My Voyage Around the World

50 years ago, my father set sail on the voyage of a lifetime. Four months ago, I followed in his footsteps and embarked on a journey sailing for 102 days across 4 continents. Since then I have learned the ins and outs of traveling in an unknown territory and learning how to truly immerse yourself into a diverse culture.

Japan: Kobe-Kyoto-Tokyo

I arrived in Kobe in the middle of their winter, so it made it difficult to see everything I wanted to. However, the transportation in Japan is the most efficient in the world. We bought a rail pass for one of the fastest trains in the world for $300 USD that would take us anywhere and everywhere for 7 days. First, I headed to Kyoto, the old capital of Japan. It was very cultured with temples everywhere, including the large golden temple, monkey parks and bamboo forests.

The next day was Tokyo, the new capital of Japan, located about a 3-hour train ride from Kyoto. Tokyo is like New York City but way more people. The area we went to was called Shabuya, where they have Shabuya crossing (the largest crossing in the world connecting shops and traffic). Tokyo was chaotic and expensive but had some of the best hotels, shopping, and karaoke across the globe. Kyoto was a more relaxed city, but I liked Tokyo for its vibrant nightlife and iconic fashion trends. Japan had the best food I’ve ever tasted. My favorites were the amazing ramen, sushi and Kobe beef. Japan was the most expensive country on my voyage but also the most unforgettable.

China: Shanghai-Hong Kong

It was even colder in China than Japan which is why I didn’t make it to the northern point in Beijing to see the Great Wall. My friends said the 700$ to get there, 18+ hours of traveling and below freezing degree weather in Beijing was still all worth it to see one of the greatest wonders of the world. Shanghai is the biggest city in the world, but not a lot of people spoke English. It took us 30 minutes sometimes to hail down a cab; the Chinese weren’t as friendly. Uber is illegal there and all the red cabs were a scam, so it was hard to manage our way around. Supposedly Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook are illegal in Shanghai. I was able to use them using a VPN, but there are a lot of rules and regulations in China that could get you into a lot of trouble if you don’t follow them. The food in China was nothing like Chinese food. No egg rolls, egg foo Yun, or fortune cookies anywhere. We tried to be adventurous and try things at restaurants like pig brains, hearts, crocodile soup and chicken feet, but we just resorted to eating dumplings everywhere because they were the best thing there. Shanghai was a huge culture shock into Asia; I headed to Hong Kong after 2 days where the weather was warmer, and the culture was more westernized.

Hong Kong was one of my favorite places on the voyage because of its array of lush views to city skylines. It is divided up into islands with massive bridges connecting them. Some of the islands were lush with mountains and nature and others were populated with thousands of skyscrapers. (Shanghai and Hong Kong have double the amount of skyscrapers than New York City). It is a separate entity of Shanghai and even has a different currency and government. The weather was much nicer here and HK is known as a hub for many business franchises. The first hotel we stayed at was a honeymooner paradise right off Castle Peak Bay. It was far from downtown but inexpensive and had gorgeous views.

Gold Coast Hotel, Hong Kong The rest of my time in Hong Kong I stayed at the Best Western which was double the price of the Gold Coast and half the size. It was located right downtown HK and when you stepped outside you were in the center or the city with dumpling shops and food huts on every corner.

Hong Kong was way more expensive than Shanghai and it didn’t help that an ATM ate my credit card at the Black Market. The Black Market is an underground mall with tons of small shops offering counterfeit Gucci belts, Yeezys, Louis Vuitton, and virtually any brand you can think of. They don’t have copyright laws so all the products look authentic and are super cheap. Overall, Hong Kong was a city I’d make my way back to in the future.

Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi

Vietnam was everything I expected and more. As we arrived on the coast of Vietnam at 7am, the ship sailed through a canal with hundreds of fishing points on every corner that lasted about four hours until we docked at Ho Chi Minh City. The city is very busy and overwhelming. There were motorbikes everywhere and no walking traffic signs. Our school dean advised us not to hesitate when you walk across the street, look both ways and walk at a steady pace. Don’t be surprised if the mopeds swivel around you and don’t stop for pedestrians; even the cars wouldn’t stop, you’d just have to be confident and walk.

One thing Vietnam is known for is very cheap prices. There were $5 an hour massages and silk robes for a buck. US dollars were preferred in some markets because it is a reserve currency. This means that businesses gladly hold onto dollars because every country is buying billions of dollars in oil.

The water in Vietnam isn’t safe (yes that includes ice), which meant we needed to drink bottled water only and watch out for iced drinks. I ended up having iced coffee and smoothies, because I wasn’t thinking, but I ended up just fine. However, a few days later my friends ended up getting food poisoning.

Pho is the food Vietnam is known for. It’s a noodle soup with a lot of sodium that contains beef usually. All we ate was Pho because it was $2 and came out within seconds. It made me wonder why food takes so long to come to your table in America. Also, in a lot of these countries tipping isn’t required.

After just two days in Ho Chi Minh City, I flew out to Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital. This city is one of the 5 most polluted cities in the world. You could tell by the smog that made it hard to breathe and the dirty streets. We only stayed in Hanoi for a day or so until we took 2 buses and 2 small boats to Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is an archipelago with over 3,000 islands. We arrived at one of the islands, Castaway Island, where there were 6 large outdoor bungalows. Five of those bungalows we would sleep in for the next 2 days and the other one we would eat, drink and dance in. During the first day we wake boarded around the different islands, rock climbed and played volleyball and ping pong. The next day we were able to kayak through caves and take a catamaran boat tour. At night 160 of us danced and socialized to a live DJ and hung out on the beach until all hours of the night. It was sad to leave Castaway the last day and say goodbye to the beautiful islands of Ha Long Bay, one of the new world wonders of the world.

The weather in Ho Chi Minh was in the 80s, but in Hanoi it was the low 60s. The difference in smog and humidity was vast between both cities, even though they were just a two-hour plane ride away.

Myanmar: Yangon-Bagan

The ship docked in Yangon, Myanmar, a country I had just found out existed because of this voyage. The country just became a tourist spot in the previous five years so there wasn’t much commercialization which was cool to see the first country we’d go to without McDonalds. This was the first port where conservative clothing was a must, due to the lack of tourists and the rich Buddhist culture. It was around 90 degrees when we arrived, and it was extremely humid. The streets were like Vietnam with not much traffic rules or pedestrian walking signs.

The people were super friendly and happy to see us, and the city was cheap ranging from 1$ Ubers and sim cards to 2$ pairs of pants on common markets around the streets. The money they use is called Kyat but pronounced Chat. It was about 1,000 kyat to a dollar which was becoming a trend for most currencies. The large market we went to consisted mostly of fabric vendors for personalized Saris and skirts. A sari is a wrap females put around their bodies, similar to what they wear in India. Alcohol was a rarity in this country, but the ramen made it all worth it. In the center of the city was a massive pagoda where we paid 1$ each to step in and children painted our faces for free with a sort of sunscreen face paint that locals used to cover up from the sun, but it basically just looked like face paint.

We went to the Shwedagon Pagoda where monks were rampant and bare feet was required. 89% of Myanmar is Buddhist and it truly showed with all praying spots and the Buddha’s in each pagoda. The center pagoda was by far the largest and they were all made of real gold which was hard to believe. That night we took an overnight bus for 7 hours to Bagan, where 2,500 ancient pagodas remained for tourism and praying purposes. We got there for sunrise and watched about 30 hot air balloons float over the pagodas. A few of my friends went in the balloons and said it was their favorite experience of the whole trip but costed them about 400$. That day we went pagoda hopping on mopeds to the best 15 or so and we were able to walk in each of them once we took our shoes off and we indulged in the Buddhist culture. Little shops lined outside the larger pagodas and the smaller pagodas rested on dirt roads hidden in the large fields. The country is in the process of renovating a lot of the pagodas to increase tourism, therefore some were under construction. We took a sunset cruise on a fishing boat with friends and continued to explore pagodas at night to stargaze.

Going into Myanmar with no expectations made the experience all the better. Dirt cheap prices, beautiful ancient pagodas and truly friendly people made the country one I would recommend.

India: Kochi-New Delhi-Agra

India is 1/3 the size of America but has 3x as many people. The ship went through another canal to get to the docking port and had to proceed through about 5 different immigration officers before leaving and entering the ship. When we got off the ship we were bombarded by 20+ taxi drivers that were all aggressive men offering different deals to receive our business. You always had to negotiate the price beforehand because they had the tendency to upcharge once you arrived at the destination. India was the first place where we took tuk tuks! Tuk tuk’s are 3 wheeled cars with no doors and basically looked like a little buggy (some even had Bluetooth speakers and party lights). We used these almost all the time to get from point A to B and they were always under 5$. Locals English was very good, and people were friendly but sometimes too friendly. Girls weren’t always safe here and conservative clothing was necessary especially in the south of India where we docked in Kochi. We traveled with a group of 16 friends most of our time in India, half girls and half boys. Our friend Shawn on the ship had family friends getting married in India the same time we were there, and they allowed us to go to experience a true Indian wedding. We bought Saris (the traditional wedding outfit) and flew out to Hyderabad first. While here, we were lucky enough to get an invitation to a member in parliaments daughter’s wedding. It was a 35-million-dollar wedding that took place at 3am in the morning. The wedding was amazing and had hundreds of flowers surrounding the building and Ferraris in the parking lots. Most all the weddings here are arranged and only 10% of their marriages end in divorce which I thought was incredible. The next day I had travelers’ diarrhea, which most people get when they aren’t used to Indian cuisine.

The next day was Holi which originated in India demonstrating the victory of good over evil. It is considered the “festival of colors” for its use of water and chalked colors thrown around in the spring time to celebrate the evil being destroyed. We

flew to New Delhi, the capital of India, for Holi celebrations. Flights were easy and cheap. Although this city was less conservative, it still wasn’t super safe to walk around the streets as a girl, especially on Holi. Our dean warned us to stay inside after 2pm because it gets dangerous and rowdy in the cities during Holi. We got to our hostel at 3pm before even celebrating Holi and were bombarded with locals throwing paint at us while we had all our stuff. We ended up at a festival called Holi Moo with 4 stages and 40 artists. The festival was an unreal experience. The Wallstreet Journal called it the 2nd best place to celebrate Holi. I’d compare it to Coachella or Bonnaroo and definitely the best place to celebrate Holi in India. There was a mix of local artists and DJ’s playing American jams like 50cent and Indian EDM.

One of my last days there I had the opportunity to see the Taj Mahal. There was a large line for locals to get in but if you were a tourist you got to cut the line to go in first. The Taj was a beautiful marble masterpiece worth millions. You were able to walk inside and see the architecture but couldn’t take pictures of the inside. It was easily the prettiest building in the world and you could feel the sense of importance throughout the entire landscape.

The money they use in India is called Rupees and is about 100 rupees to 1 USD. Everything was relatively cheap besides flights (we took 4 flights in 5 days). India is a very populated country with a rich culture shock. It is incomparable to any of

the countries I have visited. I don’t know if I’d go back but I’m glad I experienced Holi festival, an Indian wedding and the Taj Mahal.

Mauritius

The ship docked in Mauritius for only 1 day as a gas pit stop. I was able to get off and explore some of the scenic parts of the island. They have a vast number of waterfalls, beaches, and temples that could have kept us busy for days. Mauritius has some of the nicest beaches in the world and the weather was extremely hot. It is also where a good portion of the rum in this world is made. Due to our short stay, it would be one of the main places on my voyage I would return to for it’s lush beauty and friendly locals.

South Africa: Cape Town

After 2 ½ weeks at sea, besides our 1 day in Mauritius, the ship arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. This port exceeded its high expectations in the 6 days I was there. The weather was a breezy 70 degrees and it gave us plenty of opportunity for many activities. Although sharks were prevalent, surfing was huge in Cape Town with 3 main beaches catered for surfers. This was the most westernized country I had been to on my voyage and it felt like California in a sense.

The food in Cape Town was one of the best parts. Every night we would head to the waterfront which was a row of nice restaurants overlooking the ocean. Some of the best burgers, milkshakes, and tacos I’ve ever had in my life. At nighttime we would head to Long Street, which was a similar version of Bourbon street in New Orleans. It was basically a strip of bars and restaurants with balconies facing each other and was the most lively spot in Cape Town. We made our way there every night.

During the day we explored the countless parts of South Africa. Bo Kaap was a street with vibrant homes and shops that was great for lunch and pictures. Kirstenstoch botanical gardens was another spot we spent most of our day at when we explored the foliage and nature that South Africa has to offer. The garden was so big you could spend all day exploring or learning about the many plants that are home to South Africa.

I made it a priority to go on a safari during my time here. The closest, and most reliable safari was about a 2-hour drive at Aquila Game Reserve. Some of my friends flew to Kruger Park (2-hour plane) but that required at least 3 days of travel and safari time. I decided to stay more local to get the most out of our short stay in Cape Town. Aquila’s safari was spectacular because it included a grand buffet, welcoming wine, a guided 2-hour tour, and included the use of their pool and hotel that was located directly on the reserve. We saw the big 5 and the little 5 and had the opportunity to ATV through the reserve as well.

On the last day in Cape Town we did a wine tour to 3 different wineries with a guided van and then ended at a beach where there was a silent disco for sunset. The whole experience was like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and I could definitely see a future for myself in Cape Town.

Ghana: Takoradi-Accra

I was immediately amazed when I arrived in Ghana and saw the sandy beaches and resorts amidst the deprived African community. Speaking with the locals, I learned some of them only earn a dollar a day with four children to take care of. It was crazy to see a culture not concerned about dollar figures and still happy. The whole country was dirt roads with limited resources and internet. It was nice to get away from the constant development and chaos in the states and truly immerse myself in a culture that was unlike any other. We got the chance to jet ski at one of the five-star hotels and dance with local children on the beach.

One of the days in Ghana we went to the Kakum National Park which had a canopy walk and a treehouse in the African jungle that we were able to sleep in. There was no electricity, service, or beds and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience to sleep in the African jungle.

The rest of our time in Ghana we played pick-up soccer with locals and shopped in the mass markets of Accra where locals shop for their daily needs. The market was the largest I’ve ever seen and had areas of live fish, poultry, and meats and some with all different kinds of Ghanaian apparel and furniture. Everything was under $5 USD.

Morocco: Casablanca-Marrakech-Sahara Desert

The last port we stopped at was Casablanca, Morocco for only 3 short days and 2 nights. A group of us had a trip planned to the Sahara Desert, which was a 12-hour drive away. We spent 12 hours driving there the first day and arrived at 1am. We traveled with a program called Best Travel Morocco that planned everything from rides to food. At 1am we hopped onto camels and trekked our way through the sand to get to the camp that we would spend the night in. When we arrived, there were locals to greet us and multiple tents with knitted blankets and hand made lamps in each tent. The main campsite had a kitchen and a large dining table where we ate pasta and bread for our 2am welcoming dinner.

We danced in the desert all-night to a live band and had a great view of the stars. The weather was perfect, all you needed was a light jacket. When the sun came up, we had a buffet breakfast and had the option to sand surf down the dunes or ATV across the Sahara. After a morning in the Sahara, it was time for us to get on the road to Marrakech. We took the camels back to the main road, about an hour out, and started our 12-hour road trip to Marrakech. Midway through the drive, the weather dropped 40 degrees as we made our way through the snowy Atlas Mountains. It went from a hot desert to snow in a matter of hours. We made our way down to Marrakech at around midnight and were welcomed into a Hotel with a large pool and hand-crafted ceiling lamps everywhere.

The next day, we headed to the main market in Marrakech where there was an abundance of handmade lamps, rugs, coin purses, jewelry, and anything vintage you could have wanted. We made our way back to Casablanca, a four-hour drive, and got on the ship for the last time.