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Interview – The Blue Elephant from Berlin

January 15, 2019 by Joshua Varghese Leave a Comment

Three travellers set out from Berlin astride bright red Vespas to reach Goa in time for the full moon festival

Was there any part of your trip where you did not know what was going to happen next?

(EI): When we waited for the ferry to cross the Caspian Sea, we had no idea when the ferry would arrive, because it had no timetable. Strong winds prevented the ferry from coming into port and so we had to wait for three days. Since we had cold beer, we were all right. (laughs)

You have crossed a number of borders and met a lot of people. Which country’s food did you like the best?

(EI): Since we did not go to Italy, it was definitely the Indian food. We do not say this just because we are in India. We really enjoyed the flavours of Indian cuisine.

Which people did you like the most?

(EI): The ones that invited us (laughs). I must say, wherever we have been, the people have been friendly. Sometimes I thought it was a friendship tour. Wherever we stopped, people waved at us and asked us where we were from. Sometimes they even took pictures with us. Smile to the world and the world smiles back.

Three travellers set out from Berlin astride bright red Vespas to reach Goa in time for the full moon festival

What was the longest stretch you covered in one day?

(EI): We covered 604 kilometres non-stop in Kazakhstan. After that, I was walking like
a duck!

Which was the most challenging terrain you encountered? We see you also have dual-purpose tyres. Did you use them anywhere?

(EI): We needed them in Nepal. The roads were terrible in Nepal, especially from the Tibet border onwards. Once in Kazakhstan, we were informed that there was a 25-km-long stretch of bad road ahead of us. So there also we used our off-road tyres.

Was there any point during your trip when you felt you should stop this and go back home?

(EI): No, not at all.

Is this the first time you are in India?

(Wolfgang) I have been here a couple of times. I was here for the first time in 1979. I travelled around India by train for two months. Now India has changed so much.

(Claudia and Christian) First time for both of us. We have always heard stories about India and when we crossed the border into the country, it was amazing. Wolf has told us that you don’t see India; you smell India and it is true. There are a lot of aromas to take in.

Three travellers set out from Berlin astride bright red Vespas to reach Goa in time for the full moon festival

What would you take away from India?

(EI): Tanned skin (laughs) and thousands of memories. The other day, a lady we never met before invited us home for dinner in Mumbai and that is just one of the many people who were very kind to us.

Given a chance, would you do this over again?

(EI): Certainly. We will take a different route, though.

Why is Goa your destination?

(EI): Since we are making a film about our trip, we wanted to choose a place that was famous. It also had to be a place where we could stay for a month and have fun. Goa is fairly well known in Europe and it has beaches, restaurants, and bars. We deserve a good holiday after all that travel, don’t we? (laughs)

Will you be riding back home again?

(EI): Absolutely. We will take the easy route. We will ride back in an aeroplane and he vehicles will be shipped to us.

Three travellers set out from Berlin astride bright red Vespas to reach Goa in time for the full moon festival

Joshua Varghese – who has written 671 posts on Bike India.


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Filed Under: Features Tagged With: berlin, bike, Blue, elephant, ferdinand, goa, India, Interview, latest, new, news, scooter, travel, trip, Vespa

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Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

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