India part 3

My road continues to Amritsar in the state Punjab, a city at the border with Pakistan. Famous for the golden temple and the border ceremonies between India and Pakistan. 

Sihkism is a monotheistic religion originating and mostly practiced in the state Punjab. These followers are easy to recognize with the turban on their head. For religious observance Sikhs dont cut their hair and the turban protects and keep the hair clean. The turban also promotes equality and identity and is mandatory for men and women.  The Darbar Sahib (golden temple) is their most holy temple world wide and situated in Amritsar. At this temple are around 35.000 people daily fed for free by volunteers. 

An other famous activity is the border ceremony between India and Pakistan. Despite of the political tensions between India and Pakistan is the relation between Pakistan and the province Punjab good. There is a stadium build on the border and separated in 2 parts, half Indian and the other half on the Pakistan side. The Indian side is roughly five times bigger and filled with a lot of more people. For all the ‘white’ touristic people is a special stand close to the border with the best views. If your around here this is a must to go. 

From the start this ceremony is interesting. All Indians are singing and dancing on the stands against the Pakistan people and the other way around. They all show how proud they are about their own nation. There is a military guy with a microphone who creates a hood ambiance. He starts singing and the crowd follows all the time. 

Than the women and girls come to the middle and start running with Indian flags towards the border and back. Famous Indian music comes out of the speakers and all the women and girls start dancing on the street in front of the border. Everyone back to the stands and the real ceremony starts. The army walks in the stadium with huge flags of their own country. They start proudly marching in different formations and setting towards the border. On both sides the army make the exact same movements. Its a kind of battle who can do this routine in the best possible way. At the beginning they open the gate between the borders. After a lot of marching on every side they take the flags down and the gate closes.

What a crazy and unusual experience like never seen before. 

In Amritsar I met two other Dutch guys who bought a car that normally transport dead people. The car was in really good condition (Volvo) and cheap because no one wants to buy a car like this. What a good idea and the best way to buy very cheap but reliable transport. They already made all their way from the Netherlands to India. 

The next stop would be the holy place called Dharamsala, the home of the great Dalai Lama. The trip towards Dharamsala was a very, very, very long one from Amritsar by bus. After I arrived I felt immediately not well. I had a cold and stayed for two days in bed. Unfortunately there was no heater and the rooms were ice cold, luckely we got some extra blankets. When I felt better I met again with Jaimy and some other people in the hostel. This area is surrounded with mountains and ideal for walking, off course that is what we did. We visited the waterfall and relaxed there for a bit. Sometimes we felt like celebrities and that was here not different. A lot of people asked us to take group pictures with them. The good people we are we did that a few times. 

Being here in Mc Cloud Ganj we have to visit the Dalai Lama temple, its a must. All the people are originally refugees from Tibet and india offered them here a place to stay. Tibet is still occupied by China and this area has a black unrecognized history. This temple for his holiness is less impressive than expected. Simplicity is important and not a lot of peripheral issues. Actually a good and important thing if you ask me. 

The rest of the days we walked a lot around in the beautiful area. Unfortunately we couldn’t hike to the top of the mountains due the snow. 

After exploring this amazing area it was time for Jaimy and me to leave to Rishikesh. This drive was not like expected... in the mountains the brakes made a sound like they could break every second. After that we got a flat tyre on a hill and that took a while before leaving again. A bit later smoke came out of the engine and the bus stopped beside the road. After waiting  a while changed bus and continued our way to Rishikesh. You would expect this was the end right? But no. The last 20 kilometer would take us about 4 more hours because Rishikesh was the end destination and we had to go to all the small towns around. 

This may all sound very bad. But India has the best and most convenient night buses I’ve ever been in. You have your own small room with a door and a flat bed and if your lucky a working charger. 

Rishikesh, the place where yoga originates from. As well known as the yoga capitol of the world. I decided to stay here at least a week, do some yoga classes, have a lot of food and especially relax a lot. In the early morning we did some yoga classes on the rooftop at the hostel. We went after this to a reading from Mooji and his followers, had food, relaxed at the Ganges, play a lot of chess and do nothing. These days repeated a lot and I was surrounded with a lot of amazing and open minded people. 

Mooji, an interesting, peacefully and calm person. He has a big beard and a kind of aura around him, that makes you just want to give him a big hug. Some people see him as a living god and he has a lot of followers world wide. He helps like other religions and guru’s a lot of people and that is the most important thing. At his sessions people can tell in public about their personal problems and get via this way help from their hero. Actually he helps them to give answer on their own questions. Even his sessions are broadcasted and he has a lot of online followers as well. 

I see him as an public psychologist who use mainly positive psychology. That was for me the most interesting thing and the main reason to visit a few of his sessions. Besides that the new experience to be part of a group and people that worship a guru like this. They wanted to touch him, especially his feet and people cried when they saw him. Its a kind of subculture where people find their hope and new directions to continue life. For me this chapter ended after three sessions, I had seen enough. He kind of repeated all the time his positive psychological advice and wisdom in a slightly different way. The first session was the best one because I was kind of impressed by all the things happening there. 

In New Zealand I had some bad experiences with waiting a few times for a bungee jump. Finally I would go for my first bungee jump and even way cheaper than in New Zealand. I wanted to do this for a long time and for Jaimy this was his own birthday present. I was excited and loaded with positive energy for this day. When I was younger I was situational afraid of heights. They say the older you get the worser this get, for me it’s the other way around. I was looking forward to this moment and especially the part where you have to jump over the edge. 

After getting more information, giving emergency numbers, weight, height and all the things they need its finally time for the big moment. While I entered the bridge and getting my jumping armor Im very excited. I see other people getting ready and jumping and I really cant wait. They start to attach the rope and make some double checks with the armor if all is good attached. I got a WOW yes feeling and my heart started to go a little bit quicker and my body was pumped up to go. 

They gave me the green light to walk slowly to the edge. To be fair this was for me the scariest moment to walk towards there, especially the last few millimeters to go with your toes over the edge. This due the hight, to see the ground and river and putting yourself that close to an edge is not natural, at least not for me. after counting down they say bungee and you should jump without any help.  I was looking to the camera when they were counting and at 3 I thought fuck it and jumped forward like this was a swimming pool. What a great feeling when you fall down but as well a great feeling when the rope pulls you back and you know your good attached. I would recommend everyone this thrilling experience to do at least once in their life. Sky diving will be still number one thing to do if you ask me. 

The last day in Rishikesh we spend our time at a waterfall with the people we have been for the last week. Just a relaxing day and I was eventually one of the first who left the group. Rishikesh, what an amazing time here and a easy place to get stuck for longer time. 

Jaipur, I already been here before so I was not here for a normal occasion. My reason to visit Jaipur was to meet my Indian friend Mohit. I met him in Melbourne and we used to live together for a few months in Europa hostel. Luckely for me he was visiting his family and I got invited by him and his family. Main reason to accept this was to see my friend again but as well to see his family and experience local life in India. After arriving and meeting Mohit I felt immediately home. A warm welcome by his  amazing family and I got treated like I was the sultan of India. I got some chai tea, some Indian snacks and a lot of other food. All the time his mother asked me to eat something new. In India its not polite to reject this and every time when I said no because I was full they convinced me always to still try a little. 

For the people the day start later than we are used to in the western world. First they have breakfast with the family and between 8:30 and 9 am they leave to work. This means on the other side that they return later back home and diners are late. The children start school at 9 and as we all know Indian time (coming late) is used everywhere the children are never on time. 

They showed me around the city and in the evening we went to a local restaurant with the typically curries from Rajasthan. 7 different small curries and other meals combined with the rice, trust me this was a delicious plate. 

Like what I saw in other countries is not different in India. While eating diner two police men came in and had a meeting with a man in a suit. What happened here I don’t have an answer for but I know sure this was not for smelly feet or speeding. 

After having an amazing time with Mohit and his family I moved on to dee the other cities from Rajasthan. The first stop was Jaisalmer also known as the golden city. A city in the desert that gives you immediately the impression of walking at the Aladin filmset. A huge fort on a hill with views over the desert and the rest of the city. Beautiful place to walk around, the structure, the small alleys, the animals and the feeling being in a movie. Even the sun burns here even more than in any other part I have been so far in India. 

I booked a camel tour in the desert together with Andrea who I met in the hostel. After riding a while over the sand dunes with our group we arrived at the camp where we would stay for the night. After watching the sunset and having an amazing local diner it was time to go to bed. Just a bed in the desert without any walls or roof around us but an amazing open sky with stars. The morning after we had breakfast and went back with the camels. 

I’ve been as well to Jodhpur (blue city) as Udaipur (white city). But to be fair all cities are kind of the same and after seeing one or two that would be enough. Jodhpur was actually 

one of the best of you ask me. 

My visa was in total 2 months and I planned exactly to leave immediately after Holi festival. This was a happening I HAD to experience while being here. Holi is an original Hindu festival were the people celebrate the arrival of spring after winter. It signifies the victory of good over evil and is celebrated as a day of spreading happiness and love. Nowadays celebrated by everone with a lot of colors and fun. In my travels in India I asked a lot of locals as travelers where to go and almost everyone told me to go to Pushkar. So an easy decision where the big colorful party would be for me.

When I arrived I saw already a lot of tourists around here for the same reason. All places were fully booked and I luckily managed to get a bed on a rooftop. Normal they had no beds here but for this event they could make some extra money with the  rooftop. Shops preparing, people building things in city, sellers of the powder paint everywhere  and a very positive excited vibe. All the people couldn’t wait for the day to start just like me. 

Alcohol was not allowed on the streets so before we left the hostel in the early morning we already had some beers to get in the mood. Everyone dressed in white to be later as colorful as possible. Armed with a kilo of powder paint (different colors) we left the hostel. Immediately on the street the party started with paint and music everywhere. 5 seconds there and I got paint all over my body. 

Young, old, local, tourist, black, white, yellow, cows and all what you can imagine mixed on the streets. Amazing to see all the (different) people having a party together and communicate with each other. Arriving at the main square I saw a total madness. All people dancing, jumping, screaming, smiling and enjoying together. From the beginning already a great happening that continued all day. 

All people throw paint on each other or rub the paint in your face or hair. Not always this goes as expected, sometimes people do this to much with tourist girls against their will. Luckely there is local security around and watching from the roofs to see what is all happening. If they see something remarkable a few local guys come in the crowd with bamboo sticks, start to hit the person and escort him out. Actually a good thing to control misbehaviour. 

Everyone is so happy during the day and unbelievable to experience this. Everyone is beautiful and they always say yes when you ask them for a picture, proud of how beautiful they look like. The longer the day last the color start slowly to mix and everyone ends up being dark brown instead of colorful. The shower in the hostel was a big mess, even the days after the colors come off your body and hair. 

Best festival by far Ive ever been and that without alcohol. What an amazing experience and day, actually almost impossible to explain my feelings about this event. I would recommend everyone to experience this if you have time and are in India around this time. What a big bang to end this beautiful Indian travel experience.