It's hard to believe that 6 months have passed since this journey began. Time has been flying, filled with so many experiences that I often lose my sense of time.

It took me a while to feel like writing again after my last post. I usually wait until I'm in the mood, and this time almost 2 months have passed. The problem is that when I wait too long, travel experiences start to pile up, and naturally some details fade away with time.

After Dharamshala - still my favourite place so far - I went to the state of West Bengal. My first stop was Darjeeling, where I spent a few days enjoying the peacefulness and beauty of the town. I stayed at a guesthouse where the owner treated me like family. He still writes to me quite often, asking how I'm doing. My days there were simple and relaxing - walking around and soaking up the atmosphere.

And then, I finally experienced something I had wanted to do in India: travelling by train. I had heard so many stories from other travellers (mostly good ones) that I was curious to try it myself. My first journey was around 8 hours from Siliguri (close to Darjeeling) to Kolkata - short compared to others I'll share later - and since it was during the day, there was no need to sleep on board. I chose a daytime train to enjoy the views. It was a completely different experience compared to trains in Europe. People here are more sociable and tend to talk to whoever is sitting next to them. Throughout the trip, railway staff constantly passed through the carriages selling food. When buying the ticket, we could choose to include meals (I believe it was breakfast and lunch, if I remember correctly), but besides that, vendors kept coming around offering all kinds of snacks and drinks.

Kolkata, however, won't make it onto my list of favourite cities. In fact, it's the place I've liked the least so far. The city is chaotic, crowded, and incredibly noisy, mostly because of the constant honking. After just a few hours of walking through the streets, I felt mentally exhausted. My energy drained quickly, and sitting in a restaurant to have a meal became the highlight of my days - simply as a break from the chaos outside.

After that, I travelled to Meghalaya. Visiting this state was in my plans even before the journey began, because I have a friend there - a local who took a football coaching course with me in Budapest 14 years ago. I wasn't sure when I'd go, but it made sense to visit before heading south, since Meghalaya is in the far northeast of India.

My friend lives in Shillong, the state capital, and kindly hosted me in one of his 2 houses during my 2-week stay. That house is currently empty, except for a young man who looks after it and stays in a separate room outside. So, I had a 2-floor house to myself, and every morning he cooked me breakfast.

This friend of mine is an experienced football coach. He was already coaching back in 2011 when we took the course, and now he manages a professional club in Shillong. I had the chance to watch some training sessions and a match during my stay.

He introduced me to everyone as a football coach from Portugal, including his assistant coaches and players. They were excited to meet me, even though I only coached for one season right after our course - a fact my friend didn't mention to them. For some reason, he believes I'm actually a good coach and told me that if I ever return, he would offer me a position with one of the club's youth teams. How crazy is that? He seems to have more confidence in my coaching skills than I do myself...

Since he was often busy with work and family, we couldn't meet every day. Still, he invited me to dinner a few times, where I met his wife, 3 kids, and many relatives.

Meghalaya itself is stunning. It's one of the "Seven sisters" states, and it almost feels like another country. There's far less chaos - drivers don't honk constantly, people mainly speak Khasi (a local language very different from Hindi), and the culture looks and feels different from much of India. The Khasi people are predominantly Christian, not Hindu.

Because my friend was busy, he asked his assistant coaches to take me on day trips. Thanks to them, I saw beautiful waterfalls and even explored a huge cave.

At the beginning of September, I had to leave India due to visa restrictions. I chose Thailand as my next destination. To get there, I first took a night train back to Kolkata, since flights to Bangkok were cheaper from there. That journey lasted over 16 hours and was even more interesting than my first train ride. The setup was similar, but this time we had bunk beds. During the day, we all sat on the lower berths, and at night we set up the beds to sleep. The train felt like a moving market, with vendors constantly walking through the corridors - not only railway staff, but also outside sellers who hopped on at stations. Most sold food and drinks, but others sold everything from blankets to phone chargers.

I spent about 2 weeks in Thailand, mainly on Kho Phangan, a beautiful island where I finally got to enjoy the beach for the first time this year. That was my goal - to rest by the sea, enjoy the warm weather and water, and soak up as much vitamin D as possible. Surprisingly, the beaches weren't crowded at all. Almost every day, I went for a run along the sand and stayed to watch the sunset, which happens quite early there, before 6:30 p.m.

Now I'm back in Kolkata, where I arrived 2 days ago from Thailand. This evening, I'll take my third train journey - this time to Pune - which will last almost 33 hours. I'll be sleeping 2 nights on the train. The summer and monsoon seasons are nearly over, so hopefully the weather will be more pleasant there.

Back in Himachal Pradesh, when I visited Bir, I met an Indian guy from Mumbai who currently lives in Pune. We'll meet when I arrive, and he'll show me around whenever he's free.

I don't know yet how long I'll stay in Pune. Recently, I found out about the Osho meditation centre located there, and I might take a course. After Pune, I plan to go to Mumbai and later to Goa.

This post is less about inner reflections and more about sharing a description of my travels, otherwise it would become too long. But I can say this: I'm very happy I decided to embark on this journey. It has been an intense and diverse experience, and I'm excited about what comes next.