Cape Town, South Africa

        It seems to be the general consensus of the ship that Cape Town was the best port.  I don’t agree with this.  I loved my time in Cape Town, but it can’t compare to a port like India or Ho Chi Minh City.  Cape Town was very western and touristy.  It was very expensive as well.  I spent the entire first day touring power plants on a Semester at Sea trip for one of my classes.  I wouldn’t call this a complete waste of time because it was very interesting, but when you only have five days to see an entire country power plants aren’t at the top of the list of things to do. 
        By the time I got back from the field trip it was already night, and I had lost track of the friends I had planed on meeting up with.  Once again I left sticky notes on doors and waited for calls to my room.  Eventually I made it out for the night with a few friends.  Everyone went to Long Street every night we were in Cape Town.  It was a street about ten minutes away from the ship and lined with bars restaurants and clubs.  Walking up and down the street popping into different places I would constantly run into other SASers (Semester at Sea’ers) without fail.  I ended up in a bar called Dubliners because from the street I heard their live band playing Queen and Lynyrd Skynyrd.  I would much rather dance to that than most of the music that is played in the other clubs and bars.  One good thing about Cape Town being very touristy is that there were always interesting people to meet and talk to.  I spent the first night in South Africa talking to and dancing with Steuart from Scotland who was studying abroad to write a term paper.  In the next few nights I met people from France, Germany and Spain.  I also met an entire rugby team from Argentina.  Every night was a late one and every morning was painfully early, but it was worth it. 
        I went up Table Mountain on the second day.  I was hoping to do some rock climbing, but wasn’t able to pull it together in time.  I would have needed to hire a guide for the ropes and the shoe rental.  That would have been an amazing experience, but taking the cable cart up the mountain was nice anyway.  The view from the top was incredible and of course complete with a gift shop and an overpriced restaurant. 
        The next day I went shark diving.  One of the coolest things I’ve ever done.  The sharks would come inches away and stare me right in the eye.  Their eyes are strikingly black, and I could feel them looking right into mine.  Sensing that connection with a shark was incredible.   We spent the entire day on the boat taking turns being in the cage attached to the side.  The cage was long and skinny. Seven people could go diving at the same time.  We wore wet suits and goggles.  When in the cage we had no idea where the sharks were.  We had to rely on the people on the boat to tell us when to duck under to see them.  They would swim at us out of nowhere, following the bait tied to a rope.  Every time I was in the cage I got the best place, meaning I got the corner where the sharks came closest.  This was because the six others in the cage with me were more than a bit nervous.  Every time a shark came by I would hold myself under and put my nose right up to the wire of the cage and wait for my heart to skip a beat.  It was very easy to slip up and let a hand or foot outside the cage, this happened to me a few times.  I still have all my limbs though, I promise.  It was extremely hard to stop myself from sticking my finger just one centimeter outside the cage to touch a shark fin.
        We ended that exhausting day with another late night on Long Street.  It was my 20th birthday at midnight and I was in a club called Ivy League at the time.  People surrounded me singing happy birthday, then came a mess of free drinks and dancing.  I ended my night at Dubliners only after buying the most delicious hot dog I’ve ever tasted from a street vender. I went back and got another one the next night. 
        The day of my birthday was a relaxing one.  We didn’t really do much at all.  I had wanted to go to Stellenboche to taste wine and pet cheetahs, but it was over an hour away.  I had plans to go out to dinner with a group of people so I didn’t have enough time to make it all the way to Stellenboche and back.  During the day we took a bus tour of the city and went to a market.  I bought a skirt from a street vender.  The skirt said made in India on it, and I remember seeing it in India but being too cheap to buy it.  I paid about three times as much for it in South Africa then I would have in India.  The night of my birthday, I went to dinner with a huge group of people then went back to explore Long Street some more. 
        The last day in South Africa we set out to see Hout Bay.  On the way there we drove by a beautiful area with a little town and nice beach so we asked our cabbie to just drop us off there.  After only a few hours it was already time to head back to the ship. 

Mauritius

        Mauritius was the spring break for Semester at Sea students.  The ship docked in Port Louis, which is on the northern side of the Island.  The minute we were allowed off the ship I got a cab across the island with two friends.  Our plans were to check into a hotel and spend the day on the beach.  We just relaxed and walked along the shore all day.  Its such a beautiful place. 
        A few friends were supposed to meet us at the hotel later that night.  A van filled with about fifteen people show up and expected to check into the two rooms we had reserved.   This clearly did not work out.  The hotel knew we were trying to squeeze more than 4 people in each room.  I ended up sleeping on the beach, in a lounge chair.  After about nine o’clock the hotel wouldn’t let any of us back into our rooms. Only a few people got to stay in the rooms there was a lot of free space and all of our stuff was in there as well. I would’ve loved to been able to grab my sweatshirt and put long pants on but they wouldn’t allow it.  It was extremely windy all night, which made the beach seem very cold.  I shared a lounge chair with a friend to keep warm and barely was able to drift off into a light sleep. 
        The stars were unbelievable.  Looking up at the night sky it seemed as if the stars were only inches away from my eyes.  Even though I was kicked out of my own hotel room, it was a privilege to wake up to such a beautiful sight as the sunrise on a Mauritius beach. Well after the sun had completely risen, our friends finally tore themselves away from the comfy hotel beds.  They went to the complimentary hotel breakfast and stuffed their pockets with croissants for the rest of us.  They were delicious.  Now on to Cape Town South Africa!
       

waiting...

Oh the fishes will laugh As they swim out of the path And the seagulls they'll be smiling And the rocks on the sand Will proudly stand The Hour that the Ship Comes in...I quote Dylan...
  we will be docking in Ghana tomorrow! almost there, getting impatient...

!

If you want it you can have it but you've gotta learn to reach out there and grab it

: )

It seems that everywhere I go the more I see the less I know

India

We woke up on the train around 05:30, brushed our teeth, and jumped out into Alwaye station.  Nipin’s friend was waiting for us on the platform.  He didn’t speak English very well, but he smiled and waved excitedly when he saw us.  He had us follow him to a bus stop and talked to the bus driver for us.  When he found the correct bus, we shook hands, thanked him, and waved goodbye.  That bus ride was very intense and over four hours long.  We were going extremely fast and weaving around all other traffic.  Generally people only drive on the correct side of the road when there are vehicles on the other side.  Munnar is in a mountainous area, so the road was steep and extremely windy, as in twisty, not breezy.  Every time the driver would speed around a tight corner he would just blow his horn as a warning, instead of staying on his side of the road.  When we got on the bus it was only the two of us, and a little old man sitting in the way back.  We were squeezing into a seat for two people, so I decided to move since the bus was so empty.  The minuet I got up the man jumped up from the back and ran over to sit right next to James.  It was hilarious the way the man was awkwardly invading James’ personal space for no reason at all.  I start laughing at him because he clearly didn’t know what to do about the situation.  He ended up moving over to my row of seats after about ten minuets.  People started piling into the bus as we made our way up the mountains. 
        Munnar was beautiful.  I wouldn’t be satisfied with any selection of words I could possibly think up to describe it.  Rolling hills covered in low-lying bright green shrubs stretched on endlessly.  Because of the high altitude the weather was comfortable, and almost on the cool side during dusk and dawn. 
        James and I walked around the little town and got some food.  I got a chicken sandwich and a cup of tea for 35 Rupees, that’s like 80 cents.  Munnar is famous for its tea, as it should be.  The tea there was delicious.  After eating we found a small outdoor adventure company.  We went outdoor rock climbing with a guide.  It was a very small wall, I would rate it a 5.6.  I double checked the guide’s knots and set up before I decided to trust him.  So far I have climbed at The Gunks, New York and Munnar, India, next up Table Mountain, South Africa.  I hope to find a guide to take a small group climbing when we’re in Cape Town.  Anyway, climbing was great except for the fact that he didn’t rent out shoes and I had to go in my Converse.  It was James’ first experience with outdoor climbing.  The minuet he got his feet back on the ground he exclaimed that it was absolutely terrifying.  I don’t think he’s going to be much of a climber, which is unfortunate because he goes to school in Boulder, Colorado.  I’m going to have to make my way over there for climbing sometime in my life. 
        We walked around the mountaintop and had some tea before looking for a place to sleep.  We found a little home stay that was more like an extremely cheap hotel.  There was a street filled with little shops and restaurants.  We happened to stroll by a restaurant that was recommended in the Lonely Planet, and stopped in for dinner.  I finally found my favorite dish, chicken tikka masala.  I ordered that, raita, naan, tea, and a coke.  Everything was delicious and it cost about five dollars.  After dinner we walked around the shops for a while.  We found an Internet place and went online.  James was taking a long time checking his facebook so I decided to venture out by myself for some shopping.  I was getting quite a reaction from people by walking around without a male companion.  An Indian man basically asked me to be his wife, and he managed to do it in a very nice, un-creepy way.  After a short while I couldn’t manage all the attention I was getting so I headed back to where James was.  The two of us walked back to our room in the dark there weren’t any streetlights.  We arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 06:00 and were sleeping by 21:00.
        The next morning we had a four-hour taxi ride to Thekkady.  This is almost directly south of Munnar.  As soon as we arrived at our next hostel we just dropped our backpacks off and left to go ride an elephant.  James and I shared an elephant for a half hour ride through the jungle.  Her name was Maria, and she was 35 years old.  The trainers tied a mat with handles on Maria’s back.  James and I climbed into a shed on stilts to get on her.  We had two trainers walk us through the path in the forest.  One was instructing Maria, the other was running around with my camera taking pictures of us. 
        After the elephant ride we took a tour of a spice garden.  That place was incredible.  These are just a few of the goods the owner produced: pepper, lemongrass, allspice, mimosa, tomato, cardamom, nutmeg, coffee, coconut, rice, honey, alovera, papaya, jackfruit, lemons, eggfruit, pineapple, clove, chilipeppers, and cinnamon.  The owner took us into his home to show us how he processed the cardamom and other spices on his own.  He also showed us his system of using methane from cow manure for cooking fuel.  The owner was very smart and clearly loved what he did.  I bought a pint of honey, and a bottle of alovera from his wife. 
        Later that day we took a riverboat safari.  We got on a small boat in the Thekkady Tiger Reserve, and saw wild elephants and other animals.  We didn’t see any tigers though.  People rarely see tigers there.  The trail back from the boat passed a small beach completely filled with frogs.  Frogs weren’t just covering the ground, but were stacked on top of each other in some parts.  They were hopping all over the place.  It was like a beach covered in millions of tiny bouncing pebbles.  Walking back to our rickshaw driver we saw maybe ten monkeys.  They were walking with us or running and jumping over our heads through the trees. 
        We were exhausted from such a packed day.  After grabbing some dinner, we walked around the town for a while before going to bed.  We had arranged for a taxi to pick us up and bring us to Alleppy at 08:00 the next morning.  This was another four-hour cab ride.  Halfway through we stopped at a little roadside coffee and tea place.  The front looked like a rundown shack, but when you went through to the back it opened up to a porch with a gorgeous view of the mountains.  We were on the side of the mountain so the porch was on stilts and jetting out into the scenery. 
        We got to Alleppy around noon and rented a houseboat for the day, and through to the next morning.  It was an entire day of relaxing and enjoying the surroundings.  The boat had a bedroom, kitchen and a dining and lounging area that was outside.  It was just James and me, and the chef and driver.  We were served lunch and went to shore to walk around a small village.  The whole day was spent lounging and eating.  We had done so much and had been so many different places that we really needed to just relax for a day.  The chef caught fish from the river and fried it up for our dinner.  It was absolutely delicious.  Every meal had about five different dishes, and rice.  The stars were the brightest I’ve ever seen before.  There was a mosquito net over the bed, and geckos running all over the ceiling.  I woke up to the birds the next morning.  They sing a slightly different song in India. 
        We ate breakfast on the boat and then departed to make our way to Cochin. We walked over a mile looking for the bus station.  It was very confusing so it took us quite a while to find the correct bus.  It was a two-hour bumpy ride to Cochin.  Every time I see the ship after being away for so long I think home at last.  It was very comforting to turn that corner and see our ship there waiting for us.  India has been my favorite country so far.  I absolutely love Kerala.  People would wave and smile at us all the time.  Everyone wanted us to see them and for us to wave and smile back.  I’m going to miss all the beautiful colors of India.  The buildings would be painted lime green, bright teal and magenta.  All of the fabric was gorgeous.  Even the men’s business shirts were made out of strikingly detailed materials.  I’m definitely going to miss the food.  It is normal to just eat with your hands, no matter how messy it gets.  I don’t think I could get a cup of tea in the states quite like one I got in Munnar.  The landscape is magnificent and in every direction is something new and exciting.  I’m going to miss that Indian head bob people do sometimes while your talking to them.  It’s very distracting. You just have to stop and wonder how they are moving their head in that way.  I’ve tried to imitate it, but it’s just not the same at all.  I Know I will be back in India sometime in my life. 

        So I’m back on the ship once again.  We have five days until Mauritius.  I’ve started to really love these long stretches between ports.  Our journey has passed the halfway point, so we are now officially on our way home.  I just don’t want this to end.  I’m trying my hardest to take in as much of this experience as possible before it’s all over.   I absolutely loved India.  I need to go back someday.  Six days is not enough time to see such an incredible country.  I need to spend at least a month or two there. 
        I spent the first ay in India in Chennai.  Our group of four went to the Pondy Bazaar.  It took quite a while for us to persuade our rickshaw driver to take us to the correct place.  There are expensive, air-conditioned, fancy tourist shops all over.  The rickshaw drivers have some type of deal with these stores.  The drivers get paid every time they bring in a group of tourists.  If you’re not stern enough with them they will drive you around to those shops all day.  We got some food in a shopping plaza we set up a time to meet the driver to go to the next place.  After eating we went to the bazaar and then our driver met up with us to take us back to the port.
        I was basically forced to litter I feel so badly about it.  Bailey and I had plastic cups and spoons from the gelato we had finished.  Our driver was picking us up to go to the Bazaar, but we started to go off looking for a trashcan.  He said no stop and pointed at the curb.  There was tons of other trash on the street, but that doesn’t make littering any less horrible.  Bailey and I said no, no just wait a minuet, but he insisted, and then we insisted.  Our friend who was with us told us we were being disrespectful because we had attracted quite a crowd who were all telling us to just drop our trash.  So we just put it on the curb and climbed in the rickshaw.  I wonder how long our plastic gelato cups will be kicking around the streets of Chennai.  That was extremely aggravating. 
        The Pondy Bazaar was packed with people and little stands selling all sorts of things.  I bought a bright teal shirt with embroidery on its high neckline.  I noticed a man sitting on a bucket by the sidewalk who had a cup of henna mixture, and made my way over to him.  Bailey and I both got henna tattoos.  He covered our entire hands with beautiful intricate designs, and only wanted 50 rupees for it.  That’s just over one USD.  He was overly excited when we tipped him 20 rupees.  Our rickshaw driver found us just as we were finishing up with the tattoos. 
        We had agreed at the beginning we would pay him 400 for the day.   When he dropped us off about a mile from the port he demanded more money.  The drivers are aware that a ship full of American students are coming in and out of the port, and that most will have a lot of money.  The drivers will name high prices and some get forceful trying to get all the money out of us that they can.  Our driver was insisting we owed him more money even though earlier we had clearly decided it was going to be 400.  There was one guy in our group, Kevin, so the driver was only talking to him because that’s how it always works in India.  Kevin was trying to solve the issue, but the conversation was just going around in circles.  I was getting impatient and decided to jump in and end the argument.  I just simply and firmly told the driver no you said 400, we’re paying you 400, and then started walking away.  The group walked away with me.  The driver was extremely taken back by me talking to him that way.  He knew we were from the ship and just thought he could rip us off.
        I got back on the ship and immediately met up with James, the person I would be travelling with.  The two of us jumped in a rickshaw and headed for Chennai Central Station with hopes of getting an overnight train to Cochin.  The train station was quite an experience.  I wish I had stopped to take a picture but I was too preoccupied with being lost and confused looking for the tourist booth.  The building was enormous and completely filled with smoke.  There were people sitting and sleeping all over the place, trash and stray dogs were everywhere as well.  Children and handicapped people were following us asking for money. 
        We wondered around for about an hour before we found a sign that said “tourist”.   We went up a staircase, past three sleeping stray dogs, took a left and saw a man in an empty room except for his desk and old computer.  He got us tickets on the next train to Cochin.  We were very lucky because we had just made it in time.  We went to a booth to buy food for the ride.  I got rice and pointed at some dumpling looking things to buy.  Everything was extremely spicy.  I bought a package of cookies.  They were delicious, even better than Oreos.  We had a little room on the train with two mini bunk beds and a fold up table.  James and I chose our beds and then stared reading his Lonely Planet travel guide to decide what we were doing when we got off the train.  It was 19:30 and we were expecting to be in Cochin around 06:30.   Two other men stayed in our room.  One was named Nipin, he was an engineer working on a project for NASA.  He spoke English very well and helped us plan out our time in India.  Cochin is in the state of Kerala.  I think Kerala is such a beautiful name.  Anyway, Nipin knew a lot about Kerala and gave us some great advice.  He told us we should actually get off at Alwaye, the stop before Cochin, and to head strait to Munnar.  We ended up doing just that.  His friend was also getting off at Alwaye, so he made sure we got on the right bus that would take us to Munnar.  I actually slept very well that night.  I couldn’t believe what I was doing.  I was on a train going across India, no phone, no contacts in India, no idea where I would be sleeping the next night, and basically just my passport, journal and camera with me.  

Vietnam

        Cambodia was an amazing experience, but I missed out on Vietnam.  When I got back from Cambodia I ran around the ship leaving sticky notes on everyone’s doors.  With no cell phones, we rely on little notes to meet up with friends.  I went strait to bed and waited for the phone to ring.  I slept through two phone calls, about 18 hours.  I was so exhausted.  I desperately needed to catch up on sleep.  I only had a day and a night in Vietnam.  That definitely was not enough time.  I went to the market place and bought some “real” dvds and a “silk” robe.  I rode on the back of a motorbike three times.   The traffic there was terrifying.  Crossing the street was definitely an experience.  You just had to go for it and the bikes and cars would just weave around you without slowing down.  The bikes would almost run over your toes, they got so close to you.  No one stopped for red lights.  They would just blow their horn as they sped through.  You would see entire families on one motorbike.  Four or five people piled on one bike including young children and babies.  The ship has been cleared and I’m free to go into Chennai so I’m writing this extremely fast.  I am hopefully hopping on an overnight train to Cochin tonight.  If my tickets are still waitlisted I’m going to look for a bus, or maybe take taxies across India.  I’m pretty sure the overnight train will work out though.  In any case I will somehow make my way to Cochin within the next few days.  I hope to ride an elephant and buy some fabric.  I’ll let you know how that worked out when I get back in about a week. 

Cambodia

We first flew to Phnom Penh.  Little children would crowd our busses as we were getting on and off. They were trying to sell bracelets, postcards, little trinkets, or were just asking for money.  There were just so many of them, and they were so young.  Our tour guide instructed us, for various reasons, not to buy anything or give them money.  I gave one of them the Coke I was drinking.  I just couldn’t drink it in front of them.  We visited temples and palaces, and had a boat ride on the Mekong.  There were floating villages at the edges.  These were illegal immigrants that didn’t own land so they just built their homes to float on the river.  We went to the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields.  There just aren’t any words to describe this experience.  Our tour guide was named Soca, and he lost almost his entire family in the genocide when he was 6 years old.  You could tell it was difficult for him to be in those places, trying to describe the situation to a group of people with no clue about it.  Standing in the entrance of the Killing Fields he stopped our group and said you and I are all standing here in the same place but are feeling very differently.
        We took a flight to Angkor and saw the Temples the next day.  I woke up at 445 in the morning to go to Angkor Wat and see the sunrise.  When we got there it was still pitch black, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.  The only light came from the tour guide’s flashlight up at the front of the group.  I was just looking at my feet so I wouldn’t trip in the dark, but then I stopped and looked up.  I was standing on the front steps of Angkor Wat and hadn’t even realized it.  The massive temple was looming over me, just a black silhouette in front of an almost black sky.  The group sat on the lawn waiting for the sun to come up.  I went in my own direction, which was towards the temple.  I went and explored the temple by myself just before the sunrise, so I could see just a little bit.  There were many long corridors and colonnades to choose from.  The one I chose ended up having some sort of animal at the end that was making a weird noise.  It was probably just a bird, but it was creepy yet somehow peaceful the way it echoed through the darkness towards me.  There was light coming in near the end of the corridor.  I walked towards it, it was a doorway.  When I went through I was standing behind a do not enter sign, oops.  I was looking at the group of people sitting on the lawn taking pictures of the sunrise over the temple.  They were so far away no one could see me.  I wonder if I was in any of their pictures.  I didn’t want to miss the sunrise so I quickly found my way back out of the temple.  There were other smaller temples in front of Angkor Wat.  I walked over to one of those temples and sat my camera down on the ruin for some long exposure photographs of the sunrise. 
        Later in the day we toured the Ta Prohm Temple.  There were huge trees growing all over this temple.  The tree roots looked like they were spilling down the sides of the ruins.  I just need to put pictures up.  I’m going to look for internet later today.  Currently I am sitting on the ship waiting to go through customs, and to be let into India.   After seeing Ta Prohm we went back to Angkor Wat.  We entered through a different gate then we had that morning.  There we monkeys everywhere.  I bought bananas from a lady on the side of the road and fed them to the monkeys. 
        The heat and humidity was stifling.  I’ve never been so incredibly hot before in my life.  There was a huge staircase that everyone, including me, wanted pictures on.  I sprinted up and down those stairs about ten times to take pictures and to pose for my own.  After viewing Angkor Wat in the daylight we went to Angkor Thom.  Cambodia was amazing.  This is a short and sweet ending to my Cambodia update because I’m running out of time.  Hopefully I’ll be stepping off the ship into Chennai within the half hour. 

Hong Kong

Hong Kong      
          When we arrived we exchanged our Yuan for Hong Kong dollars and jumped on a bullet train to Hong Kong.   We decided to find a hostel rite away so we could drop our bags off.  This turned into a challenge.  The part of the city we were in was described as a backpacker’s paradise in our Lonely Planet travel guide.  The streets were lined with small markets selling electronics and little tourist trinkets.  People handing out pamphlets and selling fake Rolexes would follow us for blocks.  We were young, American, and all had backpacks, that definitely caught their attention and raised their hopes that we might buy something from them.  Walking down the street we passed dingy bars and shops that were directly next to fancy restaurants.  It was strange there was such a mix of stores and restaurants all in the same area.                                                           
        We eventually found a hostel, the Garden Hostel.  This place was on the third floor of a huge, very old, falling apart building.  There were cats and dumpsters in the hallways.  I can’t even begin to describe the smells.  Parts of the building were open to the outside weather, breeze, and cats.  I don’t know if that was on purpose, but it looked like the building was just falling apart and people set up camp in it.  Laundry was strung about and people were cooking strange food in the courtyard where the dumpsters were.  All in all it was a strange, situation.  I think it was 50-70 Hong Kong dollars each, so about 7-10 USD.  Our room had a pair of dilapidated bunk beds with extremely thin pads to sleep on, no sheets, and no blankets.  Once again there was no heat, but it was worse because the windows were breezy.  Also, there was a toilet in the shower.  You get what you pay for.  That night I slept in every piece of clothing I had including my socks and sneakers. 
        We all dropped off our backpacks and went out for the night.  I brought my passport and camera, the only important things from my backpack.  We went to dinner in a nice restaurant.  I noticed in China, Cambodia, and Vietnam, when sausage is on a menu it basically means hot dog.  After dinner we took a sightseeing ride on Star Ferry.  There was a light show going on.  All the buildings were lit up with pictures and lasers.  Maybe when I get to Chennai tomorrow I can put up some pictures.  After the ferry we went to an Irish pub, in Hong Kong.  Inside it was just as if we were back in the states.  Hong Kong is a very diverse city.  Walking down the sidewalk you see people of all types speaking many different languages.  This wasn’t so in Shanghai, or Japan.  We walked around the city for hours that night.  We were in an area with small shops and dingy bars.  So we were really surprised when we saw a Ferrari parked on the street.  After staring at the Ferrari we turned the corner and found a guy passed out on the sidewalk. 
        He was about 20 and had clearly passed out from drinking, judging by the pile of puke a few feet away.  He was laying flat on his back strait as a board with his arms crossed, feet pointing strait up, and head back facing strait up.  Just laying like that all by himself at 2 in the morning.  So we decided to try to wake him up and see if he was all right.  It wasn’t working at all, so I suggest we roll him on his side incase he pukes again.  We were looking for someone who would call an ambulance or something, because none of us have phones.  Trying to wake him, we lifted up his eyelids.  His eyeballs were almost completely rolled back into his head.  He seemed completely comatose.  James, who’s from London, decided that judging by the brands of his clothing, and the fact that he was passed out all by himself on the sidewalk in Hong Kong, that he was definitely British.  The kid finally woke up and jumped to his feet.  We asked where are you staying tonight, he says London, in a British accent.  We say no, you’re in Hong Kong, where are you sleeping tonight, he again says very loud and clear London!  He then starts walking down the sidewalk, stumbling about.  We follow him for a bit making sure he gets across the street all right.  There was nothing else we could do, he kept saying no when we offered help.  We eventually made our way back to our hostel around 3 in the morning. 
        We woke up Saturday morning, took the Star Ferry, and went up to Victoria Peak.  There is a beautiful view of the city from the top.  There are a few restaurants and tourist shops up there.  We sat and had a smoothie while enjoying the Hong Kong skyline.  We walked on a path through the woods on the peak.  After an hour or two of hiking along the path we took the shuttle back down the mountain.  We jumped into a cab and couldn’t believe what we saw.  The kid from the night before was walking down the sidewalk, still alone, but at least he made it through the night. 
        Our goal for the day was to find a different Hostel.  We found a very nice one with heat, mattresses and blankets.  We went to a street that our travel guide suggested to go; I wish I could remember the name.  We met two guys from Montreal and they showed us around for a while.  They took us to a Russian ice bar.  We all wore huge fur coats that the bar had.  We also met people from Spain and Nigeria.  The street was insanely crowded with people. I guess it was the place to be on a Saturday night in Hong Kong. 
        We had another late morning.  By that time the ship had made it to Hong Kong, so we went back “home” to shower and meet up with people who had traveled on the ship.  I’m so happy we traveled independently to Honk Kong.  We got two extra days there.  My Cambodia and Vietnam post will be up later today, hopefully. 

Shanghai

     The first day in china we walked around seeing the sights.  There was a group of 5 people, James, Seth, Drew, Mike, and me.  Our plans were to spend some time in Shanghai then get to Hong Kong to meet the ship there.  If we didn’t make it to Hong Kong in time to get on the ship it would be a disaster.  We spent a long time looking for an Internet café, or any way possible to get online.  We finally found a place.  It was a huge dark room filled with cigarette smoke and rows of computers.  After quite a lot of research we decided on buying flights to Hong Kong.  Once we got that out of the way we could relax and enjoy the few days we had in Shanghai. 
          China is extremely different from Japan.  Comparing to Japan, China was very hectic and unorganized.  It seemed normal for people walking by to shove past, barging into you with their shoulder to get by.  This wouldn’t happen in Japan.  People steer clear from human contact, and have an order to the way they move around each other.  China had a lot more trash floating around the streets.  Japan had virtually no litter, and no trashcans around either.  China had about three trashcans every block yet trash all over the place. 
     We walked down a street filled with little market places selling fake IPods and electronics.  I didn’t buy anything there.  So far in my travels I haven’t bought much at all.  After walking through the markets we turned down this little alleyway lined with people cooking in woks on the street.  Some of the food was very strange looking.  I’m very fortunate not to have any allergies or food restrictions.  I have no idea what that lady was putting in her wok, but I gave her 7 Yuan and devoured it.  It was very good.  They brought us into their little inside room with a few tables and gave us each a beer.  They knew we weren’t from around there and couldn’t drink the water. 
        The traffic was quite hectic.  Riding in cabs was terrifying.  I was constantly nervous our driver was going to run down pedestrians.  Cars would speed around getting extremely close to people trying to cross the street.  There was no order to any of this so people were always in the car’s way just walking in the middle of the street.  I saw a very small old lady crossing the street and a bus sped by her just inches away.  She didn’t even flinch, but I stopped and almost screamed.  I couldn’t believe it.  The busses here were worse than the cars.  They didn’t stop for streetlights or pedestrians, and they go really fast.  All the cabs were little skittle colored VW Jettas, which I thought was very cute yet misleading because they were viciously speeding about.    
        That night our group rented a suit in the middle of Peoples Square in Shanghai.  Split between five people it was only about 15 USD each.  The suit was on the twelfth floor and had a balcony with an amazing view.  We went out to eat and walked around the Bund area.  Unfortunately, most of it was closed down for reconstruction.  At night it was lit up and quite beautiful.  We ran into a group of other Semester at Sea students and had dinner together.  After an eventful night out and about in Shanghai, we made our way back to our suit. 
        The next day we went to walk around the French Concession.  This area was extremely different from anything else I had seen in Shanghai.  The streets and houses reminded me of an area much like Cambridge Mass.  We found a huge park that had everything you could ever want from a park.  Around every corner was something new and exciting.  There was a pond with children playing in it.  The kids had huge floaty toys that resembled plastic hamster wheels.  They would float on the water running inside the large plastic cylinders.  There were also little pedal boats that children were zooming around in.  There was a beautiful walkway with people playing chess and cards on little stone tables.  There was a field with people flying kites of all different kinds.  There was even a section of the park with a merry-go-round.  After spending hours walking around the park we headed back to the ship. 
        That night we went out for dinner and a few drinks at a local bar close by the pier.  The people here were very nice.  They spoke English so it was easier to get to know them.  They kept bringing fireworks out of the back room.  It was around the end of the Chinese new years, and I think they were just shooting off all the fireworks they had left over.  They gave us roman candles to shoot off in the street.  The sidewalk was lined with about twenty people all shooting off roman candles every which way.  It was again, hectic, that seems to be my word for China.  Every time the bartender went into the back room he would come out with a larger colorful box with a wick coming out of the top.  By the end of the night we were shooting off professional sized fireworks right in the middle of the street.  We weren’t the only ones doing this.  You could see and hear fireworks going off up and down the street and in the next streets over too.  We slept on the ship that night, and had a very late morning. 
        The next day we spent looking for our hostel.  This was a long process.  Our hostels name was the Bee Home.  It was a decent one, clean and in a nice area.  The only problem was there was no heat at all.   I barely slept all night, and we woke up very early to catch our flights to Hong Kong.  We took some type of bullet train to Pudong airport.  It was technically an international flight so it took quite a while for us to go through the process of getting our boarding passes.  The flight to Hong Kong was about two and a half hours long.  We were served an in-flight meal and ice cream as well.  We arrived in Hong Kong around noon.  This was two whole days before the ship was to arrive.…

Sayonara Japan

        Japan was amazing.  The people are so incredibly nice.  Just walking around is an experience, even if you’re lost.  Whenever people travelling in my group got frustrated about not knowing the directions I would just shout heyyy!...uhh we’re in Tokyo!! Be happy, relax.  We’re all living on this ship together and get to casually ask each other, hey what time are we getting to China, when does immigration start…?  How amazing is this? We haven’t gotten over all the happenings in Japan and we’re going to be in china tomorrow morning.  I will be stepping off the ship in Shanghai, floating around China and their crazy New Year celebrations, then eight days later meeting the ship in Hong Kong.  No I don’t know exactly how I’m going to get to Hong Kong yet, but I’ll figure it out.  Overnight busses or trains are the cheapest option. 
        So, lets talk about Japan!  The subway map resembles a bowl of noodles.  After few days of traveling by train I realized how nice and efficient they are, mainly if you understand Japanese.  The trains are always on time, and there is a clock telling you exactly when to expect the next train.  People wait in lines behind arrows that line up exactly with the doors of the train when it gets there.  When on an escalator you stand to the left in a line to let people who wish to walk by get through.  Don’t eat and walk, this was a new concept for me.  The very first train we got on broke down for about five minutes.  It was very nerve racking because it reeked of burning rubber and all the announcements were in Japanese.  After we got to Tokyo from Yokohama we got some delicious Japanese food.  I ate a bowl of noodles with I think pork, or some type of meat in it.  All of the food I ordered was amazingly good, and not too expensive either.  It took a long time to find our hostel.  People would frequently stop and offer directions.  I didn’t think we looked that lost, but apparently we did. 
        Our hostel was amazing! The people there were so nice and interesting.  We met a lot of travelers staying there from all over.  Our room had about twenty people staying in it.  About half of them were in our group.  It was a long skinny room lined with plywood crates that were stacked two high.  Everyone had their own crate to sleep in.  It was very roomy and clean, and during the day you could lock your luggage in it.  We went to a karaoke bar, where you rent your own room to sing in.   Going to all the different restaurants was probably my favorite part.  Other than the people we met.  The neon lights and amounts of people at night were amazing.  I wish I could put pictures up.  I might be able to upload some pictures before the ship leaves Hong Kong.  We got back to the hostel really late one night and I ended up playing poker and Egyptian Rat Screw with some guys I met at the hostel.  They were from Colorado and just clean the bathrooms and live there.  We played till around three in the morning.  I won…hehe, too bad it wasn’t for real money. 
        After two nights in Tokyo we hopped on a bullet train to Kyoto.  We stayed in a nasty little hostel there for one night.  It wasn’t that bad, but compared to the first one, it was disappointing.  We saw a few temples in Kyoto then headed to Kobe.  There was a lot to do in Kobe.  It’s a huge city.  We walked around some shops and met two older Japanese men that could speak a little English.  They showed us around for a while and chose a sushi restaurant for us.  They helped us order and sat down to eat with us too.  The waitress was so cute.  She saw my friend struggling with the chopsticks, so she took the chopsticks and fed her this huge slimy piece of raw tuna, and stood there watching and smiling as she chocked it down.   Everyone in Japan throws up the piece sign for pictures.  We got a lot of pictures with random people we met. 
        I experienced being squeezed into a subway like a sardine.  I ate a lot of strange things.  The eggs there are different.  The yolks are really dark orange.  An order of bacon is half a slice.  When we went out to breakfast everyone ordered at least two meals.  I ate sushi and sipped on sake.  We became best buddies with two bartenders.  They put on the clash for me.  It was a good time.  So much happened.  I know I’m forgetting so many things to tell you all.  I would love to go back to Japan some day.  The only souvenir I bought was a really cool bright yellow and turquoise watch for 2339 yen.  I think I did really well with saving money.  That was definitely the most expensive country we will be going to.  I know I’m forgetting things.  It’s just impossible to write everything down.  I have to go continue preparing myself for China rite now.  I’ll be living out of my backpack once again, but this time for about a week.  I am so excited to see the Chinese New Year Celebrations!  I will update you when I reach Hong Kong.  Zaijian….

Next up Japan!

Tomorrow morning I get to wake up in Japan.  It’s almost midnight here, so this is going to be a short post.  I’ll be getting off the ship tomorrow to explore Yokohama, then head to Tokyo.  After spending two nights in Tokyo ill be heading to Kyoto, and then will meet the ship as it docks in Kobe.  This is so unbelievable, and it’s only the first stop in our journey.  For the next few days Ill be living out of my backpack and staying in hostels.  I am so excited to see Japan! I’ve never been so incredibly far from home, it’s a very weird feeling.  There’s an entire planet between my feet and my front door steps...

Hilo, Honolulu, and the Ship

        It’s been such a long time since I’ve updated this.  I’ve seen Hilo and Honolulu since my last update.  It’s so hard to be productive at all on this ship.  I don’t know why ship-life does this to me.  Normally I just find a nice seat and sit there for hours accomplishing nothing, except for defeating people in card games like Egyptian rat screw.  The ship left Hawaii three, or four days ago.  I actually have no idea, for all I know a week could have gone by.  Right now I’m sitting outside and the glare of the sunlight is making it impossible for me to see what I’m typing.  I know the weather is going to get really cold in a few days so I’m spending as much time as possible outside, while we’re still relatively near the tropics.  The days go by and I spend them flipping through card games and travel guides. 
        Hilo was a very laid-back port.  It’s a small town and the people there all seem to be friendly and social.  The first day in Hilo I went to tour Mauna Kea.  This trip took all day and it was exhausting.  We got on the tour van at eleven in the morning, and we didn’t get back to the ship until past eleven at night.  The tour brought us to a local waterfall before going to the mountain.  The waterfall was beautiful.  There was a man sitting near the entrance to the park making bowls and little animals out of these huge, long leaves.  He had found a really cool lizard.  The lizard was almost as big as my hand, bright green, and had three long horns on its head.  He found it in the forest, and had tied a little string around it as a leash.  He was going to let it go when he left for the day.  I was excited I got to hold it.  We asked him how much he was selling his little grass animals for and he says, “bird two dollars, fish four dollars, lizard fifty dollars”….. he was just kidding.
        After the waterfall we started our long trip up Mauna Kea.  It took about two hours.  When we got to the top it was about thirty degrees up there.  The view was really nice.  We got to walk up to the huge telescopes, but that was about it.  We were stuck up there for over three hours in the freezing cold.  We waited up there for so long so that we could see the sunset.  It was very nice, but I wish we didn’t waste our whole day up there.  The ground was covered in these little red lava rocks.  I curled up on them and took a two-hour nap.  The tour guide that took us down the mountain was….a character.  Instead of dropping the van off at the ship afterwards he took us to an all night local restaurant and we all had a meal and hung out for a while.  He was really cool, the most interesting part of the day.  It definitely was worth seeing Mauna Kea, but the day dragged on unnecessarily long.  The next day in Hilo was much more relaxed.  I woke up late because I was exhausted.  By the time I was ready to start my day, around noon, everyone was already out and about.   So I had to walk the 40 minutes into town by myself to meet up with people for lunch.  It was a nice walk, right along the water.  We had lunch, and walked around the farmers market, before heading back to the ship. 
         Then we were in Honolulu, so we went to the beach of course.  This city is completely different from Hilo.  We spent the night out at Waikiki beach.  It was a lot of fun.  I got back to the ship at three in the morning.  The next day I had another not so good tour.  We got in a van and were driven around Diamond Head.  I’ve decided I’m not going to sign up for any more Trips through Semester at Sea.  So far they have been really overpriced, and not worth it at all.  We’re going to plan our own independent trips for the most part from now on.  I almost have my plans for Japan worked out, but not quite yet.  It’s very difficult to make these plans without Internet access. 
        We are passing the prime meridian rite now.   I have more than a week left before I see land.  My sanity is definitely suffering. 

We saw a ship today...

We're 19 degrees above the equator.  I am sunning by the pool reading a book entitled The End of Nature.  >>>Don't worry mom I'm wearing sunblock<3   Tomorrow we will be in Hilo, Hawaii. Sometimes referred to as the Rainiest place in the U.S.  I'm thinking it would be fun to rent mopeds and go to the dry side of the island to have a beach day, but that's a 2.5 hour drive.  Tomorrow night I will be at the Muana Key Observatory, looking at stars through a telescope. 

I was looking through a South Africa tour guide to see what activities i can do there.  Did you know that they abolished slavery in the 1830's?  Also, they were the first to have equal gay and lesbian rights in their constitution.  Two fun facts I thought were pretty interesting.  I'm thinking of repelling down table mountain while im there.  three more days untill were in hawaii.  Not much going on at all. 

We saw a bird yesterday!!!

It rained this morning
I have a lot of reading to do
four more days until we're in Hawaii.

Yea there's not much going on at all.  My bedside table completely flipped over and to end and dumped out all of its contents.  its basically demolished.  the on-board carpenter is in the room fixing it this very moment.  I'm so excited for Hawaii!

Hi Everyone!
    I've been on the ship for two days now, and I'm finally getting used to the swaying. I was using seasick patches, but stopped because they were messing with my vision.  i can't read or see anything unless i hold it an arms-length away from my face.  So now I've switched to the bracelets we'll see if that actually works. 

    the drive through mexico was....eventful... as the border patrol was checking out our buses and luggage, a fairly large family scaled a ten foot cement barrier wall to get into the US.  No one saw them or was paying them any attention.  I guess our buses were the perfect distraction.  as we were driving away, I looked over and saw the last family member being helped over the wall.  she was about nine or ten, wearing a cute pink dress.  she stood there with one foot up against the wall, looking and reaching up to grab onto one of the many hands stretching down to her.  she eventually go a hold and hoisted herself up and over into California.  I really wonder how far they made it...  

P.S.
 -Thanks Heidi for setting up this blog for me! ur awesome!! and yeaa i've already been at the I.T. desk twice with my specialness ha...

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