Delhi, where our journey ends

There is the ‘Delhi Gate’ in between New Delhi and Old Delhi, but the cities merged and blurred into each other. The contrasts we encountered between poor and rich, between messy and neat, between dirty and clean, between shocking and acceptable, between noisy and calm, between sordid and modern, and so on, were so sharp that they became indescribable for us. You need to see it, hear it, smell it, feel it. This incredible city is predicted to become the largest metropolitan on earth in 2030, with almost 40(!) million people living there, in a single city, that’s half the German population! We’ll not try to write about what we experienced there, our three days there were intense whereat the unbearable heat and humidity were just side effects.

Delhi is surely not the right place to reflect our journey of more than 10 months, 12440km on the roads, 125 nights in our beloved tent - although we tried to find words while we enjoyed a combination of our most beloved Indian dishes in a quiet rooftop restaurant above the bustling main bazaar. Time is flying fast, but traveling should never be about quickness.

Therefore, we find it suitable what Tim Winton once wrote about long-distance cyclists:
‘When I see cyclists grinding away at the roadside, their swags and billies strapped behind them as they pump and shine along the highway’s perilous edge, I find myself embarrassed to be moving so fast. We’re each traveling through the same landscape, these mad bastards and I, but surely their experience is deeper, more authentic. They must absorb things I miss entirely.’

We absorbed a lot and we’re very thankful that we could take the chance to discover the world by bicycle for such a long time. We’re thankful that our circumstances of life allowed us to do so, for many many people on earth this is unthinkable or impossible. We’re thankful for so much humanity, we’re thankful to the fascinating and inspiring people and fellows we met everywhere, we’re thankful to the welcoming countries we could visit and we’re thankful to the wonders that nature has created.

Now, we’re looking forward to come home, to spend time with our families and friends and to whatever the future may bring. So far, we know that Silke is going to look for a job in northern Germany (and suffer from wanderlust soon) and that Hauke is going to continue cycling for a while (he left his bike and most luggage in Delhi).

See you soon!

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