple, Madurai; its so commercialized
My favorite drive –
From Madurai to Rameswaram
The drive that I didn’t like –
Driving through Kerala is like hell due to so much of rural areas alongside the road and the state transport buses that drive like crazy on these narrow, people and animal filled roads
Best road –
Mumbai-Pune express highway
Worst road –
NH-4A from Belgaum to Panjim
Best photography moment –
When in the rain, this old man gave me his umbrella so that I could take his picture; look at his smile
Unforgettable photography moment –
When I burnt my feet trying to take picture of this small temple
Consolidated facts that will make every Indian proud –
1) In the most remote part, there are schools and children go to school regularly, in government provided school uniforms
2) Where there is a way (big or small), there is fiber optic cable alongside
3) Young boys and girls (teens) are so forthcoming and experimentive about different experiences in life. For example, talking to strangers and foreigners
