India: travel Guide

Beyond the Chaos: Like Fingers in a Power Socket

How do you summarise an immense country like India in a few lines? The only word that comes to mind is: adventure, with everything that entails. It’s not the easiest place to visit, but it’s not impossible either: it just requires an endless supply of patience.

The first impact was literally like sticking two fingers into a power socket. I felt completely overwhelmed, swept away by a sensory overload: deafening sounds and noises, intense colours, overpowering smells, and an endless tide of people.

I have travelled here a couple of times, always focusing on the North (from Mumbai upwards, leaving the South for a future chapter). The first time was a pure, raw cultural immersion; the second was a calling upwards, pushing me into the Himalayan mountains of Ladakh and the surreal landscapes of the fantastic Spiti Valley.

From these Indian months, I carry memories burned into my mind. I remember endless journeys in rock-hard train berths and battered buses—some without air conditioning, just a half-working fan—bouncing along improbable dirt roads, literally teetering on the edge of dizzying ravines. I remember the extreme contrast between the suffocating chaos of Delhi and the absolute, rarefied peace of Leh or Kaza. And then the food: undoubtedly some of the best and most intense I have ever tasted in the world.

Glances, Smiles, and Travel Lessons

But India, more than anything else, is its people. Always around you, always infinitely curious. I remember once, waiting on a train platform: I had sat down cross-legged on the floor to write my notes in a notebook. At a certain point, I felt I was being watched. I looked up and found myself surrounded by a group of at least ten people, standing there in silence, captivated and curious about what I was doing. We looked at each other, and a beautiful collective smile broke out.

It was precisely by travelling on those trains and talking to people that I had a major epiphany: India isn’t just mysticism and spirituality. That is just the wrapper. The truth is that life here is faced and lived in an extremely practical, daily, and sometimes raw manner, exactly like anywhere else in the world. I saw a lot of beauty, but also a lot of hardship, and I chose to welcome and hold onto the best of what this country gave me.

Finally, the Ganges. And the impossible adventure to reach its source at Gangotri. After exhausting days of piecing together buses and trains, a landslide blocked the road, cutting the journey short. In that moment, I was overwhelmed by despair. But looking at that dead end, India made me understand the very essence of travelling: it was the experiences gained during those days that truly mattered, not the destination.

Let yourself be bewitched by the sounds, the scents, the colours, and the chaos. They will transport you to another dimension at 220 volts!