Mauritius Does the Body Good

Oh Mauritius… how I needed you!

 

This is going to sound awful, but I’m just going to say it… by this point in the trip we had gone so many places so quickly (and never really rested in between) that I found myself wishing for a vacation amidst what already looked very much like a vacation.

 

The gorgeous island nation of Mauritius was that much needed break.

 

As soon as we pulled up to the dock, I realized we were in for a treat… this place was stunning!

 

 

So lush and so green! It felt like pull the boat up to dock in Pandora.

 

We only had one day in-country (sigh) so we decided it was best spent on the beach, soaking in the gorgeousness that the country had to offer. So 5 of us set out to explore the markets and make our way to where sand met water.

 

The markets were pretty adorable, and all of the people we met along the way were incredibly friendly.

 

 

From there we made our way down to the beach, which was… wow… just wow…

 

 

The water there was so unbelievably blue.

 

We decided to get a little activity in before cocktail hour so we chartered a small boat to go snorkeling.

 

 

And with our trusty guide, we were on our way!

 

 

We flipped around in the water for about an hour with very limited gear, then came back to the beach for some drinks and relaxation.

 

I just can’t get over how amazingly beautiful this place was. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the sights, and I’ve loved most of the ports thus far, but there’ s just something about blue sky and open water that sets the mind and body at ease.

 

 

We spent the whole afternoon relaxing before heading to a restaurant for lunch and finally back to the ship. But not before a couple more gems:

 

 

 

 

Such an amazing day to break up the trip between India and South Africa- our next highly anticipated destination.

 

See you in Africa!

 

Question of the Day: Where was your last beach getaway?

 

 

From Pollywog to Shellback: The Power of Neptune Day

It is a maritime tradition, when a sailor crosses the equator for the first time, that he/she transforms from a greenback pollywogs to a seasoned shellback on one glorious day: Neptune Day.

 

The ship receives a visit from King Neptune himself, and the pollywogs earn their stripes by paying homage to his highness and his royal court.

 

Normally, I don’t write about much that goes on while we are at sea (mostly because we are all in recovery mode from time spent in-country), but this day was just too funny to leave out.

 

We all gathered around the pool on Deck 7:

 

 

And awaited the arrival of King Neptune (aka Captain Jeremy):

 

 

(Who was looking quite ravishing in green, might I add). Then we each took a turn of initiation… I believe fish guts were involved. I’d rather not thing about it:

 

 

Then we dove in!

 

 

And one kiss of the fish to seal the deal (Molly got up close and personal here to demonstrate):

 

 

And then, just when you thought you’d see it all… the ceremonial shaving began:

 

 

So many bald heads! Even some ladies too!

 

 

Not me though… obviously.

 

Then we spent the rest of the morning celebrating our newfound awesomeness.

 

 

Shellbacks unite!

 

Great tradition. Great day. Great friends.

 

Just pure greatness.

 

Question of the Day: What crazy rites of initiation have you experienced?

 

Sights and Surprises in Southern Indian

The next morning, after 3 rollercoaster days in northern India, we boarded a flight headed back to the ship in Cochin.

 

Once we got back to the ship and showered off the day’s travels, we headed right back out and into the heart of a city which we knew absolutely nothing about. Come to find out, this wasn’t exactly our best move. ‘Downtown Cochin’ (whatever that really means) is not a place that welcomes foot traffic.

 

I repeat: do not walk around there. Ever. Just don’t do it.

 

There isn’t anything to see and the only places you’ll find to eat are restaurants named things like Arabian Fiesta that will take you on wild adventures with meals that looks something like this:

 

 

Were we concerned? Yes.

 

 

Was the chicken cooked? No.

 

Did we live? Thankfully, yes.

 

But honestly, just skip that part of town. It’s meant for cars and cars alone. Definitely not 5 white girls walking around blind hoping to stumble on something cool. Trust me—the only thing you’ll stumble on is a stranger’s inappropriate hand graze and a possible case of Traveler’s Diarrhea.

 

Pass.

 

So after our ‘meal’ we continued on to one of two major hotels in town in search of a nightclub. We had heard earlier in the night (don’t ask me where, these things just sort of float around the ship) that the Ava Lounge had a great dance party, so we were clearly excited to see what that was all about. We ended up meeting a couple local boys who asked to be our dates so that they could skirt the cover at the door which was the equivalent of $40 USD for any unescorted men—so, I guess some things aren’t very different after all!

 

 

We got to the club at 8pm. Yes, I’m aware that is very uncool. The DJ wasn’t scheduled to come on until 10pm (apparently he was a big deal), so we had some time to kill. Heather and I decided to explore the rest of the hotel, and wouldn’t you know it, our good fortune landed us at a dessert buffet.

 

Just what the doctor ordered for a rumbly Delhi-belly.

 

 

Desserts and buffets are two of my favorite things: SO GOOOOOOOOOOD!

 

 

After we enjoyed the buffet… three times… we rejoined our group for some very entertaining music and dancing. Apparently Indian men love to break it down on the dance floor—with or without ladies around. That  was a sight to say the least.

 

From there we joined the rest of our Semester at Sea friends at another hotel bar called Glow. We sang, we danced, we drank, all the basic stuff. But the most interesting part of the evening was how we were getting from place to place. Let me introduce you, friends, to the ubiquitous means of travel throughout the mean streets of Cochin: the tuk-tuk.

 

 

Don’t worry! I wasn’t driving! This was just a pose for posterity.

 

These little guys were petro-powered mini-machines! They. Just. Flew!

 

So that night we spent zipping around from place to place for about $1USD if I remember correctly. Not bad.

 

The next morning, we hopped right back into the tuk tuk scene. It was a Sunday, so I was determined to find myself a church. Thankfully, some vestiges of Portuguese colonialism and missionary work still remain in the city, so I found myself at St. Francis, the oldest Catholic Church in town as well as the first burial place of Vasco de Gama. Pretty cool stuff.

 

 

The entire Mass was spoken in Malayalam, the local dialect, and lasted—get this—two hours!

 

Thankfully, I had two amazing friends with me who were willing to stick it out, and our determination was rewarded with an amazing message and an even cooler experience. The priest spoke vehemently about love, justice, kindness, and compassion (we’re pretty sure, anyway). Then, the Mass was capped off by communion, for which I was the only white participant. All of the ladies present went up together, kneeled around the altar, and waited as the priest fed each of us communion. The moment was really spectacular—the choir music surrounded the altar, light streamed in from the sides, the purple vestments shone brightly—and for just a second, we were all as one.

 

Another great start to the day.

 

From there we went on to do what Americans do best: shop for stuff and stare at things. We got ourselves another tuk tuk driver, who showed us through some random vendor stalls and a couple different sights around town including the Dutch cemetery and the only remaining Jewish synagogue. It was precisely there, in Jew Town (yes, that’s what it’s actually called), that our day went from average to amazing.

 

 

Our first driver told us that his house was just around the corner, so he was going to check on his family. In the meantime, we would be taken care of by another man. This new guy was much older and came up to just about my hip, maybe a little higher. We didn’t think much of the switch at first other than the fact that it was a bit odd.

 

What learned was that the tuk tuks have an agreement with local vendors in the form of a very crude points system. Every time a driver brings a tourist into a government owned shop, the driver receives one point. Once the driver accumulates enough points (I think it’s 10), they receive a free liter of petro for their tuk tuk. So what happened was that our first driver realized that we had been to a couple of these shops already (he wouldn’t be receiving any points from us) so he pawned us off on another driver.

 

But our new friend, who we finally nicknamed ‘Ken’ because he had nicknamed Heather ‘Barbie’ turned out to be a GEM!

 

 

He took us ALL over the city and showed us some of his favorite local stops along the way. We made such good friends with him that we demanded he stop at some of the local shops so he could benefit from the point system too. We must have stopped at least 10 times along the way, but we still managed to see an incredible amount of the city.

 

We saw a local candy maker at work:

 

 

We got a bird’s eye view of Fort Cochin:

 

 

We ate biriyani chicken at the best local spot in town… with our hands:

 

 

We snuck into a private dock full of fishing boats:

 

 

We saw the sunset on the beach:

 

 

We went to a Hindu festival:

 

 

We saw a parade of elephants:

 

 

And we had the most AMAZING dinner at Dal Roti that included alu paratha, rumali roti, chicken kati, vegetable thali, palak chicken, gulab jamun, and qubanika mittai (and we actually knew what all those things were!):

 

 

And had the pleasure of being served by the kindest man I’ve ever met (who just so happened to look like Indian Santa):

 

 

It was one of the most amazing days of the trip.

 

Until the next day… which, believe it or not, was even more amazing.

 

On my field lab for anthropology, we went out to a remote village on the outskirts of Kerala to learn more about local culture. We spent an entire day with the women of the village who taught us about classical music, traditional dance, home cooking, and local textile manufacturing. The music was inspiring, the dances were spectacular, and the food was just out of this world. But the best part of the day for me was Valentina:

 

 

There I was, halfway around the world, looking at a woman who was literally half my size (I’m completely bent over in this picture and she is standing up straight), dressed in a bright sari, speaking with an accent I could barely understand when it hit me: THIS WOMAN IS MY MOM!

 

Seriously, if I didn’t know any better, or better yet, had my eyes closed, I could have sworn I was speaking with my mother. It was insane! We just clicked. We spent the whole afternoon together talking about life, family, God, faith, love… you name it! At one point she looked me in the eye and said “Yes, you will have hardships in this life, but with faith, you will overcome them.”

 

Now, I know I’m incredibly sentimental and this might not be the most ground-breaking statement of all time, but for a girl who’s looking for her next big step in life, those words could not have been more meaningful.

 

I just about lost it.

 

That day just made me realize, yet again, how fortunate I am to be here. You just never know when someone, anyone, will speak to your heart. I am just so thankful to be in a place where I am open to hearing that voice again.

 

Next stop, Mauritius!

 

One day in this island nation should treat body just as well as this last day in India treated the soul.

 

Question of the Day: What random encounter abroad has spoken to your heart?

 

The Rollercoaster of Modern India

Wow… so… it’s been a while!

 

I guess that since I’ve deprived you for this long, I should just provide you with the maximum amount of pictures that my limited data/connectivity capabilities will allow. Hopefully that will pacify the masses.

 

I’ll just start this series of posts on India by saying that I felt bad for this particular port.

 

Just wait, I’ll explain.

 

I had such an incredible experience in Burma that I almost wrote off India entirely. Not that I thought I wouldn’t like India, but I felt like nothing could measure up all those pagodas, the amazing food, the wonderful people. Although Burma had rejuvenated me by wiping away what little homesickness I had felt from Vietnam, I couldn’t help but think that the best had come and gone.

 

Thankfully, India was enough of a rollercoaster of surprises to keep this little traveler on her toes.

 

So I’ll just jump right in.

 

The first day that we ported in Cochin, I immediately got on a bus to the airport—we were Delhi bound. I had scheduled a trip with Semester at Sea, so I wasn’t quite sure what would come from the next few days, but I was happy that the planning and coordination was out of my hands for a little while. On our way to the airport, we stopped at a small Hindu temple, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a live elephant there.

 

 

My first Indian elephant only minutes into the trip! Turns out that because the Hindu god Ganesh (the one with the head of an elephant) is also the god of safe travel, stumbling on this giant animal actually meant good luck for our trip.

 

Great start, if you ask me.

 

We finished our long ride to the airport in Kerala only to find that airport waiting rooms (as well as layovers) are about the same anywhere in the world. Except, in India, you get WAY cooler seats.

 

 

Unfortunately, all we managed to accomplish that day was getting to our hotel (and dinner!!) in Delhi, so the first day was a bit of a waste, except for the amazing food. My favorite of which ended up being the local bread called naan.

 

So. Much. Naan.

 

The next morning, we had a 4am wake up call to catch the only express train of the day (at 6am) to Agra. I’m still pretty bummed we didn’t get to see any of Delhi, but hey, maybe that’s a good reason to come back. Regardless, I was excited for our final destination of the day: the Taj Mahal.

 

The train station itself was quite an eye-opening experience. People were everywhere. Literally everywhere. Even though it was still pitch black outside, many people were coming and going with the trains. But sadly, most were there, because they were living or sleeping in the station entryway.

 

 

Getting a group of white foreigners through a crowded Indian train station is no small feat (trust me) so when we finally found our train, we all promptly fell asleep. When we awoke, we had to board a bus to transport us to the grounds of the Taj. But that bus only led us to other smaller buses which then led to a half-mile walk during which we were endlessly accosted by hawkers, vendors, and the occasional, unwanted cat caller.

 

Damn, they make you work for this thing!

 

Planes, trains, and automobiles finally led us to this:

 

 

No, that’s not the picture you were expecting. But yes, it is part of the Taj. In fact, it is the main entryway that gets almost no documented picture love, so I thought I’d allow it at least one moment in the sun. Enjoy.

 

But wow… just wow… when we walked through that gate… it made all of the travel worthwhile.

 

 

AHHHH IT’S REAL!

 

I had a moment.

 

But after that moment, I kept having more moments. It seemed that with each and every step, I re-realized where I was. Every single vantage point was a new ‘holy sh!t, I actually made it’ moment. Talk about a walk up call.

 

 

We wandered around for hours taking pictures of every surface and crevice possible. We made friends with other visitors by swapping photo shoots and with the Indians by sharing hand-sanitizer. We listened and learned, but mostly we just wondered in awe at one of the 7 New Wonders of the World (see what I did there? Ha!).

 

I snuck one last picture on the way out that completely described my emotional state, and it’s just too funny to not share:

 

 

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

 

We finally (and reluctantly) left the Taj to travel to the neighboring Agra Fort aka the Red Fort. The building was beautiful in every way. From the entrance:

 

 

To the columns:

 

 

To the gardens:

 

 

We just continued to be amazed.

 

Oh, and hot.

 

Damn, was it hot.

 

After an unbelievable lunch (and more naan, obviously) we made the 5 hour drive to Jaipur in the late afternoon so as to avoid the brunt of the heat (thank goodness!). After dinner, (you guessed it, even more naan) we went shopping for saris and other more proper Indian garb before we passed out from the heat and exhaustion of cross-country traveling.

 

The next morning we hopped in buses to Jaipur’s Amber Fort:

 

 

So much beautiful stone!

 

And yes, those are elephants carrying people up to the fort. I was BEGGING to ride an elephant, but we got the next best thing in my mind: 4x4 Jeeps.

 

 

Crude? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.

 

I really wish that I could post videos to this blog, because the scene at the top of the hill was truly something that had to be experienced in person. Local music played loudly, vendors yelled convincingly, elephants marched very carefully, of course, Tracy danced… wildly.

 

I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to dance in public.

 

Oh, and then there was the view:

 

 

This place, for which I had no particular expectations, was actually my favorite stop on the trip.

 

The fort had the most intricate architecture:

 

 

The most beautiful decorations:

 

 

The most stunning floating gardens:

 

 

It even had a Hall of Mirrors for crying out loud:

 

 

I could have stayed there all afternoon, but we had an elephant resort to get to.

 

Yes, you read that right. Elephant. Resort.

 

I was a little nervous to say the least. Just check out my bravery in this picture:

 

 

This ended up being the most relaxing part of the trip. Out in the middle of the desert we ate lunch (have I mentioned the naan yet?) in front of an elephant polo field (you did not misread that):

 

 

Bathed and painted elephants:

 

 

Got henna tattoos:

 

 

And took in a deep, slow breath of fresh air. Sweet serenity. Such an incredible afternoon. Little did we know that hectic, Indian chaos was awaiting us only a few hours later.

 

Once again, we left reluctantly to drive to the Jaipur City Palace. There we saw some pretty incredible stuff including the largest sundial in the world that could tell time down to the second, the world’s very first hookah pipe, and an ancient assembly room decorated entirely in precious stones. Sick! Unfortunately, taking pictures of any of these things is strictly forbidden by the Indian government and results in a hefty fine and usually the confiscation of your camera. So I just won’t post those. Ha! Kidding!

 

But the ensuing hair-raising adventure had nothing to do with the observatory or museum. Instead, it had everything to do with one of the other great wonders of modern India: the traffic.

 

And how were we to brave this maze of people, cars, bikes, cows, buses, and the like?

 

By rickshaw.

 

Duh.

 

 

Holy crap, people. Once again, I wish I could post video. You just wouldn’t believe what we drove through. When we weren’t dodging each other’s rickshaws we were maneuvering around a stray cow in the street or loudly praying that the double decker bus didn’t clip one of our wheels or silently hoping that our poor driver wouldn’t collapse from the heat.

 

It was harrowing, at best.

 

But we made it!

 

After the rickshaw ride of terror was over, we regrouped at the hotel for a night of eating (naan on naan on naan) and drinking and reliving the events of the last few days. Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur are truly cities that capture a sort of beautiful chaos that is almost indecipherable to the foreigners but seems to be business as usual to the locals. I’m just happy to have experienced it and lived to tell the story.

 

Next stop, Cochin, for what would be an ENTIRELY different experience.

 

Naan.

 

Question of the Day: What is your favorite foreign food? (Clearly, you should know mine.)