Ok, at the beginning of my trip I had imagined my arrival here to be a bit
different. In fact the whole idea for this journey developed when I was
standing at the Indian side of Wagah border (the only open land border
between India and Pakistan) about 2500km north from here and about 8,5
years ago. At that time I thought that one day I wanted to cross this
border from the other side. Only later the whole cycling-to-India plan
developed. Unfortunately crossing Pakistan was not possible this time due
to visa & security issues. That is why I take on India from the south. This
morning I took the short flight from Sri Lanka to Thiruvananthapuram
(challenge: try to memorise this name!) very close to the southern tip of
India. We all (that is Marek, Trabant & my bicycle Arthur) arrived safely.
The only drawback was that Marek forgot his helmet at one of the several
security checks at Negombo Airport - and only noticed it on Indian ground
:o(
Thus I started my first ride in India helmetless. I would have imagined a
much bigger culture shock - but at the first impression Southern India did
not feel much different than Sri Lanka. In fact the only difference I
noticed were a bit different letters (though still illegible to me) and
different license plates. I was pretty tired, so I just rode the few km to
the tourist village of Kovalam. It is very touristy, but for a very good
reason. The beach is divine. This looks like one of the few places I have
seen where I could even imagine an all-inclusive holiday to be quite
enjoyable!
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