Day 1
Woke up at 7:30 to see small fishing boats outside of my window as we sailed down the Mekong River. We finally reached Ho Chi Minh City at 11 and I left for city orientation tour. Our first stop was the City Hall plaza which has a large bronze statue of Ho Chi Minh city and the City Hall building. Next we stopped to take photos of a large Catholic cathedral that was built during the French colonization. My favorite stop was the History Museum were we watched a traditional water puppet show. The stage is small pool where the puppeteers hide behind the set and maneuver brightly colored puppets like dragons, fish, and people. Lunch was served at a small local restaurant. We were treated to a full five course sampler meal with rice, squid, crab soup, and other traditional food items. The last stop on our itinerary was a visit to China town and the gorgeous Thien Hau Pagoda which has different incense burning for as long as a month at a time.
After dinner a few friends and I visited the night market which is about a 15 minute walk from City Hall Plaza. Everything is so cheap in Vietnam, especially dvds which cost around a dollar. I got a t-shirt for two bucks and my friend bought a normally expensive north face jacket for about 30 bucks.
The exchange packets offered by SAS give you larger dong notes which can be hard to spend/break in the market. I would recommend that people bring smaller (1 or 5) dollar bills because they are accepted almost everywhere in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Day 2:
I Woke up at 8 AM to hop on the first shuttle into town to find some internet. My friend Steph and I had to research places to stay in Kyoto. However, she had to leave for Cambodia at 11 so we only had a short time to find information. We returned to the ship for an amazing lunch of French fries. After a short nap I decided to wander around the famous Ben Than market to pick up a few souvenirs and Christmas gifts. After dinner I walked around town for awhile and ate ice cream before heading to bed.
Day 1 Cambodia
I am in the Cambodia group C which had the smallest number of participants. Groups A and B contained about 60 students each while ours had only 20. This made the trip go much smoother! With our small number we managed to leave the ship at 10 o clock sharp. The drive to Tan Son Nhat airport took only about 20 minutes and the actual plane ride took only 45 minutes. When we reached Cambodia we filled out our visa applications and headed to visit the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. The Royal Palace was built in the 19th century and it’s interior is largely modeled after French design. The temple includes a monument built for the kings sister who died of cancer at the age of three. After finishing our tour of the palace, we visited the National Museum of Cambodia which houses some of the most marvelous statues and artwork from the Golden Angkor age. This just worked to increase my excitement of seeing the actual temples! Next we drove to the waterfront to take a sunset boat ride on the Mekong River. As we were waiting to exit the bus someone points at the window and yells “elephant!” Sure enough, an elephant is walking down the street. The sunset was amazing! We were supposed to visit a local orphanage, but we were running extremely behind schedule due to traffic so we went straight to dinner instead. We were served a delicious meal which consisted of rice, squid, spicy chicken, and other local delicacies. After dinner we drove to the Sunway hotel where we would be spending the night. This is one of the nicest hotels that SAS has booked. Much nicer than the hotel we had in Morocco. A few people decided to go out, but because our trip left early the next morning I decided to take advantage of the hotels spa/massage service and crawl into bed.
Day 2 Cambodia
After eating the most amazing French toast our trip left to visit the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. The building was originally a high school that was converted into a prison, called S-21. The compound is separated into 3 buildings. Block “A” contained 6x4 meter rooms that were furnished with small metal framework bed and consisted of shackles and a small ammunitions box for human waste. This is where higher ranked officials from the previous Lon Nol regime were kept and tortured. Normally, prisoners were tortured here and taken to a nearby location to be killed. However, when the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia the guards killed the last fourteen prisoners on site and quickly fled the premises. Seven people were allowed to live. Out of those seven, four are still alive today. The fourteen bodies were buried outside of the museum and a memorial was erected at the site. A Photograph is hung on each wall that was taken by the Vietnamese to show how the body was found.
Blocks B, C, and D consisted of small 0.8x2 meters cells divided by brick walls and contained only a shackle and box for human waste. The buildings are surrounded with barbed wire to stop people from committing suicide. As each detainee was brought in there picture would be taken as evidence for the Khmer Rouges leader, Pol Pot. The museum keeps all of these pictures and display and includes other pictures of many of the guards. Prisoners were held between 2-6 months. During our tour we were allowed to speak with one of the seven survivors that were allowed to live. After seeing the museum we drove to the killing field of Cheoung Ek. The site consists of large monument where the skulls of victims that were found are kept. When you walk along the trails of graves you can still clearly see the impression of bone. Teeth and other small bone fragments litter the ground. a The usual method of death was to dig a shallow grave, have the prisoner kneel on his knees, and bash his head with a blunt object. A few were shot, but the Khmer officials did not want to waste bullets and believed that it did not cause enough suffering. It is estimated that a total of 1.7 million were killed in all of Cambodia during this time. Many SAS’ers have tried, but it is impossible to truly convey how powerful this experience is. Everyone was at the verge of tears even before we had reached the killing fields. I would suggest that every future SAS student take this trip to Phnom Penh. It impacts a person in ways are simply impossible to describe.
After the emotional morning we spent half an hour the Russian market. I finally found the 3rd season of Psych that I had been searching for in Ho Chi Minh City. Lunch was served at a local restaurant and was similar to yesterdays meal. I have been consistently pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy the international food. After lunch we drove to the airport and boarded a plane for Siem Reap. Our flight took a total of 45 minutes. After landing, we checked into our hotel. Once again our hotel was amazing! Our rooms even had a balcony! Unfortunately, we didn’t get much time at the hotel except very late at night/very early morning. After dropping off our stuff we left for our first visit of Angkor Wat. The temple of Angkor Wat is the largest temple built by the ancient Khmer civilization in the 12th century CE. The temple is every bit as impressive as in pictures. You can see the marvelous spires from miles away. To get to the entrance of the actual temple you must walk across a large stone bridge and through a gate. We only spent a short time here today because we will have a full guided tour tomorrow. I did have enough time to find the “echo” room which all Amazing Race fans should recognize. If you stand in a certain spot within the room and clap your hands or thump your chest, the noise will echo throughout the building. After finishing our visit of the temple we drove to dinner. The food was served buffet style and included a show by local dancer in traditional costumes. After that we headed to the hotel to get a short nights rest before an early sunrise visit of Angkor Wat.
Day 3
I managed to stumble out of bed and make it to the bus by 4:30 AM. The best place to see the sunrise and take pictures is at the very edge of Angkor Wats moat. If you stand in certain spots you can see a perfect reflection of temple. It was totally worth getting up at 4 AM to see. At 8 we drove to see another temple named Ta Prohm a.k.a the “Jungle temple“. The temple is largely kept as it was found in a state of “picturesque disrepair.” Over the years the trees have merged and intertwined with the stone temple. The place is similar to a maze and it can be surprisingly easy to lose your way. After visiting Ta Prohm we were treated with a full guided tour of Angkor Wat including the central part where you can best see the spires. We ate lunch at the hotel and checked out. We drove to one final temple called “Bayon” This was my absolute favorite temple we visited. This temple is famous for it’s marvelous stone faces. The temple is divided into three levels. The first two have the stone faces and other carvings while the uppermost contains the inner sanctuary. We drove to the airport and boarded our flight back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Monday, November 9, 2009
India
India Day 1
I awoke to find a layer of dust outside of my window. I Ate breakfast and waited to be called to receive my customs form and shore pass which I must carry with me at all times while in India. I left for the city orientation with my friends Sam and Maggie at 1. We saw St. Georges fort, St. Thomas’s cathedral, visited a few shops, and the most pretty Hindu temple I have ever seen. The temple was built to honor the god Shiva. We had planned to take a rickshaw after that and find a place to shop and use internet, but we decided it was too late and planned for tomorrow. Traffic in India is indeed horrible, but in my opinion, Ghana was worse! The sidewalk is very rarely used for walking. The majority of people we saw on the sidewalk were sleeping. I’m extremely glad that we were able to visit Ghana first. I feel as if I would not have been prepared for the beggers and sellers that try to swarm you.
Days 2 and 3
The next two days consisted mostly of shopping and wondering around Chennai. We hit two major malls: the City Centre and Spencers Plaza. The City centre looked like a typical American Mall with about 4 stories. Spencers Plaza however, looked like a warehouse with as many stores shoved together as possible. I bought the movie Slumdog Millionaire, the first two seasons of Psych, and the first season of Heroes. We also managed to find internet for 30 INR an hour. We were extremely lucky that only one of our rickshaw drivers tried to take us to a store where he would get a kickback.
India Day 4
Maggie and I had been planning on visiting the local theme park, MGM Dizzee World, for quite awhile. The port agent that is employed by semester at sea was running a special to rent a taxi cab for 5 hours (or 50 km) for the flat rate of 850 INR. We were told to book two hours in advance so we were up and ready to book the taxi at 8 AM. We told the port agent that we would like to book a taxi and take advantage of the 5 hour special. Of course, he barely speaks English and has no clue what we are trying to say. We finally grab the flyer with the 5 hour deal printed on it and tell him we are trying to get to MGM Dizzee World. He tries to tell us that it’s too far and we would have to pay 3000 INR because it’s in Mallamapuram. This is a total lie. Dizzee world is 25 KM away and halfway to Mallamapuram. Even if it was in Mallamapuram, there is no way we would ever pay 3000 INR to get anywhere in the surrounding areas of Chennai. We filed a report with the field office on how unreliable their port agent is and then tried to decide weather or not we still wanted to try and make it there. We decided to nap on it and make a final decision at lunch. After eating a great meal of pita bread and tiramisu cake we (and our friends Katie and Kareem) decided to try and find a taxi willing to take us there. As we were leaving the ship, we noticed that a different port agent was sitting at the desk. We decided just to see how much they would try to charge us. Surprisingly, this person said it would only cost 1700 INR for the entire trip. So we ended up paying the 850 we thought it was originally going to be. When we pull up to the park we are not even sure if it’s open. Turns out, half of the park is under construction. We could still ride on the majority of the rides though. Dizzee World was huge! It was also somewhat sketchy. We probably wouldn’t have agreed to ride these rides if we were in America, but we decided to chance it J . We ended up staying for a good two 1/2 hours and rode as much as we could. The type of rides were the same you would find in America: tea cups, roller coasters, ferris wheels, swings, etc.
India Day 5
Drove 2 hours to the temple city of Kancheepuram. The name “Kanchepuram” literally means “Golden City” and is one of the seven most sacred places of pilgrimage for Hindu’s. We saw a total of 3 temples in the morning. The first temple is named Kailasanatha temple and is adorned with beautiful Hindi paintings. The second is called Ekambareswara which contains a total of 10 stories and was built to honor the god Shiva.
The final temple was named Vaikuntanatha and is one of the oldest temples in Kancheepuram.
After seeing the temples at Kancheepuram we drove to Mahibalipuram for lunch and more sightseeing. Lunch was served buffet style and had some of the best spicy shrimp I have ever eaten. They also served ice cream for desert! The town of Mahabalipuram is ancient port city. The place we visited was a cave with carvings that depict daily life and mythological Hindu stories. The second monument we saw is called the Five Rathas and contains amazing life size stone carvings of elephants. The last temple we saw was called the Shore Temple located along the coastline.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed India. The only real negative I experienced was the “hawkers”, who are people who try to sell you stuff on the side of the road. I don’t mind being bugged by a few, but at one point I had about 7 people following me and trying to sell me stuff. They are not dangerous, just extremely annoying
I awoke to find a layer of dust outside of my window. I Ate breakfast and waited to be called to receive my customs form and shore pass which I must carry with me at all times while in India. I left for the city orientation with my friends Sam and Maggie at 1. We saw St. Georges fort, St. Thomas’s cathedral, visited a few shops, and the most pretty Hindu temple I have ever seen. The temple was built to honor the god Shiva. We had planned to take a rickshaw after that and find a place to shop and use internet, but we decided it was too late and planned for tomorrow. Traffic in India is indeed horrible, but in my opinion, Ghana was worse! The sidewalk is very rarely used for walking. The majority of people we saw on the sidewalk were sleeping. I’m extremely glad that we were able to visit Ghana first. I feel as if I would not have been prepared for the beggers and sellers that try to swarm you.
Days 2 and 3
The next two days consisted mostly of shopping and wondering around Chennai. We hit two major malls: the City Centre and Spencers Plaza. The City centre looked like a typical American Mall with about 4 stories. Spencers Plaza however, looked like a warehouse with as many stores shoved together as possible. I bought the movie Slumdog Millionaire, the first two seasons of Psych, and the first season of Heroes. We also managed to find internet for 30 INR an hour. We were extremely lucky that only one of our rickshaw drivers tried to take us to a store where he would get a kickback.
India Day 4
Maggie and I had been planning on visiting the local theme park, MGM Dizzee World, for quite awhile. The port agent that is employed by semester at sea was running a special to rent a taxi cab for 5 hours (or 50 km) for the flat rate of 850 INR. We were told to book two hours in advance so we were up and ready to book the taxi at 8 AM. We told the port agent that we would like to book a taxi and take advantage of the 5 hour special. Of course, he barely speaks English and has no clue what we are trying to say. We finally grab the flyer with the 5 hour deal printed on it and tell him we are trying to get to MGM Dizzee World. He tries to tell us that it’s too far and we would have to pay 3000 INR because it’s in Mallamapuram. This is a total lie. Dizzee world is 25 KM away and halfway to Mallamapuram. Even if it was in Mallamapuram, there is no way we would ever pay 3000 INR to get anywhere in the surrounding areas of Chennai. We filed a report with the field office on how unreliable their port agent is and then tried to decide weather or not we still wanted to try and make it there. We decided to nap on it and make a final decision at lunch. After eating a great meal of pita bread and tiramisu cake we (and our friends Katie and Kareem) decided to try and find a taxi willing to take us there. As we were leaving the ship, we noticed that a different port agent was sitting at the desk. We decided just to see how much they would try to charge us. Surprisingly, this person said it would only cost 1700 INR for the entire trip. So we ended up paying the 850 we thought it was originally going to be. When we pull up to the park we are not even sure if it’s open. Turns out, half of the park is under construction. We could still ride on the majority of the rides though. Dizzee World was huge! It was also somewhat sketchy. We probably wouldn’t have agreed to ride these rides if we were in America, but we decided to chance it J . We ended up staying for a good two 1/2 hours and rode as much as we could. The type of rides were the same you would find in America: tea cups, roller coasters, ferris wheels, swings, etc.
India Day 5
Drove 2 hours to the temple city of Kancheepuram. The name “Kanchepuram” literally means “Golden City” and is one of the seven most sacred places of pilgrimage for Hindu’s. We saw a total of 3 temples in the morning. The first temple is named Kailasanatha temple and is adorned with beautiful Hindi paintings. The second is called Ekambareswara which contains a total of 10 stories and was built to honor the god Shiva.
The final temple was named Vaikuntanatha and is one of the oldest temples in Kancheepuram.
After seeing the temples at Kancheepuram we drove to Mahibalipuram for lunch and more sightseeing. Lunch was served buffet style and had some of the best spicy shrimp I have ever eaten. They also served ice cream for desert! The town of Mahabalipuram is ancient port city. The place we visited was a cave with carvings that depict daily life and mythological Hindu stories. The second monument we saw is called the Five Rathas and contains amazing life size stone carvings of elephants. The last temple we saw was called the Shore Temple located along the coastline.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed India. The only real negative I experienced was the “hawkers”, who are people who try to sell you stuff on the side of the road. I don’t mind being bugged by a few, but at one point I had about 7 people following me and trying to sell me stuff. They are not dangerous, just extremely annoying
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Mauritius
First day in Mauritius:
We were docked in Mauritius and had the ship cleared by 8:30! Definitely the fastest time yet! I was lucky enough to be on the first “taxi” that was going to the waterfront. Mauritius has awesome taxis! Because Mauritius is an island nation and has a large number of ships docked across from the waterfront, they have a special taxi called a “water taxi.” It’s really just a boat with the word “taxi” painted across it. They cost $2 (or 60 MAR Rupees) to ride. I’m extremely glad that I took a large stack of one dollar bills from home. The taxis were fun to ride, but they were also somewhat a pain and kind of sketchy. The drivers wanted to wait until they had a large number of people so you could be just sitting for up to half hour until they decided to leave. I also heard a number of people say their taxi would stop halfway and the driver would try to charge them more money. Luckily that never happened to me.
The first morning I just walked around and looked at the different shops and places to eat. In the afternoon I went on a service visit to the Beau Bassin children’s village where children who are abandoned or taken from their parents go to live. They are situated in families of five-seven children living with a women to be their mom. Similar to the kids in Ghana, they were fascinated with our cameras. They loved taking pictures! We only had a short time to play with them though. I wish we could have stayed longer. After the visit I decided to stay on the ship and catch up on some homework and much needed rest.
Second day:
I didn’t buy any SAS sponsored trips for Mauritius and I hadn‘t planned on buying any. However, SAS has a “donation box” where people can donate the trips if they decide to not attend. Because I didn’t feel the need to see any “big monument’ I decided to just see what popped up in the box and basically take it hour by hour. I would advise any future SASer to keep a constant eye on the box while in port. You never know when an amazing trip will show up! Despite this, I ended up buying a ticket for the “Blue/Underwater Safari” trip. The trip description just looked to amazing to pass up. The trip was worth every penny and is now my absolute favorite trip that I have done so far. First we drove to the northern beach of Grand Baie which is where a ton of SASers rented villas. We were treated to a short presentation by a few activists who are concerned with how pollution and over fishing is affecting the oceans. After that we took a boat to where a submarine was stationed. I was lucky enough to get on a five person submarine which was completely see-through. The 10 person submarine had only small port holes to look through. Riding in a submarine is a completely amazing experience! The first thing I noticed was that my red shirt now looked completely purple. This is because infrared lights don’t penetrate the water. Some of the animals we saw on our “underwater safari” included: TONS of fish, an octopus, and an eel. My favorite thing that we saw under the water was a wrecked ship called the “Star Hope.” When I was little I used to be fascinated with the story of the Titanic so it was amazing to see an actual ship on the bottom of the sea. We wandered underwater for about an hour before we headed back to the surface. After we surfaced, we were treated to drinks and were presented with a cheesy “certificate” souvenir which included our name, the date, and which submarine we had been on. The day ended with some last minute shopping and a short water taxi ride back to the ship.
Day 3
I woke up very early this morning and trekked to breakfast. The previous day I had found a ticket for a trip named “adventure park”, but I wasn’t sure if I was really going to go because I was super tired. I’m glad I forced myself to go because it turned out to be an amazing trip. We left from Port Louis and drove to the southern part of Mauritius to begin the adventure park. The first part of the obstacle course involved rope bridges similar to the canopy walk I did in Ghana. However, I have to admit that I enjoyed these bridges more. There was no large net surrounding the entire bridge so it was actually possible to fall. However, everyone was hooked onto a rope that was suspended over the bridge so you could just pull yourself back up if you fell. The first few bridges had rope handrails to hold on to if you felt like you were going to fall and had only a few of the boards missing. The last two bridges had zero handrails and a limited number of boards to stand on. This was the easy part of the park.
After finishing with the rope bridges you went on to a second course. The first leg consisted of a few boards suspended every few feet with no hand rails. To get across you had to use a rope to swing from board to board. The second task was by far the hardest. This leg consisted of two large rope nets on either side of you, but nothing below you. To get across you had to place one foot on each side of the rope (which never stayed steady) and slowly pull yourself across. It may not sound difficult, but because the ropes wouldn’t stay steady you had to rely on mostly upper body strength to pull yourself across. The third leg consisted of “swings” (which were really small logs) that you had to stand on and swing/jump to the next log to reach the end. Next was a short zip line which was awesome. I only wish that the zipline would have lasted longer. The last leg consisted of literally two ropes (nothing more!) above and below you that you had to balance on and try to walk across. It was hard, but super fun. I have bad rope burn/bruises all over my arms and legs, but it was worth it. I’m posting this a week and half later and my upper body is still extremely sore!
After our tough workout we headed to Flic-en-Flac beach which is said to be the most beautiful beach in Mauritius. We stayed there for about an hour. During that time I mostly laid out and ate. The food in Mauritius is exceptionally cheap. I got some of the best pineapple for 15 rupees (30 rupees=$1), a bag of cotton candy for 10 rupees, and a big ice cream cone for 25 rupees. Three days was not enough time in Mauritius, but I suppose all “spring breaks” must come to an end.
We were docked in Mauritius and had the ship cleared by 8:30! Definitely the fastest time yet! I was lucky enough to be on the first “taxi” that was going to the waterfront. Mauritius has awesome taxis! Because Mauritius is an island nation and has a large number of ships docked across from the waterfront, they have a special taxi called a “water taxi.” It’s really just a boat with the word “taxi” painted across it. They cost $2 (or 60 MAR Rupees) to ride. I’m extremely glad that I took a large stack of one dollar bills from home. The taxis were fun to ride, but they were also somewhat a pain and kind of sketchy. The drivers wanted to wait until they had a large number of people so you could be just sitting for up to half hour until they decided to leave. I also heard a number of people say their taxi would stop halfway and the driver would try to charge them more money. Luckily that never happened to me.
The first morning I just walked around and looked at the different shops and places to eat. In the afternoon I went on a service visit to the Beau Bassin children’s village where children who are abandoned or taken from their parents go to live. They are situated in families of five-seven children living with a women to be their mom. Similar to the kids in Ghana, they were fascinated with our cameras. They loved taking pictures! We only had a short time to play with them though. I wish we could have stayed longer. After the visit I decided to stay on the ship and catch up on some homework and much needed rest.
Second day:
I didn’t buy any SAS sponsored trips for Mauritius and I hadn‘t planned on buying any. However, SAS has a “donation box” where people can donate the trips if they decide to not attend. Because I didn’t feel the need to see any “big monument’ I decided to just see what popped up in the box and basically take it hour by hour. I would advise any future SASer to keep a constant eye on the box while in port. You never know when an amazing trip will show up! Despite this, I ended up buying a ticket for the “Blue/Underwater Safari” trip. The trip description just looked to amazing to pass up. The trip was worth every penny and is now my absolute favorite trip that I have done so far. First we drove to the northern beach of Grand Baie which is where a ton of SASers rented villas. We were treated to a short presentation by a few activists who are concerned with how pollution and over fishing is affecting the oceans. After that we took a boat to where a submarine was stationed. I was lucky enough to get on a five person submarine which was completely see-through. The 10 person submarine had only small port holes to look through. Riding in a submarine is a completely amazing experience! The first thing I noticed was that my red shirt now looked completely purple. This is because infrared lights don’t penetrate the water. Some of the animals we saw on our “underwater safari” included: TONS of fish, an octopus, and an eel. My favorite thing that we saw under the water was a wrecked ship called the “Star Hope.” When I was little I used to be fascinated with the story of the Titanic so it was amazing to see an actual ship on the bottom of the sea. We wandered underwater for about an hour before we headed back to the surface. After we surfaced, we were treated to drinks and were presented with a cheesy “certificate” souvenir which included our name, the date, and which submarine we had been on. The day ended with some last minute shopping and a short water taxi ride back to the ship.
Day 3
I woke up very early this morning and trekked to breakfast. The previous day I had found a ticket for a trip named “adventure park”, but I wasn’t sure if I was really going to go because I was super tired. I’m glad I forced myself to go because it turned out to be an amazing trip. We left from Port Louis and drove to the southern part of Mauritius to begin the adventure park. The first part of the obstacle course involved rope bridges similar to the canopy walk I did in Ghana. However, I have to admit that I enjoyed these bridges more. There was no large net surrounding the entire bridge so it was actually possible to fall. However, everyone was hooked onto a rope that was suspended over the bridge so you could just pull yourself back up if you fell. The first few bridges had rope handrails to hold on to if you felt like you were going to fall and had only a few of the boards missing. The last two bridges had zero handrails and a limited number of boards to stand on. This was the easy part of the park.
After finishing with the rope bridges you went on to a second course. The first leg consisted of a few boards suspended every few feet with no hand rails. To get across you had to use a rope to swing from board to board. The second task was by far the hardest. This leg consisted of two large rope nets on either side of you, but nothing below you. To get across you had to place one foot on each side of the rope (which never stayed steady) and slowly pull yourself across. It may not sound difficult, but because the ropes wouldn’t stay steady you had to rely on mostly upper body strength to pull yourself across. The third leg consisted of “swings” (which were really small logs) that you had to stand on and swing/jump to the next log to reach the end. Next was a short zip line which was awesome. I only wish that the zipline would have lasted longer. The last leg consisted of literally two ropes (nothing more!) above and below you that you had to balance on and try to walk across. It was hard, but super fun. I have bad rope burn/bruises all over my arms and legs, but it was worth it. I’m posting this a week and half later and my upper body is still extremely sore!
After our tough workout we headed to Flic-en-Flac beach which is said to be the most beautiful beach in Mauritius. We stayed there for about an hour. During that time I mostly laid out and ate. The food in Mauritius is exceptionally cheap. I got some of the best pineapple for 15 rupees (30 rupees=$1), a bag of cotton candy for 10 rupees, and a big ice cream cone for 25 rupees. Three days was not enough time in Mauritius, but I suppose all “spring breaks” must come to an end.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Neptune Day!!
Today I was woken up at 8 AM by the crew, who were all wearing different costumes, playing drums and cymbals and whistles. After a good breakfast (with some new type of yummy yogurt!) everyone met on the top deck for the Neptune Ceremony. For those that don’t know, the Neptune Ceremony is performed whenever a ship crosses the equator. A person who have never crossed the equator while traveling on a ship is called a slimy “Pollywog.” The purpose of the Neptune ceremony is to prove that you have become a seasoned sailor with the nickname “Shellback.” To complete the Neptune ceremony a person must swear to honor and respect King Neptune and his ocean domain. In addition, to show him that you are a true sailor you must have fish guts, or whatever else the crew manages to cook up, poured on you and you must kiss a dead fish. After that Neptune is pleased and you are able to be called a trusty “Shellback.”
Another optional aspect of Neptune day is shaving your head. Although I did not shave my head, a surprising number of people did. At least 15 girls shaved their heads today. The rest of the day was free to work on homework and hang out.
Sorry these are late and not as well written. My schedule on the ship has become increasingly hectic.
Another optional aspect of Neptune day is shaving your head. Although I did not shave my head, a surprising number of people did. At least 15 girls shaved their heads today. The rest of the day was free to work on homework and hang out.
Sorry these are late and not as well written. My schedule on the ship has become increasingly hectic.
Last day in Ghana
My final tour in Ghana was originally scheduled to leave in the afternoon but because the traffic is so intense and the drive was longer than expected, we had to leave at 6 AM. I managed to grab a muffin from the dining hall at 5:30 and headed for the bus. The ride to Kakum national park took about 3 ½ hours. After that we took a short 5-10 minute hike into the forest to get to their famous canopy walk ways which hang 40 meters above the rainforest. The seven canopy bridges are surrounded by a net so it was impossible to fall even though I felt like I was going to the entire time. After completing the walkways we had time to browse the local gift shop. I really wanted to buy a shirt that said “I survived the walkway” but all they had was XS and XL. No larges or mediums.
We then drove about an hour to Elmina slave Castle which is situated in Cape Coast. The castle was built by the Portuguese in the 1400’s to house slaves that were going to be sold in the Atlantic Slave trade. It was the first European structure built in Sub-Saharan Africa and is also the place were President Obama spoke during his visit to Ghana. Despite the areas horrific past, Cape Coast contains some of the most beautiful beaches and scenery in Ghana.
Something I haven’t mentioned about Ghana is the street vendors. I’m not talking about people who set up shop on the side of the road (although they have plenty of those!) Traffic is crazy and often a 20 minute drive takes around an hour or more so Ghana has people that actually walk up and down the middle of the road selling items. Most of the items are food like Plantain chips, chocolate, bread, water, etc. However, they also sell really obscure stuff like ironing boards, binoculars, phone cards, ties, etc. Multiple times our tour guide would leave the bus and buy things. At first I wasn’t sure to think about this, but by the last day I decided it was wonderfully convenient! By the last day all of us were buying items! I bought two bags of plantain chips and three authentic Ghanaian chocolate bars. I wanted to buy my dad an ugly tie for Christmas, but I didn’t see any people selling them except on the first day when I didn’t have enough money.
This is the first port were I experienced true major culture shock. In Ghana, especially in Torgorme village, I was truly a minority being a Caucasian. Children would often stop and stare as if I were an alien. They would also point and say the word for “white person” (I’m not sure how to spell it.) This is also the first port where I really wish we had more time
We then drove about an hour to Elmina slave Castle which is situated in Cape Coast. The castle was built by the Portuguese in the 1400’s to house slaves that were going to be sold in the Atlantic Slave trade. It was the first European structure built in Sub-Saharan Africa and is also the place were President Obama spoke during his visit to Ghana. Despite the areas horrific past, Cape Coast contains some of the most beautiful beaches and scenery in Ghana.
Something I haven’t mentioned about Ghana is the street vendors. I’m not talking about people who set up shop on the side of the road (although they have plenty of those!) Traffic is crazy and often a 20 minute drive takes around an hour or more so Ghana has people that actually walk up and down the middle of the road selling items. Most of the items are food like Plantain chips, chocolate, bread, water, etc. However, they also sell really obscure stuff like ironing boards, binoculars, phone cards, ties, etc. Multiple times our tour guide would leave the bus and buy things. At first I wasn’t sure to think about this, but by the last day I decided it was wonderfully convenient! By the last day all of us were buying items! I bought two bags of plantain chips and three authentic Ghanaian chocolate bars. I wanted to buy my dad an ugly tie for Christmas, but I didn’t see any people selling them except on the first day when I didn’t have enough money.
This is the first port were I experienced true major culture shock. In Ghana, especially in Torgorme village, I was truly a minority being a Caucasian. Children would often stop and stare as if I were an alien. They would also point and say the word for “white person” (I’m not sure how to spell it.) This is also the first port where I really wish we had more time
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Living in Torgorme Village
This trip has been one of my favorite trips of the voyage so far. The day started with an early breakfast at 6:30 and an hour and a half drive to the village of Torgorme.
I had no clue what to expect and I was certainly not prepared for what awaited us in the village. As we pulled up, little children ran along side the bus and waved to us. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were greeted by almost the entire village. They all clapped and cheered and welcomed us warmly as we walked to a row of chairs they had set up for us. In front of us sat the chief, oldest male in the village, and other important members of the community. On our right were the drummers and dancers that performed for us during the ceremony. On our left were the host families that we would staying with. Right next to us were little kids who were not involved in the ceremony but wanted to see us and watch the performance. They were apparently not supposed to be there because every time they saw the strict school teacher they would run away until they thought she was gone.
The first event planned was a traditional dance performance from the school children. After the performance we were called to shake hands with the chief and receive our new name within the community. A persons first name is determined by the day they were born. I was born on a Saturday so my first name is Ami. My last name (not sure how that was decided) is Dodzi (pronounced Do-je) which means endurance. We then received a bracelet from our host family and a handmade pot with both our names written on it.
After the naming ceremony we drove to a nearby army barrack to have lunch. Lunch today was almost identical to what was served at the city tour yesterday. It was even better the second day! It was about that time that many people, myself included, began to feel very sick. The naming ceremony took about 2 and a half ours and we were told to leave our stuff on the bus so no one had any water during the time we were sitting out in the sun. I felt much better after sitting in the air conditioned bus for awhile and drinking almost my entire water bottle.
After lunch I and my friend Lilah (who received the same host family as me) went to our host families house to spend the afternoon with them. My host family included parents with 4 children. The youngest child was only a year old. We watched them cook an afternoon snack called “fufu.” It’s made by taking cassava and plantains which are put into a pot and mashed for about 5 minutes by a large pole that looks somewhat like a baseball bat. After she smashed it up, she shaped it into a ball and put it into a bowl already filled with spicy soup. You eat fufu by pinching a small part of the dough off and dipping it into the sauce. Also included in the sauce are small (whole!) fish. Which was surprisingly tasty. Dad would love Ghanaian food. Almost every piece of food has the perfect level of spiciness.
When we were done eating we decided to play with the local kids. Lilah brought a jump rope to give them. They absolutely loved it! I really wish I had brought something to give them. They have almost nothing to play with. I saw one kid with a pack of cards, but that was all I saw. It was dangerous to try and take pictures because as soon as the kids saw the camera you would have 20-30 kids trying to get in the picture. Their reaction to seeing their picture was astounding. They all pointed and laughed and were just amazed by it.
Later that afternoon the 16 year old daughter took us down to the Volta river bank. At first we thought she just wanted to show us how they fish and how pretty the river is, but then we realized she wanted to take us to the other side of the village in a canoe! It only took about 10-15 minutes but it was a lot of fun. When we had reached the other side we walked around the village to see what a normal day is like. We saw ladies making pottery, a man waving a special type of colorful cloth called Kente (pronounced Ken-tay). Along the way she taught us some basic Ewe words.
Around 6 everyone gathered were the naming ceremony had been held to eat dinner while some people danced and played drums. Around 10 we went home and sat outside to watch the stars. There are very few houses with lights in the village so you can see the stars extremely well. I wish my pictures could capture how beautiful it looked. The room we slept in that night had only one bed in the room and nothing else. People were up and the roosters started crowing at about 3 am. However, I managed to sleep surprisingly well.
Everyone met in the town church at 7 for breakfast. They served us eggs, AMAZING sweet bread, and the best pineapple I have ever tasted. We also got a bit of bad news this morning. We were scheduled to hike to the Tagbo waterfall and see monkeys and be back to the ship by noon. Turns out we had to drive 4 hours to where we would hike and then another hour to see the monkeys. By doing this we wouldn’t get back to the ship until about 9 that night. We were given the choice to take a shuttle back to the ship or continue on with the itinerary. Today was going to be my only free time in Accra so I decided to take the shuttle back to ship.
Soon after we had left a lifelong learner, an older non-traditional student, convinced the bus driver to take us the Shai Hills Game Reserve. At the reserve we saw a family of baboons and a huge herd of antelope. I managed to get pictures of both, but the antelope one isn’t very good because they all ran when they saw us.
After seeing the animals we hiked to the top of the highest mountain that Shai Hills offers. It took about 25 minutes and was very steep. Although their was a path, this place is obviously not a big tourist attraction because much of the hike was straight up rocks. Once we arrived at the top of the mountain we entered a small cave. At the end of the small cave was an extremely tiny opening that you could reach by climbing straight up the rocks and squeezing yourself through the exit. I’m pretty proud that I managed to complete everything. I even have the bruises to prove it!
After our hike we planned to return to the ship, but of course nothing ever goes as planned. The bus refused to start. The driver messed with the engine for awhile but he still couldn’t get it started so we all had to get out and push start it. After that we were on our way home! We managed to make it back to the ship by 3:30.
I ate lunch, showered, and took the next shuttle into Accra. I didn’t do much except shop and use the internet because I have an early day tomorrow.
I had no clue what to expect and I was certainly not prepared for what awaited us in the village. As we pulled up, little children ran along side the bus and waved to us. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were greeted by almost the entire village. They all clapped and cheered and welcomed us warmly as we walked to a row of chairs they had set up for us. In front of us sat the chief, oldest male in the village, and other important members of the community. On our right were the drummers and dancers that performed for us during the ceremony. On our left were the host families that we would staying with. Right next to us were little kids who were not involved in the ceremony but wanted to see us and watch the performance. They were apparently not supposed to be there because every time they saw the strict school teacher they would run away until they thought she was gone.
The first event planned was a traditional dance performance from the school children. After the performance we were called to shake hands with the chief and receive our new name within the community. A persons first name is determined by the day they were born. I was born on a Saturday so my first name is Ami. My last name (not sure how that was decided) is Dodzi (pronounced Do-je) which means endurance. We then received a bracelet from our host family and a handmade pot with both our names written on it.
After the naming ceremony we drove to a nearby army barrack to have lunch. Lunch today was almost identical to what was served at the city tour yesterday. It was even better the second day! It was about that time that many people, myself included, began to feel very sick. The naming ceremony took about 2 and a half ours and we were told to leave our stuff on the bus so no one had any water during the time we were sitting out in the sun. I felt much better after sitting in the air conditioned bus for awhile and drinking almost my entire water bottle.
After lunch I and my friend Lilah (who received the same host family as me) went to our host families house to spend the afternoon with them. My host family included parents with 4 children. The youngest child was only a year old. We watched them cook an afternoon snack called “fufu.” It’s made by taking cassava and plantains which are put into a pot and mashed for about 5 minutes by a large pole that looks somewhat like a baseball bat. After she smashed it up, she shaped it into a ball and put it into a bowl already filled with spicy soup. You eat fufu by pinching a small part of the dough off and dipping it into the sauce. Also included in the sauce are small (whole!) fish. Which was surprisingly tasty. Dad would love Ghanaian food. Almost every piece of food has the perfect level of spiciness.
When we were done eating we decided to play with the local kids. Lilah brought a jump rope to give them. They absolutely loved it! I really wish I had brought something to give them. They have almost nothing to play with. I saw one kid with a pack of cards, but that was all I saw. It was dangerous to try and take pictures because as soon as the kids saw the camera you would have 20-30 kids trying to get in the picture. Their reaction to seeing their picture was astounding. They all pointed and laughed and were just amazed by it.
Later that afternoon the 16 year old daughter took us down to the Volta river bank. At first we thought she just wanted to show us how they fish and how pretty the river is, but then we realized she wanted to take us to the other side of the village in a canoe! It only took about 10-15 minutes but it was a lot of fun. When we had reached the other side we walked around the village to see what a normal day is like. We saw ladies making pottery, a man waving a special type of colorful cloth called Kente (pronounced Ken-tay). Along the way she taught us some basic Ewe words.
Around 6 everyone gathered were the naming ceremony had been held to eat dinner while some people danced and played drums. Around 10 we went home and sat outside to watch the stars. There are very few houses with lights in the village so you can see the stars extremely well. I wish my pictures could capture how beautiful it looked. The room we slept in that night had only one bed in the room and nothing else. People were up and the roosters started crowing at about 3 am. However, I managed to sleep surprisingly well.
Everyone met in the town church at 7 for breakfast. They served us eggs, AMAZING sweet bread, and the best pineapple I have ever tasted. We also got a bit of bad news this morning. We were scheduled to hike to the Tagbo waterfall and see monkeys and be back to the ship by noon. Turns out we had to drive 4 hours to where we would hike and then another hour to see the monkeys. By doing this we wouldn’t get back to the ship until about 9 that night. We were given the choice to take a shuttle back to the ship or continue on with the itinerary. Today was going to be my only free time in Accra so I decided to take the shuttle back to ship.
Soon after we had left a lifelong learner, an older non-traditional student, convinced the bus driver to take us the Shai Hills Game Reserve. At the reserve we saw a family of baboons and a huge herd of antelope. I managed to get pictures of both, but the antelope one isn’t very good because they all ran when they saw us.
After seeing the animals we hiked to the top of the highest mountain that Shai Hills offers. It took about 25 minutes and was very steep. Although their was a path, this place is obviously not a big tourist attraction because much of the hike was straight up rocks. Once we arrived at the top of the mountain we entered a small cave. At the end of the small cave was an extremely tiny opening that you could reach by climbing straight up the rocks and squeezing yourself through the exit. I’m pretty proud that I managed to complete everything. I even have the bruises to prove it!
After our hike we planned to return to the ship, but of course nothing ever goes as planned. The bus refused to start. The driver messed with the engine for awhile but he still couldn’t get it started so we all had to get out and push start it. After that we were on our way home! We managed to make it back to the ship by 3:30.
I ate lunch, showered, and took the next shuttle into Accra. I didn’t do much except shop and use the internet because I have an early day tomorrow.
Ghana day 1
Our ship is now docked in the portside town of Tema which is about 30-45 minutes away from Ghana’s capital city of Accra. We docked at 8:45 and managed to clear customs by about 9:50. Almost all of the day trips were leaving at 10, including mine, so it was a mad dash to get off the ship. Today’s agenda was a tour of Accra.
The first monument we saw on the tour was the University of Ghana which is the oldest and largest University within the country. Next we stopped and ate lunch at a local hotel. They served a dish called “jollof” (a type of spicy rice served with chicken) and potatoes. Ghanaian food is very spicy and very delicious.
After lunch we received a guided toured of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. For those that don’t know, Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana in 1960 (I believe, please correct me if I have the date wrong). He was overthrown with help from the American CIA in 1966. I’ve heard very mixed reactions to his time in office and I am very interested in finding out more.
Located right next to the park is the “Arts Centre” which is an open market somewhat like the Souks in Morocco. Although everyone in Ghana is much (much!) more friendly than in Morocco, I’m still not a big fan of the markets. I’m not a skilled bargainer and I like to shop around in quiet before I purchase anything. In these markets you constantly have people yelling and often pulling you (literally!) into their shop. The last place on our tour was the W.E.B Dubois Center for Pan African Culture. This museum was formerly the house that Dubois lived in during his last two years in Ghana.
Interesting Facts about Ghana:
One of the most popular forms of transportation is the Tro-Tro. These are minivans that have had their seats torn out to fit as many people as possible. I get Closter phobic just looking at a Tro-Tro.
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence in 1957.
Ghana is the size of the UK and slightly smaller than Oregon.
Ghana supplies most of the worlds cocoa.
There are over 50 languages and tribes within Ghana.
Ghana is divided into 10 regions. We are docked in the Greater Accra region. The village that I will be living in tomorrow is in the eastern Volta Region. This region contains the contains the Volta river and dam. On the final day, I will visit tour Elmina Castle located within the Cape Coast region. This region is in the southern most border of Ghana and is where President Obama gave his speech last July.
The first monument we saw on the tour was the University of Ghana which is the oldest and largest University within the country. Next we stopped and ate lunch at a local hotel. They served a dish called “jollof” (a type of spicy rice served with chicken) and potatoes. Ghanaian food is very spicy and very delicious.
After lunch we received a guided toured of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. For those that don’t know, Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana in 1960 (I believe, please correct me if I have the date wrong). He was overthrown with help from the American CIA in 1966. I’ve heard very mixed reactions to his time in office and I am very interested in finding out more.
Located right next to the park is the “Arts Centre” which is an open market somewhat like the Souks in Morocco. Although everyone in Ghana is much (much!) more friendly than in Morocco, I’m still not a big fan of the markets. I’m not a skilled bargainer and I like to shop around in quiet before I purchase anything. In these markets you constantly have people yelling and often pulling you (literally!) into their shop. The last place on our tour was the W.E.B Dubois Center for Pan African Culture. This museum was formerly the house that Dubois lived in during his last two years in Ghana.
Interesting Facts about Ghana:
One of the most popular forms of transportation is the Tro-Tro. These are minivans that have had their seats torn out to fit as many people as possible. I get Closter phobic just looking at a Tro-Tro.
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence in 1957.
Ghana is the size of the UK and slightly smaller than Oregon.
Ghana supplies most of the worlds cocoa.
There are over 50 languages and tribes within Ghana.
Ghana is divided into 10 regions. We are docked in the Greater Accra region. The village that I will be living in tomorrow is in the eastern Volta Region. This region contains the contains the Volta river and dam. On the final day, I will visit tour Elmina Castle located within the Cape Coast region. This region is in the southern most border of Ghana and is where President Obama gave his speech last July.
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