An unforgettable couple of weekends in Jaipur, Agra and Pushkar for India Gappers

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Kate Renehan

Hi again from India! After six weeks of living in the amazing city of Udaipur it's safe to say that everyone on the Gapbreak India placement now see it as truly our home away from home. Our time here has been so incredible and the three weeks we have left just doesn't seem long enough!

Recently the school we were informed that our presence in the school has caused a drastic improvement in the English speaking abilities of the children - this is most definitely one of the most encouraging things the volunteers over here have heard about our work! To know that people outside the school have acknowledged a genuine change stemming from the work we do is beyond encouraging to say the least. Both the school and the orphanage are going fantastically, with our attachment to the kids growing day by day - it's impossible to think we will have to leave these beautiful children far sooner than we would like, but we are all definitely relishing the time we have remaining with the kids.

Since my last post we have had three major weekend trips - one incredible three day trip to Jaipur and Agra, two days in the beautiful city of Pushkar and a fantastic weekend horse trekking around Udaipur. Jaipur and Agra was a jam-packed weekend to say the least! It began on Thursday night, when we had our first taste of Indian trains with a seven hour overnight trip to Jaipur. The Sleeper class carriages (the lowest class that provides a bed) were an experience to remember, as we were quite a novelty to many other local commuters in the same class which meant it was common to find entire families staring at us as they walked by. Whilst the nights sleep may not have been the best, the memories with the other girls and the laughs we had certainly made up for it! We arrived in Jaipur early Friday morning and got on with our schedule - Jaipur Fort (in which we saw a snake charmer and learnt about the royal family of Jaipur), an ancient astrology centre in Jaipur (containing the second largest sundial in the world), the famous Jaipur markets, an evening craft market and then finally a major modern shopping centre in Jaipur, to give us a taste of modern India.

It's safe to say that by the time we returned to our hotel on Friday night we were all absolutely exhausted! Saturday morning gave us further opportunity to explore Jaipur - we managed to squeeze in a visit to both a temple and a museum before we had to leave the beautiful, bustling city (which certainly gave us a nice taste of culture and history before we left). Our trip to Agra on Friday afternoon consisted of a 5 hour bus trip, which was going very well until the last 30 minutes as we essentially broke down. Times like this we thank our lucky stars our in country partner Pankaj is with us, as he realised the bus would be stuck there overnight and called a taxi from Agra to pick us up.

The next morning we were up bright and early before sunrise to see what we had all been holding out for - the Taj Mahal! Even though we were there at around 6am, the place was still quite crowded (it's hard to imagine what it would have been like in the middle of the day), but this did nothing to detract from the sight itself. It was actually quite weird to see the monument in person, after the amount of images and stories we had all been exposed to regarding the Taj Mahal before this trip. In saying this, it was still nothing short of spectacular - even that sentence doesn't do it justice! It is definitely a sight that none of us will be forgetting anytime soon. The rest of the day was spent exploring Agra (we took a tour of the Agra fort and the shops in Agra) before making the grueling 13 hour train trip home. Overall the Jaipur/Agra trip was definitely one of the most packed weekends so far, with both cities vibrant and bustling - never a quiet moment! In saying this, the entire weekend was certainly a blast and the Taj Mahal is a sight we will never forget.

The weekend after this we visited Pushkar, a town about 4 hours outside of Udaipur. Pushkar is a religious centre in Rajasthan, with may Hindu's and tourists alike journeying from all over India (and the world) to visit the holy lake in the centre of the city. This weekend trip has been universally declard a favourite by the group, with the incredible vibe and atmosphere of the city truly unforgettable. We spent the weekend exploring the markets, sitting by the lake, trekking to hillside temples and even learning traditional Rajasthani drumming! Pushkar is most definitely a weekend nobody in the group will be forgetting anytime soon!

The third weekend trip was the horse trekking. This trip was a great way to chill out after weeks of working hard and lots of travelling, as it was just outside Udaipur. We did two treks over the weekend on horseback, each lasting about three hours and allowing for all riding abilities. It was a truly unique way to see villages surrounding the city of Udaipur and the flora and fauna of our local area!

Overall our time in India is continuing to challenge and amaze us in all aspects of life, and it's hard to imagine leaving the workplaces and this stunning country itself after two months of living and working here.

Until next time
Kate