Viannella and Brodie's Adventures Abroad

During our stay with our friends, who now treated us as family, we were invited to participate in the Indian holiday, Raksha Bandhan. This tradition involves sisters tying decorative bracelets around their brothers' wrists to declare love and protection of them. At the conclusion of the tying ceremony, the sister hand feeds the brother sweet treats. In return, the brothers give their sisters gifts or money. Brodie was asked to receive the rahkis (Indian bracelets) from his new sisters, Riya and Siya. We were honored to take part in this famiy's tradition and felt as if we were a part of the family as well.

Brodie's rakhis on Raksha Bandhan

After an emotional good-bye, we were taken by Raman to his jungle garden, which was a very symmetrical, hand-planted fruit farm that was the work of Raman himself. He began this garden 6 years ago and planted over 700 plants. It was beautiful and peaceful here for us. We ran through the rows of mango, lemon, and guava trees like kids in a candy store. It was as if we had gone to fruit heaven.

Raman showing us his jungle garden

After the garden, we decided to return to Karnal. Raman asked Brodie if he felt comfortable driving to which Brodie replied "YES!"
We didn't think it was possible, but Brodie was able to frighten Raman, who we had come to know as a fearless driver. For 30 tense minutes, we reached Karnal safely.

Brodie attempts to drive in Karnal

In Karnal, we returned to Raman's travel agency, which had become our temporary headquarters. We spent our last few moments with our new friends, Tarun, Vicky, and Surbhi before setting off on our own to Agra.

Our dear new friends

So we have left our dear friends in the comfortable confines of the village and headed south. The southern trek began with a full capacity bus ride back to Delhi, and a road side pick up by our dear friend and trusted guide, Sumit. After another warm reception and meal at Sumit's home, we left for Agra by train the following morning. The train was spacious and only 3 hours in duration. It was then we realized that our dear friend/travel agent, Raman, had been looking after his wayward foreign friends. On arrival to Agra, we decided to place our trust in a government-sponsored tour for a day at Fatehpursikri, Agra Fort, and Taj Mahal. Agra Fort was an amazing structure that stood out in the landscape in its impressive size and 200 ft tall main gate. We were amazed by its size, beauty, and durability. Upon our exit of the fort, our attention was immediately handed over to the hoards of solicitors that offered us everything from post cards to anatomical correct Karma Sutra key chains. It was a bit of a distraction from the tour as they were unleashed upon us rather early on. After 2 persistent would-be salesmen followed us to our bus, we boarded and made our escape.

Agra Fort

After taking a breath to process the frenzy at Agra Fort, we were refreshed by the idea of continuing our journey to the Taj Mahal. On our approach to the Taj, we were witness to its impressive outer gates. We then passed through a security check point where Viannella's hair brush was questioned.

Parade to the Taj

The Taj Mahal is truly a sight to behold. It's everything you thought it would be and we felt a sense of accomplishment by finally making it to such a famous destination. We took our turns posing for the totally cliche photos that is a rite of passage for every visitor. Several Indians also asked to take pictures with us and we enjoyed our temporary celebrity status. Ha! We took time to appreciate the Taj Mahal moment by taking a rest on the front lawn and soaking up the atmosphere for the next few hours. We were hesitant to leave because we would never be able to duplicate this moment we so longed for. We came out of the hypnosis to the realization that we only made it through half of our journey in India with more epic moments sure to follow.

Postcard pic

Relaxing at the Taj

On Aug. 9th we left behind the sense of familiarity in which we used to navigate through NZ and Australia. India represented something completely new to us, new language, new customs, new everything. When we changed planes in Shanghai, one in which we nearly missed, a realization had set in. Along with the excitement of this journey was the realization that we could have difficulty in doing the most simple things, Like when I attempted to quench my thirst at a water dispenser. My face had been covered in sweat and my lips were dry and nearly cracked as I raced toward what I recognized as a water source. I took the paper cup and pressed the button to dispense the liquid. Eager to end what sure to be a case of dehydration, I tilted my head back and threw down what I discovered to be boiling hot liquid. It wasn't all bad, walking past the signs we couldn't understand and waiting amongst those who were returning home made us excited to be so close to our destination.

We have arrived! - At the airport

18 and a half short hours since we left Melbourne, we arrived in India. We were greeted by our Indian contact Sumit, who was accompanied by another man named Raman.

Brodie with Sumit and Raman

We were greeted warmly as we entered Raman's egg-shaped car and began our trek towards his family's home. Viannella and I sat in silence as we drove through the narrow and scantly lit streets. I rolled the window down to take in the cool night air and to better see the buildings that were partially concealed by the night sky. The space between the buildings were narrow and at times the roads appeared unnavigable. The intersections seemed to appear from nowhere as we wove in and out of the city streets.

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Our arrival at Sumit's and Raman's home was met with a warm greeting and a large meal, which we discovered as an Indian tradition practiced by everyone we encountered.

Traditional Indian Food

We remained awake until the morning sharing details of our journey and taking in knowledge of Indian culture. We awoke later in the morning to the pulsating sound of a fully awakened city. Honking horns and the voices of people on the street filled the air and we eagerly awaited venturing outside.

We commuted by car through the busy streets, which to my observation did not obey any uniform traffic codes. Cars were weaving in and out of traffic on both sides of the road which is unforgiving to the timid. The frenzy of late morning in Delhi can be overwhelming but we managed to arrive at our destination still eager to experience more. We were introduced to more members their family. After another large meal, it was decided that we would be taken to the family's villiage, Sambhli. Sambhli is a rural community approximately 150 km north east of Delhi. There we were received and treated as family for the duration of our stay. The villagers were overwhelmingly generous and genuinely excited to host foreign guests. The hospitality and generosity we were shown has made a life long impact on us.

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Us with Tarun

There is no repayment for our experience in Sambhli, Karnal, and Delhi. As if our friends weren't a godsend already, they also owned a travel agency where they insisted on helping us with a travel "programme." Sumit and Raman could not fathom the concept of "wherever the wind blows." They planned the remainder of our journey in India. More to come...

It has been a few days since we last posted. Since then, we have been in 5 time zones and are feeling a bit confused now about times and dates. We have been in Auckland, Melbourne, Shanghai, and now New Delhi. Due to time, we'll only mention Auckland right now and then sometime soon when we have time again talk about Melbourne and post some pictures.

Auckland was an amazing city. The city itself was very modern in appearance and there was a great energy (especially around All Blacks fans). You can hear several languages being spoken in Auckland. It was pleasing to see that the native Maori culture has not been forgotten and had been woven into the fabric of society. With only a few days, we decided to make the most of a very walkable city and explore museums, art, and a view from Sky City (a 220 m high tower where Brodie confessed his fear of heights on the elevator ride up). We hopped on a couple of trains to explore the areas outside of the city. We also enjoyed an All Blacks rugby game against the Australian team (the Bledisloe Cup) at a local pub filled with New Zealand All Blacks fans who had travelled from other parts of the country to catch the game in Auckland. The All Blacks won, which meant lots of celebrating. Had it not been so cold, we would've bought a ticket to watch the game live. O well. Maybe next time.

And then we were off to Melbourne in southern Australia.....

Posted by vee-brodie 08.09.2011 22:09 Archived in New Zealand Tagged aucklandcupbledisloe Comments (1)