First two months - check
I've got some great news! I got the volunteering position at the Himalayan hotel! The first two months of my stay in India I'm going to be working in Sangla (elevation 2 700m). More precisely I'll be working for the Banjara Camp in the Sangla Valley. I applied for the volunteering position posted in workaway.info and I got accepted. I'm really looking forward to this experience. It's a bit more luxurious than I had planned for my trip originally, but I guess it's not a bad idea to start with a little more security and comfort. I'm sure I'll get a chance for some less luxury later... The altitude will certainly be something I need to get used to first. It may take some time before my body gets used to the less oxygen and the different air pressure. Especially because I'm now living 23m above sea level. Hiking and carrying lunches for the hotel guests will be one part of my job, so I will have chances of elevating my red blood cell count for sure!
Flight - check
I booked the flight to Delhi on Wednesday. It was surprisingly cheap. I only ended up paying 400€ for a direct flight with Air India from Frankfurt (Germany) to Delhi. I'm leaving in the evening of the Aug 11th and arriving in the morning of the 12th. The flight time is just under eight hours.
Visa - definitely not checked yet
The planning for the following months is still pretty much open. The visa-issue is something I need to get sorted out before I can continue my planning. The 180-day tourist visa is starting to look like the most likely option. This would mean, I wouldn't have as much time as I planned in the beginning. There might be the possibility of leaving India for two months and then getting a new tourist visa, but I'm not really sure if that's going work either. There would be plenty of volunteering opportunities in the neighboring countries. I'll keep you updated.
Title image
I added a picture behind the title today. Workaway in Facebook posted it this morning and I found it very fitting for my blog. For me there's no excuse for staying in one place for too long. I'm a bit afraid of turning into the guy with the umbrella if I don't move and find new challenges and adventures every now and then.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Vaccinations and Unveiling the Secret
Yesterday I got the first batch of vaccinations:
- 1/3 against Hepatitis A+B
- 1/3 against Rabies
- 1/2 against Japanese encephalitis
As you can see, it's not over yet. I need two more visits to the local public health office before I'm done. The first batch was 240€, the second one in April will be a bit more since I'm getting the Meningococcal vaccine as well as the three above mentioned. The third visit in June will "only" cost me about 140€. In addition to these, I'm taking an oral vaccination four weeks prior to departure that will immunize me against typhoid fever. Altogether the vaccinations will cost me almost the same as the flights to Delhi and back. That's something I didn't expect! I could have left two of the vaccinations out (rabies and Japanese encephalitis), because the likelihood of getting those two diseases is not very high. The small likelihood was enough for me though. Especially the Japanese encephalitis has some symptoms that I'm not very keen on suffering from.
Yesterday was not just about getting vaccinated. It was also the day I told my colleagues about my plans for the next school year. I think I managed to shock a few. It seems that everyone understands my decision and they were all very supportive and encouraging yesterday and today. Some might even have been a bit envious as well, but none in a bad way. Now it's public and I have to say it feels good. Keeping the secret in the workplace was not as easy as I had imagined, but I didn't want to tell them before I was sure it would all work out.
I've also got some news about the first two months in India. But that will have to wait until the next post. It'll be here some time during this weekend.
- 1/3 against Hepatitis A+B
- 1/3 against Rabies
- 1/2 against Japanese encephalitis
As you can see, it's not over yet. I need two more visits to the local public health office before I'm done. The first batch was 240€, the second one in April will be a bit more since I'm getting the Meningococcal vaccine as well as the three above mentioned. The third visit in June will "only" cost me about 140€. In addition to these, I'm taking an oral vaccination four weeks prior to departure that will immunize me against typhoid fever. Altogether the vaccinations will cost me almost the same as the flights to Delhi and back. That's something I didn't expect! I could have left two of the vaccinations out (rabies and Japanese encephalitis), because the likelihood of getting those two diseases is not very high. The small likelihood was enough for me though. Especially the Japanese encephalitis has some symptoms that I'm not very keen on suffering from.
Yesterday was not just about getting vaccinated. It was also the day I told my colleagues about my plans for the next school year. I think I managed to shock a few. It seems that everyone understands my decision and they were all very supportive and encouraging yesterday and today. Some might even have been a bit envious as well, but none in a bad way. Now it's public and I have to say it feels good. Keeping the secret in the workplace was not as easy as I had imagined, but I didn't want to tell them before I was sure it would all work out.
I've also got some news about the first two months in India. But that will have to wait until the next post. It'll be here some time during this weekend.
Friday, March 1, 2013
One Year Off Duty
I know, I promised you a post about vaccinations. Well, I missed my chance this week. Thursday is the only possibility here and I completely forgot about it yesterday. Now I'll have to wait until next week. I do have some news worth a quick update though. My boss invited me to his room today and told me that he'd received a letter from the educational supervisor. It was the letter that I was hoping to get. I have been granted one year of "unpaid vacation". It will start in the beginning of August 2013 and end on the last of July 2014. This means I can return to my job after the year in India. That is of course, if I choose to. The time after India is something I haven't been thinking much about. Now I at least have one concrete option to start with.
So, I'm hoping to get some news concerning visa formalities soon. It's going to be either vaccinations or that in the next post depending on the quickness of the Indian immigration services.
So, I'm hoping to get some news concerning visa formalities soon. It's going to be either vaccinations or that in the next post depending on the quickness of the Indian immigration services.
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