This trip was definitely a big change from what I’ve been doing the past couple of countries. As opposed to crowds of tourists pushing through monuments, we saw quiet countryside and isolated villages. Not only did we see only a handful of other white people, but we didn’t see a single other group of people from semester at sea during the entire trip, which was a nice change and very relaxing.
With four other people who I’d only really met on the ship in passing (Ryan, Ryan, Gillian and Karine) I flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. In Hanoi we met our guide for the week, whose name was Ngoc. After realizing that none of us could pronounce those consonants in that order, he told us to call him “Ruby”, which worked for all of us. Ruby was friendly and enthusiastic, and he quickly became our favorite tour guide and a close friend. We spent most of the first day traveling about 4 hours out into the country to a place called Lang Son where we stayed the night in a hotel. We had dinner and some beers at a nearby restaurant on a lake, and then went to the night market. Most of the markets we’ve been to so far have been handicrafts and other touristy knick knacks, but since we were far from any attractions this market was definitely geared towards the locals. Despite being in Vietnam, I’ve never seen so many things that were “made in China” in one place in my whole life! Fake Rolex watches, fake silk ties, fake everything! The only things we bought we some socks and coloring supplies for the children at our home stays.
The next day we traveled out into the Cao Bang province through the mountainside. We stopped at a small village on the way to walk through and see the preparations going on for a local wedding. On our walk, we were stopped by a woman who ushered us into her house and sat us down to have little green bean cakes (I know it sounds gross, but they were really sweet and actually pretty good!). We spent about 45 minutes in her house, and she told us about how she is the principal at the village school. She was very friendly and we couldn’t’ believe that she had invited us into her home off of the street! After giving her some new school supplies, we continued to make our way down the road. We stopped to talk to an old woman making rice and banana leaf boxes for the wedding, and she showed us how to make them along with some of the local girls who gathered around to stare. We left the village that we had only intended to walk through with some real memories of the kind people. After hiking along the road for a while to take in some of the scenery, we got back in the van and made our way to the village where we’d be staying for the night. It was definitely a more modern village that we had anticipated. Although it was definitely extremely poor, there were tall buildings painted in crazy bright colors in some areas and little wooden huts in others. We briefly met the family we would be staying with, but they were all very busy with dinner preparations and construction on their new house. Ruby then took us on a walk through the village, where we were waved to and greeted with “Xin Chao!” by all of the locals. We walked up the road that led up the mountains and away from the village, and then took about an hour to sit on the stone wall lining the road and look down into the valley at the rice paddies and the little village. It’s amazing to think how peaceful and beautiful this view was, but that this is the only view that some of the villagers will see in their entire lives. We had a homemade dinner and then hung out with some of the family while they played cards and we showed them where we’re from on a world map. It was also interesting to see the giant map of the world they had hanging on their living room wall. On the map, Asia and Africa are on the left side and the US is on the right side, and it looks a lot smaller than the way we portray it on our maps. It’s strange to see how even maps are biased. We all went to bed early that night on our mattresses surrounded by mosquito nets, which are really kind of pretty in the morning light…not a bad way to protect yourself.
In the morning, we thanked our host family and began the drive to the Ban Gioc waterfalls. When we got there, border patrol had to check all of our passports. When Ruby saw our confusion, he explained that the river coming out of the waterfall is actually split between Vietnam and China, so we couldn’t swim or raft all the way across the river because that’s technically crossing the international border! Once we were allowed into the park, we saw how beautiful the waterfalls were. We rode on a raft out into the river and almost under one of the falls. Then we all jumped into the river, which definitely amused some of the Chinese tourists on the other side of the river who snapped some pretty funny photos of us…I guess a bunch of white kids in their bathing suits in a river where no one else is swimming is kind of a funny sight in Asia! After drying off, we hiked up and around the falls to get a better view. Once we were closer up, we realized how many layers there were to the falls, they just kept going higher and higher. We hiked back down (which was actually little tougher), and had lunch back near where we parked the van. After lunch we walked to the base of a huge mountain, where we crawled through a little tunnel that opened up to giant caves that must have had at least 60 foot ceilings! There were beautiful stalagmites and stalactites, some of which sparkled because they were made out of crystal. It looked like some kind of lost world. There were definitely some narrow parts we had to get through, and Ruby kept yelling back at us “Happy Buddha’s be careful!” We tried not to take this offensively, since I’d definitely rather be called a Happy Buddha than a fat American! Ruby had some other funny terms, such as a “happy house” for a bathroom, because when you’re done using it you’re happy! When there were no happy houses along the road, he told us we could use the “happy trees” and “happy rocks”. Needless to say we had to get a little creative with our bathroom habits on this trip. After the caves we made our way back to Cao Bang city (which definitely isn’t the type of city you might picture) and had dinner. This was a pretty low key night that we spent at a hotel, so we took some time to get to an internet café and I started to figure out my classes for next semester, which was pretty tough but I think I got it figured out.
The next morning we had “Pho” for breakfast, which is a beef noodle soup…pretty interesting breakfast choice. After breakfast we drove to Lake Ba Be where we were greeted by the grandfather of the family we would be staying with in a wooden boat. You have to take the boat across the large lake to get to a path where you walk the rest of the way to the village. It took us about half an hour to make this entire transfer, so it’s not surprising that not a lot of people leave the village until they can afford motorbikes to take the narrow road out that our van couldn’t fit down. This was definitely a more traditional village with wooden houses surrounded by rice fields, mountains and the lake. It was one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever been. The family welcomed us into their home and we sat and ate lunch. I absolutely adored their 4 year old daughter, In, who was shy at first but by the end of our stay was so friendly. After a little relaxation on the hammock, the grandfather took us back out on the lake for the day and we walked around one of the little islands for a bit. When we got back, I spent the whole afternoon playing with In until it was time for dinner. I was so happy because Ruby had bought us the ingredients to make spring rolls earlier in the market, so he gave us a lesson and we made them for the whole family! They weren’t the prettiest spring rolls I’ve ever seen since most of them kind of exploded, but there were so good! Dinner that night was definitely the best meal we had the entire trip. After the family went to bed, we met up with some international teachers who were living in Hanoi that Ryan and Gillian had met in the city the night before. They were absolutely hilarious and from all over the world, and so we hung out with them for a while and drank and talked about Vietnam and life and everything. The two girls who were staying in the same guesthouse were great because one of them is a Public Health graduate student at UCLA and the other is living in China teaching and volunteering, they had some great advice and opinions on my plans.
When we woke up, we were really sad to leave the village. It had definitely been our favorite part of the entire trip. We went back across the lake and started the 7 hour drive back to Hanoi. Saying goodbye to Ruby at the airport was also really tough, since we’d gotten so close to him. So, in his honor I’m putting in this plug for the new travel agency he’s trying to start, the website is www.originvietnam.com and it should be up and fully running within the next couple of weeks. Check it out if you have time! On the topic of plugs, I was contacted by someone who has read my blog and said that I can have a donation made it to the World Wildlife Foundation, World Vision or Make-a-Wish foundation just by mentioning their website. So, to get involved in “Traveling for Charity” I’d like to encourage you all to visit www.HotelsCombined.com when you need to find a well priced place to stay while you’re on your own travels! I figure any company that’s willing to donate some of their profits directly to charity just for a little advertising is a good one!
Overall, Vietnam was a great way to take a break and really get to meet the people who inhabit the majority of this stunning country, and get away from the stresses and pressure of traveling with an around huge groups of other people on our program. I’m so glad I’ve gotten to do such a variety of trips in each country, it’s definitely teaching me what’s important for me to do while I travel and what I want to get out of this and every other trip I take in my life.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thailand: 5/15-5/19
After the rush of India, the relaxing atmosphere of all of Thailand was a welcome relief. The people of this country are calm in a way I have never experienced before, which I think has something to do with the prevalence of Buddhism. Even the hagglers in the market, who in every other country were avoided at all costs, were calm and encouraging as opposed to loud and pushy.
We headed to Bangkok after getting into port, but since it took a while getting cleared by border patrol the only thing we had time to do in the city was grab a delicious buffet lunch (with crazy shaped deserts in every single color) and head to the airport. With 93 other people (including my friends Kristin, Cara, Chandler, Brian, Andrew, Caitlin and Theresa) we walked through the beautiful brand new airport and boarded our flight to Phuket. We landed over a beautiful island paradise and arrived in a bustling tourist area full of restaurants, bars, spas and more strip clubs than I’ve ever seen in one place. Even someone from Vegas would blush. Our hotel was a sprawling piece of land in Patong beach with a few pools, nice rooms and a 2 minute walk to the beach. The first night we were all pretty tired from traveling so we went out to a late dinner where there was live 90’s music sung by a Thai cover band (a trend we noticed was pretty prevalent all over the place) and ate some pretty decent Thai food along with our drinks that came in pineapples. We spent the rest of the night at an open air bar playing pool and foosball and just relaxing.
In the morning, we woke up early to start our busy day. The hotel breakfast was delicious. I’ve never liked pineapple, but in Phuket it was incredible and I ate it with every meal. We left the hotel and broke up into 2 groups. Our group went first to a remote jungle area about 2 hours into the mainland where we hopped into rived kayaks and were paddled downstream. The scenery on the river was wonderful. Giant rock formations, beautiful butterflies and a sense of peace in nature surrounded us during our ride. In the middle of the river, they let us jump out of our kayaks and swing from a tree vine into the water. None of us trusted the vine at first, and I was the first girl to climb up and try it out, but once a few of us tried it everyone got into it and it was great. After we got back to the point in the river where we started, we drove to a nearby bungalow for lunch and a little time out of the hot weather. After that, we went into the jungle where we rode elephants. We named ours “Snuffy” and I got to ride right on his shoulders without a chair or a seatbelt! One of the funniest parts about the elephant ride was that I realized it was my third time on an elephant in a little over a week! Yeah, life is pretty sweet…And it kept getting sweeter. We got dropped off at a spa on our way back to the hotel and got 2 hours aromatherapy massages for about $25 US. I’ve never been so relaxed in my life. For dinner that night, we went to a place called the Tiger Inn, which looks like a giant tree house on the inside. Since it was so late and we were really the only ones in the restaurant, they let us come up and sing with the live band. We sang some old school songs like “Brown Eyed Girl” and it was pretty hilarious seeing the words that they had written out, some of which were really wrong. I had amazing pad thai that came wrapped in an egg like an omelet, it was so delicious! I loved all of the thai food although some of my friends definitely ordered dishes that were way too spicy for me. We wandered around the bar scene for a while after dinner, but after a few accidental encounters with some clubs that were not strictly for dancing, we decided instead to head to the beach and jump into the Indian Ocean, which is so warm its like bathwater.
The next day we were taken on a great tour of some of the neighboring islands. We went to James Bond Island which is where “The Man with the Golden Gun” was filmed. It was really pretty but there were WAY too many tourists there and we could barely get around. After that we got into sea kayaks and spent the rest of the morning exploring sea caves called “hongs”. Some of the caves we so low that you had to completely lay flat in your kayak just to get through! The water was so clear and it was a perfect day for swimming and boating. We also went into a cave that was pitch black and absolutely full of bats! I’ve never seen some many in one place. I guess that explains why they refer to it as the “Batcave”. Then we were given a wonderful lunch on our larger boat, which was really impressive considering they made it on the beat up old barge. We had all kinds of meats and fish and noodles, and we even had soup! We spent the afternoon doing flips off of the boat into the ocean and hanging out on the beach at Lawa Island. It was a great day full of activities, and luckily I wasn’t one of the people who got stung by one of the jellyfish the size of basketballs or bit by a venomous sea snake (others on my trip weren’t so lucky, but everyone is fine now). After this we went to a shopping venue and then back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner. We went out to dinner that night with about 20 people which was a lot of fun, and then we went to one of the surprisingly large number of Irish bars in Phuket to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! It was fun to see a familiar tradition, and for the second night in a row we ended the evening in the ocean, it was too much fun to pass up! The next day we got on a plane and headed back for “One Night in Bangkok”!
When we arrived in the city, we checked in to our hotel and met up with some other friends who had been in Bangkok the entire time. We went out to dinner and the spent the night wandering around the night market which is open until 3am. Unfortunately in the area I was in, the only bars that they had were not ones that we really wanted to go into, especially the girls! On our last morning in Thailand, we took a canal tour of Bangkok, since it’s set up on a canal system just like Venice. It was really cool to see how a city runs like that on a waterway. After that we went to the Grand Palace. It certainly lived up to its name. Gold statues decorated in bright colors and temples covered the expansive areas. It was truly magnificent, but there were just so many people there at once that it was a little overwhelming. After a quick bite to eat, we made our last stop at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo. Not only were there tigers, but also pigs, dogs, crocodiles, elephants, camels, monkeys, rabbits, deer and donkeys. It was a very interesting mix. As great as it was to see all the animals close up (we got to hold and feed a baby tiger!) it was sad to see all those animals in captivity. I think that zoos in general just make me uncomfortable and sad. The day started off really great and we took a group picture holding the tiger (which we then had made into family t-shirts that we all sported getting back on the boat) but by the end of our time there we were all ready to leave.
It’s funny that Wisconsin’s spring break fell at the same time as my time in Thailand, because all of the time adventuring around the beautiful beaches definitely felt like spring break. It wasn’t the same cultural experience I’ve had in other countries, but it was a great time for all of us to get in a little relaxation that we all definitely needed after India. We get to Viet Nam tomorrow, and I’m flying up north to Hanoi with four people I hardly know and going backpacking through the jungles and doing village home stays. I’m really excited to meet some new people and really get to see a part of this culture that has a history so tied up in our own.
We headed to Bangkok after getting into port, but since it took a while getting cleared by border patrol the only thing we had time to do in the city was grab a delicious buffet lunch (with crazy shaped deserts in every single color) and head to the airport. With 93 other people (including my friends Kristin, Cara, Chandler, Brian, Andrew, Caitlin and Theresa) we walked through the beautiful brand new airport and boarded our flight to Phuket. We landed over a beautiful island paradise and arrived in a bustling tourist area full of restaurants, bars, spas and more strip clubs than I’ve ever seen in one place. Even someone from Vegas would blush. Our hotel was a sprawling piece of land in Patong beach with a few pools, nice rooms and a 2 minute walk to the beach. The first night we were all pretty tired from traveling so we went out to a late dinner where there was live 90’s music sung by a Thai cover band (a trend we noticed was pretty prevalent all over the place) and ate some pretty decent Thai food along with our drinks that came in pineapples. We spent the rest of the night at an open air bar playing pool and foosball and just relaxing.
In the morning, we woke up early to start our busy day. The hotel breakfast was delicious. I’ve never liked pineapple, but in Phuket it was incredible and I ate it with every meal. We left the hotel and broke up into 2 groups. Our group went first to a remote jungle area about 2 hours into the mainland where we hopped into rived kayaks and were paddled downstream. The scenery on the river was wonderful. Giant rock formations, beautiful butterflies and a sense of peace in nature surrounded us during our ride. In the middle of the river, they let us jump out of our kayaks and swing from a tree vine into the water. None of us trusted the vine at first, and I was the first girl to climb up and try it out, but once a few of us tried it everyone got into it and it was great. After we got back to the point in the river where we started, we drove to a nearby bungalow for lunch and a little time out of the hot weather. After that, we went into the jungle where we rode elephants. We named ours “Snuffy” and I got to ride right on his shoulders without a chair or a seatbelt! One of the funniest parts about the elephant ride was that I realized it was my third time on an elephant in a little over a week! Yeah, life is pretty sweet…And it kept getting sweeter. We got dropped off at a spa on our way back to the hotel and got 2 hours aromatherapy massages for about $25 US. I’ve never been so relaxed in my life. For dinner that night, we went to a place called the Tiger Inn, which looks like a giant tree house on the inside. Since it was so late and we were really the only ones in the restaurant, they let us come up and sing with the live band. We sang some old school songs like “Brown Eyed Girl” and it was pretty hilarious seeing the words that they had written out, some of which were really wrong. I had amazing pad thai that came wrapped in an egg like an omelet, it was so delicious! I loved all of the thai food although some of my friends definitely ordered dishes that were way too spicy for me. We wandered around the bar scene for a while after dinner, but after a few accidental encounters with some clubs that were not strictly for dancing, we decided instead to head to the beach and jump into the Indian Ocean, which is so warm its like bathwater.
The next day we were taken on a great tour of some of the neighboring islands. We went to James Bond Island which is where “The Man with the Golden Gun” was filmed. It was really pretty but there were WAY too many tourists there and we could barely get around. After that we got into sea kayaks and spent the rest of the morning exploring sea caves called “hongs”. Some of the caves we so low that you had to completely lay flat in your kayak just to get through! The water was so clear and it was a perfect day for swimming and boating. We also went into a cave that was pitch black and absolutely full of bats! I’ve never seen some many in one place. I guess that explains why they refer to it as the “Batcave”. Then we were given a wonderful lunch on our larger boat, which was really impressive considering they made it on the beat up old barge. We had all kinds of meats and fish and noodles, and we even had soup! We spent the afternoon doing flips off of the boat into the ocean and hanging out on the beach at Lawa Island. It was a great day full of activities, and luckily I wasn’t one of the people who got stung by one of the jellyfish the size of basketballs or bit by a venomous sea snake (others on my trip weren’t so lucky, but everyone is fine now). After this we went to a shopping venue and then back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner. We went out to dinner that night with about 20 people which was a lot of fun, and then we went to one of the surprisingly large number of Irish bars in Phuket to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! It was fun to see a familiar tradition, and for the second night in a row we ended the evening in the ocean, it was too much fun to pass up! The next day we got on a plane and headed back for “One Night in Bangkok”!
When we arrived in the city, we checked in to our hotel and met up with some other friends who had been in Bangkok the entire time. We went out to dinner and the spent the night wandering around the night market which is open until 3am. Unfortunately in the area I was in, the only bars that they had were not ones that we really wanted to go into, especially the girls! On our last morning in Thailand, we took a canal tour of Bangkok, since it’s set up on a canal system just like Venice. It was really cool to see how a city runs like that on a waterway. After that we went to the Grand Palace. It certainly lived up to its name. Gold statues decorated in bright colors and temples covered the expansive areas. It was truly magnificent, but there were just so many people there at once that it was a little overwhelming. After a quick bite to eat, we made our last stop at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo. Not only were there tigers, but also pigs, dogs, crocodiles, elephants, camels, monkeys, rabbits, deer and donkeys. It was a very interesting mix. As great as it was to see all the animals close up (we got to hold and feed a baby tiger!) it was sad to see all those animals in captivity. I think that zoos in general just make me uncomfortable and sad. The day started off really great and we took a group picture holding the tiger (which we then had made into family t-shirts that we all sported getting back on the boat) but by the end of our time there we were all ready to leave.
It’s funny that Wisconsin’s spring break fell at the same time as my time in Thailand, because all of the time adventuring around the beautiful beaches definitely felt like spring break. It wasn’t the same cultural experience I’ve had in other countries, but it was a great time for all of us to get in a little relaxation that we all definitely needed after India. We get to Viet Nam tomorrow, and I’m flying up north to Hanoi with four people I hardly know and going backpacking through the jungles and doing village home stays. I’m really excited to meet some new people and really get to see a part of this culture that has a history so tied up in our own.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Reflections
I haven't written any poetry in a long time, so bear with me, but I wanted to share this. I wrote it after India.
"Hold on to your purse"-3/11/09
Hold on to your purse, they said.
And so I held on tight
Afraid they’d take away from me
The things I owned outright.
Don’t wear your fancy clothes.
Or your nicest jewelry
And so I dressed in cotton
To keep the beggars far from me.
Keep your eyes averted.
So I looked down at the floor
And I didn’t see the children
Who desperately needed more.
Don’t befriend the locals.
They all want something from you
And so I just stayed silent
What else was there to do?
Then I left this place
And I took my souvenirs
A silken scarf, a tapestry
The same things as my peers.
My purse was never pilfered
My jewels remained at home
My eyes saw only beauty
And I said nothing,
I stood alone.
So I left with what I came
Each item, big and small.
But if I must hold my purse so tight
Why even go out at all?
"Hold on to your purse"-3/11/09
Hold on to your purse, they said.
And so I held on tight
Afraid they’d take away from me
The things I owned outright.
Don’t wear your fancy clothes.
Or your nicest jewelry
And so I dressed in cotton
To keep the beggars far from me.
Keep your eyes averted.
So I looked down at the floor
And I didn’t see the children
Who desperately needed more.
Don’t befriend the locals.
They all want something from you
And so I just stayed silent
What else was there to do?
Then I left this place
And I took my souvenirs
A silken scarf, a tapestry
The same things as my peers.
My purse was never pilfered
My jewels remained at home
My eyes saw only beauty
And I said nothing,
I stood alone.
So I left with what I came
Each item, big and small.
But if I must hold my purse so tight
Why even go out at all?
India: 3/5-3/9
India was certainly all of the things I was told it would be, and also a whole lot more. From the second we stepped off the boat until we pulled out of the port in Chennai, every one of your senses was attacked with the rush of India.
This was my first trip traveling with a large group of people, and although it was fun to get to meet new people on the trip, trying to get around the temples of India with 90 people is not exactly an easy thing to do.
The first day we piled onto the air conditioned buses (it was about 97 degrees in Chennai) and headed to the airport. I was a little nervous since it was also my first time flying in a port, but the airport was very modern and clean. And other than the fact that my ears popped the entire flight it was easy and the hot meal provided was delicious.
We landed in Delhi and went to the hotel where we had dinner and some drinks on the rooftop. The area of Delhi where we were staying for the night was quiet with mostly houses and shops, and the waiters at the hotel told us that there was really nowhere to go out within a 45 minute drive. Since people were pretty tired from the day of traveling, most of the group went to bed, but a couple of us stayed up. A lot of fireworks were being set off nearby and our waiters told us that they were in celebration of local weddings. We joked about trying to go to one, although secretly I really wanted to go. Then someone suggested that we just try and find it, worst thing to happen is that we spend a little time seeing some of the city. Long story short, the 6 of us found the wedding, and we were welcomed in by about a thousand Indian’s with open arms. The party had spilled out from the tent into the streets with drummers and sparklers and people dressed in the most amazing colors I’d ever seen. Oh and also, there were elephants. In my excitement I pointed to one of them, and all of a sudden two Indian men had my feet and I was lifted up onto it. From the top I could see the entire party tent, and it was spectacular. My friend Phil hopped on with me and we rode around the street where the party was being celebrated by all of the children. After being lowered down (which is a little scary on an elephant) we were dragged into the thick of the party. At this point things got a little questionable, since we weren’t really sure if we were allowed to be there. We spent a little time dancing around, and I’m definitely in the bride and groom’s wedding video and pictures, but after a little while we got the impression that it was time for us to go. I’m still not completely sure how welcome we were, but it was definitely an experience, and I got my one wish of what I wanted to see in India on the first night there!
The next day we went to three different sites around Delhi. The first was an amazing Hindu temple called Shri Laskshmi Narain that was red and yellow on the outside. This was where I first realized that I’d have to get used to seeing swastikas, a Hindu symbol for peace, all over the place. The inside of the temple was covered in colorful murals of the Hindu gods, and a really nice local man who spoke English translated some of the stories for me. We walked around with our shoes off and it was really peaceful. Next we went to a place called India Gate which commemorated the many Indian soldiers who died fighting for the British. It was a large arch that was a little reminiscent of an industrial Arc de Triomphe with three flags in front of in representing the Indian army, navy and air force. There is also a fire in front of it that burns constantly. The last place we visited was called Koutour Minar, which is the largest brick minaret in the world. It is surrounded by the ruins of 6 other monuments. The entire area was so big and we spent a while just wandering. Here we met some small beggar children who we gave stickers and spent some of our day with. Two little boys, a young girl and their infant baby sister wandered around the worksite of the ruins nearby their mom while she carried rocks on her head. They were so sweet and friendly, and when we saw them a little later digging through the trash with the baby in their arms it really broke my heart. This was not our first encounter with the beggars of India. We had been accosted at almost every tourist area we stopped at. People were in our faces selling small and useless handicrafts for next to nothing, and everyone trying to sell the same things. I really don’t know how anyone makes any money at all when they all have the exact same things to sell. We left the ruins and began our six hour drive to Agra.
Here, we ate again at the restaurant which had a spun on the roof. We sat with some Indian business men. Some of them were really nice and friendly and wanted to talk about India and ask about America, but there was one guy who was really creepy and kept trying to take pictures of us. After asking one too many times for him to stop, we decided it was best just to leave and head to bed. In the morning we had a 5:30am wake up call and boarded decorated horse-drawn rickshaws and headed to the Taj Mahal. We waited in a pretty long line but we made it in just in time to see the sun come up over it. The Taj is really impossible to explain on paper. It’s more beautiful than pictures can capture and its amazing that someone built this for another person simply out of love, and that she never got to see it. We spent the whole morning wandering around inside the buildings and in the gardens and trying to see it from every angle. We left in a state of awe. Before heading to our next destination, we stopped at the Red Fort. The first recorded history of this giant expanse of buildings was in 1080 AD, when it was the central of the Agra government. From the top, there is a perfect view of the Taj Mahal. After seeing entire fort and realizing that monkeys are about as common in India as squirrels are in American (one tried to jump on my shoulder!) we headed to the buses for an 8 hour ride to Jaipur.
We all pretty much crashed once we got to the hotel. At this point I was already proud of myself for trying all different kinds of Indian food and not getting sick! In the morning we went to a place called the Amber Palace, where we rode elephants to the top of a giant structure built into a hill. Even though we’d already been to so many beautiful sights, I continued to be amazing by how detailed and how large of a scale all of these sites are and how they possibly could have been built without modern tools. This palace was built for Hindu kings and was made out of yellow and marble. It even had an entire wall with different shaped mirrors embedded in it. After this we stopped just to look at the summer palace at the bottom of the mountain which looks like its floating in the middle of the lake. The beauty of this palace was however somewhat masked by the horrible amount of trash floating everywhere in the lake. Pollution is truly a problem that Indian needs to deal with, but when you see the amount of trash and people on top of the lack of space, you wonder where you could even begin. After leaving here, we went to a textile factory. This was one of my favorite stops on the trip. Here we saw the entire process of how Indian textiles are made, from the man who hand weaves at the loom to the woman who picks out every individual flaw in the stitching. It was really incredible, and it takes over 4 months of hand-made work to produce the final product. We also saw a demonstration on block printing, which is a tedious process that I would never have the patience for. When they took us into a massive textile store full of saree’s and scarves afterwards, I couldn’t even buy anything because I was so overwhelmed by the amount of work it took to make each piece. Our last stop was The Jaipur temple where the king of Jaipur still lives. This was another beautiful sight where we saw traditional dancers and a snake charmer outside the entranceway! We spent the rest of our afternoon bartering in the markets where we met a really nice shop owner who took us to the rooftop and showed us a wonderful view of the city at night.
In the morning, we woke up at 4am to make our flight. We thought we were heading straight back to Chennai, but our plane made two other stops, one of which was in Bombay (which I learned is actually the same place as Mumbai). About 100 yards from our plane were shacks made out of tin that looks exactly like the ones in South Africa. The poor population of the city was literally spilling onto the runway. As we took off over the city, you could see that almost every inch o the city was covered in either a building or pollution. I’ve never seen anything like it.
When we arrived back in Chennai, we spent a little time in a local shopping center where we finally got to eat Dossahs for lunch (great recommendation dad!) and do some last minute shopping. We bargained with a driver of a motorized rickshaw (basically a moped with walls and extra seats) and made our way back to the ship.
Walking through the port and back to the gangway took about 20 minutes. It was here that my whole experience in India really hit me. The air was so thick with pollution that I could barely breathe, and the ground was covered in a layer of thick black filth. Even here in the outskirts of the city, the haggling continued. It was then that I realized that every single person we’d met in this country that is full of mouths desperately in need of feeding was fighting. Fighting for our patronage outside of their shops, fighting for our money, fighting to convince us that they were worse off then the next person and deserved whatever we had to give. Even the smallest children fought or were being used to fight. Children whose arms had been cut off by starving parents and babies who had been drugged and loaned out for begging were abundant in every city, so much so that we had almost become desensitized to the horror. Every person was fighting just to survive, and once I realized this, the magnitude of the problems that these people face were even more apparent to me. I saw then that it was impossible to decide who should receive my handouts, who is worthy of the generosity that I can give only because I am lucky. It’s like looking up at the night sky and trying to pick just one star to save.
This was my first trip traveling with a large group of people, and although it was fun to get to meet new people on the trip, trying to get around the temples of India with 90 people is not exactly an easy thing to do.
The first day we piled onto the air conditioned buses (it was about 97 degrees in Chennai) and headed to the airport. I was a little nervous since it was also my first time flying in a port, but the airport was very modern and clean. And other than the fact that my ears popped the entire flight it was easy and the hot meal provided was delicious.
We landed in Delhi and went to the hotel where we had dinner and some drinks on the rooftop. The area of Delhi where we were staying for the night was quiet with mostly houses and shops, and the waiters at the hotel told us that there was really nowhere to go out within a 45 minute drive. Since people were pretty tired from the day of traveling, most of the group went to bed, but a couple of us stayed up. A lot of fireworks were being set off nearby and our waiters told us that they were in celebration of local weddings. We joked about trying to go to one, although secretly I really wanted to go. Then someone suggested that we just try and find it, worst thing to happen is that we spend a little time seeing some of the city. Long story short, the 6 of us found the wedding, and we were welcomed in by about a thousand Indian’s with open arms. The party had spilled out from the tent into the streets with drummers and sparklers and people dressed in the most amazing colors I’d ever seen. Oh and also, there were elephants. In my excitement I pointed to one of them, and all of a sudden two Indian men had my feet and I was lifted up onto it. From the top I could see the entire party tent, and it was spectacular. My friend Phil hopped on with me and we rode around the street where the party was being celebrated by all of the children. After being lowered down (which is a little scary on an elephant) we were dragged into the thick of the party. At this point things got a little questionable, since we weren’t really sure if we were allowed to be there. We spent a little time dancing around, and I’m definitely in the bride and groom’s wedding video and pictures, but after a little while we got the impression that it was time for us to go. I’m still not completely sure how welcome we were, but it was definitely an experience, and I got my one wish of what I wanted to see in India on the first night there!
The next day we went to three different sites around Delhi. The first was an amazing Hindu temple called Shri Laskshmi Narain that was red and yellow on the outside. This was where I first realized that I’d have to get used to seeing swastikas, a Hindu symbol for peace, all over the place. The inside of the temple was covered in colorful murals of the Hindu gods, and a really nice local man who spoke English translated some of the stories for me. We walked around with our shoes off and it was really peaceful. Next we went to a place called India Gate which commemorated the many Indian soldiers who died fighting for the British. It was a large arch that was a little reminiscent of an industrial Arc de Triomphe with three flags in front of in representing the Indian army, navy and air force. There is also a fire in front of it that burns constantly. The last place we visited was called Koutour Minar, which is the largest brick minaret in the world. It is surrounded by the ruins of 6 other monuments. The entire area was so big and we spent a while just wandering. Here we met some small beggar children who we gave stickers and spent some of our day with. Two little boys, a young girl and their infant baby sister wandered around the worksite of the ruins nearby their mom while she carried rocks on her head. They were so sweet and friendly, and when we saw them a little later digging through the trash with the baby in their arms it really broke my heart. This was not our first encounter with the beggars of India. We had been accosted at almost every tourist area we stopped at. People were in our faces selling small and useless handicrafts for next to nothing, and everyone trying to sell the same things. I really don’t know how anyone makes any money at all when they all have the exact same things to sell. We left the ruins and began our six hour drive to Agra.
Here, we ate again at the restaurant which had a spun on the roof. We sat with some Indian business men. Some of them were really nice and friendly and wanted to talk about India and ask about America, but there was one guy who was really creepy and kept trying to take pictures of us. After asking one too many times for him to stop, we decided it was best just to leave and head to bed. In the morning we had a 5:30am wake up call and boarded decorated horse-drawn rickshaws and headed to the Taj Mahal. We waited in a pretty long line but we made it in just in time to see the sun come up over it. The Taj is really impossible to explain on paper. It’s more beautiful than pictures can capture and its amazing that someone built this for another person simply out of love, and that she never got to see it. We spent the whole morning wandering around inside the buildings and in the gardens and trying to see it from every angle. We left in a state of awe. Before heading to our next destination, we stopped at the Red Fort. The first recorded history of this giant expanse of buildings was in 1080 AD, when it was the central of the Agra government. From the top, there is a perfect view of the Taj Mahal. After seeing entire fort and realizing that monkeys are about as common in India as squirrels are in American (one tried to jump on my shoulder!) we headed to the buses for an 8 hour ride to Jaipur.
We all pretty much crashed once we got to the hotel. At this point I was already proud of myself for trying all different kinds of Indian food and not getting sick! In the morning we went to a place called the Amber Palace, where we rode elephants to the top of a giant structure built into a hill. Even though we’d already been to so many beautiful sights, I continued to be amazing by how detailed and how large of a scale all of these sites are and how they possibly could have been built without modern tools. This palace was built for Hindu kings and was made out of yellow and marble. It even had an entire wall with different shaped mirrors embedded in it. After this we stopped just to look at the summer palace at the bottom of the mountain which looks like its floating in the middle of the lake. The beauty of this palace was however somewhat masked by the horrible amount of trash floating everywhere in the lake. Pollution is truly a problem that Indian needs to deal with, but when you see the amount of trash and people on top of the lack of space, you wonder where you could even begin. After leaving here, we went to a textile factory. This was one of my favorite stops on the trip. Here we saw the entire process of how Indian textiles are made, from the man who hand weaves at the loom to the woman who picks out every individual flaw in the stitching. It was really incredible, and it takes over 4 months of hand-made work to produce the final product. We also saw a demonstration on block printing, which is a tedious process that I would never have the patience for. When they took us into a massive textile store full of saree’s and scarves afterwards, I couldn’t even buy anything because I was so overwhelmed by the amount of work it took to make each piece. Our last stop was The Jaipur temple where the king of Jaipur still lives. This was another beautiful sight where we saw traditional dancers and a snake charmer outside the entranceway! We spent the rest of our afternoon bartering in the markets where we met a really nice shop owner who took us to the rooftop and showed us a wonderful view of the city at night.
In the morning, we woke up at 4am to make our flight. We thought we were heading straight back to Chennai, but our plane made two other stops, one of which was in Bombay (which I learned is actually the same place as Mumbai). About 100 yards from our plane were shacks made out of tin that looks exactly like the ones in South Africa. The poor population of the city was literally spilling onto the runway. As we took off over the city, you could see that almost every inch o the city was covered in either a building or pollution. I’ve never seen anything like it.
When we arrived back in Chennai, we spent a little time in a local shopping center where we finally got to eat Dossahs for lunch (great recommendation dad!) and do some last minute shopping. We bargained with a driver of a motorized rickshaw (basically a moped with walls and extra seats) and made our way back to the ship.
Walking through the port and back to the gangway took about 20 minutes. It was here that my whole experience in India really hit me. The air was so thick with pollution that I could barely breathe, and the ground was covered in a layer of thick black filth. Even here in the outskirts of the city, the haggling continued. It was then that I realized that every single person we’d met in this country that is full of mouths desperately in need of feeding was fighting. Fighting for our patronage outside of their shops, fighting for our money, fighting to convince us that they were worse off then the next person and deserved whatever we had to give. Even the smallest children fought or were being used to fight. Children whose arms had been cut off by starving parents and babies who had been drugged and loaned out for begging were abundant in every city, so much so that we had almost become desensitized to the horror. Every person was fighting just to survive, and once I realized this, the magnitude of the problems that these people face were even more apparent to me. I saw then that it was impossible to decide who should receive my handouts, who is worthy of the generosity that I can give only because I am lucky. It’s like looking up at the night sky and trying to pick just one star to save.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Mauritius- 2/27
It was a bummer that we only got to spend one day on this wonderful little island, but we definitely made the most of it.
We spent the first half of the day doing a service project. We visited an Ashram which is a place where they send the elderly and mentally/physically challenged. It was interesting to see how to facility ran, but unfortunately they didn’t give us much of a chance to interact with the people there, so it felt more like a tour with people on display. I didn’t really get much out of that visit or the next placed we stopped which was a church.
At this point the trip seemed like a little bit of a waste, but we still had about 2 hours left. The last place we visited was a teen outreach program to keep young teens that don’t do well in the public school system from dropping out of school. This was by far the highlight of our day. We spent our time there singing and learning the traditional “Sega” dancing that is popular on the island. It was great because I could speak a little bit of French with them even though they speak a French-English creole that I don’t understand. It was great to see how they are teaching the kids vocations such as craft-making so that they have a better chance of getting jobs. Most of the children in the school come from poor homes where their parents are drug addicts, alcoholics or prostitutes. This experience again showed me how children in particular can overcome impossible circumstances.
The rest of the day we spent in a beach area called Flic en Flac where we had lunch and relaxed on the beautiful beaches. We had a few drinks and then headed back to the ship for a barbeque.
The night we got back was the opening ceremony for the Sea Olympics, which is color war or Maccabiah for any of you YJers reading this. We were divided into teams based on our “seas” which are our hallways and my color was orange. They had a lot of ridiculous games for us that night and the next day and it was a great day to relax since we all recently had a lot of midterms and projects due. Unfortunately my team was less than skilled in the competition and we didn’t do too well, but it was still a great break from the norm at sea.
We get to India in two days and I can’t wait for all of the adventures that are still to come. I’ll make sure to keep you posted.
SEA you later.
We spent the first half of the day doing a service project. We visited an Ashram which is a place where they send the elderly and mentally/physically challenged. It was interesting to see how to facility ran, but unfortunately they didn’t give us much of a chance to interact with the people there, so it felt more like a tour with people on display. I didn’t really get much out of that visit or the next placed we stopped which was a church.
At this point the trip seemed like a little bit of a waste, but we still had about 2 hours left. The last place we visited was a teen outreach program to keep young teens that don’t do well in the public school system from dropping out of school. This was by far the highlight of our day. We spent our time there singing and learning the traditional “Sega” dancing that is popular on the island. It was great because I could speak a little bit of French with them even though they speak a French-English creole that I don’t understand. It was great to see how they are teaching the kids vocations such as craft-making so that they have a better chance of getting jobs. Most of the children in the school come from poor homes where their parents are drug addicts, alcoholics or prostitutes. This experience again showed me how children in particular can overcome impossible circumstances.
The rest of the day we spent in a beach area called Flic en Flac where we had lunch and relaxed on the beautiful beaches. We had a few drinks and then headed back to the ship for a barbeque.
The night we got back was the opening ceremony for the Sea Olympics, which is color war or Maccabiah for any of you YJers reading this. We were divided into teams based on our “seas” which are our hallways and my color was orange. They had a lot of ridiculous games for us that night and the next day and it was a great day to relax since we all recently had a lot of midterms and projects due. Unfortunately my team was less than skilled in the competition and we didn’t do too well, but it was still a great break from the norm at sea.
We get to India in two days and I can’t wait for all of the adventures that are still to come. I’ll make sure to keep you posted.
SEA you later.
Cape Town, South Africa- 2/18-2/22
Since I already talked a little bit about my time in the Township in South Africa, I’ll try to focus on some of the other highlights of my trip here.
South Africa was one of the countries I was most excited to see for so many reasons, and it definitely met my expectations. This was the first port where we pulled in and the scenery was just incredible. Giant mountains stand over a beautiful waterfront full of shops and restaurants where you could wander for hours.
It was also great because I got to see my friend’s Mike and Nicole from Wisconsin and Becca and Lara from camp. It was great to talk to them about their experiences there and we all went out together in Obs and on Long Street and had a great time.
On our second day there we drove about 3 hours north to a place called Aquila. Here, we were served an incredible breakfast buffet with a mix of typical breakfast foods and traditional south African cuisine. Then we went on a 3 hours safari in the game reserve. We didn’t get to see any leopards because they are nocturnal, but we saw the other four out of the “Big Five” (lions, elephants, buffalo, rhinos, and leopards). We saw elephants playing together but then they got a little too close to our trucks and we had to speed away pretty quick. It was pretty funny and I got it all on video so you can all watch the elephant attack when I get home. We also saw zebras and ostriches. Let me tell you, ostriches have got to be the dumbest animals on the entire planet. They basically tried to get in the truck with us, and these were some seriously big birds, I was not planning on sharing my seat with any of them. We learned a lot about the ecosystems in the reserve and we also got to see some really cute baby hippos! After we got back we spent a little time in the beautiful camp area and got an equally delicious lunch. After relaxing by the pool for a little while we made our way back to Cape Town.
The next day we took a tour of the cape peninsula and drove to Cape Point. This is the most south westerly point in Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean’s meet. We hiked to the top of the mountain there where there is a famous lighthouse. It was so beautiful just to stand at the top of the cliffs and look out over the water. South Africa has some incredible views. After hiking back down the mountain we stopped at a seafood restaurant on the water where we had lunch and then headed up to the winelands. This day was a little stressful for me because I planned all of these day trips for a big group of us and some of the timing was a little messed up. Unfortunately because of this we only got to go to one out of the planned three wineries but the one we went to is one of the most famous in the area called Spier. We tasted some incredible wine and took in the scenery. Unfortunately it cost about $300 to ship any of it home, so we had to enjoy it while we were there.
The day before we left we planned to go shark diving. Unfortunately this day was kind of a bust. We drove out about 3 hours to the dive site and took the little cage boat into some rough waters since the weather was pretty bad. By the time we reached an area where we could dive, we were in such bad waters that it wasn’t even safe to get in the cage since we would have been knocked around so much. Unfortunately I didn’t get to get over my fear of sharks, although I did get to overcome my fear of seeing myself in a wet suit (got some pretty sweet picture of that).
The entire time in South Africa a few of us had been going back and forth about bungy jumping. It’s a really big deal there because about 6 hours outside of Cape Town is a place called Bloukrans bridge, which it the highest bungy jump in the world with the longest free fall. I was really torn about it the whole time, but JacMac was dying to go. Somehow this lead to us making the decision at around 10:30pm the night before we were leaving SA that we should hire a driver at 3am, drive out to Bloukrans, be the first people to jump in the morning and drive back as fast as possible to make it onto the ship on time. Genius, right? I decided that I wanted one more night out while I was there, so I went with a bunch of people out on Long Street and went dancing and saw some of my friends for the last time. We got back to the boat at 2am and I changed my clothes, met up with Jac and our two friends Nick and Corey and the four of us piled into a tiny car and hit the road for the first leg of about 12 hours of driving. After a sleepless night, we pulled into the jump site. We were a little concerned once they got us into the harnesses that there wasn’t much of a explanation, but I guess the only explanation you need is to jump. After crossing under the bridge on a see-through walkway that did nothing to calm our nerves, we got to the jump zone. Even though it was only 9am they started pumping techno music to get us hyped up enough to jump. I went first out of our group of friends and was pretty darn terrified. The first second of the jump was probably the scariest moment of my life, but after that it was the most amazing feeling of freedom. Once the first free fall is over you just hang there. It felt like flying. Don’t worry, I got it all on DVD and some crazy pictures. The only problem is the next time someone asks me “if all of your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it?” I’m going to have to say yes, and I have. After our crazy adrenaline rush we hopped back in the car and drove as fast as we could back to Cape Town. Unfortunately this was a little too fast and our driver got pulled over by the cops. We had exactly enough time to make it back to the ship without being late, so this little issue was actually a big problem. After dealing with the police, we nervously continued back. If you’re late getting back to the ship, you have to spend a certain amount of time on the ship at the next port. For the first 15 minutes you get 3 hours of “dock time”, pretty serious stuff. End of the story: we made it back just in time and got to jump off a bridge. Spontaneous, yes. Awesome, yes. Foolish, yes. But totally worth it. And that’s how we ended our time in South Africa.
South Africa was one of the countries I was most excited to see for so many reasons, and it definitely met my expectations. This was the first port where we pulled in and the scenery was just incredible. Giant mountains stand over a beautiful waterfront full of shops and restaurants where you could wander for hours.
It was also great because I got to see my friend’s Mike and Nicole from Wisconsin and Becca and Lara from camp. It was great to talk to them about their experiences there and we all went out together in Obs and on Long Street and had a great time.
On our second day there we drove about 3 hours north to a place called Aquila. Here, we were served an incredible breakfast buffet with a mix of typical breakfast foods and traditional south African cuisine. Then we went on a 3 hours safari in the game reserve. We didn’t get to see any leopards because they are nocturnal, but we saw the other four out of the “Big Five” (lions, elephants, buffalo, rhinos, and leopards). We saw elephants playing together but then they got a little too close to our trucks and we had to speed away pretty quick. It was pretty funny and I got it all on video so you can all watch the elephant attack when I get home. We also saw zebras and ostriches. Let me tell you, ostriches have got to be the dumbest animals on the entire planet. They basically tried to get in the truck with us, and these were some seriously big birds, I was not planning on sharing my seat with any of them. We learned a lot about the ecosystems in the reserve and we also got to see some really cute baby hippos! After we got back we spent a little time in the beautiful camp area and got an equally delicious lunch. After relaxing by the pool for a little while we made our way back to Cape Town.
The next day we took a tour of the cape peninsula and drove to Cape Point. This is the most south westerly point in Africa where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean’s meet. We hiked to the top of the mountain there where there is a famous lighthouse. It was so beautiful just to stand at the top of the cliffs and look out over the water. South Africa has some incredible views. After hiking back down the mountain we stopped at a seafood restaurant on the water where we had lunch and then headed up to the winelands. This day was a little stressful for me because I planned all of these day trips for a big group of us and some of the timing was a little messed up. Unfortunately because of this we only got to go to one out of the planned three wineries but the one we went to is one of the most famous in the area called Spier. We tasted some incredible wine and took in the scenery. Unfortunately it cost about $300 to ship any of it home, so we had to enjoy it while we were there.
The day before we left we planned to go shark diving. Unfortunately this day was kind of a bust. We drove out about 3 hours to the dive site and took the little cage boat into some rough waters since the weather was pretty bad. By the time we reached an area where we could dive, we were in such bad waters that it wasn’t even safe to get in the cage since we would have been knocked around so much. Unfortunately I didn’t get to get over my fear of sharks, although I did get to overcome my fear of seeing myself in a wet suit (got some pretty sweet picture of that).
The entire time in South Africa a few of us had been going back and forth about bungy jumping. It’s a really big deal there because about 6 hours outside of Cape Town is a place called Bloukrans bridge, which it the highest bungy jump in the world with the longest free fall. I was really torn about it the whole time, but JacMac was dying to go. Somehow this lead to us making the decision at around 10:30pm the night before we were leaving SA that we should hire a driver at 3am, drive out to Bloukrans, be the first people to jump in the morning and drive back as fast as possible to make it onto the ship on time. Genius, right? I decided that I wanted one more night out while I was there, so I went with a bunch of people out on Long Street and went dancing and saw some of my friends for the last time. We got back to the boat at 2am and I changed my clothes, met up with Jac and our two friends Nick and Corey and the four of us piled into a tiny car and hit the road for the first leg of about 12 hours of driving. After a sleepless night, we pulled into the jump site. We were a little concerned once they got us into the harnesses that there wasn’t much of a explanation, but I guess the only explanation you need is to jump. After crossing under the bridge on a see-through walkway that did nothing to calm our nerves, we got to the jump zone. Even though it was only 9am they started pumping techno music to get us hyped up enough to jump. I went first out of our group of friends and was pretty darn terrified. The first second of the jump was probably the scariest moment of my life, but after that it was the most amazing feeling of freedom. Once the first free fall is over you just hang there. It felt like flying. Don’t worry, I got it all on DVD and some crazy pictures. The only problem is the next time someone asks me “if all of your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it?” I’m going to have to say yes, and I have. After our crazy adrenaline rush we hopped back in the car and drove as fast as we could back to Cape Town. Unfortunately this was a little too fast and our driver got pulled over by the cops. We had exactly enough time to make it back to the ship without being late, so this little issue was actually a big problem. After dealing with the police, we nervously continued back. If you’re late getting back to the ship, you have to spend a certain amount of time on the ship at the next port. For the first 15 minutes you get 3 hours of “dock time”, pretty serious stuff. End of the story: we made it back just in time and got to jump off a bridge. Spontaneous, yes. Awesome, yes. Foolish, yes. But totally worth it. And that’s how we ended our time in South Africa.
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