2018 India

India, what can I say. Since my first trip to Rhajastan and Uttar Pradesh in 2009 I fell deeply in love with this mesmerizing country, a love that only became stronger and stronger after each visit. Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 2011, Kashmir and Ladakh in 2015, as well as two yoga trips to Goa in 2015 and 2016. Does that mean I had seen enough? No way, with a continent as vast and diverse as India there are still numerous places to choose from for years to come…

When it became clear halfway 2017 that I would retire early, immediately my mind started wandering to places I wanted to visit and experiences to have. Once again India came in sight and it might not come as a surprise it didn’t take me long to decide to return to this mesmerizing country.

With time on my hands I wanted to make the most of my visa and stay as long as possible. However, being in the lucky situation with both my parents still alive at the time I booked my flights, I did not want to miss out on their birthdays and therefor I decided to leave for India on the 26th of January, the day after my mother’s birthday (Republican Day in India) and not to return till the 9th of April, the day before my father would have turned 90.

One of the places that impressed me deeply during my first visit was Varanasi, a city on the Ganges that is so extremely special one cannot believe it unless having experienced it himself. Formerly it was known as Benares, the oldest city in the world.

Varanasi; a riot of colors, a cacophony of impressions, an overload of smells, a place where spirituality surrounds you so intensively that all senses are on razor edge.

Sights, Sounds, Smell, Touch and Taste. Needles to say I wanted to start my big India Immersion right here and that is exactly where I headed to the 26th of January.