It's been hard to find internet - much more so than i thought. As a result, my posts have been pretty delayed. Nevertheless, the stories are still logged to memory.
Day 2 in Fiji proved to be quite interesting. I woke up early as i had hired a driver to take me around to see a couple of the sites and local villages. I popped into the main hut for a quick bite and said a few hello's to the local couples i had danced with the night prior. It was raining, so most everyone had cancelled their plans for the day and seemed to just be hanging around. I decided to head out regardless in hopes that the rain hadn't extended to the adjacent villages. Also because the idea of spending another day alone at the resort did not sound entirely enticing.
My driver's name was Johnny. A simple name compared to Towhite or Sateesh who were the other drivers i had met briefly. He was friendly enough and really liked coffee - that seemed a good combo for me for the time being. We started the day off at a local Bavarian store to do some shopping. Not even 10 minutes into my day and i'm already spending more than i had budgeted - that's a New Yorker for you. And clever little sales people they were, convinced me to purchase a drift wood piece and rather than shipping it (being that i couldn't really fit it in my pack), they promised (yes, promised) to deliver it to the airport upon my travels back through on my return. We'll see if it shows up.... perhaps i was duped.
Then we were off to visit a local pottery village. These locals - mostly woman - spend their day carving and firing pots and trinket things for sale to tourists and fund much of the village life from it. Everything is molded by hand from red clay. Although some things were kind of neat, and certainly nothing i could make myself, it was nothing more than a tourist trap. But I did get to try Kava and they gave me something to the extent of a legit Kava ceremony. They made me take my shoes off, sit in the middle of the room and everyone sat around while this lady pulled out a big bowl for me to drink from. Now i had been told Kava was brown and similar to the taste of mud, so when she started scrubbing the bowl with a rag and ringing it out into the bowl, i really thought i was going to have to force down some nasty mud water containing whatever remnants the rag and bowl held. Not quite that bad, but also not too far off. After what turned out to be her cleaning the bowl, she opened a bag with brown powder, dumped it into the cleaned bowl and poured some more water in. Result -- brown watery substance much to the taste of mud. Bonus – a slight taste of cinnamon. I was passed my kava drinking bowl, told to hold it in the air as in "thank you", say Bula, down all liquid at once and then clap 3 times. Repeat. Repeat. Not sure what the effect was that i was supposed to feel, but i see why they do the kava ceremony prior to trying to sell you things. Get the American good and drunk and maybe she'll spend more...
It's not too much of a crazy feeling but the numbness to the tongue hangs around for quite a bit. It was a little altering too since Johnny then took me and dropped me off in the middle of Sigatoka town to wander around by myself and find some lunch. The locals there FLOCK to tourists, and being blonde and obvious in the non-Fijian department i was certainly an immediate prey. I ended up with some shitty pearl earrings after exhaustion with a relentless woman. That and not much time for food. However, a yam cake, spinach cake and some dried peas cost me less than a dollar and were delicious!
Moving on - - we travel to see the sand dunes. I am given the option of a 2 hour walk or a 1 hour walk. Being that i haven't gotten a good run in since the race, i decide to shoot for the longer one, but then realize that my driver will have to wait for those 2 hours. So what do i decide...? I'll just invite the guy along. Good going Alice, smart one you are. I find myself a half hour later very alone and far away from any civilization with a man who throughout my conversations has seemed nice but is starting to walk very close to me. I pick up the pace and look for any sign of the shorter path back out. Not really sure that Johnny got the message, but he certainly brought to my attention many times that i was a fast walker.
Last stop we have scheduled is the local waterfall – the one i had so courageously tried to go after on my own the day before. I never found the place because i was COMPLETELY off target. We turned off the main road and drove about 5 miles (or however many kilometers) on a dirt road and up to this site that was pretty well signed with waterfall pictures, ad's for horse riding, cliff jumping, yada, yada. Kids are all around, 2 couples are leaving and i pay the guy $10 to walk myself down the trail. Another guy comes up and asks if i want to ride a horse in. I tell him no, but he insists that i shouldn't go alone and that it's pretty muddy and a difficult walk. Scoffing at him and slightly irritated that he thinks i can't manage my way through some mud, i press forward. Galloping up behind me comes Johnny and he tells me that the guy trying to sell me the horse ride is not a good guy and that he doesn't want me going to the waterfall alone. Oh boy.... here we go. Assuming that other people would be on the journey and at the gorge swimming, i let him join me on the 2 mike hike to the falls. We make it to the falls which is pretty but absolutely desert of any other sightseers. NO PEOPLE. Johnny is climbing a cliff and thinking i should continue following him, I climb on. Well i'll be damned if the man wasn't trying to get out of sight and take a piss, but not even thinking of that, i run smack into the guy in mid pee!!! Go figure. That was a cake topper for him. The whole way back on the trail he kept trying to hold my hand and help me across the rocky parts of the trail. I had to stop and tell him that i did not need any assistance and that he was making me uncomfortable. That made for a fun drive back.
I made it back to the resort and in hunt of a well needed beer, i ran into my local Pittsburg couple. They had apparently been awaiting my arrival and god bless them because the wife had made them sit there until she saw that i had made it back safe since she had been concerned that i was 2 hours later than expected.
I ate and shared a couple beers with some travels from New Zealand. Early to rise the next morning - my flight was at 9 am, but the airport mind you is 2 hours away. And who's there to pick me up at 4:30 am? Oh yes... my dear friend Johnny.
The 2 hour commute started with "good morning" and then Johnny telling me that he couldn't sleep because he had been thinking about me all night. Again, note to self that single travel in 3rd world countries is not the way to go. I made it through several grueling conversations and to the airport where i met a couple from Chicago who topped that thought off with a horrid story about thier female neighbor at their resort being robbed and a local kidnapping. Get me on a plane and out of this country! Sydney and my brother were soon to be a blessing...
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