India – Cycling Around The World

The Indian part of our 1987-1989 world tour.

Arriving in India we lost our heart to this amazing country with the size of a continent.

Yes, we visited a lot of India’s tourist highlights like the burning ghats of Varanasi, the Taj Mahal, the beaches of Goa and the temples of Sravanabelagola, Madurai and Mahabalipuram.

But when we think of India, we remember the owner of a little tea-stall who was so proud to receive the first tourist that ever stopped at his tea stall and the nights we stayed at police stations, PWD rest houses, ashrams and schools because a hotel was non-existent.

I remember the misunderstandings because of cultural differences: the women who were jealous of my “fair complex” while I was so proud of my sun tan and the hotel boy who embarrassed us when he kissed our feet as a sign of respect.

our route in India

near Sravanabelagola

our host for the night with his pupils (we spent the night at a school)

shopping at the fruit stall

our rikhaw drivers in Agra

early morning, Varanasi

saris on sea

Sravanabelagola, Jain pigimage site, Karnataka

we spent the night at the police station

conversation while chewing sugar cane

the furniture dates from the British empire at this government rest house

beautiful trees, bumpy road

view from Hawa Mahal, palace of the winds, Jaipur

water palace, Jaipur

backwaters, Kerala

Kanyakumari, the most southern tip of India

Mahabalipuram, beach temples

entering India from Nepal

Agra, red fort

Taj Mahal, Agra