India volunteering tour
| country: | India |
| departures: | 2008: 3 Aug, 7 Sep, 5 Oct, 2 Nov |
| price: | From £1195 (4 weeks) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK. |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Dreaming of an exotic alternative travel experience? This overland tour of Southern India is a fantastic way to discover the beautiful sights of the region. It's a 28 day tour of famous ruins, cities and peaceful villages. Along the way you will get the chance to do volunteer work on several projects to see how they work and enable you to feel like you are giving something back to the country hosting you.
Projects include working with communities and in orphanages as well as planting trees to transform and improve wastelands. You will also be able to try your hand at local arts or crafts and try rock climbing if you are feeling a little more adventurous on this humanitarian tour of India.
Projects include working with communities and in orphanages as well as planting trees to transform and improve wastelands. You will also be able to try your hand at local arts or crafts and try rock climbing if you are feeling a little more adventurous on this humanitarian tour of India.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1-2: | Bangalore. The tour starts in Bangalore, Southern India where you will be greeted with a traditional Indian welcome and time to settle in to your new surroundings. The following day you will receive your orientation at Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, a 250 acre park in the middle of Bangalore. |
| Day 3-4: | Tree planting. You begin your first stint of volunteer work at Kengeri village, 27km from Bangalore. Here you will help plant trees to improve the environment for the local people on a once abandoned wasteland. |
| Day 5-7: | Children's workshops. You change your focus to working with the local community at Kengeri. You will interact with the local village school children in workshops and fun sessions such as arts and crafts or games for the kids. For this first week you will travel to and from Bangalore each day so it’s a great chance to explore Bangalore when you finish each day. |
| Day 8-10: | Vijayanagar. You then leave Bangalore to travel to Hampi and the famous ruins at the village of Vijayanagar. Once the capital of one of the largest Hindu empires in Indian history, the ruins are set amongst boulders and remain one of the top tourist attractions in Southern India. You will have a couple of days to visit the ruins and even try your hand at rock climbing if you’re feeling adventurous. |
| Day 11-15: | Mamallapuram. You return to Bangalore where you have a free day to do some local sightseeing and shopping before travelling to Mamallapuram, near Madras, famous for it’s shore temple. Mamallapuram and its fishing villages were also affected by the tsunami at the end of 2004 and you will get the chance to work with and talk to the families affected. |
| Day 15-17: | Mamallapuram. Half way into the trip and you get your chance to try your hand at the local handicrafts. You will be working with village co-operatives to help the local women make a living and assisting them in their work. The next couple of days will be spent around Mamallapuram visiting the shore temple, sculptures and rock carvings around the town. There are is also a good beach, handicraft shops and other temples to explore. |
| Day 18-21: | Pondicherry and Auroville International Community. The group then travels to Pondicherry, a charming coastal town that was formerly a French colony and still has a few touches of French culture. You will visit the French Tamil quarter and the world famous Sri Aurobindo Ashram a spiritual centre founded on modern science and yoga. The next day you will visit the world famous Auroville International Community, an experiment in international living where people could live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, politics and nationalities. You will then have another couple of days staying with the Auroville International Community to see how the community works for your own eyes. |
| Day 22-24: | Madras. Next you travel towards Madras (Chennai) and take a trip to the Madras Crocodile Bank followed by games and a barbeque on the beach plus and a disco for those that have the energy. The next day you head back to Bangalore for a well deserved rest day. Then on to Mysore for some time to sightsee, including Maharaja’s Palace and the colourful fruit and vegetable market |
| Day 25-26: | Mysore orphanage. Your last spell of volunteer work in an orphanage in Mysore, once again working to entertain and play with the children either in sports, games or crafts. |
| Day 27: | Sravanabelagola. You will then have one final day to visit the famous sights at Sravanabelagola (meaning Monk of the White Pond), one of the oldest and most important Jain pilgrimage centres in India and the site of a huge 17m naked statue. |
| Day 28: | Departure. |
a taste of volunteering trip - what's it all about?
This type of trip is ideal for people who are unable to take very long periods off work but who are interested in volunteering to work with communities in need, or in wildlife conservation. These shorter trips combine volunteering with an opportunity to see the main sights in destinations. Find out more about 'taste of volunteering'how this holiday makes a difference
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The beauty of this kind of travel is that you can still do all of the things you would do on a typical tourist holiday – visit the sites, sample the food – whilst still making a valuable difference to people’s lives.
Many children in India are deprived of many opportunities necessary for their development. The aims of these projects are to provide education and social skills to disadvantaged/underprivileged children and keep them away from life in the slums. Volunteers can make a difference in the lives of these children through help with after school programs, computer training for teenagers and street children, and other valuable programs. During you’re the tour you will opportunities to help provide basic daily care for the children. You are also encouraged to actively participate in programs such as health education, games, drawing, and arts and crafts. You can also get involved in sports and make teaching materials to aid the children's learning. You may be working in small groups or on a one-to-one basis. You will be expected to contribute in any way possible, so it is advised to come prepared with ideas, activities and game for the children. Finally, as this tour lasts for only 4 weeks, volunteers go into the project full of energy and enthusiasm. Consequently, a lot can be done in this short period of time and the local people can really benefit form this. Furthermore this a great taster for longer volunteering positions, with many of our volunteers going on to participate in longer placements helping making even more of a difference. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've lead the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |