India 2016

My second India experience started already when we were still working in Switzerland.

One day I checked my Facebook and Yoga Vidya Gurukul announced that they are doing an International Yoga Festival end of January. I was totally stoked, because this time I finally had the time and the money to go.

So I applied straight away, to make sure I have a space in the ashram.

Time passed and when we got to Fuerteventura I booked my flight to Mumbai, applied for my Visa and started to read in the Lonely Planet to check out places that would be interesting to visit.

On the 27.th of January the day finally was there. The day before I packed my backpack and when I got to my sleeping bag I wasn’t sure if I should put it in my carry-on luggage or in the backpack. I decided for the backpack to keep my hand luggage light, which I would regret later on!

Patrick drove me to the airport; I checked in and started to get really excited. I would go to India!!!!! Ever since I got back from my Teacher Training in 2009 I wanted to go back to this amazing, fascinating country. I here I was, sitting at the airport, holding my ticket to Mumbai.

But to understand the whole story I have to tell you about the check in and my flights.

So my flights where going from Fuerteventura to Madrid with Iberia, and then from Madrid to London also with Iberia but operated by British Airways and then from London I would go with British Airways directly to Mumbai where I was supposed to land around 11:00am on Thursday morning. A pick up got arranged from the ashram and the Festival was going to start on Friday. So one day to relax and chill before the start of the Festival. At least that was the plan. But as we all know….it always comes different that you think.

So when I checked my backpack in the lady at the counter said it would go through till London but there I have to reclaim it and check it back in. I asked her why, since I was going to Mumbai, and she replied that this is what it said in the computer and she couldn’t change it. I didn’t want to argue and just accepted what she told me and went on. I should have known better!!!

When I got to London I had to go through Immigration (well, I didn’t know that it would take sooooo long) to get to baggage reclaim. Once I was through and checked the time, I saw that I had only little time left to catch the next flight, but luckily the belt was already moving and for sure my backpack would be there soon…..but I was wrong….it never showed up! I found a police officer and he told me to go to the British Airways counter nearby and that this happens quite a lot…..WHAAAAT????!!!!!

At the British Airways counter they took the number of my backpack and told me:”you better run know, or you will miss your flight!”

So I ran, and ran, and man, this airport is HUGE!!!!!!

It was already 20:15pm when I reached the check in counter, my flight was leaving at 21:00pm, and the lady after tipping my name in, told me that I will not make it through security in time to catch the plane. I was devastated. “No way!” I thought…..first my backpack and then THIS!!!! I asked her what to do, I started crying, and she sends me to another counter to book a new flight.

The guy at the counter was really nice (maybe because I was crying) and when I told him what just happened he put me on the next flight to Mumbai. The only thing was, there was none till the next morning 10:00am!!! He said the airport was open all night and that around 5:00am I should go down to the baggage claim again and see if they have found my backpack. And not later than 8:00am go through security….to make sure to get ma plane. With or without backpack.

I was really lucky, because he said usually he needs to charge me for the changing of the ticket, but since it was not my fault, he wouldn’t.

Okay, so I had to stay the night at the airport…..why didn’t I put my sleeping bag in my hand luggage…..damn!!!!!

I sat down, and connected to the WIFI (luckily they even had plugs…..that saved my night) and started to write to the ashram that I would not come at the time they thought and if there is a pick up at 00:30am Friday morning…..I already saw me staying in Mumbai one night and missing the first day of the Festival. I also send a text to the guy who does the pick-up, but well, it was in the middle of the night in India….they will not read it till the morning…..

After a while it started getting really cold, the AC kept the airport cool, but I was wearing only light clothes, as I was going from Fuerteventura to India, not expecting to be having to stay the night at London Heathrow Airport. And a really bad headache started kicking in. So I wandered around, not being able to sleep since it was too cold and I ended up sitting in the restrooms, as it was slightly warmer there. As soon as it turned 3:00am I rang the ashram and they just got my mail and told me there was a pick up at that time. I was so, so released….everything will turn out just fine.

I went back to the “benches”, it was getting really late, and I was getting really tired and my headache killed me. I lay down for a while and got a short nap of about 30 Minutes. Well, better that nothing. At 5:00am I started to walk down to see where my backpack was and after going through the employees security I went back to the British Airway counter at the baggage reclaim and they told me my backpack would be on the same flight as me!!!!!Yeah!!!!! I was soooooo happy…..now some breakfast and maybe someone has a painkiller for me.

I went to the first coffee shop that opened and they had some vegan food and also plant milk for coffee!!!!!And I also got a painkiller!!!!!Everything just went into place!!!! I had some breakfast, a coffee, taken the pill and after a while I started feeling better.

At 8:00am I went through security and got on the plane ;-)

Still hungry I just hoped that British Airways managed to change my vegan meal I ordered for the other flight to this one…..and they did!!!!Now everything started to go just good.

The plane was so empty that my seat neighbors switched to a different row and I had the whole row for myself, I lie down and fell asleep instantly.

At 00:15am Friday morning I finally landed in Mumbai. Still exhausted but happy to finally have made it, I went through Immigration praying for my backpack to be there when I get to the baggage reclaim. The belt was moving, bags where coming and then the screen said “Last bags”……and my backpack?! It wasn’t there….this is impossible!!!I walked around the belt and there it was, on the floor, some security guys have put it there…..why? No one knows, and I didn’t care. I got it and now I would get on the bus that would take me to the ashram!!!

Around 2:00am we finally left the airport, heading towards the ashram…..a long ride was ahead of us….around four hours (we thought), but we forgot that we are in India and here everything goes different…..so in the end we waited for over an hour somewhere on the way for a different driver and made it to the ashram at 8:30am Friday morning, just in time for breakfast.

Two nights of almost no sleep, and the Festival started!

It was hot, crowded, wonderful, exhausting, interesting, amazing, beautiful, inspirational, mind and heart opening……I was happy to be back and it was for sure not my last time there!!!!

I met some wonderful people, made some beautiful friends, who after the festival I stayed in Nashik for two nights with, before they headed back for the Teacher Training and Therapy course while I headed south direction Goa to hopefully meet some more people I could maybe travel with for two weeks.

First I went to Arambol (North Goa), but I didn’t really like it there….too crowded….too many trance people….I just didn’t feel n the right place and did not meet anyone…..except at the end, I had a really nice American couple as my neighbors.

I used the time there to sleep a lot, to chill on the tiny beach which was just in front of my room and to do some yoga. But I felt lonely. I am not the lonesome traveler, I rather travel with friends and so I decided to book a bed in a Hostel in Vagator, where I for sure would meet some people!

After four nights I took the bus to Vagator and checked in at Jungle Hostel…..what a beautiful place to stay!!! If you go to Goa, I highly recommend to check out www.thehostelcrowd.com as they have hostels all over Goa, I they are really great. They do organize activities and it’s just a really relaxed and friendly atmosphere there.

And I loved Vagator. Easy little village, touristy but not too crowded….if you want party, Anjuna is very close. And in Vagator there is a really great Vegan Restaurant “Bean Me Up”!!!! Very yummy and a beautiful place all around!

In the hostel I made friends with some other travelers and we enjoyed the days together, even went surfing one day, but the waves where not so good, small and windy….but I had fun and that’s what counts.

The whole time I was thinking if I should stay in Vagator for the rest of my journey or if I should go to Hampi…..a place I really wanted to visit, but it was a long bus ride to get there and after that a long ride back to Mumbai……

Everybody told me to go, so I booked my bus tickets and after four days in Vagator, I headed off to Hampi……and I didn’t regret it.

Hampi is a wonderful place, totally chilled, relaxed and just amazing. It has 3.700 temples and ruins and next time I come to India I will stay there a lot longer than the two nights I did this time.

 I stayed at the “Best Riverview Guest House and Restaurant” in a little tent and it was just perfect. In the morning the monkeys jumped from tree to tree waking me up with their funny sounds, and after the breakfast I went around the temples. It was really hot the whole time I was in India, but in Hampi it was boiling…..I didn’t stop sweating!!!!

 The last day I went with some people to the “Lake” for a swim and afterwards had something to eat…..oh boy…if I would have known……

In the evening I already started feeling funny in my tummy and decided to go to bed early, next day I was heading for Mumbai.

In the middle of the night I woke up feeling really bad and just made it out of my tent to the edge of the campground before I was throwing up badly….I felt horrible!!!! And I had to leave in the afternoon……why is this happening now?!

I fell back to sleep (more or less) and around six thirty in the morning diarrhea started kicking in….I ran to the toilet and on my way met one of the guys who was working at the guest house.

I told him that I felt really bad and he made me lemon soda with salt to drink…..I went back to the tent, drank the soda and tried to sleep a little more. I had no energy at all….I felt horrible.

After a short nap I made it to the shower, which made me feel a little better and gave me the power to pack my backpack and leave the tent in time.

I had another lemon soda and a pill a girl gave me against diarrhea and fell back asleep in the restaurant and chills out area.

When I woke up I fell a lot better, so I went to a little jewelry shop my friend Pia told me to visit. After that I went back had some plain rice and in the afternoon I crossed the river to catch the public bus to get to Hospet from where the bus to Mumbai would leave. 

I still had little energy and it was really hot and we got stuck in traffic…..I was getting scared that I would miss my bus to Mumbai…..but I made it just in time.

On the bus (it was a sleeper bus, and India that means they have beds!!!!not the best but you can lay down), I met some girls from Israel and Spain and after a small chat I knocked down and fell asleep straight away….every once in a while I woke up, when the bus was passing some big holes in the road or made a really crazy turn and I almost fell out of bed.

Next morning we got to Mumbai and I took a Tuck Tuck to the place where I booked a room for the day. My flight to Fuerteventura was at 2:30am and I wanted to do the tour through the Dharavi Slum, so I needed a place where I could leave my backpack, take a shower and nap before I left.

I decided to walk around Mumbai a little bit in search for Souvenirs, before the tour started but I ended up in a place with no shops and after a while started to feel very weak again, since I haven’t been eating. I got some bananas and headed to the meeting point for the tour.

If you ever visit Mumbai, you should do this tour through the Dharavi Slum. It is very fascinating and opens your eyes to what a slum really is. But make sure to book with Reality Tours and Travel, as they give 80% of the money the take for the tour back to the slum by doing projects where people learn computers, teaching etc.

Our tour guide was wonderful. He really opened my eyes and the fact that he lives in the slum himself made the whole tour even more interesting. It was as if he was showing us his home.

After the tour I went back to my room, took a shower, packed my backpack and lay down on the bed for a while till it was time to go and get to the airport. I was happy to go home, but I knew it was only because I was alone and I still felt a little bit sick.

After a long flight to London, I checked my backpack and changed airports before I went on the plane to Fuerteventura where Patrick picked me up…..happily I was home!

But already ready to go back and missing it…but next time with friends, that’s for sure!!!!