Well - ok it's been 16 days and I've only just managed to start this blog after a jam packed time in India. I may have to rename it seeing as we didn't actually see an elephant... but there was a camel walking up the road. So the trip started with half of the group flying from Heathrow and meeting the rest at Doha... which is in Qatar. After 5 hours entertaining ourselves in the airport, we carried onto Mumbai arriving at 4.55am... I can't explain what Mumbai is like - loud, hot, dusty...brilliant! Well a 5 star hotel greeted us but with only 2 hours until we had to leave for a tour it was rather wasted on us. The day trip took us around Mumbai where we saw the dhobi wallah - where they wash hundreds of clothes etc a day and still know who's is who's, better than at home where we fight over the socks. Also a quick visit to the gateway to India and toilet stop in the posh Taj hotel before boarding the train bound for Pune. Walking to the station, we saw the real India, beggars, dirt, naked babies sat alongside rats and the smell of sewage mixed with incense. Four hours on the train watching the scenery and people ambling across the tracks to the stations and we arrived in Pune. Several of us managed the challenge of the evening - going to the toilet on the train, well toilet might be stretching it, it was a hole in the floor through which you can see the track whizzing by.... a feat of balance and aiming skills for all who took part. At the station we were met by the porters who manage to pick up the heavy bags and carry on their heads - I can't even lift mine off the ground, and then by the Sangam Staff, Emma and Jane. The bus we had hired was slightly smaller than expected and so we piled all the luggage on board, how many bags do 35 Guiders need?????? then the highlight of the day rickshaw rides across town in the dark. Now for me that was fun as I have been before but for some of the others it was experience not to be forgotten. Traffic in India doesn't seem to have any rules, if there's a space you drive in it; if the traffic has stopped go round it on the other side of the road, diversion signs mean nothing and if something is in your way toot the horn louder and louder until it moves! another tip, choose your rickshaw partners carefully, you can fit three people in a rickshaw, it's good to have friends that are my size, less squished. Clinging on for dear life, especially as I was on the outside with my rucksack pushing me further out, we zig zagged through the cars towards Sangam. Once we had extracted ourselves from the rickshaws we made our way to the dorms - I'm in Hyderabad with Lorna, Laura, Lesley, Liz, Sharne, Ruth and Pam.
Day 2
The event officially starts tomorrow so a free day to explore the city. Went to MG road - the major shopping part but paid more than needed to as some of the group decided to haggle rather than ask for meter price in the rickshaw, ok so there are 75 rupees to the pound so it was only about 7p more.I decided to be organised and bought most of the presents already... there's a posh shopping mall with McDonlads, Pizza Hut and even Marks and Spencers!!! huge contrast to the dirty street full of beggars outside. Then visited the Chaturstringi temple in the afternoon. Zooming along the road we almost ran over a camel! It's a really beautiful building and had great views across the city from the hill above. Sue decided that we should climb the hill barefoot as the locals seemed to be doing, so we tried to delicately tread through the mud and slippery rocks to the top. When inside the temple we were given a coconut and rice as offerings but didn't actually know what to do with them. Not wanting to cause offence we watched what the other people were doing (mainly watching us) but none the wiser, we ended up hiding the coconuts around the temple in a bid to get rid of them. It had gone when we came back so hopefully the Goddess was appeased. Trying to find a ride home, we were very excited by the brand new rickshaw with bright pink roof standing by the side of the road, after negoiating our fare home the drver turned and led us to the oldest, tattiest one you have ever seen not the pink one we hoped for. Noises outside - call to prayer, crickets chirping, tooting horns and voices all competing.
Day 3
Another free morning so decided for a real Indian experience and chose the public bus - it was also a part of the Sangam Challenge badge. We created havoc by having a group of 10 of us attempting to go to Pune Central. We managed to get the bus man at the stop to tell us which bus we needed, and he hailed it down. The bus etiquette should have been to get on at the back, pay the conductor and move down the bus until your stop when you have to try and get off before the bus drives away. Ok, except we didn't know any of this! the nice bus man put us on at the front, we jammed in as close as possible - a good way of bonding with your fellow Guiders. I spent the journey clinging on to Janet especially when the bus lurched to a halt and then sped away again. We also stoppped a lady getting off as she couldn't shove her way through us. Fortunately a nice lady told us when our stop was and we manage to get everyone off before the driver carried on. Relief at surviving the journey was counteracted by realising that we hadn't actually paid for the journey! I can't say much about the scenery seeing as my view was Janets arm and the back of someones head. Pune Central is a very nice posh shopping mall but didn't actually open until 11am and we had made it by 10am wandering around the streets we eventually found the German Bakery near the Osho Commune- a popular place with the hippy visitors to India. We tasted Chai - another Sangam Challenge - with mixed results (yuk!) and visited the shops, buying even more presents.
The Discover Your Potential 2009 session started after lunch when we were introduced to the staff - Donna the manager, Ezster from Hungary, Emma from Australia, Arielle from USA and Jane from Canada. Then musical chairs which the local staff took very competively.

Later we went for a walk around the neighbourhood, opposite Sangam, viewing temples, homes and shops. We were honored to be allowed to enter Tarabai's house - a former employee of Sangam. It was very small and had 7 people lving there. Tarabai was very excited as they were preparing for a family wedding.

The Welcome Ceremony was a special moment for all of us. We were greeted in a traditional way with cumin and tumeric and adorned with garlands before each lighting a wick on the lamp. This really made us feel part of the indian culture, even though my hands shook so much I couldn't get the wick to light for a while!