A peculiar day
Day 18 (Day 5 of Wonder-Bike Adventure) – 7th May 2018
So we have a Plan for today. Riding up to Maravanthe beach and
finding a beach cabin.
However, we also know that plans are generally to be broken…
At breakfast I happen to send a message to Abdul Ghani, the
Tree Man of India, whom we met in Varanasi. He had expressed earlier on that he might be able
to come and meet us round about today. He’s from Kerala.
Apparently he won’t be able to come, but
he’d love for us to come. We inform him we can’t come with the bike because of
border patrols so he suggests us leaving the bike and coming by train. He would
pick us up and show us around. Since I’d love to see the Green School he works
at and also we had initiated conversations towards a possible cooperation
between Portugal and India, we start figuring out how to do this and let go of the Maravanthe plan for today.
Vazco Beach House’s owner doesn’t mind us leaving the bike
there. We would only be away for one night or two and then come back to retrieve it.
We go up to Mangalore to find out about train schedules. We also find
out about bus schedules to get us to Mangalore early in the morning.
Mangalore is a huge and quite messy city which we don't find very pleasing to our aesthetic taste. Good to know, anyway.
Back to Abdul Ghani. Meanwhile something strange
starts happening. We keep Abdul posted
on our progress but strangely get no replies, he does not pick up the phone and it is
already past lunch time by now. His initial enthusiasm which actually led us to consider changing our plans seems to have dwindled and disappeared somewhere unknown to us.
Up to this day we have no idea what might have happened,
since he never communicated with us again, but we are proficient at letting go
and making do with what we have right NOW.
As Love says: acceptance
is the key to Freedom, the doorway to Resilience and the path of Peace.
We have no need to try and understand what went on or to
judge the person or the situation. We just move on.
We have, however, como to realize that in India YES and NO are not linear. Even the way people nod is different and a Yes is gesticulated with the head bobbing sideways, which to us means a maybe :) We never see anyone gesticulating a No though! And even when we ask for directions or any other kind of help we never get a flat No. People will always try and accommodate, even if they don't have a clue about what we're asking. Different cultures, different understandings, different customs. This is the richness of travelling to faraway places.
We have, however, como to realize that in India YES and NO are not linear. Even the way people nod is different and a Yes is gesticulated with the head bobbing sideways, which to us means a maybe :) We never see anyone gesticulating a No though! And even when we ask for directions or any other kind of help we never get a flat No. People will always try and accommodate, even if they don't have a clue about what we're asking. Different cultures, different understandings, different customs. This is the richness of travelling to faraway places.
We decide to go for a ride towards the beach on our way back
from Mangalore. We see beach signs and turn.
The road we run into is quite a surprise. Broken and black,
leading to a huge refinery. We head on towards the beach beyond it and it is a
peaceful place we find.
It’s time for a dip in the sea! There is no one on the
beach except for some fishermen up on the wall, lazing away the heat.
I decide to do “as the Romans” and jump into the water fully
dressed! I just love it! What for the locals is normal, is totally new for me
and I decide to have fun with this new experience, not in the least concerned
with afterwards.
Pedro goes in wearing his underpants and we both behave like
two kids fooling around in the water in complete freedom!
Rather than just
being in the flow, we become the flow.
We play until our bellies feel satisfied with the endless tickles
of laughter and then we dry off a little before hopping onto the motorbike
again. For the first time we ride with our helmets on our arms, letting our
hair dry in the hot breeze and an amazing sense of freedom takes hold of us.
We are sooo grateful, happy and free at this moment that
even the contrast of the black refinery soot up ahead cannot blacken our
spirit.
By now we are of course staying at Vazco Beach House for one
more night and this time I go in the pool fully dressed when I get there. Of
course no one here thinks anything of it 😊
Oh dear Lord, life is so grand!
Today we are once again having dinner here and tentatively
stay outside but it starts raining and we have to go into the meals room to eat
the rest of our delicious “banquet”.
I think today heaven wanted to give us a special spectacle and
the thunder and lightning gets louder and stronger as the heavy rain pounds
down, soaking everything to the core.
Wow! What a feast! I am absolutely fascinated by tropical thunderstorms and their majesty.
And so it is that we get to witness a night show for free,
with the special bonus of cuddling up in bed while listening to the rainstorm outside,
which is one of the things I have most loved every night so far.
💙💚💛💜
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