I've got just back from a months trip in India. I wanted to give back packing a proper try.

Anyway.. It really sucked. Trains, buses, taxis etc are fun for a couple of days but OH MAN, how I missed the freedom of my bike.

For one, It's really hard to get off the gringo trail. Being stuck with hoards of other back packers in places made for tourists doesn't feel like travelling at all..
All the waiting around for cramped, dirty buses in back packer tourist towns made me want to scream. I'd have to get up HOURS before my bus and try and work out where I was meant to be only then to be herded into a tin box and seeing practically nothing of the country I was travelling though.. So So limiting.
I could only really go where the trains and tourist buses went until I really put some major effort in. Where usually I could just jump on my bike and go somewhere on a whim, any excursion off the back packer routes would be a major hassle.

Anyway, any time I'm having a long hard day on the bike, I'll now think about how worse it could be.. I could be backpacking. Perspective is a great thing..

Moral of the story is... Having your own wheels (2, 3 or 4) is DEFINITELY the only way to travel.

Carry on..

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

So did you have nice weather then?

30c and clear blue skies everyday.....

Can't complain really

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

What was the average age of your co-travellers Ted? Did you feel that you 'fitted-in'? [the 'psyche' etc .. thinking of this satire take].

cheers

KEITH

ps - you still thinking of coming down to Cornwall next month?

.

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Right Way Round ...

Well.. There is a good mix of travellers but as always, the back packers are always 18-25 ish. That's okay though as I'm pretty immature

Where I was in Goa, it was REALLY REALLY touristic. Loads of couples on package holidays and even more Russians doing trance parties. It was really hard to find solo travellers. Lots of Israelis in groups who as always didn't want to talk to anyone.....I didn't like Goa that much at all really. It's really quickly turning into the Costa del Sol

Further south though and it all gets lovely again... Paradise beaches and laid back living. A few travellers knocking about but no hostels to meet at. It's all beach huts and bars so very hard to congregate. I was told by others that this was just a 'beach' thing and that's not the case in the rest of India. I met LOADS of people in the hostel in Bombay..

I was only there a month and only really saw Bombay and the west coast. I only had a snap shot and probably didn't see the real India at all.

I am totally inspired to go back and do it all on 2 or 4 wheels. The roads are pretty nuts and just MANIC in the cities but no worse African cities or roads..

Everyone goes on about how dangerous Indian driving is but I hired bikes and scooters for a few days at a time and I found it no different to Egypt for example.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Hi Ted
Have I missed any of your previous threads somewhere? I thought you brought Dazzers berlingo and was driving round Europe with a GF ?

__________________
'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

Ted,

Most probably why the Hindi are into..... Re "in car" nation. (4 wheels)

In our case it might be..... Re "on bike" nation, (2 wheels) but then

again we can only share such inane meanderings among friends here at the bar

Ted, Always happy to hear your observations. Good you are O K, some

friends recently toured India and concur with you about backpacking they

ended up pony trekking, and getting very sick.

I think the good fresh air we

breath while riding stimulates the immune system.

xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com
Discover how to legally Buy, Tour and Sell a motorcycle in Argentina

I told you so, well maybe I didn't but that is no excuse someone of your age should know better.
You should have bought a couple of bicycles, they might be further down the pecking order than motorcycles but in terms of travel are up on buses and taxis.

You have to try things for yourself don't you....

I already did know but since I'd never really tried the whole bus/train/taxi thing PROPERLY in a 3rd world country, I couldn't know for sure.

Once can't preach about which mode of transport is better until they've tried them all really...

I'm not stranger to the bicycle. I used to race and tour on them and plan to do so again. With only a month though, it wasn't practical. I did hire plenty of scooters and smaller bikes to zip around the places I was staying which was great fun.


As to estebangc's comment..... I have to agree also. There is a lot of all that hippy and yoga hype about and most of it is totally transparently fake.

People on two week Yoga retreats calling themselves "Moon" and "Starshine" when you just know they're down the pub when they get back swearing at the football..

As all travel... It is what it is to yourself. It's all a state of mind.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Ted, the title says it all and I think I can speak for most people on this forum when I say, that is no surprise, elementary my dear Watson!

This is very true and we shouldn't forget it. Because without a (functional) bike then we would all be backpackers with way too much kit!

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

ahhhh come on - its not all that bad! I backpacked around for 5 years -even hauling 2 surfboards around on planes, trains and buses to add to the hassle!

I've found that when I've been without independent transport I was forced into various situations that I never would have chosen but ended up being some of the most unique experiences I had. I remember the trains in India were certainly a hassle, but man what a radical scene to be in the middle of!

Staying on or getting off of the tourist trail just depends what you're up for I think.

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bugsonmyboard.org
two wheeled wave hunting dispatches

Ted
From my generation the term back packing means: to go hiking over night or for weeks ,like to the West Coast Trail or the Chilkoot Trail. Or like the canoe trip you are planning ,now thats back packing!!
which does not suck at all!

Ted, We can absolutely relate.

We have just come home (to Australia) from 4 weeks travelling the North Island of New Zealand. We shipped the bikes home by sea from Auckland.

Between delivering the bikes to the freight depot and our flights home, it came as a shock how limiting (and expensive) our transport options were.

We decided that "bored and bikeless" is not a state of affairs that we will ever willingly participate in again.

Motorbikes have saved me from backpacker hell many times, Goa, Vang Vieng and Snookyville for examples where a little travel out of town made the place bearable (except Vang Vieng, what a dump)
Indian trains are fun but tickets and touts test your patience. One trip in particular where when escaping the Kumbh Mela (a large religious festival) my only option was a crammed and completely pitch black train, all night hands were trying to open my backpack. I was hiring bikes at each destination and while I sat crouched on my one square foot in the dark I decided to buy and ride full time.
I have never looked back