Road Trip in India? Is this a Good Idea?

Francis, Michael and I decided that we would travel south together post-Rishikesh. The best thing about solo traveling is that there’s never really any commitments. There’s an unsaid understanding that your plans can change at any moment and it’s fully accepted. This is actually encouraged; going with the flow. A few days before our flight to Coimbatore Francis decided that she's going to spend more time in Rishikesh. She didn’t get to do everything she wanted there and wasn’t quite ready to leave. Michael and I were still set on the adventure, so we decided to go with the two of us. Michael has been traveling in India for over 8 months and knows how to safely get off the beaten path. Traveling in India alone, as a female, isn’t impossible but it is a little risky. So when this opportunity came up to check out real India with a travel companion like Michael, I couldn’t pass it up, and I’m so glad I didn’t.  

We made plans to meet with a few others from our yoga teacher training in Sri Lanka for Christmas so we had a little less than two weeks to kill in Southern India. We took a night bus to Delhi, then a flight to Coimbatore. Our goal was to reach Kodaikanal, a small city in the mountains with options to camp in the jungle, but it’s an 8 hour drive from Coimbatore. The most common way to get here and there in India is with a hired driver. It’s normal for families to have their own personal drivers. A less popular way is to rent a vehicle. We wanted the freedom to arrive and leave places as we please and the american in me wanted a good ol’ road trip. I had this image in my head of driving a jeep through the jungle in southern India and was determined to make it happen. We ended up renting a Bolero instead, close enough. It was $15 a day to rent. Michael is from South Africa and has three passports but no drivers license, so I got the honor of driving this giant vehicle from Coimbatore to Kodaikanal, around 200 kilometers. Driving in India feels absolutely lawless. There seems to be no order to things; no lanes, the only right-of-ways are to cows, motorbikes zip through narrow spaces between trucks, and pedestrians walk out into oncoming traffic like it’s no one’s business. It’s also encouraged to drive barefoot. I almost got a ticket for this once in the US. I drove on the left side of the road. The driver's side is on the right. It’s a manual vehicle, but left handed. Everything was opposite from what I know from driving at home. It was a good challenge though and we didn’t run into a single issue. I’m so thankful my dad forced me to learn how to drive stick at the very frustrating age of 15. It opened a whole world of freedom while traveling. In the villages we drove through it’s pretty uncommon for women to drive, let alone a blonde foreigner. People looked at me like they were seeing an alien. This was really funny for Michael and I. 

There’s only one rule in the jungle: no walking or driving at night. I don’t want to know why, something about bison I guess. We realized we wouldn’t make it to Kodaikanal before the sun set, so we had to make an overnight pit stop in one of the cities on the way. We pulled into Pilani, a temple city, right after the sun went down. I’m not sure how often they have westerners visit, but based on the overwhelming attention we received I have a feeling it’s not very often. After navigating through roads filled with Brahmans on foot we pulled into a small hotel. The owner of the hotel was so excited to host us and gave us the most involved hospitality I have ever received. He checked us into our rooms, walked us to a small restaurant nearby, ordered our food for us, and watched us eat every bite with encouragement like he was cheering on his favorite sports team. People on the street and in the restaurant took photos of us, including the owner of the restaurant. I could go more in depth about how strange that feels; to be treated like this just because we’re westerners, the complexity it carries, but it’d be a whole blog post on its own. Our unexpected guide walked us back to our rooms, checked on us throughout the evening and knocked on our doors at 6am to see if we wanted any coffee or tea. When we left in the morning, he stopped traffic by standing in the middle of the road with his arms outstretched so I could pull out easily. This is one of the many selfies he insisted we take.

The road to Kodaikannal reached higher and higher elevations with monkeys in the trees and elephant crossing signs. 

The forest beyond the city of Kodaikanal is one of the top most biodiverse forests in the world. Civilization only reached this area 200 years ago and left it pretty untouched. Before this, there were only two villages, which are now thousands of years old. Shanti Camps is located between these villages, it’s tucked deep away in the jungle and only reachable by foot. Vinnay, the owner of Shanti Camps, met us as we arrived and walked us to camp. Michael and I booked little cabins that overlook the valley below. Shanti Camps is literally in the sky, we were above the clouds everyday. We originally planned to stay here only three nights and ended up staying ten. A driver eventually came to pick up our rental car. We extended our time here as soon as we saw the views and met the incredible people that help build and take care of this place. 

Everyday was pretty much the same and it was the most peaceful I have ever felt. Wake up at sunrise, maybe do a little yoga, walk to the main camp to get coffee and breakfast made by ‘Akka or “older sister” in Tamil. We’d hang out with our new friends Simar, Krishna, Vinnay, and Konchok, the Tibetan monk. They’d fill us in on the plans for Shanti Camps, which involved a lot of connection with the farmers that live in the area to promote community and biodiversity. Vinnay isn’t too interested in expanding Shanti Camps to the larger world, he wants to cooperate with the villages nearby to connect the communities by a common place, then slowly expand from there while keeping the Shanti Camp quiet and peaceful. It’s like a sanctuary for people. Michael compared it to Noah’s Ark. The wonderful people at Shanti Camp come from such unique and amazing backgrounds and they work so hard together for this common goal, it was inspiring to be let in on it. 

After breakfast we’d usually go back to the cabins to chill, read, paint, talk, and eat fruits off the trees. The jungle pups visited throughout the day and in the evenings we’d all eat dinner together, play games, and listen to classic Indian music or someone would play the guitar. I was away from technology and any distractions that could take me away from the nature of this place. I spent a lot of time just thinking, reflecting and healing. This may sound like an exaggeration, but I don’t think I’ve ever fully relaxed in my adult life until I arrived here and it was so necessary. 

On our last night we had a bonfire together and made a special meal with cheeses Simar got from town. Konchok made homemade momos. I made dates stuffed with goat cheese and honey for everyone, an appetizer that I usually make for Christmas in Minnesota. It poured down rain but we all sat under the tin roof that extended from the cabin, sang along to the guitar, laughed and just enjoyed the jungle for our last night. 

These people have completely expanded my idea of what’s possible in the world and how to get there. This is the eastern way, when it’s done right. Working and expanding businesses and ideas through connection with others and nature. It’s sustainable and supports everyone in its path. There’s not a hierarchy, everyone does their part and it’s equally important and respected. It’s a collective and it’s done with connection to a higher power, whatever that may be for each person. I think these people and this way is what will save the world. 

We left shanti camps in the pouring rain, via jeep, to get a train that will bring us northeast to Tiruvannamalai, to visit the Ramana Maharshi Ashram.

We arrived to the train station. It was a humble station, to put it nicely. We waited for the train for a while, to find out that the train was canceled hours before due to flooding in the north. There were no more trains that day and we were basically in the middle of nowhere. This would've been a great opportunity to freak out but I’ve learned that never helps, plus Michael is so calm and collected I don't think it's possible to freak out within a 10 mile radius of this guy. It seems that every man in India is a businessman and is always looking for a deal. Within minutes of negotiation, Micheal found a kind local who agreed to drive us 5 hours to Tiruvannamalai for a decent price. I thought maybe he’d need some time to arrange himself for the journey but we instantly got in his car and we were off. We stopped at a restaurant along the rural highway on the way which was a cultural experience on its own and then made it to our accommodation in Tiruvannamalai. 

Michael has been to Tiruvannamalai and described it as a “Rishikesh for grownups”. It’s less touristy, no real tourist attraction at all, the reason people come here is to be where Ramana Maharshi lived. Ramana Maharshi was enlightened at the age of 16, left his family and moved up to the mountain of Aarunachala and never left it. He spent 17 years in a cave, most of it in silence. Eventually he started sharing his knowledge with others, and gained disciples. The first one being a cow. This was my favorite thing to learn, this cow, named Lakshmi, would attend all of Ramana Maharshi's talks, no matter where it was. There’s a burial, or samadhi, site for the cow as well. Tiruvannamalai, at the base of the mountain Arunachala, is now considered a holy city. The locals are so friendly and welcoming, with big smiles. Every morning women decorate their front steps with beautiful geometric designs made of colored sand as a blessing, and it's not uncommon to use a little cow dung in the center to hold a flower. I got the chance to sit in Ramana Maharshi ashram for a few hours and left feeling so calm and put together. 

“Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.”

― Ramana Maharshi

I wouldn’t have had such an authentic yet unique experience in India if it wasn't for Michael. He was my unproclaimed bodyguard and tour guide, in exchange for me being his photographer and driver. Plus, the people we came across in India absolutely adored him which made it all more fun and easy. When you travel and spend extended time with people you start to look at the world through their perspective a little bit, and Michael’s perspective is a great one. Another life long friend I've collected on this trip.

It was time to leave India. We took a train from Tiruvannamalai to Chennai for a flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. I finally got my India train experience. The train rolled up, chai shop owners ran up to the windows to sell tea and snacks to people inside the train. It only stops for 5 minutes. So hectic. We bought first class tickets for $5 a person, and for some reason thought first class was in the back of the train. It was about to leave as we were running to make it to the carriage in the end so we had to hop on the train as it was moving, James Bond style, only to find ourselves in the third class carriage. Whole families lounged in the isles, across the seats, carrying huge bags of produce and animal products. We had to walk through dozens of carriages like this to get to the front where our seats are, with narrow metal platforms between each carriage. I could see the tracks below as we stepped from carriage to carriage in the moving train carrying our giant backpacks. We were greeted by smiles and nods as we walked through, but in my mind it felt like they were saying goodbye to us, making this a perfect way to sum up my time in India. 

I imagined I’d only be in India for the yoga teacher training and what I gained from this country is tenfold. India feels like the whole world in one place. So many languages, religions, people, and styles of living. It’s colorful, lively, complex and raw. There’s too many people and not enough room to hide the realness of this place and I think it reflects the realness of this world. The good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly, all at once, and it’s so beautiful. In India, you don’t say goodbye, you say “come back” or “I’ll be back”. I know these past 8 weeks are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what I’ll experience in India, but I got a taste. I’m leaving a more whole, real, and grounded version of myself - and this is still just the beginning. 

At the moment...

Reading: Siddhartha Hermann Hesse

Listening to: Crucify Your Mind Rodriguez