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Published: March 15th 2019
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From Goa I flew to Surat, where I met up with my first couchsurfer host: Archish. After he picked me up from the airport, we drove to the centre to have some breakfast. We had some idly (sort of rice cake) with coconut chutney and plain rwa (sort of crêpe).
After finishing breakfast, we drove to his place. It was a long drive from Surat. We stopped somewhere to get some water and the man at that shop let me try some very sweet candy. My host has a farm in a small village, where he grows mango trees, rice, eggplant, ladies' finger & more. It was so nice, green and quiet. He showed me around the house first before going up to the water tower. There we had a great view over the farm, some beers and a nice chat. We even saw some peacocks (India's national bird). Later we went for a drive around the town, had some chai and when we came back he hung up the swings. We swinged above the rice fields like little kids. When it got dark we watched a movie outside on the terras: Beamer + white wall :D. The woman who
takes care of the house (Gitaben) made us delicious food with rice and ladies' fingers. I had told him earlier I never heard of it so he wanted me to try it. It tastes a bit like chili pepper, but not spicy.
Next morning, Gitaben made a super delicious tea. It was nice and fruity, but no idea what exactly was in it. After tea, we headed out. First we had some food at the next village, then we drove up to the mountains and from Gujarat to Maharashtra (another state). there we had some lunch before going to Hatgad Fort. It's still called a fort, but basically there's only ruins left. We could drive half way up the hill and the last part was only reachable by foot. A small stairs carved out of stones led up towards the top. On our way, we met some Indian women who really wanted to take a picture with me. First all together, then separately. Archish told me that one of them even asked her husband if she could invite me for dinner. It was so funny! Moving on to the flat top, we walked around for a while. There were
2 large water reservoirs and a lot of small ruins. the view was really nice as well. Archish told me he actually never walked all the way to the top, because there is a sunset point and he was always afraid to miss it if he'd go all the way up. That said, he told me we should hurry up to get there, but that we were probably gonna miss it. We had to go down, drive to another mountain and walk up from there. He borrowed a scooter from someone to get to the top quicker. We reached perfectly on time to see the sunset. When we came back down there was a puppy, oh so cute! I love animals, but even more when they are still small.
It was dark by the time we drove back to the farm. The roads are bad, but the drivers even worst. Archish had to really concentrate on the road this time, so we didn't speak much. But it was fine. He let me connect my phone to the radio, so we could listen to my awesome spotify playlist haha! Before reaching the farm we saw an evening market next to
the road, so we got out to buy some fruit and veggies for tomorrow's breakfast.
The next day we were both a bit lazy, so we just had a chill day at the farm. I helped watering the plants and I also had time to write my previous blog. I knew it was gonna take me a while to write about an entire month so I was actually really happy with this day. Archish also helped me to book a train ticket to Delhi. The problem was that there were no more spaces available on the trains from Surat. He suggested to take the train from Ahmedabad and because he wanted to visit a friend there anyway, he would drive me there.
It was a six hours drive and my train would leave at 17:40, so we left early in the morning. First we drove through a lot of small villages, where people on bikes and scooters were bringing milk to a collectors point. I also saw lots of cows pulling wagons filled with sugarcane or other things that came from the land. Before reaching the highway we had some breakfast. On the highway I was so amazed
by the way they drive here. I mean, there might be rules, but nobody follows them. Archish said it was like playing a game where you have to avoid the obstacles while driving haha. The trucks are overloaded and fully decorated with all kinds of things that look more like dangerous than pretty to me. But hey, I got to my destiny safely so no complains.
When we reached Ahmedabad, we had lunch before he left me at a tuk tuk place. It would've been impossible to reach the station by car because traffic was too busy. At the station it was easy to find where I had to go and I didn't have to wait long before the train arrived.
The train was so much better than expected. First we got a bottle of water, chai, samosa, peanuts and something sweet called mava barfi. Later we got dinner too and you could even choose if you wanted vegetarian or not. I was the only girl in my compartment, but 2 guys spoke english and they were very nice.
At some point during the 14 hour trip, I needed to use the toilet. I opened the door and
the smell entered my nose.. OH MY GOD!! it was disgusting and the toilet was indian style (hole in the floor). No way I was gonna use this toilet. I went back to my compartment and people already started putting down the beds. I had a top bunk and it didn't take long to fall asleep. In the middle of the night I woke up. My bladder was so full and I couldn't fall asleep again. Oh no.. I had to use the toilet. I prepared by wounding my scarf 100 times around my face, but it didn't stop the smell from entering my nose, yuk! At least I could sleep again..
The next morning, the trainboys woke us up for morning chai and cookies. Not long after finishing we entered Delhi. It did take another hour before we reached the station. The city is really big and from the windows you could see the houses next to the railway. The poverty rate is very high here and those houses and tents right next to mountains full of garbage look really bad. At those moments I feel bad for those people, but in the meantime very thankful for being
born in Europe.
Finally we reached the station. One of the guys helped me getting to the entrance of the station and he let me use his hotspot so I could contact my next couchsurfing host: Rohit.
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Bharat Taxi
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