Success!

I finally got the itinerary all planned out.  I ended up having to leave out Bundi and Mt Abu. However, I was able to add in Ranakpur, which has beautiful Jain temples, and Fatehpur Sikri, which is close to Agra. So now our itinerary looks like this:

Ajmer ->Pushkar -> Chittaurgarh -> Udaipur ->Ranakpur -> Jodhpur ->Jaisalmer ->Delhi -> Agra -> Fatehpur Sikri ->Jaipur

All in 14 days.  Quite a feat of planning if I do say so myself.  There is still a possibility that we won't get to see everything if the trains run very late, but we'll just have to go with it.

Another success that I have had is with getting donations.  I have gotten a significant discount on a Steri-Pen (a UV light used to disinfect water) and have also gotten Up Country to donate dog collars and harnesses! I am waiting to hear back from others about whether they are able to make a donation.

Getting things ready

I've been attempting to organize an itinerary, but am having serious problems.  The main issue is that there are simply too many things that I want to see and too little time.  Right now the itinerary looks something like this:

Ajmer, Pushkar, Bundi, Chittor, Udaipur, Mt Abu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur

which is simply too many cities in too few days, while still missing out on the Golden Temple and Fatehpur Sikri.  I'm working with Dad to try to figure out what we want to cut out.  I've already cut out seeing tigers at Ranthambore, but we're going to be there in the monsoon season, so that might not have been much fun anyway.

I've also finally got the whole visa thing sorted out.  There was some confusion about my being able to volunteer with just a tourist visa, but the consulate has assured me that I will be fine. There are just a few extra letters that I have to make sure that I have.  Additionally I have to send them my passport so that they can affix the visa to the inside, something that makes me nervous since getting a new passport could potentially be a pain.

Speaking of pain, I went to the travel clinic this past week to get malaria prophylaxis and all of the vaccines that I need.  Turns out I needed 4, one of which has 3 doses.  Luckily one is oral, so no stick in the arm for that one.  I'll also be taking along 2 courses of antibiotics in case I develop a case of Delhi Belly while there.

I have also been trying to get donations from companies for things like scrubs and shoes for both me and the other clinic workers, but so far no luck.  Hopefully I'll have more luck in the next few weeks.

India!

I'm finally going to India! I've been thinking about going for awhile now, but never looked into it seriously until this year.  This is the last real summer that I will have since there is no break between 3rd and 4th year of vet school.   I decided that I didn't want to waste it and that I wanted to get some traveling in while I still can.  I started looking at international veterinary opportunities and stumbled across Tree of Life for Animals.  They are a British organization that has set up a veterinary clinic in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.  The main focus of the clinic is rabies eradication and animal sterilization, but they also operate a rescue van and care for some of the working animals in the area.

It was very easy to set up my trip to volunteer with their clinic.  I e-mailed the lovely volunteer coordinator, Kym, gave her my dates, and we were all set.  I'll be there for all of June, staying in the town of Pushkar and commuting daily (about a half hour) to Ajmer.  Pushkar is one of the holiest cities in India with many temples and the only Brahma temple in existence.  I'm looking forward to exploring its streets on my days off.  Ajmer is a very holy Muslim city where pilgrims come every year. 

I decided to set up this blog to keep everyone posted as to what I am doing and learning while I am there.  My dad is also coming for the first two weeks in July and we will be traveling all around Rajasthan (with possible stops in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to see the Golden Temple and Taj). I don't leave for another month and a half, but I am already itching to get on a plane!