15.000 km on a motorbike through India
(Inhumane limits and human grandeur)
India: Here we have a country of extremes, a country unifying peaks and depths, a country where many religions may exist in parallel and where various gods may be glorified and worshiped side by side. Tanja and I spent 11/2 years travelling a distance of 15.000 km through this subcontinent on an old motorbike. The time we spent here allowed us to become one with this mystical country; we dined with a maharajah, we witnessed a beggar being eaten up alive by maggots, we spent days and weeks in known and unknown ashrams, we hiked through primeval forests and watched wild elephants, buffalos and tigers from close up.
We saw the dangerous roads bringing death, and we saw fakirs with butchers hooks in their backs so as to hang themselves up on them, or to pull a truck through the alleys with them. We saw things that can hardly be put into words, and that one would only be able to understand when experiencing them oneself. I remember as if it’d been yesterday, the day Tanja and I strolled through the alleys of Madras. It was already mid-April, and very hot. In May, the Indian midsummer tends to paralyse any movements, even the locals do no more than what is absolutely necessary. It appeared to us as if we were the first white tourists. We were greeted with a friendly smile and wave. I felt extremely well, even happy to sense the hot Indian soil under my feet. It was just great, and I felt at home. Even the dirty roads appeared amazingly familiar, as if I’d been here before. The people around us seemed to absorb and reflect our good mood. Even though it may sound more and more like a fairy tale when others talk about the cordiality and satisfaction of the Indian people: I experience this vitality every time anew.
If time allows, I will publish our fantastic impressions and in part bloodcurdling experiences in the category “Diaries India”.
India 1991-92/93-94-95
For 1 ½ years, Tanja and Denis Katzer made their way through this mythical land full of extreme contrasts on an old Indian motorbike (Enfield). On this journey of altogether 15.000 km they lived in heaven and hell at the same time.