21 You Won’t Believe This Place I Found in India (Mini Tibet?)
Wow! Can you hear that? So, we got here, out and then we have to do a U-turn and go back. Yeah, I'm not very good at doing U-turns. You get a good practice first thing this morning, and here's a practice for my new yoga pose that I call "Get on the Bike." AA, ready to rock and roll! Kind of. Bye-bye! Can you get through the little gate? Just about. Yep, there are so many monkeys! Oh, look—monkeys against the pigs! We come out to
the junction and get welcomed by monkeys and pigs. Okay, first U-turn practice of the day. Oh my God, here you go. Yep, don’t put your feet down, don’t put your feet down! Yes! That wasn’t too bad. That’s enough to pass your test. Good morning, world! Welcome back to the channel. It’s ride number 21 on our motorcycle adventure here in India. We’re in the town of Badami, and we’ve been here for the past couple of days exploring the ancient history of the region and the Chalukya Dynasty. We’ve seen some absolutely amazing, beautiful, UNESCO World Heritage Sites over the past couple of days, including the Badami Caves, the ruins of Aihole, and Pattadakal—the beautiful Hindu temple complex. My brain is filled with history!
Yeah, mine too, because I had to do a lot of research over the last couple of days, and I had to listen to a lot of [Music] history. Whoa! There’s some kind of horn on that bike! Wow. But seriously, I’m so impressed with the sites. They were so well-maintained and just so beautiful. I love walking around all these sites, you know? Yeah, props to the Karnataka Tourism Department because they really set out these sites beautifully. Yeah, so good on you guys! Those were some magical, well-done tourist attractions. Yeah, definitely worth a visit. Definitely worth a visit. Say "worth a visit" five times! Oh wow, and the sun is just coming up behind the cliffs over there. Whoa, there we go—another day
begins! Good morning, sun! But unfortunately, it’s time to leave this magical area behind because we’re on a new mission now. So, let me show you guys where we’re heading today. We are here in Badami, and today we are going to be riding to a settlement dubbed "The Mini Tibet of India"—Mundgod. It is time to leave Central Karnataka behind because we are heading back towards the coast. Bye-bye! And I have no idea what to expect from this Tibetan settlement, Mundgod, but I thought it’d be worth going there and at least checking it out. So, let’s see what we find.
Exactly! So, we have about a three-and-a-half-hour ride to get there, and it’s already 7:30, so we better hit the road. Let’s go! [Music] This was the location of the market that we passed through yesterday. It doesn’t actually feel like you can ride here. Well, I mean, it is a road—according to Google Maps, anyway. You can see the remnants of that market. It was—oh, my love, come back, come back! This way! Okay, you gotta take a detour here. Okay, so yeah, the market is still happening, or something is still happening here. I don’t know what. Hey, oh, and wow, here’s an old stepwell!
It looks like—wow! But there’s no water in it. I just wanted to get a closer look to show you guys this old stepwell. Oh wow, wow, look at this! So, this would have definitely been an ancient stepwell back when this was part of the Chalukya Empire. It would have provided water for the city—effectively an artificial reservoir. But as you can see, there is no longer any water in here. Still, it’s very, very impressive, to say the [Music] least. Beautiful, long, open road this morning. Look at this! Not a car in sight.
But you can really feel, as the sun starts to rise, that the temperature just rapidly starts to go up. We started off this morning with about 20°C, and I was a little bit chilly. But not anymore! It’s currently half past 8, and the forecast says that by 9:00, it’ll already be 27°C. Oh, and wow, on the left here, we’ve got loads and loads of pieces for wind turbines—all the sections! Look at that! We can see quite a lot of wind turbines dotted around the landscape here, so it’s nice to see that the government is investing in green energy.
Mysore! Nice! You subscribed last week? Oh, last week you subscribed? Nice! Thank you so much! This video—my video? Yeah, now we are heading back to the coast. Hello, hello, hello! Nice to meet you, nice to meet you! Where are you heading? I'm going this direction. Okay, we’re going that direction—Mundgod. M? Okay.
You are from Karnataka? Yes. You’re from here? Yeah. Thank you! All right, thank you so much! So, for breakfast, we’ve got these. These are called "pad," and it’s made with rice flour. Dosa? Like dosa? Okay, same like dosa. And we’ve got some coconut chutney and masala. Okay, cool, really cool! Very difficult to say! That’s difficult to say.
Just take a bit of both, yeah, and a bit of [Music] this. Thank you so much! Thank you! Is it really spicy, or is it, like, quite spicy? Quite spicy! [Music] Try it! I love it. Oh my, my mouth is burning—but it's worth it! Thank you so much, guys. Awesome! We feel happy visiting our hotel. Uh, thank you, guys. Thank you, thank you! "YouTube channel?" "Oh yes, yes! This is the YouTube channel."
"I'll search for that YouTube channel." "Yes! Lovey and Oie." "Lovey and Oie came from the motorcycle? Only England to here?" "No, no, this is from, uh, from Delhi." "Delhi?" "Yes, yes! But we're riding all over India today." "Where did you stay?" "We started in Badami, then went to Mundgod, and we're staying in Mundgod." "Okay, I will subscribe!" "Please do! Thank you."
Awesome! That was a really nice break—a very nice break. First, I was addicted to dosa, and thanks to those guys, we now have a new point of interest to go visit. They told us that in the next town, there's actually a giant statue. I think it's called Vishwaguru, but anyway, it looks super cool, so we decided to go check it out. Oh wow, look at these golden chariots! Nice! Oh, I can see the statue already.
Yeah, India are masters at building mega statues. The tallest statue in the entire world is in India—the Statue of Unity. And we are going to be visiting it when we reach Gujarat, so stay tuned for that, guys. But right now, let's see what's going on here. They open at 10:00? Okay, we'll be the first in. We don’t have any cash, my love. So, I was just getting cash from the ATM here,
and I just met the wonderful Sanjay. "Namaskara!" "Namaskara! Nice to meet you, Sanjay." "This is our culture. First, whenever we see a person, we greet them with 'namaskara.' It means showing respect towards another person."
"Okay! So, namaskara, namaskara, namaskara!" "Nice to meet you! Welcome to Karnataka." "We've had a wonderful time here in Karnataka." "Thank you, thank you so much! Next time when you visit, please visit our home and have a cup of tea or coffee." "Thank you!" "Whatever you want, just ask. Our people are so humble, and they will give you lots of love. The people here are good. And please tell your England people that in India, Karnataka is the most beautiful place!"
"The people we've met so far in Karnataka have been absolutely wonderful—including you, Sanjay! You're very, very sweet. Thank you, very nice to meet you." "Thank you, thank you!" "All right, bye-bye!" I met a really cool guy called Sanjay. He was very nice! Okay, he said next time we come, we can have tea—okay—with the whole team. The whole team tea?
"Okay, thank you!" "What is the name of this statue?" "Vishwaguru Basava Statue. First, go inside. See everything, then I will tell you more." "Okay, thank you! We’ll do that." "So, this is the family of the man in the statue. A scene from Basava's birth." "Okay, okay."
"So, this is Basava at birth, his mother, his father, his sister, his cousins, and the neighborhood people." "When was Basava born?" "Around, uh, 1200. Maybe around 1200." "Okay, so an ancient guru?" "Yes, an ancient guru." Basava was truly ahead of his time—a philosopher and poet in the 12th century. Basava fought for equality and social reform,
rejecting gender and social discrimination as well as superstitions and rituals. Here, it says: "In a deeply worried mood, the child Basava sits, contemplating the evil practices in society—including pouring milk on the statues of snake gods. As you can see in the background, he was deeply troubled by the superstitious practices of society." This diorama depicts Basava rescuing
a drowning boy from a pond, despite the boy being an Untouchable—the lowest caste in society at the time. Basava came to his aid. This one says: "For the removal of untouchability from society, Basava arranged the inter-caste marriage of an Untouchable youth with a Brahmin girl." Basava taught that every human being was equal, irrespective of caste, and that all forms of manual labor were equally important. And then, the final diorama—a scene depicting Basava becoming Linga, reaching enlightenment.
And there we go—a very wise and influential figure from 800 years ago. Okay! So now, we have learned about the life, wisdom, and teachings of Vishwaguru Basava. It's time to check out this mega [Music] statue. I think I've never stood in
front of a statue this big before! Look how big it is! I don’t know if the camera can really do justice to how massive this statue is. This statue is an impressive 111 feet tall—about 33 meters. It took six years to build and was completed in 2015. Look how big his foot is—it’s like the size of a car! So, there we go, guys—a nice little impromptu detour. Thank you for your recommendation! It’s quite cool to take local recommendations—you end up in cool places like this. Vishwaguru’s message to the world is: "All is one on this Earth. There is no big or small, no high or low. All are one."
Thank you, guys! Thank you, thank you! "All right, thank you! See you guys, bye-bye!" "Thank you so much! Bye!" "Happy journey!" "Thank you! Goodbye, Vishwaguru Vishada!" So, we are coming through Gadag now—the town of Gadag. Oh, look at all these tuk-tuks with flags! Wow! But the temperature is already up to 30°C, and we still have an hour and 40 minutes to go. [Music] We have a roadblock on the highway here. Where is he going with his sheep? Wow! So, I just read on the sign that we have entered the Yellapur Forest Division, and this is a state forest. Oh wow, beautiful! All the trees in this area are in blossom with these beautiful pink flowers. It looks
like a huge wild forest—such a nice change after all the farmland and busy towns we’ve been going through today. But we’ve been making pretty good progress. It’s nearly 1:00, and we have only 16 km to go to reach the town of Mundgod. We haven’t booked any accommodation there, so I think we’ll just arrive, see what’s on offer, drop off our stuff, and then explore this Tibetan settlement. And here’s a whole truck full of ginger—look at that! Full to the brim with ginger.
One! There’s a lot of [Music] Ginger! Welcome to Mundgod! It is currently 1:00, and we have arrived. Google Maps has routed us to a place where we might stay tonight, so we will go there now and check if they have a room available and how much it costs. Oh, there's a monkey! A black-faced monkey! Oh, cute! I think it's this place here—Ashraa Lodge. Yeah? Okay, cool! Okay, let's go and check it out. Oh wow, very nice, very nice! Thank you so much. Yeah, perfect! Thank
you. [Music] We just made it to our room for tonight! So, this is our room—it looks like this. Actually, it has a very nice big bed, and then we even have a second bed. Maybe Ollie will sleep on this one tonight. We have a little coffee table here, which is quite nice. Ollie’s over there, working hard
already—just loading the footage from the day. And this is our view—an overgrown little garden. Not bad! And then this is our bathroom. This room cost us 1,200 rupees. It has air conditioning, which is really good because it's very, very hot outside. Yes, but our mission is not done for
today. We've got the footage loading, but now it's time to head over to the Mundgod Tibetan Camp. Okay, definitely starting to see a lot more Tibetan vibes around here! Apparently, the camp is just down here to the right. Oh look, there's a monk on a bike! Wow, wow! Okay, here we go. That's colorful! Wow, I think we have entered the Mundgod
Tibetan Camp. Hello! Wow, look at that! Wow, all of these monks in their beautiful robes! Wow, yeah—very cool! Hello, hello! I think we should park in front of this monastery. Okay, because this monastery seems to be one of the central monasteries of the camp. Oh nice! Hello! Wow, can you hear that? Yeah, it's like a different world here. We are heading towards the Ganden Shartse Monastery—this massive, beautiful building behind us. And as you can hear, there is some chanting going on inside. So, I'm super excited! Let's go check it out. Can you hear that?
[Music] Guys, is it possible? Yes, you— [Music] Sure! [Music] Foreign speech... [Music] Wow, when he does those low notes... We're going to go under the mango tree—hold on! Wow, that was so kind! One of the monks saw us peeking in and just said, "Guys, come on in! You're welcome! Have a walk around." Yeah, he just said, "Be sure to walk clockwise." But what an incredible experience—to arrive here at the largest monastery in the largest Tibetan settlement in India. And they’re all there, chanting! I mean, it's just mind-blowing. Yes, the energy inside there is so spectacular! Wow, you just want to chant with them, you know? You just want to sit down and dive into a different world. Seriously, wow!
I could sit here the whole day and just listen to their chanting. [Music] So, the story of this place... Wow, the story of this place started in 1966 when the government of Karnataka allocated 4,000 acres of land to Tibetan refugees. The Tibetans set up the Doeguling Tibetan Camp right here in Mundgod.
This area is known as the "Mini Tibet of India," and for good reason! There are 17,000 Tibetan refugees living here today, making it one of the largest Tibetan settlements outside of Tibet in the world. Absolutely magical that this exists right here in the middle of the forests of Karnataka. Wow, really a different world! Check out these two beautiful statues—so beautifully painted! And there's a little Buddha up there in the window, along with these amazing dragon paintings. Wow, I feel zen now. Yeah, that was an absolutely magical experience—magical! Wow, this place really does feel like a completely different world, huh? Yeah, like a completely different country.
Yeah, yeah! It's like we've entered Tibet! Okay, this place—the gate is closed, but look at that. Wow, that's so pretty! Yeah, and look what happens when you search "monastery" here—look at that! This place is just full of monasteries, and all of them are absolutely breathtaking. And a cool thing about this settlement is that they actually have restaurants here! We’re heading to one called "Restaurant With No Name." I'm excited to try some Tibetan food! Is it just me, or is everybody driving a little more zen inside here? Okay, so the "Restaurant With No Name" is coming up here on the right. Let’s see... Or is it this one? Well, the restaurant has no name, so we can't really know... That's [Music] true! "Thank you!" "You okay?" "Thank you!" "No money?" "Okay, thank you so much!" "And is this—this is Tibetan soup?" "Yeah, you put in salt. Just a little bit." "It's okay, thank you!"
So, we found a restaurant here with traditional Tibetan food. And we even have the Dalai Lama up there! "YouTuber?" "Yes, yes, yes!" "We wanted to come here and have some Tibetan food." "Is momo Tibetan food?" "Yes! Momo is typical food from Tibet." "Very nice! I'm very happy—that's great!"
Okay guys, we did it! We have momos! We have a traditional Tibetan soup, which kind of tastes like melted butter. Yeah, melted butter in a cup. "Very good! Thank you, thank you!" Yeah, that's really nice! It's like a buttery broth.
But it's time to try a momo! Mmm! Delicious! Very rich. Wow, amazing place! I hope we can visit Tibet at some point in our lives. We just had a beautiful honey lemon and ginger tea on the side of the road here, in the middle of this Tibetan paradise of a town. Yes, it was very calming and very nice. Yeah, it's just a serene environment here. And we had momos, so I'm happy!
Now, we’ll just head back to the hotel and get some rest so we’re fit for tomorrow. So, that's it from us today! We hope you enjoyed the video. If so, please give us a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, share the video with your friends and family, comment below— And we will see you next time!
2025-04-06 11:38
