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A
gift…. a reminder of a Dream!
Lets
see how to start this…
As
I write this piece sitting outside a lovely café in the picturesque historical city
of Brussels with cold wind and hot chocolate for company, my mind takes me back
to August 2012 when I got a gift from one of the most special people in my life.
A
backpack/haversack with a note that said,
‘Life is an adventure…. or nothing at all’.
I
knew this was a reminder about a dream I always had…. a dream to see the world…
a dream to experience the beauty of the creator. …. a dream to go beyond
the familiar terrain, learn about new
ways of living, thinking, unlearn a lot of conventional theories of living life and finally, a dream
to get lost in an unknown world…to find myself.
My
almost month long solo backpack trip to Europe was a last minute decision to
say the least. What do you say for a guy who gets his Schengen Visa an evening
prior to the morning he has to leave for an almost month long trip across
Central Europe with only three things for company… his backpack, limited budget
and limitless excitement. I remember the lady Visa officer at the France
Embassy giving me a double stare when I replied that I would be staying in
Hostels and with unknown families on their living room couches during the trip.
Well she did admonish me lightly for applying for the Visa two days prior to
departure when the going processing time was 15days from the date of
application! The kind lady did, at the end of the three-minute interview, make
a filmy statement; “Collect your passport with the Visa tomorrow”! I liked her.
I thanked her. My entire trip would have been in jeopardy had she stuck to the
rulebook.
Flashback:
Jug Jug Jiyo Google!
No,
seriously… we are blessed to be living in times where, thanks to the internet, the
world is literally at our fingertips. Of course, the flip side is that there is
so much written about places by so many people and so many conflicting views by
different people based on their own personal and cultural preferences about
food, places and stuff like that. Unless you use your own discretion, common
sense and a fair bit of intuition, it is difficult to really use the power of
the web to make travel decisions.
What
I did was put up a map of Europe on my dart board, blindfolded myself and threw
7-10 darts at the board! Where they landed, were the countries for my trip!
…………………
Okay, that was a joke…. What I did do finally was not really too different. Now,
am a simple guy with middle class upbringing. Going to the US or Europe and
seeing those countries is always high on our wish list. What I did was ‘THINK ‘….
about the places, cities, journeys I have always been enamored by and planned
the trip according to those whims of mine. So lets see, seeing London was a
must do boss because London is finally THE hottest city in the world and
‘angrezon’ ka asli shehar hai! Shouldn’t we check out what is it about those
guys that they managed to rule over us for almost 200 years! Plus have heard so
much about the London weather and the beautiful places London has on offer.
Must be something about the city that many Indian ‘raees’ including Shahrukh
Khan call it their second home! So, London it was! And of course, how could I
forget, the Heathrow Airport yaar! I mean one of the busiest airports of the
world, I HAD to land at the Heathrow Boss!
Okay
I had also heard a lot about the superfast Eurostar train that runs THROUGH the
English Channel, between London and Ille/ Brussels/ Paris at speeds of about
250Km/Hr! Imagine the fantasy levels of a guy who has lived all his life in a city
where driving at 40Km/Hr during peak times is a luxury!! So yeh bhi experience
toh karna hi tha! Now, have heard a lot about the er, ‘colourful’ city of
Amsterdam and have always had an ‘innocent’ craving for seeing the ‘colors’ of
the city and what it has to offer to young and ‘innocent’ men like me! So
Amsterdam is on too eh ;)
Okay,
growing up we read a lot about Hitler and Germany is always looked upon in awe
by us Indians because of its discipline, its cars and the general sense of
efficiency of German people! Plus bachpan se Hitler Hitler itna padhaa hai so I
thought yaar Germany bhi jaana chaahiye, lets see yeh log kaunsi chakki ka aata
khaate hain! In the recent years, have heard a lot about Czechoslovakia (Okay I
took help of spell check to get the name right!)….. (But then, who doesn’t!
) Have heard that it is one of the most
picturesque places in Europe and a sheer delight! Brussels, where I am right now unfortunately
wouldn’t have found a place in the itinerary had it not been for the London –
Brussels Eurostar I HAD to take! Now, I wanted to END the trip with Paris so
taking the Eurostar to Paris at the beginning of the trip was out and so here
came the mind bogglingly historic town of Brussels! Anyways, moving on…… Bhai
am a Yash Chopra movies fan and have grown up watching Amitabh Bachchan to
Sridevi to Shahrukh Khan to Ranbir Kapoor cavorting around the scenic snow
capped mountains of Switzerland!! So Switzerland toh banta hai. Another city
have always been in awe of is Paris. No..not because of the usual things they
say about Paris that Paris is the city of Love, the city of Style etc.. Many
summers back I watched a movie, ‘French Kiss’, starring Meg Ryan and Kevin
Line. Am an absolute fan of the movie and tab se have told myself ki life mein
ek baar France jaana hai boss! You never know there might be a Meg Ryan waiting
to bump into me! (The younger
one not the current avatar!)
So
this is where it all began then. A few days of frantic googling about countries, travel forums on trip advisor, reviews
and what not! But finally, it was a call that only one person had to take…myself!
The fact that is that I did not take any
help or guidance from any friend or acquaintance knowing that so many of them
are regulars to Europe and this was intentional. Advice on where to go, what to
do, what to see is found aplenty in families. We often forget that the real
essence of travelling is in discovering new destinations and making your own
stories and having your own experiences.
I am a traveller at heart and not a tourist and believe that it’s a
beautiful world out there and the innate and basic goodness in people cuts
across barriers of border, language and culture.
The
final trip round up looks like this;
Mumbai – Cairo – London
London
Brussels
Amsterdam
Berlin
Prague
Zurich
Paris
Paris – Cairo – Mumbai
Anyways
people, this is the backstory of my first trip to Europe with the following
highlights
- Shoestring budget (Otherwise who flies Egypt Air!)
- Staying in 4/8 bed dormitories in Hostels and in living room couches of unknown families
- Zero knowledge of any of the foreign languages of these countries in Europe where language changes with every country
- Shoestring budget
- Am a Vegetarian… get the drift…A vegetarian on an unaided trip to Europe and staying in Hostels… Big challenge
- No local contact or any prior itinerary about what to do where in each country. Totally relying on ‘plan as you move about’
- Travelling between countries by trains.
- Shoestring budget
This
is not going to be a SIGHTSEEING TRAVELOGUE of things to do and see. Google and
travel websites will tell you all you want to know about places. This is a
personal and individual account of my trip where I have tried to share my
experiences.
Stay with me to live my adventures
and experiences during this trip;
About how some decisions turned out to be beautiful
and some taught me a lesson.
Why I regretted flying Egypt Air and why I was glad
I chose first class for my train trip from London to Europe!
About getting robbed in London on the second day of
my trip but still continuing with the same spirit and belief in the concept of
communal Hostels and honesty of people at large.
About the witty Thames river tour guide who
collects tips from people to pay for his ‘research’ trips to the pubs in
London!
About throwing away almost half the stuff from my
haversack in the trash cans on a platform in Brussels almost during the initial
part of my trip!
About the time I almost got locked in a superfast
TGV train about to move away at full speed with me in it and my luggage on the
platform!
About getting lost in the middle of the night in
Brussels.
About meeting people from over 15 countries in
Hostels through my trip including a very cool guy from US who works to earn
money to travel and has seen half the world already!
About the unknown facts of the famous red light
district of Amsterdam including the age of the oldest sex worker in the city!
About which was Hitler’s favourite city and how
that saved it from destruction!
About almost missing my train from Berlin to
Prague!
About the swanky private sleeper cabin in the Euro
night train which had a concealed washbasin area, a swanky shower room, alarm
for every birth and lots more and felt better than flying first class!
About how a 90-year-old house and Heritage
structure in Brussels is also the most popular budget Hostel in Europe.
About the fact that there are more Bicycles than
people in Amsterdam!
About a unique Hostel in Amsterdam that was till 10
years back a popular BROTHEL of the city!
About a cat in Amsterdam that has been put on a
diet because the cat is overweight by 2kg!
How the Berlin HB train station can put an
international airport to shame!
About how this chirpy Tour Guide earns a very neat
packet in spite of running a FREE walking tour of the city of Amsterdam!
About recording voice overs for clients back home
from every city I visited in Europe! Especially how I managed to record in
Hostels and multi bed dormitories!
About the HONESTY BAR concept in a Hostel in
Amsterdam where there is only one person monitoring your payments to the bar
for drinks… your conscience!
About this young and hot group of girls who run
this amazing Hostel in Amsterdam which is also one of the best in the world!
About the amazing experience of watching a West end
Musical in London and how it puts the best Indian productions to shame!
About the one thing that turns normal friendly
Dutch people into ‘psychopaths’!!
About having lost my mobile phone in Paris...and how I got it back!!
About almost losing my Passport and Laptop!!!!
About having lost my mobile phone in Paris...and how I got it back!!
About almost losing my Passport and Laptop!!!!
The list goes on… stay with me, as I get lost…. in
a bid to find myself.
Last
but not the least, this trip could not have been possible without the love,
support and encouragement of the three anchors of my life…Janvi, Kiran and
Pats.
I
love you from the bottom of my heart.
