At the weekend me and Ali went to Gokarna for the weekend to refresh, it’s a pretty little coastal town about 2/3 hours away from the school on the train. Here are some pictures!

Week 3 has been very nice to me, with celebrations for Independence Day on Wednesday and my birthday on Thursday there has been a really happy loveliness reflecting off everyone.

The start of the week wasn’t as lovely as the end as the rain that hadn’t stopped for 3 days started to wear everyone down. When it rains the school is like a dark cloud because no sunlight gets in and the power general turns off so for Monday and Tuesday we were working in more or less complete darkness. The accomodation for the volunteers is all upstairs with a big terrace which I’m sure is lovely in the summer but in monsoon season it just collects rain and this week it overflowed and made it’s way into my bedroom. Before starting school on Monday I picked up everything I owned and put it on my bed and how glad I am that I did because after school the little puddle by my door had become 1cm of water throughout my entire room. Everything was wet soggy and damp and despite mine and Ali’s efforts in sweeping the water into a bucket with a dustpan and a shower squeegee thing (we filled an entire bucket from my flooded room) my room was like an ocean still and I moved all of my stuff into the communal area. I will never moan about rain in England again because having a boat for a bed and teaching (fed up with the rain and hyperactive) children in complete darkness with no fan really puts things into perspective!!!

On Tuesday we did manage to get out as the rain stopped briefly which everyone was very happy about! The daily walk is still one of my favourite parts of the day, I love seeing the children outside watching and laughing at the animals, I have also made up a song about our ‘walking feet’ to stop them from running and they join in and sing with me as we stamp our feet which is really fun!

On Wednesday we celebrated Independence Day. All of the children have been talking about this day since the moment I arrived and I have heard various stories about what it entails. The kids were most excited about getting to wear new clothes as well as the special uttaa (lunch) being delivered and of course the raising of the Indian flag. I got dressed into one of my Indian frocks ready to greet all of the important looking people who came to the school to participate in the big day. It (of course) rained so everyone ended up in the hall and instead of raising the flag outside, the swing set inside was taken apart and the flag was tied to it. It was nice to see everyone getting together for this special day as me, Ali, Alessio and the children sat to the side along with the helper women and the Indian teachers and watched the proceedings take place (everything was in Kannada the language so I didn’t understand what was said but it was nice to watch!). Songs were sung and special Indian sweeties were eaten. Once the morning was over Maartje let us know we had the rest of the day off, no school! I think it’s safe to assume that most children in England would be overjoyed with this news but I have never seen a group of children looking more confused and sad! It really is amazing to be working with children who are always so eager for school and to learn!

With the afternoon off we took the bus to Upudi and explored for the rest of the day in the town and at the beach. The famous Krishna temple was packed full of locals celebrating Independence Day and all the streets were filled with flowers and Indian flags.

Of course the next important event of the week was my birthday on Thursday! I really had the loveliest and happiest day from the moment I woke up so thank you everyone who made it so lovely!

I went downstairs at breakfast and Ali had put birthday hats on all of the children which was really funny and very cute. Ali and Alessio made me a card and bought me a back massage treat from the local 4* hotel, amazing!

The main classroom had been decorated my Maartje and Ali! During the mornings Ohm Yoga Maartje gave each child a rose to give to me as a gift, they showered me with hugs and love, it was such a special lovely moment!

The children absolutely love birthdays in the school and I think the main reason is probably the promise of cake. The evening before I went into town and bought a 3kg chocolate cake with my name iced on from Jahanis Cake Palace (£10 well spent I feel). After school I cut it into 25 pieces, all of the children put their hats back on and everyone sang happy birthday. The children had waited all day for the mystery giant chocolate cake I’d told them about and everyone was very happy when they finally got to tuck in hoooray!

With the sun finally shining and sugar levels high, after school we all went outside to play, a lovely end to the school day!

One of my favourite memories of the trip so far was my birthday evening. Maartje gave the all clear to take a few of the children out for dinner and it was the most heart warming and magical night. Watching the children smile and laugh and order all the food, juice and ice cream they wanted made my heart the happiest ever!

We had dosa, gobi, cashew nut curry, noodles, naan, pineapple juice, mango juice and of course Ice-cream!

Gowri in the picture below is like my birthdays number 1 fan, she has spent the last two weeks confirming the big day and then spent the whole day singing happy birthday to me at every moment. She spent the tuk tuk journey to the restaurant with her face pressed against mine saying ‘happy birthday’ and ‘thank you’ over and over. Even though it’s no longer my birthday, because of Gowri I get to re-live the incredible day every time I talk to her because she loves to talk about it so much!

On Friday everyone was in a really good mood, the sun continued to poke its head out so everyone could go outside and normality resumed. 3 weeks in and I think I’m starting to really get the hang of my 1:1 sessions with the children. I have 5 half an hour 1:1s everyday. The thing I’ve found most challenging about the 1:1s is planning for a session with 5 children of completely different abilities and needs. The main focus is on teaching them to read and talk, many of the children have down-syndrome and therefore have issues surrounding auditory memory. All of my lessons therefore need to be completely visual with everything being written down or shown through picture. Lots of the children go absolutely wild for The Jungle Book book and film and so I have been trying to include images, words and songs from there to help encourage learning which seems to be working well!

This week has been a really special week full of happy things and everyday I grow to love the children more and more. Lots of them cannot vocally speak but have the biggest most hilarious personalities and I am loving been a part of their lives!

I take back everything I said about being overwhelmed and tired in week one, week two has given tired a whole new meaning. This week has been really tough so I’m going to talk about some general nice things about my time in the school so far.

The children have school Monday-Friday so the weekend is ours to explore the sights or as I did last weekend, stay at home and relax. Even on a weekend there is of course no such thing as a lay-in, I woke up at 8 on the dot to the sound of lots of screaming and excitable children. I took Maartje up on her invite to come with her and some of the children to Upudi, a city a couple of hours away. Once off the bus, Vino (one of the children) asked if he could explore with me for the day whilst Maartje took the others shopping. The children don’t get a lot of time outside of the school so I made sure to do all the things Vino wanted to do; we explored a huge temple, we drank from coconuts, we walked around a huge supermarket and bought crisps and juice and then of course we went for ice-cream. Vino seemed to be a pro at crossing the crazy busy streets and communicating with the flood of tuk tuk drivers whilst me as the nervous babysitter had a heart attack every time a motorbike came rushing by us. It’s one thing to look after myself in India it’s a whole different ball game ensuring the safety of a child!

Everyday we brush the teeth of the children who we are working with in the morning, I have never brushed another persons teeth before and it turns out it’s harder than it looks, it’s taken me about the last two weeks to get good at it! On Mondays things are a little slower because we also cut nails and clean ears but once that’s done we start the day with ohm yoga. We all get into a circle and sit up straight and say ‘ohm’ over and over followed by a serious of taps on our chests where we repeat the words ‘I am safe, I am happy, I am loved’. Everyone gets involved and it’s a really lovely and calming start to the day.

Let’s talk about rain! I knew I would be in India during monsoon season but nothing could’ve prepared me for the unforgiving never ending storms that come every single day/night. Some days we are lucky and manage to go the whole day until 4/5 o’clock without rain. Other days it rains all day long and sends the children (and us) a little crazy because they can’t go outside. On Wednesday we set off for our daily walk and got about 5 metres up the road before the obvious happened and we had to turn back. One child (who was also pushing a wheelchair) was having absolutely none of it and refused to turn back until he’d completed the walk and had his biscuit. It was a battle I could not win and so the three of us attempted to take shelter under a tree and inevitably got soaking wet, but eventually we finished the walk and he got his biscuit. A happy ending!

The helper women are incredible and make delicious food for us and the kids every day. Breakfast differs everyday, sometimes it’s dosa and idly and sometimes it’s curry. For lunch and dinner it’s always this puffy rice that I am a little confused by and a lovely thin veg curry. Occasionally we have ‘special utaa’ when someone from outside brings in bags and bags of curry’s from a restaurant. The food is all amazing and I feel very grateful for the helper women’s amazing cooking.

On Friday I shared a really special moment with the children after school. It was (of course) raining so there was no playing outside and everyone was very hyperactive to say the least. I sat myself in a corner and started playing the music to some of their favourite Disney songs and started singing along. Slowly one-by-one the children started to come over and sit with me, completely silently with huge smiles on their faces. Normally when I sing to them they scream ”STOP” but this time they were saying ”more singing”! Watching their faces light up as they calmly sat and danced was such a lovely moment.

This week we continued lessons about the body, I did some craft lessons with cotton wool teeth and a lesson on clothes from different countries (they loved putting on dresses and my big coat) and some dancing lessons where everyone had to stop with the music and point to a body part. Some lessons were more successful that others (the dance lesson ended in the children chasing each other frantically around the room) but I have definitely learnt a lot and have some more things stored up in my mental book of future lesson plans. For the next two weeks the theme is ‘colour and shape’, please get thinking parents and Dudley I am going to need some of your wisdom soon!

Writing about my week definitely helps me put things into perspective especially when, like this week, everything feels very overwhelming and scary. During yoga this week one child had a fit which was really sad to see and another child decapitated a geko, every day in this school is like a whirlwind of amazing madness but just like I said last week, the incredible children make every second worth it.

This week has been an absolute whirlwind of learning, teaching, eating, singing, dancing, laughing, crying and just ALL of the emotions. My initial feelings about the school are incredible, this place is a paradise and is providing these children with a safe, clean and most importantly a loving environment to grow and thrive in and I feel so honoured to be involved in just a little part of that.

The school is run by Maartje, a lady from the Netherlands who came to Koni 11 years ago and essentially rescued these children from a man and school failing to do all the things it should’ve been doing to keep the children safe. During these 11 years the school has moved to a new building built purposefully for the children and volunteers, with one big hall, 2 classrooms, a living and eating area for the kids with an accomodation area above for the volunteers. It’s an incredible set up, but none of it could work without the amazing people that help run it. There are 4 helper woman who live and work in the school 7 days a week; they clean, cook, shower and put the children to bed every night. There are also two local Indian teachers that come in everyday to work alongside the volunteers and Maartje. Then lastly of course there are the children who are the heart of the school! The amazing 18 people living here range from 3 years old to 40 years old, there is such a wonderful dynamic with the older ones looking after the youngest ones.

My first day was very overwhelming, Maartje was still in Holland sorting out her Indian visa so I shadowed the other volunteer Ali as she had her 1:1 sessions with some of the children and tried to take in as much information as I could. My favourite part of the day was the walk, everyday the children go on a short walk up the road and sit down for biscuits and water. I learnt quickly that risk assessments are not a thing in India as I watched the children pushing their friends wheelchairs into the road as riskjas and motorbikes sped fast. It was somewhat stressful but watching the children smile and laugh with each other as they pointed at the cows and monkeys made my heart so happy.

I quickly learnt the sign language sign for Maartje’s name as on my first day I was asked at least 10000 times ”when is Maartje back?” and I think it’s safe to say everyone (including me) was very excited by her return on Tuesday afternoon! Maartje has such a calming presence and everything sort of just falls into place when she’s around. We had a conversation about what I would like to get out of my time in the school and what she expects from me over the next few weeks which is basically my full commitment to the children from 8-3 every weekday. Two days in and I felt like I was already part of this incredible team.

One of the many things that make this school work as well as it does is the strict schedule that everyone follows. During my chat with Maartje we decided on the children I would be working with for the next 5 weeks and a new timetable was made which included my 1:1 time with 5 of the children as well as a 30 minute lesson with 5 of them and an afternoon craft session. By Thursday I was off on my own and despite having read all of the documents about how to teach and about the methods they use in the school at least 10 times, I quickly felt quite overwhelmed and out of my depth with it all. That evening I re-read all of the notes previous volunteers had made on the children and went through the resources in the classroom and by Friday I felt like I was having a little more success. On Friday morning Maartje went through the 10 step maths programme they use in the school, I definitely have a more mathematical brain and the programme they use makes so much sense so I am excited to put it into practice next week!

The theme for craft sessions and lessons for the next two weeks is ‘the body’. So far I have sung a lot of ‘heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ to the children and helped them create clothes out of craft paper. I have also made use of the ‘paper people’ mum gave me to take out here, everyone enjoyed colouring themselves in and sticking on the goggly eyes, thanks mum!

On my first day I made the mistake of agreeing to let Vino play ‘dentist’ with me, since then everyday after school I seem to have (very dirty) forks and spoons prodded inside my mouth?

One of my favourite parts of the day is bed-time story time. At around 8pm every night we go downstairs to say goodnight to the children, we read them a story and tuck them in. Honestly most nights I feel like I am undoing all the hard work the helper women have put into getting them into bed as they get so excited by the story and start screaming and jumping around (sorry!!!). This part of the night is especially special and important in ensuring these children feel loved and cared for because this school is their home and their family!

This week has been the most tiring and emotionally overwhelming week ever but the experience I am gaining is invaluable and these incredible children make every second worth it!

After the journey from my parents nightmares, arriving in Panjim and checking into the loveliest hostel with beautiful tiles outside and amazing clean bed sheets/bathrooms was the biggest sigh of relief. I checked into a four bed dorm and got chatting to the English guy on the bunk above me, it was nice to have someone to rant to about the journey (to my jealousy, he had also come from Hampi the night before but had a MUCH smoother journey on a bus) and we made a plan to do some exploring together the next day. Feeling brave and pretty fearless after that journey, I went out in the middle of the night in search of food, I ate my masala omelet and paid before finally going to bed.

Panjim was beautiful, with colourful buildings built during the Portuguese colonial-era it definitely stood out as very different to anywhere I’d been in India before. We took a local bus (the 40 minute journey cost 20p, take note England) to Old Goa and spent the morning exploring really cool colonial-era churches.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Goa was the drastic change in temperature, with the weather forecast showing 30 degrees and 90% humidity it proved impossible to stay outside and walking around for too long. The heat was a perfect excuse to spend the rest of the within the safe confines of the hostels air-conditioning. Only venturing out for food (of course) I did have an incredible veg thali meal for lunch and tried some bebinca cake for dinner, which is a (very strange) traditional Goan dessert.

The next day I packed my bags once again and took a tuk tuk to Candolim, this is where I had planned to meet Ali (the other volunteer) for the weekend. North Goa is very different to Old Goa, the beaches stretch for miles and they are filled with wooden shacks that in the peak season would be open selling food and drinks to the millions of tourists that flock in. Being monsoon season, the shacks were closed and the sea looked like a death trap, I took a quick photo and went back to my new hostel as it started to rain.

My new hostel seemed worlds away from the beautiful tiles and clean bathrooms the other hostel offered (it was £4 a night what did I expect?). Again, during peak season I’m sure it is heaving with travellers but instead I was greeted with an 8 bed bunk room shared with 4 middle aged Indian men. I had some interesting chats as I waited for Ali to arrive off her train at midnight and one man was very concerned I hadn’t eaten enough (despite reassuring him 100 times I was okay) and he suddenly appeared with a plate full of home cooked dinner for me. I really don’t know where he got it from but it was absolutely delicious! A very sweet gesture from another complete stranger, India you are being too good to me!

Ali made it to the hostel and I think was a little surprised with the nights sleeping set up. The next day we swiftly checked out and (thanks to Ali) checked in to the most beautiful twin room in the first nice looking hotel we could find. Being the last night before heading to the school I think it was a well deserved treat!

We woke up and decided that exploring anymore of Goa was cancelled for the day, we head across the road to a 5* hotel, paid them £2.50 to use their pool and then did exactly that. After two incredible but also very intense weeks, a day by the pool followed by a shamefully western dinner with red wine seemed to be the answer to all of my worries.

Finally it was Sunday and time to leave Goa, heading for Manasa Jyothi school, my home for the summer! This train journey was a lot simpler and not as scary as the last, it definitely helped having Ali with me to stare down all of the curious men that tried to approach us. The 5 hour journey felt like 5 million hours, feeling so apprehensive about what to expect from the school, I really just couldn’t wait to be there!

We passed through some incredible scenery before arriving into Kundapura train station. One short tuk tuk journey later and I’ve arrived at the school! I absolutely loved exploring Goa and I will definitely be back soon as it’s so close to the school. I am also feeling very grateful for such a smooth journey!

Ragu (my favourite tuk tuk driver and new best friend from Hampi) came to collect me and was waiting outside my guesthouse at 5:30am on Wednesday morning. Feeling very apprehensive about my first Indian train experience I loaded my bag into the rickshaw and off we went, headed for Hospete Railway Station. We arrived at the station and Ragu came inside with me to help me check the timetable for my train. My train was showing on the timetable as two hours delayed, Ragu didn’t seem the slightest bit surprised by this letting me know that actually it’s delayed every day. Of course he didn’t feel like letting me in on this crucial info before dragging us to the station at ridiculous o’clock because he was convinced one of these days it’ll be on time and it’ll be his fault if someone misses it. Fair enough I suppose. We then did what anyone would do when faced with a long boring wait, my tuk tuk driver and I went for chai.

Eventually Ragu had to head back, leaving me to wait out the delayed train by myself. The 2 hour delay turned into 4 hours and as the hours went by I grew more and more irritable with the never ending questioning by curious Indian men and more anxious about the impending train journey as I watched the heaving floods of people get on and off other trains. A couple of hours into my wait on the platform I got talking to two local ladies who to my delight were waiting for the same train and had a bed booked in the same carriage, sensing and seeing the terrified look on my face, they took me straight under their wing and I couldn’t be more grateful!

Boarding the train was just as stressful as the 4 hour platform wait, the sleeper bed I had booked had another man sitting in it so I crammed my stuff in and sat with my knees folded to my chest wondering anxiously how this set up would work for the next 8 hours. The train was as busy as all the others I’d watched come and go from the platform so when the lady I’d met previously tapped me on the back and asked if I wanted to switch seats I almost cried. My new seat was up high with the luggage racks, safe and away from anyone so that I could sleep, another incredibly kind act from a complete stranger, I am so lucky!

The 8 hour journey turned into 11 hours, I didn’t sleep much as we stopped a lot and it was very chaotic on board, there’s nothing you can’t buy during an Indian train journey! Drinks, food, fruit, earrings, electronic gadgets, you name it, someone will be along selling it. The last three hours of the journey were the most surreal, people started getting off and I went to join Rethika and Sister Maria (saved by an Indian nun??!) who were enjoying the incredible jungle scenes from the train windows. The train went straight through Dudhsagar Waterfalls and it was absolutely beautiful! Families in the carriage started singing traditional Hindu songs and the ladies and me were laughing with the men on the seats opposite as people screamed when the train went through dark tunnels. I felt like I was in a dream, having begun this (ridiculously long and somewhat scary) journey alone I was suddenly surrounded by and talking to some amazing local people looking out of the train at the most beautiful scenery.

As it got darker and my phone battery started to die the feeling of dread I felt back on the platform this morning returned. My two new friends were getting off a train stop before me and I suddenly realised I would be arriving in Goa in the pitch black middle of the night completely alone. Not having much choice but to just roll with it and hope for the best, sister Maria asked a man in our cabin to book me a taxi and make sure I got home safe. I definitely had doubt in my mind about trusting this complete stranger and maybe it wasn’t the safest option (sorry parents) but feeling absolutely exhausted when I (finally) arrived at the really scary and busy station I decided the stranger was a nicer option than the swarm of taxi drivers approaching me from every angle. Following the most nerve racking car journey of my life, to my delight (and surprise) I actually made it to my hostel!

Possibly the scariest most surreal but also the most incredible day of my life. People truly are amazing!

Having braced myself for a worst case scenario night bus situation, I was overjoyed to board what felt and looked like The Hilton of buses, and set off through the night for Hampi. Despite the luxury set up, I didn’t really sleep and before I new it it was 6am and I had arrived in Hampi. I took one tired step off the bus and was immediately swarmed with tuk tuk drivers offering to take me to my guesthouse. I must’ve got a little too used to Rekha doing all the talking and negotiating for me as this 10 minute journey cost me 250 rupees (even though that’s only £2.50, it is a lot for India!). I arrived at the guesthouse and was shown to our room which had an incredible view of the main temple in Hampi, and best of all it had air-con!

I managed to get in a couple of hours sleep before opening the door to Alessio and Ali (my fellow teaching volunteer friends). It was so lovely to finally meet them both; Alessio is from Italy and works with teenagers with special needs doing outdoory things back home, Ali is from St. Albans and has worked at The Treehouse for 4 years, a private school in London for children with Autism. We sat for a while and got to know each other, it really quickly felt like I’d known them both forever, we all got on really well! We head out to do some exploring and after (tragically) battling through the sea of tour guides and tuk tuk drivers wanting our business we made it to the main temple. Monkeys dominated the temple, hanging from the incredible carved stone walls, and a beautiful elephant also stood in the temple, playing with and smashing up coconuts. We then sat down for lunch, we didn’t speak for like a solid 15 minutes and soon realised we were all far too exhausted to bother with food and headed back to our room for what turned into a 3 hour nap.

Feeling refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day (albeit nearly over) we went for some delicious food. I had the aloo gobi (potato & cauliflower) curry which was lovely and also nibbled on some of Ali’s aloo palak (potato & spinach) curry which was equally amazing. Leaving the restaurant it took us all of about 20 seconds before bumping into a tuk tuk driver, and much to his delight we accepted his offer to take us to a nice place to watch the sunset. We watched the sun go down from some really high up boulders, the boulders here are absolutely incredible and seem to go on for hundreds of kilometres (geology rocks doesn’t it Dudley!).

Following Friday nights bus bed, we all slept very well on Saturday night and had a glorious lay-in on Sunday morning! We decided that today we would actually hire a tuk tuk driver (Ragu) to take us further afield, that way we could find out more about Hampi and where these unbelievable boulders came from. We explored the amazing temples and incredible ruins and Ragu attempted to teach us about the geological history of the area. Geology definitely isn’t my area of expertise but from what I gathered there was some kind of volcanic eruption involved (sorry Dudley). The rest of the day was very chilled and soon I said goodbye to Ali and Alessio who were off to catch their night bus before returning to work tomorrow morning (?!). It was such a lovely weekend exploring with them and it was amazing to hear stories about the school and the children, I can’t wait to join them at Koni in just a weeks time!

I spent another two days in Hampi, moving from restaurant to restaurant to read my book and drink chai, it was the perfect most relaxing time.

On Tuesday afternoon I fancied a change of scenery, feeling confident I optimistically strolled down to the river to read my book. Before I’d had a chance to open my book, I was being asked to put on some glasses and take a selfie. Within seconds there was a queue of men asking me for selfies, admitting defeat I put my book back in my bag, smiled reluctantly at the cameras for what felt like 10 hours and headed back to the comfort of my room, you can’t say I didn’t try!

With my boiled eggs packed (boiled by the lovely man at The Mango Tree restaurant) I set off very early on Wednesday morning to catch the train to Goa. Hampi really is an incredible place and I am very excited to come back with Dudley in September!

I arrived into Bangalore Airport at 6am on Tuesday morning, I didn’t sleep for the whole 11 hour flight so I was definitely groggy and a bit nervous when I arrived in Bangalore! Following an intense questioning from the man at immigration, I left the airport to find Rekha (the loveliest woman in the world) who greeted me with the warmest hug. She introduced me to her friend who had driven Rekha to the airport to collect me and waited 2 hours for my delayed flight. These people are so selfless and amazing! It was another 2 hours back through the hideous Bangalore traffic (I forgot how crazy the roads in India are – wow!) to get to Rekha’s flat. I spent the journey feeling very sleepy but also incredibly lucky that I have such special friends all the way over here in this amazing part of the world!

My first couple of days in Bangalore were exactly what I needed – food and sleep. Rekha had to go into the office for a few hours each day to finish off some work and felt awful for leaving me. But quite honestly it was the perfect excuse to just relax and sleep in her lovely rooftop apartment. Of course Rekha had remembered all of my favourite Indian foods from three years ago and immediately started cooking up these incredible, delicious meals. Lots and lots of Dosa and really simple but amazing samba with rice. Amongst all the crazy dusty hustle and bustle of Bangalore I felt very lucky and so peaceful!

On day 3 I decided it was time for me to have a go at the cooking, which sort of ended in me standing and watching Rekha create a masterpiece whilst the chilli engulfed me in a sneezing and coughing mess. It turns out that there are 1 million ingredients that go into Samba, some I haven’t even heard of, but I will definitely have a go at recreating it at home as it’s too good to not try! I have learnt a lot of useful life skills during this short stay with Rekha, who was particularly appalled when she saw my technique for bucket washing my clothes.

On Thursday, the day before leaving Rekha took me to a huge market to buy some new clothes. This market definitely isn’t like a market at home, more like a big maze of really busy roads with open shops and stalls on each corner. I clung onto Rekha’s hand as she dragged me across roads, occasionally I got left behind and sort of just stood in the same spot until Rekha came back to retrieve me. Lots of the locals really stared at me, I can’t blame them I must of looked quite amusing and very out of place!

On my last day Rekha wanted to do something really fun so she rounded up her friends and we all went on an adventure day out at Shilhaandara Resort. The resort is in Rramanagara, a beautiful town full of these incredible boulders, about 1.5 hours from Bangalore. The day was full of zip linning, zorb balling, paint balling, and rope courses. The resort provide lunch for everyone and it was an incredible veggie Indian buffet. After lunch the boys wanted to go to the underground mist disco, it’s exactly what it sounds like, really loud music and dancing and lots of water/mist spraying from the ceiling, this was definitely an experience!

All too soon it was time for me to get the bus to Hampi, I have honestly had the most magical time with Rekha in Bangalore and feel so lucky to have such an incredible friend.