India.

I had high expectations for India. Growing up, India was one of the first countries and culture that I learned about and that was different from my own. Growing up, I would celebrate Diwali with my friends. Those friends would bring gifts and clothes back from their trips, and likewise I would bring them gifts from my trips to Germany. These interactions made me want to go to India, to see for myself what my friends were experiencing, and in a way connect back to memories from my childhood in a much more immersive way. Docking in Kochi, my first day was spent with my Ethics class, visiting two fertility clinics. Prior to having visited, we had discussed the ethics of using fertility and family planning clinics, for both the positive aspects and what can be viewed as negatives aspects. A few days later we would find that we were featured on the front page of the local newspaper for our visit (kinda cool, kinda weird). I would've felt weird taking pictures in the clinics, plus I don't even think we were allowed to, but early the next day we got on a plane and flew north to Jaipur, and had some free time to go shopping and explore the market. Being a master at bargaining, I think I spent a total of $47 USD on a sari, two blouses for myself, two purses, some jewellery, and some tshirts for my brothers. Our first real day in Jaipur, we went to the Amber fort, the Jantar Mantar - a place where astronomical calculations were made, and the City Palace. Afterward we went to Jaipur Foot, and NGO that provides prosthetic legs to those who can't afford them. We ended the day with a nice dinner, complete with music, dancing, and good food.

Amber Fort with Amber and Sarah!

Jantar Mantar

City Palace

The next morning we got on a train to Agra, where we got to see the pinnacle of India (at least for a tourist),  the Taj Mahal. Actually seeing and going inside the Taj Mahal is a completely different experience than you would expect when planning a trip there or just looking at photos. Its crowded, like one would expect, but it was a different kind of crowd. People dress in their best clothes, I was handed babies (but that's because I am very pale and blonde), parents wanted their children to take photos with me, and helped fixed my sari. No photos were allowed inside the tomb, and the guards would literally smack phones to the ground if they saw you taking pictures (thus I did not take any inside). The whole experience was surreal. I had met up with my friend Alexis, and the appearance of a black girl and a white girl garnered quite a bit of attention (again kinda cool, kinda weird). 

Immediately after the Taj we went to the Agra fort, before getting back on the train to go to Delhi. The Agra fort had a view of  the Taj which was cool, but the fort itself was also really beautiful. 

The train ride to Delhi was long but fun, and arriving late at night in Delhi we got to our hotel, and I talked to my parents for the first time since leaving. That phone call made all of the places I had been going and things I had been seeing feel real for the first time. And so after having a minor existential crisis about the life I was living, I got ready for the next day in Delhi. 

We would only be spending the morning in Delhi and then flying back to Kochi in the afternoon, so we had a kind of expedited bus tour of the monuments around Delhi, then went on a Rickshaw ride, and got a little time to see Humayun's Tomb. Humayun's tomb, which is similar to the Taj Mahal but on a smaller scale, displays the same great Moghul architecture and design. 

Arriving back in Kochi with one day left before moving onto the next country, my friend Mikayla and I decide to explore the town/city around the port. We hired a tuk-tuk driver named Harris who said he knew all the spots to go. Fully knowing that Harris was bringing us to an outlet where he’d be getting commission, we bought some scarves (while pricey, they are beautiful). We then saw a Jain temple, famous for its praying pigeons, and then we got henna done. The henna may have been the best part of this day. Harris explained that his wife did henna and they welcomed us into their home to get our henna done. We met his wife, his young son, ate some homemade chips and got to see how a part of India that was not a tourist attraction. 

Heading back on the ship after India was not something I was ready for. The country is so big and full of so many different cultures and cultural aspects that a week just doesn't do it justice.  That and we would be spending almost two weeks at sea before getting to our next port (rip mauritius 2017), but South Africa was definitely worth the wait.

Talk to you later,

-Karin xx

Myanmar.

Sailing around the coasts of Thailand and Malaysia, we reached Myanmar. Having only opened itself up to tourists in 2012 and being in an area of the world most Americans haven't heard of, Myanmar was the place I was most excited to see. Sharing borders with 5 countries, Myanmar shares qualities with its neighbours while still hosting its own mosaic of a culture and its complex history both ancient and recent.

We docked in the port of Thanlyin, about an hour outside of the capital, Yangon. I spent my two days getting to know Yangon, visiting the Sule and Shwedagon Pagodas, monasteries, and trying to find an outfit for my friend Mikayla's birthday. Having succeeded in doing both those things and making back to the bus, I began to get ready for my trip to Bagan.

After getting a glimpse of what Yangon had to offer, I got up early to join a trip going north to the ancient city of Bagan. Myanmar is a country covered with pagodas and temples both new and old. Bagan, is especially known for these temples, seemingly becoming one with the environment, almost as if having had emerged naturally from the ground themselves. 

Our first day in Bagan started with going into an ancient temple, seeing tons of pagodas, a carriage ride, and a trip down the Irrawaddy River to visit a basket weaving village. That day was a good way to ease into the trip, because the next day we would be doing a sunrise hot air balloon ride, then seeing a lacquer ware shop where we got to make our own piece of lacquer ware, shopping in a market, and then watching the sunset from atop an ancient temple. But reading about Bagan is nothing compared to actually seeing it though. Wherever we went the people were so nice and genuinely happy.  Just take a look.

And with that, our short trip to Bagan, we flew back to Yangon, and had the bumpiest bus ride back to the ship. I was most excited for what Myanmar would show me, and I have to say, I was not let down. While the country is still facing an internal political battle and racing through industrialisation, the culture and history are so amazingly complex and beautiful, and the people are beyond kind. 

Our next stop is India. I had been waiting to go there for the majority of my life, so this stop on my journey fulfilled some longstanding dreams and they were more than I could've imagined. 

Talk to you later,

-Karin xx