Inside India | We Have Arrived!

14/08/2015 | Today is the day!

Despite the London traffic, we arrived at Heathrow in our YLF personalised T-shirts!

With a blend of nerves and excitement, and months of waiting, we all headed through customs and boarded the plane (hopeful for some sleep on our night flight!)

With plenty to keep us occupied including movies, games and Terry's strip-tease after spilling coffee down his trousers, we arrived at our first stop - Mumbai!

We went through check-in for the second time and spent some time together talking about the journey so far (and learnt some negotiation skills at the foreign exchange counter!) whilst waiting for our shuttle bus to departures.

The transfer journey made it all a little 'real' - excitement faded as we drove through Mumbai spotting slums and seeing the poverty first-hand. A real time of reflection.

The journey was starting to take it's toll so we refuelled before boarding our flight to Udaipur - we were now 'Inside India'!

The second plane was much smaller and less to do but gave us a chance for some well needed sleep! Finally, at 6pm, we had made it to Udaipur!

David had never been on a plane before and said, "It was an interesting experience and probably not one I would want to do on a regular basis - especially for that length of time! But so pleased I got to experience it!"

We jumped into our cabs - that clearly didn't require an MOT - and headed off to our volunteer house. This journey will live long in our memories...

Crazy roads, crazy drivers, beeping horns, cows and dogs in the middle of the road and entire families riding on mopeds! Spirits were high once more as we drove through the streets taking in the landscapes being greeted with waves like we were celebrities!

We were pleasantly greeted at our new home for two weeks, "We met Meena Ji, our volunteer house chef, and hreceived a red 'tilak' on our foreheads as a welcome sign" says Sean, "We were then given a tour of the house by one of the ground staff, Pankaj, then got to see our rooms. On the rooftop the views of the city and the local village were stunning! We have been told that we will be visiting the boys orphanage tomorrow and I can't wait!"

We all got our bearings, watched the sunset and after a few games, the journey had taken its toll on us all and we retreated to our rooms for a well earned rest!