Es geht auch ohne Google ;) (Day 23 of the world trip)

27th September 2019

This morning at 6:30 am we received a WhatsApp message from Ajay saying 'it is raining'. Yup... We thought about waiting until 7:00 am and spontaneously checking, but at 7:00 am it was raining again, so the morning yoga session was canceled :O

To be honest, Jonas and I weren't sooo sad about giving our limbs a little rest ;-) We decided to reschedule the session for 5:00 pm, as Ajay said it probably wouldn't rain by then.

Instead of being lazy and going back to bed, today we had another strength training session :D Abs and then resistance band for shoulders, arms, and back. My goal for the world trip was to be able to do 20 push-ups by the end. So far, I'm at 0.5 :p But I still have a few days left and with a bit of regularity, I should be able to do it! ;-)

After the sports session, we went hiking again. We didn't want to repeat yesterday's embarrassment of not finding the way. This time, we wouldn't turn back before finding the path!!

After a short wrong turn that ended at a barking dog, we took the same path up the hill as yesterday. At a fork, we took the right instead of the left turn this time and... voila! We made it to the path marked on Maps.Me!!! Yay!

The path was initially a concrete road, and big buildings were being constructed on both sides, probably more yoga retreats? The vegetation was jungle again, and a river accompanied us, which was supposed to have a waterfall further up. As there was only one path this time and we could navigate by the river again, we didn't get lost :p Like with the other waterfalls, we saw smaller waterfalls before reaching the actual destination, but they were also very pretty!

There were also really cool trees with thick trunks that grew tall, and other plants grew on them, like a cactus once! They were also covered with vines, just like you imagine the jungle flora to be ;-)

At times, the path was only rocks/gravel, but then it was concrete again. I suppose that during the monsoon season, a lot of damage has been done here as well. We passed a series of camps advertised at the main road. They consist of large tents and even have electricity, so it may not be as 'back to basics' as one might think. But the location is definitely top! :)

Eventually, we reached the actual waterfall with its pool. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones there -.- A group of Spaniards had also settled there and were chatting away. Jonas and I found a spot for ourselves and since it was, as always, tropical weather here and we were both completely soaked in sweat, Jonas went for a swim too :)

At first, I hesitated, especially since the girls from the other group were all fully dressed. But then suddenly, an American woman rolled up on a motorcycle as a passenger of an Indian guy. The motorcycle stopped, she took off her clothes down to her bikini and confidently walked into the waterfall while the Indian filmed her. Not bad! After that, there was even a photo of her at a spot where you can sit down and almost sink, and well. That was it. She walked back to the motorcycle, got dressed, and they drove away. Not bad!

Encouraged by that, I also went into the water (this time I was smart enough to wear swimwear underneath! :p) and a few minutes later, the Spaniards followed, including the girls. Jonas and I splashed around a bit gratefully for the cooling (while I didn't move much while he climbed up and down the rocks again ;-) ) until it started raining.

Actually, it wouldn't have mattered because we were already wet, but the backpack with the camera, etc. was lying there unprotected, and well. So, we packed everything up (which wasn't easy at all. Who has ever tried to put on tight leggings with wet legs...?) and made our way back.

At the first turn, one of the Spaniards called after us and asked if we were also going to Rishikesh. The group had taken a taxi to the summit and walked down to the waterfall from above. They couldn't always rely on Google (yeah yeah...) and therefore asked if they could follow us back to the village. Actually, the way after this one turn was relatively clear, and when they stopped to take pictures of spiderwebs, Jonas wanted to just keep going. But I could convince him to wait/go slow, and one of the girls from the group caught up with us and corrected us. They were Israeli! Oops :D

We then talked to Esra, that was her name, about various things and gave her the tip to go to the waterfall that we had 'lost' ourselves. I also realized that it is a funny coincidence that we are meeting Israelis for the second time here, but she told us that India is a typical destination for Israelis. After their military service, which both women and men must serve there, many of them are drawn to the East. India and Southeast Asia (Laos, Cambodia) are typical travel destinations. These countries are also on our agenda, so who knows, maybe we'll meet Israelis again?

We also talked about traveling in general, and she noticed that Germans are still very young when they travel and/or study. For her, it was surprising that at 23 years old, you can already have a bachelor's degree and work. But well. If they go to school until 18/19 and then have to do their military service, they are not as far in their careers at 23 as many Germans.

Well. The conversation was cool anyway, and since we somehow lost the rest of her group and she had no WiFi, we took her to the main road, where she coincidentally met her friends :)

On the way from the main road back to our hostel, it also started raining here, and until now (almost an hour later), it hasn't stopped. There's occasional thunder, and unlike the shower yesterday or this morning, a lot of rain is coming down!! I'm curious to see how the alleys here will look later :O Because we definitely have to go out again to get dinner :D

Overall, we can already say that it was another great day. We are proud to have found the way ^^ The waterfall and the path, even if it was a road, were really pretty. The American woman without any hesitation in the waterfall was also a small highlight, and not least the chat with Esra.

Now the weather just needs to allow us to feel like going out to eat ;-) Oh, and it's not 5 pm yet. We don't know if there will be yoga or not, but as mentioned above, it wouldn't be sooo bad for us :D

5:04 pm:

It's still raining, and there's a bit of thunder --> no yoga :O

But tonight we'll have dinner again with our host - this time chickpeas. When he asked what time and we suggested 6 pm, he just shook his head. The preparation apparently takes a while :D But he can manage 7 pm^^

Since we can hardly wait, Jonas took pity and quickly went out to buy chocolate cookies. He's the best <3