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Let's go east

Disconnect to reconnect: getting lost heading east to discover unknown places and to meet new people with different ways of life :)
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  • 60footprints
  • 153days
  • 15countries
  • 14kkilometers
  • 471photos
  • 12videos
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  • JuJo Tours
    Day153

    New year's eve in Udaipur

     December 31, 2019 in India ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    From warm South India and after a 17-hour-night-bus we arrived in cold Rajasthan. I thought it would be the first year of my life that I could skip a winter buuuut nope haha Udaipur received us with Hamburg-like 12°C. At least for Mandy, who came to travel with us a after almost 5 months without seeing each other, there was no need of acclimatization. Together with many locals and travelers we celebrated 2020!

    We were excited to be in one of the richest regions of India, culturally speaking.
    We spent the days roaming around observing those particular people with rough facial expressions, warm smiles and extremely colourful clothes :)

    Eventhough beautiful, the centre is a very crowded and noisy city, so we rented some bikes and cycled around the suburbs of Udaipur. Luckily we found Animal Aid, an animal sanctuary that takes care of sick, injured or handicapped animals. Dogs in this country aren't treated very well, they are constantly involved in accidents, or they suffer abuses from the local communities. Cows are holy and for that fact can't be killed even they are sick and in pain (e.g. ecause of eating tons of plastics). So thanks to projects like this, animals get a second chance. More about this lovely project on: https://animalaidunlimited.org    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day149

    Mumbai

     December 27, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We arrived in Mumbai, the capital of Bollywood. We thought that we could maybe appear on a film as extras, but nobody cared about us walking down the streets of the second most populated city of India with more than 20M inhabitants ;)
    With millions of people using public transport every day, it was also the craziest sardine-like train rides of our lifes.

    Our most beautiful experience in this megacity was meeting Anurag and the kids of the community center in a slum where he was currently working. He is a journalist, a teacher and a social worker involved in the project Teach for India. We met him through Couchsurfing and we had the pleasure to spend one day with the kids singing, dancing and playing cricket. Namaste for your kindness guys ♡    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day144

    Christmas at the seaside

     December 22, 2019 in India ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Hampi was our first religious place within India. Gokarna followed next. To get there we took our first sleeping bus but this is India and smoothness is not an Indian particularity. Our bus broke in the middle of the night, we had to change to another bus where we had a dusty and bumpy bed at the back of the bus. Others weren't that lucky and had to sleep on the floor.

    Through Gokarna's streets you are likely to find men dressed in orange skirts singing some Hindu mantras going from one temple to the other, people bathing nearby the lake doing their rituals and some pilgrims praying to their Gods.

    Our days in Kudle Beach were very warm, sunny and relaxed. We hiked from beach to beach and worked on our tan. We experienced yoga, the real esence of yoga, that search of inner peace and self acceptance within us through smooth and controlled movements connected to our breathing.

    The dark side of this place? It used to be a hippie spot where people did yoga, meditation and enjoyed their time learning about Indian Ayurvedic medicine at the beach. Now it's a mix of middle class Indians ready to leave their cash on a three-day-vacation paying 3 times more than foreigners for a room and partying hard leaving all their rubbish on the sand. So Kudle beach's charm is slowly disappearing.

    Besides that we met many inspiring people who made their travels as their way of living, selling their art or their skills doing workshops.    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day136

    Happy Hampi

     December 14, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Hampi is a fairytale. The whole region is full with boulders, ancient temples and ruins. The little river is the meeting point where the local people take their bath with an elephant whilst they wash their clothes. The sunsets are magic and the people are very chilled. For us it was the perfect spot to explore by bicycle and to go hiking. We met Tara when we arrived, an independent Indian writer and solo traveller from Kolkata leaving the dream of travelling. Meeting her was indeed special because it doesn't happen often that you meet girls travelling alone in this country. Sadly too many women still suffer under the old traditional role in the society.Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day131

    Bangalore - Erasmus reunited

     December 9, 2019 in India ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    It's been about 10 years now since I met Thibaut in my Erasmus studies in Toulouse. Nowadays he works and lives in Bangalore with his Indian wife and his 2 kids. We enjoyed every minute with the kids playing at home (they are fluent in 4 languages!) and the non-Indian evening together eating western-style food and having some beers. Merci beaucoup pour la invitation :)

    Besides that Bangalore is a very modern city, also known as the IT capital. We visited the mind blowing huge flower market. Probably the most colourful place we have ever seen.

    On the pictures you get an impression why India is special: the holy cow is omnipresent, they tell you to respect traffic rules that no-one cares about (specially honking), pretending to give some autonomy to pedestrians in a pedestrian way that ends in the bushes.    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day127

    The magic region of Mysore

     December 5, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    One thing every foreigner will experience in India is a phenomenon we would call "Selfiemania". You have always to be prepared for a photo, cause young generations as well as adults love to take a quick Selfie with tourists. Sometimes big groups approach you giving you the feeling of being a superstar. What we don't understand yet are their serious faces stricking a pose. Indians and their peculiarities...

    The best of doing a stop over in Mettuphalayam was meeting Chitrakani's family. They invited us to come to their house to celebrate their daughters birthday. We got to eat with them, dressed like them and know more about their traditions. Thank you for your kindness!    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day126

    Kerala - a green paradise

     December 4, 2019 in India ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    India, a dream come true :)
    A country so big and full of new impressions waiting for us to be dicovered.

    We did our first steps in this completely different world in the capital of the state of Kerala - Kochi.
    It couldn't have been a better start. India received us with open arms with its southern tropical weather, and friendly and colourful people. We visited Basheer, a Couchsurfing friend I met in Oman some years ago. He explained us about his social projects in his neighborhood. A traditional Kathakali performance showed us how intense gestures and facial expressions can explain you a whole story without any word.
    Heading to the biggest tea plantations of India - near Munnar- we experienced for the first time how long a bus ride in India can be.    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day125

    Ocean connection

     December 3, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Meaning of happiness: surf, good people, beaches, palm trees, sun and fruit juices.

    Some of the things that I miss the most since living in Germany -apart from surfing- is the warm water from the ocean. Sri Lanka's water is around 28 degrees and perfect for early surf sessions.

    The western, southern and eastern part of the island offer you plenty of options to spend some time at the beach. I just visited Weligama's beach, Turtle's beach in Mirissa, where I was lucky to spot four big turtles swimming and Negombo's beach before flying to India. In this last one it was nice to see how fishermen pulled their fishing nets in the early morning hours.
    And of course, I couldn't miss the chance to take a trip to spot blue whales. It was a unique experience!    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day123

    My family for 16 days

     December 1, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    The people that cross your way are unexpected. Some kind of coincidence that depending on the intensity of the connection that you have will leave a piece of them inside you or they will be a mere anecdote.

    I arrived in Weligama with the idea of staying there around one week. I looked for a cheap female dorm and I found Beach Break Surf Hostel. And then I met them. I met the people that would make my visit in this country worth it.

    They all are different kind of people, from three different countries but they all have something in common: the first that you see from them is their big smile and the second their big heart. Sharing the daily life with them made me appreciate their company and the simple fact of being around them. It didn't matter what we did together but it felt good.

    I really THANK YOU for being my family during those 16 days. For the laughs, the waves and for sharing your time with me. I left with my heart full of memories ♡    Read more

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  • JuJo Tours
    Day122

    First solo trip to Sri Lanka

     November 30, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    First solo trip. Exciting. Scary. I packed all my courage and my excitement to go surfing and I left Turkey behind to discover this tropical island: Sri Lanka.

    Colombo was my first stop. I spent my days roaming around the city and the nights at Rasika's place, one friend from Jona from 3 years ago when he visited the country. We went out for dinner with a good friend from him, Dhanangeva, we had such a special connection. I could even call him "spiritual friend".

    The first insights of travelling alone didn't happen as expected. I felt observed all the time while walking down the street as a young white woman. Men would approach me and ask me too many personal questions that started blocking my friendliness to turn it into mistrust. Some people followed me, others wanted to pay things for me and that felt very uncomfortable.

    I continued my trip to Weligama to surf, main purpose of this trip. I spent a bit more than two weeks surrounded by very good people surfing, sharing wonderful evenings and delicious roti. The atmosphere with local people was amazing and I mostly spent my free time with Yehoram and Lior, two Israelis and with the Sarahs from Australia, that made my stay unforgettable ♡

    After laying at the beach like a lizard and surfing at the Sri Lankan coast for a while, it was time to discover the wilderness of the hilly part. Haputale, Ella and Mihintale followed with Leana, an Argentinian girl with whom I spent the last days in the country. It felt good to speak some Spanish and to share my adventures with a woman.

    Travelling on my own has been indeed an adventure but foremost a trip of self discovery. It's been a journey where I did things that scared me but I am glad I did them anyway. I had moments when I felt vulnerable and angry, and other moments left my heart full and I felt very grateful for being able to feel, to live, to be free. To be able to separate ways from my partner for a while and meet again with plenty of stories to tell each other.

    I wonder if travelling alone will feel the same next time. Maybe I just have to give it another try... :)    Read more

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