Travels

How much does it cost to live in New Zealand? Very good question. The answer is: quite. Although there are nuances! While there are things that are expensive if or if (gasoline, tobacco, chicken meat, vegetables ...) there are others that if you are "espabilao" you can get them at a good price: God bless the offers of supermarkets!

After three days in Bangalore working a little (which I already played ...) we have taken our samosas, our little train and in a jiffy we are already in the city of Mysore. That if when we were arriving I have seen from the window a few cows and sheep tuned in phosphor colors: pink, yellow, orange ... Lety did not believe it until she has seen it with her own eyes!

What is it like to live on the other side of the world? Boh! We still find it strange to think that we live 10 hours later than our families and in a place so different that it never ceases to amaze us day after day. In this post we are going to tell you a medley of the sensations, experiences and curiosities that have happened to us throughout the first 2 months living in New Zealand.

Several people advised us to come to Gokarna, and although in the guides it is not one of the must, we do not think twice. Although it is not the least visited site in India if you see a certain air of authenticity that has been lost in other sites. Ok, it is full of hippies that stay here for a good time, but there are also many jeeps full of Indians who come here every day to fulfill their Hindu rituals, not in vain this is a sacred place for them.

THE ARRIVAL MADRUGONA - "Hampi, Hampiiii! I, last stoooooop!" - The bus driver shouts. I wake up suddenly and look at Rober with his mouth open in the REM phase, I look at the time ... 5.30 am. It can't be: we had to arrive at 7.30! Cachis in the brown ... -Lety: "Rober awakens!" -Bus driver: “Hampiiiiii last stoooop!

We leave Mumbai to go backpacking in Aurangabad, the closest city to the Ellora caves. "And what is that ?!" you may be wondering ... ... because they are a group of caves, a world heritage site, which for more than five centuries Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monks and devotees chiselled in the stone sculpting statues, temples, chapels and altars.

After the month and peak of the trip, we were looking forward to approaching the coast. And although the sea we had seen (and touched) after the meat feast in Mumbai, what we really wanted was to lay down on the bartender on some beach in the Arabian Sea, in the shadow of a coconut palm (or better without a shadow, to not run the risk of dying by coconut shot).

If you thought that after climbing two mountains on the same day Rober, Jordi and Lety would stay the next 24 hours swinging in the hammocks more dead than alive ... you're wrong! Instead, we take a bus direction to another of the ancient cities of Sri Lanka: Polonnaruwa. And, as visiting it in Tuktuk is too much backpacker, we rent 3 brand new bicycles and ride the ruins!

The day came when we met the Semilla girls for Change: full of illusion we went there. If we already suspected that we were going to love the experience, we did not know to what extent the work of these small-great women would impact us ... The story of Semilla para el Cambio begins with the story of Maria that as many happens to us ... she went on a trip for Asia, and as many happens to us ... he fell in love with her, and as many happens to us ... he realized that wealth is "very badly" distributed, and as many happens to us ... he began to wonder how he could contribute his grain of seed sand to change things ... and as few happens: he armed himself with courage and made a decision that changed his life and that of many others.

7 days? What are 7 days in a month, in a year, in a life? Nothing ... but in 7 days they can change a lot of things ... for example: 7 days ago we were sharing some beers with our new friend Rodrigo and Renzo, swimming in a pool in Bangkok, trying Thai curries and suffering the heat of Asia.

Anuradhapura is the first of the historic cities we visited in Sri Lanka. But we will not remember her for its ruins, dagobas, temples ... but for being the meeting point with our friend Jordi, who comes to backpacking for 3 weeks with us! After a long wait at the bus station in Anuradhapura, it is finally time to arrive at the bus from Colombo with our friend.

If you are reading this post is that you are thinking of renting a motorcycle and traveling with it through India, but you have doubts about whether you will be able, if the traffic will be so chaotic that they will not let you move, if it will be very dangerous ... in short, if it is a good idea. Well, we are going to try to explain the tricks to drive a motorcycle in India to take your fear off, if we could too!

We leave our beloved Gambita (for those who do not know, it is the name we put on our motorcycle with which we made our Mototrip through southern India), and our steps return to northern India, a few months later. After almost three weeks of scuffed asses and broken backs we want to lay down in one of the comfortable sleeper class berths of Indian trains!

Here we are! With a little pain to leave the Maldives but eager to travel Sri Lanka, and we will not do it alone! We landed at Colombo airport and it seems that we have changed the continent! Guiris everywhere, free computers to use the internet, all super modern ... where is the Asian madness?

After a fleeting step through Kandy, where apart from celebrating Lety's birthday, we didn't do much more, we swelled our lungs with oxygen, lest we go where we are missing ... if we go to the highlands of Sri Lanka! Although where we began to notice a lack of air was on the train on the way to Haputale, it shows that it is a tourist route because not even the hair of a prawn entered here!

10 hours!! 10 damn hours you went up to gambita !! 10 hours by local Indian roads give for a lot! Especially if you go up and down mountain stations, if you pass through lost villages by the hand of God, if you travel roads from hell that leave those of Bolivia at the height of bitumen (ok, we exaggerate ...).

We start the route to the highlands, a little cuddle in case the motorcycle will hold the ramps to reach Kodaikanal. This city, Kodai for colleagues, is located 2,100 meters above sea level, and is part of the so-called "Western Ghates." We leave very early, as always, although this time we take it more calmly, we know that in many sections we will not go more than 20 km / h, but arrive, we will arrive.

Tiruchirappalli, or Trichy as friends call them, was our penultimate biker stage in Tamil Nadu and we certainly believe it is a perfect place to spend a few days. The city is quite chaotic, we are not going to lie, but it still maintains a certain charm, especially thanks to the rock fort and its most famous temple: the Srirangam.

Tanjore, or Thanjavur, is one of those places we had not heard of in life until a week before visiting! But luckily Rober found it ... and in the end it was super interesting! After arriving with our gambita, look for a good-beautiful and cheap accommodation and give up trying (cheap there were but with cockroaches as fists included!

We returned to the local roads with its consequences: “watch out for the bikes that leave on your left, with the Ambassadore that pass you on the right, with the buses that you are facing, occupying your entire lane, with the slow ox-drawn cars , with the children dressed in uniform who fight on the shoulder while they go to school, with the goats, with the cows, with the dogs, with the highlights that seem brought from the Himalayas by some mythological monkey, with the potholes and patches of your lane… ”Today we are waiting for a stop halfway much more attractive than the other days we stopped at any stand next to the road, yes, with irons where to cook the huge dosas, our breakfast mototrip star.