Just another crazy travel story…
A few months ago, I quit my job and bought a one-way ticket to travel around the world.
Go ahead and laugh at my timing. I know.
On March 11th 2020, just 2 days into my long-awaited trip, I arrived in Delhi when the World Health Organisation declared that Coronavirus was now a global pandemic.
When a former colleague said “Why are you waiting until April? Go now!- Life will be cheaper in India!” at my work leaving drinks in February 2020, I took that as a sign from the universe to get going! Small whispers of this little virus in Wuhan are circulating, but no one seems to be that concerned since it’s restricted to a small part of China.
AND THEN, THE PANDEMIC BEGINS…
It’s the 9th of March 2020, and I’ve landed in India with temperature guns aimed at my head. Filling in a short medical declaration form at Delhi Airport, the heat and dust of India’s capital city hits my face. I’ve got the world at my feet and unbeknownst to me, it’s only 2 days before President Modi would lock India’s International Borders for the now delicate future.
At this point, I’m still playing with whether I should have listened to that colleagues advice.
We all know the best-laid plans almost never come to fruition. But before the pandemic, I’d envisioned spending 2-months in North India and and then be heading to:
- South and SE Asia for 9 months
- Australasia for 4 months spending Christmas and New years in Australia with family.
- By mid-2021, I would be taking the 12-hour flight from Perth to South Africa
- From there, continue on land through Africa for 8 months
- Finally, with a short stop back in the UK, to explore South/Central America completing my trip in the glorious Caribbean.
Well… 7-months later, I’m still in India and currently living on the beach in Goa!
TRAVEL DREAMS = CANCELLED
My trip has started, and over the last 2 days, I’ve celebrated Holi in Delhi with locals. Visited some traveller hotspots in Jaipur, sipped chai with babas in Jodhpur, and got henna tattoos in Bikaner. Life is turning out just as I’d dreamed, albeit with a few strange interactions surrounding Coronavirus…
But then, the world (of course) started paying attention when case numbers shot up drastically across Europe and the US by mid-March.
Suddenly, haunting statistics hounded my news feeds, and a community of global travellers began to fall apart. In Rajasthan, I met backpackers with ambitious long-term travel plans who were swiftly grabbing the first repatriation flights home.
Confusion in the global travelling community over the right or wrong action to take sparked heated debates on Facebook. And I received a backlash of negativity when I posted travel photos of a day trip in Jaipur in mid-March. Now, the mask and sanitizer industries were booming, while #StayHome trended globally across media outlets and internet channels.
FEAR STRUCK INDIA BY DAY 5
Wandering the streets of Jodhpur in early March, admiring its famous blue architecture, an Indian couple randomly chanted “Corona, corona!” at me, (as if it was the new “selfie, selfie!”).
No dramas, I brushed off their ignorance. But, I could not ignore how normally cheerful smiles from local Indians were developing into paralysing stares from half-covered faces. Fear was growing in India, and “No Mask No Entry” signs began propping up in restaurant windows. Shortly, the regular tourist attractions closed themselves to foreign and local tourism. It’s only been here a few days, but the warmth I’d known and felt in India once before was blatantly deteriorating in front of my eyes.
Alone for the first time in years, far from home, knowing slowly but surely- things were going to sh*t.
SIGNS AND SPONTANEITY
Various countries were shutting down their countries and the reality of lockdown in India is now seemingly inevitable.
After 5 years, had I really picked the worst time to travel since 9/11? This was one hard pill to swallow.
Disheartened by my reality, I considered cutting my dream trip short and jumping on a flight home after just one week. Consequently, I spent hours lying in my bunk bed in Jaipur glued to the gloomy Coronavirus updates on BBC news.
When serendipity walked through the door. Solo travellers Mia and Ana from Israel and Poland who were moving into my dorm room.
“If you want mountains, you should head to Indian Culture Hostel in Rishikesh” Ana cautiously advised with the growing pandemic fears. She describes Rishikesh as nature and spiritual haven with great family vibes in a hostel she’d stayed in near the Holy Ganga River. Her words came as a ray of hope as I wiped tear from my eyes. Already exhausted by this virus that was already ruining most of what I’d planned for the last 5 years.
I hadn’t heard of Rishikesh before this moment. But you may have guessed by now, I have a tendency to act on impulse- and this path felt right. Spontaneously, I booked a 5-hour train in the direction of Rishikesh, to a small town named Bikaner.
SERENDIPITY IN BIKANER
Local attitudes were more relaxed and the grind hadn’t slowed at all in Bikaner. The streets were still bustling with business and barely anyone was wearing a dreaded mask. When serendipity struck again, and I met a French woman named Clara in my Bikaner guesthouse.
Life again hit me with one of those moments that just leave you like… EH?!
Like the universe was sending me another sign, I must have looked dazed for the next few seconds when Clara, coincidentally provided identical advice to Mia.
“Head to Rishikesh- Indian Culture Hostel, they’ll take care of you and this will all be over soon!”. A WTF moment, too miraculous to ignore, I booked my 17-hour train to Rishikesh the very next day for just £6!
TRUSTING THE PATH WHEN PANIC HIT INDIA
“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us”- Joseph Cambell
My train was booked, and I sat sipping chai at 9 pm with some fellow solo female travellers at Prince Haveli’s Guesthouse after a lovely final day exploring Bikaner.
Yet again, totally unprepared for what was to come of the next 30 mins.
Rising Coronavirus numbers had fired up some version of ‘local government’, who abruptly called my Guesthouse in a fit of rage. The irrational tone of voice on the other end of the phone was angrily forcing all guesthouses, hostels and hotels to immediately kick all foreigners out of Rajasthan. My host held his head in his hands, speaking rapidly in Hindi and trying to reason with the officer that it was late and he was hosting 3 solo females travellers.
He translated: “the officer is threatening that government teams will be sent to sanitise the guesthouses and remove us”. They proclaimed that hostel must quarantine us for 14 days, or send us immediately to government facilities in Delhi.
I could not believe my ears. We all sat screw-faced and confused. How was this happening?
No warning or announcement from the Indian government, but panic was at large locally. I covered my tears with my hands, distressed by what my dream trip was turning out to be. Clinging onto hope that I could catch my train to Rishikesh the next day.
Within this bemusing ordeal, I thankfully met Ellie from Argentina and Christine from Germany. Who, amazingly jumped on my plan to head to Rishikesh.
EN ROUTE: RISHIKESH
Fuzzy headed, and red-eyed, I sat with two female strangers in Bikaner station at 5am. Passing us, locals stared with faces covered (freaked out by those scary foreigners who might be infecting the platform chairs, no doubt).
We weren’t allowed to leave our position, or else risk trouble with the locals and police. We hid at the end of the platform for an excruciating 12 hours in the Indian summer’s heat. Eating oranges and crisps, waiting for our 5pm train to Rishikesh. Hopes and anxieties were high amongst us, and we just desperately wanted to reach Rishikesh without any further issues.
After a 12 hour wait and some sporadic train delays, we ended up taking an exhausting 30-hour journey to Rishikesh! So, I can still distinctly remember the overwhelming sense of relief when the Himalayan mountains began peeking up in the distant blue horizon.
We arrived in Rishikesh at last!
ARRIVING IN RISHIKESH
A mountainous meat and alcohol-free tourist destination, Rishikesh is well known as the yoga and spiritual capitals of the world.
When we arrived, the streets were still populated with travellers from across the globe, any lockdown in India seemed unthinkable. Relaxed locals sat selling bananas, mangos, watermelons, and other fruits on wheeled wooden stalls to passersby. We jumped into a typically old and battered Indian tuk-tuk, costing just 60 rupees (about 65p)- to go 10km from Rishikesh station to Indian Culture Hostel.
Walt Whitman
INDIAN CULTURE HOSTEL- NOW HOME FOR THE FUTURE
The path was rough and rocky. Jackfruit and mulberry trees hung tall above my head, and families of monkeys ran rampant- snatching the ripest pieces of fruit they could. When I entered the rustic 100-yard space, 3 out of 4 dogs (more on Alex in my next post) playfully greeted me. In the reception shack- the owners, Ilona, a cool Argentinian hippie with dreadlocks, and her husband Sankalp, a cheeky-smiled local Indian welcomed us and checked 3 of us into a mixed 6-bed dorm.
I felt an instant community vibe from this tucked-away hostel that two randomers had told me to go.
Home for the forseeable, a large yoga Shala sat in the middle of the land, and a green open space lay lined by twelve bungalow-like homes. A kitchen, four hammocks, 10 staff members, a treehouse and makeshift communal spaces made up the rest of this quirky hostel, which would soon home 60 stranded strangers during lockdown.
The atmosphere was warm, and a mixture of accents and laughter echoed across the grounds as conversations took place in various corners of the hostel.
SILVER LININGS
We didn’t know it yet. But here on the fringes of the Himalayas, a very special sense of community was beginning to form. Where 60 adventurous people from across the globe would have their travel plans paused, and be locked in together for the next 7 weeks.
From the heartbreaking Corona crisis, to being happily stranded during lockdown in India, I ended up being one of the lucky ones. Detailed more in my next post, but heres a heads up with the song we wrote and made a music video for! (I’m still getting spotted on the streets for it in different parts of India)- its become a hit!
These turbulent and demanding times in India showed me the beauty in trusting the path when your plans come crashing down. My travel plans were shattered and we’re living in a time of unprecedented global uncertainty. But, during the lockdown in India, I’ve learned so much about myself, human kindness, and connection. It been a transformational and unforgettable experience, and I’m so grateful that I got to experience lockdown in such unique circumstances!
Looking back on old snaps, I found a poem that was sent to me in the early stages of the lockdown in India. It reminded me that not returning home challenged me to overcome change and uncertainty (a nightmare for someone like me, who loves a good plan). To surrender to what I cannot control and trust that it will all work out for the best.
Fear
by Kahlil Gibran
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
*She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.
“The river needs to take the risk” stands out in particular. It was simply not an option for me to cut my trip short, and one way or another I was about to experience something amazing.
This is a life lesson for doing what scares you. The lockdown in India for me- meant a time growth, creativity and peace of mind, from a totally unexpected reality.
See what happened in Rishikesh! My Coronavirus Experience Abroad: Backpackers in Lockdown!
Lovely to read your latest experience. Brings back loads of fabulous memories for me. And it is timely that I come across your blog now, as indeed this River is trembling with a fear in the change which must come, but I know I’ll look back (as I always do) and realise it was meant to be, and I do need to let go of what is, so I can experience what I’m supposed to going forward. Keep on doing what you’re doing for as long as you can! XXX