Once you go over the bridge at Denarau, you leave behind the manicured gardens, pristine pools and resort life. You get a taste of what the other side of Fiji looks like.
We caught the yellow $1 bus into Nadi town which is super convenient. Driving along the roads you get to see how many of the villagers live. Some houses don’t even have electricity.
Once we got to the bus depot it was a bit of a shock to the system just how dilapidated everything is. As soon as we got off the bus one of the local ladies knew we were tourists. I could have blended in like a local since being Indian but being with Adam yeah that was a sure give away.
She gave us a few quick tips and then said, “how about I show you were the real native markets are!” I just thought to myself oh crap now what.
She showed us the water levels of the recent cyclone and where it reached and how some shops had to now move to higher ground.
The water level was pretty high I’m sure most of the town would have been almost under water! It’s good to see the town still up and running now.
To get to this market you had to go up an alley and some stairs. At this moment I’m still thinking oh crap were the hell are we being taken.
We went up to the native market were we treated to a traditional Fiji welcome and even had some Kava to drink. Which has an interesting taste more like sandy water to me. But after about 5 minutes your mouth starts to tingle.
We managed to get a few souvenirs to take back home and they were so honest about it all and us negotiating a deal instead of them being all sneaky. After this I started to relax a bit I’m not sure why I was feeling uneasy maybe I judged it all by the way everything looked. But truly they are some of the friendliest people around and always happy to help when we needed a bit of direction.
We made our way to the fruit markets to get a few supplies to take back with us and it was amazing seeing all the fresh produce and spices.
We were at the town centre when school finished and the whole town came alive with kids every where alot of them heading towards the bus depot to get home.
Visiting the town was quite an eye opener and showed us how we shouldn’t take what we have for granted and how our kids and ourselves should appreciate what we have.
Everywhere I looked though the Fijian people always had smiles on their faces or you will find a group of people sitting under trees laughing and relaxing in true Fijian style.
Glad we ventured out and experienced a different side to Fiji.
Ronell x
Not in a Nutshell 
I went to Sigatoka years ago when I stayed there. Was shown around by one of the locals that had too much kave but he was a lovely guy. It’s such a poor country
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Yeah I couldn’t believe how poor they all are I think that’s what shocked me most. Since the resorts get so many tourists how is some of that money not making its way to the rest of the country. But I suppose if they are private investors then no luck there. At least the resorts provide work for the locals.
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