11-Feb-2026, The previous four nights at the hill station in nature at the Western Ghats was absolute bliss. I felt so much better after breathing in some fresh air, compared to the time spent in a mega-city. However, once again I am trading the real jungle with the concrete jungle. I am on my way to a much smaller city than Delhi or Mumbai, so hopefully it will be less hectic and less stressful, and I am praying that the air quality is slightly better than “extremely poor”.

I am on my way to Kochi, I hear many great things about this place, and it is especially famous for their backwaters culture (they call it the Venice of the east). People here basically live, work and trade on these waters. It sounds like a must visit so that’s where I am heading next. But I am not taking the short and easy route, I am taking a big detour to get there. In my opinion, traveling in India is not complete without a train journey. This is something I just want to do for the experience and for the sake of train traveling. A flight would be easier, quicker and even cheaper, but just to throw in a cliché; it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey! A train journey holds more adventures than a flight, so I am excited to go.

In Mangalore I wake up at six in the morning, drop my key at a dark and abandoned front desk and hop into a tuk-tuk (those small three wheeled open-air vehicles) to bring me to the station. I board the train at seven and I am off for an almost ten-hour journey to Bangalore. When people think about Indian trains, they probably think of those movies, or Instagram stories, where the train is so jammed with people that they are overflowing onto the roof and hanging out of the doors and windows. Luckily it wasn’t anything like this, especially in the morning the train was empty.

The train drives through the Western Ghats (a mountain range running parallel to India’s west coast), and these are the same mountains as where I had driven my car, except the view is much different from the tracks. It is a beautiful, scenic train ride through the forests, small towns, countless tunnels and winding mountain passes. For this exact reason I booked the Vistadome coach. The vistadome couch is a special train wagon with big, soft and comfortable chairs and with extra-large windows to make sure you don’t miss a thing while dreaming away at this pretty landscape. I truly enjoyed the train ride and all the scenery it had to offer. But silly me, I did fell asleep, unintendedly of course, at the peak of the ride. Where the scenery would most likely be at its best. Nevertheless, I saw some very interesting things, for example lots of people (men) living in shacks next to the tracks and working on them. Maybe repairing or improving? It’s an old school railroad with manual train switches and road barriers, as an engineer I find it interesting to see these old-school techniques. And what I find most relaxing is that I can just sit back and relax while I look outside the window and witness the world pass me by. All I have to do is take it in and observe, it puts me in an almost meditative state. It might sound weird and perhaps not many people can relate but I have always enjoyed spending time at trainstation and airports. It’s a melting pot of people, everybody comes and goes, always moving without slowing down. If their body is not moving, I am sure their mind is.  For me it’s a moment to slow down and not think about anything for the moment. Especially airports give me a creative and calm state of mind, and I get in the mood to do some writing for this blog.

As I am sitting in the train, it gets livelier throughout the day as more people board the train. We stop about fifteen times, and everybody has an assigned seat so there is no confusion or fighting over seats. It’s a beautiful and peaceful ride, but the only thing that keeps slightly bothering me is the train operator constantly using the train horn. Luckily, I did bring my noise cancelling headset and I managed to tune out the constant noise. In these ten hours I also did a bit of work and made bookings for my next trip.

When I was reading about train journeys in India, I discovered that the food or snacks are usually not that good or not sufficient. So, last night I picked a nice Italian restaurant for dinner where I simultaneously order pasta for today’s lunch. This is also my go-to move when I am doing a long hike in the mountains and I need to pack a proper lunch; just eat pasta from the previous day. Pretty brilliant if you ask me!

SHORT COMPILATION VIDEO:

The ten-hour train journey was over in a heartbeat. It was then followed by a one-hour taxi ride to the airport of Bangalore, a three-hour waiting time, one hour flight to Kochi and I end the trip with another one-hour taxi ride before I finally reach the next guesthouse. It’s after midnight and I am exhausted. To sum it up: ten hours in the train, two hours in the car and one hour in the plane just to trade one city for the other. And all of this could have been avoided with a direct flight. Was it worth it? Totally!

The train ride was worth all the trouble and effort, but is my next adventure worth it as well? Maybe not, but it was a good experience. The main reason for coming to Kochi is joining a three-day yoga retreat, which I booked at the very last minute. I love yoga retreats, but this one was not exactly what I expected or hoped for. I guess it’s my fault for booking it quickly without reading the description properly. It turns out to be a “Ayurvedic and yoga” retreat with a very strong focus on the Ayurvedic part. The yoga part was short, simple and basic, mostly for beginners. Although Ayurveda could be an interesting topic as an alternative medicine system, I am not going into details here. Basically, it’s a holistic “science of life” focusing on balancing the body, mind and spirit by using diet (mostly vegan), herbal medicine, yoga and meditation. I have no judgement towards people following such a lifestyle or using it as alternative to western medicine, but it was not something I was looking for. The host, an Ayurvedic doctor is nice and very knowledgeable, and takes very good care of us. The room is basic, but the beds are good, we only had vegan meals, and I met some very nice people. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that we will receive a different Ayurvedic massage every day (as part of the package). It’s not the nice and relaxing kind of massage where you lie on a soft bed and being handled gently by soft female hands. No… this is a strong and intense massage. The bed is a hard wooden table without any cushions. I am covered with a small, tiny cloth and two young Indian men pour lots and lots of warm oil on my body. Then they start rubbing my complete body fast and vigorously, from top to bottom in a synchronized motion. It’s far from relaxing but it is a great body treatment to get the blood flowing and stimulating the nervous system in a good way. It helps to reduce muscle pain and stiffness. Something different from all those Balinese massages I had in the past.

Although the yoga (in the retreat) wasn’t satisfactory, it is still a memorable and valuable experience. I learned a thing or two about the Ayurvedic practice and the three days I was at the guesthouse are more than enough. By the time I am writing this down I have already forgotten my new learnings about Ayurvedic, but I am having no regrets. During the retreat we visit the small factory of the doctor where they make the Ayurvedic medicines and they show us the production process. The highlight of the day is, without a doubt, the three-hour boat ride on the backwaters of Kochi. It is a very relaxing day, just floating down calm waters, and witnessing the routines and traditional way of living of the locals. I love the peace and quiet and seeing all this green. Instead of spending to many words on the backwaters, I will let the photo’s do the talking, including a shot compilation video. Taking a trip on these backwaters is definitely a must.

The last stop before my next flight is at Fort Kochi, the old town. It is a small seaside neighbourhood with a rich historic and cultural background. The shores are lined up with 15^th century Chinese fishing nets and the architecture is a mix between Portuguese, Dutch and British styles from the colonial-era. Nowadays it is a lively and vibrant neighbourhood with nice café’s, art galleries, nicely renovated buildings and tourist shops. Fort Kochi is a nice area to walk around and learn a bit about the history. I never knew the Dutch also colonized India as part of their trading routes. It wasn’t just Indonesia. You learn something new every day.

After three nights and three days in Kochi, I had seen enough and I will fly back to Mumbai (for the third time!) The Indian woman from my last Bumble date still seems to be able to put up with me so that’s good news. Therefor I fly back to Mumbai and take her on another date.

In Mumbai I do a bit sightseeing but not that much, every time I want to visit a hotspot in Mumbai, I see massive crowds and I turn around without actually going inside. It’s not worth the hassle and headache. From a distance I can see that I am not going to enjoy it. So, mostly I enjoy a bit of downtime, writing and doing yoga.

Besides, this pretty Indian lady and I are having a great time and good a connection, so we spent a significant time hanging out together. But this is not to be shared on this blog 😉!

This is the sixth, and also last, story about my trip to India, in January and February.  I had some challenging moments, but it has also been a very rewarding and beautiful trip. I will not go back anytime soon, but it has certainly enriched my life. I would not want to miss this for gold. For now, fingers crossed that my visa for Indonesia will be approved soon so that I can go back home.

See you again soon on my next story and adventure, whenever and wherever that will be.

~ The End ~