A road trip in Asia

We arrived here at 4:05 am with Amelie, a french friend who is traveling for one month (last picture)

We went to the city center with an israel and canadian girl.

Tuk tuk drivers are so crazy (and lot of pollution), they say that they know exactly where you wanna go and they are as lost as you!

After that we went to the ambassy of India for the next visa and we met a russian guy who gave us a good plan for a backpacker

We couldn't find it by walk then a nice sri lankais gave us a lift

First f****** spicy food!!! We will be use to it hopefuly

Then we met a friendly guy who is goin soon to Paris for his honeymoon

And to finish this long day : beer !!

6/10 . We took a bus for 3 hours to go there. When we arrived we went to a nice lodge with Perrera, a tuk tuk driver. Bus stop and hostel are quite far away and you can't walk that far with your heavy backpack.. Also It's difficult to find some signs, streets name so you feel a bit lost.

Perrera is actually a friend of the lodge's owner and propose us for a cheap price a look around the different temples, area..

You always have to negociate because there is a big difference between local and tourist prices, even if you don't feel confortable with that because there is a lot of poverty...

Very nice afternoon and Perrera introduced ourselves to his family. Another face of Sri Lanka...

Finally we stayed with Tilak and Eryca for 4 days and Tilak drove us until Trincomalee. When we arrived there, there was a live to celebrate Che Guevara and we danced with everybody there.. kids, boys, old, was awesome! We also visited a hindouist temple and saw a blessing ceremony. Religion is very important here! We also visited hot springers! It looked not so natural.. and we went one night in Fernando guest house to have a caipinrinha , it was a very touristic place.. we danced on the beach! Very nice moment

12/10. Time to say goodbye to Tilak and Eryca. Thanks to them for everything. We will miss them.

So Tilak drop us at the bus station and we met there 2 germans guys, Max and Alex and Saschan, a cinghalese who lives in Germany. Those 3 friends are travelling together and are going to New Zealand after!

They were also going to Polonnaruwa. Arrived there we didn't know where to sleep. A tuk tuk driver came (as usual) and proposed us to stay in Palm Garden ! Go there if you are in Polonnaruwa. The owner is very funny and friendy ! And the rooms are also good! It's out of the city so quiet and peaceful !

We decided to stay together and visited the ruines and temples from 1000 years of this area. Even if It was very warm, we spent an amazing afternoon !

Polonnaruwa is definitly a lovely place.

14/10.

With the "german guys", we decided to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to climb on this rock and watch the sunset there! We chose this rock and not Sigirya rock because It was cheaper (500 rp instead of 4500 rp for sigirya rock) and you have the same view. You "just" miss some old painting. Anyway we climbed, it takes halft an hour to arrive at the top and It's quite easy (a bit difficult when you are a smoker and you are sleepy, It's just steps).

Anyway we had a beautiful view !!!!

14/10 to 16/10.

Kandy is quite a big city , noisy and a lot of people. But there is an artificial lake in the middle so looks better ! But if you don't want to spend a lot of money It's difficult to find something to do. We just went to Kandyan dance, tourist live about 5 different kind of local dances but actually they all looked the same!

I went by walk to Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha statue and I had a nice view of Kandy. On the way back, I met Gerard, an english guy that I've already met quickly in Anaradapuwara. We spent the afternoon together . Heavy rain ! So we went back to the guest house, friendly manager and good rooms! And we spent a chillin night. Nice talks with him :-) Gerard if you read that you know what I mean!

If you have enough money, love temples, royals gardens and mountains, go there!

Ella is a small and touristic town in the middle of the mountains. There are so many hostel, guest house, this is insane!

We did the little adam's peak this morning and an other track in tea plantation with a french couple, Cindy and Lucas. Quit a lot of french travellers.. You don't have so many things to do here if you don't like hikking. We stay 2 nights and we will move after to Nuwera Eliya!

Ayubowan

19/10

Cloudy day again. It's very cold on this area. We woked up at 4:30 am and went to a this area with the french family, Victor, Anne france, Ben,Olivia the baby, and 2 chinese girl. After 1h driving we arrived there and we had fog pour the sunrise. But after one hour. It was a bit shining so less cold. We walked 3 hours around this place (800 m altitud) , it was nice but It's not really the good season to go there. It's better in january, anyway we still enjoyed it. A lot of chinese people doing too many picture, after we went back to the guest house and the driver dropped the others at the train station.

21/10

A morning in Colombo with Tilak.Nice drive around the city and amazing visit of the museum. 3 hours about history, religion, culture, nature.. of Sri Lanka ! It's the thing to do in Colombo. And an advice : wake up very early to enjoy a bit of silence in the city ! After 7h30/8h , it's busy... pollution, noise!

Mirissa it's a town in the south on the coast , it's lovely but very touristic. You feel that you have 60% tourist , 40 % locals. People are lying on the sand, enjoy the sun, some others surf. There are a lot of restaurants and bars on the beach, expensive food , better to eat in town but It's really nice to have a drink the night.

So we arrived here on monday with Amelie and Eryca by bus from Matara and we found online before a nice guesthouse : green garden next to the beach. Owned by a sri lankan cute family ! Cheap rooms, breakfast included. We enjoyed the beach, a temple, people. We went in town with Amelie to grap some food and we met 2 australians brothers on a motobike and they proposed up to go on it. So we went in town 4 on a motobike . Very funny. We met them after in a bar with a french couple we also met before in others cities in Sri Lanka. We were sitting together, drinking mojito and beers. I went to order a new beer at the bar and finally had a sit there. I start to speak with the owner and his friends, we shared talks about life, travel, religion.. sometimes I couldn't understand everything because of the loud world music and the accent but It was kind of funny. Anyway the boss was serving me those strong glasses of vodka sprite for free, and I didn't want to refuse it. So I was drunk after that. So with Amélie we came back to the guest house around 2 am with a short run. Don't really know why. Bad feeling when we woke up but after a nice breakfast it was better. Eryca left Mirissa this morning to meet an other friend, pretty sad but we will meet her again in Colombo the day before living Sri Lanka :(

She is such a great person, interesting, funny, just awesome. Love her. So after she left, we've been to the beach and I started to talk with a israel guy. He explained me that he was here since a while with his friends to surf, that he's going to India after , like me. Amelie's huncle was really painful today with we walked a lot since 3 weeks here. So she needed to relax on the beach. This Israël guy, Yuval, proposed me to go in Weligama to surf and I already wanted to go there today. It's an other small town 15 min driving from Mirissa. So I went there with him on his scooter and he rent a longboard there for so cheap because he already knows every locals in this place. And after he teached me to surf ! And the first time I took a wave, I did it so properly, like I did it before. It was a good feeling with the sea and this new friend. After we went to a bar on the beach to get some juices, chilling place you can see on the pictures. We came back at the end of afternoon. It was cool. All the locals people are very friendly here, they are interesting to know where you are from, your trip...

Even if Mirissa is quite touristic, It's good to have this kind of break. See you!

Our last week-end in Sri Lanka is finished. We spent it with Tilak having a look around Colombo city, temples and areas. Thanks to this amazing man for his hospitality, talks, his shares. After just one month in Sri Lanka this is what I will remember :

- Smiley Faces : even if it's warm, raining, noisy, beautiful locals keep smiling & it gives you happiness. From kids to old people.

- Curiosity : when you're walking in the street, waiting somewhere or having food, some people always ask you these questions = What's your name? Where are you from? Do you like Sri Lanka? How long have you been here? What is your job in your country?

-Poverty : more in the north. Most of the people live with nothing, a basic house it means bed+kitchen+bathroom, cheap local food and hardwork job. Of course in a big city like Colombo or Kandy, you find rich people in residential houses.

- Hardwork : Man like women work very hard. All day long. Tea plantation (old women), restaurant, guest room, tuktuk & bus driver. Some of them go working oversea (in Qatar for ex) for fews years and come back with more money for their family. Children go to school or/& help the business family.

-Helpful : People leave you their phone number or cards if you need anything, help you to find your way, a place to stay, tell you the places to visit (even if sometimes it's just tourist business)

- Sun : Almost sunny and warm in all the country, you're sweating a lot but you are used to it after a little while.

- Religion : part of the srilankan life. Bouddhism, hindouism, muslim.. They pray everyday, bring flowers & money to Bouddha. Sometimes it can looks very commercial. But the fact to believe in Karma brings honesty ! It's interesting too see how people here dedicate their life to religion.

- Transport : wonderful lanscape with the train, crazy bus driving, funny tuk tuk. A thing = in the bus nobody let his place to old women, just child. You pay your ticket inside after have found a sit to a guy who is working with the driver. You also listen loud local music in there and sometimes watch a movie.

- Woman's image : You seen more men outside especially the night because women have normaly to stay home. They are wearing long clothes even if it's really hot. They take care about everything in the house & also kids. Men take care of money. That's the main reason why I will never live all my life here. I didn't say that women here are beautiful (very skinny)

- Be careful : it's frustrating but you have to pay attention to many things = people who try to increase the price (ex: tuk tuk, guest room, market, rooms..) because you're white, you're a tourist so you have money. Always negociate even if the price look already cheap. When you want to see the beach at night, some boys try to talk to you and invite you to a party. Sometimes you want to join them, have fun but you never know how it will be so you keep your distances. We actually didn't in Mirissa because it's a touristic place and you can always find other people around. And we met lovely locals. It's really difficult to find the balance between trust and mistrust.

- Landscape : dry areas like savannah, bush, forest like jungles, moutains & tea plantations, beach & blue water, animals (monkeys, elephants, snakes..)

- Food : rotti, kotthu, vegetable rice with curry, hoppers, spice, fruit. Cheap and big portion !

Thank you Sri Lanka for this amazing trip. I'll miss you, and Amelie for sure.

A wink to Amelie because the trip was not that easy for her ! Her foot and hand were painful especially at the end. She lost a lot of things : rain coat, 2 pair of basket in the bus, sun protection for battery, view glasses!!, sunglasse, whistle/compas!

After Chennai, we went in Auroville beach, next to Puducherry spend few days.

India is a very busy country. A lot of people, bus, cars, bikes so a lot of noise ! It's also dirty everywhere, from the village to the big city. I just can't explain it, you have to see it. It's different from everywhere. Anyway.

Yesterday, 3/11, we had a long day. We went to Auroville community to get a pass (I'll explain everything about that later) and had 2 hours of bus on the east to see Gingee fort. An amazing place.

Gingee fort is the biggest fortress in Tamil Nadu, a hidden gem to visit ! It was so hot and we had to clim lot of steps to go at the top, and have a great view !

After that, we walked to Gingee town and waited half an hour to catch a bus to Pondi. Long way back. We had food in a nice indian restaurant in Mission Street and came back, tired, to the guest room.

4/11. This morning we had a visit of Auroville community. Auroville was conceived as a place of research into the ideal of human unity by the Mother, the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo in 1968. The idea was to build a futuristic city where people of goodwill can live together in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, politics, nationalities. 2000 people live there. Buildings are a combination of modern western and traditional Indian elements, in a rural and deep red landscape.

We saw the central Matrimandir which is not a temple but a place for individual concentration : "a symbol of the Divine's answer to man's aspiration for perfection".

We spent a nice moment there. You can look online if you want more information. It's kind of touristic now, not what was it in the sixties.

We were also there with Nick, a new zealand guy who share the same dorm at the guest house. Super cool to meet someone from Nz (I traveled there 2 years ago) .

Yesterday, 5th of november (Happy bday Mum), we left Auroville to go to Chidambaram which is down south. First let's talk about the bus. When you arrive at the station you never know which bus you have to take even if you know the number because there are so many of them and the direction is mainly writen in tamoul. So you ask to a driver and he send you to a place and you feel that it's not the good one. And you're right ! So you ask to other people, and after few minutes walking around and a lot of patience you are finally in the good one.. hopefuly..

At the bus station there are many stands where you can buy Chai Tea (the best! Less than 1$), water and food.

The food you find is always fried : samosa, beignets, peanuts.. which is nice but fat ! And Indian are eating it all day long, piece by piece..

I try so eat fruits : yummy banana and orange, bad apples.. (more expensive of course)

*People , book guide, tell you to not eat meat but one of the best and favorite meal is chicken Tandoori, and It's so good. I haven't been sick for the moment.

*They also say that it's difficult when you are a woman because of the look of guys. Of course you are white, you don't work but just travel and you don't wear a "sari" (local clothes). It's quite normal that people pay attention to you. But the bad thing is that most of the time you don't really know the meaning of their look. Are they choked to see me? Are they confused? Or maybe they just don't care..

*Nobody try to touch me in the bus and if you're scared you can sit on the left side, more for women. But I realised something after few days, none of them (men) wanted to sit next to me ! Am I stinky ? No, I'm just a woman.. religious thing

Anyway , Second thing : When we arrived in Chidambaram around 1pm, we had to find a place to sleep and drop our backpack. We actually booked nothing because we didn't really know our plans. We were walking in the noisy main street, under this crazy sun, could smell nice pollution and rubish, when I visited a room for the 3 of us. I just laughed when I came in. I'm really not difficult but It was bad : dirty wall it's quite okay but disgusting matress and dust everywhere - no way ! Even if it was just 5$

We finally found an other one which was not pretty at all and not clean enought but was okay for 3 people and for 10$ a night.

We wanted to visit the main hindou temple of the city Nataraja but it opens at 4pm. So we took an other bus and went to Pichavaram (half an hour) and had a lift from a pick up to go until the boat station.

Why there? To see one of the biggest mangrove in the world.

We rent a raw boat with a indian couple and their baby from North India and spent 2h on it. Was quiet, relaxing & we enjoyed the fresh air!

After this sweet trip, we came hack by bus again until Chidambaram and went around 5pm to the temple.

Tired !India is exhausting...

After visited the temple in Trichy in the morning, we took a bus to go to Thanjavur to see the Brihadishwara temple built by king Rajaraja.

Tamil Nadu is full of temples..

The bus drop us next to the train station and we already found a hotel, one double bed again but with one more matress! We walked 30 min to go to this amazing temple. And the city was better than Tricky. Locals look a bit more friendly even if it's not enough for us..

Where is the smile ?

Ps: sorry for my broken english and thx for following me! Xx

Saturday 12th.

We arrived in Amrita Ashram where 3000 people live in a kind of community. Amma is their spiritual guide who wasn't here but in Europe. She's very famous. She is travelling a lot because of her ONG and give the darshan (hug to confort sad people). Volunteers spend days around meditation, yoga, work, blessing... Which is a life choice. And I try to put myself in, but I guess my spirit is not open mind enough. I felt a bit opressed after just 2 nights. I met Chloe from south of England & she felt the same.

On monday 14th, I decided to move alone because Sebastien wanted to stay longer. I took a train to go north until Allepey! And I felt good to be on my own.

I arrived around 1pm at the train station & had to go until the city center. So many auto drivers try to pick me up but I walked straight to a small local bus and went for free because It was too full until the town.

I started to walk looking for a guest room I saw online the night before. I asked my way to an indian guy who was working in an internet shop, called Sinju.

He told me about his cousin who just opened a guestroom next to the lake, 3km out of the town. For 2 euros the night ! After few min, his cousin, Dinesh, came on a bike. The first feeling I had when I saw him was really good. He started to explain me with his small english the home stay and wanted me to see the rooms. Si let's do it ! I jumped on his bike with my backpack and decided to trust them.

We arrived in his place by a very small "earthroad" , lake side and It looked amazing ! Cosy & so peaceful.

I was the first guest !

At the end of the afternoon, I went on a small boat to have a trip on the backwaters, where locals transport rice. Dinesh arranged me a good price with this family who is living next to the guest house. It was nice !

When I came back we drank a chai tea and started to talk about life, work.. And I found a name for his hostel : Peaceful Lake. I told him some ideas to fix the garden (plants, tables, hommacs..) but his place is almost ready for the high season.

I learnt that 2 english guys came before and booked a room also. I met them after and we started together a chillin night : Sam, Lee, Dinesh, Sinju, Sujith (their friend who was cooking yummy dossa/crepe for us) & me.

We spent a friendly moment ! The english guys have been already travelling a lot in south america, caraibean, australia, new zealand.. and it was so interesting to listen their stories !

I was supposed to stay one night but I add one more to help Dinesh.

Tuesday 15th, we went to the beach by bike, had a look around the city and I created him a gmail address & did a request of his guest room on Trip advisor ! Now, he has to wait few days for an answer.

Still this money trouble in India, ATM bank full of people.

Wednersday 15th.

I left Allepey at noon to Fort Cochi. I can't spend more than 3 days in a place if I want too see everything I planned. Especially because transport take you a lot of time..

Goodbye was sad.. it was a pleasure to be with this guys.

I'll remember our talks.

- Dinesh: you're my lucky guest, my friend, happy to meet you. Are you happy ?

- Me: yes I'm very happy to be here and to meet you guys!

-Dinesh: and are you happy everyday to travel in India?

-Me: yes India is an interesting country even if it's not easy sometimes. I start to miss my family, my husband (I'm married since 2 years here, such a joke but we never know), my friends.. but I met good people here, and I think you are a good person!

-Dinesh: thank you. Life is not easy for us everyday because of money. We never know for the days after.."

When you come back in Allepey?

-Me: I don't really know.. one day to see you again!

So if you are going to Allepey ask for Beautiful Lake, next to Lemon Juice & you will not be disappointed by Dinesh's hospitality, at all ! Thank you for bring me smile.

After 12 hours of train, 9 of bus, I arrived "in the middle of nowhere" : HAMPI.

So many things to tell about this place ! Old capitale of Vijayaganara's kingdom .

It's magic everywhere on 42km² of ruines and temples.

I dedicate this article to Harsh Patidar :

"I went early morning to watch the sunrise on Matanga Hill and I met you there.

We started to talk and had a friendly feeling. I told you that I wanted to visit Hampi by bicycle on my own, not following Tuktuk drivers, groups or guides, and you felt the same. After a nice breakfast together we were on the bicycle .

More we moved more the lanscape was amazing. I felt like a children discovering new things, I think you as well.

You told me about your studies, your life generally and I started to share mine also. I though that you looked like a really nice person.

We took this tiny boat full of people and bikes to join the other side of the river, drive few km and climbeb 756 steps to watch Monkey temple view. It was hot but the view was impressive.

We had a yummy indian meal in the afternoon. We deserved it.

We kept going after until 6pm, almost 9 hours on the bicycle. Well done to us !

And we had a nice sunset before you left the place.. I was really sad to tell you goodbye. I realised that's why I'm traveling also than discover places. Meet people like you from other country and spend amazing moments with.

Thank you for this day and funny&great time.

The day after you left, I went to the other side of the river to spend the night and met some travelers from Israel, England and spain and climbed rocks and walked until this beautiful lake together. It was amazing again.

I will always remember what you wrote me in your mail :

One thing I understood after meeting you is that people around the globe are same at the heart. The only difference is cultural.

See you soon hopefuly"

Break in Gokarna & Palolem..

I spent 2 nights in each place.

Gokarna is a lovely town with few beaches you find alongside of the hills. I stayed in Om Beach, in the dolphin house where I met quite a lot of people.

I'll remember Patrick, a french old guy who comes here since 8 years for 6 months.. just chilling. Like John from Scotland. It's a kind of retreat for them. One funny guy from Bulgaria who lived 9 years in London.. and others travelers..

It's a lazy place , perfect for holidays. You feel out of everything. But It's also a kind of trap !

I had to move to Palolem up north (2h by train) in Goa State on thursday 24th to see Lee & Sam, the 2 english guys I met in Allepey. It was Lee 's birthday. Palolem is also a small town with beaches. More touristic than Gokarna & you can find a lot of tourist shops.

Was nice to catch these guys again. We rent a kayak to watch the sunset & saw dolphins!

The last night there, Lee had his flight back to England :( and I met some indians and they invited me for dinner in the restaurant of the guest house. A married couple with a baby. The husband is web designer and she's working for google. There were also the wife's little brother and 2 friends of the husband (20 years of friendship). They were very nice and happy to spend time with me. It was the week-end for them. They ordered a lot of local food. I was full but they kept me eating. Sam joined us after. And they didn't want us to pay for anything

Now I'm in a small village called Keri on the southtern most coast of Goa for a volunteering since saturday. Mandy, an english woman bought a guest house few years ago and now she's renovating the place with her son, Laurence.

I'm helping them 5 hours a day against the accommodation and food.

The most of the job is painting, cleaning, sanding tables, fixing things.

They want to be able to rent upstair (2 rooms, one bathroom, one big living room & kitchen, 2 balconies) for Christmas (for a family).

There is Keri beach 15 min walking from the house

and Arambol, a bigger town 20 min by bus. Arambol is very touristic because of the beach, yoga, medidation, party, music. A lot of people live here half a year. Every sunset on the beach you have a drum circle. Few people are playing and lot of them are dancing, it's really nice ! And every night there is a live band or open mic in one of the bars on the same beach.

I don't really feel in India even if a lot of locals come here as well. This area looks more like an european place where foreigners escape and enjoy to be out of their country. I don't have the wifi often so that's normal if I'm not writing a lot on the blog. Everything is alright ! Just start to miss few people from France..

See you !

Pune is the second largest city of Maharashtra State with 3,75 million of people. The city is known for culture, traditional old economy base, industry, IT... and attracts a lot of students from all over India.

I arrived there on friday 9th early morning and spent the all day with Sanaullah, a very friendly indian. He saw that I was sleepy and lost when the bus dropped us. I had no idea where I was & what to do. He brang me to his office, then we had a local breakfast. I met his boss when I was using the wifi, friendy as well.

Then I joined him on his bike to post some papers & big boxes. And he drove me after to his flat & told me that I could stay here & have a rest (2 or 3 hours sleeping in the bus) and came back to his office. I knew him for few hours & he gave me the best hospitality ever. I'm still surprised how some people can be kind with foreigners.

After his work we had dinner & he called his taxi driver friend who gave me a cheap lift until the city center to meet Harsh.

It was 10pm when I arrived in front of the german bakery, the meeting place Harsh chose. He was not here. I started to pannic a little bit.. alone in a big city the night.. A old tuk tuk driver in the street asked me if I needed a lift, I explained him the situation. I borrowed his phone to call Harsh who was on his way, late because of indian roads.. I felt better & could wait with the driver until Harsh arrived.

I was really happy when I finally saw his face ! He was so sorry to be late but I didn't care, was too happy to see him !

I jumped on his bike (I realise that I'm often a passenger bike & I enjoy it) & we went to his flat he share with 5 others friends, out of the city. It was quite late when we arrived. We talked, watched Harry Potter 5 (international movies) & fell asleep like big shit !

On saturday we visited Shanivaar Wada Fort from outside, then Osho garden which was peaceful. By the way, Osho is a spiritual teacher & founded Osho international meditation resort, one of the world's largest spiritual center with 200,000 visitors annually..

On sunday we went to the Katraj Zoo, one of the famous indian activity. It was full of people. Harsh, like me, doesn't really like to see this animals life but it's part of Pune ! We saw snakes, turtles, white tigers, leopards, dears...

After, we had a late lunch to the most famous restaurant of Pune : Vaishali, on FC road. Indian food is unbelievable ! Then we came home and chilled (Ace Ventura movie).

On monday, we visited Singhgad Fort, 30 km from Pune, an amazing place.

More we droved there, more I couldn't stop thinking : wow that's so beautiful !

One of the best places I've seen in India !

Our indian lunch after ("veg kadai, dal fry & naans") plus our bakery stop ("malai barfi, ras malai, moti chuv ka Laddu, chocolate barfi") were delicious.

We watched the sunset next to Harsh flat !

After this lovely day, Harsh dropped me at the bus station around 11pm.. night bus to Aurangabad.

*Harsh, thank you again for your hospitality, sweetness and kindness. I loved this week-end with you & the fact that you shared me your culture. It was very sad again to leave you , I wish you could come traveling with me for the rest of my trip.. I'm not gonna repeat here what I already told you when I left Pune. I hope to see you again in India, Africa, France or Grece ^^ ! Take care, lots of love, will miss you*

Christmas Week-end !!

I arrived on saturday morning by sleeper bus from Bombay, after collected my new passport at the french ambassy.

First impression : It's cold. The city is quite big but the roads are small so there is a lot of trafic. Every street has food and a lot of handmade shops (bags, clothes, jells) - impressive work.

I escaped the tuk tuk driver & went straight to Pleasure Guest House, in the city center, recommended by travelers friends.

I met the owner Getu, a very friendly & welcoming person. When he was young, he used to work in a hotel like a cooker, cleaner, learning from old people. That's how he knows how to manage a guest house. He learned english in the market by talking with foreigners. Funny stories :

- where are you from ? - Hungary ! - Hungry ? Are you hungry ?

- I'm from Chile ! - Chili spice ?

I felt good vibrations in his place especially on the rooftop.

He showed me one hour after I arrived how to cook a local breakfast with Rohi: Paluparata. * * Future article about indian food soon

Rohi is a children from a village around Udaipur who is working with Getu. He is teaching him his experience. They have a special link like son & father.

Getu uses to go to Pippliah village, 30 km from the city to brings biscuits to kids, visit people. He proposed me to come with him & his tuk tuk driver friend. Good thing to do on a christmas day..

Going to this village was an emotional experience for me.

They are all working very hard outside since their young age.

I've never seen such smiling faces for this kind of living conditions. Shining people. . . I felt completely in an other life & ashame to just bring biscuits & a bit of money.. but who I am to change the world ?

After this day, we came back to the guest house & cooked Chicken Massala for xmas dinner. Getu is a nice cooker & the way he uses spices is interesting & tasty.

He teached me recipes. I also made a Mojito Bucket. We spent a nice evening the 3 of us. Fireworks from the rooftop !

25th of december. I woke up slowly with the sun. That was my outside bed for 2 euros the night. No more credit card = Small budget.

I had a crazy morning Christmas drink : shanti shanti !

Sunny sunday for a walk around the city. Locals here like to talk with foreigners. I didn't walk 5 minuts without talking with someone or having a chai tea in a shop, coffee. It's a good exchange with people.

After had a look in those small streets, I went by bike with Getu to Tiger Lake, 9 km far. Beautiful place !

Udaipur is surrounded by lakes & mountains, that make the city pretty & romantic. Famous for Indians tourist & travelers.

Watch the sunset from Karti mata temple. You can go to the top of the mountain by rope way but I chose to go there by walk (1h).

On the way back to the guest house, I enjoyed walking in the streets, smelling food, looking shops, talking with people. I had a spice tasting in Ronak Shop with friendly locals. Spice art !

30-31th of december.

We took a night train to Puskhar. We had nice conversation about hindou religion, stories of gods on the way..

Finally we reached Pushkar by bus from Ajmer around 4pm.

Pushkar is a small city (small for India) full of tourists. Indians & foreigners came here to celebrate new year.

We spent a chill new year, walking 3 hours in the city, trying street food.

The lake in the middle of the center brings something special, peaceful.

People are friendly and welcoming. Like almost all the people in India.

Harsh came back in Pune the 2nd of december, end of his holidays.. I was very sad again when we left each other for the 3rd time. Our moments together were kind & fun. It's different to travel with a local. Things are easier. I hope to see him again, one day.

I left Pushkar the evening by bus to Delhi to take my exit Permit visa to leave the country for Nepal. Delhi is cold & full of fog .. Not a really good impression of the city.. I went straight to the Foreigners Registration Office at 6am (time when the bus drop me) and wait until 9:30 that the office opens. They sent me to different people, counters (réf Asterix & Obelix) & after 3 hours I got the paper & stamp on my new passport. I was thinking that it would take few days. I was happy.

What to do ? Stay in Delhi for my last 3 days ? No way ! Let's take a train to Jaipur, 5 hours from here.

Why Jaipur ? Because I was invited there for Christmas by Mahendra but I couldn't come because of this passport situation before. I met Mahendra at the beginning of my trip in Pondichery where he stydies french. He speaks very good by the way. I texted him :

-I'm coming to Jaipur, are you still there ?

- Yes, I'll pick up you at the train station

I've been welcoming there like a member of the family. It was like they know me for years. My last days with them where lovely. I even slept in the same bed that Mahendra's mother. Be with them was a beautiful indian experience.

They have a really nice hand made shop in the village.

We visited the village, famous for Haveli open houses. Some of them are used like hotel & restaurant.

The last day they offered me traditional clothes & we danced together.

Thank you for everything. No I'm going to the airport..

08/01/17

I arrived in Kathmandu from Delhi & met Narayan at the airport, a Nepali business man in building. He is traveling a lot in Europe & likes meeting people. He helped me with the visa & invited me to stay at his house with his 2 children until Lea, my sister is coming.

Kathmandu is a very dusty & polluted city. That is not the place where you wanna stay.. I spent the night before Lea arrived in Thamel, the touristic area of the city. I met Jimmy there, from Cameroun, who is living in Nepal since 2 years for the football. It was great to share Africa culture.

08/01/17

Lea is here & we are full of happiness ! I felt emotional when I saw her face at the airport. A new road trip started. For her first night we went to a lounge with Narayan & his friends & enjoyed a Nepali live band. We also danced with some girls from KTM & exchanged numbers with them.

09/01/17

A bit hangover in the morning in Narayan's place. So sweet to see Lea's face just next to me. At the end of the morning we left the house and went to an agency of Narayan's friends & booked a trip for 5 days, everything included. It was not easy to find this agency because I couldn't remember location, just that it was next to fruit juice shop & Narayan's phone was off. But we found it after one hour walking.

It's the first time we traveled with an agency because we didn't want to loose time.. 10 days is quite short.. We had to wait the morning after to start the travel so in the evening we met Rekha, one of the Nepali girl from last night to have dinner. We also proposed to Jimmy to join us. Rekha didn't want any of us to pay when the bill arrived. " You are in my country, you are my guest. I have money, I'm a business woman ! " Rekha is a << beauty face >> in lot of Nepali video clip. She is a cute person.

10/01/17

We left KTM to Chitwan National Park by bus early morning. 6 hours on a crazy road in the middle of mountains & river. I told Lea that when we were sleeping for a moment I woke up, watch through the window & decided to close my eyes one more minut. Big respect to the drivers !

We arrived at noon in Jungle Adventure world, a lodge where we've been welcomed by a young & friendly staff. 3 women & 9 guys are working there, all around 20-25 years old. Rovin is the guide of the place & also the kind of manager who hosted us well. Chitwan is surrounded by the jungle where you can see & listen a lot of birds, crocodiles, elephant (some are domestic), rhino... So after a yummy meal in the lodge restaurant, we went walking in the park with Rovin & enjoyed this peaceful place.

We introduced ourselves to Rovin & he did the same. At the end of the afternoon it was the beginning of real friendship. And then the others workers started to be less shy with us. By the way, the chief is 16 years old & cooks very well. In the evening we watched a local dance show & after a firecamp with the staff playing guitar & singing. It was really cool.

Those guys looked happy to share moments like that with us : "you are not just guests but friends". Even if we have different culture, we found a lot of commons things. They all love their way of living, working in this lodge with the nature. They need simple things that make them lovely people.

11/01/17

On wednesday early morning, we went on the river to do canoe.

Fog was everywhere but it brang something special to the place.

Then we walked in the middle of the jungle just after learnt about that.

We haven't seen elephant or tiger...But monkeys, rhino & crocodiles.

The afternoon we were in a jeep looking for more animals but not more that we saw before. It was relaxing because of the landscape & fresh air. We were not disappointed about animals because we are lucky to have seen lot of them during our 10 years living in Africa.. the only little problem is that we were in the jeep with some rich nepali tourists & they couldn't stop taking pictures, videos, selfies... Was a bit annoyed because that's not the superficial part that we are looking in Nepal. Anyway.. We just realised that a lot of people cares about their social image. After the safari, we came back to the lodge, had dinner & firecamp again.

We spent 2 amazing days in Chitwan with wonderful people. We've made friends & were quite sad to leave early but in 10 days you have to move if you chose to visit more places.

12/01/17

5 hours by bus to Pokhara. You have to be patient with transport. When we reached this city, the second biggest we had a bad surprise. The room the agency booked was shitty : Meera Peak guest house.

We are simple girls but we paid a service & couldn't accept that. It was too late to change for the first night but the day after the agency transferred us to a good hotel.

13/01/17

At 6am, we went to watch the sunrise up to the hill.

The rooftop was full of tourist...

After the room transfert (Eco resort is a clean hotel), we had sight seeing with a local guy, in and around the city. We visited some temples,

caves, museum, lakes, waterfall,

A Tibetan community,

this crazy bridge.

At the end of the day we watched the sunset at the lake side-street.

Pokhara is touristic because it's the center of a lot of trekking. January is not a good month to treck because it's freezing in the mountains, it can be dangerous but some people go. Depends on you. I will wait the end of the month.

14/01/17

We took a bus to go back to Kathmandu. Long way. Pollution agressed us straight when we arrived. The trip with the agency is finished so we decided to go by local bus to Kathmandu Valley : Bhaktapur. It's an old medieval city where the hand made work is famous.

We walked one hour from the bus stand looking for a guest house but Google map sent us quite far from the center & a nepali woman showed us the way. But then we were lost again. These smalls streets look the same.

We saw a pub on our right & I told Lea that I will ask to someone the way to find a cheap guest house. Lucky me the first person I asked was Jugal, 23 years old, the owner of this place, friendly guy.

One more time we met an interesting person who also does music : Rap. He is talented.

He helped us to find a guest house & showed us a nice view from a rooftop.

15/01/17

We visited Bhaktapur in the morning, the temples & ruines from the earth square 2 years ago...

Then we visited a school where people paint & the students are just impressive.

After that we met Jugal again & he brang us to the bus station to go to Nagarkot, a town higher in the mountains where you can see Himalaya ranges & especially the Everest. We reached there at the end of the afternoon by a crazy road &, couldn't see the view because it was already dark. On our way to a guest house we met some guys sitting in a local restaurant playing music. After booked the room, we decided to have dinner in this restaurant & hang out with the guys. The young generation of Nepalese is artistic. We sang, I played keyboard that one guy brang & shared that friendly moment.

16/01/17

What a great morning watching the sunrise on the rooftop of our guest house...

After having breakfast we decided to do a 5 hours walk around the villages. Before starting the treck , Rovin from Chitwan called us. He was at the airport in Katmandu to pick up his best friend & planned to join us here in the afternoon here because it was his day off. Jo Good news !

In the afternoon we met Rovin & spent the rest of the day chilling with the others guys, talking about life.

People in Nepal have big heart & we really felt a connection with them especially when they have the same age as us. They are simple & happy with what they have !

For our last night in Nagarkot, we went to a small local restaurant ("bouiboui/maki") with 15 people inside. The guys we met, Rovin, his friend & us, the owner & some Chinese tourist. Still together around music, dance & Tuka, their local mountain alcohol, kind of hot wine.

A welcoming moment that we will never forget. Nagarkot is such a nice place.

17/01/17

It's time to pack our bags & leave this amazing town. We are all pretty sad.

Last day of Lea, time to go back in KTM to spend the night.. We said goodbye to the guys & booked a room in front of the airport. The afternoon we went to some markets to buy souvenir. In the evening we met Jugal from Bhaktapur who was in the city to meet some friend & invited us to join them in a bar. We made a crazy party ! They rapped, we danced & finally went back to the room early morning.. 2 hours before going to the airport.

Lea, it was hard again to say goodbye to each other. We spent wonderful moments in this lovely country. It's like our link doesn't have an end.. Take care of you... I miss you already...