Mauritius - Port Louis

Mauritius was the half way point for us on our way to South Africa from India. Unfortunately, due to some incidents with students on past voyages at this island (300 plus students getting drunk tanked and SAS having to use our largest lecture hall as the drunk tank & six students almost burning down a hotel) we only stopped at the island for 12 hours to refuel. We were also only allowed off the boat if we purchased a field program through Semester At Sea or had a field lab for one of our classes. I had a field lab for my Intro. to Oceanography, where I was able to go to a Mangrove restoration that was started by the women of a small coastal village and a coral reef restoration NGO that is being funded by the United Nations. I wasn't able to spend as much time experiencing the diverse culture the island had to offer but it is hands down the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The beach to mountain contrast was breathtaking and I really hope I will be able to travel back there at some point in my life.


(Mauritius is covered in the these open fields of sugar cane which are planted everywhere throughout the island because it is one of the few crops that withstand the severe storms that constantly hit the island due to its location in the Indian Ocean.)


(This is one of the few mangrove restoration areas scatter across the coast line. The mangroves are those tiny little tree like plants sticking out of the water. They help stop erosion of the shoreline by collecting sediment washed in by the tides.)


(One of the many beaches that make up the sandy coastline of Mauritius.)

Neptune Day - The 'Crossing of the Line' Naval Tradition (March 14th, 2015)





For those of you that don't know, the crossing of the equator is a big deal in the maritime world. Neptune Day is an almost 400 year old naval tradition that celebrates the crossing of the equator. Every Semester At Sea voyage that crosses the equator celebrates this day to pay tribute to King Neptune, as we transition from "Pollwogs (those who have not crossed the equator)" to "Shellbacks". In order to make this transition you must follow this step-by-step guide:

1) Get woken up by crew members marching through the halls with drums & cymbals.
2) Meet Queen Minerva along with The Emperor of the Ocean King Neptune on the top deck.
3) Get fish guts (actually just green water) poured on your head and jump in the water.
4) Kiss the fish.
5) Kiss King Neptune's diamond ring.
6) Get knighted by the Royal Chamberlain
7) (optional) Have your head shaved by the Royal Barbers.

I would have taken more photos but it was a very water oriented day so my camera stayed away. You can look at more photos on the Neptune Day blog post if you're interested:  http://www.semesteratsea.org/2015/03/16/photo-gallery-neptune-day-2/

 

India - Cochin, New Dehli, Agra & Jaipur


Day 1
The first day in Cochin me and some of my friends hired one of the hundreds of TukTuk drivers waiting for students to get off the boat to take us around Cochin for the day. Unfortunately he made us stop at multiple stores where he would receive a commission if we bought anything. He did take us to some very interesting spice markets and took us too an amazing local restaurant for lunch, which is in the photo above. We spent the majority of the day stopping at tourist destination like the Chinese fishing nets on the water, a local beach and a few of the hundreds of Hindu temples scattered throughout the city. I had to get back to the boat relatively early that night because I had an early field program the next day. 


Day 2
I was up at 3:30 am to catch a flight to New Dehli with my field program that was taking us to New Dehli, Agra and Jaipur. Getting through the insane airport security with 80 other students was an experience in itself but lucky all of us made it on the plane and to Dehli all in one piece. The first thing we did upon arrival to Dehli was go to the Qutub Minar, which is the second largest minar in India. It was massive in scale and the red sandstone made it standout with the blue sky as it's backdrop. After lunch we then visited Jama Masjid, a mosque located just outside the city center. It was one of my favorite places we visited. Being able to see people practicing their religion in a building that was built just for that reason hundreds of years ago was amazing. We ended out day getting caught in a torrential downpour at the Raj Ghat and watched the sunset at a Sikh temple.


Day 3
We left early from our hotel to take a train from Dehli to Agra to go visit the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. Taking a train in India was an amazing experience and seeing the countryside of India was a nice change from the city setting. Finally getting to the Taj Mahal was something I couldn't believe. Seeing it for the first time was absolutely breathtaking. I wish I could have spent all day there but since I was on a tour we had an hour to explore and take photos before we moved on to the Agra Fort. We then left Agra and made the 5-hour drive to Jaipur.


Day 4
The next day we got up early and made our way to the Amber Fort. We got to ride elephants up to the top of the fort and the view was breathtaking. The fort was like a mini Great Wall of China with a middle eastern spin. The architecture and stone inlay through out the fort was stunning. We then made out way to the City Palace where we spent time in the museum and then were allowed to go out into one of the local markets. I met some amazing people and ended up making friends with a shopkeeper who was the owner of an Etsy site I had purchased items from back in the United States. We then spent the last night in India at an outdoor dinner where we were treated with a dance and music performance.


Day 5
We spent the majority of today traveling from Jaipur to Mumbai, where we had a 2 hour layover, then finally back to Kochin. I went out to dinner in Kochin that evening then went to sleep early to get up early the next morning to spend my last day in India.


Day 6
This last day, since we had an interesting experience with our first TukTuk driver we made sure to find a driver that would take us to one location and not make any stops. We spent the afternoon shopping on Jew Street, which was the local Jewish neighborhood, and had our last meal off the ship. We then left India that afternoon at 5:00 pm to make out way to Mauritius. 
 

Myanmar - Yangon & Bagan

Instead of doing a day by day summary for this country I'm going to just sum it up in a few paragraphs and share my pictures. I want to start off by saying that I have wanted to go to Myanmar for a very long time so finally making it there was extremely special for me. I chose to come on the spring voyage over the fall simply because Myanmar was one of the stops. I had some very high expectations for it and of course my expectations were blown out of the water. There were three main things on my checklist for places to see and things to do in Myanmar and they were to see the Shwedagon Pagoda, watch the sunrise over the temples and to hot air balloon over the ancient temples in Bagan. I was fortunate enough to be able to not only do all of the things on my checklist but so much more. 

The first two days in Myanmar I was able to explore the city of Yangon and go see the Shwedagon Pagoda. The Shwedagon Pagoda is known for being amazing but actually walking up to it in the late afternoon and watching the light change off the gold paint at sunset blew me away. The entire complex, including the pagoda, was spectacular. I've heard stories of people going to the Taj Mahal for the first time and crying because it is so beautiful, I'm pretty sure this pagoda is going to be a very close second for me. Walking around and taking in the entire environment was indescribable. There were all types of people there ranging from tourists to local monks practicing evening worship. I was fortunate enough to have a long conversation with one of the local monks (by the way, almost all monks can speaking amazing english because they are taught it in the monastery) who was kind enough to explain the meaning behind not only most of the structures on the complex but the worship rituals also. Through out my entire time in Myanmar I was able to interact with so many amazing people. The amount of hope these people have for the future of their country after experiencing years of military oppression is insane and the kindness they show to everyone is so humbling. My entire visit to the pagoda was way above any expectations I had.

The remaining four days of my time in Myanmar were spent in the city of Bagan. I don't even know where to start when it comes to the describing amazing time I had in Bagan. The first day there was spent temple and pagoda hopping. We explored a good amount of the temples and pagodas in the archeological site of Old Bagan before the sun set, where we climbed one of the popular pagoda's to watch the sunset. Because I traveled to Bagan through a field program we had a set itinerary but one thing that wasn't on our itinerary was to get up early and watch the sunrise over the temples which is something that I came to Bagan to do. I found two girls in my program and we found a taxi driver to drive us to one of the pagodas at 5 am so we could watch the sunrise. I am so thankful I got up early to do this separate from my field program because watching the sunrise from the top of a temple is a memory I will cherish forever. The rest of the time that day was spent at an orphanage (which was SO much fun, the kids we're so excited to practice their english and play games with us plus I had an amazing conversation with the orphanage's english teacher who was an 85 year old Burmese woman) and a local village and market.

Our last full day in Myanmar was the morning we got up early to hot air balloon over the temples at sunrise. This is the only time that I have ever been totally speechless in my life. There is no way to describe the scene that unfolds in front of you as you rise up over the temples and watch the sky change colors. It was so quiet and calm floating over the temples, words just cannot describe it. All I know is that I will go back to Myanmar and do this again before I die. I spent most of the rest of the day processing the experience of the morning so a majority of the things we did the rest of the day seemed so insignificant. Later in the day we hiked Mt. Popa then took a short river boat ride to watch the sunset over the Irrawaddy River. The following morning we flew back to Yangon (I almost cried in the airport because I didn't want to leave) and had a police escort back to the ship to get there on time because my field program arrived a day later then everyone else. We were granted an extra night in Myanmar because we were a Semester At Sea program, even though the rest of the ship had to be back early due to an early departure time as a result of the tides. Overall, Myanmar was the most amazing place I have ever been and I am going to do everything in my power to go back again. If you're ever presented with the opportunity to travel there, take it because Myanmar will blow your mind.


(Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset in Yangon, Myanmar.)


(A monk stops to snap a photo of a pagoda in Bagan, Myanmar.)


(A man makes his way through a market with a bundle of wicket baskets in Bagan, Myanmar.)


(The sun begins to rise over the Massive temple in Old Bagan, Myanmar.)


(Early morning hot air balloons make their way over the thousands of temples and pagodas located in the archeological site in Old Bagan, Myanmar.)


(Early morning hot air balloons make their way over the thousands of temples and pagodas located in the archeological site in Old Bagan, Myanmar.)


(A young girl helps her mother make small palm leaf mobiles in Bagan, Myanmar.)


(Shwesandaw Pagoda in early morning light in Old Bagan, Myanmar.)


(A woman starts to put together a bouquet of flowers at a local market in Bagan, Myanmar.)


(One of the thousands of flower offerings to the gods left on the top of Mt. Popa in Bagan, Myanmar.)


(An elder woman of one of the local villages in Bagan works out the cotton for the many handmade goods from her village in Myanmar.)

Singapore - Singapore
We were only in Singapore for two days and a night so I used this time to catch up on schoolwork, sleep and recover from being sick. I was able to go explore a bit and see the famous Merlion but because we arrived on Chinese New Year many of the stores and restaurants were closed. We left the following day fairly early in the afternoon for Myanmar.

Sorry it has taken me so long to post on here but I've been sick and slammed with schoolwork but the last countries I visited were Vietnam, Singapore and Myanmar (which I will post about a little later).

Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi & Ha Long Bay

Day 1

The first day in Vietnam I had a field lab for my Gender & Society class. We were able to visit an NGO called Mekong Quilts, which employs more than 300 women with jobs to make quilts and other cloth products. In order to work for the company the women are also required to keep their children in school. The objective is to generate employment for women. All profits from products sold are returned to the villages both directly in the form of salaries, and indirectly in funding for community development projects. Check out their website online if you get a chance! We then spent the afternoon at a local market shopping and made our way back to the boat for the night.

Day 2
I spent today exploring Ho Chi Minh City with a group of friends. We walked around a few of the parks that were all filled with flowers in preparation for the New Years festival known as Tet. The entire city was getting ready for the celebration so crossing the street and trying to get around was quite the experience but I found that if you just keep walking everyone will move around you. I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring two more local markets and had lunch at a small local café before heading back to the boat for sunset.

Day 3 
I had to be up and ready to leave at 3:15 am for a field program to Ha Noi and Ha Long Bay. Once we arrived in Ha Noi we visited the Temple of Literature and an old prison converted to a museum before we made the two and a half hour drive to Ha Long Bay where we stayed for the night.

Day 4 
We got up at around 8 am to head out on the bay for the afternoon. We took a junk boat around the bay to various sites. We stopped at a stalagmite cave and a floating village before we tied up for a seafood lunch on the bay. Once we were back on land we heading into Ha Noi for the night and went to a traditional water puppet show, which was one of the most interesting shows I've ever seen.

Day 5 
We spent the last day in Ha Noi exploring. We stopped at a local market for lunch (where I ate some food from a street vendor that I totally shouldn't have and that became apparent very quickly if you catch my drift…) before going to Ho Chi Minh's complex along with an amazing flower market and the Old Quarter of Vietnam before catching our flight back to Ho Chi Minh City, which ended up getting delayed three hours.

Day 6 
I got up early the last day in Vietnam for a field program to a local orphanage and pagoda. This was a very eye opening experience for me to say the least. The language barrier made it extremely difficult to interact with many of the children who did not speak any English. It was also hard to see the living conditions of the 200 children living within the very small complex. It also became very apparent that there had been many student groups that had visited this orphanage in the past because all the children wanted was to take your phone to play games on and not interact with you at all. It was a tough pill to swallow but its an experience that I will appreciate in time.