From Xinjiang to Kerala

The bus surprisingly drove to a completely different border crossing that wasn't even marked on my map. The questioning was a bit more intense than usual, asking me what I was doing here, how long I was staying, where I wanted to go, etc.

Nothing unusual at first, but it was strange that I was asked the same questions by 4 different people over a period of 20 minutes. In the end, I had to take a sip from all open bottles to ensure that what was claimed to be inside was actually present, and then I received the stamp.

I got off before the final stop in Yining since I was quite close to my hotel, but then I remembered that I had no cash and didn't know if WeChat (the preferred payment method in China) worked. Since Google Maps wasn't working properly and no one spoke English, I asked for directions to the ATM using an app. However, the taxi driver took the time to show me how to pay with WeChat until it finally worked. So, I wouldn’t have needed cash, as even small cent amounts can be paid with the app.On the market, I got some dried fruits for the train ride the next day and a noodle soup that was so spicy it made me sweat even more.The next morning began with stress; although I arrived at the train station 30 minutes early, having read that it’s more like an airport in Chinese train stations, I hadn’t expected such a huge crowd.Everything was hectic and chaotic; I had to hand in my two backpacks and my small bag for scanning, then I had to go through the scanner myself as if I were at an airport. Behind the barrier, someone was already calling for the owner of my two backpacks. I was gestured to that I had something on me. It was my mosquito spray. Spray cans, lighters, etc. are not allowed on trains. Then I continued with my small backpack; I had to take a sip from all open bottles before I was pushed towards the exit. As time became tighter, I went straight to the platform, where there was another passport control, and that’s when I realized that my shoulder bag with my wallet was missing. I still held my phone and passport from the previous check.I tried to explain to the staff that my bag was still at security, they radioed something, but told me there was nothing. I explained that I had to go back; I couldn't leave without my wallet, but then I was told the train would leave, at least that’s how I understood it. Anyway, I sprinted two floors back to security. My bag was still on the conveyor belt. Quickly back upstairs, and I was through security 4 minutes before departure and on the train with all my things 2 minutes before departure.First, I took a deep breath, but the oddities continued; I was explicitly told (only me) three times that smoking was not allowed. The third time I thought I was losing my mind and really checked myself again to make sure I didn’t have a cigarette in my hand; everything was fine, I still don’t smoke.Overall, it’s astonishing how much effort is put into this here. At every train station, each passenger is individually checked (multiple times), and there are additional ticket and passport checks everywhere.Police officers, staff, conductors, someone checking the luggage (to see if it’s properly placed in the luggage compartment), railway staff selling food and drinks, and a woman who regularly mops the floor walk through the train regularly.After 5 hours, I arrived in Ürümqi without any stops, which is an ordinary city of 4 million inhabitants of which I had never heard before.
In the evening, I followed the smell to a night market, and after 10 months of average food, I found myself in paradise. They had everything here, and everything looked super delicious. I opted for a kind of potato pancake and then for vegetables with chicken rolled up in a large lasagna noodle, which is perhaps the best way to describe it.

The next day I explored a few parks, where my theory was once again confirmed - people were dancing to Modern Talking! There were also older people playing cards or dancing to traditional music, a group holding whips and spinning tops, karaoke singers, or a sort of aerobics group, all in one square with their own music, what a chaos for the ears.On the local mountain, I enjoyed the view before heading again in the afternoon and evening to one of the numerous street food markets; I can’t say exactly what I ate, but it was delicious, such a fantastic contrast to the last 10 months. Since I liked it here so much, I wanted to stay an extra day; I could easily rebook the train, but unfortunately not the hostel in Yining, as I could no longer cancel it for free through Agoda (hotel portal), and they couldn’t or wouldn’t give me a contact, so I decided to let the 18€ go to waste.

The next afternoon, I went to the Ürümqi Museum, which is unfortunately only geared towards Chinese visitors; the audio guide was broken. After a 45-minute walk, I should arrive at the second museum, where the mummies were supposed to be displayed, but nothing could be found there, so I went to the third possible location, another 45 minutes on foot. Buses full of tourists were stopping here, and 4 ticket counters informed me that I was in the right place. By the way, the tourists referred to were exclusively Chinese; since my departure from Almaty, I hadn't seen any Western tourists. The museum was huge but also completely overcrowded; I only looked at two rooms and the mummy exhibit, which reminded me of the mummies I had already seen in Nazca.
In the evening, I took a taxi again toward the night market; the driver, who kept telling me that he was Uyghur and not Chinese, wanted to show me a video. After the video, I wanted to pay via WeChat, but he tried to make it clear to me that I could ride for free. After getting out, I still paid the 80 cents via the app. Although I had checked, as always, that I had everything with me before getting out, I realized that my sunglasses were missing. Well, the sixth pair in 10 months; that’s okay. After crossing a 10-lane road and turning three times, the taxi driver tapped me on the shoulder and handed me my sunglasses; I had no idea how he found me. Everyone here is even nicer and more courteous than in the last 10 months. In between, I am continually asked if we can take pictures together, and I am asked again and again for my WeChat contacts. On the other hand, there’s also a police station at every second intersection, cameras on every corner, and armored vehicles with heavily armed police officers or soldiers. Also, my internet is super slow; the speed certainly suffers when everything has to be checked by the state. Sometimes, I need a VPN to open sites, while other websites do not work with a VPN; that can be quite annoying. There are also some e-cars driving around, but I would say there are not more than in our country; in some aspects, the Chinese are noticeably more digital than we are, while in others, they lag behind us; they also just cook with water. Whether it is still the same in western China, I will have to convince myself again; at any rate, the 7 days have made me curious for more China!

The return journey to Yining was much more relaxed; my seatmate showed me invoices from his exports and imports and was eager to trade with me, but I had neither anything to sell nor the time for it. We only see what’s going badly in our country and what’s going well in other countries, that China is now much further ahead of us, but that people have to work hard for it, most of them significantly harder than we do, we see less. In this short time, three different people told me that they have a maximum of 5 vacation days a year (+ holidays) and work 50 hours a week; thinking of a pension is not realistic, and they would like to travel to another country. In Yining, I wanted to quickly shop for the bus ride in the evening and saw a gathering of people in the distance, which, of course, piqued my curiosity, so I went over, and it turned out to be the entrance to the old town. Here, horse-drawn carriages were driving, all houses were painted blue, and there were many restaurants, with gardens filled with grapevines. On the way back to the hostel, I saw another crowd and found another huge night market. For my next trip to China, I definitely need to rethink my sources, as Google and Gemini didn’t know about these two main attractions, and without them, the city would be even drearier than it already is.

India!

I actually knew what to expect, and I was told that the south of India is significantly 'easier.' My first day gave me a severe culture shock after my visit to China. I don’t know what I expected, but after the first 24 hours, Mumbai was the dirtiest city I had ever seen. There’s not much to see around here, apart from the impressive train station building. At the entrance of the station, a woman was tattooing passersby (voluntarily); it must be incredibly cheap because neither the tattoos look good, nor is the device disinfected in between. Everywhere there was garbage, it smelled worse of shit and waste than I had expected. I should have remembered this from my last visit to India, but either my memories deceived me, or the south of India is not so different. It could also depend on the location of the hotel, but I will find out in the coming days.

It was probably a mix of everything; my memories from last time, culture shock, and the location of the hotel, since the other city districts were a bit quieter. On the food tour, we tried Indian snacks and learned something about the individual dishes; everything tasted really good. The slum tour through the largest slum in Asia was tough; it is the most densely populated place in the world, with over 400,000 people per km². In comparison, in Munich, there are 5,000 inhabitants per km². In the slum itself, it's even dirtier and more confusing than in Mumbai. Everywhere there are small companies recycling something; from bumpers to plastic bottles to soap and leather, everything is recycled here. The conditions are, of course, catastrophic; the soaps being recycled are the leftovers from hotels; these cannot even be used for hand washing, only for cleaning clothes. Bumpers are shredded, sorted by color, melted, and resold as granules. A worker earns around 500 rupees a day (5€) for 12 hours of work, plus food and a sleeping place at the company.

In the slum, goods worth over 2 billion euros are generated annually, making it a significant economic factor for the city. All goods also go to renowned companies, so they didn’t want to tell us for whom the shirts or pants were, the company logos are only added at the very end. There was also a small shop where I bought a leather belt for 7€, here the money is well spent, I think. We were asked if we had any problems with darkness or tight spaces, which surprised me a bit since I hadn't booked a cave tour. The houses here are so close together that no light penetrates, and you can sometimes only get through sideways. A brief glance into the apartments, which consist of one room and are occupied by whole families, is hard to bear. The upper floors are reached by individual steep ladders; we didn’t see any staircases. By the way, there are very few toilets here; of course, if you only have one room to live in, there are public toilets. Those that are free are used by almost 1500 people per day (and to be clear, it's not a toilet facility or large toilet; we're talking about a single toilet), so there are naturally long lines in the morning. Then there are toilets that cost a few rupees; those are cleaner, and you don’t have to wait long, and lastly, there are private toilets that are only used by a few households and have no waiting times.

After that, we took the train back and made a stop at the largest laundry in the world. The people known as Dhobis wash laundry by hand here, dry it, and iron it. The Dhobi Ghat stretches over an area with hundreds of sinks. It is estimated that over 5,000 people work here daily, cleaning up to 100,000 pieces of clothing from hotels, hospitals, and private clients from all over the city. The Dhobis work in rows of concrete basins equipped with a 'flogging stone' (washing stone). The laundry is soaked in hot soapy water, vigorously beaten on the stone to remove dirt, and then hung to dry on countless clotheslines. They do not use clothespins but tie two ropes together, and the laundry is wedged in between. Although the work is traditional and laborious, the system is extremely efficient. Each item of clothing is carefully marked to ensure it returns to the right owner. It is impressive how rarely laundry gets lost or confused. In dark corners, there are also industrial washing machines, but water is still heated with fire for disinfection. After these impressive experiences, we needed a break. The elephant caves on an island off Mumbai were interesting and a good way to pass the time until our flight to Goa; the rickety wooden boat safely brought us back.

In Goa, I finally got back on a scooter; the prices were reasonable again here. For €5 a day, I went to 'Old Goa', the former capital of the state of the same name, where numerous churches from the Portuguese colonial era stood and were nice to look at. To the south of our accommodation are a few nice old castles and fortresses; however, during the monsoon season, you can't go into the water, and many beach bars have also been dismantled because the water is much higher than outside the monsoon season. However, since we knew this in advance, we weren't disappointed; we could still spend half a day reading, drinking fruit juices, and eating on the beach :)

That was our plan in Arambol, further north; there was also a massage and some delicious meals at the beach bar. The brief showers in between were manageable and did not bother us at all. Generally, in India, one has to be pretty tough regarding cleanliness, odors, and dirt. In restaurants, one can wash hands everywhere, but at street food stands, sauces or ingredients are sometimes stirred with the hand instead of a spoon, the pot looks quite old, or the sauces are dried at the edges. Nevertheless, the food at these stalls is super delicious, and so far, we’ve had no problems; if things look too bad, you can always move on, but over time, the threshold does decrease in any case, at least for me. You can also see in restaurants that the tables are still greasy, the headrests in the buses are black, and the loungers and walls in the massage room are covered in a film of oil, and the towel likely hasn’t been changed in a long time; one should either overlook all this or simply not travel to India. On the other hand, everything here is of course cheap; a 30-minute taxi ride costs €2, a dinner with a drink and dessert is €4, or the aforementioned 70-minute massage is €14. The hotel rooms are also cheap; for €20, you can get a very clean double room sometimes including breakfast. The trains are also clean, at least if you don’t look too closely; the bed linens are washed, but one shouldn’t be repulsed by stubborn old stains. Otherwise, the trains are a relatively reliable and comfortable means of transport, which took us to Hampi. 

Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, the last great Hindu kingdom in South India. The culture experienced its heyday between the 14th and 16th centuries. During this time, Hampi became one of the largest and richest trading centers in the world, with an estimated population of up to half a million people around 1500 AD. The area is vast, and there are ancient temples, bazaars, wells, palaces, and baths everywhere, so we went again on a scooter, which took us to various sights in Hampi. We hired a guide for the first day who explained to us the temples and very interesting reliefs. On the second day, we explored the remaining sights, and we spent the evening in one of the really good and cozy restaurants; Hampi was an unexpected highlight.

Bangalore was just a short stop on my way to Ooty, but here I discovered the first real street food market in India. Until now, I thought it didn't exist here; I was all the more delighted about the good food at the market, the hardest part was, of course, deciding what to try. Other than that, we also looked at the botanical garden, which was totally overcrowded since today was Independence Day, and many Indians were out and about. We only viewed the palace from the outside, as foreigners should pay ten times the admission fee; at some point, enough is enough. We took a bit more time to fulfill photo requests :)

With the train, we continued towards Mysore, where we looked at the illuminated palace and accidentally found the interesting flower market in the evening. Since the palace opened in the morning at 10 AM, we unfortunately couldn’t fit in a visit, as we had to catch the bus to Ooty. Our room in Ooty was okay, but it smelled damp for some reason. In the evening we found out why; the pillow had at one time begun to mold. But it had been washed by now, smelled good again, and with a cover, it was acceptable for two nights. I had hoped for more from Ooty. I hoped that the Indians in the mountains and in a resort would have a more refined sense of aesthetics, but that was not the case. While plastic bottles are banned, other garbage is scattered around the area. Moreover, it's difficult for tourists to rent scooters since the local taxi mafia seems to feel threatened by it; we were advised to hide the scooter a bit, as if something were to happen, we would have to cover the damages. Since a car with a driver only cost €5 more, we decided to be driven. The first stops were still very interesting, although in India everything is aimed at consumption and events. In our country, there would be a small dam, a hiking trail, a café, and a pedal boat rental at a little reservoir. Here, there’s a horror house, a 4D cinema, 7 boat rentals, countless souvenir shops, restaurants, game rooms, and much more. The same picture at the botanical garden or other stations. On the way south, we then took the narrow gauge train to Coimbatore; it is said to be one of the most beautiful train routes in the world, and I can confirm that. With the over 100-year-old steam locomotive and the historic carriages, we went down over 2000 meters in altitude.