Trip Report by Sue Edwards
On 1st August 2017 11 members of Girlguiding Staffordshire met at Birmingham International Airport to start their 18-day trip to India.
We arrived in Mumbai early morning on 2nd August and after a 4-hour bus journey (with lots of tooting and cows in the road) we arrived at Sangam, Pune which was to be our home for the next 11 Days. We were there to participate in an event called Discovering Your Potential lll which included a Community Action Project working with one of Sangam’s Community Partner Organisations. Building friendships and learning about Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting’s latest global initiatives, as well as learning about the traditions of India and discovering the city of Pune.
During our stay we climbed 3500 feet to the top of Tikona Fort. Unfortunately, the mist came down and we were unable to enjoy the views although it lifted as we started our descent. We used local transport to get about when we went shopping in the vegetable market, Indian sweet shop, Sari shop and bangle alley. We spent 3 days with Community Partners working in Creches and Schools teaching children crafts, games and English.
After saying goodbye to all our new friends we flew to Delhi and began a 5-day tour of the Golden Triangle. This included seeing the Lotus Temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, the biggest Sikh temple in New Delhi and Jama Masjid, a mosque built in 1644. We also took a rickshaw ride around the narrow streets of the bazaar. We travelled to Agra to see the Red Fort and Taj Mahal and then on to Jaipur to visit the Amber fort and Summer Palace. We returned to Delhi to fly home.
Photos can be seen in our Flickr album.
