“You won’t always be young. And life won’t always be just about you. So travel, young person. Experience the world for all it’s worth. Become a person of culture, adventure, and compassion.”
40 hours of sitting in the bus, that’s what we just went through in order to arrive in Amritsar, a town in Punjab (Northwest India) that boarders Pakistan. Though the rides were indeed painful and long (not to mention two nights of lost sleep), it was reassuring to know that (hopefully) these were the last two buses in the next two and a half years, because from now on, we cycle!
As we passed through India, from the eastern side which I cycled through last summer to this unknown area, I was shocked at the difference. This part of India is much more developed than where I have been, and certainly much wealthier than Nepal. It was much less farming, and many more giant cities, and we even passed a few McDonalds. I had heard that most of India is quite developed, and that I had only visited the least developed areas, and now I see how true that is. Kevin also pointed out along the way that Indians are much taller and larger than the short scrawny Nepalis, a definite sign of more wealth.
We finally arrived where we were to stay, a giant farm hotel that we had found through couchsurfing. With goats outside our air conditioned and spacious room, a camel waiting to great us, and baby sheep and a few colts running around in the courtyard, it seemed much too good to be true. Though people do come here as paying guests, it seems the lovely Sikh owner has also opened his giant farmhouse up to couchsurfers who are free to enjoy his gorgeous land ten kilometers outside of the city. Too good to be true, or just the most amazing couchsurfing opportunity out there? I guess we will find out.