Patience please

When my friend came to Delhi the other week, we decided to make yet another trip. So the next day we found our selves with bags packed making our way up north to Corbett National Park. Hmm, that sounded easy, but actually it wasn’t as simple as just “make our way up north”. First we took an auto to the metro station, then the metro, which took about an hour, to get to the bus station and then we took the bus, that took about 8 hours, to get to Ramnagar and then we took another auto to get to our camp.

There you have it, an Indian auto. Luckily not ours.

You see, travelling in India is not about distance, don’t even bother checking how far away something is, simply check how many hours it takes to get there. And then, add a couple of hours to that and you’ll be pretty close to the truth. I also feel the need to comment on the metro, because for a small town gal like myself, the Delhi metro is exciting! It’s pretty much what you would expect a metro to be like, but the excitement lies in the amount of people in it. I got the feeling that the whole of Delhi just decided to take the metro at the same time. Being a Friday evening, I guess the trains were extra crowded, but still. I’m actually afraid the trains will literally explode! Alternatively, I'm afraid someone (like myself) will be crushed to death.

Care for a bus ride?

Enough about the excitement of metros and buses and the time it takes to travel, at 2 am we arrive at our camp at Corbett National Park. Yes, camp. We chose not to go with the insanely priced cabins and booked a tent instead. Now let me tell you, sleeping in a tent in northern India in February is very cold. To be frank, it’s freezing. But not to worry, the cold night is quickly washed away by the warmth of the morning sun and the breakfast enjoyed outside with monkeys flying around us.

One monkey breakfast, please!

First day, we decide to go on an elephant safari. Our elephant, Lakshmi, is fantastic and takes us were no vehicle can go. For me, this is a dream come true!

Lakshmi, our brave elephant

Smarter after the chilly night before, we enjoy a campfire and some rum before going to bed the next night and the night is almost bearable and the next day we go on another safari. This time, instead of riding an elephant, we are looking at them elephants. Thankfully, we see a lot of animals on our safari and the scenery inside the park is incredible. 

Some pretty monkeys.

After our exhausting safari, we make our way to Nainital, a hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas. It's such a beautiful place. We arrive after sundown and being situated in a valley up in the mountains with a lake in the middle, just the sound of that makes me shiver! As we were both feeling sick, the stay wasn't as fantastic as it could have been, so in the morning we just took the cable car up to the hill station, enjoyed the view for a bit and started planning the trip back to Delhi.

Nainital

With the local bus we make our way down the hills and, again, the scenery... I'm lost for words! Our switch to the Delhi bus is smooth, but here is where the fun really kicks in. After 5 hours we have made a progress of 70 km. The distance from Nainital to Delhi is about 300 km. It took us 12 hours. I mean, come on! Twelve hours! And on top of it all, the bus is so full, half of the people in it are standing. If this was happening back home, let me tell you, there would be corpses by now. But not in India. Here people adjust. That's one important word to remember in India. Adjust. Patience is another one. Even after going through all this, with food poisoning and what not, I still feel nothing but love for this place. So what if it took us 12 hours to travel 300 km? We got home, we went to bed and the next day I can only remember what a great trip we had, laughing at how seriously messed up the traffic in India can be. So, dear reader, whenever you are stuck in traffic or cursing because the roads are in bad shape, patience. It could be worse. Trust me, it could be much, much worse!

Sick of slow traffic? Why not try the train!
The trains in Mumbai are know to be, well slightly crowded. (sadly, not my picture)

Beaches, Buses and Beauty

With 10 whole days in Goa and absolutely zero plans, I took a taxi from the airport to Palolem Beach, which is known as one of Goa’s finest beaches. Situated in the very southern part of Goa, it’s supposed to be calm and serene, so I spent a few days sleeping on the beach. Palolem is beautiful, no question about it, but as I found it a bit too crowded during peak season, I made my way some 40 km north to a small beach called Varca Beach. This is where I found what I was looking for. With just a couple of beach shacks I could doze off in the sun totally undisturbed (except for the occasional vendor).

Palolem Beach

The beaches in this part of Goa are really just part of one long beach, so I hired a bike and went biking on the beach, and I tell you, it was absolutely beautiful! The Arabian Sea on one side, the white sand on the other, above me only blue skies and a golden sun. I think I love this country! After about two hours of biking I reached Majorda Beach, about 12 km from Varca. I spent the day there and started making my way back, only to find out my tires were all but empty. Now let me tell you, biking on the beach is pretty tough as it is, but biking on the beach with a flat tire… By the time I made it back to Varca Beach, I fell asleep and slept for about 12 hours. Woops! :)

Varca Beach

I also biked up to Margao, a town in Goa with a great Friday market. People everywhere, total chaos, absolutely hilarious! This was also the first time I tasted The Sausage… Salty, chewy, the sausage they make in Goa is absolutely delish! And now that I mentioned food, the cuisine alone would be reason enough to make a trip to Goa! I tasted everything from shark and chicken livers to spicy fish curry, paying close to nothing for it. Have I mentioned yet that I love this country? As for the rest of my stay, I visited the market in Colva, which was held outside in a field and was absolutely amazing with local music, people dancing and colorful fabrics, spices and handicrafts everywhere. I also visited some other beaches and during my last day I made my way up to Panji, the capital of Goa. The walk along the main shopping street all the way to the river and up the river back to Panji Church took about 3 hours (including stopping every 5 minutes to take a pictures and every 10 minutes to get something to eat) and was a superb way to get a feeling for the town. In the evening I took the bus from Panji to the airport, and I can tell you, this was an experience! Once getting on the right bus, which was pretty much a miracle, the bus felt like it was gonna tip over every time it turned. I also had no idea were I was supposed to get off, as I realized while riding the bus, it would not take me all the way to the airport. But friendly people would gently tell me to get off the bus and then some friendly people would tell me which bus to take next and then some friendly people would tell me when to get off again and after about an hour or so I found myself safely on the airport again. Basically, with no idea of how I actually made it there...

So, now I’ve been back in freezing Delhi for a few days and I love it! Every time I step outside my door, I see something that makes me smile. Peacocks, traffic, beautiful monuments, food, super sweet chai, and people, people, people. So much to see, so much to do, so many people to meet and I’ll tell you all about it, but for now, you’ll have to endure with some pics. :) From Goa with love!

Palolem Beach

I opened a restaurant while in Goa

And bought a house made of lollipops.

Margao

Panji church

Stories of traffic and food

I arrived at the New Delhi airport a few days ago and decided to take a taxi to my school campus, hoping the driver would know where I wanted to go (which he naturally didn’t). Now if I by some reason had failed to yet notice that I was back in Asia, I would have definitely noticed it during the drive. Now if you’ve never been in Asia, let me tell you a thing or two about the traffic, that I've learned during my travels. Traffic signs are mostly to be ignored as they are pretty much useless. It's also perfectly fine to drive on the wrong side of the road and you may naturally drive as fast as you can (which is usually not very fast). It is also more than appropriate to use the horn frequently. The horn in itself is a funny thing as it can signal many things, like: “I know I have a red light, but I’m going anyway, so watch out” or "watch out, I'm behind you" or a countless number of other things. Now Mom, don’t be scared, it’s a controlled chaos of cars, rickshaws, motorbikes, bikes, people and the occasional cow, it’s not as bad as it sounds. :)

So, after my 25ish hour trip and bumpy taxi ride to my school, I fall asleep in about two seconds. The next day I’m showed around campus and to both my and my "guide’s" surprise, we learn that school doesn’t start the 1^st as I was told, but that it will begin the 20^th… So I find myself on an empty campus and, truthfully, with a bit of sadness in my heart, feeling both lonely and home sick. But instead of getting depressed, I pretty much booked the next flight to Goa and now I’m chilling on the beach, sipping on mai tais. You could say that the gloominess I felt for a couple of days are now long gone, washed away by the Arabian Sea and the sun drenched beaches.

But instead of telling you exactly how explicitly beautiful this place is, how the sound of the waves washing up on shore is like music to my ears and how the sunrays hitting the surface of the sea is like diamonds dancing or any of that poetic bullshit, I’ll tell you a funny little incident that happened to me on the airport. So, I was hungry, as usual, and took a nice order of butter chicken and started eating. Suddenly, I realize that I’ve accidentally put a whole chili in my mouth and I’m eating it like it was a piece of lettuce. By the time I realize this, I’ve already chunked down half of it, so I thought “what the heck, what better time to eat a whole chili then on the airport in New Delhi?” and chunked down the rest of it. Now I know, theoretically, you aren’t supposed to drink water when eating spicy food, but what was I supposed to do, my freaking mouth was on fire! So I had spoonfuls of rise with water for about 20 minutes, after which I actually managed to finish my dish! What a blast, huh! Well, it doesn’t end there. The crazy bastard I am, I thought I’d cool my mouth, and all you people that don’t eat dairy product abroad, close your eyes, cuz I decided to live on the edge and have an ice cream! Uuuh, scary huh?! So I bought an ice cream and what do I do with it? I drop it on my pants of coarse. Because no trip to Goa is fulfilled unless you have caramel ice cream all over your pants! That day will always be remembered, not as the day I went to Goa, but as the day I accidentally ate a whole chili and got ice cream all over my pants.

So that’s my story. A few hours later I successfully got myself to Palolem beach and now I got about 10 days left of this paradise and then it’ll be a whole other story; hectic time schedules with loads of students and people to meet. But before that, let me continue sipping on my mai tai, the ice is already melting! Have a good one y’all! :)

Oh and Mom, as requested. Please enjoy the pics below from my lavish suite at school campus! ;)

My bathroom

If I had a shower, this is were it would be

Yeah, I promised to not tell you about Goa just yet, but here's a teaser!

How would you like to wake up to this every morning?