After a rather late and unnerving arrival in Gokarna, we met Nils, a charismatic young fellow from Berlin. Usually, people tend to travel with their fellow countryman. So did we. The tuk-tuk triple was born.

It all started, when we finally arrived in Gokarna after just another wrong address inside Google maps (in Varkala Google nearly killed our rickshaw). On our way there we encountered some pretty beautiful salines though.

In Gokarna, we bumped into Nils in the hostel late in the evening and went out for dinner together. He seemed to know the place quite well and soon it was clear that he also wanted to go up North. So we asked if he wanted to join our crazy adventure. Nils was in for it. It was our first and only carpool in India and we had a hell of a blast! 

Leaving Gokarna

The next morning after a good long sleep and a bit of wandering around the exceptionally beautiful cliff, from which we had a nice sight on the beach, we started towards Goa. 

We found out that we used the motor to its full capacity with three people and three heavy backpacks. So especially steep hills were a nuisance. Sometimes the two in the back needed to jump out and push the tuk-tuk up an especially steep part.

Karwa – a beautiful mess

In Karwa we had a super delicious (and massive) breakfast, which provided our tuk-tuk triple with lots of energy for the day. It was actually more of a brunch.

The city was a prime example of the Indian spirit: overcrowded, noisy and dirty, but pulsating with life. Especially the bazar conveyed this feeling with its fruits lying on blankets directly on the street.

Way too many tourists

On our way along the coast, we stopped in Palolem but turned in on our heels immediately when we saw how crowded it was. No one of us could stand the touristic atmosphere. It seemed to poison the air around.

So we went on and after a rather short time of driving stopped in Agonda for the night. The beach was still touristic (as usual in Goa), but no comparison to Palolem. Especially during sunset the boulders at the beach looked wonderful and Rico could not stop himself from climbing around a little.

Tuk-Tuk triple in North Goa

Especially the northern part of Goa, with Arambol as a center, is a touristic hell. That is why we stayed there for just one night. On our way to Arambol, we stopped occasionally to have a look at the beachside, but as we already expected it was full of sunbathing tourists and souvenir shops – lots of souvenir shops. The perfect things to scare us away.

In the evening before we parted in Siolim and went on to Arambol we had been to a Nav-Tara diner (a restaurant-chain in Goa), where we ate the best Thali ever.

We, meaning Rico and me, arrived in Arambol quite late and to our surprise the hostel we booked was full – they simply overbooked their place. We were annoyed. Upset that they did not even bother to offer us an alternative with a similar price, we had to look for ourselves. What an audacity! Quite tired we checked into a hostel after 12 pm – without a parking place for our tuk-tuk. Everybody could have just rolled it away…

Not a tuk-tuk triple anymore we left early (luckily nobody stole our little auto) and made our way towards the next Indian state -Maharashtra. Was that the definitive end for the triple though? Read on in the next article.