My geotagging app says I travelled 14,000km in India and Abu Dhabi. The longer journeys were on domestic flights. India is so vast that train and coach trips can last days, even without delays.
My bus trips were local but I took many trains, which are my favourite means of transport (apart from walking!). A lot of my conversations happened on trains. They were almost impossible to avoid. People’s curiosity, understandably, brought our their sociable sides. I remember one early start when I looked forward to sleeping on the train. This plan didn’t materialise because a friendly Gujarati businessman started talking to me the second I sat down.
Like my first India trip, I carried my usual rucksack (about 10kg this time). I also brought a second smaller day rucksack. This was big enough for my laptop, which I didn’t take last time. On that trip, I wrote my blog posts on my phone, which was painfully slow. My laptop gave me more options and, because I touch-type, I could write more comfortably.
Much of my itinerary for this trip was covered in India — my journey so far.
On my first trip to India in 2017/2018, I travelled mostly on the western side. Landing in Mumbai, I went south (to avoid the pollution) then north. See 2017/2018 itinerary.
When I left India then, I knew there was so much more to see. The aim this time was to see the eastern side and go north. I started in Kochi.
This map shows my time in the south (mainly Kerala, where Helene was based). But gradually I moved east to Chennai via Bangalore.
After a bit of switching between the east and west (to see Helene), I made it to Kolkata. The prospect of going there filled me with some trepidation. I don’t know why. In my mind, it was an unsafe city until Sid told me about it.
In Thiruvananthapurum, I met Sid. We had dinner together twice. He told me that Kolkata was one of his favourite places. Coincidentally, Sid was somewhat concerned about going to Delhi. Having been there, I reassured him about Delhi just as he had reassured me about Kolkata.
When I got to Kolkata, I liked it. It’s a cultural centre full of colonial and other interesting architecture. When roaming around the backstreets, you’re rewarded with seeing normal Indian life (work and leisure) being played out in front of you.
Kolkata was the launching pad for visiting Darjeeling and Sikkam. I could easily have spent more time there. I would have liked to go further east to Assam, where Kevin and Sophie went.
Instead, I left Kalimpong and had a scenic drive to Bagdogra, the gateway to the northeast and link to the rest of India.
I flew back to Bangalore and had a second stay there. Bangalore is a mix of the old and new. Rapidly modernising, Bangalore can’t keep up with its population growth over the past twenty years. Road traffic is horrendous. You learn quickly that the small metro is the quickest way to get around. But I liked Bangalore, it has enough of the modern whilst still being quintessentially Indian.
After a brief stay in Bangalore, I joined Helene in Mysore. A two-hour taxi ride got us to Coorg, where we escaped to a beautiful rainforest retreat. The food was delicious.
Unsure of where to stay next, I returned to Bangalore, where Helene was getting a plane from.
Since I knew Bangalore quite well, it was a relaxing place to stay before I returned to Kochi for my flight to Abu Dhabi.
The following map shows my 2017/2018 itinerary in red and my 2025 itinerary in blue. There’s a lot to still see in India. That will have to wait for next time!
