India

Wildlife SOS in Agra is one of India’s most successful and well respected wildlife conservation organisations. The primary reason for the founding of Wildlife SOS has been to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife in distress in both urban and rural environments. Animals that are regularly rescued and rehabilitated at Wildlife SOS include Sloth bears, Himalayan Moon Bears, Elephants, Leopards, Snakes and reptiles, and Macaque monkeys.

Wildlife SOS rescues orphaned, injured, and displaced wildlife found in cities and locations from wherever they work in India. Injured animals are given medical treatment, and many are released back into the wild. Where this is not possible, permanent homes are provided for the animals at one of their many rescue facilities.

Wildlife SOS is particularly well known for their work of rescuing and rehabilitating ‘dancing bears’ or Sloth Bears. With cooperation from Government officials, and the help of partner organizations Wildlife SOS has been able to rescue and rehabilitate over 620 “dancing” bears. They are now living peacefully in four large natural sanctuaries across India, enjoying a life where they’ll never again have to endure such cruelty and pain.

They also have ongoing active projects to help Leopards and Black Bears which are a caught or involved in human-wildlife conflict situations in several states. Captive Elephant welfare and rescuing performing elephants is something Wildlife SOS has been associated with for many years. They also work on various projects targeted at environment and biodiversity conservation.

Wildlife SOS have two primary facilities at their Agra Headquarters; The Wildlife Rescue facilities that focus on bears, primates and reptiles, and the Elephant Conservation and Care Center which currently houses 20 elephants and India’s first dedicated elephant veterinary hospital.

Better World Adventures volunteering will primarily take place at the Wildlife Rescue Facilities, but you will also have some engagement at the Elephant Care Centre. During your volunteering you will make a personal contribution to the welfare of Indian wildlife, and have the unique opportunity to work alongside some incredible animals and gain the satisfaction that comes from helping to make a positive impact on their lives (and yours!).  . You will need to have an interest wildlife conservation and be physically fit, able to tolerate high temperatures and humidity, work well within a team and be adaptable to living and working in a group.

As a volunteer you will spend up to a week working with the animals in the main rescue facilities in Agra. Each day is a little different but your activities may include:

• Food preparation for Sun Bears and Elephants
• Assisting keepers in making enrichment treats for animals
• Building rest hammocks for sloth bears
• Assisting keepers in daily animal feeding
• Maintenance of the bear and elephant enclosures and facilities.
• Bear & elephant observations.
• Gardening / plantation / nusery maintenance.
• Knitting of coil rope for hiding enrichments.
• Organization of facility resources.
• Painting and plumbing maintenance work.
• Organization of the Gift Shop/Visitor Centre
• Maintenance of the Education Walkway Centre area
• Assisting guests and visitors

Your first day at the Centre will consist of an orientation session and a full campus tour. The orientation will cover both logistical information regarding how the Centre is run and educational material detailing the fundamentals of animal welfare and environmental basics. You will be trained by the experienced animal keepers at the Centre, and supervised at all times by the keepers and the volunteer coordinator.

Please note that in keeping with international animal rescue welfare protocols, and for your safety and the safety of the wildlife, direct physical contact with many animals is NOT part of the program experience.

All volunteers live in the Wildlife SOS Vounteer house. Conditions are basic but comfortable, with showers, kitchen facilities, TV, and badminton. Transfers are provided daily between the house and the two Wildlife SOS sanctuaries. 3 meals are provided each day. Meals are strictly vegetarian and a basic breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided for the stay.

While volunteering in Udaipur, you will live in lockable 4-6 person single-sex rooms in a volunteer house in Hiranmagri about 6 km from the city centre. Hot showers are provided. There is an ATM and supermarket about 15 minutes walk from the house.  Three meals are provided per day, and two on weekends. The meals are a mix of Western and Indian food, consisting mainly of vegetarian dishes including rice and vegetables. You can expect to have a chicken dish about twice per week. You may also use the kitchen facilities to cook for yourself or eat out at any of the local restaurants, with permission from the Better World Adventures group leaders.

Get your hands dirty and help the underprivileged communities with construction projects in schools in the province of Goa, on the Indian west coast.

While volunteering in Goa, you will live in lockable 4-6 person single-sex rooms in a volunteer house. Private bathrooms with hot showers are provided. The volunteer house has a mini library, a dining room, a lounge area where you can hang out with fellow participants and a beautiful garden to relax. There is an ATM and supermarket about 15 minutes walk from the house.  Three meals are provided per day, and two on weekends. The meals are a mix of Western and Indian food, consisting mainly of vegetarian dishes including rice and vegetables. You can expect to have a chicken dish about twice per week. You may also use the kitchen facilities to cook for yourself or eat out at any of the local restaurants, with permission from the Better World Adventures group leaders.

In the Kindergarten Teaching and Community Outreach project in Udaipur, you will take part in teaching and imparting early childhood education to children in the age group of about 4 to 5 years old who are right at the start of their school careers. Most of the students will be living in a school hostel facility as their families live in far-off under-developed villages. Their parents may be unemployed or earn very little to support their families, in low paid jobs including tuk-tuk (autorickshaw) drivers, maids, and unskilled labourers.

You will be teaching at a local school in the morning and in the afternoons where Hindi is mainly taught to children who come from mostly lower middle income families of . They receive very little education in English language. The teachers of the school are capable of translating Basic English, but our volunteers provide valuable support in . We need your support to teach young children English to help them grow in confidence and learn better spoken and written English.

You will also help students to develop an awareness on hygienic habits, environmental awareness, behavioral skills, and much more.  Some of the time volunteers will be taking the children for outings to parks and facilities where they can access resources to learn and enhance their knowledge. At other times, you will be assisting in homework, games and interactions with the teachers and students. The teaching program is informal, same as kindergartens worldwide, and the children will want to play with you more than be ‘taught’ in a formal sense.  The children will all be excited to see you and exceptionally welcoming, due partly to the natural and genuine friendliness of all Rajasthanis, especially children, but also the fact that you will be one of the few westerners they have met!

On your first day of the program, you will have an orientation, to better understand your new environment and program. You will experience an energized authentic Rajasthani cultural dance concert, visit the local market, and a few supermarkets located close to the school.  On the second day, you will receive training on the activities of the project onsite, with teachers introducing you to the project in a step-by-step manner.

Daily project work will generally start at about 9am and work through until late afternoon. The schedule can be changed and/or amended depending on weather conditions, local conditions and unforeseen circumstances.  This program is not available during school holiday periods in May, October and December.

Casual dress is appropriate during your time at the school. However, no-see-through clothes or low cut tops are permitted.

Udaipur is considered by many travellers to be the most beautiful city in India, famed for its incredible and numerous 10th-century Rajput-era palaces and temples, overlooking Lake Pichola.  Fans of The Jungle Book may recognise Udaipur as the birthplace of Bagheera the Panther. Often called India’s “White City” for the colour of its marble architecture, Udaipur attracts several million tourists each yeasr and is a great base for exploring the north Indian northern desert province of Rajasthan.

While volunteering in Udaipur, you will live in lockable 4-6 person single-sex rooms in a volunteer house in Hiranmagri about 6 km from the city centre. Hot showers are provided. There is an ATM and supermarket about 15 minutes walk from the house.  Three meals are provided per day, and two on weekends. The meals are a mix of Western and Indian food, consisting mainly of vegetarian dishes including rice and vegetables. You can expect to have a chicken dish about twice per week. You may also use the kitchen facilities to cook for yourself or eat out at any of the local restaurants, with permission from the Better World Adventures group leaders.

Close to the Rajasthani city of Udaipur is the Sarjjangarh Biological Park Wildlife Sanctuary, preserving a natural and sustainable ecosystem for many endangered species. Their Menagarie for Education on Wildlife and Habitat Preservation program aims to contribute towards improvement in wildlife data collection and research, promotion of environmental and animal- friendly practices for the local villagers and tourists as well as basic care of wild and rescued animals.

Volunteers will participate in a wide range of activities including:

• feeding and bathing of the animals,
• cleaning of enclosures and park environment,
• recording seasonal changes in behavioral patterns of animals,
• gardening and weeding,
• analysis of visitor behavior,
• rebuilding and renovation of enclosures,
• signboard preparation and maintenance activities,
• exhibitions and assistance in lectures for school groups,
• Distribution of tourist handouts in the local vicinity.
• You may also contribute to local human settlements and other communities in Joint Forest Management by Construction of basic sanitation and hygiene facilities, medical health awareness and immunization camps.

On your first day of the program, you will have an orientation, to better understand your new environment and program. Our coordinators will take you to an energized authentic Rajasthani cultural dance concert, visit the local market, and a few supermarkets located close to our center. On the second day of the program you will observe keepers at the project site, and be shown how the project is run, in a step-by-step manner.  For the duration of the week you will be working along with the staff and the forest guards on various activities, from 9:00am until 2pm.

It is important to acknowledge that animal sanctuaries in developing countries can be very different to zoos and sanctuaries you may have visited in the past. Before participating on this project, volunteers will need to understand that facilities will be more spartan, rustic and under-developed than they may anticipate, and that social attitudes toward wildlife conservation and indeed, the need for wildlife conservation practices are far less progressive or educated than they are in other, more developed countries. This only emphasises how important your volunteer work is, in helping to change attitudes toward wildlife conservation, and to assist the sanctuary in its administration of the resources that they have. Students participating on this program must have recieved at least one course of anti-rabies vaccine before departing for India.

Udaipur is considered by many travellers to be the most beautiful city in India, famed for its incredible and numerous 10th-century Rajput-era palaces and temples, overlooking Lake Pichola.  Fans of The Jungle Book may recognise Udaipur as the birthplace of Bagheera the Panther. Often called India’s “White City” for the colour of its marble architecture, Udaipur attracts several million tourists each yeasr and is a great base for exploring the north Indian northern desert province of Rajasthan.

While volunteering in Udaipur, you will live in lockable 4-6 person single-sex rooms in a volunteer house in Hiranmagri about 6 km from the city centre. Hot showers are provided. There is an ATM and supermarket about 15 minutes walk from the house.  Three meals are provided per day, and two on weekends. The meals are a mix of Western and Indian food, consisting mainly of vegetarian dishes including rice and vegetables. You can expect to have a chicken dish about twice per week. You may also use the kitchen facilities to cook for yourself or eat out at any of the local restaurants, with permission from the Better World Adventures group leaders.

Travel into the Indian Himalayan hill station of Manali, where we help the local community on a range of school reconstruction projects within Manali and outlying villages. These projects include the Memorial School for the Blind, Pre-School Kindergartens, and government public schools that enrol students from underprivileged families.

This is an ongoing project run by an NGO in Manali, with the aim of inspiring underprivileged village children towards their education by making their classrooms and school facilities more attractive.  Tasks that you may be involved in include:

• Renovating, sanding and repainting the exterior and interior walls of classrooms,
• Painting bright, high colour and raised texture murals on the walls of the classrooms of the School for the Blind, that appeal to low vision students,
• Painting colourful educational murals and posters inside the classrooms,
• Painting and renovating the pre-school areas,
• Creating school vegetable gardens with the children,
• Assisting the school carpenter with basic carpentry work,
• Planning daily activities with the teachers,
• Helping students to practice their spoken English.

Other duties that you may be tasked to assist with include the development of small sports grounds to improve children’s skills in sports such as football and volleyball. As the villages have few recreational facilities for young people, many of the village children come to the school grounds to play during their free time in the evening.  You may also be asked to help staff create posters which can be published in surrounding villages to encourage paretns to send their children to pre-school.

While volunteering in Manali, you will live in single-sex dormitory rooms in a volunteer house in the village of Aleo or Shuru on the town outskirts. Accommodation facilities are basic but comfortable. Hot showers are provided.  Three meals are provided per day, with two meals (brunch and dinner) on weekends. During the week lunch will be provided at the school where the project is taking place. The meals are a mix of Western and Indian food, consisting mainly of vegetarian dishes including rice and vegetables. You may also eat out at any of the local restaurants in Manali, with permission from the Better World Adventures group leaders.

Gender equality is fundamental to global sustainable development.  A lack of education limits women’s hopes, declines family income, diminishes health, puts women at risk of trafficked and exploitation and bounds the economic advancement of entire countries. The United Nations has identified that education for girls and women is the single most successful way to progress the lives of individual families as well as to bring economic expansion to poor communities worldwide. 

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women requires that women are accorded rights equal to those of men and that women be able to enjoy all their rights in practice.  Women’s Empowerment is a particularly relevant issue for uneducated and rural women in India where cultural norms place little or no priority on a woman’s autonomy or self-sufficiency.

The Women’s Empowerment Program in Jaipur was created in 2010 to provide basic education, skills development, training program, and the development of low-cost businesses and income generation for underprivileged Rajasthani women living in poverty in rural areas, slums and villages.  The goal is to provide every woman and girl that comes to the Empowerment Centre with a good basic education and appropriate training programs to help them better themselves, find employment, or even start their own small businesses. Some of the programs run by the Centre that assist women to be self reliant include stitching and seamstressing, beautician courses, and the application of henna paint for weddings and events. 

Many of the women who attend the Center are illiterate, having had no education whatsoever, and with no ability to read or write. Centre staff try to ensure that every woman has access to English conversation tuition, and basic mathematics so that they can be financially confident.; attending our everyday classes help them a lot. One-on-one counselling and group discussion programs are offered to enable women to share ideas and issues amongst themselves and to encourage support networking. The number of women attending the project varies from day-to-day, but usually averages 60-80 women and children. Centre staff are constantly reaching out to the local community to encourage more women to attend. Children who attend the Centre with their mothers and grandmothers or live nearby are provided with free education classes. This benefits the children who receive a valuable education, and also their mothers who are able to take advantage of the free childcare while they are learning new skills themselves.

Volunteers on the Women’s Empowerment program will join a devoted team of international volunteers working towards strengthening of women in India.  There are no specific skills that are required to join this project, but you should feel strongly about women’s rights, feel passionate about the opportunity to help women who are eager to improve their situation, and have an interest in learning about the culture and life of people in other countries. 

Volunteers and women that are able to bring specific academic and trade/craft skills, business capabilities, and/or mentoring experience to the project are particularly encouraged to participate. Past volunteers in this ongoing project have been involved in activities including:

• Teaching English language to young women,
• Providing basic mathematics lessons,
• Education (Literacy) awareness work,
• Stitching, sewing and seamstressing work,
• Income generation skills training,
• Microfinance, mathematics and business skills,
• Women’s health awareness,
• Beautician course work,
• Henna design,
• Personality development and assertiveness training.

Volunteers on the Women’s Empowerment project will be accommodated in a quality budget hotel in Jaipur, with the option to spend some of their time living with an Indian Host Family. If you select the homestay option, you will stay with at least one or two other members of your group, sharing a private room the host family house.Our host families are carefully screened and selected based on Better World Adventures requirements, and have been hosting international travelers for many years. The host family members communicate in English and are very friendly with volunteers. Staying with a local host family will give you the opportunity to learn about Indian Life, meet the locals, try local food, learn a little Hindi and gain an immersion into local customs and traditions.

You will be receive 3 meals per day, which will be traditionally Indian but very nutritious. Breakfast will include tea/coffee, bread and Indian paratha. Lunch and Dinner will include 2 types of vegetables, bread, rice, yoghurt, pickles and fresh fruit. If you are not able to adjust to completely Indian meals or have specific dietary requirements than these may be able to be accommodated. There are many shops near the accommodation where volunteers can shop

Better World Adventures has partnered with a Rajasthani NGO that operates a Centre for rescued street children in Jaipur in northern India.

The Bal Basera (Street Kids Shelter) in Jaipur was developed in 2009 and has a team of dedicated volunteers who search for children who have been sold into slavery, or kidnapped or trafficked by criminal gangs and are then forced into child labour, begging on street corners, or forced to do menial tasks such as rag-picking, garbage recycling, jewellery and stone cutting and other domestic tasks. Each month the team works closely with local police to rescue between 30-40 street children, usually found on the streets, or at railway stations and bus stops.  Since 2009 more than 2500 kidnapped children have been resuced and repatriated back to their homes. While they are transitioning through the Centre, children are provided with accommodation, food, education classes, and a garden for safe play.

There are no specific qualifications for this project, but volunteers must be committed and be enthusiastic about the project, understanding the trauma that some of the children have faced in their lives.  Project volunteers will find the work challenging, but incredibly rewarding.

Better World Adventures volunteers will always be in the presence of Centre staff and a local volunteer program coordinator will always be on site to assist the our volunteers, and translate between English and Hindi where required.

As a valued foreign volunteer your main role will be to engage with the local staff in teaching basic English & mathematics, health awareness and helping the local health program coordinator for the daily check-up of children.  You may also be assisting in the delivery of personality development programs. Personality development includes talking with children about having a positive attitude towards life, self-esteem, manners, speaking and behaving in public etc. Along with education classes volunteers may also choose to be involved in extracurricular activities for children like art & craft work, drawing, painting, music and dance, that enable the children to be children, and to possibly discover new interests, personal potential, and outlets for their personality and creativity. Many of the children have never had an opportunity to express themselves personally in this way before.

Volunteers also help Centre staff with physical activities for the children in the centre garden. Sports and games are organised by staff and volunteers to develop the children’s physical stamina; helping them to making their lives better and in rehabilitating them.

Note :- This project is involved in the rescue of the children in India kidnapped for child labour, and their subsequent repatriation to their homes and families. The search for trafficked children and subsequent rescue operations take place 24/7, so while you are volunteering at the Centre the numer of children can increase or decrease daily.

Volunteers on the Street Kids Shelter project will be accommodated in a quality budget hotel in Jaipur, with the option to spend some of their time living with an Indian Host Family. If you select the homestay option, you will stay with at least one or two other members of your group, sharing a private room the host family house.Our host families are carefully screened and selected based on Better World Adventures requirements, and have been hosting international travelers for many years. The host family members communicate in English and are very friendly with volunteers. Staying with a local host family will give you the opportunity to learn about Indian Life, meet the locals, try local food, learn a little Hindi and gain an immersion into local customs and traditions.

You will be receive 3 meals per day, which will be traditionally Indian but very nutritious. Breakfast will include tea/coffee, bread and Indian paratha. Lunch and Dinner will include 2 types of vegetables, bread, rice, yoghurt, pickles and fresh fruit. If you are not able to adjust to completely Indian meals or have specific dietary requirements than these may be able to be accommodated. There are many shops near the accommodation where volunteers can shop.

SlumAid is a long established and ongoing Indian charitable NGO that works with slum communities in Mumbai and Jaipur, focusing on sustainable projects in education, child welfare, English language teaching, health education and primary health care, and employment skills. The aim of the project is to create the prospect of employment and help to improve the quality of life for slum dwellers.  We need English teachers to support our existing full time teaching staff, by following the English curriculum, adding their own twist and inspiring children to love learning.

As a volunteer you will work alongside other SlumAid volunteers, spending time in the slums contributing, inspiring, and being inspired by, some of the world’s poorest communities. You will quickly come to question their preconceived notions about slum life.  Many volunteers are initially surprised by the unexpected vibrant beauty that they experience in slum communities, and discover an experience rich with warm welcomes, bright festivities, dogged resourcefulness and a genuine appetite for life from slum residents who have so little but live their lives so fully.  Watch a world of opportunities unfold for them, and for you too. 

We guarantee that you will return home with a completely new perspective on the value of life. the strength of humanity, and possibly questioning the manner in which developed cultures measure success by material possessions.

In Mumbai, we volunteer with Lok Seva Sangam a Mumbai based NGO which has been dealing with health, education and community development in the Baiganwadi, Mankhurd and Chunabhatti slums in Mumbai since 1976. Mumbai is one of the great cities of the world. It is a world class commercial and financial centre, with impressive and historic architecture and many facilities for tourism. Mumbai’s vibrancy and wealth attracts millions of migrants from the countryside onto this crowded island and the social facilities and infrastructure are incapable of handling such numbers. As a result there is vast and almost unimaginable poverty for those who are unable to take hold of the opportunities this city promises. Bainganwadi slum is the second largest in Mumbai (only outsized by Dharavi, which featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire). Built on the city’s biggest rubbish dump, children scour the junk for scrap metal to sell and play among the debris and sewage.

Jaipur, known as the Pink City, is a very beautiful city with many palaces and historic buildings, however it too has slums.  We volunteer at Parva School, where around 100 slum children are taught to read and write and do basic maths by full-time teachers, supported by volunteers.  Parva School also has a small cottage industry for the mothers to make bags and cards which are sold in the UK and France.

Do you have a passion for theatre and stagecraft? This ongoing project enables you to use that passion to engage underprivileged children in Jaipur with the magic of theatre and performance.

There is a lack of free, quality education in Jaipur and little theatre education. The children you will be teaching don’t usually receive theatre education, so all will be inexperienced, and some will be shy. Many of the children in the schools are children from difficult backgrounds; therefore volunteers who can find a balance between sensitivity and fun are perfect for these children who aren’t given the chance to experience the excitement of education. The children are always eager to learn and this shows them new ways to enjoy life and express themselves, possibly at little or no financial cost. The beauty of this programme is that we find the children’s confidence, happiness and unity increases as the programme progresses and their hope for the future becomes a real possibility.

You don’t need to be an expert actor, director or an artist, but we would prefer that you have a genuine desire to help the children to act, express themselves, and overcome shyness. We are after confident individuals with a passion for helping young children and spreading love, joy and knowledge of performance. Individuals who do have experience in performing or teaching are very welcomed. Moreover, volunteers who wish to increase their own experience of teaching and knowledge of Indian culture are also embraced.

 Volunteers can choose where they would like to participate in the theater program; with the potential to train children in a street-children shelter, local school or as part of a women and girls empowerment project.  You will have the freedom to create and organise your very own programme. In the past, volunteers have:

• Organise the program,
• Designed and made minimalist sets,
• Taught children in acting/drama
• Taught children to project their voices,
• Helped teachers in the performance of children
• Put on plays,
• Taught dance routines,
• Made masks/puppets
• Taught core performance techniques),
• Taught scenes from musicals
• Taught set construction
• Taught children how to make their own costumes.

 Theatre project volunteers will also be asked to teach approximately 1 hour of English conversation each day

Volunteers on the Theatre program will be accommodated in a quality budget hotel in Jaipur, with the option to spend some of their time living with an Indian Host Family. If you select the homestay option, you will stay with at least one or two other members of your group, sharing a private room the host family house.Our host families are carefully screened and selected based on Better World Adventures requirements, and have been hosting international travelers for many years. The host family members communicate in English and are very friendly with volunteers. Staying with a local host family will give you the opportunity to learn about Indian Life, meet the locals, try local food, learn a little Hindi and gain an immersion into local customs and traditions.

You will be receive 3 meals per day, which will be traditionally Indian but very nutritious. Breakfast will include tea/coffee, bread and Indian paratha. Lunch and Dinner will include 2 types of vegetables, bread, rice, yoghurt, pickles and fresh fruit. If you are not able to adjust to completely Indian meals or have specific dietary requirements than these may be able to be accommodated. There are many shops near the accommodation where volunteers can shop.

.

The Himalayas are the greatest mountain range in the world, and like Nepal, India offers many fantastic mountain treks, with extremely beautiful alpine scenery, some of the world’s snow-capped peaks, traditional tribal villages and ancient temples and monastaries.  Our partner, IndiaTreks, are the longest established and largest trekking operators in the Indian Himalayas. While enjoying a fabulous Himalayan trek, we will also be involved in IndiaTreks Greentrails project, assisting with the collection and transportation of garbage from trekking trails and remote villages to recycling centres and landfills, and educating villagers on waste collection and appropriate disposal.  For more on IndiaTreks Greentrails initiative, check out this video.

Here are a selection of some of the most popular short multi-day treks that can be included into your Indian itinerary: 

 Triund Trek  (2 days)

Beginning in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh
9km, to an altitude of 3,000m
Best walked April-June, September-November

 The Triund Trek is one of the shortest popular camping treks in the Indian Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh province. Dharamshala, at the start of the trek, is the home of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government-in-exile. The numerous small hamlets on the trail provide an opportunity to experience the vibrant Tibetan culture. The trek winds through beautiful alpine forests of fir, rhododendron and oak, with the majestic Dhauladhar mountains on one side and the breathtaking Kangra valley on the other.  Cafes along the trail with names such as Magic View, Scenic View, and Snowline are testament to the quality of the impressive scenery on this short trek.  The initial trek is a gradual incline, and the last part of the trek involves a steep climb up to Triund. 

Nag Tibba Trek (2-3 days)

Beginning in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand
15km, to an altitude of 3,000m
Best walked April-May, September-October

The Nag Tibba trek to the Serpent’s Peak is an extremely popular short circular camping trek in the Garhwal Himalayas, that includes green meadows, thick jungle, quaint villages and ancient deodar forest. The views from Nag Tibba Temple across to the Himalayan peaks of Bandarpoonch, Gangotri, and Kedarnath are particularly spectacular.

Beas Kund Trek (5 days)
Beginning in Manali, Himachal Pradesh
30km, to an altitude of 3,900m
Best walked July-September

The Beas Kund Trek near Old Manali in Himachal Pradesh province is a short camping trek that climbs from 2,400m to 3,900m through the Solang Valley. The trail winds through ancient deodar forests and lush green meadows, to the source of River Beas at the holy Beas Kund glacier lake, surrounded by the fantastic panorama of snow-capped mountains including Mount Hanuman Tibba and the Seven Sisters.

Deoriatal Chandrashila Trek (6 days)

Beginning in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
30km, to an altitude of 3,900m
Best walked March-May, September-December

The Deoriatal Chandrashila trek is considered one of the easiest and most beautiful of all of India’s short mountain treks, known for its gradual ascents, abundant bird life, dense rhododendron forests and panoramic mountain views.  Located within the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary, the trail first climbs to the mirror lake of Deoria Tal before continuing through lush green meadows to the ancient Tungnath Temple, regarded as the highest Shiva shrine in the world.  According to local legend, this is the place where Lord Rama meditated after defeating the demon-king Ravana.  The trail then continues to the  summit of Chandrashila peak, surrounded by breathtakingly spectacular views of many of the tallest snow-capped Himalayan peaks in the Indian Himalaya.

Hampta Pass Trek (6 Days)

Beginning in Manali, Himachal Pradesh
35km, to an altitude of 4,300m
Best walked June-September

The Hampta Pass is perfect for beginners looking for a high Himalayan challenge that includes river crossings, and alpine passes. It is impressive right from the start, as you drive from Manali to Jobra climbing 3000ft through 42 hairpins! It is considered one of the most dramatic “crossover” treks in the Indian Himalaya, with the scenery changing around every corner as the trek progresses from the green wildflower meadows at Jwara and the dramatic funnel-like Hampta Valley, to the panoramic summit of the steep Hampta Pass overlooking the Himalayas, before descending to the Shea Goru oasis campsite, overlooking the desolate high desert of Lahaul and the Spiti Valleys.

 Valley of the Flowers Trek (7 days)

Beginning at Joshimath, Uttarakhand
47km, to an altitude of 4,400m
Best walked in July-August

Considered the most beautiful trek in all of India, the Valley of the Flowers in Uttarakhand province is located inside the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. It was declared a national park in 1982, and then gained UNESCO World Heritage status. Surrounded by snowcapped mountains, the views on the trek are spectacular, with rushing streams, high altitude lakes and holy pilgrimage sites. It is best walked in July and August at the end of the monsoon, when the glacial valley located high in the Himalayas is flooded with millions of vibrant wildflowers of over 300 different varieties. Local folklore even warns that the scent of flowers can be so strong that visitors risk falling unconscious. Not only will you see the stunning floral landscape, but the blooms attract a huge variety of colourful butterflies, and the surrounding forests and mountains are home to rare and endangered species of animals like Asiatic black bear, brown bear, snow leopard, and blue sheep. 

Content to come here.