India
Sharing burgers with somebody traveling by a raft
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Johan Kruseman
Updated on 15 August 2024
Updated on 15 August 2024
In the context of extraordinary travelers, the Pole I met that same evening certainly deserves an honorable mention. He always brings clothes, a tent and a paddle as luggage. He then builds a raft, usually from an old door and four large jerry cans, and floats down the river. In India, he wanted to raft the Ganges for a week.
With him and a few of his friends, we sat on a bench by the Ganges eating a hamburger when a little boy happily hopped between us on the bench. In India, there is so much poverty that it’s impossible to help everyone who needs it. Sometimes, someone still asks for an exception. This evening, it was this boy. He was maybe five years old. He didn‘t ask, didn’t beg, but was just super happy to be with us. But his body betrayed that there wasn‘t a meal waiting for him three times a day at home. I gave him a part of my freshly bought burger, and a little later, a girl from the group went to get tea, one for him too, as if he belonged to the group. It didn‘t even feel right; you just had to do this, it felt more shitty that you hadn’t given anything to the earlier people who needed it just as much. But there are just too many of them.
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Traveled route: Ganges, Varanassi, Agra, Taj Mahal, Buland Darwaza, Jaipur, Fatehpur Shekhawati, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bundi, Udaipur, Mumbai, Goa, Hampi
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Did this story inspire you to go to India? Read more on what India has to offer, what the best months are for visiting and check the handy links for backpacking there.
