Tag Archives: India

Varkala, my last days in India

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Now I need to see the sea and chill out on the beach after those five weeks in Mysore, I feel really tired so Varkala will be my last destination in India before seeing my mum and sister Claire in Sri Lanka.

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After finding my bungalow I found a yoga school which was doing Ashtanga Vignasa Yoga (Mysore style), perfect to keep stretched and also to have an additional activity over there. The courses start at 10am, it’s a bit too late for me: it’s already really hot with a lot of humidity. I’m definitely not used to do yoga in those conditions, I’m sweeting too much and it’s make my exercises really difficult.

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Oh yes I met Felicia, Aren and Anton in this Yoga school and during all this week we did a lot of things together around Varkala. We went to see the beach’s around, we did fire and some music on the beach. One night we decided at the last minute to take scooters and go to the south south of India (Kanyakumari) to see the sunrise (150km from Varkala, one way) and come back. We left Varkala at 09:00pm and arrived at 01:00am, set our basecamp near the sea and sleep four hours, wake up for the sunrise and take back the road. We had really good time all together and finally, Anton and Felicia toke a last minute flight ticket to Sri Lanka to do some surf, maybe I will see them over there.

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Varkala is tourist city without any interest, even the beach down the hill is not really nice. For me it’s not India, it’s like Disney land, a small rock road surrounded by guesthouses and Tibetan restaurants. I will definitely not come again here, it was just nice to rest here after my yoga training.

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I slept in Trivandrum for my last day because I’v got a morning flight and I don’t want to be in an hurry so I found a guesthouse well a bit expensive for India but really nice. I had an house just for me with kitchen, salon, Wi-Fi, television and breakfast … !!! Sourire

Graceful Homestay, Philip’s Hill, PHRA 20, Pothujanam Road, opposite A.J Hall, Kumarapuram, Trivandrum. (+91) 471-2444358, info@gracefulhomestay.com

 

37 days in Mysore

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After couple of days in Bangalore to work on my projects, I finally reach Mysore the city of Ashtanga Yoga. I decided to stay there for one month minimum. I don’t want a room in a hotel for that long so I need to find a flat. During my days in Bangalore I tried to contact everyone how have a flat to rent but via mail it’s not really easy. After three days in a hotel searching for a flat, I finally found it.  A lovely flat with three rooms, a salon, bathroom and bedroom, ok my kitchen is near my bed as my fridge but it much better than a room in a hotel believe me. There is a nice little garden around it and the family how live there is really nice.

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I did crepes !!! Miam !

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Lankshmipuram is a nice quarter to stay, you can find place between 200rp to 300rp a night for minimum one month. There is some few places where you can find some western food as the Heritage and the Jannaki restaurant, but I recommended you Indian restaurant as the Mahesh Prasad or simply the street food. Otherwise for 40rp you can reach the center and find good restaurant. Near the Gandy square the top roof restaurant or the hotel RRR. You can find school for 9000rp a month, for beginner the Mandala Yoga is perfect but for advanced go to Ajai school.

I apply for a one month yoga course in the Mandala Yoga center school with Chidananda as teacher. It’s two hours of Yoga per day, all the days excepted Sunday and moon days. The first week was pretty hard because I was not used to do this type of Yoga and also because the teacher was pouching me. After five weeks I was able to do thing’s I was not capable to do before and believe me Yoga is not just good for your body but also for your mind, it put you in a state of mind where you are really happy and open to enjoy everything it can happened to you in the life. Now I love doing and thinking Yoga Sourire.

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During moon day there is some yoga event at the big palace, hundred of people doing 108 sun salutation at the same time.

Costume party for the last day of Francois and Micha.

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Friends I met in Arambol, Goa, were here as Mimi with Yury, Marta, Francois, Moso and Kasha. I also met really nice people here, Severine, Sahid, Micha, Steva, Nicole, Enrique and Lianna. We where all leaving in the same quarter (Lakshamipuram) doing Yoga in different school. With some guitar courses and expedition with Sahid during the weekend my days was fully spend. Thank you all for all the times spend together, I will never forget this part of my travel Sourire

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Mysore is a nice city to visit and to discover. I really miss the Tchai and the street food, with 40 Indian rupee (less than one euro) you can eat and drink as much you can, this is really nice ! Also Mysore in February is pretty empty (of tourist) and you can feel the real India here, cows in the street, children keeping asking you the same questions (what is your name? Country ?), Indian men in sari and everybody looking at you with big eyes, you just need to smile and everybody gonna come to talk you, it’s really simple.

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It’s a little part of a life five weeks, it’s also the longest time I ever spend in the same place in all my trip. It’s already time to leave Mysore and all my routines, I have the feeling that I will come back here to do a teaching training Yoga course … maybe … We never know Clignement d'œil

The Holly City of Hampi

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It’s time for us to move from this paradisiac place and take back the road again to see more about India, Hampi here we go !

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We took a night bus from Arambol to Hampi with Tom and arrived at 6:30 am in this beautiful Holly place. The landscapes here are amazing, we are surrounded by huge red rocks and green rice fields. Like it’s an Holly place there is no alcohol, no meat and no tandoor, just vegetarian restaurants.

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We spend three days here to visit all the temples. We find a really good Rickshaw driver call Jeelan. If you are planning to come in Hampi I can recommended you to take him for a few days, he will take you in all great Temples and restaurants and also explain you lot of things about the history of those places. You can contact him with this number (+91)7-829-989-516.

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We found a guesthouse in the middle of Hampi Bazar, it’s really nice to take the breakfast during the morning in front of the temples and see all the monkeys playing in the palms threes. The city is really nice and calm, little streets where Rickshaws and cows try to make them own way between tourists and local people’s. We find also a really good place call Bamboo (always good places with this name) to chill out and having nice dinners.

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We spend the last day in the other side of the city across the river with Tom friend’s trying a good Israelite restaurant and eating really good Falafel. Tom and Daniel are going to Hyderabad and I’m going to Bangalore, we took a last time our favourite Rickshaw driver to go to Hostpet to take our night bus. It’s already time to say good-bye and for me to be on my own again. Thank you Tom for all the days we spend together between Arambol and Hampi, it was really nice to travel with you, I had really good times.

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I’m traveling now since five months in Asia and I just realize now that I’m really lucky to do this trip. I had this strange feeling when I was waiting my bus, alone, seating in a white garden plastic chair at 8:00 pm in front of the travel agency. Maybe I’m dreading what gonna happens next, not as much as in Vietnam during the first days but a little bit after all. Like Bob said, don’t worries man, every little things gonna be alright, I’v got also all my family and friends supporting me in this trip so I’m not afraid at all Clignement d'œil.

Arambol city, Welcome in Goa

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After few days in Calangute we decided to moved in the North of Goa, first we stopped in a place call Morjim (little Moscow), full of Russian peoples and really expensive, after some hours spend to find a descent accommodation, we decided to take back a cab and try an other city. After few hours of road we find a really nice place call Arambol. Here compare to the other place there is more foreigners than Indian and most of the people who work in guesthouses and restaurants are mostly from Nepal.

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After all those places we visited, I was quite tired so I just toke the first available room I saw. I’m in OM Star Guesthouse, owned by Nepalese’s guy, a bit noisy and the bed is really hard but the staff are nice and the food not so bad. It’s seem to be an Israelite place here. I steel have this computer to repair and steel thinking to buy a new Iphone after lost my last one in Nepal. I don’t feel really good here with all those stuff in my mind, I need to resolved them as soon as possible.

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So the first thing I did was to find a place were I can repair my Laptop and change my battery, after few visits in the Samsung customer center in Panjim and one week of waiting I finally repair it !!! I feel much beter without this Laptop problem, now I can enjoy my days here with a working computer and a good battery.

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Goa … Here we are Tire la langue, you can cross lot of Hippies peoples and groups doing yoga or meditation on the beach. Every days during the sunset there is a drum session in the middle of the beach with lot of people dancing and having fun. Arambol is a chill out place, if you need to rest after a really long trip around Asia and particularly in India come in there you will find all the peace and the rest you need.

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Moso and I did a Yoga course during one week at the Ayanga Yoga Hymalaya center, a bit quiet and slow compare to the Yoga I learned in Vietnam with Fredo (Ashtanga) but really good for the mind, this session help me to rest myself and forget all the little problems I have in my mind. Before starting the Yoga course I changed guesthouse and go to the Laughing Buda Guesthouse, I had a really good Hut with a beautiful view of the sea and a sunny balcony between 4 and 5pm, ideal to finish a hard lazy day on the beach Clignement d'œil. The food here is really nice and cheap also so all of our lunch and dinner was taken here. After few days every guest was speaking to each other, playing chest, guitar, it was like home. I meet an Indian couple, Ravi and Sri, I want to thanks them for all they did, I spend really nice moments with them, I will never forget !

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In total we spend three weeks in Goa, it’s time to move on and see more about India. Here I meet lot of people and everybody gonna take different ways after Goa. Also Moso was not really ready to move and a bit disturb by a Polish girl so I decide to move on without him and take back the road on my own, well not really because as I meet a group of Israel, we decide with Tom to move to Hampi together.

Bye bye Moso, the two past months was crazy, I loved traveling throw Nepal and India with you, have a good trip and I wish you lot of good things for your next months of travel, maybe we will see us again, we never know … it’s a small world Clignement d'œil.

Welcome India and Happy new year !

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We leave Pokhara on the 25th of December and I spend with Moso one more night in Kathmandu before flying to India. That day was really hard due to the travel in the bus, the fact we woke up early and need to do the bag in a hurry and also the party of the previous day, we spend the all day in Kathmandu to clean the bag, do some research for the next destination and trying to remember what’s appended last night.

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We were supposed to be in Mumbai at 1pm but our first flight was late and in Delhi the connection between the other flight was too short so after a long fight between Air India and a stupid police man we finally toke an other flight with a connection and arrived in Mumbai.

The deal was to be in Goa for the 1rst of January and celebrate it on the beach. One night only in Mumbai in Colaba quarter in the Red Salvation Army Hotel were I spend a wonderful night in a ten beds dorm between the foot of my neighbour and the smelly dirty toilet …

Colaba is one of the tourist place’s of Mumbai, it’s were the terrorist attacks append few years ago. Muslims quarter, there is not some much to see, lot of shop’s, banks, hotel and a view on the arbour. For our first day of India compare to Nepal, Indian people are not nice at all and a bit rude. Also there are everywhere, no free space even by night, they sleep everywhere …, that’s India !

We didn’t really sleep the last day in Mumbai because we needed to be at the airport at 3:30 am. To go to Goa from Mumbai it’s straight, just one hour flight so we arrived in Goa Airport at 7:00 am and take a taxi to go first to Anjuna. After a long drive we arrived there but it was definitely not what we were excepting so we decide to move to Calangute near Baga where there is all the party on the beach and night’s clubs. We didn’t know that this area was also the appointment of all Indian people’s for holidays, there are hundred and hundred of them on the beach, looking foreigners girl and trying to get a photo with them … Crazy people …

New Year eve

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We are in Goa !! We’ve made it ! The city side is really dirty, lot of dust everywhere and the quality of the air is really bad. We found a Hotel between that main road and the beach. Here the beach’s are really long and wide with lot of coconut’s threes. Talking about coconut’s three, it’s really dangerous one felt down in front of me when I was walking back to the hotel. Coconut’s kills are the biggest reasons for accidents in Indian more than car accidents

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Thousand’s of Indian people, nice savages fireworks in all the beach maybe 10km of light for one hour. Savages mean casualty also, we saw a group of people who received a firework and also the next day we heard about some dead Indian people due to alcohol and drugs. We were on the beach living all this huge activity from a Russian party, I can tell you it was really funny to see that. Nice night but completely different than Christmas.