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The Great Barrier Reef

July 22, 2015/0 Comments/in Adventure, Article, Australia, Oceania, Photo /by May Suen

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is known as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, and is also Queensland’s state icon. We went on a snorkel and discovery scuba diving trip with Passions of Paradise, a catamaran that took us to two sites, Paradise Reef and then Michaelmas Cay. We rented an underwater camera from Passions because our GoPro Hero4 Black decided to not work when we tried to power it on for the second time ever.


Passions of Paradise catamaran cruise company. Photos above courtesy of Passions of Paradise.

May snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef
May snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef


Josh in the middle, on his first discovery scuba dive session at the Great Barrier Reef

Fish and coral in the Great Barrier Reef
A blue and white striped angelfish and a striped surgeonfish and coral in the Great Barrier Reef

School of fish swimming around to find coral to eat
School of black fish swimming around to find coral to feast on

Hard coral at the Great Barrier Reef
Hard coral at the Great Barrier Reef


Giant clam


Giant fish Josh saw at Michaelmas Cay when he jumped off the boat

View More Photos Here
http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/feature_australia_greatbarrierreef.jpg 875 1500 May Suen http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/logo_roamtowonder_regular-300x125.png May Suen2015-07-22 08:50:162016-11-29 23:56:31The Great Barrier Reef

Photo Gallery: Fiji

June 28, 2015/1 Comment/in Article, Fiji, Oceania, Photo /by May Suen

Sigatoka

Sigatoka is the main market town and “capital” of Viti Levu’s Coral Coast. It is situated on the main Queen’s Highway, almost exactly half way between Nadi and Suva, and at the mouth of the Sigatoka River. Sigatoka itself is a bustling little town with a thriving market. Whilst there are shops catering to day trippers from the Coral Coast’s resorts and hotels, there is no real tourist accommodation in the town itself, so it remains a very local town. Two or three ‘super’markets around the market square, a busy bus station, small shops, hardware and farm supplies, vehicle parts and repairs, pharmacies and shoe shops, tailors and hairdressers and second hand clothes all dot this area.


Harinam Sankirtan, a weekly event where devoted disciples chant the holy names of Krishna or God or chant the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” to reach self-realization and to bring blessings around the Sigatoka town from the Krishna Temple.


Krishna dancers in Sigatoka


Krishna dancers in Sigatoka


International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Krishna Temple perched high up on the hill in Sigatoka which cost FJ $6 million to build


Delicious vegetarian lunch at the Radha Krishna Temple Restaurant in Sigatoka


Shrine for His Divine Grace Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami Gurudev aka “Srila Gurudeva” by his many disciples and “Goswami” by his godbrothers and members at the Krishna Temple


Artwork depicting a story of Krishna’s teachings


Sigatoka Market vendors selling an array of fruits and vegetables


Sugar cane sellers at the Sigatoka Street Market


For sale at the Sigatoka Market, super small, but super spicy peppers and paw paw (or papaya)


Women holding up her orange-stained hand at the Sigatoka Market probably from mashing turmeric


Sigatoka Market vendor selling a variety of root vegetables, staple food of Fiji


Master woodcarver carving boats of different sizes to sell as souvenirs

View the Entire Sigatoka Gallery

Namatakula Village

Namatakula literally means “the place of the snake.” The village, Namatakula, is incorrectly spelled on all records. On their arrival Nagwatakula, the correct traditional spelling, pronounced Namwatakula, the Rogoua Clan saw a bright orange snake, thus the name “Nagwatakula.” Snakes on Viti Levu have since been wiped out by the mongoose. Namatakula Village is located on the Coral Coast, halfway between the main towns of Nadi and Suva. It is known to be one of the more prosperous villages on Fiji with a population of over 600 people, over 100 houses, two churches, a primary school, and a gym to be built for producing several rugby legends.


The Methodist Church built in honor of Reverend Thomas Baker, who was the first and only missionary in Fiji to be killed an eaten by cannibals of another tribe.


Sisters hanging out at the Namatakula Village while watching over some of the kids of the village


Children playing in the Namatakula Village


One ball, many kids, easily entertained


Joshua lifting this kid up like he’s superman


Child giving two thumbs up for the fun experience of being a super hero


Having fun pointing at each other


Schoolwork displayed outside a classroom of the only school, a primary school called Ratu Filise in the village


One of the one hundred houses in the village. In the front on the right is a tombstone for the deceased and chickens roam rampant here.


View of a house from a cement wall which houses glass beer bottles for recycling.


Another house with mother and son chatting


Kids hanging out on the porch at the village


Namatakula Village contains many dogs which run rampant. Here are two dogs that just finished copulating and haven’t detached yet.


A child hanging outside of their house


View of the church through the front porch


Enjoying a kava ceremony with Oni, at the village chiefs house


Joshua, one of the chiefs of the day, trying out Kava for the first time.


The kava plant. The root is the prized possession which grows near the surface

View the Entire Namatakula Village Gallery

 

Garden of the Sleeping Giant

The Garden of the Sleeping Giant contains a beautiful orchid garden of more than 2,000 varieties that was started by late actor Raymond Burr who is most famous for his role as Perry Mason on American TV.

Walkway through the orchid gardens


Hanging orchid


Pineapple

View the Entire Garden of the Sleeping Giants Gallery Here

 

Sabeto Hot Springs and Mud Pool

We arrived here after visiting the orchid gardens. We hired a private taxi driver to take us here so we can get dirty and then get clean. First we slather mud from a bucket all over ourselves, then we let the breeze dry the mud on our skin, while helping with cooling off in the heat. Then we proceed into the mud pool where we walked through a knee-deep mish mash of mud, underwater flora, and warm water coming up from the spring. After we rinse ourselves from the mud, we move onto the hot springs, where it was much warmer on one side.


Slathering mud and letting it air dry to cool us down at the Sabeto Mud Pools and Hot Springs


Soaking in the Sabeto Hot Springs

 

Resort Activities

We stayed in the Beachside Bure at the Mango Bay Resort on Fiji’s Coral Coast which featured many free activities.


Mango Bay Resort, Beachside Bure


Polynesian Dance


Polynesian Dancers


Making coconut shell jewellery

http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/feature_fiji_photo.jpg 875 1500 May Suen http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/logo_roamtowonder_regular-300x125.png May Suen2015-06-28 15:43:212016-11-29 23:56:41Photo Gallery: Fiji

Departures and Arrivals

April 29, 2015/0 Comments/in Article, Fiji, Travel Tips /by May Suen

DAY 1 and 2 – DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS
April 28-29, 2015

Journey to the Past and to the Future
We have finally begun our newest journey to travel the world together! We met on eHarmony, an online dating site, attempted to buy a house and condo (but failed miserably due to being outbid from multiple offers and rising home ownership prices), to then finding an apartment and moving in together. Our love of travel led us to complete numerous road trips throughout the neighboring states of California including Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, travelling overseas to Japan to meet Josh’s Japanese family. After getting engaged at Crater Lake, planning our wedding, getting married in the forest at the Redwood Regional Park in a months time, quitting our jobs, and moving out of our 2 bedroom apartment and getting rid of most of our stuff feels like the last three years has been a whirlwind of an adventure already.

Our New Home, From 850 sq ft to a 65L Backpack
Deciding to downsize and travel was an easy decision considering the rising rent we faced each year to lease what we called our home, a 2-bedroom 850 sq ft apartment in the sleepy and foggy coastal town of Pacifica, CA near San Francisco. We quickly learned that it is not as expensive to travel as we had thought. With some planning and budgeting we figured we could travel the world for about the same cost as just putting a roof over our head in the SF Bay Area.

Downsizing to a 65L backpack was a little more challenging than we had imagined it would be. It is amazing the amount of stuff a person accumulates over the course of ones life. After asking ourselves “do we own our stuff or does our stuff own us” we decided to donate or sell most of our possessions. The hardest part was deciding what was important to keep took as we seemed to have emotional attachments to the things we owned. But as each item disappeared from our lives we could could the weight of those emotions leave with them. It feels amazing to to have been able to consolidate down from 850 sq ft to 65L or 2.3 cubic feet at 35 lbs! We will surely miss everyone back home, but we are excited to start on this journey to travel and see the world.

Pre-Departure Anxiety
It was an adventure just to get the journey started. We nearly missed our flight because even though our flight departed at 6PM, I wanted to head to the airport at 3PM just in case security checkpoint was long. We managed to arrive at 4PM, though we went to the wrong terminal. We thought we were going to go to International Departures, but ended up finding out that because we have a layover at LAX, it was really a Domestic Departure, which was in terminal 2, on the far opposite side of SFO! We asked an airport staff how to get there and he said with a sigh showing the journey was long, we had to take a tram, and walk to the other side. I felt like we were on Amazing Race and had to race against the clock. Fortunately, I rushed back outside and found my mom still there, so we hopped in and she took us to the right place.

American Airlines’ Flight Delay Due to an Anomaly
Our flight arrived on time, we had all boarded the plane and were seated, until the pilot said there was an “anomaly” that he has never encountered before and we needed to head back to the gate. Turns out American Airlines were early adopters to use iPads on their flights so they could be more efficient by not printing flight charts and they are legally required to have 1 of 2 working iPads before taking off. Both iPads didn’t work. Then the pilot found out it was a systemwide error where all pilots of American Airlines were grounded due to an update glitch. So we went back to the terminal to wait and their back up plan is to run the Apple update again, and also have someone deliver a printed flight chart to them. After waiting at the tarmac for an hour and a half, we finally took off and arrived. Good thing our layover was for 4 hours, and we wouldn’t miss our next flight to Fiji.

More Legroom Please
Our next leg of the journey was to board Fiji Airways for an 11 hour red-eye flight from LAX to NAD, or Nadi, Fiji. The flight was painstakingly long. I’m 5’8″ and Josh is 5’10” and we barely had enough leg room once the people in front reclined. I had about 10″ of personal space before the monitor on the head rest reached my face or 3″ of space from my knee to the seats. How do taller people fly? The airline, however, did provide us with a pillow, blanket, headphones, and two (mediocre) meals. Once I discovered that the restroom had 3x’s as much space, I deliberately found excuses to get up to go to the bathroom to stretch and hang out there. Though Fiji Airways was a cramped ride, the flight did go smoothly, no delays, nice staff, and we arrived safely. I ended up watching “Kingsmen” and part of “Ex Machina” on the flight when I wasn’t drifting in and out of sleep or going to the bathroom to hang out there. Upon arrival we were greeted with a Fijian musical group, flowed through customs smoothly, and arrived right at baggage claims to retrieve our bags. It was a small airport and there was no room to get lost. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a big Bula (hello) and Welcome from a Fijian music group. We knew then we were now in Fiji!

http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2015-04-28_departures.jpg 601 1030 May Suen http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/logo_roamtowonder_regular-300x125.png May Suen2015-04-29 20:44:102016-11-29 23:56:54Departures and Arrivals

When You Need a Travel Visa

April 17, 2015/0 Comments/in Article, Travel Tips /by May Suen

This mini guide to visas lists when you need a travel visa—and when you don’t. Plus, all the fees, forms, and formalities you may encounter on the way for select destinations.

In this mini guide to visas, we outline when you need one—and when you don’t. Plus, all the fees, forms, and formalities you may encounter on the way for select destinations. For more details, visit travel.state.gov.

LATIN AMERICA

Argentina: Visitors must pay a $160 reciprocity fee online before arrival (embassyofargentina.us). Print the receipt and take it with you (it’s good for ten years).

Brazil: Visa required; $160.

Chile: U.S citizens can get a free 90-day permit upon arrival at Santiago International Airport.*

Nicaragua: Visa not required, but visitors must buy a $10 tourist card upon arrival.

Panama: none required; a $5 tourist fee is included with airfare.

EUROPE

Much of Mainland Europe: Visa not required; a valid passport is sufficient for stays of less than 90 days.

Belarus: Visa required; $160.

Russia: Visa required; $160.

Turkey: Visitors must complete an online form before arrival (evisa.gov.tr; $20).

ASIA

China: Visa required; $130. Visitors staying 72 hours or less (on a long layover to tour Shanghai, for example) don’t need a visa.

Indonesia: Visa available upon arrival at bali’s ngurah rai international airport; $25. Brace yourself for lines.

Maldives: Free visa on arrival.

Thailand: Not required for stays of up to 30 days.

Vietnam: Visa required; $100.

AFRICA

Kenya: Visa required; $50.

Tanzania: Visa required; $100

OCEANIA

Australia: Visitors must complete an online form before arrival (eta.immi.gov.au; $18).

New Zealand: Visa not required for stays under three months.

http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/visa.jpg 875 1500 May Suen http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/logo_roamtowonder_regular-300x125.png May Suen2015-04-17 19:28:422016-11-29 23:57:03When You Need a Travel Visa

Best Tools to Plan Your Trip

December 30, 2014/0 Comments/in Article, Travel Tips /by May Suen

Finding the right tools for planning your trip can be cumbersome. Here are some tools we used for our trip planning.
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http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/map.png 875 1500 May Suen http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/logo_roamtowonder_regular-300x125.png May Suen2014-12-30 18:07:402016-11-29 23:54:39Best Tools to Plan Your Trip

Immunizations

December 29, 2014/0 Comments/in Article, Pre-Trip Planning /by May Suen

Preparing for the RTW trip requires thorough research for vaccinations mostly by visiting the CDC website.
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http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/vaccination1.png 875 1500 May Suen http://www.roamtowonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/logo_roamtowonder_regular-300x125.png May Suen2014-12-29 22:13:042016-11-29 23:55:02Immunizations
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