India II
Returning to India was a conscious decision.
Once again, it took strength.
But this time, I could meet it differently.
Ten days of silence.
The oldest temple in the country.
A leopard outside my window.
The start of the monsoon.
India challenged me again—and still, it remains one of a kind.
It was a conscious decision to return to India.
Something inside told me I should come back –
so I did.
I landed in Chennai,
and moved quickly to Pondicherry –
a city shaped by French influence,
though you barely feel it.
India is too intense for that.
Only the architecture and street names
remind you of its colonial past.
I passed through Auroville –
a place full of religion, spirituality, and high hopes –
before heading to Kochi,
a coastal town with Portuguese roots
and what you could call a “Western vibe” –
as much as that’s possible in India.
From there, I set my sights on a place
that many travellers in India know:
Hampi –
a surreal landscape of ancient temples and boulders,
one of the oldest sacred sites in India.
I arrived during off-season,
quiet and rainy –
monsoon had arrived.
Through Mumbai, I visited Nihali –
a friend I met months earlier in Jaisalmer.
She invited me to her home
and gave me a glimpse into life in the city.
Mumbai is contradiction in motion –
unimaginable wealth and unimaginable poverty
existing side by side.
A massive, intense, humbling city
full of stories.
Her friends, the conversations, the streets –
all left a mark.
Coming back to Pushkar felt like returning home.
The road there wasn’t easy –
but the joy of reuniting with old friends,
despite the brutal heat,
made it worth it.
I soaked up Pushkar as much as one possibly can.
One of the most significant milestones
of my entire journey
was finally completing the Vipassana silence retreat
I’d long dreamed of.
With 30 Indian men,
in temperatures reaching 46°C,
I spent 10 days in complete silence –
no talking,
no eye contact,
no phones,
no distractions.
Just me,
and meditation
from morning to night.
It changed something inside me.
I’ll write about this experience in depth on the blog –
it deserves its own space.
After that, I headed north –
to Rishikesh and Mussoorie in the mountains –
another face of India,
calmer, more reflective.
And finally:
Varanasi.
India’s holiest city.
A place of extremes,
where death and devotion walk hand in hand.
And somehow –
a fitting end.
Exhausting, intense, unforgettable.
India is another universe.
It overwhelms your senses.
It is not for the faint of heart.
India took a lot from me –
but in hindsight,
it gave me even more.
I learned a lot about myself.
And the mark it left on me –
will stay.
🎒 Travel Mode
Backpack
📅 Date From: April 2025
📅 Date To: June 2025
📍 Points of Interest
🌊 Pondicherry – a former French colony with traces of colonial architecture and street names, though the intensity of India overshadows most of it.
Nearby, Auroville draws spiritual seekers from all over the world – a unique place built on ideals of unity and inner growth.
🌴 Kochi – a charming coastal city on India’s southwest coast. Clean, welcoming, and an excellent base to explore southern India. The hospitality of the people stood out and left a lasting impression.
⛰️ Hampi – a surreal village surrounded by boulders, temples, and lush nature. Perfect for unwinding and slowing down. One of the most peaceful places I visited – ancient energy meets quiet simplicity.
🔥 Varanasi – India’s holiest city. Located on the banks of the Ganges, where bodies are cremated on the ghats – a sacred ritual of passage. Intense, raw, and deeply spiritual. A city that confronts you with life and death like no other.
🧘 Vipassana Meditation – 10 days of complete silence.
No phone, no talking, no eye contact – just meditation from morning till night. An unforgettable deep dive into the mind. It changed me – and I would recommend it to anyone ready to face themselves.
✍️ Experience Snippet
When I arrived in Hampi,
my host showed me around and mentioned
that there were leopards living across the river.
Shy animals, rarely seen –
nothing to worry about, he said.
That sounded exciting – and also reassuring.
One night,
I couldn’t sleep.
It was hot and humid, and my thoughts kept spinning.
I heard dogs barking outside,
then suddenly –
silence.
Unnaturally quiet.
I looked out the window.
Very still.
A small dog passed beneath my window.
And in the blink of an eye –
the ground shook.
A leopard jumped from the wall opposite,
snatched the dog,
and vanished into the night.
It lasted maybe two or three seconds.
And then…
nothing.
No sound.
No dog.
Just me standing at the window,
three meters away
from one of the wildest things I’d ever seen.
I remembered what the host had told me –
and smiled to myself.
My own little safari.
👉 Want to see the full route?
Check out the route below.
🗺️ Route Legend
🔴 Red – Bicycle
🔵 Blue – Ferry
🟣 Purple – Hitchhiking
🟡 Yellow – Bus / Taxi
🟢 Green – Train
⚫ Black – Airplane
⚪ White – Planned Route
