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Author: Hilde Duyx
Date: 2011
Karin Bloem (owner of the travel agency Wild Times Safaris) came up with a spontaneous plan for her anniversary
trip to India, one with major consequences. “My 18-year-old daughter and I were on a boat on the Ganges River. The sun was rising and people were bathing in the river. It was so beautiful there.” Three days before the trip, I had attended a Jan van Goyenkade 17/18 get-together. I thought, “How special would it be if we could be here with that group?” I sent them a message saying, “I think it’s been 30 years since we lived together? Reason enough for a house anniversary!” And so began Jan’s 18th-anniversary adventure in India… Lees meer…
At the end of the day, at Karin Bloem’s house in The Hague, six women gather to talk about their trip to India a month earlier. One of them carries a photo album with pictures from their student days. The women enthusiastically gather around the photos, reminiscing about their time in Leiden. Karin: “All those round faces of ours!” Stan de Klerk-Waller also exclaims enthusiastically: “All those photos are fantastic, that book is really cool.” We sit down at the large table, and immediately all the stories flow.
From 9 to 20 housemates,
Karin starts at the beginning: “When I got back to the Netherlands, many housemates were immediately enthusiastic. I thought, ‘If six women come, that would be so much fun.’ But more and more women signed up. At one point, there were 16 of us, and then I said, ‘We’re all Jan 17/18, so who will be number 17 and who will be number 18?’” Kika Notten-Van Manen talks about her decision to go: “There were more and more of us, and at a certain point, you get the feeling, ‘If I don’t go, I’m going to miss something so special.’ In the end, we went on a trip to India with 20 former housemates!” Stan: “It’s funny, but it didn’t feel like such a big group at all.” Karin: “When it got serious, we set up an anniversary committee with Stan and Silvia de Ronde Bresser-Oostwegel. ” The trip that was planned took them to Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Ranthambore Park, Jaipur and Samode in nine days.
Jan 18, late 1970s.
Stan continues: “The trip was incredibly well organized by Bloem. It also felt really comfortable traveling together because you lived with everyone.” “There were no arguments at all,” Carmen Völker-Teixeira de Mattos adds. “But I can’t recall any irritations from the time we lived at Jan 18,” Stan muses. Karin: “We were a bit boyish in our house, in terms of honesty and openness. That was characteristic of our house, and we still have it.” But had nothing changed compared to the past? Carmen, the youngest of the housemates, says: “I thought it was quite different during the trip than before. Didn’t you think so? You don’t have that hierarchy anymore, and everyone has experienced something by now.” Silvia says with a laugh: “So, as the youngest, she didn’t have to take out the garbage anymore.” Karlijn de Mol of Otterloo-Farwerck: “There was indeed a very relaxed atmosphere. It was the same when we lived on Jan 18.”
The house quiz…
During the trip, it became clear that the ladies hadn’t lost their student spirit. “Kika and I had created a house quiz together, which was scheduled for midweek,” says Karlijn. Karin explains the context: “The first four days we had a very intensive schedule and short nights. So the quiz wasn’t until day five.” Karlijn: “I was afraid that all the anecdotes from our student days would have been covered by the fifth evening. But we mainly caught up on what was going on, so we didn’t really talk about the past at all. Luckily!”
The quiz eventually took place in the tiger park. When all the other guests were already asleep, preparing for the safari the next morning, Jan 18 spilled all the stories, and the evening was only just beginning…
The backbone of the trip
: “You were on a high,” says Silvia. Carmen: “We laughed so hard. A few times, tears rolled down my cheeks from laughing.” Karlijn: “My jaw even ached.” The highlight for everyone, however clichéd, was “that we had so much fun together.” Stan: “Everything was covered. Sometimes you’d sit next to someone on the bus for five hours and then you’d really get into a deep conversation. Because of the traveling and because you always shared a room with someone, we had a relatively large amount of time to really catch up.” Kika: “We know each other well enough, and the foundation is so solid.” Stan adds: “You know you can trust each other, so you’re very open with each other. Of course, we’ve been through so much together in the past.” Silvia: “What I remember vividly is that I was grabbing something in my hotel room and hearing sounds from an adjacent room that I hadn’t heard in so long! Those sounds felt very safe and familiar. I found that very special.” Karlijn: “I don’t think we would have experienced it all as intensely if we had gone to Maastricht, for example. The trip was the foundation upon which it all could be built.”
What made the trip so special?
Silvia: “It was, of course, quite special in itself to be together with so many former housemates after all these years and to take such a trip.” “In terms of culture and history, Varanasi was a highlight for almost everyone,” Stan adds, “Especially because you were immediately drawn into India.” “And of course the Taj Mahal,” Karlijn suggests. “I thought, ‘I know it because you’ve seen so many photos of it,’ but when that immense white mausoleum appears out of nowhere, you really don’t know what you’re seeing.” How special to share this with each other. “And we were happy to see the temples in Sarnath,” says Carmen. “That’s actually where Buddhism originated. So that’s another very spiritual place,” and “here our yoga enthusiasts could take their place,” Kika adds with a laugh. “Of course, we saw all kinds of forts and palaces in Jaipur. The luxury, wealth, and abundance were unparalleled.” Our last night we also spent in a Maharaja’s palace. There we had our final dinner in a private room at a beautiful long table with silver decorations, candelabras, chandeliers, and ornaments. It was like a fairy tale from the Arabian Nights.
No place like home.
Another highlight for the women were the stories told by their travel guide, Addy. Silvia: “On the very last evening, after dinner, we drove to the plane on our bus. Marlisa then asked Addy for a final story.” Carmen: “He came up with a story he called ‘In search of the truth.’” Karin: “It went like this: ‘Once upon a time… there was a group of women. They went to Varanasi and Jaipur in search of the truth. They kept hotel guests awake for nights in the tiger park, didn’t see the tiger, but the tiger kept an eye on them. And even in the Maharaja’s private palace, they didn’t find happiness. At the end of the trip, they returned to their own country and found the truth: there’s no place like home.” For the women, this was, of course, January 18.
Inspired by Jan 18’s anniversary trip? Then contact Karin Bloem, owner of Wild Times. Besides tailor-made safaris and trips to Africa, India, and Myanmar, Wild Times also organizes anniversary trips for year clubs, fraternities, and associations. T
: 070-2153250 – E: info@wildtimessafaris.com – www.wildtimessafaris.nl
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