Month #2: Reflections of Life on the Road, India & Thailand

Month #2 went even faster than the first! We've gotten better at unpacking less and have slowed down our pace. We take slightly fewer pictures and cherish the small moments more. We no longer feel like we are on vacation; we feel like this is our life for the next few months. We are doing very well with our budget and most importantly, we are getting along very well.

The reason we're getting along??? :)  We were convinced this Thailand outfit had a back door that led to a brothel.

Delhi, India was a culture shock for both of us. The sensory overload we experienced is hard to put into words and is something we won't soon forget. We can still hear the incessant honking and stray dogs barking in our sleep! This might not sound appealing but we felt alive the whole time there.

The wedding we attended in Karnal, India was a once in a lifetime experience. The countless ceremonies, endless partying and incredibly kind and welcoming people will definitely be a highlight of this entire trip. The groom, Anmol, and his family made us feel at home...well, as much as you can feel at home when herds of stray buffalo and handicap donkeys are wandering down the roads! :) We hope his family will visit us in Florida someday so we can try to repay the hospitality they gave us!

Yemi with Anmol and his nephew, whom Jan nicknamed Chit Chat

Thailand, a much needed reprieve after the craziness of India, almost felt like coming home. We know the culture, love the food and feel comfortable getting around. Familiar is what we needed after India! We spent New Year's in Koh Lanta, an island in the South of Thailand. Despite our wishing lantern burning to ashes on the beach after an unsuccessful take off, we are very excited about 2014. Our only wish is that it goes slowly and we can continue living in the moment even after we return home.

There is no shortage of long term travelers in Asia. Aside from two American couples we met in Koh Lanta, we have yet to meet anyone traveling for less than one month. "How long are you traveling for?" is often the second question after, "Where are you from?"

People are perplexed why Americans don't travel long term like the rest of the developed countries in the world. Our work hard culture and terrible PTO benefits don't support it, but foreigners are baffled that we don't seem to mind. Many Europeans and Australians get one year off to travel and can return to their positions. This is in addition to the year off that most college students take before entering the workforce. The average traveling span of the people we encounter on the road is 9-12 months. This includes people young and old!

We are looking forward to the next four months. Yemi misses his niece and Jan is anxious to be reunited with her four legged boys. We have so much still ahead of us! Our schedule is going to get a bit hectic in month #3 as we crammed another country into the mix. However, after relaxing on Thailand's beaches we think we have some extra energy to make everything happen!

Thailand, our home away from home

Photo Friday: Fields of Mustard

Anmol & Harpreet wandering in fields of mustard during their pre-wedding photo shoot

The 5 Day Indian Wedding Celebration

We visited India because our good friend Anmol got married in Karnal, a city two hours North of Delhi. The wedding, which consisted of five days of celebrations and ceremonies, was incredible!

No detail was spared. From the thousands of flowers to the bride's intricate gowns she had personally designed to wear each day, we were constantly in awe.

The details of the beaded gowns, personalized bracelets & amazing henna

 We knew it was an extravagant affair when a 20+ person band of bagpipers escorted the couple into a luncheon. The stadium-style video cameras panning over our heads and plunging down from the sky while we ate lunch for a close up of the curry between our teeth assured as that this was a serious affair. As if the groom's golden sword hadn't already tipped us off!

Day #4:  The bride & groom arriving at the wedding ceremony

We can only imagine what Anmol, the groom, had thought of our simple 18 person, 6 hour wedding celebration in Key West! He had assured us this was an event we didn't want to miss over a year ago when we painstakingly rearranged our entire six month agenda to be here. As the GoPro cameras flew overhead on the dance floor, we realized he was right.

The entrance to the luncheon after the ceremony.  Photo credit erinckelly.

The one thing Anmol didn't advise us beforehand was the importance of pacing ourselves! As a result, the six ignorant Americans in attendance were on an incredible roller coaster of going all out one day, only to need an entire day to recover at a back table and rest up for the next day's celebration. Unlimited Black Dog whiskey for the men and hours of Punjab dance music for five days in a row is difficult for anyone over the age of 25 to manage.

Recovered & ready for  day #5, the reception

Witnessing the unique ceremonies held throughout the week was fascinating (even though we didn't know what the heck was going on half the time). Our favorite ceremony occurred on day #3 before the groom's family's cocktail party. Essentially, it was a parade around Anmol's neighborhood. Drummers escorted a group of about 50 people, mostly from Anmol's side of the family. 

We went around to the houses of family members and close friends in the neighborhood singing Punjab songs and dancing in circles at each house. We were served tea and snacks in some of the houses. Ladies on the maternal side of Anmol's family took turns carrying what looked like a candle lit pot. 

The idea of having a parade around a neighborhood is an awesome concept that would last five minutes in the US until the cops would be called.  We loved it!

The whole wedding experience was incredible. It will surely be one of the main highlights of our trip and it was definitely the highlight of India.

Our Trip to the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, probably one of the most grand expressions of love in history, was so stunningly beautiful and majestic! It's all white marble and perfect symmetry from either side really is a thing to see. However, standing in the presence of this glorious structure was not the only thing that took our breath away on that day. Our ride to its location in the city of Agra in northern India was also quite interesting.

Our driver, Khan, picked us up at 7:30 am from our hotel in New Delhi. Agra is only 120 miles Southeast of Delhi but travel time is doubled in India due to traffic. The gentle driver we had the day before had become an insane, aggressive speed demon overnight on the semi-busy highway.  It was also incredibly foggy, which is common in the winter time here.  All of these factors led to more than a few situations that caused Jan's knuckles to turn white from clutching the torn plastic car seat.

At some point during our journey outside of Delhi we were flagged down by locals standing in the middle of the road collecting taxes. Our driver stopped to pay the tax once but ignored all of the others who were demanding he pay. He would slow down and then zoom off. The only other times he stopped was when he needed to spit tobacco out his door.

There were a lot of animals on the roads - cattle, 50 pound monkeys, stray dogs and the occasional goat & pig. Usually we saw them digging through the trash littering the highway in hopes of finding nourishment.  Eventually, we even saw a camel-drawn rickshaw.

About three hours into our trip as we drove past beautiful yellow fields of mustard,  a small white temple under construction appeared on our right side.  Our driver pointed to it and said, "There's the Taj (Mahal)." Complete silence befell upon the car as we searched for the nicest way to say, "not according to the pictures we've seen." Apparently, Khan is a comedian as well.

The fake Taj

We arrived at Agra city four hours after our early departure. As we drove by the Yamuna River, a large stagnant river surrounded by buffalo, we saw a man taking off his pants and squatting to take a dump. Just a few yards later, we saw many colorful clothes spread out on the river bank with women working on them. Khan told us they were washing the clothes.  We really appreciated this irony.

Finally, we got a view of the Taj Mahal. We immediately understood why this majestic site was once considered one of the seven wonders of the world. It was built in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor to memorialize his third and favorite wife.

"What will you build for me?" Jan asked Yemi.

"A beach house will have to do," Yemi replied.

Jan was fully satisfied with that promise.

Photo Friday: Old Delhi, India

"INDIA!"

"INDIA!" our rickshaw driver screamed at us as he weaved between a bus and a stray cow crossing the busy road.  We could barely hear him over the chorus of honks coming from the dozens of vehicles crossing through the chaotic intersection, but we knew exactly what he meant: there is no word to describe Delhi, so you can only explain the craziness with a lighthearted chuckle followed by the one word explanation...."India."

The perpetual traffic jam on a typical Delhi street

"It's like Lagos...with an extra shot of crazy." 

-Yemi, trying to describe Delhi

Neither one of us knew what to expect when we touched down in Delhi, India's capital.  We never would have imagined what we found.  We regularly witnessed men peeing and pooping on the sidewalks of busy streets and stray cattle walking through major intersections. Men would stare at us as if they had never seen someone that didn't look exactly like them.  Nothing you could do or say could break their trance!

When you gotta go; you gotta go!

Despite the craziness, we both truly enjoyed the city.  There was never a dull moment - all five senses were engaged 100%, 24/7.  The food was very good, the people were friendly & the city was full of interesting history and sites.

The best part? Neither one of us succumbed to the infamous Delhi Belly!

Yemi sampling dates in the Spice Market of Chandni Chowk

Qutab Minar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Delhi, India

Our 5 Seconds of Fame in India

A black guy, a 6'6" Jewish guy, two blondes, and Jennifer Garner & Adam Levine doppelgängers walk into a bar in Karnal, India....

We got a taste of how it must feel to be celebrities in India. People were very excited and curious every time they saw us. They would point, smile, whisper to each other and invariably someone from their group would gather enough courage to come ask us for a picture.

Yemi and his fans outside a shoe store as we shopped for his wedding outfit

This happened so many times - especially to Yemi - that Jan jokingly tried to charge two rupees per picture at one point, which got lost in translation.

Jan and her fans at the Qutub Minar

It was even more pronounced when we walked in public with four other American friends who had also flown in for Anmol's wedding. Some locals even handed us their baby to take pictures with. It was clear that the locals had never seen that many "exotic" people walking through the streets of Karnal.

One funny moment occurred when Jan was taking a picture of Yemi sitting down in front of the Taj Mahal.  Yemi told Jan that he thought the group of people (pictured below) were waiting for her to assist them in taking a picture of their group.

Guess who the main attraction is?

What neither one of us realized was that the entire group of about 30 Indians were all waiting to take pictures of Yemi!  Once this group finished, everyone in the area came forward wanting a picture with him. It was hilarious, but after a while we just had to leave.

The crowd watching Yemi, who is sitting on the steps

Jan joked that Yemi was outshining the Taj Mahal and she was worried he was getting too big of an ego.  "Too late," he replied.

Yemi outshining the Taj Mahal again