Distance: 55.8 km
Ride time: 3:22:33
Average: 16.5 km/h
Max speed: 44.3 km/h
Total: 50568 km
After a nice break in Kampala I was once again navigating the busy roads on the way out of the Uganda capital.
Kampala equals chaos, but I was now on my way to a place that was much more peaceful. Last week as I was crossing the equator I had met Ashok from India who again had put me in contact with Dada Swami, an Indian monk from the Ananda Marga project who runs an orphanage in a remote village. Dada Swami had invited me out for a visit, so that would be the destination for today.
After riding on a highway for most of the day I made a left turn into some very remote dirt roads. Luckily Dada had sent out a scooter driver to greet me – otherwise it would have been difficult to find the place.
An hour before sunset I climbed the last hill going up to the Ananda Marga Mission. Perhaps a few words about Ananda Marga is in order. Founded in 1955 by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, the organization is now present world wide. The overall mission of Ananda Marga is to combine personal development though yoga and meditation with service to humanity – in this case running an orphanage, school, and clinic in a remote village of Uganda.
Personally I’m not very religious although I would say I do have a spiritual side. The overall idea of the project rang a bell with me…
Dada Swami and his brother Acharya welcomed me with open arms to their peaceful place. I first had a quick look around the area.
In the coming weekend there would be a football tournament taking place, so the boys were marking up the field.
The primary school with a few hundred kids attending from the nearby villages.
And finally the orphanage itself with 15 boys living at the premises. After the lowering of the flag at sunset, Acharya was cooking up a simple but delicious Indian dinner, making me miss my time in this fascinating country very much.
With only limited light available from solar batteries we chatted for a bit about subjects such as spirituality, sustainability, and the challenges of our present-day society before going to bed early.
Certainly a very different and immensely interesting ending to a day on the bike in Africa! Well, you never know what’s around the corner on this kind of adventure. Now let’s see what tomorrow will bring 🙂
Hi Thomas, you are like a drone, infact much more, for folks like us :). Your photos and narrative gives us chance to immerse in whatever is happening around you.
Keep doing what you love.
-Altaf