Travel

"India is like a wave. Resist and you'll be knocked over; dive into it and you'll swim out the other side." It's a quote from the movie I watched on the flight over -- it's especially true for India, but it holds for travel more generally.

There is no substitute for travel. To completely immerse yourself in a culture completely unlike your own -- to taste the foods, hear the sounds, sleep in the guesthouses, meet the people, understand their way of life -- when done well, you gain a perspective on your own life that's impossible to achieve otherwise.

My four weeks in India were remarkable. I had little idea of what to expect and seemed to constantly be in a state of amazement, shock, amusement, disappointment, awe, or perplexity. Nepal tomorrow!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Into Thin (but not that thin) Air

Back in Kathmandu after a remarkable two-week trip through Khumbu, the Everest region of Nepal. Hiked to two base camps (Ama Dablam and Everest), two lookouts (Kala Patthar at 18,192 feet and Gokyo Ri at 17,575 feet), and one pass (Cho La). The route is pretty crowded, especially this time of year, but for good reason. The landscape and views are incredible. From Gokyo Ri, in particular, you can see five 8,000m peaks. The weather was perfect, too -- clear, cloudless skies. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy, either. Five- to seven-hour days with a 30-pound bag, all above 10,000 feet. There were definitely some cold and tired older tourists wondering why they were there. It's pretty mind-boggling to imagine the rate of change in lifestyle that's taken place in the last twenty years as more and more people visit Khumbu. Many of the inhabitants (Sherpas) were once yak herders, constantly trading goods between Tibet and the lower-elevation areas of Nepal. Now
Read more

Built Like a Gun

Just returned to Manali from a 15-day motorcycle trip through the Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu regions of northern India. Incredible. I had read (and heard) about the landscape and cultures of Northern India and knew I wanted to explore it by motorcycle. Rather than buy and sell I rented a Royal Enfield Classic Bullet 500 -- "Built Like a Gun" according to the gas tank -- in Manali, in Himachal Pradesh. Manali itself is a weird combination of crazy bazaar, hippie Israeli hideout, and Indian honeymoon destination. I ended up meeting four guys from Bangalore with similar intentions in the rental shop so I decided to head out with them. It was great having Hindi (and English) speaking company, but the lack of independence and self-reliance got a bit frustrating. First, Ladakh. It's the most otherworldly place I've ever seen -- it's like Mars. It's a high-altitude cold desert, and the scale and remoteness are mind-bending. Gold sandstone mountains ribbon
Read more