Meaningful Tour: The Southern India Experience

  India

Bangalore

Description: 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.

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.

On Days 3 and 4, 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.

On Days 5 and 6, 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.

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.

You then 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.

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.

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.

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.

Days 25 and 26 see 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. 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 before your departure on Day 28.

Highlights: The intriguing country of India is an all-time favorite with travelers from around the world and this tour will show you why! This unique tour explores the best of Southern India. This trip enables you to combine sightseeing with volunteering. Over the 28-day trip you will get a chance to try your hand at conservation, teaching and community work for a taster into the world of volunteering. You will also travel to see the top tourist attractions within Southern India along the way.

Setting off from the bustling "garden city" of Bangalore, the tour begins with a heady helping of the rich Indian culture! In this stunning city which boasts more greenery than concrete, you'll be mesmerized as modern architecture mingles with ancient temples and sophisticated bars border beautiful parks. You'll then embark on your four-week Southern Indian odyssey, making your first stop at the rural village of Kengeri where you'll experience a completely different side to India. Here you'll catch a glimpse of the origins of this incredible country before enjoying a second-helping at Hampi, Mamallapuram and Pondicherry. Volunteering along the way, you'll end the action-packed tour within the culturally rich city of Mysore before catching your breath to reflect on the most thrilling four weeks of your life!

This Program is open to World Wide Participants.

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

i-to-i Meaningful Travel's Mission Statement: Founded in 1994, i-to-i is an award-winning organization providing unique opportunities for you to travel, work and live abroad. Thousands of travelers aged 18 to 80 have joined our volunteer vacations and over 15,000 have learned to Teach English as a Foreign Language through our tailor-made TEFL courses. With over 300 projects on 4 continents, you can join the worldwide i-to-i volunteer community on an extended adventure in areas such as teaching, community development, sports coaching, conservation, building or internships in tourism, marketing, journalism, or health.

Year Founded: 1994