DAY SIXTEEN - Jan 12th - Agra to Vrindavan to Mathura

We all meet for breakfast bright and early so we can be ready to leave the hotel by 10am sharp!! Rahul shows up with our driver shortly after ten and we present him with our gift of thanks for all his hospitality and help. On our way out of town the driver stops at a camera shop so I can finally buy a camera but when I try to use it the pictures all turn out blurry, just my luck.. Then we leave behind the Taj Mahal and all its beauty to head out to our next town, Mathura. This is only a 1.5hr drive which is much easier to handle then the much longer rides we have had in the past. Today is the half way mark of our trip and it is really hard to believe how much we have done in such a short time, it feels like we have been here a month already. I am excited to see what else lies ahead for us. On our way to Mathura we stop in a small town called Vrindavan to meet with their rotary club members for a few tours of their local projects. Our first stop was to a Yugl Krishna temple which is also home to Akshaya Patra which is an organization that provides food for up to 150,000 kids per day in the local schools within 60kms. We toured there facilities and learned about their organization. They are operating in 7 provinces in India, feeding a total of 1.2 million kids and their goal is to reach 5million kids. They get all their rice and wheat donated by the govt but the rest of the costs are covered by donations from the public. There main focus is to offer a free meal midday at schools to encourage kids to come to school and to participate. Our next stop is to a famous art gallery to see the precious work of a famous Indian artist Krishan. These pieces are very famous and some are worth over $90,000. We carry on to visit a nearby home for widowers, that was created by a local man 15yrs ago. It offers women who have been abandoned by there families or widowers with a place to sleep, food, medical care and clothing. They have over 80 people living in this home. The owner gives us a tour of the home and many of the residents come out to greet us. The rotary club members that are with us ask us to give out food to the ladies. Each one takes their gift with such grace and appreciation. I am sad to see how the women are living here, 4 women to a small room, no heat, and large locks on the doors. It seems more like a jail then a home but I know it is the only way the owner can provide the space for so many in need.
Next we continue on to visit a local Ashram and guest house were foreigners from all over the world are here for peace and meditation and to take part in the practice of Hare Krishna. They have a wonderful restaurant here with a wide variety of foods from different parts of the world. The team indulges in some continental cuisine. After lunch we are taken to a nearby temple that is under construction. It is completely made of marble and has already taken 10years to build with over 1000 workers and it is still not completed. It is a work of pure art and an amazing sight. It is worth over 200 million dollars so far and owned by one man. By now our time with the Vrindavan rotary is coming to an end and we are due to leave for our next town so the rotary members take us to a nearby restaurant to have tea and say our goodbyes. Members of the Mathuras rotary are here to escort us to there club about 15km away. The entire team is staying together again at a Rotarians home and we spend a few hours resting with our new host family before we are taken to meet with the Mathura Rotary for a cultural presentation and a dinner. I am not feeling well after my nap so I stay home and the rest of the team goes out to the cultural dinner. They all arrive home shortly after 11pm and tell me about their evening. It was an entire town celebration for the Lourie holiday, which is the celebration of the sugarcane. The team all gets a chance to take a ride on a camel and take part in a grand celebration!!