Another busy day for Beyond Boundaries

Hello!

It is the last weekend in India for our Hackney Beyond Boundaries group. Yesterday, we spent the day out and about in Udaipur City.

We all enjoyed a much needed shopping trip in the market (a good excuse to use up all of our spare rupees!)

Practicing our bartering skills in a Sari shop

One of the busy streets in the market

Having a drink in Cafe Edelweiss...Shopping is thirsty work!

 

After a busy morning at the market, we took a trip up to Monsoon Palace.

The Palace was built to watch monsoon clouds; hence why it is aptly known as Monsoon Palace. It is located just west of Udaipur City on top of a hill, overlooking Lake Pichola.

Visiting Monsoon Palace was an amazing experience for all – We were able to see some breath taking views over the city from the top of Monsoon Palace, as well as some more monkeys!

Monsoon Palace was used as Kamal Khans residence in the 1983 James Bond film ‘Octopussy’.

"Look at that view Pankaj"

The picturesque view from the top of Monsoon Palace

 

"But first, let me take a selfie!"

Monsoon Palace

Overlooking Udaipur City

 

En route up the winding roads to Monsoon Palace

Driving up to Monsoon Palace

We had an enjoyable afternoon taking in the views of the city; following this, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Ambroi Restaurant on Lake Pichola. It was a perfect restaurant to enjoy our final Saturday evening in India.

Dinner with a view

Ambroi Hotel & Restaurant

Lake Pichola

It was a lovely day enjoyed by all; we had some very tired young people when we got back to the volunteer house!

By Sumeet Dhamu

Deputy Project Leader (Beyond Boundaries)

Happy Indian Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

India’s 67^th Independence Day has been celebrated across India, as well as other parts of the world today.

We have been lucky enough to be part of some amazing celebrations. We began the day with a visit to the destitute boy’s home; being welcomed with beautiful signs adorning the floor made from coloured powder. The boys treated us to some fabulous dance performances to some of the most famous Bollywood songs, as well as singing India’s national anthem and raising the Indian flag.

Being welcomed at the destitute boys home

Watching performances

Standing for the National Anthem

Staff and students were given a tikka (a red mark on their forehead) to mark the occasions, as well as fresh flower garlands. Our young people had the chance to distribute bananas to the children - it is tradition to give sweets to each other during occasions.

Following this, we travelled to one of the schools our Duke of Edinburgh participants have been working in and were again, treated to singing and dancing performances. This was also the last time they will visit their classes so was a perfect opportunity to say goodbye.

Our welcome at the school

Some of the children at the school dressed up for their performances

 

Our young people distributing sweets to the children at school

We spent the afternoon at Celebration Shopping Mall, which was naturally buzzing with Independence Day celebrations.

We have a full day of activities tomorrow; keep your eyes peeled for updates!

Thanks for reading! 

Sumeet Dhamu

Deputy Project Leader (Beyond Boundaries)

Beyond Boundaries have been busy!

This weekend saw our Beyond Boundaries group participant embark on a full day excursion to some of the most famous sites in Rajasthan.

The trip included visits to Kumbhalgarh Fort and Ranakpur Temple.

The day began with breakfast at the volunteer house and departure at 8:30am. Nineteen of us bundled into three cars, excited to see what more Rajasthan can offer.

Kumbhalgarh Fort is a fortress just north of Udaipur, built during the 15^th century for Maharaja (King) Rana Kumbha. It is a world heritage site, standing over 3000 feet tall and its wall perimeters add up to just over 36 kilometres. Within the fort can be found 360 temples, and from the top, sand dunes of the Thar Desert and the Aravalli range can be admired. After the Great Wall of China, Kumbhalgarh fort poses the second largest wall in the world.

The group at the bottom of Kumbhalghar Fort

Climbing up

Beyond Boundaries in the clouds

Our young people were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit and climb to the top of the fort. The walk to the top and back down took around 45 minutes, however, the views well and truly made up for the tiredness, trekking uphill (and for some of us, in flip flops!) Enjoying the views from each stage up, and at even one point right in the clouds, our group were exceptionally well behaved and embraced the experience. Following on from this, we enjoyed a well-deserved packed lunch made by Meena Ji of Chapatti and curried potatoes.

Our picturesque view at lunch

Fed and watered, we got back into our cars and travelled an hour and a half to Ranakpur Temple

Between Jodhpur and Udaipur, Ranakpur temple is located on the western side of the Aravalli range - Built entirely out of marble; it was a truly spectacular sight. The temple stands at 45 feet tall and boasts 24-pillared halls; each hand carved pillar is unique and no two pillars are the same.

We enjoyed an audio-guided tour of the Temple and even got to see a prayer session taking place.

Ranakpur Temple

Outside Ranakpur Temple

Overall, the day was a very interesting and informative day. We had a lovely brief history lesson about the fort from a local tourist, as well as driving through some of the most beautiful mountain roads.

Monkeys en route to Ranakpur Temple

On Monday, our young people impressed us with their first-ever teaching experience. Travelling to our local linked Government school, their hard work during lesson planning evidently showed; all staff were incredibly impressed and proud of the way they performed.

Lesson planning

After enjoying a delicious lunch prepared by Meena Ji, we departed for the destitute boys’ home. Here, we all enjoyed some friendly (but competitive) games of cricket, dodge ball, as well as duck, duck, goose. The children at the boys’ home have already formed such an attachment with our young people, which is beautiful to see.

The group have had the opportunity at the start of the week to enjoy some Hindi lessons and have some Henna tattoos done on them. They have been excellent at picking up basic words and phrases in Hindi and have even been asking for more informal lessons from our grounds staff. Meena Jis talents do not stop at her cooking – she has been tattooing henna on our young people, writing their names in Hindi, traditional Indian patterns, as well as cobras and scorpions (for the boys!)

Beautiful henna done by Meena Ji

Meena Ji demonstrating how to make her famous chai

Our young people getting to grips with chapatti making

Check back soon for more updates on how teaching is going.

I hope you enjoyed reading!

Sumeet Dhamu

Deputy Project Leader (Beyond Boundaries)