The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land, it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land - G.K. Chesterton

One of the first things someone said about Brazil occurred when we were crossing the street; “When was the last time a car stopped for us?” Ghana definitely didn’t.  In Cape Town it depended where you were.  Only if you were on a resort area in Mauritius.  No go in India. Not a chance in hell in Ho Chi Minh. China didn’t slow down. Japan did. Japan about 11 or so weeks ago seems to be the answer. So going to a place where people stop at traffic lights? Going to be weird. I’m not even sure which side of the road is the right side to drive on anymore.

Bargaining too. When’s the last time I accepted something at the price it was first offered? From taxi’s to clothing prices, if you didn’t get the price at least a third of the way down you were being cheated, except in Japan those 11 plus weeks ago. I’m not sure I can walk into a store and except something at full price anymore. To actually know the real cost of stuff too; for it not to be in terms of ren, doug, real, rand, rupees, cds, yuan? I’m not sure I want to pay the real price if I actually know what something costs and I don’t even have to option to bargain. And wow that’s a lot of denominations that start with r.   And really now, the US has the most boring looking money.

And the internet. Throughout this voyage, 109 days, I have been on the internet for 21 hours and 50 minutes. Not even a full day. That’s No YouTube. Barely any Facebook. It’s mostly from figuring stuff out for the ports ahead. Making sure everything is good for registering for classes in the real world. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with free accessible internet. Or phones. I haven’t heard it ring in months, nor could I tell you what the ringtone is. Texting is going to be completely foreign.

It’s all so weird. It was weird to swipe onto the ship for the last time. It’s going to be weird to go to sleep at night and not have rocking. It’s weird to think that there are people here that I might not see again. Weirdness all around. Weirdness that I don’t want to think about.

There are about 580 students on this ship and there are still people I’m meeting after almost four months. It’s great. The overall student population is beyond words to describe. It has been a blast to travel with them all. I made sure that every port I traveled with someone I had never traveled with and I think it was one of the best decisions I could have ever made. It leads to so many different experiences and you connect places and people. I’m not going to be able to separate the two. And I wouldn’t want to.  I wandered through foreign cities with all of them; some things planned others not so much. And it was magnificent. I’m so glad I got the chance to know them.

Far beyond that are the people you connect to in places. Connect in spite of boundaries and barriers, whether lingual, socio-economic, racial or imaginary. Toothbrush people, who you’re never going to meet again, I wonder if I made as big an impression of them as they did on me. Some of them I still keep in contact with, and others I couldn’t tell you their name. But I can picture their faces and the conversation. You take in so much and there’s so little time. You’re always moving. There’s not enough time.

In a day I get to step onto US soil. I haven’t been in New York since the 13^th of January. I get to see everyone and see what I’ve missed.  To be in one place for more than a week. I don’t know what that is going to be like. I don’t know if any of us want to reintegrate back into the US. It’s the end of something that I’m not sure I want to end. I’m going to miss this. But our stories aren’t over yet.

 

Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed my rambles and photos. I’ll see you all soon.

Brazil Photo's

Travel is more than seeing the sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living - Miriam Beard

Brazil:

Brazil was the final stop, it seemed so far away in the beginning yet here it was in a blink of an eye.  No one ever expected that we’d make it here.

Day 1:

          I decided to head to a park with a group to hang out and play Frisbee.  We headed to the upper city by way off the elevator that connects the port lower city area with the upper. From there we explored the upper city for a bit; we saw the filming of a music video for the world cup! (later we found out SASer ended up being part to the video. They spent the whole day dancing) From there we left and went past the elevators again to find an actually park – on the way we stopped for lunch in one of the small local places. I have to say, Brazil has been one of the hardest places to communicate. People can use Spanish if it’s broken slowly but overall it’s hard. And it’s weird that after going around the world I expect communication to come easily, that English should be the linga franca of the world. I guess even after four months of travel I still got some arrogance to shed. From lunch it started to pour so we decided to head out anyway. It’s so much fun to walk in a new city in the rain. Just makes it that much more of an adventure. It cleared up; we found a park and got to play our Frisbee. From there we grabbed some food at a local grocery store while it started to rain again. We started to walk back to the historical section and tried to go a different way than we had before but at one point we were told to turn back, that it wasn’t safe. It was done using hang gestures which made it seem more sincere. So went journeyed on the way we came as the rain came down for a fourth time. When we reached to upper city the rain had stopped, and we started to see the SASers that we had avoided all day.  And we started to hear about the muggings that had happened. Apparently in that first day 20 mugging had happened to people on the ship. Some stories got around fast; the fact that a necklace that had been in someone’s family for generations was gone, down to the usually cameras and watches. Later people who used a certain ATM found that their information stolen. After hearing the warnings for every country no one was expecting Brazil to be different, we handed it like we always did. After surviving a South African night we thought we could handle Brazil during daylight.

Day 2:

          I did my first service trip this morning; we went to a school in the Calabar community, where we went to a community run school.  We got to see how the school survives and got to see the kids learn caporia. I even got to try and do some with them which was fun. Caporia is this martial art that is associated with the African slaves. It was their was of learning to fight, when unwanted people would walk by the music would change and it would become a dance until that person left. We spent a lot of time playing; I was involved in a card game that involved matching suits. I was told when to put my card down and when I had to take something. The card game deteriorated when the kids discovered cameras and it was just as well.   The school went up to 5 grade and from there the kids would be sent to one of the public schools. They also don’t have that many kids; there isn’t enough teachers to enroll them all. That afternoon I spent at a market in the lower city. It was fun to bargain, especial now that bargaining days are numbered.

Day 3:

          The other service trip was to a kindergarten in another low-income community. Here the grades ranged from 1 up to 3^rd graders. Here we did a lot of exchanging songs. They’d do the alphabet in Portuguese and we’d respond in English.  It was a game to see if you could recognize the tune rather than the words. Then I found bubble solution and become a pretty popular person. The bubbles were a big hit form the older ones to the babies. It was great. That afternoon I headed to the beach about 15 minutes away. It was a really nice beach with restaurants across the way and great water temperature. The beach is divided into sections with each section having a guy where you can get drinks, he even comes around and will wet your feet, it is really fun. The water was amazing, and there was a group of three guys doing insane flips. It the end I think we decided they were Brazil’s men’s gymnastics team – because if I was them I would totally go a practice on the beach.  We also ran into a student from the university there, one who had been to the US and was pretty fluent.  He talked to us for awhile and told us about this jazz concert the next day that was two real to get into. After a few hours we headed back to the ship where we ended up crashing for the night.

Day 4:

          Today we made our way to a sea turtle reserve about and hour and a half outside the city. We got on this bus – it was like a couch bus that stops along the main highway until it reached our destination. We got there and discovered a beachy resort place that was just beautiful.  We grabbed some food and made our way to the turtles which was pretty awesome. After a few hours we headed back. This time in a van – very reminiscing of a tro-tro who said he would take us directly back to the ship for a little less than the bus ticket and the taxi from the station would coast. So we went and got there in quite the time. We got dinner and then made out way to the Modern Art Museum where the jazz concert was. The music was great, it was outside so you could see the stars and hear the ocean. We ran into our Brazilian friends. It is definitely how I’m going to remember Brazil, and I could think of no better way to spend my last night in port.

Day 5:

          Not only the last day in Brazil, but the last day of the last port. 4 of us decided to just enjoy it, and to do so we ended up at a Brazilian meat restaurant – the specific name for it is escaping me at the moment. We got there a few hours before it was open and just wandered around the beach area until we were good to go. Its one of those places with the cards, where green means you are ready for more and red means you need a break. I can’t say that it beat Kobe beef, but it was a pretty close thing. We stayed at the place for 3 hours, enjoying our final meal before our last stretch of ship food. It’s weird how content I was for that to be my final day – but I didn’t need to do much. We went back to one of the markets before going back to the ship – where we swiped in for one last time.  

I still haven't been everywhere but it's on my list - Susan Sontag

Gogniat Travel Tips:

 

1. Never let you age get larger than the number of countries you have explored.

 

2. Keep your feet on the ground.

 

3. It's all about the people.

 

4. The more you know, the more interesting it is.

 

5. Sit on a park bench for an hour.

 

6. Take time to smell the roses.

 

7. Meet people with a simile.

 

8. "Dip a postcard in the country" and mail it home.

 

9. Listen with you ears and your heart.

 

10. From travel, learn and practice humility.

The use of travel is to regulate imagination by reality and instead of thinking about how things may be, to see them as they are - Samuel Johnson

Ghana!

          By far the most hot and humid place we’ve been on this voyage. You would step outside and then 5 minutes later be sweaty. Other than the heat Ghana was pretty cool, lots of cool people and a very different atmosphere.

Day 1:

          The one problem about Ghana is that we dock in Tema, which is about a 45 minute drive away from Accra, the main city. The ship provided shuttles, but they weren’t very timely and could only fit so many people. But once you got where you were going it was great. One of my friends knew people who were study abroad at the University of Ghana, so we met up with her and she showed us around. Well first we ate at a Portuguese fast food place near the bus that had air conditioning and then we were off. (Side note: A chicken sandwich with pineapple has become one of my favorite sandwiches. I had one in South Africa too) She took us by trotro to the university where we got to see her room and walk around. (The van thing that I ended up in in South Africa was a trotro, or the South African version of it. Except in South Africa the van only seated 14. Here it’s 20 or more). After we headed back to Oxford Street, probably one of the main touristy places in Accra. Though it really wasn’t that touristy. We grabbed milkshakes at this place called Frankies and then wandered the vendors. When we were by one of the music places we started to talked to some of the vendors, mainly a young guy named Joseph and before we knew it they were putting on an impromptu concert for us. It was great. The group of us then headed off to find food, which we found at this place right near the bus stop where a man name Lawrence was serving us burgers without the burger, which was pretty good. So ends day one.

 

Day 2:

          So it took two hours for the shuttle to show up. But it was ok, because I made friends with 2 police officers and 1 security officer at the port waiting for it. Ghanains are pretty cool people to talk to, and here I definitely knew it wasn’t because they wanted me to buy anything. There were a few cultural miscommunications which was weird- for once we were both speaking the same language and there are still some confusion. Or maybe I attribute more errors to language barriers in other places than I should have.  Anyway today after trekking it into Ghana we met up with the Brooke again, the study abroad student, and she took us this huge market where there were a huge amount of locals. Again we went by trotro, which makes any experience much more fun. We also got to try this frozen yogurt thing in a bag. You just rip off one end and you’re good to go. They do the same with the water here, they’re sold in bags. They do also sell coconuts fresh, like they did in Vietnam. We spent most of the morning in the market before heading back to the university again where we go to eat for 50 cents in the cafeteria.  From there we headed back to Oxford Street where we wandered through the vendors till we decided to start the journey back to the ship.

 

Day 3:

          Today I went on a trip to a village about an hour and a half outside of Accra.  When we got to the village we participated in a naming ceremony where we were given African names. They would call you up tell you two names, one is based on the day you were born on and I have no idea how they decided on the second. You would be give a bracelet and a pot with your new name on it and could shake the hands of the village elders. Of course this whole ceremony was distracted from when kids started to play with all of us. We got to walk around the village and see how people make the pots and cloths with traditional methods. We learned that the village was mainly a fishing village and if you want to make money you have to go to the city which is where you see people from the villages selling things on the highway and the streets. After we left we headed to these hills where we hiked up into a cave where people used to live before colonialism and it was beautiful. That is if you ignored the bats and bees. It was great to get out of Accra for a bit.

Day 4:

          We went into Tema, the port city for a bit before heading into Accra again. Today was really about getting last minutes things done, buying gift if you hadn’t already at the markets and getting in real food before making your way back to the ship. One of the coolest things we saw in the markets was this table decorated with all these beads for the world cup. It had all of the flags of the participating countries and was just beyond epic.  The highlight was running into James again. He was this vendor who made bracelets; he came in to the city when he had time off from his other job. I met him the first day when one of my other friends started to talk to him. He made me a bracelet the first day and I ended up giving it away to one of the kids in the village so I asked him when I was waiting for a ride back to make me another. I think he has been one of the coolest people I’ve met.  His whole theory was about how you have to humble yourself before others, that’s how you learn.

 

And that was my Ghana. Sorry it took so long to get up. Things are going by so quickly it’s hard to keep track. On that note it is the 101^st day of the 101^st voyage of semester at sea with a week to follow. Things are coming to an end really fast. Next port is America, that in itself feels weird.

Ghana Photo's

Ship Rooms Photo's

South Africa Photo's

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home - James Michener

South Africa

          This was really the first country where I explored the city area, and not the country as a whole. And I have to say I loved it. Cape Town is beautiful and there was always something to do.

Day 1:

          The first day I started up planning to make my way to Stellenbosch, a town in the wine area of South Africa. My group ended up signing up for a wine tour in the afternoon and spending the morning wandering around the waterfront. I actually really like the waterfront, it’s touristy and expensive but it’s nice and safe. When the afternoon came around we headed over for the tour. The tour had some other SAS kids in the back, who were drinking beer and made things interesting. There was also a couple from Australia who had just come down from Rwanda. Definitely on the list of places to see now. We went to 2 vineyards, which were just beautiful and the wine was great. We drove around the town for awhile and then headed back to Cape Town. On the way to and from Cape Town are townships, it’s a contrast from the vineyards and one that you might not pay attention too. From there I had to run to get to a theater where I had a ticket for Grease. It was an amazing production, even though I had wanted to see something other than Grease. This was the least exciting of the days, but I still had so much fun.

Day 2:

          Today was my service visit to the Amy Biehl Foundation where we got to play with the kids from the townships. The first stop after the informational section was local restaurant in the township where there was a world cup guy who was going around to different places to build excitement for the world cup. There was a stage and free stuff and it was fun to join in with the locals. After lunch we finally got to meet the kids where the main activity was soccer but for anyone with a camera they didn’t have it for long. A group of kids would just attach to you and the next thing you know you’re in the middle of a soccer game. Most of the day I stayed with Mihlali and Reutile, these two little girls who got a kick out of playing with my hair. The group of us pitched in and got some juice and bread for everyone, so right before we had to leave everyone had something. It was amazing to see the effects that one person made on a community. That night I made my way out to Long Street to a salsa club.  It was actually really cool to learn to salsa in South Africa. I also saw some of the free concert that the Jazz Fest put on before their main event on the weekend. Long Street is downtown and is where a lot of the action is. It’s also where a saw a mugging going on, so I’m really not sure how I feel about this area, especial since all I did was going into another restaurant as quickly as possible. A group of us ended up in this burger place listening to a man vent his frustrations at the inequalities that still existed. How nothing had really changed. And he’s right, a lot hasn’t.

Day 3:

          This was my Table Mountain day. The group of us left at about 8 in the morning and made it to the mountain by 9:45. It then took us about an hour and a half to make it all the way up. This was not an easy hike, I loved it but every minute I would want a break. But we eventually made it up and had about a half hour before the next part of the journey, rappelling down. The guys in charge of the rappelling reminded me a lot of the guys that I skydived with, in that they kept making jokes about all the things you don’t want to think about. I volunteered to be one of the first to go and after you get strapped in the first thing you do is pose with no hands for a camera. Later I found out that its suppose to give you faith in the equipment, but it made a great photo too. The second thing they do is to get you to look directly down, which is kinda insane. Right before we went down they mentioned there would be a surprise for us which we completely forgot about. Getting over the edge is the hardest but after that you just keep going. It’s pretty unreal, and you get this great view. Until you get to the last forth of the rappel and realize that there’s no more mountain, it caves inward and you’re left daggling. It’s something else. Definitely scarier than jumping out of a plane. When you finally get down there was this young black kid who would unattach you and send the stuff back up. We helped him put his stuff in these bags and he said it was the first time anyone ever helped him. I’m not sure if that’s because of his skin color or because of the typical tourist experience when you don’t think about helping but it put a spin on things. After everyone made it down we all hiked back up to use the cable cars to get back down. (We rappelled about 120 meters) which took about a half hour. It was a really long morning. Fun but long. That night a group of us headed out to this jazz bar place on the waterfront. It was pretty cool, after the craziness of the day to just sit and talk about everything. I was beyond impressed with our conversation.

Day 4:

          Today was one of the best I’ve had. Two of us just bought these tourist pass for the southern line, one where you can just jump off and on the train, and just left. We end up getting off at Kalk Bay, which is the beach town that was great to walk around. We found this great lunch place and 3 tries; we weren’t the biggest seafood fans. From there we created the game plan of getting to Simonstown to see the penguins, which lead us to run to a train, which was ours, almost miss our stop at Fish Hook and to grab a bus that ended up sitting there for a half hour. But we made into Simonstown where we learned that it was a pretty far walk to the penguins. But we made it there and back and caught the bus to the train. We then waited on the train for awhile for it to fill up, and the actual ride was an experience. Or so I though until we ended up taking a shared van taxi with a bunch of locals to the waterfront. It coasted about 40 cents US$ and it was a minivan that could fit 14 people. It pulled over before the first stop because people didn’t pay…aka us because we didn’t know when to. They had to push the car to get it to start and it was ridicules. I can’t believe we got to where we wanted to. It helped that the guy I was sitting in back of was wearing a work shirt for the waterfront. Such a day!

Day 5:

          This was the best day. A group of 5 if us just jumped into a cab and asked to be taken to a township. Eventually we ended up at around the same place I was at for the service project, except instead of staying near the main restaurant we went across the street and to this take out place. When we were waiting for our food these two high school guys, Toby and Lumbuti, came up to order soda and we started to talk to them. We asked them to sit down with us and they stayed and talked with us for about 3 hours. It was the best Easter that I could have had. Through them we got to meet more people, and hear more stories. I can’t really describe the conversation but the two of them made my South Africa. It’s just crazy who you can meet and what you learn.  The townships are poor, you can see the disparity very easy. But they are also such a community, there’s a neighborhood feel to them that I hadn’t felt in any other area. It was a weird mix of looking at substandard housing and feeling at home with the people.

 

Cape Town has been one of the best ports. There was so much to experience. Everyone who went on a safari loved them, but I’m so glad I just stayed around Cape Town and got to try and know the place.

Mauritius Photo's

Mauritius was made first, and then Heaven, and that Heaven was copied after Mauritius - Mark Twain

Mauritius is a country that I had never heard of before this trip, I couldn’t even pronounce it correctly. It’s this small island that you can cross in a few hours and it was pretty amazing.

Day 1:

          We left Port Louis and grabbed a cab to the southeast section of the island where the group of us had a catamaran at sunset. We ended up at one of the fanciest hotels I’ve seen. We were allowed in to wait the 4 hours till our catamaran left around the hotel, and our cab would be waiting for us when we were done. (Cabs most places are like that. They’ll give you a card with their number on it and they’ll come and pick you up. Or wait for you with no extra cost. You also can negotiate the price. Going back to the states is going to be interesting.) While we were waiting we went swimming (the water here is the bluest I’ve seen!) and then ended up involved in a volleyball game with a group from Germany and France. The actual sunset cruise was pretty, though you couldn’t see the sunset with the clouds. I met a couple from the UK who talked to me for awhile about how small the world is today. They also told me that I must take a gap year after university to travel like their daughters did. Which I would totally be okay with. Hearing about their daughters’ travels makes me think that we should do that in our society. Because while I am studying on this trip what I’ve learned hasn’t been in the classroom at all but just in talking to people. A year of travel for travel’s sake must broaden your mind like no other. After leaving there we headed to the north part of the island where a lot of SASer’s were before making our way to the ship for the night.

Day 2:

          Today was spent heading to a beach in the north for snorkeling. Except the place we tried to get snorkeling at didn’t really offer it. So we headed to a beach where this guy with a boat took us out for about 6 dollars and we got to snorkel. It was pretty amazing there were so many fish and you look up and see the beach and the mountains. We headed in and a few of us headed off in search of food which was found about 15 minutes away in the form of a vendor. It definitely felt like being a kid back at the beach again.  This was only added to when we got back to the section of the beach we were at and found our LLC’s kids playing in the water. Which just meant we got to play with the kids and toss them in the air for another hour before we headed back into Port Louis. It was a lot of fun. From there we were dropped off near the waterfront where there was a market that we wandered. It was cool because everyone here first assumes that you’re French before moving to English. So I got to pretend I could speak French for a bit till the vendors caught on.  One of my friends had to mail a package back to her host family in India when we found that the post office was closed. One of the cab drivers started to talk to us and offered to mail it. And I honestly think he did, more so after talking to him. His name was Garnash after the Indian god, and he had a son in England who was studying to be a doctor. I think he was working on his specialty. He’s been telling his son that when he comes back to Mauritius to work he needs to give one day each month where he offer’s service free of charge to the poor. He was a really cool guy who I wasn’t sure of at first. Goes to show how things can change. From here we headed back to the ship by water taxi, but on the way we saw this rainbow over the city. It was so amazing and a great way to leave. Until we got to the ship and saw a huge line waiting to get on. Still Mauritius was great and I’m so surprised that I had never heard of it a few months ago.

On the Boat Photo's

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles - Tim Cahill

Days off here are rare.  You’re either traveling in port or going to class on the ship.  It seems that the few days with no classes aren’t even off.  The past 2 have been Semester at Sea traditions where there are things to participate in.

Sea Olympics:

          So instead of having different halls like a normal campus would here you’re divided into seas. (mine’s yellow, not the greatest name). Each sea forms a team to play in the Sea Olympics, hence the name. The winning sea gets bragging rights and they get off the boat first when we arrive in Florida. There are sign ups and each sea has a chant and a color (guess what mine was) and some are pretty impressive. I have to say the Bering Sea I think was my favorite; they had way to many good things, like the sea in black and ninja crabs. And the events are pretty fun, with limbo, tug-a-war, crab soccer, synchronized swimming and lip singing being included. Some were really impressive. The highlight however is that there’s a BBQ, which means good food. There’s usually a wait to get it but it’s worth it for burgers and ribs. It was a nice break, but there was still too much to do.

Neptune Day:

          Neptune Day is another day off but with activities to do. When you cross the Equator (which I have now done) there’s a tradition that’s states when you cross the equator you have to prove that you are no longer a pollyway and are a shellback back doing different tasks. These include getting fish guts poured on you, kissing a dead fish and shaving your head. It’s pretty fun.  There was actually another BBQ, this time with grilled chicken and steaks, which was amazing! And I would like to say that it seems to be a pretty equal amount of head shaving between guys and girls.

Other stuff:

Other days off also usually have something going on. There are country/continent days where there will be different seminars about issues in a country, and the dinner will be in the same theme. Yesterday was South Africa Day, which was fun.

There’s also lots of events going on. We usually have coffee houses and movie nights semi-regularly. Last night there was even a reading of On The Road done to music which was awesome. Best of all is that tonight is the crew talent show, which I’m so excited for. It should be amazing.

 

PS. Since last night Africa can be seen from the Starboard side of the ship (mine) which is just a whole new kind of crazy.

India Photos

I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world - Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey

I’ve traveled before this trip. I’ve been to foreign cities before. Yet when I experienced Vietnam and Cambodia I was in a truly foreign place for the first time. India’s like that too, it’s stepping into an old movie where there are markets, rickshaws and cows crowding the streets and you don’t want to know what you’re stepping into. It’s dirty and there is always something going on and someone’s always trying to grab your attention.

Chennai:

          The 1st port of India was Chennai which was known as Madras in the days of British colonization. The group of us (which started out at 7 but ended up at 9. Which worked out really well considering the best number to travel with is usually 3ish.) headed out determine to find somewhere to walk to without using the auto rickshaws that were everywhere. By the time we made it off of the main street we wandered through a marketish area and headed in to a restaurant for lunch. This was the best meal I had in India, it was good and unexpected with the random picking off the menu. From there we decided to head to one of the Hindu temples and grabbed 3 rickshaw drivers and went off. It was a good to find out that we all ended up in the same place. The temple didn’t open until 3, and by that time it was 2 so the lot of us wandered the area surrounding the temple. We wandered and most of us ended up buying drums from these drum venders who followed us around for the longest time. We also made friends with a group of children who were walking back from school. The temple finally opened and it was pretty colorful. After we all grabbed some ice cream and walked a ways to the beach, which was described to use early as a litter box. From there we ended up grabbing a few rickshaws, one of which was driven for a few minutes by one of the kids. Later on that night I tried to go see a Bollywood movie but they weren’t playing at the right times, which lead to an adventure where we all ended up on the beach again and got to ride horses. Not really what I associated with India before. We managed to fit 6 of us in an auto rickshaw where my roommate Amy got to drive on a highway for a bit. Interesting day.

 

Varanasi:

This started out with two flights before finally arriving in Varanasi. We all jumped on rickshaws, the normal ones and then we headed to the Ganges River for a ceremony. It took awhile to get there, traffic is crazy here with a mix of cars, bikes, motorcycles, people and animals ignoring the lanes they should be in, if they should even be in a lane at all. Up north also seems a lot poorer than the south. The South was still dirty and there was poverty the North seemed to just have more.  In both places you can’t escape the poverty, the second you leave the 5 star hotel you’re at it’s there. The River was amazing; there was a huge group of people there, a definite mix of tourist and worshipper. The ceremony included fire and incense with the 7 priest doing each movement in each direction. The River was even more amazing that morning when we got on boats to watch the sunrise. It was 4 am and everyone is already up and getting on with their day. When you got to the river everyone is either bathing and washing and just living. It was so cool, the river is calm and just amazing. I think this was one of my favorite parts of India. But as everything seems to be today it was still kinda touristy with vendor rowing their boat up to yours to try and sell what they had. At the end we stopped by where they cremate bodies, to put the ashes in the river. It was weird to see, and an awkward moment occurred when a gust of wind blew some of the ashes onto some people in my group.  It’s really hard to respond when you have someone’s body on you.  We had to walk through all of these alleys to make it back to the real road during which vendors swarm. It’s insane, they don’t leave you alone and you need to keep looking at where you’re going. We headed over to the spot where Buddha gave his first sermon and got to spend some time outside. It’s also really interesting to get around language barriers. I was talking to this one guy and the conversation could have meant so many different things, we understood main points but the details were all unclear, for us and probably for him in our responses back. From here we all had to make a flight back to Delhi which ended up being delayed for awhile and we got to hang out in the airport. (Airports and train stations in every country are always an experience; you can tell how ‘westernize’ a place is based on their transportation.) With the flight running late I didn’t see much of Delhi besides the Salt March Statue of Gandhi.

Agra:

          So to get to Agra from Delhi you have to take a train. If it’s on time it runs about two hours. The train station in Delhi, and again in Agra were a sight. A huge amount of people were sleeping on the floor at the station in Delhi. Just another way no one can avoid being confronted with how life is like to the majority of the population. Once getting to Agra we headed explored some ruins before making our way to the Red Fort, the palace where the Mughals lived and ruled. Here was also the first view of the Taj Mahal, which is already breathtaking from a distance. The Fort itself was cool to explore but everyone just really wanted to get to the Taj. We did finally make it, after waiting in line, but it was worth it. Pictures don’t do it justice by any means, yet you can’t stop taking them. Not only is the building itself gorgeous but the symmetry with the gate and the mosque and guest house, down to the detail with the marble inlay is beyond words. I made it into the Taj before I had to leave and that’s dimmer but no less stunning. It’s hard to describe.  The Taj is a masterpiece. In the Red Fort and the Taj there were flashbacks from the Forbidden City. It was the first time since China that people would ask to take pictures with you, but it was the only place in India where that happened. After forcing ourselves to leave we headed back to the train station where there were a lot of kids. I guess you learn to put blinders on.  It did help once I realized that all of the kids seemed to be giving what they got to two older kids. Still, you get way to use to having blinders.

 

Cochin:

          After the majority of the day was spent traveling I made it to Cochin to go out to dinner. It’s warmer here and I was starting to get tired of covering shoulders and knees. The next day I head out with another girl where we went in search of the Bollywood movie that I had missed. We found a theater but they weren’t playing any, only Hollywood films. We did find a place where we bought movies, so it ended up working out. We went for lunch at a place on a different island where we ran in to a good amount of SASer’s. From there we decided to try and play cricket with the group of guys playing in the field about a block away from where we ate. Instead we got to talking with these two rickshaw drivers. One of them never went to school in his life, yet watches CNN every day and can probably talk about current events better than I can after months in isolation. You learn a lot just talking to people. He mentioned that they get kickbacks for every shop they bring people too, which we knew but it was nice to be told up front. So we made a deal where they would show us around for free and we would stop in shops for them. We saw the fisherman’s Warf, and ginger factory and the Dutch palace, and kept meeting people in between. One of the salesmen was from Kashmir, and said that he hasn’t seen his family in 6 years. It put faces to conflicts. Our rickshaw driver also brought us to his home where we meet his wife and daughter which was amazing. We finally stopped our tour with a plan to play cricket. We interrupted one match where they let us try hitting and throwing once before carrying on with their game. The next group was much more welcoming and let us hit for awhile. They even tried to explain, though I’m still not sure if I get it. And that was my India.

Vietnam/Cambodia Photo's

Like all great travelers, I have seen more then I remember, and remember more than I have seen - Benjamin Disraeli

Good Morning Vietnam!

 

I only had two days in Vietnam before I had to leave for Cambodia, and I fell in love with it. It’s so different than anywhere I have been before and it’s so filled with life. I wish I had more time there, not only in Saigon but to travel around the country. 

 

Ho Chi Minh City:

 

          Day one was really about wandering Vietnam. And a key part of wandering is crossing the street. Now I’ve been afraid to cross streets before, namely in China where pedestrians don’t have the right of way. But here is a whole different story.  There are lights and traffic laws, but they come across more as guidelines, and aren’t enforced. So the first thing you get used to is how to cross the street. Before I continue with my lesson in crossing the street Vietnamese style, I should probably mention that motorcycle is a key form of transport here. It’s not uncommon to see four or five people riding on bike together. And when I say key I mean the whole street is filled with motorcycles. Now when crossing the street you look once to check and see if there are any cars in the area, you ignore the motorcycles because they will be there. Then you just start walking slowly without looking at traffic, because if you do you might have the urge to stop or walk faster and that’s bad. The motorcycles can easily move around you if you walk slowly and don’t stop.  After the first few times you start to get use to the motorcycles weaving around you.  

 

Anyway the first thing on the agenda was trying to find some tailors has getting dresses made in Vietnam is suppose to be the thing to do. We didn’t really find any great tailors but we walked around and found this small place for lunch. The city is really easy to travel around once you get used to crossing the street. The weather is also pretty hot and humid but nothing unmanageable. After we found our way to the War Remnants museum and on the way in we ran into one of our professors and his wife, who were clearly distressed by the museum.  I mean tears in their eyes and talking about how they knew things were going on but didn’t really at the same time. It was weird seeing their experience with the museum, as someone who lived through that era of our history.  (Here, by the way, the Vietnam War is called the American War) So with that in mind we went into the museum. The museum is mainly composed of pictures with description underneath. It’s pretty depressing, and also clearly biased.  There is nothing about the other side, only about the acts committed by American’s on innocent Vietnamese and such. But we did commit these acts and that needs to be acknowledged. This whole museum was just weird, but I’m glad I saw it.  But the bias definitely made me a bit uncomfortable, and was a clear reminder of what government is in charge here. After the war museum we headed down towards the main market. It’s under this dome thing and is packed with stuff, smells and is pretty hot. But it’s a lot of fun. Here you negotiate the price, like in China, but here they also accept American dollars. It’s just a lot of fun to get lost and barter the prices down.  There’s clothes, souvenirs and either really good fakes or stolen designer bags.  There are also many DVD’s which I did not find until the second day. After finally leaving the market we headed back towards the Rex hotel where there was a shuttle bus back to the ship, which was awesome after all of the walking. Then a few hours later a group of 11 of us went out with one of my friends moms. (There was a parent trip to Vietnam) After wandering the streets (not many places were prepared for 12 people) we ended up just eating on the street itself. (There are a bunch of places where people just cook food on the street and you can sit in these plastic little kids chairs and eat) The food was pretty good even though we weren’t sure what we were ordering.  This could be seen in the fact one of my friends got a whole chicken in a soupish thing. (For some reason Asia is pretty keen on keeping the chicken’s head on when they serve it. It happened in China a lot too.) But it was a great time. Walking back later was also the first experience with begging kids. One boy walked with us for a few blocks trying to get money. We kind of chalked it up to preparing for India but then Cambodia happened and it didn’t even compare.

 

 

The second day started out with the plan to head towards the Independence Palace (or Reunification Palace) and then go in search of a massage. These both ended up happening with a trip to the market first where I finally found the DVDs. I am now the proud owner of the full seasons of Friends and Scrubs, with the first 4 seasons of two other shows and all for around 45 dollars. I also may have brought a ‘complete’ set of Disney movies (149 movies) for 40 dollars. Mission accomplished. We made a stop for some Pho, this Vietnamese dish that I guess would be their version of chicken noodle soup. We then walked to the Palace and looked around but it was hard to know what the meaning of everything was without a guide. We did see the tanks that crashed through the gates that ended the war though. From here we wandered in the direction of the ship and found a massage place where a full body massage was 15 dollars. It was pretty awesome. Then we moved back to the ship where I switched groups and headed out towards dinner. I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of needing someone to tell me how exactly I’m supposed to eat my food. But it was good. The group then decided to get massages and I felt a little weird getting 2 massages in one day  ... so I just got a foot one instead. When we were finally ready to head back to the ship we decided to try taking the motorcycles back. It costs about 1 or 2 dollars and it was so much fun, and a little scary weaving around traffic. But it’s definitely something that needs to be done in Vietnam.

 

Cambodia:

 

The 3^rd day was when I left for Cambodia. It’s about a 40 minute plane ride to Phnom Penh where we started off. We saw the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, which was beautiful and then we did this sunset tour on the Mekong River. It was so pretty, and we got to see some floating houses where fishermen live. Right next door to those houses was an expensive house and was definitely the start of a really big divide between people that’s probably going to continue throughout this voyage. We then got to stop at an orphanage which was so much different than the one in Xi’an. There were about 100 kids, and we had time to play and hangout with them. It was hard to leave them all behind.

 

The next day we started out at the killing fields and then headed straight for the concentration camp that was used during Pal Pot. I’m glad I saw it. It feels so weird standing in places where people have died or been tortured, more so when you hear so little about the conflict. I have heard more about the disappeared in Argentina and the caravan of death in Chile than I have about this. And even those mentions have been few and far between. It’s so weird how history remembers some things more clearly than others. After this was the first interaction with the kids before. There were kids holding kids asking for money. It was one of the saddest things I’ve seen. There were about four or five of them and they would just follow you. 

 

We jumped on a plane for 20 minutes and made it to Siem Reap where the Temples of Angkor Wat is located. The next morning the majority got up to watch the sun rise at the temples. It was amazing. All the temples were amazing actually; the rest of the day was spent wandering through the ruins. It was also really hot, and there wasn’t a lot of shade. I was pretty happy to be on the way back to the airport after the day in the sun.

 

Cambodia was an experience and probably a good stepping stone into India. I’m glad I saw what I saw, but I wish there was more time to see Vietnam. I guess it means I’ll just have to come back there for an extended time.

 

And so ends a month in Asia. Within February I have made it to Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia. And now I’m back at classes for a week, taking Midterms and p