From Pushkar to Goa

We don't even know how to start this post... so many things have changed on our way to Goa... when we were in Manali we thought about the option of going to Goa by plane, it would be a bit expensive but we would be there very fast.. after thinking a little bit we decided that travelling is not about the destination but about the journey... as we wrote on the post before, our first stop was in Chandigarh and we had an amazing experience that would have never happen if we went by plane... after Chandigarh we took a train to Pushkar, a familiar place for us.. we stayed there for 2 nights, we were able to be with Mavi and Ravi and also visit our friends from the Nirvana cafe. It was nice to be back to Pushkar, we met other people as well... a couple from Spain, a lady from the Netherlands and a girl from Canada.. we shared experiences and got some good ideas for a possible business... who knows... when we arrived to Pushkar, Mavi recommended us to go by bus until Ahmedabad (11h) and from Ahmedabad we could take another bus till Mumbai (around 11h) or even Goa (23h).. we chose the bus straight to Goa.. we bought both tickets in Pushkar  and the journey starts.... the Bus from Pushkar to Ahmedabad was 1200 ruppies and the one from Ahmedabad to Goa was 4200.

The adventure started as soon as we left the hotel... On the day of the departure there was a big festival one the streets, a lot of people celebrating and dancing, fireworks, camels decorated with a lot of acessories and the typical confusion of India.. we walked fast trying not to get caught on the mess but a few steps ahead we noticed that we forgot the passports at the hotel.. Pedro had to run to get them back.. we had to catch a public bus to Ajmer and in Ajmer we would also have to get a tuk tuk to the bus station. As we arrived in Ajmer we notice that the traffic is chaotic because of the festival... starting to get late, we took a tuk-tuk and asked the guy to drive fast to the bus stop. The street was blocked, cars didn't move so the driver told us that we could take a faster option but for 50 ruppies more... at that moment it could have been 200 ruppies.. we needed to be at the bus stop at 7h30 or we would lose the bus...
After some stressing time on the tuk-tuk the driver stoped at 7h35 on a random street with some buses and said it was there.. we checked the buses but none of them had the plate number that we had on our ticket... no one spoke english but between gestures and some random words we were told that it was one of those buses our plate number was wrong..
The bus was a sleeper bus, it had seats and beds (individual and double) we were given a double bed, we arranged our bags and waited for the bus to start.. we waited, waited, waited and nothing... one hour later the driver says we need to change to another bus because that one was broken... we switched and went to another double bed in another bus... we waited, waited and the driver says we have to go on individual beds... we argued but nothing worked, at one point we just went to the individual beds.. we wanted the bus to start... people started to get in the bus we should be departing very soon.. an Indian lady pointed at us and to the beds and said "separate?!" And laugh... we tried to explain that the driver had told us to switch but she spoke no english at all... another guy helped translating and she said that our ticket was for a drive double bed and it was more expensive for that so we should at least ask for the difference of price... while Kika was talking to this lady, a group of Indian boys started to talk to Pedro and asking for pictures... the Indian lady was very upset with what the driver did by changing our beds and even called the agency asking for the refund... at the end, she talked to the father of the boys that were taking pictures with Pedro and they offered to switch the beds... they would go to our individual ones and we would go to the double one... we didn't want to accept because they were 4 and we were 2.. it was really unfair... the dad and the lady insisted and we ended up changing.. poor guys, 2 on an individual bed is probably not confortable at all.. at the end the lady also asked for a picture and the bus finally started... 2h after the scheduled time. The bus ride was probably the worst ride in India so far.. we were in the last bed of the bus and the roads were not that great so it felt like we were in a waching machine and the waching machine was on a trampolin. We slept a few hours but we were definitely not refreshed when we arrived in Ahmedabad at 7am. The bus from Ahmedabad to Goa was only at 1:30pm so we decided to walk to the bus stand..  that way we could stretch a bit, see the city and save some ruppies on the tuk-tuk.. we walked for almost 1h30 until we reached Paulo Travels, the bus company... super happy for being able to find the agency by foot, we walked in to ask if we could leave our backpacks in the agency but as soon as we got in the guy said...... "your bus to Goa was canceled..." we couldn't believe it.. that was the last thing we wanted to hear...

After some deep thoughts we decided that we wanted a refund so that we could keep going south via Pune. We asked for our money back but the travel agent said we couldn't give it to us, the maximum he could do was to refund online (since we booked with an agency, the money would go to the agency account) or give us an hotel night and we could take the bus the next day... we started a discussion and the guy was saying he couldn't give us the money in hands due to a technical issue... we could totally see he didn't want to give us the money so at the end and tired about the argument Pedro said he was going to call the police... Pedro picked up the phone and we stepped away.. a few steps later the man started to yell... we went back and he immediately gave us the money. Happy about our victory we went to the other travel agency to buy the tickets to Pune.. much cheaper compared to the ones to Goa but it was only half way.. we waited a few hours and we were back to our journey... the way to Pune was much better than the way to Ahmedabad, the bus was much more confortable, totally not like a washing machine on a trampoline ... we were able to sleep...

We arrived in Pune on the next morning around 7am, we went straight to the bus stand... as we arrived a guy immediately approached us asking if we were going to Goa, we said yes and he told us to follow him to an agency... the Bus would leave in half an hour... in the agency there was no bus to Goa but only to Kolhapur, a city 160 km away from Goa.. after considering the price we looked at each other and we both said that at least we would be closer... the Bus would arrive in Kolhapur in 4h and 160km away it would be very easy to reach goa... and so we went... instead of 4h, the bus took 5.5h but it was ok... this bus was confortable, had space and even screens on each seat so we could enjoy the journey... at one point, a guy that was on the seat next to us tried to communicate, he wanted to be our friend but his English was not very good... a few seconds later he started to show his mobile phone and he had wrote some words... we communicated via sms for a while, and he was really curious about us... he even said that next time we would go to Pune we were welcome to stay at his place.. he exchanged contacts, he showed us some family pictures and he left a few stops before us, hoping we could meet again...

In Kolhapur things were not as easy as we expected... we thought there would be much more buses to Goa but we only found one that would depart at 4pm and would arrive in Mapusa (Mapsa) around 10pm.. Mapusa was only 30km from Arambol (our final destination) but we didn't want to arrive at night because we wouldn't be able to negotiate the hotel prices nor take a bus to Arambol... we ended up going with the flow and took that bus, we survived this far so if we need to sleep one night watching the stars it wouldn't be a huge problem...

We arrived in Mapusa at 10:30pm, exhausted and with no clue where to sleep... we went to one hotel in front of the bus station but it was 2000 ruppies.. we were saving so much money when compared to the initial bus straight to Goa that we couldn't ruin the budget just for one night... we asked in that hotel if they knew of a cheaper hotel and they recommended the Hotel Atmaran but we would have to walk for a bit... we walked with our backpacks through the streets of Mapusa, sweating and not sure if we were in the right path to the hotel... we asked here and there and one guy ended up showing us the way on his motorcycle... the hotel looked very old and dirty but it was our only option at that time... we walked in and... FULL... we couldn't believe it... where would we find another hotel... we went back to the street and walked back to the direction of the bus stop... one guy saw us and asked if we needed any help.. we said we needed an hotel and he recommended Suhas Hotel. We walked to the streets that he had pointed and walked, walked, walked... but we couldn't find the hotel. It was close to midnight and shops were closing..  there was almost no one on the street... we found a shop and he pointed to the hotel, we could see the hotel signs but we couldn't see the entrance... we went around the building and heard some people singing.. we approached the window of a house and inside there were two Indian guys singing karaoke, around us we could see some rats.. we didn't want to interrupt but we needed help so we call them and asked for help.. the entrance was right next to us but we needed to go up the backdoor stairs to get in...this hotel was also very dirty and we couldn't stop thinking about the rats but we had no option and we stayed there for the night... we don't know how but we slept really well... and we were only 30km away from Arambol... 

Next morning we checked out and had a great shower  (yeah, I forgot to mention that we didn't shower for almost 3days...). We went straight to the bus stand and got a ticket to Arambol... only 30 ruppies and also 30 km... we were so close... it took 1h30 but the feeling of being so close was great... when the bus stopped we stepped out of the bus and we saw jungle.. pure jungle.. totally different from what we expected..  it looked like we were not in the Arambol Beach yet... we asked for some directions and walked through the jungle village with our backpacks.. we could feel the sun and the heat but the will to see the ocean didn't allow us to stop.. after some long steps through the palm trees, papaya trees, mango trees.. all trees...we reached a small dune.. we walked faster and there it was.. we had arrived to Arambol!!!

This was a looong journey, with ups and downs but at the end we consider it great... it is great to feel that we were able to reach where we wanted, even when things didn't go as we wanted.. it was nice to see us going through obstacles that would have made us stop one month and a half ago... and at the end the journey to Goa ended up being almost half the price... 2600 ruppies from Ahmedabad to Arambol compared to 4200 of the bus that was canceled that would drop us 60km away from Arambol... if we translate the amount to euros or to dollar it seems stupid... we are talking about $25 but when you want to live on a budget that makes all the difference... plus all the amazing experiences we had and the people we met...

...easier isn't always better...

:)

Chandigarh - Our first Couchsurfing experience

On October 17th we started our way to the South of India. Our goal was to reach Goa in the cheapest and fastest way possible but tickets to Goa are not easy to get... we decided to do shorter trips and stop on the way.. that way we would be able to control the budget and visit some places in between. We decided to stop in Chandigarh and from there we would go to Pushkar.. after Pushkar we will figure out later.

We had no expectations about Chandigarh as a city but it ended up becoming a very important experience in our lives... On the day before the trip to Chandigarh we thought about the possibility of trying Couchsurfing for the first time. Couchsurfing, based on wikipedia is a  "hospitality exchange and social networking website. The website provides a platform for members to "surf" on couches by staying as a guest at a host's home, host travelers, or join an event." For us, Couchsurfing was getting out of our confort zone one more time and discover new things. We searched for a possible host in Chandigarh but honestly we never thought it would workout but a few minutes after contacting one host we got a positive answer... Gaurav Gupta said he was available to host us at his home. When we saw his email we didn't know what to do... we both wanted to say yes but at the same time we were thinking about all the things that could happen... we have some friends that already did it and recommend it but what if things go wrong?! At the end we decided to take the risk... we are two so that helps..  and it was only for a night so there is a way out... we confirmed our stay with Gaurav and he offered to pick us up at the Bus station at 6am. Again.. we didn't know what to think.. a person is offering us his house and it is going to pick us up at 5am???? We agreed we would call him before the Bus departure to arrange the last minute details and that's it...

Before getting in the Bus, Kika called Gaurav's number but a lady speaking in Hindi answered... obviously the communication didn't work... we both thought our plans had died... either he gave us the wrong number on purpose or he made a mistake while writing the number and now we can't communicate.. we started our 12h trip a little bit sad and thinking we would have to find a hotel once we arrive but it is ok... actually we never thought it would work out anyway... but a couple of hours later our indian phone started to ring... we had never given our number to anyone except Gaurav so it had to be him... Kika answered the phone and shyly arranged the details with him.. we would text him closer to Chandigarh so that we could pick us up at the station... we were nervous and excited again.

As we arrived, we called Gaurav and he would meet us at the station in 20/30 minutes... the Bus dropped us in a random street in Chandigarh , it was not exactly at the bus station so we had to walk a little bit. We waited a bit and there he was... Gaurav walking and waving on our direction. We introduced ourselves and walked to his car... we shared some shy words on the way home but he seemed a very nice guy. As we arrived to his place we said we needed to sleep a little bit as the bus trip had been terrible. We noticed that his apartment was big.. much bigger than we expected.. clean and well maintained.. our room was big and had a private toilet. After sleeping for 4h we left the room, Gaurav was in the living room and we started to talk.. our initial intention was to visit Chandigarh but the conversation started and continued for 5h... in between he offered us coffee, cookies, boiled eggs and delicious vegetarian sandwichs (tomato, cucumber, capsicum, paneer and black salt).. we were in heaven. It was nice to be able to talk and truly connect to an Indian person. We talked about our travels, Indian traditions, jobs, culture, politics.. everything. When we realized that time had gone so fast we decided to visit Chandigarh for a bit.. Gaurav drove us to the lake in the city center and said he would meet us in 1h to drive us back... we couldn't believe he was doing all of that for us... we walked around the lake and shared some ideas about how the experience was so far... 1h later Gaurav showed up and we decided to go for dinner. He recommended a nice Italian restaurant, we shared an appetizer and a pizza.. we wanted to offer him the dinner, it would be the least we could do to thank him... but at the end he didn't allow that... he insisted a lot that we were his guests and offered us dinner. We were very thankful but at the same time we wanted to have paid... we had to thank him somehow... we agreed we would buy lunch next day.

When we got home we felt very tired and we all went to sleep... we were in Chandigarh for only 1h but people in Chandigarh seemed different, very well dressed, educated and richer than the average India the city also seemed more organized than other cities... large avenues and normal cars.

When we woke up next day, Gaurav had prepared some breakfast.. salad, boiled eggs, apples and cookies. He was spoiling us a lot... we talked for a bit and decided to go for lunch in the city center (sector 17) at the Indian Coffee House (recommended on our book) then we would visit the rock garden. The restaurant was really nice, traditional Indian and full of locals.. we shared some snacks and had a delicious coffee.. this time we were able to offer him lunch. After lunch we walked around sector 17 and saw a totally different India... big avenues with stores like Levi's, Arrow, Beneton, pepe jeans, tommy, ralph lauren and other fancy stores. The city was nice to live in, it's organized and there's no culture shock.. well... there are always some fun facts happening in India like when we went back to the car there was was a huge jeep parked behind us, blocking our way... Curiously, when people block others, they park on neutral so that we can push the cars as we did..  after the sector 17 we went to the Rock Garden... the garden started as an illegal construction made with garbage but as the garden grew the government saw how beautiful it was and ended up funding the rest of the construction. Gaurav explained us some historical facts and was as great tourist guide. We had to be on the train station at 8pm so around 5h we went back home and packed. We talked a little bit more and Gaurav drove us to the station.. he even offered us a bottle of water and a package of peanuts for the trip... we couldn't thank him enough... when it was time to say goodbye we left hoping we would meet again and that we would be able to host him wherever we would live in the future...

Couchsurfing was a brilliant experience, gave us a friend and another perspective about the world... people that like to help the others wanting nothing in return... available to wake up at 5am to pick up some strangers and treat them as if they are family or friends... it really affected us in a positive way.. maybe we should be more helpful to others... we think about ourselves as good people but we can definitely do better...

Note: Pedro lost 7 kg since we arrived in India.

Manali - Himalaya

Manali is located in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh in the North of India, its altitude is around 2000m. Manali is divided in three villages: New Manali, Old Manali and Vashisht. But, one of the most important things to mention.... Manali is part of the Himalaya... Based on recommendations from other travelers booked a guesthouse in Old Manali we would stay there for a few days and decide if we wanted to change or not.

The bus from Delhi dropped us in New Manali, excited about being in the Himalaya, we looked to the giant mountains around us and felt the cold a little bit... We were coming from places with high temperatures and suddenly.. winter. We got a taxi from the bus station to Old Manali in order to check in at our guesthouse, we were tired from the crazy bus ride and it was still very early in the morning. The taxi driver drove through the hills but suddenly stopped the car and said: "now you have to follow me.." we grabbed our backpacks and started to walk through very tiny paths between rudimental houses and gardens where locals grew vegetables and had their animals (cows, dogs and yaaks). The smell was the typical smell from the country side... yes, it includes some cow poop smell but at the end it is a pleasent smell. Kika had some flashbacks from her childhood when she used to go to her family house in the summer in the North of Portugal... Soutelo to be precise. We were curious about where our guest house would be and if walking through those tiny paths was normal. The guest house ended up being in a great location with amazing views of the mountais. On that day we took some rest and explored Old Manali. We met a very nice local old guy that has a small bakery that serves chocolat croissants and nice tea... no need to say that we became clients. Old Manali is different it doesn't seem to be part of India, it's quiet, clean, relaxed and people don't "attack" you all the time. Another positive point about Manali are the dogs... Dogs here have a different presence... they are really nice to humans and follow you around like they are yours... between them there is a big respect and territorial feeling but with humans they are really nice... except at 11pm when they all decide to bark/howl at the same time but they might have at reason.

On our second day we decided to walk until New Manali close to the river. New Manali was different... busier, noisier but still clean. We bought an Indian SIM card to be able to contact volunteering hosts, we walked around the village and in a natural park but the cold was making sure that we were feeling it's presence. Pedro started to feel some sore throat and chills so we decided to walk back to the guest house.. we didn't want to get ill...

But.... we can't get what we want all the time... On our 3rd day, Pedro was with fever and Kika was starting to feel the symptoms. At night we were both knocked out... 38.5 of fever, sore throat, chills and all the common things of a cold. Our next three days were basically to cure our cold, we got out just to eat and buy more medicine the rest of the time we were resting in the room, reading,  watching TV, playing cards/dices and think. Kika ended up taking antibiotics as her throat and fever didn't pass as fast as Pedro's.

We didn't do much but for the first time we felt what it is to be ill when we are travelling.. at one point, when the fever doesn't go down, the night comes, the pharmacy is far far away and the hospital is God knows where ... we think. We think how lucky we are to live in places where health care is so close, pharmacies are open all night and there are always friends and mostly family around. We also realized how our bodies are used to medicine... the recommended dosage by the Indian pharmacist had no effect on us.. it only started to pass when we increased the dosage.. pills are stronger in Portugal and much stronger in America.

After four days of cold we just wanted to explore.. we were not 100% cured but we couldn't stay in the room anymore. We rented a motorbike for two days and drove around the mountains... we saw amazing views and we felt connected to the nature that surrunded us. We drove until Solang Valley (beautiful), visited Vashisht, Nagaar and other villages around Manali. Curve after curve it was the mountain, the scooter and us... Vashish is the 3rd village that belongs to Manali, it is less touristy than Old Manali. There are foreign hippies that decided to live there, we found cheaper restaurants and a nice vibe as well.. if it wasn't the cold that we had we would have stayed in Vashisht for a few days for sure... in Vashisht we visited the waterfalls and the hot springs inside a temple but we didn't bathe because we didn't want to take any risk of getting worst... we just touched the water with our foot and we confirmed that the water was really hot... unfortunately pictures are not allowed there.

One of our original intention, coming to Manali, was to have our first volunteering experience but unfortunately we had to give up on that idea.. the high season is over in October so there are almost no opportunities, we considered going to Dharamashala/McLeod Ganj (where the Dalai Lama lives) in search of volunteering opportunities as well... but the cold was getting worst and we had no appropriate gear so we would have to spend a lot of money in clothes that we would only need for 2/3 weeks and we would have to carry them for the next 10 months... we ended up deciding it is time to go south... Goa... we checked online and there are some attractive volunteering opportunities in that area. In addiction, we can always enjoy the good weather and the beach.

As nothing is easy in India, going to Goa is going to be a challenge... all trains are in waiting list (no tickets), the high season is just starting. We did a lot of research, we even considered to buy a car and start a road trip until we realized that it's impossible to buy a car with a tourist visa... flights are an option but not for us as it will drastically increase our costs so we decided to start going south step by step.. we are stopping for a night in Chandigarh and then heading to our sweet Pushkar.. we will figure the rest out....

As a small summary we liked Manali and the Himalaya.. people are very nice and the nature is evident. Becoming ill made it harder to enjoy but it was still nice... Unfortunately we are not going to visit the Dalai Lama but plans are always changing in trips like this and that is fine. As an advice for backpackers, if you are in a budget do some research before coming to Manali... activities like trekking, rafting and fishing are expensive for the Indian reality. Also keep in mind the clothes, on a year trip and with a small backpack it's hard to bring warm clothes.