fredag den 29. november 2019

The ending of our trip





Our last morning here in beautiful Pushkar started out 8.30 with a camel ride from the hotel. 22 camels were waiting outside our hotel to pick us up. We rode through the city heading for the dessert. After one hour we stopped for a break in the dessert. The camels needed to rest, and we needed to stretch our legs. Children with messy hair and bare feet came running from the houses around begging for chocolate, biscuits and money. They kept pointing at our jewellery saying “mine” and “me”. They stood by us the whole-time begging. It was hard to see the small children so desperate for something so small as a piece of candy or a little biscuit. We wanted to help them all. The contrast between the children in Denmark and the children in India is so big, that it’s almost impossible for us to understand. It was rough to have to leave them in this poor environment. Casper tried to share some candy and the kids went crazy. They jumped up and down desperately wanting to get a piece of the candy.

We were back at the hotel at 11 am. The weather wasn’t the best today so either people relaxed at the hotel or went out for shopping in the streets of Pushkar. We all met by the lake at 17 pm. The plan was to catch the sunset going down at the holy lake. But unfortunnallty the weather wasn’t with us. It was too cloudy to see anything, so we just stayed at the lake relaxing and enjoying the view. We all went for dinner at the hotel Inn Seventh Heaven in Pushkar. It was a roof top restaurant, and it was really nice. A good view, and some tasty Indian food – a very nice combination. After dinner some went for relaxing at the hotel and others went for some last-minute shopping in the small shops. Tomorrow we head for New Delhi. We are going to have a night in New Delhi and then fly home to Copenhagen, with a lot of new insights, knowledge and unique experiences.

Thea, Freja & Freja

The hard way to learn











The charter morning

We woke up to our first morning in the immensely decorated hotel ‘Jagat Palace’ on the outskirts of Pushkar. First thing was to turn on the fan and open up the terrace doors, for a view of the palm trees and singing birds. After taking a nice hot shower in the bath tub, we went down to get some breakfast. Breakfast in India is different from the one we know from home, here they serve warm potato soup with chapati, a round bread that has been deep fried. Though we are used to cold cereal at home, the warm dinner-like breakfast is too overcome. The breakfast had to be enjoyed quickly cause we had to meet at the reception at 9 am, in order to visit three of the many temples Pushkar have to offer.

Invited inside Pushkar’s rich diverse religious life

After our morning breakfast our class assembled for a spiritual pilgrimage walk around town. Our first stop was a Sikh Temple. To get in we had to get rid of shoes and socks, and also wash our feet in water, lastly, we had to wear bandanas to cover our hair. Touching our wet feet to the cold white marble gave a sense of humility. Inside the temple we were greeted by the priest, sitting inside a dark room. In the middle of the room were a shrine. The Sikh priest told us we had to walk around the shrine clockwise, you could only get one round and you could make no noise at all. When we went outside, we got to socialize with the Sikh priests. We also got a nice photo with them. One of the important rules Sikhs have to follow, is wearing a turban and to let their hair grow.

Pushkar’s heart

After visiting the Sikh temple at the start of the city, we walked through the still sleeping city. We were heading for our second stop: Pushkar’s famous Brahma temple. This is the temple the city revolves around, positioned in the heart of Pushkar the Brahma temple is a one of a kind. This temple is the only temple too worship the god Brahma. Even though Brahma is one of the three main gods of Hinduism, you aren’t allowed to dedicate temples to him, but the Brahma temple in Pushkar is so old it was made before that rule was laid out. On our way to the temple we saw a lot of the old priest caste ‘Brahmins’. The Brahmins were wearing their orange coats and coming to worship one of the holiest places in Hinduism. At the temple we again had to remove our shoes before entering. In the temple we could walk around looking at all the different shrines dedicated to different gods and deities. Before every shrine there are hanging one or multiple bells, so you can call upon the gods before praying. In the middle of the temple was the shrine for the God Brahma, with the brahmins taking donations and prayers behind the alter. All around the temple was written down in white marble with black ink names of family members who have passed away.

Heading for the top

The last stop on our short relaxing day was the Savitri temple on top of a steep hill with the shape of a pyramid. What we were expecting to be an easy and relaxing walk, quickly turned into a hard mountain climb up giant steps, where you both had to fight the heat, sweat and monkeys. The long staircase leading the way to the top of the hill made sure we got a catch up on all the workout we have been missing out on in India. There were three things that struck us the most while climbing the steep mountain. Firstly, the amazing view over Pushkar with its beautiful lake and the surrounding mountains. Secondly the diverse wildlife of big monkey families have a tendency to get a bit angry, the big majestic camels waiting at the bottom of the mountains and the cows deciding to join your pilgrimage to the Hindu temple at the top. And lastly being able to put everything you have learned into perspective and figuring it out while overlooking the vast land of Rajasthan atop the mountain. Being at our sweaty best we took a group photo atop Pushkar.

Summary of today’s experience

Today’s trip reminded us of the cultural importance of religion in this sacred city. All the things we have experienced has helped us to better understand what we learned at school home in Denmark and vice versa.

torsdag den 28. november 2019

”Goodbye” to the hosts and ”Hello Pushkar”

Jagat Palace Hotel in Pushkar


The last day with our hosts started as usual, getting up at 5:45 AM in the morning. Then eating some traditional Indian breakfast, and then heading to the campus, through the crowded and noisy morning traffic of Jaipur. When we arrived we walked through the 3000 pupils of St. Xaviers, with our bags, and walked straight towards the bus, that we have been travelling with throughout the whole journey. The excitement of seeing the bus, led all of us in to a feeling of relief and the feeling of “We did it, we survived through the days, with our Indian host.”



After dropping our bags, we walked straight to the assembly were, we were applauded by the many students of our partner school. The morning assembly of the day was dedicated to NCC (National Cadet Corps) and us. After the NCC’s had given out their awards, we were called upon, and the stage was ours. As we got up there, we one by one got our own cap, with their logo printed onto it.



When the school assembly was over, the crowd walked to their class, but a few remained, our hosts. We then spoke to our host for the last time of our Indian journey and took some pictures. We walked to the bus taking us to Pushkar, and looked out to see the faces of our hosts, in tears. As the bus started driving we all started clapping and we felt like we were on the top of the world. Some of us had a great experience and some of us, had a less great experience, but we all felt relieved that we could now relax, and be our self, in the rest of the days, in the holy city of Pushkar.



When we hit the highway, the quiet period began, and we could finally sleep. Not that we did not sleep at our hosts house, but now we could relax. Our journey so far has been heavily affected by noise, honking cars and an overwhelming amount of people, but we were finally heading to the quiet and holy city of Pushkar. Sitting at our hotel’s reception, we quickly saw and realised how beautiful the Jagat Palace hotel was, compared to Delhi and the other places we have visited. At this hotel, we could sit at our balcony, in silence, and the relief of not hearing a honking horn every third or even every second was so good.



When we met with the class again we started walking towards the inner city of Pushkar. While walking towards the centre of Pushkar we saw a Hindu temple and a lot of wild cows. The cows are very respected in India, and especially in Pushkar, and no matter who’s path it blocks, people slow down and let the cows cross. When we came to the city-centre a lot of roadblocks made out of wooden sticks came up across the road. After getting to the end of the road we were walking at, we got free time, to walk around by our self. We went out eating at a rooftop restaurant, and then went on looking at the many different street shops. While heading back to the hotel, we had in mind that the hotel possessed a swimming pool. That thought made our legs use their very last energy because we were in desperate need of relaxation. We went to the pool, we relaxed and recharged our energy depots. We went to the centre again to get dinner and found a restaurant on a rooftop, where we sat down and ate some dinner.

Albert and Julius