Japan - Trains, Buses, and Taxis!

Day 1:

It was just a hop and a skip from Shanghai to Kobe, Japan. I had barely recovered from climbing the Wall and before I knew it I was being shuffled through customs in the Japan Port Terminal like a lost and confused sheep. Our ship wasn’t fully cleared until about 1 p.m. – I was able to get off around 10:30 but I had to wait for my friends who didn’t get off until noon. I, like the rest of the SAS population, got myself a handy dandy Japan Railpass so I could zoom up and down the island as much as I wanted in four days! I made plans with my friends, Dan and Clare, to travel to Mt. Fuji, Tokyo, and Kyoto (in that order). We only had a hotel booked for the very first night at Mt. Fuji and our plan after that was to wing it!

We had to pick up our actual railpasses at Sannomiya Station – we made a brilliant decision to take a taxi instead of the subway because we wanted to make the 1:30 train to Tokyo. We just barely beat the massive flood of SASers scrambling to make early trains. We were in and out of there like three moles in Whack-a-Mole. We hopped on the subway to Shin-Kobe Station then boarded our very first bullet train to Tokyo. We weren’t actually going to Tokyo, though, we were going to Mishima where we would take a bus to Mt. Fuji. It was a fairly quick three hour train ride to Mishima then another two and a half hour bus ride to Kawaguchi-ko. None of us had any idea that it would take so long to get to Mt. Fuji – it’s definitely not a place you can just pop in for a day to say “Hi” then peace out later that night. We had a night booked at the Sunnide Village which conveniently had a shuttle from the bus stop to the hotel. We did actually make it to the hotel until 7 p.m.! Oofta! Nonetheless, our room was fantastic – it was a traditional Japanese style room with beds and chairs on the wood floor, a tea set, robes and little straw shoes to wear to meals, and a magnificent view of Mt. Fuji! The mountain is unlike any in Montana – it’s one single peak stretching high into the sky (sorry, no figures, I’m not a guide book), three-quarters of it covered in piercingly white snow. Earlier on in our planning there had been discussion of climbing the most-climbed-in-the-world mountain until we read multiple articles claiming the severe dangers of hiking in the off season and something about how it was suicidal. We decided to go for just plain sight-seeing purposes only.

After we got settled in our room, we set off to find some Japanese grub. We walked about a mile and a half down the main road from our hotel and found a cute little house serving Soba noodles and tempura! It was perfect and smelled like heaven. We sat down and were all ready to order when we realized that we only had a thousand yen collectively. We asked the sweet, old lady who ran the restaurant if they took credit cards and, like everywhere else in Japan, they only take cash. We were kind of in the middle of nowhere so we needed her to call us a cab to take us to an ATM in town. While we were waiting for our taxi she served us the best I’ve had in all of Asia…and I’ve had a lot of tea! A little about the taxi ride – the first thing I noticed was the man was wearing a very nice suit. The meter started at seven dollars and jumped like a frog on speed. We ended up paying twenty dollars for a five minute cab ride to the seven eleven! I was completely shocked and, quite frankly, pretty upset. I thought it was some kind of a joke. Due to the expensive cab ride we ate dinner at a Japanese fast food restaurant and then took another awesomely pricey ride back to our residence for the evening.

Day 2:

Clare and I woke up at 6:30 to take a Japanese bath, which requires you to be completely nude! There were strict signs saying NO BATHING SUITS and NO TOWEL. There were two baths, one indoor and another outdoor. There were only two other Japanese women in the bath – one was trying to tell us to do something but I hadn’t a clue what she was getting at. A fun thing about Japan is people will talk to you in Japanese as if you spoke the language even though it is clear you have no idea what they are saying. The experience wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.

Clare and I decided we wanted to stay in Fuji another night and Sunnide Village was all booked so we had to go on a quest to find another place to stay. We grabbed a little breakfast at the hotel before checking out. We had no desire to spend another twenty dollars on a taxi so we footed it all the way to the bus station, about an hour and a half away, bearing our backpacks and all. We tried to hitchhike into town but none of the Japanese tourists in their super slick vehicles were giving us any love. It was a pretty morning and the scenery is straight out of a story book, so it really wasn’t a bad walk. We finally made it to Kawaguchiko Station where the tourism center is located and we were able to get a room at the Plaza Hotel just adjacent to the bus stop – how convenient! My friend, Dan, took off for Tokyo to go to a baseball game with his friends at 11:30 while Clare and I began our sightseeing adventure.

There are five lakes that surround Mt. Fuji and Kawaguchiko revolves around one of them. We walked down to the lake front where we climbed into a little boat shaped like a swan and peddled around the lake for a while. It would have been a little more idealistic if Mt. Fuji wasn’t hiding behind the clouds the whole time. Afterwards we walked around the lake for a couple of hours stopping in at the various souvenir shops. We checked in at our new hotel in the late afternoon to take a nap before heading out again for dinner. We decided to shake things up a bit take the bus to Fuji Yoshida (a nearby town) for dinner. We had the names and vague directions of a couple of restaurants from Lonely Planet, but when you are on foot in a town you have never been in before it is a lot more difficult to find a place than Lonely Planet makes it out to be. We ended up so stuck and lost that we had to call a taxi to pick us up and take us to one of the restaurants…which ended up being very far away. It was called Fujiyama Beer Brewery – it kind of reminded me of the Ale Works in Bozeman, but more family oriented. We grabbed the train back to Kawaguchiko for a goodnights rest before heading out the next morning.

Day 3:

We took a 7:30 bus back to Mishima Station where we got on a train to Kyoto. I had mastered the train schedule and planned it so Dan would get on the same train that would pick us up in Mishima – it worked out perfectly. When we arrived in Kyoto we got on yet another bus to take us to Southern Kyoto where there is a sightseeing walking tour – we got on the right bus but had absolutely no idea where to get off! I asked a nice older couple where we were to get off and the man told me we passed our stop a long time ago…oops. We got off at the next stop, whipped out our maps like the good tourists we are, and figured out where to go. Turns out the man was wrong, we got off the bus too early. We strolled down to this humongous temple site with a gorgeous Japanese garden then took a walk through a lively park with vendors and the famous cherry blossom tree (although it didn’t look too famous at the moment).

THEN Clare and I got dressed up like Geishas! They did the whole bit and they did it fast. I felt a little like a rag doll being slathered with the pain-like make-up and tossed in numerous layers of brightly colored clothing. It didn’t feel right to be dressed this way – for one thing, I definitely don’t have the face for the gig. We were able to take pictures but you aren’t supposed to smile showing your teeth, which is not natural for me. The whole thing was strange but an interesting experience to have.

Afterwards we went to find some Tempura, instead we found a Mexican Restaurant! We were all a little reluctant to go to Mexican when we were in Japan, but I have to say it may have been the best choice of the day! The food was decent, but the people were amazing – they were dressed in Mexican outfits and said things like, “Hola” and “Bienvenidos”. The man who owned the restaurant began serenading us with his guitar and his Spanish lyrics, then he us join in with maracas and tambourines. It may have been the most abnormal and wonderful thing to experience in Kyoto. Our waiter, Tommy, spoke English very well so we joked around with him and asked him questions about Japan. We ended up taking pictures with the owners and our waiter and exchanging e-mail addresses. It was precious. To conclude the evening we went to an internet café, got some yummy dessert, and then caught the 10 p.m. train back to Kobe.

Day 4:

We woke up early again to catch yet another train to Hiroshima this time. We didn’t decide to go to Hiroshima until the last minute, and I’m sure glad we did. The train ride was only an hour and a half so we were there by 9:30 a.m. The stations and the train were crazy busy because it was a Monday…and we all know what people do on Monday mornings. We got to the Atomic Bomb Dome by street car. The area was picturesque with the green grass, cherry blossoms, big flowing river, and the ravaged building in the center of it all. The whole Peace Park is scattered with memorials dedicated to those lost in the bombing - each is decorated with thousands of colorful paper doves to represent peace.

We went to the Museum at the opposite end of the Peace Park featuring every aspect of the bombing. At some points it was a little too gruesome and depressing to handle – I felt drained by the end of it. Bombing is never a good idea, kids. We visited another memorial site where we read more gloomy stories about victims begging for water and soldiers not being allowed to give it to them because they would just die anyway.

After that uplifting morning, we found a super cheap lunch, walked around Hiroshima a bit more, and then took our final bullet train back to Kobe where I had just enough money to take the subway back to the ship.

HK and CHINA

Day 1:

We arrived in Hong Kong after only two days of short and sweet sailing. Despite the fog, the soaring skyline was beyond impressive. It is a little daunting to think that man created the landscape I saw before me – miles and miles of lanky buildings poking at the sky. I only had one day to let loose in this massive city since I had a flight to Beijing leaving the very next day. My friend, Clare, and I took on the day together. I would have to say the majority of our morning was spent asking directions and luckily many people spoke English and were extremely helpful. We first had to find the Ferry Station where I could pick up a ticket for a ferry to the Shenzhen airport the next morning. For being in the same vicinity as our ship, it took us quite a while to make it to the right building and the right ticket booth after stopping every 5 minutes to make sure we were headed in the right direction. After finally purchasing my ticket we disembarked on another fun adventure of finding the subway station to take us to the Ladies Market! The subway was a hoot and a half! I have discovered I really enjoy various forms of public transportation – it’s confusing, yet easy and fun! I’m going to be riding those new buses in Bozeman when I come home!

Anyway, the Ladies Market was about 6 blocks of shops with Chinese trinkets, clothing, knock-off shoes, handbags, and watches, and occasionally lingerie (always strange to see in an open-air market). I made a couple amazing purchases – I can’t wait for gift giving when I get home. We basically spent the whole afternoon at the market, doddling around. That night we decided to go up to Victoria Peak where, on a clear day, you can see over the whole city. When we went up there we were lucky to see fifty feet in front of us, still we had a spectacular meal! By the time we got back to the ship it was 10 p.m. and time for bed!

Day 2:

A little background: ten of us had planned a while back to travel China independently with a tour group that allows you to sleep on the Great Wall, so roughly a month and a half ago we all booked a one way plane ticket to Beijing from Hong Kong. Time passes by quickly when you are jumping from country to country so we were all blindsided when we realized China was only a week away and none of us had paid the tour company yet. It was a bit of a conundrum when the tour company informed us we couldn’t pay by credit card and all of us are stuck in the middle of the ocean. It all worked out one day before arriving in Hong Kong thanks to good ol’ Pay Pal!

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to pack, eat some breakfast, and meet our group at 8 to head to our Ferry. The earliest ferry leaving from Hong Kong to Shenzhen was at 8:45 and if we missed that then we were guaranteed to miss our flight. Everyone except for Teagan and I went out the night before so half of the group was running late. I had to pound on one of my friend’s doors to get him out of bed at 8:05 a.m. and my other friend lost her wallet so we had to leave her behind on the ship while the rest of us rushed to make the ferry. All ten of us ended up making the ferry that morning – the universe was working with us because it was somewhat of a miracle! The ferry to Shenzhen was definitely not what I had expected – it looked like a super wide airplane from the inside and dining service and safety videos. Teagan and I talked for the hour it took us to arrive at the airport. We had to go through customs in Shenzhen since we were now entering China – it was nice to get through customs there instead of at a busy airport. We then got on our 3 hour flight to Beijing.

Upon arriving in Beijing we got some delicious Starbucks (I have never enjoyed Starbucks as much as I have on this voyage) and grabbed 3 taxis for the ten of us. We anticipated the taxi drivers not speaking any English so we had the tour agency in the airport write out our hostel’s address in Chinese, even then the taxi drivers hadn’t the faintest idea where the place was. The three drivers stood there for about ten minutes bickering back in for in Chinese, waving their arms in all different directions, and finally one turned to us and said, “Okay.” We all piled in our taxis and hoped for the best! The drivers only stopped two times to get directions before we were dropped off on the street and were pointed down an alley way. There are two hostel buildings and we happened to find the wrong one, so a nice lady led us to the right one. The hostel was absolutely adorable – it had a cute balcony lined with bamboo, rooms of all different sizes and number of beds, a family room with a TV and computers, a communal shower, and Chinese decorations everywhere. I had pictured hostels to be dirty, crowded, and just plain unwelcoming, but I was once again proven wrong (how many times have I said that over the course of this voyage?) There were only a couple of other people staying there besides our group – one girl, from London, just moved to Beijing hoping to learn Mandarin and was looking to find work.

That night we went out for a family dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant where English is not spoken – our friend Lindsey studied Chinese in college so we had her take care of the ordering. We had the most outstanding sweet and sour pork – you definitely can’t get that at any Chinese restaurant in Bozeman. After dinner Teagan, Lauren, Collyn, Gabe, and I decided to walk to Tiananmen Square, which, come to find out, is a lot farther than anyone wants to walk at 9 p.m. in a foreign city. About an hour an a half later we finally make it to the front of the Forbidden City. The boys ended up meeting these two Chinese girls rather abruptly and decided to go off with them for the night. We didn’t think much of it because this is something Collyn and Gabe would do. Us girl caught a taxi down the road to take us back to the hostel for the night. As we were sitting in our room later that night we read a page in “Bobby’s Advice Book” that went a little something like this, “Beware around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City of hustlers. Young girls will claim to be college students and ask young men out for tea where they will proceed to teach them about the culture, feed them loads of tea, and charge them an absurd amount of money. When approached, please turn them away.” That is exactly what happened to our friends. If we had cell phone we would have texted them to get out of their, but thankfully the situation wasn’t a dangerous one…more comical than anything.

Day 3:

The next morning we met our tour guide, Hilda! We began our Beijing adventure by visiting the Summer Palace…can you say “tourists”?! There were Asian tour groups up the wazoo – they wore matching hats and moved like a flock of sheep following after the person holding a flag in the air. The ten of us stood out like a sore thumb. The place itself wasn’t too exciting; it was the place where the Emperor and his Empress went during the summer. We walked down the longest corridor ever built and massaged our feet on the stone walkway. We ate a decent Chinese-style lunch with some very-excited-to-be-there servers. They introduced each food with gusto, “Hello, this is RICE,” one would say. After lunch we went to Tiananmen Square (again) and toured through the inside of the Forbidden City. Both places turned out to serve more for people watching than anything else. You get an unbelievably wide range of outfits and hairstyles in China.

We then went to a humongous indoor market that was five-or-so stories tall. I was overwhelmed with the amount of knock-off shoes, bags, jewelry, coats, backpacks, and pretty much everything under the sun. I did the best I could to indulge myself in this market for the hour we were allotted. I wonder day after day why we do not have markets like these in the states where you can barter away your little heart until the sun goes down. I guess I’ll just have to keep traveling to be able to enjoy places like these. After the market we had an interesting Hot Pot dinner where you cook your own food in your personal pot. Sounds cool…but not really. None of us really knew what we were doing, so all of the little waitresses were laughing and making fun of us in their Chinese language.

We ended the night with a mind-blowing Kung Fu show! It was more of a play than anything – it had a story line outlining the development of Kung Fu and there was a main character and everything. The lighting, set, and sound were phenomenally done! For me it was more the fact that I was watching a play/performance in China than watching outrageous kung fu moves. There were little kids that did back handsprings on their hands! Being a former gymnast, I was pretty much flabbergasted.

Day 4:

We met up with Hilda again at 9:00 a.m. to go to the Mingh Tombs…another uneventful excursion, but we managed to have a good time riding on the stone elephant stools that were scattered around. We walked down the “Sacred Pathway” line with stone soldiers, elephants, horses, tortoises, and unidentifiable beings. It began raining on us, so we made it a rather brisk walk down the pathway. We had another Chinese style lunch (surprise surprise) then drove three hours to the Great Wall. When we arrived at the Wall a bunch of us had to “sing a song” (go to the bathroom). We took a short hike up the road to find quite the bathroom. It looked as if it were built the same time as the Great Wall and was meant to be on display in an Archaeological museum to show what people used to pee in. Did I pee in it? Yes, yes I did. Was it fun? No, no it wasn’t. We then had a cup of tea in the shop of the couple who was hosting us for the evening before ascending the Great Wall for the first time. The section of the wall we were climbing was completely deserted of tourists, the only people around was a film production crew working on a movie. We hiked the beaten wall to a nearby tower to watch the sun set behind a mountain in the distance. It was a peaceful gift to be able to sit on one of the Seven Wonders of the World and watch the sun set without one other tourist around. Once the sky turned a grayish-orange we made our way back down to the shop where we were served the most delicious Chinese food to date! We had a wide assortment of greens with pork and beef, and out-of-this-world dumplings! At dinner we were joined by an Australian couple, Russel and Simone, who would be joining us for the remainder of our Great Wall adventures.

After dinner, we piled on every piece of clothing in our backpacks to prepare ourselves for the extreme cold we were about to face while sleeping on the Great Wall. We hiked up to the tower looking like a bunch of marshmallows, laid out the sleeping bags and mats provided by the company, and went on to sleep on the Wall. I actually had a warm, cozy, and substantial sleep that night, which is pretty impressive considering our tour guide said he only slept 2 hours because “we” were so noisy. Another thing Semester at Sea as taught me: how to sleep anywhere and everywhere.

Day 5:

We were woken up at 6:00 a.m. by what sounded like a military raid yelling, “Wake up! Let’s go! We must eat breakfast and climb the wall! We are already late! Get up!” It was intense, and pretty hilarious. Our hiking guide was named Max and Max liked to say things like this, “Watch every step you make because if you do not then you will never see your Momma or Poppa again,” or, “Always watch where you step, ladies, or you will fall and smash in your little faces”. He was really poetic. The hike turned out to be a heck of a lot more strenuous than I could have ever imagined. I have never climbed so many stairs in my life…total. We climbed up steps that were eighty degrees and maneuvered down towers where the stairs had collapsed. The fact that we were engulfed by fog made the first grueling hour and a half of the hike a little enchanting and easier to enjoy. The remainder of the hike was fairly easy - the fog had cleared so we could see the Wall stretch all across the land. The hike was supposed to take four hours, but our powerhouse group finished in three! At the end we all treated ourselves to ice cream sold by a vendor, then zip lined across the canyon to a boat that took us to our bus. It was an unbelievable, unforgettable morning!

We had another quick Chinese lunch before driving three hours back to Beijing. We ended up playing games on the bus I had learned from campers – Yay Camp Equinox! Upon arriving in Beijing we were treated to a 90 minute foot massage and pedicure (included in our trip cost!) which was just delightful! We had about an hour to kill before heading to the train station so we hit up the nearby market and Subway! We said our tearful goodbyes to Hilda as we boarded our sleeper train to Shanghai. I hadn’t been on a train since India so I was surprised by its luxuriousness. Each cabin had four beds, fluffy linens, two pillows, personal slippers, and a tea pot. I got the short end of the stick and ended up in a cabin with three Chinese men who didn’t speak a word of English – it wasn’t that big of a deal since I hung out in the dining car with my friends until I went to bed.

Day 6:

I was woken at 6:00 a.m. again by a loud voice; instead this time it was the lovely cabin steward announcing something clearly important…too bad I don’t speak any Chinese. I looked around and saw the men in my cabin gathering their things, so I figured I would do the same. The train was coming to a stop so I threw on my backpack and followed the crowd to the exit of the train. I showed the nice lady my ticket and she started shaking her head and saying words I do not know. Finally she said something I could recognize, “No Shanghai, Waso, no Shanghai!” We were definitely not at my stop yet. I did the walk of shame back to my cabin where I waited another hour to actually reach Shanghai.

We all made it off of the train in one piece, grabbed a couple of taxis, and went back to our home away from home. It was so nice to be back on the ship again. I ate a delicious western breakfast and took a nice, long shower before heading out into the city. Shanghai seemed cool, but I felt I didn’t have the time or energy to take it in. It was pouring rain outside so all I really did was get my Japan Railpass, buy some warm clothing, and call it a day.

A Little Vietnam and a Lotta Cambodia!

Day 1:

We rolled into Ho Chi Minh City a little differently this time around – instead of just plopping our ship in the ocean as if we were a misplaced block in Tetris, we actually had to maneuver our way into the country by traveling up the Saigon River! I woke up at 6:30 to see our ship cruising down a chocolate milk colored river surrounded by mangroves, stilted homes, and miniature (compared to our vessel) wooden boats complete with a rower wearing a rice hat. What a peculiar feeling it was to be on a cruise ship heading down a river in Vietnam…

That morning I had a trip with SAS to the Cu Chi Tunnels leaving as soon as the ship was cleared. Before arriving at the Tunnels we stopped for a traditional Vietnamese lunch at a gorgeous restaurant overlooking a tiny river with the occasional fisherman floating by. The meal was full of no-name food, but it was all delicious. The Cu Chi Tunnels were created by the Vietnamese as an effective war tactic. The network runs deeply underground with several floors and rooms made for storage, cooking, meeting, preparing for battle, etc – some of them running up to 200 km in length. We were first taken to a miniscule hole in the ground meant to be an entrance way into the tunnels – the hole was probably 1 ½ feet by 2 feet, way too small for a normal person to fit in, right? The first girl to go in was definitely smaller than me, so it was no surprise that she slid in and out like butter. It wasn’t until our guide Mai convinced a guy in our group the size of a football player to squeeze himself in there that I knew I could probably fit. The trick wasn’t getting in, however, it was getting out .

We saw some pretty insane, elaborate traps set up to, you know, kill Americans. It was a little strange to have her say things like, “this one was used to kill you by puncturing your foot and trapping your leg”. After seeing that joyous display of artifacts, we shot off some guns! Yes, I shot an M60 machine gun! Another strange feeling to be shooting off M60s and AK47s with huge smiles on our faces while realizing these guns were probably used to kill American soldiers a few decades back. I kept my casings, so hopefully I will be able to get back into the states with them. Lastly, we actually went into a tunnel. Now, here I go again make presumptions and having expectations. I envisioned the tunnels being quite spacious, at least with enough room to walk upright. Oh, it makes me laugh inside at how mistaken I was. The tunnels were tall enough to crawl and wide enough to touch your elbows to each side. Wearing shorts, flip flows, and having to hold a flashlight while trying to inch my way through the bat and rat infested tunnel was a challenge, to say the least. 50 of us squeezing through a 20 meter tunnel meant there was no turning back once you were inside. I had a brief feeling of Closter phobic nervousness…so I couldn’t imagine how the Vietnamese felt crawling through tunnels 200 km long! It was definitely something to experience. We arrived back at the ship around dinner time – I chose to stay in to rest up for the next few days.

Day 2:

I had another SAS trip to the Mekong Delta leaving at 8 a.m.. A few of my good friends were on this trip so it proved to be a darn good day, despite its failure to meet a few of our expectations. We drove 2 hours and stopped at a market for about ten minutes and a random temple with a gigantic Buddha. They like their Buddhas big in Vietnam. We finally reached the river and climbed into a large river boat meant for tours. I had pictured the river to be lined with wooden stilted houses and bustling with small boats selling various fruits and veggies, but it was more like a highway for big boats like ours. Apparently you have to drive another 2 hours to get to that part of the river and wake up at 6 a.m. to see what I saw in my head. Oh well. Our boat stopped at a coconut-candy-making factory, and then we took burro-drawn carriages to smaller river boats made for 4 people. That was the authentic, relaxing experience I was looking for on the Mekong. We met back up with the big boats and floated off to lunch…which was amazing!! The first thing they brought out was a deep fried whole fish stood up on a stick complete with eyeballs and all! My initial thought was, “Holy crap, I can’t eat that”, but what would Semester at Sea be if I didn’t do those things that scare the poop out of me? The Vietnamese woman peeled the meat off of the fish and stuffed it in rice paper with noodles and greens. I have to say, it was quite good. We also had the most phenomenal shrimp I have ever tasted in my entire life! It was super fresh (she peeled it right in front of us) and you dipped it in a mixture of salt, pepper, and lemon. Dad, you would go crazy for this! The meal was complete with a trip to a fruit farm where we stuffed ourselves with mango, pineapple, and lychaes.

As soon as our bus got back to the ship, my friends and I freshened up and took the next shuttle back into the lively center of Ho Chi Minh City. We ate Vietnamese Pho (a traditional noodle bowl), went to the Night Market where I bought a duffle bag for 8 dollars to pack all of my gifts in! We topped the night off with some ice cream and a tip to the grocery store. I said goodnight to Vietnam as I was leaving the next morning for Cambodia.

Day 3:

I had a leisurely morning as our Cambodia trip didn’t leave until 10 a.m.. Despite the fact it took our bus two hours to drive to the airport, our flight was the fastest yet. I had barely finished my box lunch and we were already landing in Phnom Penh. As soon we arrived we piled into a stifling tour bus with air conditioning that had the power of a new born kitten. We went straight to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda where we walked around, took some pictures, and sweated our way back to the States (China’s not half way around the world anymore!). We then visited a museum full of remnants from Angkor Wat, which was not too exciting seeing as we were visiting Angkor Wat the next day. We took a soothing, breezy sunset cruise on the Mekong Delta then headed to an orphanage. None of us were informed ahead of time that we would be visiting an orphanage and hadn’t brought any gifts with us, so we made a stop at a convenient store to buy candies, pens, and trinkets. Take a moment and imagine 60 students piling into a convenient store the size of a Mini Mart gas station (actually smaller) with no air conditioning trying to buy virtually the same thing! It was all worth it.

As we came up on the orphanage a young girl greeted us with a glowing smile saying, “I am so happy you are here. Welcome! Please, come in. We are so happy you come!” I knew immediately these kids were something special. The orphanage is called the Palm Tree Center – it was founded in 2002 by a man named Ouch Syphalla (Mr. Pole). The center serves both as a dormitory for kids orphaned by AIDS and a school. I was befriended by a 13 year old boy who gave me his personal guided tour. All of the kids spoke English very well, which was a bit ironic because many of the elders working there spoke very little English. He first showed me the girls dormitory. I saw an empty room with cubbies lining one side for the girls clothing. I asked the boy, “What do the girls sleep on?” and he replied, “I don’t know, I sleep in boys room.” So I asked him what he slept on and he told me he had a bed to sleep on – later I find out that a bed to him is a plank of wood propped up off the ground. The girls must sleep on the floor. He showed me the classrooms and some artwork he had done, and then he took me up to the music room. About 5 of us (SASers) watched as the students fiddled with cords and equipment. One strapped on a guitar, one grabbed a bass, one sat at the drums, and one got behind the keyboard. I was blown out of the water to hear such a sweet, harmonious, rockin’ sound come from these kids! They were brilliant! The evening ended with kids asking for our e-mails, hugging us goodbye. I even heard one girl saying to a SASer as we were leaving, “I will never forget you my sister, my sister”. If I ever adopt a kid, I know exactly where it will be from.

Day 4:

Our second day in Cambodia was just as crammed as the first. We woke at 6:30, had a pleasant breakfast, and made our first stop of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The Museum was originally a high school before it got taken over by the Pol Pot clan and transformed into a prison. The classrooms on the ground floor in Building A were individual cells where most of the torturing took place. The second floors comprised of either wood or brick cells used for mass detention. In each cell there was a tiny tin box to do you “business” in. The railings were blocked by barbed wire so that the residents weren’t able to commit suicide. One of the torturing devices was a tall pole where the victim was hung upside down until they lost consciousness, and then the head was dipped in a large pot of fertilizer water. The first floors of Building B and C were full of pictures of the genocide victims taken before they were taken to the killing fields to be killed. The victims were “suspects” of being a part of the CIA or KGB – they were students, doctors, monks, teachers, basically anyone thought to be a little too smart for their own good. They were told they were being taken to a reeducation camp. The pictures were the most gripping and heartbreaking aspect of the whole thing. Their faces communicate to you their feeling more than any statistic or piece of writing ever could. Some had the look of complete horror, some looked utterly exhausted, some looked as though they had just given up, some looked furious, and some looked torn to shreds.

Many died right in the prison from torture or starvation; the others were taken to the killing fields. They were blind folded and driven out to the fields where their heads were smashed in with whatever tool. The fields had a temple to honor the victims that was filled with thousands of skulls and piles of clothing found at this site. It was interesting to see a temple like this…I’m not quite sure how I felt about it. The whole area was a somber sink hole.

Later in the trip our guide talked to us about his childhood and it turns out that he was deeply affected by the Genocide. When he was nine years old his father was taken by the Pol Pot clan into the jungle – they assume he was murdered because they never saw him again after that. His mother took him and his 5 brothers to the country. They had to travel by foot – when they came to the river full of crocodiles his mother had to pass through one by one with each child. Many people died of malaria that way, but his brothers ended up dying of starvation. It was astounding to heard our regular Joe guide talking about this, but that is who the genocide affected – the regular Joe.

After the killing fields we hopped on a flight to Siem Reap, the home of the Angkor temples. We went straight to Angkor Wat, the most renowned religious site in the world. (Look it up on Wikipedia) The whole scene reminded me a lot of the Taj Mahal – lots of tourists snapping pictures and lots of hawkers. We explored for about 2 hours and spent the last half our looking at the vendors’ merchandise. I guess the temple was originally built to worship Shiva, the Hindu god, but somehow over the years it has become a Buddhist temple. We left just before sunset, had a delicious Vietnamese buffet with incredible spring rolls, and left before the cultural show to go to the night market. The market was definitely not what I’m used to – it was really clean, sheltered, and clearly catered to tourists; there was even a westernized bar inside of it. We then went to an internet café where I got to talk to my mom, dad, and sister. We took a tuk tuk, a motorbike attached to a carriage, back to the hotel for one dollar. It was a splendid evening.

Day 5:

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to my roommate coming back from talking on Skype all night at an internet café. I had to get up at 4:30 anyway to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, so I lied in bed until then. There were very few people at the temple at this time making it an extremely calming and serene morning. We all lined the man made pool of water to take that perfect reflection picture as the sun rose through the pink sky behind the symmetrical temple. It happened all too quickly. After watching the sun rise we walked into the temple and enjoyed the cool air and vacant premises. We could already start to feel the heat at 6:45 when we left the temple to grab some breakfast.

At 8:00 a.m. we went to a different area of the temple complex to see Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. Ta Prohm was out of this world! This was the temple that appeared in Tomb Raider with the gigantic tree growing in and around it. There were heaps of stone that had fallen from the temple with signs saying, “Do Not Enter” or “Dangerous”. These signs, of course, were really trying to say, “Come climb on us, we are fun and we have great picture opportunities”. And so we did just that! We climbed all over those babies – we were real live tomb raiders! We were all wearing flip flops which proved to make the trekking rather difficult once the dirt combined with the sweat. It was a tid bit challenging and way too much fun. The second temple, Preah Khan, was similar to Ta Prohm, but not as cool. We happened to make it cool by climbing to the top where we got to overlook the whole temple. It was fantastic! We then went back to the hotel for lunch where I had the whole restaurant sing Happy Birthday to my friend Teagan who was celebrating her 21st birthday!

After lunch we checked out of the hotel and drove to the South Gate of Angkor Thom where the entrance is a symmetrical arch with faces on all four sides. Bayon was my second favorite temple with hundreds of faces peering at you from all different directions. I feel as if I could have enjoyed this place much more if I weren’t experiencing minor symptoms of heat exhaustion. Our last site to see was the unimpressive elephant terraces and we were off to the airport for our flight back to Ho Chi Minh City. Right as we were arriving at the airport it started pouring rain! Not only did we get to experience the refreshing rain, but there was also a Dairy Queen!! Could the day have gotten any better?
We arrived back at the ship just in time to watch a bunch of people get dock time! We were immune to dock time since we were on an SAS trip. It was pretty amusing.

All in all, Vietnam and Cambodia were equally phenomenal! I cannot wait to return and see more of the countries.

Malaysia

Day 1:

Malaysia was my spoon full of sugar to help India go down.

I absolutely had no idea what to expect from this country and quite honestly, I didn’t have enough time to develop any expectations. I guess the only thought that formulated in my mind was, ‘it will probably be a little cleaner than India…but I bet it will still smell’ and that’s all I got. Pleasantly surprised is the perfect phrase to describe my reaction to arriving in Malaysia – it was extremely pleasant to smell the air as it should smell and it was incredibly surprising to see rolling green hills and a highly modernized, clean city. I will come right out and say it – Malaysia could quite possibly be the most beautiful place I have ever visited.

Our ship anchored out in the bay, so we had to tender in our life boats to the shore. I signed up for the Cameron Highlands trip with SAS, which left as soon as we arrived. I actually had no idea what this trip entailed when I signed up for it – I just wanted to do something in Malaysia that wasn’t in a city. I didn’t know a single person on this trip, so I was a tid bit nervous, but I knew it would all turn out okay in the end. Ten minutes into our bus ride I began to notice how lush and green this country is – there are palm trees, mountains, marshes, jungles, etc. everywhere! We drove 2 hours to a little Chinese restaurant for lunch, and then drove another two hours uphill to the Cameron Highlands. The Highlands are a popular vacation spot for Malays because of its cool temperatures and a frequented spot for backpackers because of its beauty and serenity. It is also where they make their famous tea and grow numerous vegetables and strawberries! The area is gorgeous, clean, comfortable, cute, and just plain wonderful. Being out in the country was very much needed for me at this point.

As soon as we arrived in the Highlands it was pouring rain and of course I hadn’t thought of bringing my rain coat, let alone a sweater. I’m not really sure what I was thinking when I packed. But I did bring a bunch of quick dry clothes – thanks Mom and Dad! A big group of us walked into to town in the rain (we are adventurous like that) and bought one dollar ponchos even though we were already soaked. We tooled around looking at the little souvenir shops, but didn’t find anything too thrilling – it is a very small town. We had dinner at the hotel and all went out to the one bar in town. It was a good bonding experience.

Day 2:

Wake up call was 7:30, which was like heaven compared to the 4 a.m. ones in India. We had breakfast at the hotel then piled into 4x4 vehicles to go on an all day jungle adventure! I was in a jeep with both Uncle David, our adorable tour guide, and Satya, the coolest jungle guide out there. We drove up through the tea fields to the highest point in Malaysia. The view was breathtaking from up there – it made me feel like I was back in Montana again. Afterwards we went on our jungle trek! The forest was full of plants and flowers with medicinal purposes, along with tons of striking catcher plants ranging from one inch to a foot long! We all got super muddy trying to maneuver around vines, drop offs, and trees. It was a good time.

After the jungle we visited a tea factory, which was less than exciting, although the scenery was spectacular from up there. I sipped a teacino and bought some gifts for you all back home. We were all super hungry at this point and the guides said we were going to drive out to a place where we would have a picnic…an hour of driving through windy roads we finally reached our picnic spot, which was really just an area on the side of the road. I had no idea I could ever enjoy an egg sandwich more than at that particular moment (it was 3 p.m – Nicole is not a happy person when she is hungry)

The plan for after lunch was to drive out to a trail where we would hike through the jungle to an Orang Alsi village…until we discovered the road was blocked by a gigantic tree! The road we were driving on was so tiny that our jeeps didn’t have any room to turn around, so we all hiked back to a village we passed earlier while the 4x4s backed up the road. (Flexibility J) En route we saw quite a few rather large insects – I got to hold a whopper of a centipede. Satya had us put a little yellow flower on the tip of our tongue and after about 30 seconds it went numb and stayed that way for a few minutes. The Orang Asli used to use this flower when they needed to pull out a tooth.

The village we came to was utterly surreal. Their huts built entirely of bamboo rest on a hilltop overlooking their dependable jungle. The Orang Asli, meaning “original peoples”, inhabit the Cameron Highlands with fifteen or so interconnected villages. Many of the people died out after the 1930’s when pollution became an issue. These people live entirely off their land and hunting – they have no need for money. They do, however, have plumbing, electricity, schooling, and modern medicine. A doctor comes around to each village once a week to make sure everything is sound. At the same time, all of the villages have their own shaman practicing traditional medicine who rarely comes out of the house. Each village also has a chief – chiefdom is passed on by generation to both males and females (it is an egalitarian society). There were dozens of children in this village who seemed rather indifferent and uninterested in us. We brought the kids lollypops and our shampoos from our hotel rooms. The chief of the tribe showed us how to shoot a blow dart and we all got to take a stab at it! It was a blast! I hope to have an opportunity to live with a community like this some day.

After the village we drove back to town, visited a strawberry farm, went to dinner, and sacked out.

Day 3:

We checked out of the hotel at 8:30 and went to the morning market in town. They mostly sold vegetables, fruits, and giant stuffed strawberry paraphernalia. We drove 2 hours down the hills to visit a colossal Buddha inside a cave. It was as out of the ordinary as it sounds. The walls were covered in murals and scriptures and there were statues of Buddha and other figures tucked in random corners of the cave. I tried to take pictures of this place but it didn’t quite work out too well. After the cave we went to lunch at the same Chinese restaurant as Day 1, then drove back to Penang. I spent the remainder of the evening on the ship catching up on rest.

Day 4:

I ended up making a good friend on my Cameron Highlands trip, Clare Foley, and we decided to go on a little shopping adventure at Prangin Mall. Every other store in this mall sold shoes…there were shoes everywhere! The fashion was mainly Asian – really funky, black and whites, small… The most exciting thing about this mall were the bootleg DVDs they sold for only 5 ringets per movie (less than 2 dollars)! You can only imagine how excited I was in this store – it was like Christmas. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, the DVDs don’t work all that well…haha. We had an amazing Thai meal, went to the grocery store, and returned to the ship.

At 4:30 I had an SAS trip called the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari. For some reason I thought this meant we would be riding around an area inhabited by all sorts of indigenous animals and searching for them with a spotlight or something. Again, it is best to not have any expectations on this trip. This is how the trip went: We drove two hours, had an aweful Chinese dinner, went to a zoo, walked around in the pouring rain looking at animals that I had seen on my African safari for two hours, then drove another two hours back to the ship. If it sounds like fun then you are highly mistaken. I was very close to skipping it and going out with some friends to experience night life in Penang, but I decided not to waste the money…bad choice, I guess.

Day 5:

I woke up early to get to the Starbucks for free internet! I got to talk to my mom and sister on MSN messenger for a while and uploaded a few pictures on Facebook. The internet was so slow that it took me 5 hours to do this! I didn’t have any other plans for the day, so it didn’t bother me. My friend, Clare, joined me after an hour so I hung out with her most of the time. After the internet festival, we got some more Thai food and got back on the ship. It was a pretty uneventful and relaxing day.

I absolutely fell in love with Malaysia! I can say without a doubt that I will be back one day!

INDIA, the Other World

Day 1:

Chennai, India greeted us at 6:10 with smog. I get up every morning we arrive in port to see the sun rise and take arrival pictures…but this morning India would not have it. I learned a valuable phrase in pre-port the night before arriving in Chennai: IWA, which means “India Wins Again”. IWA became a very important phrase during my travels throughout the country. After waking for the nonexistent sunrise I put myself back in bed. Roughly a half an hour later I could tell that we had pulled into India; the ardent smell of burnt feathers seeped through the cracks of my doorway and rested right in my nostrils. Little did I know that this was only one of MANY smells about to tantalize my senses and also the launch of my sneeze-fest!

My friend, Katelyn, and I wanted to get a little bit of shopping done before we left for our Delhi/Agra/Varanasi trip with SAS at 3:30 p.m., so we took off in search for the ever-so-famous auto-rickshaw! Immediately after getting off the ship we were offered a bicycle rickshaw, which we later learned was highly unnecessary because it only took us about a half of a mile down the road where we had to transfer to an auto-rickshaw. Just the site of the undersized, yellow, three wheeled monsters got me excited! We negotiated with the driver to pay 200 rupees total for him to take us to the market, T nagar. The ride was everything I thought it could be and more; honking, zooming, weaving, and even yelling. This experience was all hunky-dory until we made our first “stop” at what I will call Mystery Store #1. This was most definitely the furthest thing from a market – it was a ritzy store complete with a suited doorman. We had the nice man inside who spoke English quite well to tell our driver exactly where we wanted to go hoping that would fix our little communication problem. As we were getting back in our rickshaw we were roped in by a snake charmer with two cobras. We both took pictures knowing very well that he would ask for money in the end – I gave him 10 rupees (25 cents). We then headed to our second stop, I will call this the Fake Market Street. Our driver told us it was T nagar…he was clearly confused. All that was being sold on this street was shoes and plastic trinkets. We actually walked around for a few minutes, saw a brightly colored temple (randomly placed), which was surrounded by a mote filled with eel-like fish. I honestly don’t know where I was. We decided to ask our driver to take us to a different shopping area – we gave him the name both in words and on paper and insisted we were taken there. This brings us to Mystery Store #2. We were told by the clerks inside that the rickshaw drivers knew exactly where we were asking to go but they would only take us to these stores because they get commission. I had heard about this happening to people from previous voyages but kind of hoped to avoid it. We were pretty fed up at this point and time was running out so we just had them take us back to the ship where they tried to charge us 1400 rupees!! Those crazy fools, we paid them 400 total.

At 3:30 I left on my SAS trip with 65 other students. We arrived at our overly extravagant hotel in Delhi around 10:00 p.m. where half of the ship seemed to be as well. It was a really nice place…but I was kind of looking forward to escaping the students for a while. A lot of SASers decided to “hit the bar” in the hotel that night, which I think is pretty darn ridiculous. Drinking is not something that is predominant in India; in fact, it is extremely inappropriate for women to be seen drinking – most places won’t even serve women alcohol, but some SAS kids are on a mission. Out of all of the ports we visit you would think India would be the place where you could go without consuming alcohol in mass quantities. Apparently not.

Day 2:

We woke at 4:15 a.m. to get to the train station to board the Shatabdi Express to Agra. On the bus ride over I noticed a large handful of people squatted on the side of the road, in fields, looking as if they were waiting for something. I couldn’t quite figure it out until I got a full view of a man pooping. This was one of the first things about India that kind of threw me for a loop. It is extremely common and accepted to do your “business” anywhere you please. I’m sure you are thinking “ewe” or “nasty” but when you see it with your own eyes, it makes sense. The entire country is overflowing with litter. If you eat a banana you don’t go looking for a trash can to throw the peel away, you toss it on the ground. Sanitation is virtually nonexistent. Even the streets that run past the richest homes were filled with trash. I don’t remember much else from the train ride – I was a very sleepy girl.

Directly after arriving in Agra, we began our sightseeing adventures with Fatehpur Sikri, a deserted city built by Emperor Akbar. The temples were built entirely out of red sandstone giving it a lot more beauty than I had expected. This was also the place where we experienced our first set of hawkers pushing all sort of trinkets, jewelry, and postcards. I remember how they could be from my experience in Mexico, but some people clearly had no idea how to deal with the situation. The best way to handle them is to make zero eye contact, say “No, thank you” while continuing to walk briskly. Girls on our bus would start cutesy conversations with the hawkers saying things like, “I will come back, I promise”, but complain about how they would not leave them alone when they got back on the bus.

Okay, our next stop was the Saga Departmental store, which had an uncanny resemblance of my Mystery Store #1! The items were outrageously overpriced, but according to our guide, Navin, it was the only shopping center approved by Semester at Sea (I don’t believe him…I think he gets commission). After this exciting shopping excursion I got to relieve my extreme hunger at lunch at Hotel Mansingh – traditional Indian food. After lunch we visited Agra Fort. This is where Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned by his son and later became the halls and palaces for the Mughals. The only really neat thing about the place was you could see the Taj in the distance; it was a little smoggy, but it was definitely there. Fun story: one of the professors on our trip got harassed by a hungry monkey! It jumped down all the way from the top of the temple to steal her orange. I am officially terrified of these rabid monkeys.

OFF TO THE TAJ!
The first moment to see the renowned Taj Mahal was absolutely surreal. It was much more powerful, intricate, and massive than I had imagined. I had almost expected to be unimpressed with the structure, but I was more than proven wrong. The first twenty minutes, however, were incredibly overwhelming and stressful – not only was I trying to take in this unreal site in front of me, but also trying to take that perfect picture while a hundred other people had the same idea. You either had to wait you turn or shove your way to “the spot” – both options I was not too keen with. By the end of those frantic twenty minutes, I felt as if I had been run over by a rickshaw. I decided to put my camera to the side and simply breath in the atmosphere. There were surprisingly a ton of Indians there – many more Indians than white people (excuse the jargon, but I don’t know how us to label us along with all of the other European tourists). I spent a good amount of time sitting on the ledge of the Taj doing some people watching. The people are stunning with their brightly colored saris, bindis, and happy smiles. Just as the sun began to set casting a beige/pink tint on the marbel we had to leave. I was truly sad to leave something so beautiful – at least I have it as a memory.

We had dinner at the hotel once again, and went to the train station to head back to Delhi. Somehow a group of 20 of us got separated from the rest of the group along with both our guide and leader on our way to our train spot. There were some moments of distress seeing as none of us knew when exactly our train was suppose to arrive, but we finally figured out where we needed to be…if there is one thing I had learned so far on this trip it is that everything works out in the end. As we waited for the train to arrive around 10:00 p.m. we noticed these two children, most likely brother and sister, playing amongst all of the hustle and bustle. They looked as if they hadn’t bathed in months and only eaten a couple of times a week. The half and hour I spent around them I did not see any sign of their mother. These kids didn’t just wake up in the morning and say, “Hey, let’s go play at the train station tonight”; they probably spend everyday at this train station begging (among the many other beggars – most being deformed). By the time was got off the train all I wanted to do was sleep, but IWA came into play once more. Our massive tour bus was blocked in by workers, trucks, crates, etc. It was midnight - people work all hours of the day here, 24/7/365. Reaching the hotel was a moment of pure bliss after being in constant transit for the past nineteen hours.

Day 3:

This was the day of all days in India. We woke up at 6:00 a.m. to do a little sight seeing in Delhi before heading to the airport for our flight to Varanasi…which didn’t do too much in keeping me awake. As we arrived in Varanasi I could already feel the difference in the air – I knew I was about to experience something unlike the previous cities. The city itself seemed slightly more rural than Delhi and Chennai; less big buildings and more people. Right when we got on the bus, Navin informed us that the Prime Minister is coming to Varanasi the next day and because of that we would not be able to visit the Ganges River in the morning – it would be completely closed. (Another case of IWA) Instead we were going to try to get on the river that evening. This instigated an outbreak of “What?!” “Why?” “Whah whah whah!” – clearly there is nothing we can do about the situation, but some students just looooove to complain. We transferred to the hotel, had some lunch, then we were allotted a whole HOUR of rest! This was our only down time the entire trip (besides sleeping), in which I spent watching Bollywood music videos on my hotel TV. I was so grateful to have some time to myself; I was completely emotionally drained by this point and I hadn’t even seen Varanasi yet.

After our little break, we began our afternoon excursions. Our first stop was at the ancient ruins of Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first sermon to five of his former companions. There are four places where every Buddhist must visit in his or her lifetime: 1. Buddha’s birthplace, 2.The tree where Buddha reached nirvana, 3. Where Buddha gave his first sermon, and 4. Buddha’s resting place. We saw hundreds of Buddhists dressed in white on their pilgrimage. There was an odd/awkward mixture of Buddhists kneeling, saying their prayers, and tourists snapping pictures. I’m not sure how I felt about it…but I think the feeling was not a happy one. We then went to the “New Buddhist Temple” where I took off my shoes and felt the marble beneath my toes. The temple had some captivating paintings on the wall, but I feel as if I missed its significance.

Alright, this is where the adventure begins! Here was the plan: We would take the bus to meet the rickshaws, which were to take us to the boats, which were to take us to see the ceremonies on the Ganges River. All 65 of us climbed into 33 different bicycle rickshaws. My friend, Mina, and I shared a rickshaw – our driver (or peddler) was probably half the size of me with teeth the color of a coke can from the constant use of tobacco. When the ride started out it was just plain fun; there was outrageous, hectic traffic, millions of smells wafting up my nose, kids waving “hello!”, horns, bells, whistles, and voices ringing in my ear. I was basking in a sensory overload. After riding for roughly ten minutes, all of the rickshaws had to make a u-turn because they road ahead was closed due to the Prime Minister. So…we headed in a different direction and this is where it gets interesting.

The sun was beginning to set as we turned down a narrow side street jam-packed with rickshaws, motorcycles, cows, beggars, litter, stray dogs, Indians manning their shops, talking with friends, cooking food, watching 60 white kids ride by on their common means of transportation. Even in these itsy-bitsy bicycle cars we were able to get in a massive traffic jam, only moving a few feet every couple of minutes, which gave me ample time to take in my surroundings. A beautiful young girl with eyes sparkling with dreams stood at the edge of her home, which was more like a hole cut out in the side of the building half the size of my cabin room lit by one single bulb. She was holding a tin cup for begging and wore a gigantic smile while waving hello to me. A group of males sniggered to each other as our rickshaw stopped in front of their shop. Muslim women cloaked in black from head to toe rode by on rickshaws. A boy climbed over the front wheel of our bicycle with his bare feet trying to cross the crowded street. Small dogs with matted hair withered away just inches away from my feet. In all of this powerful poverty, I have to say that this was the most beautiful street I have ever been on in my life.

After making it quite a way down this particular street, our guide came walking by waving his arms saying, “Go back, we cannot go. We cannot go, go back!” Once again, our rickshaws flipped a U-ey. I figured we were heading back toward the busses until we began making some strange turns down random alley ways. Many of the rickshaws split off into different directions. Our rickshaw turned down this rugged, dirt alley filled with cows. We would get down one street just to turn around and do it again on another street. At this point, Mina and I had no idea what was going on. Were we going to the Ganges, or were we going to the busses? After about a half on hour of this crazy game, things started to get a little sketchy. The sun had gone down and kids were running up and down our rickshaws, grabbing at us, hassling us to take their pictures or give our camera to them to take pictures. Our group leader, Dan, decided to borrow someone’s phone to call Navin and find out where the heck he was. Turns out, Navin had gone back to the busses a long time ago and was waiting for all of us! We made our last turnabout and headed back to the busses…no Ganges River (another case of IWA). I would have been incredibly upset to not see the river that evening if I hadn’t had such a compelling, intense, enthralling experience on the rickshaws. By the end, I had dust crusted up my nose, a butt in severe pain, and a mind of mush. I really had no idea how to put this evening into words, so I hope I have done it a little justice.

Day 4:

(I apologize for the length…you don’t have to read all of this! J)

We tried, once again, to make it to the Ganges River in the morning even though Navin said our chances were very slim. Although I had crossed my fingers and prayed the night before, I was really unsure of what the outcome was going to be. It wasn’t until I saw the massive row of white tour busses that I knew we were going to make it! The first definite glimpse of the calm, grey waters up ahead perked up all of my senses that could possibly work at 5:30 in the morning. The stone steps traipsing down to the Ganges were like a red carpet for the deceased.

Hindus from all over come to the Ganges River for two reasons: to fulfill a pilgrimage and to perform a death ceremony. Every Hindu must come to the river at one point in their life to bathe themselves in the holy water. After bathing, swimming, and sometimes even drinking the water, they fill a gold tin pale with the water, mix it with milk and honey and carry it to the temple of Shiva. This whole experience is supposed to bring you closer to salvation.

Varanasi is the oldest and holiest city to Hindus. It is said that if you die in Varanasi you bypass straight to heaven, no questions asked. People used to actually come to a temple in Varanasi to commit suicide by chopping off their own head – this practice has been banned. Instead, people will come to the city on their death bed and stay in “hospices” along side the river waiting to die. When one does die, the body is cremated by the man’s son - if he does not have a son, then by his nephew -if he does not have any male relatives, then he will be sent to the electrical furnace. Sons are highly valued in Indian culture, which is why there are huge problems with female infanticide (women aborting their female fetus) and overpopulation. Our guide said that he hadn’t seen that furnace lit in the twenty-five years he has been taking people to the Ganges. The cremation occurs on the top of the steps along side the river and lasts about five to six hours. When a husband dies, the wife removes her nose ring and places it inside the husband’s mouth before being cremated. Women, however, are not allowed to view the cremation. We saw two men wading in the river, sifting through the ashes looking for these jewels, which is actually an approved profession. After death, the family mourns for one full year, which means they do not celebrate any holiday, festivity, ritual, the entire time. The whole ceremony is extraordinarily interesting and gripping.

The architecture surrounding the river made the area that much more impressive. Only pictures can do it justice, really. We saw many men and women bathing in the river that morning. You would think that all of these people would get horrendously ill from immersing themselves in the same water they just cremated their father in, but their unreal ability of mind over matter, believing the river can only bring purity into their lives, brings them more health than harm. We only saw one cremation that morning – just one single stock of smoke billowing from the steps of the Ganges. There are more in the evening because it takes most families the whole morning/afternoon to transit to Varanasi. The river, in all of its morbidity, held a strong sense of serenity. We walked back to the busses, weaving through the tent-like huts made out of cloth and dirt with Indian residents perched inside looking as if they are just waiting for the day to pass. I have to admit, I was a little elated to leave the Ganges behind – my emotional capacity had been filled.

The remainder of our morning was spent shopping! We went to a silk shop and a bead shop where they made everything then and there. I got all of my souvenir/gift shopping done! We left for the airport at 2:00p.m. and stood in an insanely long line at the security check in the miniscule Varanasi airport. There was a line for men and a line for women – the women can only be frisked by other women and they were definitely not equipped to handle our proportion of females/males. We stood in line for an hour and fifteen minutes, I’m sure of it. Here’s a nifty tid-bit: we were in the airport at the same time the Prime Minister of India arrived…and left in a helicopter. We got to our ship at 12:15 a.m. and I made a massive bowl of oatmeal! It felt great to be back in the comforts of our ship.

Day 5:

I woke up early (yes, I am crazy) to call my family (12 hour time difference). There was a phone service set up right outside the ship charging only one dollar for three minutes. I got to talk to my sister, brother, and both of my parents!! I was so happy to hear all of their voices – I am so thankful for my family and everything they do for me. I miss you all a ton!

Anyway, later than afternoon my friends and I decided to go to a Bollywood movie! I have no idea what it was called, but I saved the ticket. It was incredibly entertaining, over-exaggerated, and just plain silly. I loved it! The movies last for up to five hours and they have an intermission. We skipped out at the intermission because we don’t speak Tamil and we started to get a little lost in the story line. It was a perfect way to spend my last day in India.

Conclusions about India:
It is too soon for me to analyze what I have seen and experienced, and what I have not seen and not experienced. All I know is I do not like Indian food. I tried…it is just not my thing.

Mauritius!

Day 1:

We arrived in Mauritius at 7:30 a.m. on March 1st. I was actually surprised by how beautiful the island looked from afar - the lush mountainous landscape surrounds the little bay city of Port Louis. I had developed few expectations before arriving in Mauritius, so there were many things that surprised me.

For those of you who have never heard of Mauritius and need a little background info, here is the skinny: It is a teeny island among the Mascerene Islands off the eastern coast of Madagascar. You may have heard of the oversized, extinct Dodo bird…that was in Mauritius. The Dodo bird is everywhere (not the actual bird of course) in stuffed animals, on wicker baskets, carving, paintings, you name it! The languages spoken on the island are mainly French, Creole, and English…there was never really an issue with communication. The majority of the population is Hindu (one of the things I was surprised about), so there is a huge Indian influence. There was actually a festival going on while we were there called Mahat Shivatree. Thousands of Hindus wearing white march days upon days to a lake to retrieve holy water in worship Lord Shiva. The whole ceremony is suppose to mimic what takes place at the Ganges River in India (which I am actually going to in less than a week!) The pilgrims carried these elaborate structures called Kanwars, usually colored white and red – they marched on the roads which made for tons and tons of traffic, but I didn’t mind because it was such a neat thing to see.

My friends and I, along with practically half of Semester at Sea, got a villa in Flic en Flac (a little beach town about a half an hour outside of Port Louis). We spent the first day walking around the waterfront of Port Louis (not too exciting), and then took a cab to our villa. The place we stayed at still remains nameless in my mind, but it was run by a family – the mom’s name was Aunt Sandy, so that is what we called it – Aunt Sandy’s! They served us breakfast and dinner with complimentary drinks everyday at their home. They had a nine year old daughter named Atina, a twenty-two year old son named Kingsley, and a just-born puppy named Shakira. We ended up hanging out with Kingsley a lot – he was a really cool guy. So…that evening we had dinner at the house and spent the remainder of the night at our villa just hanging out.

Day 2:

At 5:45 we all had to wake up! All of my friends had a Catamaran trip with SAS, and I had a trip to the Ile des deux Cocos with SAS…meaning we all had to make it back to the ship by the time our busses left.

My trip was spectacular! We took a bus ride to the opposite side of the island where we took a tiny little boat ride to the gorgeous, miniature island, Ile des deux Cocos. We were greeted with warm, wet towels and flutes of Champaign. I spent the first part of the day lying in the sun, enjoying my surroundings, sipping yummy, fruity drinks. Right before lunch we went snorkeling! I had been snorkeling once before when we went on a cruise in the 6th grade, and I have to say this was MUCH better! The area is a marine park, so the coral and the fish have been under conservation. At some points I was literally engulfed by fishies. One of the guides gave me some bread to feed the fish, and I had little fish mouths nibbling at my fingers! It was insane! When we came back to the island we had an enormous, delicious barbeque waiting for us. After lunch we had about another hour to enjoy the peaceful sun, then headed back to the ship. It was a blissful day.

That evening I wasn’t feeling to well, so I went to dinner at the house and went to bed early so that I could thoroughly enjoy the next day, which I did.

Day 3:

The Day of the Beach…again! We woke up at about 8 a.m. surprisingly since none of us had any previous engagements. We went to breakfast at the house, to the grocery store, to lunch, then went straight to the beach. We spent the entire day, until sunset, in one spot on the beach. It was ridiculous, simple, yet wonderful. We made a few local friends in the process.

That night we went to dinner at the house and later went to a bard down the street. There’s not much else to say on that subject.

Day 4:

Yet again I had another early morning, waking up at 6:40. I had to get back to the ship for an FDP for my Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion class. Because of all the early morning worker traffic and the Shiva marchers, it took an hour and a half non-air-conditioned cab ride to get back to the ship. It is all a part of the experience, right?

My FDP was another huge disappointment. We were suppose to visit places of traditional medicine…which I suppose we kind of did, but it was nothing to “ooooh and aaaahhh” over. We visited two hospitals were we received two insanely boring and uninteresting lectures and zero tours! The two highlights of the day were as follows:

1. As we were leaving for the FDP, we hit a man with our bus!!!! He hit his head on the rearview mirror of the bus – he was okay. Our bus driver told us he was a druggie and did it on purpose in order to get more drugs…I’m not sure I believe that story.

2. We had a traditional Hindu wedding lunch with seven different kinds of curry served on banana leaves. We ate with our hands! It was a real treat.

And that is Mauritius in a nutshell! I had a really fun time, but I am very glad to be back on the ship heading toward INDIA!

South Africa

Day 1:

Arriving in South Africa was truly a dream come true. I sang songs from Lion King as the sun rose illuminating Table Mountain, which was much more in your face than I had anticipated. It was a tad unusual stepping off the ship into an area clearly designed for tourists. Not only were there restaurants up the wazoo, but there was a huge, metropolitan-esk mall. I had heard Cape Town was urbanized, but I wasn’t expecting such a tourist hub. However, I was still able to enjoy a beautiful morning. A few friends and I explored near the port finding a tiny market where I was unable to buy anything because I had only brought with me 70 rand which is less than 10 dollars…I guess I was still stuck in Brazilian real exchange. Oops. I had an FDP that afternoon, so I only had time to grab some lunch and head back to the ship.

My FDP was for my HIV and AIDS class – we visited Bush Radio, a community radio station discussing issues anywhere from violence in schools to AIDS. We received a tour of the station, met the people working there, then proceeded to a room where we watched drawn-out, home-made documentaries about their radio station for THREE hours!!!! Let’s just say this was not how I anticipated spending my first day in South Africa. I was extremely disappointed in the practicum. I thought there would have been many other ways for us to learn more about the HIV and AIDS pandemic in South Africa than at this radio station. Bummer…

That evening I went out to Long Street (the happenin’ street in Cape Town) with some friends and retired early to leave on my safari at 4:30 a.m.!

Day 2:

I signed up for a four day safari at Kapama Buffalo Camp thinking that no one was going to want to spend a four days on a safari and I would be guaranteed a spot, so I wasn’t really surprised when I saw it listed as one of my confirmed trips. Turns out I won the biggest lottery out there! SAS had made a mistake in assuming the Buffalo Camp could accommodate 40 people, but later found out it could only take 10 – by this time it was too late to remove the trip as a choice. I turned out to be one of THREE students picked in the lottery. The rest of the group was made up of my philosophy professor, his wife, the assistant dean, his wife and two kids. We stayed in “tents” on stilts that had actual beds, furniture, and a bathroom in them. They were pretty luxurious. The rest of the Camp was gorgeous and pretty much indescribable, so I won’t even try. It was amazing to say the very least! Our group got very close over the four days. There was another group of 65 that went to Kapama and stayed in the Lodge about ten minutes away from our camp. I was so thankful to be in the small group…I later heard a lot of stories of SASers in the Lodge drinking all night long, being extremely obnoxious and rude to other guests.

Enough about that…let’s talk about the animals! We weren’t scheduled for a game drive until 4:30 p.m., but immediately after we had settled into the camp and put our things away, our ranger, Natalie, got a call that there were two lions right outside our camp. So the first animals we saw were a female and male lion lying under a tree! The male was super relaxed, but the female was definitely staring us down. Since this was our first animal I was a little scared for my life…I later got used to that feeling. On our actual safari that evening we saw giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, impala, warthogs, and HIPPOS! We stopped by a large waterhole for snacks on our game drive and watched the hippos pop their heads in and out of the water and witnessed the renowned, spectacular African sunset first hand. We came across those two lions one more time as we drove back to camp.

We came back from our first game drive to a scrumptious dinner with the most amazing dessert I have ever had in my entire life!! It was a super moist chocolate cake bathed in a delectable pudding-like vanilla sauce. Wow. After dinner “the kids” went in the pool until I discovered the leaf floating next to me was no leaf at all, it was indeed a scorpion! That was the first and last time we went in the pool. We spent the rest of the evening playing card games.

Day 3:

We woke at 5 a.m. for tea at coffee before our game drive at 6:00 a.m.. We had an outstanding morning! The first animals we encountered were two huge White Rhinos! I thought they were elephants at first because of their size, but quickly realized the lack of giant floppy ears was not just a genetic defect. I was blown away at how close we were able to get to them – they weren’t fazed at all by our presence. We then came across the rescue lions chillin’ out by the fence; they’re separated because they have not yet become acclimated to the surrounding area. There was a gorgeous male with three females. It felt a little as if I was in a zoo watching them through a fence… We drove down the road and came upon a very photogenic elephant. He was literally five feet away from me – I could have reached my hand out and touched his trunk. He posed for quite a bit of pictures. After the elephant, was saw a ton of buffalo hanging out at a waterhole. It was surreal.

Our evening game drive was just as exciting! We came upon a gigantic gang of giraffes! I counted 8, but someone else counted 10. There was absolutely beautiful and majestic. I got some incredible pictures. Natalie then informed us that she needed to “show us something”, so we took off on our “Ferrari Safari”! On our way to the surprise, we saw two Rhinos who apparently weren’t too happy - they had their tales curled up indicating uneasiness. The surprise turned out to be a pride of four lions – one large male, two male cubs, and a female. They were, not kidding, right next to our jeep. The young male was very skeptical of our vehicle and began circling around…a little nerve racking. They were super intimidating. We spent a good amount of time with the lions, so by the time we were done we had to speed back to camp for dinner.


Day 4:

The highlight of our fourth game drive was the herd of elephants passing right by our jeeps. There was probably about 15 of them, including four babies. Adorable. Between our morning and evening game drive, we went to visit the Kapama Lodge. It was a lot more beautiful than I had imagined. When you think of a lodge, you think of a building…this was no building. They had an insane pool that looked too good to be true – we ended up jumping in with all of our clothes on! It was so hot that was dried off in an instant. Our evening game drive was another adventure! (I could never get tired of game drives J) We pulled up right next to a handsome male with a full mane! I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be watching a gigantic lion five feet away from me and not feel like I was going to die. I cannot describe to you how happy I was throughout these four days. That evening we were able to watch the sunset and eat our snacks with a herd of zebra and wildebeests. *STUNNING* Could life get any better?

Day 5:

We woke a tad bit earlier to go on an elephant safari! Essentially an elephant safari is the same as a regular safari…but on an elephant. Mine was named Setombe and she had a little baby who toddled right along side of us. We strolled through the brush watching the sunrise surrounded by impala, wildebeests, zebras, giraffes, and warthogs. It was a gorgeous morning and a perfect way to say goodbye to Kapama. We came back for breakfast, packed up our things, and said our goodbyes to the Buffalo Camp, Natalie, and Charles.

The previous night I had asked Natalie all sorts of question of how she became a Safari Guide…because that seems like possibly the coolest job out there. She went to school for three years studying Nature Conservation at a tech school in Jo’Berg. She works a ton, though. The guides have to work 21 days in a row from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., then they will get seven days off. Not only did she drive us on our game drives, but she would wake us up in the morning, serve us, clear our plates, get us drink…she did pretty much everything. I was very surprised at all of her responsibilities.

We left Kapama at around noon and didn’t get to Cape Town until 8:30 p.m. (our plane was delayed), causing me to miss all of my friends, so I spent the remainder of my evening uploading my pictures and getting some sleep.

Day 6:

Seeing as my first day in Cape Town was a bust, I had to fit EVERYTHING into one day. My friends and I got a van with a driver to take us around all day in order to jam in as much as possible. We hit up the Greenpoint Market first where I bargained my way into Funky town. We then drove along the coast around Table Mountain out to Boulder Beach where they have a random, massive population of penguins. We got to sit right next to them…but no touching because apparently they can bite a chunk out of your arm. We then hiked Table Mountain…and when I say hike, I mean we took the cable car up…but no one needs to know that. I would have loved to hike it, but we just didn’t have enough time. It was a spectacular view. I also got the chance to go to a grocery store to stock up for the next couple of weeks. It was a lovely, squishy day. In order to say farewell to Cape Town, Semester at Sea invited a youth choir from a township to perform on the ship. The first note coming out of their mouths blew me off of my chair! I have never heard anything like that…ever. My cheeks hurt by the end from smiling so much. It was the perfect way to end our stay in South Africa.

Now, my friends, it’s just a hop and a skip to Mauritius!