Vanuatu

Vanuatu

This year started on a good note. Past 3 years I did not travel as much as I normally do. I have been to few places in the past 2 years but not many new countries. Always new cities but same countries in Europe. But this year I travelled to a small new country called Vanuatu. This is my 42^nd country. The new year started good, and I am hopeful that this year I will visit a few new countries.  I feel lucky to have this opportunity to travel around the world.

I never heard the name of this country before, but my sister suggested me to travel there during my stay in Australia. I agreed immediately and started searching for this country. Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 83 islands. It is a beautiful small island country. Their currency is called Vatu. The country is not very chip for the tourists, and it is always better to have cash with you when you go around.

I never saw in any country such a happy and smiling immigration officer as in Vanuatu airport. When we landed there and went through immigration, the officer smiled at us and asked about us and wished us a happy stay in his country. This one thing we experienced during our stay is that everyone is very thankful to the tourists and says often that they are thankful to us for choosing their country as a tourist destination.

People are very relaxed and always ready to help and smiling. Most of the population is Melanesian and some Polynesian. There are More than 100 local Melanesian languages and dialects are spoken; Bislama, an English-based Melanesian pidgin, is the national language and, along with English and French, is one of three official languages. They also write in a broken English e.g. True is written as Tru. Or belong is written as blong.

The main attraction for me was to go to the Tanna Volcano Day trip but unfortunately all the trips during my stay were full and I could not go there. I was very disappointed. But this means I will go there again who knows. I was then in the main city called port vila during my visit to Vanuatu. I was still able to enjoy it there. Did a few good day trips and the rest of the time just relaxed in our resort.

One day I went to 83 island distilleries for Rum tasting. The interesting thing about this rum is that it is made from sugarcane. Normally rum is made from molasses but in Vanuatu distillery they make it from locally produced sugarcane. This way the local farmers get some money. This distillery is new, only 6 years old and small. Currently they supply the rum to all the hotels and resorts on the island but soon they will export it to Australia and New Zealand too. I got to taste 6 different rums. The sugar cane rum was very smooth. In the rum production area, there was always this sweet smell of sugarcane which was very similar to the jaggary we use in India. Also, this smell made me nostalgic and took me back to the old days in Pune where we used to drink this sugarcane juice very often.

The lady who gave me the tour was very nice and friendly. Luckily, I was the only one on that day for the tour, so it was like my private tour.

We also did the bush walking tour with the tour company Vanuatu Ecotours. This was the best tour. The walk was very easy and informative. Our guide took us through pure nature, showed us different trees and fruits and took us to the house of the village chief. This chief was very nice and generous. He gave us the taste of the fresh fruits from his trees. Showed us how they really live ecofriendly. He told us to become a chief you should have many trees, pigs and chickens because if local people come to you asking for help you should be able to give them something. His garden, well it’s much bigger than the garden, was full of fruit trees and vegetables, chickens, and pigs.

One day we also did a trip to see the culture and the traditional ways the people follow in small villages or in some tribes. One can also do many day trips to nearby islands where you can go snorkeling, kayaking, or just walking on the sandy beach.

The island people are very relaxed, and they are not very rich, but they are happy and enjoying their nature and ecofriendly, sustainable lifestyle. Thanx to my sister I was able to travel to this beautiful country this year.

 

#31 blog post challange for OCT.2022 #day10

          Korea Impression 

I got a chance to go to Korea to attend my Korean friend's wedding few years back.  I love korean food and so I was very happy that finally I will get to eat real korean food 😀

My trip to Korea was excellent . In general I think people are same everywhere in the world , we all have same emotions , almost same  expectations from life . I would like to talk about my experience from my friend's wedding. 

The wedding was a mix of American and traditional korean wedding rituals. So when actually the wedding ceremony started and my friend's mother stood in front of the  mike to talk, she was talking in korean. ofcourse none of us understand the language but at that point it was not even necessary to understand the language to feel the emotions of a mother who is sending her daughter to her new house , new family. Her chocked voice , and eyes filled with tears conveyed her emotions to us even without the language. How it can be different from any mother in the world. That was really heart touching moment for all of us , her non-Korean friends.

the ceremony was beautiful . My friend wanted to have that venue only but the venue owner had never given that venue for any wedding before and so was reluctant to agree to this. But my friend and her family tried very hard to convince him and finally managed to get the wedding venue.  

I saw the korean wedding before only once in my favorite TV serial Gilmore Girls so that was the only reference I had . But to large extent this is how the korean weddings are. It is very short event and people really just com , eat , give gift and go. no big , long parties, no singing-dancing.

My friend's wedding was a bit different as it was a mix of typical American and Korean styles and so was a bit longer than the normal weddings. It was also bit delayed than they originally planned and my friend told us later that they had to send the letter to guests apologizing for the delay. 

She also organized another drinks/food party in the city  after the actual wedding was over for all of us who came from foreign countries . It was a very nice party. We all tried different rice wines there. They were special for 4 different seasons like summer, winter etc..

We did many trips in korea and everywhere we got so many different experiences. But one thing was always common that whenever I told I am from India the different kind of respect I saw in korean people's eyes was really amazing. 

#31 blog post challange for OCT.2022 #day9

           My Bharatnatyam Gurus

My very first Bharatnatyam guru is Klara. When I was new in Germany, I came across Klara's Indian dance performances while browsing the internet. I was pleasantly surprised to see a German girl performing Bharatnatyam, so I reached out to her to inquire if she also taught Bharatnatyam. She responded affirmatively, and I went to meet her. She resided in a small village called Tengen, which was approximately a 40-minute drive from my location. I began learning from her, visiting her house every weekend for lessons. Klara, a young and sweet girl, became not only my guru but also my friend. Her mother was equally kind, and their beautiful typical village house created a welcoming atmosphere. I genuinely enjoyed going there. Klara and her mother made me feel at home, and we developed a special bond. Klara even invited me to her New Year's party with her friends, and we occasionally had lunch at her home. However, after two years, she moved to Switzerland for her studies, and I relocated to Heidelberg, making it impossible for us to meet and continue our dance lessons.

Although I was saddened by this turn of events, I soon found a new teacher. Attending a Diwali program organized by the German-Indian Association, I witnessed a Bharatnatyam performance by a group and discovered advertisements for dance classes. I was elated and immediately joined Alexandra's dance school. I have been learning from her since 2007 and will continue to do so for as long as I can.

Originally from Poland, Alexandra traveled to India in the 1980s to learn Bharatnatyam from Kalakeshtra. After completing her arangetram, she relocated to Germany, where she has been teaching Bharatnatyam for nearly 35 years. Learning in her class is a truly an enriching experience. We discuss various topics related to Indian mythology during our sessions, and Alexandra shares her experiences as a foreign student in India, particularly in Delhi during the 1980s. We often talk about her own teachers in India. This one hour spent in class each week is the highlight of my week. Alexandra always encourages us to enjoy the dance rather than focusing solely on technique, as she believes that when we experience joy, the audience does too. I vividly remember the moments when she introduces a new dance and the music starts playing. I would often worry about the speed, thinking, "Oh no, it's too fast! I can't keep up." But Alexandra would reassure me, saying, "Anagha, don't worry about the speed. First, learn the mudras and choreography, and then you can think about the speed. Once you have mastered all the movements in your mind, the speed will come naturally." And without fail, as we near the completion of the dance, I find myself able to dance at that speed. Alexandra is not just a teacher to us; she is also a friend and sometimes even a mother figure. She takes care of all her students as if they were her family. Every year, we have a dance class gathering, where we perform for our friends and family, and all the dancers bring food for the audience. Alexandra also organizes annual dance workshops with teachers from India exclusively for us. Additionally, we have a special dinner at her home, featuring Indian cuisine. Her knowledge of India, its culture, and mythology surpasses ours. Meeting her and attending her dance classes makes me feel closer to India, a little bit.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have such wonderful gurus, even in Germany, allowing me to pursue my passion. 

Thank you Klara and Alexandra. 

 

#31 blog post challange for OCT.2022 #day8

            Wine Hiking

When I moved to Heidelberg area I heard this word for the very first time. I was aware of hiking before and also did many hikes around but wine hike ...hmmm Whats that?

Well in wine region these hikes take place and its very common and popular events in wine region.

Basically when summer starts and weather gets better there are different wine festivals and wine hikes. There is specified route through vineyards and at different distances wine stands from different wineries in that area. People walk through this route and taste wines at different wine stands and then go to the next stand. There is also some food available and sometimes even benches to sit or some standing tables. This is really fun activity to do with a group. The hike normally 8-10 km. long.

Normally on 1st of May me and friends do our very first wine hike of the year from Bensheim or zwingenberg . This is actually a very big hike almost 21 km.  but of course we never manage to do that big round. After that the season starts for us and we do almost all possible win hikes in our region . This year I even managed to go to Vienna for a day of wine hike . That was also really beautiful . Only thing is there they say different things like in Germany we say wine schorle but in Vienna they call it wine spritzer and so on but that does not come in between drinking and having fun 😆

At some hikes you even get special small glasses to try wines and you can keep going with that glass to different wine stands. Some people even collect these glasses as souvenirs for each year.  I have also collected few such glasses till now .

A day in the nature with friends, walking and drinking what is not to like in that 😊 

If you are not a wine lover , no problem you can still join the hike and drink some non-alcoholic drinks. no one is judging 😏

Important is to have a nice walk, meeting friends and having fun.

Cheers 👍