[gianni66]

Seventeen days to go.

Though my third trip to India (the second alone) has already started. As per the others, including the ones planned but never done, I've already been travelling through India in the last couple of months. Maybe longer.

Travel forums are great for this. The main difference with travel guides is that the forums are a dynamic font of information; things go just like when you are travelling, changing with the time, different points of view come and go, and your plans come and go with them.

Looking at train schedules is a fundamental part of this. You try hundreds of different options and combinations, and the possibility to book and cancel online your tickets adds more indipendent variables to the possible itineraries that you build during your virtual travelling.

Someone can think that this is a sort of obsession, or a self-standing game; is planning a trip more important than the trip itself? Surely it lasts more - at least in my case, a poor short-time traveller who loves to travel but is forced to fight with the one-day-more-or-less constraints to cut its time in the middle of the working year.

I've virtually been everywhere in India, I have been travelling on almost every train. And it has been funny, yes. Thanks to all the unmissable friends of this and other India travel forums (yes, I'm still there too!   ).

But at the end, the virtual world comes to an end. It seems incredible, so it was not just a joke...

It's time to leave.

The countdown starts. The list of stuff to package replaces the list of possible places to visit.

An easy packing task this time for me: I will be in India in the middle of the hottest and driest season... my favourite weather, I can say, being myself from one of the hottest regions in Europe. But maybe the Hampi oven will be a big challange... surely it will not stop my enthusiastic wish to discover!

Happy to come back to the South, not so happy to miss a meetup with the legendary Joty Da, a good reason to plan a fourth trip.

Oh, yes, a fourth trip. So,  I could go to West bengal next time, or maybe Ladakh, but just have a look to the train schedules...  

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Edited by gianni66, 18 March 2008 - 08:09 PM.

[priya]

A little over two weeks and you'll be there   Your excitement is almost tangible Gianni.  I can't wait for your "blast off" post and the stories in between.

[gianni66]

Fifteen days to go.

Still too many to start packing.

No more a long time to review the travel plan.

But the right time to start to fear to get sick for some reason!  

I'm so glad I've just had the seasonal flu this year!  

Cloudy and windy here today... we expect a rainy Easter.

Another good reason to keep on tasting the coming Indian days... (those few ones)

(TO BE CONTINUED)

[jyotirmoy]

Good luck dear friend. April will not be as hot as May
Hampi will be a testing ground.

[gianni66]

Nine days to the final blast!  

I had yestarday all the vaccines again, my arms are almost blocked still today and I could also have the temptation to think "why I am doing all this?".

Some days full of re-thinking about the idea to travel once more in India are coming.

There are many other interesting places in the world... and, all in all, I live in a town visited by millions of tourists and piligrims every year, why should I go elsewhere?

At least, this is what has been told to me yestarday.

Do you think that a simple picture showing a cow walking slowly and peacefully along a crowded Indian road can be sufficient to explain?

(TO BE CONTINUED)

[Serena]

Nothing can be sufficient Gianni!
We are just  "strange" people and that all!  

Serena

[gianni66]

Seven days to leave. One week.  

The last weekend of cycling before stopping for two weeks. I have been asked by a friend of my cycling team if I will be able to continue training while I'll be in India. We have a race in less than two months... "Will you go running at least?".

I have laughed to his question. "How can you think that I can train in India? I will be around all the time, travelling a lot on trains and buses, I will be very tired at the end of the day, definitively there's no time and willing to cycle or run!".  

Then I have thought to the descriptions of Hampi. Hills, long distances, strong heat, and bicycles to rent. A paradise for me!  

But, seriously, this is my secret Indian dream: a whole trip by bicycle.  

It will be the beginning of the next story, maybe...


(TO BE CONTINUED - THOUGH NOT FOR SO LONG)

[gianni66]

TWO DAYS TO GO!!!    

I'm so excited today... I feel like this is my first trip to India and I'm going to spend two months there!

Last check to the camera, I bought another memory card... new loads of pics will come in the next future!

(and backpack already stuffed)

(TO BE CONTINUED)

[gianni66]

IT'S TOMORROW!!!!      

[priya]

You'll have an absolutely wonderful time, Gianni.   And don't forget to pop in to let us know about your adventures.

[iwanttogoback]

do i detect just a little excitement gianni?