Day 13: Visiting the local village and kava ceremony

On our third day there was a little bit of rain in the afternoon, so I decided to write another blog entry. The view is not too bad anyway :)

In the morning we made a short hike over the hill to visit the village where the locals live. We were also invited to a local kindergarten, where the kids were singing in English and Fijian for us. My personal favorite was the “one banana for me, one banana for you” song.

In the evening it was time to give a try to the famous Fijian “kava”. It is a drink made from the roots of a certain plant and it is supposed to be like a soft drug for the locals. The ceremony master dilutes the root-powder in water inside a big bowl and then the ceremony begins. Everyone sitting around receives a smaller or bigger sip, also called as “low tide” or “high tide”. Before you take your turn, you say “bula” (of course) and clap your hands once. After drinking the liquid, you give back the cup to the ceremony master and clap three times. Someone told me you can say “mudha”, or “mudha sucka” to indicate that the cup is empty, but say this at your own risk:) The drink itself honestly tastes like muddy water, with a hint of pepper. It was not enough to have any effect on us, but some tourists said sometimes it is much stronger.

Day 12: Underwater day

On our second day on the island resort we enjoyed the sea from above and below. There are huge coral reefs all around, and you can easily go snorkeling or diving all around the islands. The waters are crystal clear, and even though we had no mobile reception and the nearest landmass is thousands of kilometers away, being here is a very pacifying experience.

Day 11: Bula, Fiji!

 

After a 10 hour flight from LA to Fiji, we were ready to discover this remote part of the world. Fiji consists of two big islands and a number of small islands around them. Apart from the main islands, the small islands mostly have beach resorts, where you have to stay a minimum of 3 nights normally. Some people even do “resort hopping” between them. We opted for the Waya island belonging to the Yasawa group of islands, which has a resort called Octopus.

We received a warm welcome from the Fijians, who sang and played music on the beach when we arrived. Generally Fijians are very friendly and always full of smiles. One word for sure every visitor will learn is “bula”. This means “hi” in Fijian, but they use it so often and so happily that it gets burnt into every tourist brain. Before landing on the resort island, the captain of the boat tells us the only important thing to survive here: “Don’t forget to say bula! No bula, no lunch!”.

The rest of the day we spent mostly on the beach and in our bungalow (called “bure”), enjoying “Fiji time”, which roughly means take a rest and don’t worry.

Day 10: the day that never happened

Due to crossing the dateline from LA to Fiji, the 10th of June never really happened to us. Anything we missed? Sorry about the forgotten birthday wishes on Facebook:P

Day 9: Long beach

On our last day in LA, we drove down to Long Beach. Unfortunately the Queen Mary was closed from visits due to the “Ink and Iron” festival, but we still caught a good glimpse of the old ocean liner.

In the evening we had to head back to the airport to catch our flight to Fiji. On the airport we took a last bite of some beef jerky, and we were ready for our flight.

Day 8: Universal studios and downtown

The eighth day we planned to visit Universal studios. It was a Saturday, and even though we arrived at the opening, the theme park was already full. We had quite some waiting time at most attractions, but we figured out that with the “Single riders” queue we could get on some rides in a matter of minutes.

What was left from the afternoon, we spent it visiting downtown LA. It is a little bit ran down, and there is not much to see, but it is worth to go once. Little Tokyo is nice to visit and they have some good food, on the other hand the latino shops on the Broadway give an interesting insight of the remaining customs of the immigrants. At this time of the year we saw a lot of “quinceañeras”: girls celebrating their 15th birthday dressing up as brides.