Japan

There was so much in Japan that I had wanted to see but just didn’t have enough to do it all. There is so much to do! Because we were arriving to Japan from China, the customs regulations were intense and long. The morning started out by getting our temperatures taken to make sure we were even allowed off the ship, then we had to wait around to be called by ID number to go through customs, this process started at about 8 am and didn’t end until nearly 1pm. Once I was allowed off the ship, I headed through the terminal, picked up my passport and some paperwork, waited in line to then have my picture taken, have my finger prints scanned and have my paperwork looked over. I don’t know how to put this, but Japan is kind of a big deal. (name that movie). Anyway once we were allowed to set off into Japan we hopped on a train that brought us from the terminal to the main part of the city of Kobe. From Kobe, we traded in our vouchers for Rail Passes and jumped on another train to the station Shin-Kobe, where the bullet trains left from, and from there set out to Hiroshima on the bullet train. We got to Hiroshima later then we’d hoped, the museum had just closed minutes ago, but being there was enough. We saw the Atomic Bomb Dome, and the memorial. The feeling there reminded me of the feeling I had while in the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam. Except here there was a certain calmness that I felt. Almost too peaceful, like an eerie feeling. We were really the only people walking around at the time, which was nice cause we could take our time and take it all in as we pleased. We decided after Hiroshima, and after dinner, to head back to the ship for the night and not to head out to Tokyo until the next morning. So at about 7 or 8 we headed back out the same route to Kobe- Shin Kobe- and hopped on the bullet train to Tokyo. About a 3-4 hour ride we all napped and restored our energy. When we got there, not realizing how big Tokyo is, we found an information booth to see where we should try to find a hotel. We head to the Roppongi District where the night life is suppose to be the best and find a hotel.. actually some capsules. We figure when in Rome and decide to check them out for the night.. how long would we really be sleeping anyway.. and what an experience it was. Men and Women are totally separate, women on the 4th floor and men on the 5th. There was a locker room type area with showers and a bathroom and then there were these rooms off of the communal space with rows of double decker capsules. Inside each one was a small bed with a tv and a curtain separating each from the next. So weird, so cool. We drop our stuff off, have some down time, and head out to our first Japanese Baseball game in the Tokyo Dome. Purchasing our tickets just the night before might give you an idea of where our seats were. We’re talking nosebleed section, but it was soo much fun, packed with semester at sea students we made it worth the hike up a billion stories of stairs. We saw the Swallows vs. the Giants, apparently rooting for the Giants cause that’s what shirt I bought, we lost, but no worries, the game was fun. That night we experience the eclectic Tokyo night life. The next morning, after a little confusion, being separated by gender with no alarm clocks the day happens when we all wake up on our own. We somehow all find each other and make our plans. We walk around Tokyo for a while, check out the Sony building which supposedly has some really cool technological advances, I wasn’t too impressed with it, and decided finally to catch a bullet train back to Kobe for the last night and day in port. After some much needed rest on that ride, we arrive at Shin-Kobe station and finally make our way back to the ship. We grab some dinner, rest up, and make our way out into Kobe for the night. Kobe looks so cool at night, all lit up, karaoke bars everywhere.. some interesting fashion styles. The next morning we set out to explore Kobe for a little, search for a tattoo parlor (don’t worry mom I didn’t get one) and then head back in time for on –ship time. I have to say, I was honestly expecting a lot more out of Japan then I got. But with so many amazing countries I almost felt like I was bound to find one that didn’t meet all my expectations. This trip has been so amazing, I can’t complain about one mediocre port out of the 12 I’ve visited and will still visit. Only Hawaii and Costa Rica left and of course the Panama Canal, which I’m super stoked for. Only a few more weeks left, but I can’t wait to get home and see everyone!! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading all my travels and I hope I’ve kept you all entertained. Talk to you soon!! Xo ker.

China!

China was Amazing! My group of friends and I have long been planning this trip.. 10 of us would be going on a guided tour of Beijing. On arrival to Hong Kong we decided to take it easy and check out an amusement park.. After a long confusing and frustrating journey through Hong Kong’s subway system we arrived at Ocean Park. As you could expect from any small asian amusement park.. it was interesting to say the least. We spent the day there riding roller coasters, checking out pandas, watching an acrobat show and just taking in this strange atmosphere. After the park we headed back to the ship and back out again for a city-wide light show, which happens every night.. grabbed some reeeallly good Chinese food, and headed out to find the Hong Kong night life. The next morning we all woke early to catch our flight to Beijing. The morning is kind of a blur of ferries, buses and planes, but we finally made it to Beijing just in time to catch some r&r at the airport until our whole group was together and we headed out to our hostel. After a confusing conversation between about 6 cab drivers all discussing our route to a destination were not quite sure even they know where it is.. we head out hopeful that our hostel lies in our future. Down an alley with our backpacks on our backs, passing a crowd of local men were pointed left.. we figure they probably know where we want to go.. not that we stick out or anything. We find our destination through a little red door. Through it, the narrow space opens up to a square doorways, all leading to bedrooms of bunk beds and bookshelves, this is house one of two.. and luck has it, we’re in the other room. We make our way on foot to the other house and take in the sites of this interesting little village were trekking through. Right as the sun was setting we found our home for the next two nights. There was a corridor with about 10 or so rooms, a kitchen, bathrooms and a main hangout room. Above one side of the hostel was a roof top hang out that was really cool and looked over the surrounding rooftops nearby. We split up into three groups.. one of six where we shared a small room of three bunk beds, a group of 3 together in their own room, and one who shared a room with another traveler. We had been traveling all day so we found a restaurant down the street where we had our first true Chinese meal. We were led to a room with a round table and a lazy Susan (which we would find at most restaurants) We ate family style and had some awesome and some really interesting food. After we headed back to the hostel, hung out on our rooftop hang out until we headed out for our first night out in Beijing. As always, an interesting night ensued. Our next morning began our guided tour with our amazing tour guide Hilda, or Hilder, depending on who you ask. Bright and early we pulled ourselves out of our amazingly uncomfortable bunk beds. Our first stop was Summer Palace. It was pretty.. I’m sure you’ll all see pictures at some point, because trying to explain everything I’ve seen on this trip around Beijing is just beyond possible. Anyway, Summer Palace, sacred place, ancient times, etc etc. Very pretty.. we were very tired and very hungry all these things kept us a little distracted. After a bus ride, a nap or two, passed some Olympic Buildings: the Birds Nest and the Water Cube. Onwards toward lunch.. which again was family style, plate after plate after plate of amazing food, twirling around a lazy Susan. I love Chinese Food. After lunch were back on our little personal bus slash van and its to The Forbidden City. Beginning at Tian’amen square, this series of buildings formed the quarters of the emperor, forbidden to the public. It is quite a stretch a took us a while to walk all the way through. The architecture was really cool and our tour guide was able to tell us a lot about its history. After eventually getting through the city we met our bus at the other end and were taken to a silk Market. We were shown how silk was made (really gross) and had some time to look around. After the market we stopped at another market, this one more of a bargaining place where we all did some shopping. After that we were back on the bus and were off to a Kung Fu Show. SOO cool. In this gorgeous theatre we watched as people broke boards with their heads and were held up by steel rods. I’m not really sure if I believe it was real of not but hey it looked really cool. After the show we were brought back to our hostel and hung out there for the night. The next morning, bright and early we started our day. Hilda picked us up and we headed to the Ming Tombs. Kind of a let down, really just a bunch of boxes underground, there was some cool stone carvings but mostly just smelly and hot and not all that interesting. From the Ming tombs we walked down ‘sacred way’. This was a walkway about a mile long lined with all kinds of stone statues of animals and emperors. After about 100 pictures and poses we found the end of the walk where our bus awaited us to bring us to lunch. More good food, more traveling. Now we would make our way to the Great Wall. Sleeping took up most of this bud ride and in about 3+ hours we were at the wall, the part we would be starting at was called Jinshaling, I think. Something similar to that if its wrong. We took a short hike up to a tower to watch the sunset and then we made our way back down for a dinner with our wall-guides and we all had some home cooked Chinese food and oh yeah 5000 dumplings. No joke there must have been one plate of 30 dumplings for each person at the table. That night, with some drinks to help with the cold, we made our way to where we would be sleeping on the wall. We get to a tower with sleeping bags and nestle in for our night on the great wall. It was awesome. The next morning at 6 the hike began. We took a short bus ride and started our way from the end of the wall to meet up with the rest of the group later.. the views were absolutely amazing. Once we all met up, we took a zip-line down over the Simatai river, and then a boat down a little farther to where the bus would be picking us up. It was definitely something I’ll always remember doing. A quick stop for lunch, most of us dreading the idea of another meal of Chinese food, after were back into the bus and were headed to the train station for our overnight train to Shanghai. But first we would be stopping for an Amazing foot massage. After which were all in a state of absolute relaxation. We beg Hilda to bring us to Subway, which she does and after we grab some food we get to the train station, get our tickets.. say goodbye to Hilda and find our cabins on the train. The cabins are in sets of 4, so most of us are split up but end up hanging out together the whole time anyway. The cabins are about 500 degrees.. apparently our cars air conditioning doesn’t work, which is perfect. We stay in the dinning car until we head to bed. We would be arriving in Shanghai at about 730. We wake up just in time to a women yelling at us telling us to get off.. we assume we should probably hurry up. We grab everything as fast as we can and get off the train.. we did well, we’re in Shanghai. We manage somehow to get a cab, and it’s a shot in the dark until we see our MV Explorer peeking its head out between the skyscrapers. Home sweet home. Back on the ship just in time for breakfast, that just made our morning. A few more necessary hours of sleep and we make our way out into Shanghai for our last day in port. We explore the city for a while, see some sights, and head back to the ship for some much anticipated ship food.. while at sea we hate it, but when you’ve been eating Chinese food for 5 days straight you can appreciate a good grill cheese. It hits the spot, and then its to bed after an exhausting time in China. Next up, Japan, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

Vietnam

My first thoughts when I visualize Vietnam come from war stories. The movies I’ve seen and the stories I’ve been told, and what I’ve learned in school. All of this was washed out the window with my first step into my new city, Ho Chi Mihn City. As usual, our first day out in port was spend exploring the unknown. A shuttle from the port takes us into the main part of the city, my first observation is the realization that there is no English here. And I’m curious as to how the language barrier, if one, will come into play. The streets are absolutely mobbed with motorbikes. All riders clad with helmets and face masks. We decide to make our first quest in Vietnam the Cu Chi Tunnels. Notorious from the war, these series of tunnels were created and used by the Viet Cong to navigate under ground right under the feet of American Soldiers. This was just the beginning of what would turn out to be an eye-opening country. What I think about the tour we took through the tunnels is something like a confusing foreign theme park. With our tour guide giggling and smiling the entire time as she showed us the weapons that took the lives of thousands of Americans and asked us if we wanted our pictures taken in front of a war tank.. Smirks came after we were told about the narrow holes that allowed the Vietnamese to gain entry to the tunnels, but were much to tight for the average American to get through. We were a little taken by this to say the least, with looks back and forth to each like, did she just say that? We were able to get down in the tunnels and feel what it was like to be down there, hot sweaty musty dark to name a few. While we struggled to be down there for only a few minutes, people lived down there for weeks at a time during the war, unbelievable. Loud gun shots caught us off guard and we all flinched at the crack.. tourists were offered the opportunity to shoot off AK-47s. Really? This is freakin bizarre. That night we decide we need to do a little letting loose, that was an intense day.. We find Apocalypse Now, a well known night life spot that is packed with semester at sea-ers. We find our way upstairs and grab a table.. little by little we start to realize our surroundings.. We’re in a war setting. We’re sitting at ammunition barrels as tables and chairs, the ceiling is lined with barbed wire and the bar is lined with sand bags. This day keeps getting weirder. Day two is a good day. Me and Lindsey do a solid day of shopping, our bargaining skills are improving (thanks Dad). We get some custom tailored clothes, something that we were told by SAS Alums is a must.. and have some amazing Vietnamese food. We head back drop all our stuff off and set off for night two in Vietnam, always an interesting feat. Half the fun of our journeys around the city are the rides on the motorbikes.. with dollar rides anywhere around the city it’s the fastest, most fun and easiest way to travel. Day three gets me up early for a overnight trip to the Mekong Delta. This two day trip turns out to be a really fun trip and as always.. full of surprises. About half hour into our journey our bus driver, named Two, pulls over and walks away from our bus. Hm, ok. Soo, now what. Apparently he wasn’t into it anymore.. Cut to 45 minutes later and we’re back on the road with driver number two.. we don’t ask questions, we just go with it. We get to the River where we’ll take a boat up to a floating market and check out a coconut candy factory. Our Tour guide, Twin, leads us to the Happy Room, because after you use it, your happy. This held to be funny the entire trip. The floating market isn’t all that exciting considering its late morning and most interaction happens early in the morning.. we’ll check out another one earlier tomorrow morning. The coconut candy factory which also makes ‘popped rice’ like popcorn but with rice.. and rice cakes which are delicious.. I take a back seat to trying the coconut candy because of the banana in it but hear its delicious. We have the box lunch semester at sea has so graciously supplied us complete with a hard boiled egg, a mystery meat sammy, and a collection of other interesting goods most of which we add to a community pile that some kids take hold of. After boxed lunch we’re back on our little Mekong Delta boat and we’re cruising for about an hour crossing the river. We see all kinds of interesting sights while cruising and have a nice small group so it’s a good time to all get to know each other. When we get to the other side, we’re told we’ll be met by our bus. Shocker, where is the bus. We take advantage of yet another break and grab some drinks and relax on the Mekong. Cut to a half an hour later and the bus has arrived, with a little surprise, we’re back to driver one, whose name is Two. Number one task for Two, besides finally retrieving us, and besides hopefully staying on the bus this time, is pulling out of this miniscule area we’ve found our 50-person bus in. We nearly kill a motorbiker, hit a car multiple times, dent the back of the bus, and almost take down a gate, but all is well cause we’re on our way. Next up is the ferry ride. We separate yet again from our bus, which always makes us a little nervous in fear Two will not retreieve us.. But we cross the river, only about a 10 minute ferry ride, and wait on the other end for the bus to get across.. when it arrives we take a quick ride into the city of Can Tho where our hotel is right on the Mekong Delta. We have some free time so we check out some of the city, the market and relax with some diet cokes on the river doing some people watching. We all meet back up for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant which is AMAZING. Like this Tomato soup was mind blowing, (if you’ve had the chance to experience Cheese Shop Tomato Soup, you know what kind of goodness I’m talking about ) anyway we also have lots of other great food and after all go out together for some drinks. A few of us head back to the hotel to get not only our free welcome drink before the bar closes but get the full Vietnam experience which absolutely includes a traditional massage. Now, I’m not the most pampered person in the world .. so I don’t know standard massage protocol, but I’m pretty sure this wasn’t it.. I’ll spare you any detailed description but I’ll just say the massage was amazing, the 1000 degree sauna session was unnecessary and the public-esque shower was more then I bargained for. With that under our belts, we went back to our hotel rooms and exchanged stories for obvious reasons.. we pretty much matched so we felt a little better and after a cleansing shower, in more ways then one, we fell asleep to some Vietnamese TV. The next morning we wake up to yet another delicious meal, complete with omelets, spaghetti, and lo mein. Obviously a delish meal. Next up is an early morning trip to the biggest Floating Market on the Mekong.. It is such an awesome thing to see. These people live on their boats, and sell their items from a separate boat. Most are selling fruits and vegetables, some with coolers of drinks, and some making full out meals. Our driver let us sit up on the roof so we could get great pictures and we stopped to try some amazing pineapples. After we traveled back to Can Tho where we stopped at some museum that kept our interest for about 5 minutes until Lindsey and I snuck out and did a little exploring on our own, lastly we stopped at a Pagoda which was really cool and we we’re back on the bus and made our five hour trek back to Ho Chi Minh City. All in all an awesome trip, met some great people, and got to know others better. We were now back in Ho Chi Minh for the night, and the next day we would need to back on the ship by 9. Our last day was a whirlwind of fitting everything else in. After grabbing some breakfast slash lunch on the ship I found some people to make my way out into the city with- We got some Japan rail passes because you can’t purchase them in Japan, and jumped on some motorbikes and headed to the War Remnants Museum. If there is ever a time where intense is too light of a word, this was it. Around the museum were tanks and jets and all that, but what pulled me in were the photographs. With each new image the nausea I felt greatened. The world I just walked into was not what I was ready for. So much processing needed to happen, it was an amazingly overwhelming experience and I had to leave to be able to even begin to understand the things I just saw. With that I needed a little bit of fresh air to say the least. I jumped on a bike and headed to a market to do some independent exploring and take some of what I just saw in. A spring roll really helped (have I mentioned the spring rolls here? Amazing.) With some last minute shopping taken care of I met up with my Vietnam travel partner the one and only Lindsey O’Hare and had a delectable final meal in Vietnam. Back on the ship we dropped our things off and headed to the bar that was so conveniently placed right outside the gangway. We all did some final Vietnam celebrating, complete with a honk from Doc Browns don’t make stupid choices horn, and headed back on the ship for a two day trip until we’d be gracing China with our presence!

Malaysia

Malaysia was well, just another experience to add to my list of things to figure out. Once again, with little knowledge on the country I had little to pull from to make any kind of predetermined expectations. My first three days were already planned out for me, a homestay in a village in southern Penang. Well, judging from my semester at sea itinerary, I had some ideas of what might happen.. how naïve of me. We start out a little delayed, because the port is too shallow to dock in, we are anchored about 10 minutes from shore, where we have to take tenders back and forth to leave and come back to the ship. This is a hastle and I’m glad we don’t have to do this again, however I can say I’ve been in the life boats which is kind of cool. ANYway, we venture out, with out group of 40 to a village where God knows what awaits us. On arrival, we’re greeted with smiles and children peeking out from behind their mothers legs. We walk through a line of percussion which is a traditional way of greeting into a tent covering rows of chairs of which we all grab a seat. Banners advertising the homestay program hang from all the walls and we would find out later all over the village. We’re a little confused by the commercialized aspect of what we were made to believe was suppose to be a ‘traditional’ homestay. We’re greeted by the leader of the program, then the head of the village. We’re then handed over to our families, I meet my Mom for the next few days, who is not any taller then me and speaks no English, this is going to be interesting. The house I’m staying in is actually the main meetinghouse, no families actually live here, confusion is starting to set in, but nothing I can’t handle, yet. Time has been set out to meet our families and start to get to know them. Seeing how there is no common language, and at this point, I’m not even really sure where my mother i, we are encouraged by someone passing through to nap until lunch.. hm, ok. I’m woken up from a much needed nap by a five year old who must’ve tip toed into the room. Lunch’s ready. We sit at the table (In this house I’m staying with three other girls who are also in this same confusing situation) where we are bombarded with dishes of food. Like, we’re talking more food then is even necessary for 8 people, and we’re 4. We dig in, still new to the culture where it is polite to eat with your right hand, we’re given silverware. Wow this is spicy. We’re sitting at this table, surrounded by 3-4 women just staring at us, watching us eat, its kind of strange, but I go with it. Smiling seems to be a good way to set the mood of this awkward state of affairs. They laugh at us for reasons we’re not sure of but we smile anyway; it would probably be funny if I knew what it was.
After putting out the fire in my mouth, we head out to meet up with the group again and play some traditional Malay games. Well, games are usually fun, but not when its 90 degrees out and your playing for 3 hours. ‘rocks’ gets old after about 3 minutes. We’re getting through this though. We spin some tops that could pass for weapons, make some peacocks out of paper cups. It’s a good time, but lets move on. We are shown traditional cake baking, where they give us some of their amazing treats they makes in the bakery here. We watch, and some of us try, the methods they use to make cakes and treats. After, We take a walk through the herb garden that runs along the village. Hundreds of different kinds of herbs and spices and fruits and vegetables. I taste some fruits I’ve never even heard of but their good and I really don’t want to go back to playing rocks. We take a stop at a medicine house. They use a lot of the natural herbs to make juices and remedies for the body. We head back through the rain .. its so hot and humid that at any moment it just starts raining.. we’re talking heavy downpour, and then all the sudden it stops.. bizarre. So we head back to our houses, us to our orphanage.. We find no one, except for a younger girl, Shema, she’s our sister and shes speaks English, Thank God. We hang out with Shema who pretty much becomes our family for the day until we congregate again for a dinner and a cultural show. The dinner is so delicious, if there’s one thing I can say about this trip its that they fed us more then I’ve ever eaten in a three-day span. The cultural show is great. All the dances are performed by the kids who have been learning these traditional dances for quite a while. Some looked so young, but danced so well. Some of us were invited on the stage to dance along with the children and learn some of the dances. It was a fun night and after we headed to bed, unaware of what the next day would bring us. We wake up at about 8 for yet another home cooked meal, though I’m aware of my sensitive stomach, I have been venturing out with no reservations on this trip to get the full experience of each country, and wow does Malaysia have some tastes. Though I didn’t go for the entire fried fish that set in front of me, eyes and bones included, I tried most of what was offered to me. I’d have to say, without exaggeration, my mouth was on fire for the majority of my stay in Penang. After breakfast we had a day of activities planned. Our first stop was at a Goat Farm. I’m not even going to go into detail of this experience. There was a baby goat. There was a barn of male goats, there was a barn of female goats, the goats were loud and they smelled.. it was 9 am and this was not really my cup of tea. We boarded a bus and headed to a rice field. It was a big field, it was really hot. I don’t recall taking too much more out of this stop.. next up, an Ostrich Farm. This kept our interest for about 3 minutes as the freakishly large eyed birds lunged towards us over the gates, these birds are creepy and semi dangerous. We leave the 3 foot grass field to a building with a Batik-making area. Batik is a traditional form of art in Malaysia, its so gorgeous. They take pieces of silk, on a type of stretcher, and use hot wax to make outlines of the designs, then they use ink that is absorbed in the fabric and spreads to the wax lining. We watched a demonstration, it was really cool to see done, the end results are so pretty. They make all kinds of things with this technique.. t-shirts, sarongs, wallets, and much more. Back on the bus and on to our next destination. A fish market. This day keeps getting better and better. I saw some fish, it wasn’t the kind of exciting fish Market you might think of with a hustling and bustling type atmosphere.. there were maybe 10 people around at their shops.. we found a little shop and had a little power nap, a soda.. And then we were served lunch.. chicken. Chicken at the fish market. Oook. We’re back on the bus and we’re now heading to the beach. Now you might think the beach would be the perfect stop right now.. given the sweating, the goats, the ostriches, the fish, etc.. Don’t get me wrong, the beach is gorgeous.. but when the water is calling your name, and you cant go in, it’s a little rough. So we sit, and look at the gorgeous water.. and wait. About an hour later we’re all heading down the beach to play some traditional Malay games. I’m not sure if these we’re actually traditional Malay games.. or just a twisted plot to entertain our tour guides. These games included traveling a distance on 3 bricks, without touching the sand.. potato sack races, sticking our faces in flour to find candies, filling sponges with water to fill bottles.. im sure there we’re more but after about 2 hours of this most of us were spent, covered in a mix of sweat and flour that created a sort of paper mache mask covering my body. I’m glad I missed laundry day on the ship.. Some people were greeted at the beach by their families.. we were not so we headed back on the bus to our ‘home’. Where I would now have the highlight of my trip to Malaysia. Given I was covered in materials some unknown to even me, I was in desperate need of a shower. I had noted previously that their was no shower head in the bathroom, but I didn’t give it too much thought.. what I did note, was a tub-like-sink in the corner of the bathroom.. with a bright pink ladle floating in it. Oh yes, this is the shower. Standing next to the squatter.. did I mention that, there was no toilet, only a squatter.. I’m now a pro.. anyway, just standing in the bathroom I began my adventure, my first ladle shower since I was six, and my mom cupped water over my head to get the shampoo out of my hair. A task I’d hope to not have to take again any time soon, but none the less.. an awesome shower. It was one of the most therapeutic showers I’ve ever had.. and out of all the chaos and confusion that was my homestay so far, this hit the spot like nothing else could have. Feeling like a million bucks, freshly cleaned and smelling good, Teagan and I take on some traditional game playing of our own.. some . We find our sister Shema and hang out with her for a while, this trip is starting to look up a little. We play some games and visit Shemas house that’s actually under construction (which is why we’ve been staying at the main house) We watch some Malaysian soap operas and take a walk. We spend some time with our family, meet our Dad, and we go for a drive. They take us up to the top of this mountain that has incredible views.. absolutely gorgeous.. and head back to the house to meet up with the rest of the group who is heading to a night market, our family offers to drive us so we can make up for some missed time and we decide to stay with them. We have such a good time hanging out with them and wish that the rest of the trip had been more like this.. this is more of what we expected the trip to be like.. asking questions and exchanging cultural differences and the like. We went to these awesome night markets, stands just lined the streets with food and canal street-like goods.. bags, wallets, clothes, but mostly food.. really really good food. Shema told us all the good stuff to eat and let me know what was spicy and what I could probably handle.. by the end of the trip I didn’t even need to ask anymore, she would just let me know what was spicy before I even opened my mouth. After this market we headed to another market, this one flooding the street like I’ve never seen, the booths just stretched on for miles.. we didn’t have too much time here but spending time with Shema and the parentals was a lot of fun, on the way back we stopped at a little 24 hour food stop and had some more amazing food.. these people know how to eat. We get back to the house pretty late and navigate through sleeping children on the floor to our rooms and hit the bed and fall asleep. We plan to wake up early the next morning to see Shema off to camp, have some breakfast with her, and go back to bed until the bus is set to leave at 10. We have one more ceremony before we leave where they give us all kinds of parting gifts.. our mom gives us these gorgeous scarves.. And we’re back on the bus, heading back to the ship. All in all, an experience to say the least, what started off slow and hardly tolerable turned out to be a really fun trip and we really got to know our family pretty well.. I just got a email from Shema the other day and I plan on keeping in touch with her.. Back on the ship we grab some lunch and get right back out.. there’s a certain feeling of waste when your in another country, sitting on the ship. So our next destination in the mall. With all this Malaysian culture and experience we just needed some retail therapy in the most western place we could find.. a mall, perfect. We bring our computers and do some serious startbucks/internet surfing for a few hours. This was absolutely necessary. Back on the ship for the night we decide to take it easy and watch one of our newly purchased DVDs .. Darjeerling Limited.. if you haven’t seen it, watch it.. or wait for me to get home and I will watch it with you.. ok. In our two days left in this country we decide to keep it in the tourist arena. We are overwhelmed beyond comprehension.. so we justify anything we want to do with the whirlwind of a homestay we just went through. We get a hotel room in Batu Ferengghi, a tourist destination lined with five star hotels and gorgeous beaches. It’s the perfect wrap up to this trip. We check out the area around our hotel, walk the beach, and do some Para Sailing. It is soo awesome and I want to do it a million times more. We grab some dinner and head out to the phenomenon that is the night market. Miles of handbags, clothes, DVDs, artwork, and everything you could think of. We kill a good 4-5 hours here before retiring to our hotel room for an amazing night of sleep in our air conditioned rooms, with tv, and ice. Ha, its truly a night of royalty compared to our standard living on this trip. The next day the weather is soo nice, we hang out around the pool for the most of the day and grab some great Malaysian food before heading back to the ship.. Because of the tendering back and forth to shore, we decide to just stay on ship until on-ship time, have some bland ship food, and hang around exchanging stories from everyone’s travels. Yet again, a port that leaves everyone in a state of perplexity and urging to understand. With only three days before our next port of call, Vietnam, its likely this feeling will continue until our 2 week journey on the ship after Japan.. Hope you all enjoy reading what I’ve got to say.. this one was quite a story.. and I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about the next few countries. Cant wait to see you all in May!! Love always, ker.

Blog Update

If you have already read the Mauritius, India or Ship Blogs, please go back and read again. New photos have been posted.

-Uncle Andy

Comprehending India *

The thought of trying to describe India in this blog is absolutely daunting. The things I experience are more then difficult to put into words. We docked in Chennai, on the east coast of India; upon arrival, a stench so intense, and so thick filled out lungs and went straight to my stomach. I’m now nervous for this adventure.

My first day I have no plans, so we venture into Chennai, a city that doesn’t even meet the air quality standards for India, which has the lowest in the world. We walk off the gangway and are immediately hit with a feeling of confusion. We’re swarmed by men offering us rides around the city in their rickshaws and taxis. Overwhelmed. We settle on a driver and head out to do some shopping. The mall is more like an indoor street shop. There are a bunch of small cramped shops packed to the brink with pashminas, saris, and hundreds of other tourist type goods as well as your daily needs.. pots and pans, luggage, and birthday cards. Some halls led to another section of shopping, others led you to a dead end. At no point did we have a clear idea of where we were within the mall. But we found our way out and once again began the wrangle for a rickshaw.

Now, let me tell you about these rickshaws. Think of a motorcycle, with three wheels, with a top over it. We saw our lives flash before our eyes on a momentary basis while clinging for safety. Your also lucky if your driver actually brings you to where you want to go. Its likely he wont, which we began to accept. We take shelter in the safe confines of our ship until we feel prepared enough to venture out again. Our next little adventure throws us through the ringer. We are taken to about 3 places we don’t want to go and never end up in the place we intended on reaching. Frustrated and on edge.. we realize this is India, take a deep breathe a move on.

Always an adventure with semester at sea. We found relaxation and ease in the confines of our floating home and spent the rest of the night reflecting and taking everything in. A few hours later at about 330 in the morning I made my way to the airport on a trip to Delhi/Agra/ Taj Mahal. The airport security separated men from women, which we would find to be a common aspect of Indian life. On arrival to Delhi we are greeted by our tour guides and start our city tour. Exhausted from our first day out in Chennai and an early wake up call, we struggled to stay awake while our guide spit out facts about the city and the culture. We would have a long day of traveling ahead of us, including a 5 hour drive to Agra; but we would see a lot of city life in Delhi although through the window of our tour bus. Our first stop was at Qutab Mahal, a religious site with amazing architecture and detail.

Next stop was at a Cashmere shop.. we were given tea and biscuits and were shown these amazing hand crafted wool and silk rugs that were just absolutely gorgeous.. they started at about 600 dollars and ran up to 20, 000 plus, sorry mom, out of my price range. Lunch was at a catering hall with a buffet style Indian meal and it was back on the bus.. We get to our hotel after a solid 5 hour bus ride.. Our hotel was beautiful. After seeing poverty all day its hard to just walk into a five star hotel without thinking about what we had been seeing and experiencing all day. We had delicious food, more then any of us could ever eat..
and hung around the hotel until our wake up call at about 4 30am. We would see the Taj for the first time at sunrise. Our bus took us as close as it could to the Taj where we would be escorted by ‘battery buses’. Because the area around the Taj is a eco friendly zone, there is no diesel buses etc. allowed near it.

Nearing the front gate we receive shoe coverings that we would need to put on to step up on the Taj to preserve the marble. The Taj Mahal is incredible. I know a lot of my describing seems so general but its so hard to articulate a lot that I’ve experienced here. It is unlike any place I’ve ever been. When we reach the actual Taj Mahal building, we throw on our shoe covers, a lot of people take their shoes off as well, stacks of shoes line the walkway to the stairwell. We climb the stairs and we are on the Taj. An experience unlike any other.. In the morning the majority of the people there were semester at sea students.. but we would return later that day to catch the sunset and the vibe would be totally different from the morning visit. After the Taj we headed back to the bus and its back to the hotel for another amazing meal.. After we head out to Fatepor Sikri, this is an abandon city built buy the same creator of the Taj Mahal. It was an interesting little collection of buildings, corridors, and towers.. we explored and found abandoned buildings, pitch black halls and some monkeys too.

It was incredible how many animals I saw while in India.. the amount might even rival my African safari.. elephants, camels, bulls, buffalo, dogs and cows. And the cows. Wow. Cows just wandering the city like it was a grassy field. Because cows are holy here, they are not used for their meat and their use for work is beginning to be unnecessary though we did see some pulling wagons around the city. Nothing I’ve realized in this write up will do any justice to my visit.. my pictures aren’t much better in terms of portraying an experience. There is only one way to understand India and that is to be there. Although I’m not sure whether understand is the right word.. because I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. So we visit Fatepor Sikri, grab lunch and head off to Agra Fort. We don’t spend too much time here, it’s a lot of ground to cover and we don’t have to much time.. So we’re back on the bus and we’re wrapping up our Taj tour on a sunset visit. The experience of the Taj now, with hundreds of more people, is a totally different experience. The light has changed, the mood is new.. it’s just not the same as before. The walk back to the bus this time proves to be an experience all of its own. Men and children swarm us, selling us souvenirs .. tshirts, post cards, jewelry, etc. Insistent doesn’t even begin to describe the persistence of these sellers. We get to the bus and head to the bus station with our boxed dinners.

The train station would be without a doubt one of the more intense interactions I would have with India. We collect food to give to kids.. I have a box in my hand as I walk off the bus, and my stomach is in my throat, nervous for whats to come. I hand out oranges and juices and sandwiches the light in their faces illuminates and my knots untie, I feel like I want to do more but im out of food. I start breaking up breakfast bars and handing them out. The kids will take the food and run and hide so the other kids don’t steal it from them. A train comes through the station, packed like I’ve never seen a train packed before. Hands and arms hang from windows and doorways. All you can do is watch, purely astounded. Our two hour train ride is a necessary time for me to take in what I’ve just gone through, I write to help get out whatever it is that is choking me up. There’s only so much you can put into words sometimes.

On arrival back to Delhi we reach our hotel late, yet another amazing hotel and with all we’ve seen today, shaking the guilt of staying in a lavish hotel is a task and a half. This hotel takes us out of the India we just saw.. am I in vegas.. a mall? I don’t know, we find a club down a hall of the lobby and spent the night dancing to Indian techno. The next morning we met up for an afternoon wrap up tour of Delhi. We saw some sacred sites.. but the lack of sleep on the trip was starting to catch up with everyone so staying awake was one of the toughest parts. We stopped at the Gandhi memorial and eventually headed to the airport for our flight back to Chennai. After a few delays, we made our way to our plane and had a two hour flight to Chennai, and an hour bus ride later we arrived, exhausted to the MV Explorer.

The next day I woke up early to get in one more full day in Chennai. We ventured out, did some serious shopping, bargaining, and felt much more confident in our Indian explorations. Our rickshaw driver stayed with us the whole day and showed us some of the city we’ve yet to see.
We stopped at a temple that was really cool to see, we took our shoes off and our tour guide gave us markings on our foreheads.. he did a really great job of letting us in on the culture and explaining everything to us. We got back on the ship in time to get some much anticipated ship food and at 11 we were departing from port.

I’m still processing everything I experience in India. Its hard to express a lot of what I saw and felt, we had a post-port open mic the next day after India where people came and shared stories and encounters and interactions. It was a really great thing to do because people were able to put into words things that I had been unable to do, and I felt a definite lift off my chest after the session which just shows how important it is to talk about these events that we go through and share them with people who may have been feeling the same way. India was such a growing experience and its hard not to describe any other way but culture shock. In two days I’ll be in Malaysia where I’ll be doing a three day homestay, which I’m beyond excited for because I was unable to do as much service work as I felt I should’ve in India. Stay tuned for more stories and adventures.. and I’ll leave you with this poem I wrote..

India Untitled

Boxes stacked high on the backs of beaten bikes, Children at my feet, starving.
Hand to mouth, tear filled eyes.
Millions of motorcycles moving,
Dodging pedestrians donned in Saris.
Fields festering with garbage,
An Indian safari, Squatters,
Our taxi driver points, “poor mans house”, Holy Cows, The MV Explorer discount.
Taj Mahal, wondering what it means to me.
Sidewalk barbershops,
Garbage lines the streets we walk;
Animals eat,
People rummage.
Feet caked in dirt,
Body cased in an unfamiliar odor.
Trains packed to the brink,
Arms, legs hanging from windows and doors.
The uneasy feeling that fills my stomach When I see the kids who have nothing in theirs.
India spells culture shock.

Spring Break in Mauritius *

Mauritius. Well what can I say about this little Tropical Island that I’m sure hardly anyone has even heard of. We rented a villa for our 4 day stay in a part called Flik en Flak. Besides being totally swamped with semester at sea students, it was a really fun time and basically became our spring break.

The people we rented the villa from were really wonderful and so welcoming. Everyday they made us breakfast, and at night everyone got together for a family style meal, cooked by none other then Chef Sandy. The first day, after getting my 6 hours of dock time out of the way (which I got for being late to my safari) We headed over to the villa.. Ours turned out to be really nice, compared to other peoples, probably could have done without the cockroaches but its hard to complain when your spending hardly any money for a house, for a week, with your friends, having an amazing time.. The next morning we had to wake up rrreally early to get a ride back to the ship to go on a Catamaran trip. We went out all day, barbequed, snorkeled, and lied out on the boat and had a great time. I felt so incredibly content all day and just thought about how perfect everything is.

The next day we hung out on the beach all day, did some shopping and just relaxed until we had yet another delicious dinner at Sandy’s.

The nightlife was fun although it was basically a semester at sea gathering- but since your still meeting new people everyday, Its always a new experience.. Our last day there we slept in and set out for some food, until we needed to get back for our shuttle back to the ship. We spent our last day in Port Louis, at the waterfront, walking around, there were a lot of markets and people just out on the street selling random things; it reminded me a lot of china town, in the sense of the atmosphere..there were a lot of people- selling those types of goods. Mauritius had a very heavy Indian- influence that I noticed a lot in the architecture.. All in all, not so much of a learning experience as much as a mini vacation.. which is just fine with me. Next up is India where I’ll be headed to the Taj Mahal which should be amazing and hopefully ill get some service visits in. Hope all is well with everyone.. feel free to email me .. keg@udel.edu I love getting mail too!! Hope you enjoy the pictures..Talk to you all soon!

General Information

Hi Everyone,

Just a couple of administration notes:

• Kerry has provided a lot of new pictures and asked that they be posted on previous posts. So if you have already read the old posts take another look and check out the pictures.
• I have added a * to the end of the post title if it contains pictures so you know to check them out again.
• One other quick note that some might find helpful is the option at the bottom of the blog page that allows you to subscribe to the blog so that it will pop up in Outlook just like a new email via an RSS feed. (please feel free to email me - andy@agodfrey.com - if you have questions.

Uncle Andy

Glimpses of Ship Life *

Animal house

Neptune day

Sleeping on the deck pulling into Puerto Rico

Dinner for Lauren's birthday.

First Look at South Africa *

Helicopter tour

Oh holy South Africa. My only regret is that we couldn’t have spend a crap load of more time there. We woke up before the sun to watch us pull into port, cape town was lit up bright down below table mountain which takes hold of the scenery. Our first day we pretty much left up to exploring the waterfront, which was the area where we were ported. We did some shopping at the local craft markets and found some great buys. That night we had an amazing dinner and had our first taste of South African night life.

Cape Town from a helicopter

The next day I took a trip to a township, walked around and interacted with the people who lived there. The kids were so cute and loved us taking their pictures. After we headed over to District six, which is a area of cape town that during the apartheid was totally demolished, and everyone living there was evacuated. A museum in its memory has been filled with street signs, photos, and other memorabilia from the sight that is now just rubble. Our last stop was a trip to Robbins Island, which was where Nelson Mandela was held for 19 years. All the tour guides were ex prisoners and still currently live on the island, where we were told the ex guards still readily visit. We saw Mandela’s cell and were told a lot of interesting history of the sight. On our ferry ride we saw some whales, dolphins, and seals which was a pretty sweet added bonus. The next day I left for my safari at Kruger park. We stayed at Sabie River resort which was so gorgeous. They treated us wonderfully. The food was all traditional African food and was so delicious. We tried ostrich and had a whole lot of barbequed meat and all kinds of other goodness. Out on the Safaris we saw a lot of animals. We were especially looking for what are known as the ‘big five’ which are lions, buffalo, elephant, rhino, and leopards. We only saw two of the five, which was a bummer but we also saw giraffes, zebras, a whole lot of impalas, croc, hyiena however you spell that, and a few other random animals. All in all it was a great trip and how could you ever complain about taking a safari in Africa? Exactly.

Dancers during our dinner

So moving on. On the last day of our safari we had some free time before our flight back to Cape Town so someone took the initiative to set up a trip to a township. I’m tempted to say that this was the best part of my safari trip. Our guides first took us to a spiritual healer. She performed some of her rituals and our guide explained everything to us, then she let us check out her house and surrounding huts. It was such a cool thing to get to see. Our next stop was Ringetani village. There the boys and girls performed their dancing rituals for us. The girls sang beautifully and the boys danced, and pulled us up with them and showed us some of their moves. Everyone was all dancing together. Then they showed us all of their daily chores and activities, the games they play, and how they spend their time. Some of us tried out their chores and realized how much hard work is put into keeping a village together..These were such amazing once in a life time opportunities and just makes me realize how amazing lucky I am. Getting back from Kruger we headed straight out from the ship to a dinner our friends had reserved at Moyo, which was a tree top restaurant that was soo good.

Township women

Our table was up in a tree, there was great music being played by African people who would come by our table and play for us. The whole thing was amazing and it was fun to get back with the group and tell each other all our stories from our different trips. That night we went to a club with no semester at sea kids which was awesome and met a bunch of locals. Our last day in port we had a million things we wanted to do.

Cape Town, South Africa township

Table Mountain

Hike Table Mountain, skydive, see penguins, and a list of other things. Unfortunately none of this actually happened. We did however get some good meals in, took advantage of some free internet, and hung around until we had to be back on the ship- explanations for all this to be given at a later date. Back on the ship we had an amazing opportunity to watch a high school choir perform for us. They were so amazingly talented. All in all, Africa was great, and leaving it was tough. But next stop is Mauritius and its looking to be like spring break semester at sea. Cant wait. Xxoo Keg on the high seas.

Mentally preparing for the helicopter ride

Greetings from Brazil! *

Hola, Tudu Bain! Brazil was Amazing! Of course it was, every country on this glorious trip I’m taking is Amazing!.. Before getting into Brazil we took a few classes to brush up on my non-existent Portuguese. It came in so much handy in port.. The first day there we did some exploring of Salvador.

Salvador, Brazil

The city is gorgeous, the steep mountains are just lined with houses and buildings and although the city is very poor, the spirit of the people there is so inspiring. As you walk through the cobble stone streets the beautiful architecture towers above you, your eyes are just jumping all around. We found a little café and had some good food and then started to celebrate Carnival! To get into the main part of the town we were in, you had to take this elevator up. It was really strange but really cool. When you get to the top the view of the water and marina is so pretty. That night we went out for one of the most fun experiences of my life.

Getting ready for Carnival

Carnival was about 3 million people dancing and drinking in the streets. Music everywhere, streets were just packed to capacity. It was really amazing. These huge trucks with speakers drove through the streets with bands and people dancing everywhere.

Carnival

The people of Salvador were so great and so welcoming and none of us really felt unsafe our entire stay.

Carnival

The next few days we hung around Salvador, did some shopping, had some great food and drinks, and went to the beach.. It was a good port to spend a few days in and relax. One night we went to a club futbol game.. Bahia vs. Poçoes. The game was so much fun. We sat with a bunch of local people and cheered along and really got into it. We chimed in when they sang their cheer.. well, the chorus, which was BAHIA! BAHIA! BAHIA!.. and that’s all we really could figure out. The last day we just hung around did some more shopping and checked out one of the churches. There is just so much interesting history in the city, I could’ve stayed a lot longer and would’ve checked out a lot more or the city. Now we’re back on the boat.. back to work ..

Me and Teagan

slaving away, sun bathing.. etc. Next stop, South Africa, where I’ll be safari-ing at Kruger and doing some service work. Pictures take way too long to upload, but hopefully at some point I’ll be able to find an internet café to take care of that in. Talk to you all soon!

Group shot

Reporting from Puerto Rico *

Our hike in the rainforest

HEY!! Sorry I’ve taken so long to get this thing up and going. Its really nice having absolutely no internet, email, etc. in your life for days at a time. But I’m finally ready to spill.

This trip has been utterly amazing. There has not been one low point thus far. I feel like I’ve been aboard for weeks, when in actuality it’s been only about 13 days. I’ve found a great group of people and am still meeting people everyday. Life on the boat is great. I only have classes every other day .. the rest of my hours are filled with sun bathing and eating moderately delicious meals. My classes are pretty decent .. a poetry workshop, art history- sacred sites, and a lame history course that may be the partial death of me and my only complaint on this entire experience so far.

Our first port was Puerto Rico.. which was Amazing. Traveling to all these remarkable countries I definitely under estimated the potential of Puerto Rico. The night before pulling into port we grab blankets and sleeping bags and sleep out on the deck to catch the sunset and the first glimpse of land.. it's incredible and we decide it should be a tradition on every night before port. Our first day we ventured into El Yunque rainforest to do some hiking. La coca was our first waterfall stop, the second stop at Yokahu Tower, we climbed to the top and saw some great views of San Juan. Our last stop was at La Mina falls.. Breathtaking.

Hiking in El Yunque

We swam in the water and relaxed under these amazing falls. On our route back our cab driver let us in on Puerto Rico’s most amazing gift.. Chicken on a stick, and Medalla. I wont even go into detail on these two products because there are no words. That night was our first taste of Puerto Rican night life where we found some great local bars and a popular karaoke night where we sang our voices away. The next day we woke early and headed to the beach, Isla Verde. Surrounded by resorts and hotels it’s a big tourist spot but it was gorgeous..

Swimming under the waterfalls

That night I did a trip to bioluminescent bay where the water actually illuminates because of the micro organisms that live in the water. Our tour guide, Captain Suarez, was so incredible, and although the state has outlawed swimming in these waters, Suarez let us take a dip and we swam and glowed in the pitch black night. It was an amazing experience and kept having to remind myself we were still in port numero uno. The next day we venture our into old san juan and find a great little café stuck in the middle of a busy street. The food is mind-blowing and the food coma sets in. We walk it off and spend the rest of our time in port before having to be back on the ship sitting on a cliff over looking the water. Since leaving Puerto Rico we’ve been in class, hardly working, and working on that tan. I haven’t one complaint in the world. We’re pulling into Brazil tomorrow morning just in time to catch the last day, and the best day, of Carnival, the biggest party in the world. I don’t have too many plans in Brazil besides a futbol game, tasting all the local food, swimming at all the beaches, and having an amazing time. Letters and emails are great!! Semesteratsea.com has a send a postcard link, this site is free for me and is perfect for sending emails. Thanks for following me on my journey and hopefully my next entry will be even more exciting and a little more timely.

Xo from the high seas

–ker.

send me a letter for old times sake

I've got some great news for all you avid letter writers out there.. get writing because, wait for it.. Yes! You can write to me! I've attached the address of the semester at sea site where you can find a lot of information about the trip but more importantly the addresses to all the ports I'll be docking in.We all know how great it is to get mail so get those pens flowing and send some goodness across seas.

http://semesteratsea.com/voyages/spring2008/sp2008_communicatewship.html

Itinerary

Nassau, Bahamas

Depart January 23

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Arrive January 26

Depart January 28

Salvador, Brazil

Arrive February 5

Depart February 9

Cape Town, South Africa

Arrive February 19

Depart February 24

Port Louis, Mauritius

Arrive March 1

Depart March 4

Chennai, India

Arrive March 11

Depart March 15

Penang, Malaysia

Arrive March 19

Depart March 23

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Arrive March 27

Depart April 1

Hong Kong

Arrive April 3

Depart April4

Shanghai, China

Arrive April 7

Depart April 8

Kobe, Japan

Arrive April 11

Depart April 14

Honolulu, Hawaii

Arrive April 22

Depart April 22

Transit Panama Canal

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Arrive May 3

Depart May 4

Miami Florida 

Arrive May 9

Intro and Prep

Getting ready to set sail.

We cast off on January 23 from Nassau in the Bahamas. 

First stop: Puerto Rico

Keep coming back to track the world voyage. 

Feel free to e-mail me at keg@udel.edu

Enjoy!