Day 1 (and 2) India- It's a long way away

Day 1 Travel

India is really far away, as both my Mom and I had the chance to discover. After running some last minute errands and running into mad traffic on I-40, I made it to the airport just in time. It was very very very very sad saying goodbye to my wife, but unfortunately because of the time constraint we didn't even get to say a proper goodbye. I miss her lots already.

After getting from RDU to Washington Dulles, I met up with my mother who was coming in from the Midwest. We grabbed a bite to dinner and had a chance to catch up on wedding photos while awaiting our flight. Those couple hours flew by, thankfully, because we had a good 13 hours to sit on the flight to Dubai. Given that prognosis, and knowing we still had another 4 hour flight after that, I bought the bullet and upgraded to Economy Plus. Luckily, the plane was only half full so we had a chance to spread out and sleep a bit (as well as you can on a red eye that leaves at 10pm and arrives at 7pm).
We didn't have a chance to see Dubai too much on our approach, which was a disappointment. Hopefully on our way back it will be easier given our 14 hour layover. The airport was impressive in terms of it's shops and restaurants, and the people were exceptionally friendly. I have to say it was my first experience being in a Muslim country, though the airport view showed as cosmopolitan and global of population as any I've ever seen. As you can see, they like their upscale duty-free (which isn't really duty-free since they don't have sales tax anyway).

Day 2 Arrival in India
We arrived at Kochi around 3am in the morning. I actually felt pretty decent, likely because the time zones are so far off that my body isn't sure what to think. We met our driver, who escorted us to his Toyota SUV and we headed on our way. Altogether summary on travel is that it wasn't that bad thankfully.

It took around 90 minutes to go the 60km to the Zamorins location. We couldn't see too much of the road since it was the middle of night, but in general I would say that I was surprised that nearly all of the 90 minute drive had shops on the side of the road. It was what I would call fairly typical 2nd/3rd world looking scenery, except that it went on forever.

At Zamorins we met Colonel Babu, the person who we had been in contact with over the last couple months of planning. He is a very pleasant man, around 40 years old. He escorted us to our private rooms, basic but comfortable, and let us make ourselves at home before falling asleep. I wasn't really able to sleep, but it was nice to lie horizontally after a full day of traveling. Here are some photos of my room (called Ganga).

At 8:30am we were roused to join Col Babu for breakfast. I had no idea what to expect. It turned out it was a rice dumpling with coconut curry, and some fresh mango. I'll say the latter fit my taste buds better than the prior. We spent an hour eating and talking. Col Babu shared his reason for why Zamorins exists. He shared the basic concept of Aruyvedic. I think I'll save the full description for a later blog post (why give away the story). But the high level concept is that the body as a unit is very good at solving it's own problems, provided it has the proper holistic support provided for it. He utilized rough conceptualizations to help us visualize what he meant. His first examples were about Russia vs Afghanistan and how the body needs to be strong before it can fight off an enemy. You could try to kill the enemy with full combat, but a much more productive approach is to provide support to the body so that it can do what it does best (heal itself). He mentioned Aruyvedic tactics are targeting clearing up blockages in the body that prevent the body from operating at its full capacity. A concept of balance that the body needs to achieve in order to function at its best. All in all, I think both Mom and I appreciated the fact that there is value to a holistic approach to health.

We went on a brief walk of the grounds, with Col Babu describing the local flora. Included on the grounds are mango and coconut trees, and a number of species less familiar. I'll post photos of them later.

After rest, we went for our initial massage. It was unlike any other massage I've ever had. First, you wear essentially a very small cloth diaper. Then I had two technicians working on my body for over an hour. They begin by pouring hot oil on your skin, an effort to lubricate away impurities. They then massage the body, for the most part in a vertical motion towards or away from the heart. Following the massage, they then scrub you down with a concoction of spices and soap to clense the body. Afterwards, it's an amazing feeling of cleanliness and wholeness.

I finished my morning with a bout of yoga (not sure where this energy is coming from). It was only my second time ever doing yoga, but the instructor was patient and worked with me. When there was a position that was obviously uncomfortable, he asked if I was in pain. He had us shift out of that position, relax, and actually focus on the pain. The belief is that if you focus on it, your body will target it to help heal it. It seemed to work. The only session was very rewarding, the breathing relaxing without making you tired, the stretches strenuous without feeling painful.

Alright, I get the idea there's a routine to each day here, so I hate to write such a long thread on the first day and have nothing to write for the other 13. But I have to say that I'm pleased with what's been going on thus far, and looking forward to what's to come.

But I do miss my Rae the most :(

Our final day and trip home

Final Day (Rae's bday)

Today is our final blog post from our honeymoon.

As we mentioned before, we had a great time in the lagoon snorkeling yesterday. We were a bit melancholy, however, that we were unable to take photos given our camera was destroyed in the saltwater. We decided we wanted to venture back out into the lagoon, and booked Teking for a private charter, in celebration of Rae's birthday. The best aspect was probably the ability to control where we spent time. We focused on the areas we really enjoyed the day before for both scenery as well as snorkeling. This time we had our digital SLR with us, and captured some picturesque views to share with everyone. The topper was that we had a champagne brunch in the shallows of the lagoon, prepared by our captain and first mate. The fish swam right up underneath the table and through our legs, hoping to get a sample of bread. We obliged, and captured some great photos of it. The snorkeling was at least as incredible as the day before, and we really enjoyed that we were able to share it just to ourselves. An amazing experience.

After we concluded our lagoon trip, we spent some final hours at the pool enjoying the sun. After packing up, it was time to go to the airport and begin our 18 hour trip home. We're sad to see our honeymoon go, but we feel ready to get home, see family, and sleep in our own bed. 12 days was just perfect, enough to truly enjoy everything we wanted to, but also not too long as to be hoping the trip would end.

We've now returned home to Raleigh and had a chance to absorb the whole wedding and honeymoon experience. There are mixed emotions about it being over. We're happy everything went perfectly, but sad that it is all over. It is certainly as everyone said: it goes faster than you can truly appreciate.

We have posted all of our favorite photos from the wedding and honeymoon to the following link. This includes the disposable cameras from the wedding day, a collection of photos from everyone on wedding day, honeymoon photos, and the photo booth pics from the wedding day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/frick4/

We want to say thanks to everyone for their love and support. You are all wonderful.

Love,

David and Raechel

Words Can't Describe

Day Whatever, Lagoon Snorkeling

Before detailing the day, we have to mention the conclusion of our evening last night, which included security coming to the rescue as there was a three-way gecko war ongoing. We've largely gotten used to them, but when they started hissing at one another on the ceiling above the bed, it's a difficult thing to ignore. The help staff who showed up was quite adept at capturing one of them, he's obviously done this before. I figured it was a useless endeavor to try to catch them, but he quickly pinned it behind a picture on the wall and had taken it out to the outside foliage in just a minute or two.

This morning we woke up ready to join Teking on his Lagoon Cruise. Teking was a personal recommendation from our host on Rarotonga based on his fun-nature as well as his small boat's ability to reach locations many of the larger touristy boats could not. The recommendation was right on the money. He brought the right amount of humor and personality to the day, something we enjoyed and appreciated.

But regardless of who was leading our expedition, the lagoon is simply stunning. Words can't describe the color of the water all around. Though there were variations throughout, the most prevalent color we could come up with was Otter Pop Blue. And it stretched for miles in every direction. We stopped at three different snorkeling locations throughout the day. The first stop Raechel had a chance to feed the fish from her hands leaning over the boat. Though the fish were benign, it reminded me of what a piranha feeding frenzy would be like. Rae could really feel them tugging hard at the bread. Teking referenced to keep our eyes out for Taz. We discovered Taz was the big guy in the neighborhood, a giant blue fish that weighed in the neighborhood 100lbs. We were recommended to keep our hands out of the way of Taz's jaws as we were instructed to prepare to get in the water.

So, we all put on our snorkel gear and hopped into the water. Unfortunately, as soon as we got into the water, we noticed that our camera would not turn on. Our waterproof bag had sprung a leak! We were extremely disappointed that we wouldn't be able to capture pictures the rest of the day, especially once we had a chance to witness the sights. We would have to enjoy and share the experience the old-fashioned way, through our own memory and stories.

Rae did a great job overcoming her dislike/fear of snorkeling. Teking helped, as he encouraged her to relax and get back in the water. She explained she didn't really get what everyone was talking about given she could never really see well through her mask given the fogginess. She realized after he put a bit of toothpaste in her mask what all the enjoyment was about. We swam around as buddies and checked out the coral and fish. We're going to do a little research on what type of fish they were, but they were plentiful and colorful. Our favorite was probably the bright blue starfish that was maybe 18" in diameter.

Our next stop was one that had a lot of giant clams growing. Teking encouraged us to dive and touch the edge of the clams. I managed to do so, and immediately freaked out when they recoiled and clenched. It felt a little like if jelly were in a plastic bag. There were perhaps 50 of these things growing. Teking explained that the local clams and many of the clams in the lagoon had largely died out about 20 years ago, he suspected because the lagoon temperature got to warm. He said that recent implants were from Austalia, and had positive attributes like faster growing cycles. There were still local original clams, but they were smaller and less prevalent.

After that, we stopped at Honeymoon Island, for which we were given special consideration given our recent nuptials. I don't think there is any way to accurately describe this island, it was the coolest attraction of the day. It looks like how you would picture the idyllic desert island, perhaps at most 2-3 ft above the lagoon. We were at high tide, and there was a large finger of island stretching out into the shallow area of the lagoon. The water was a light turquoise, and would occasionally wash over the finger of island. The water was no more than 2-3 feet deep 200-300 yards out from the island as well.

Across from Honeymoon Island a few hundred yards was Unfaithful Island, for which we were told to beware. It was also the site for our lunch. We had a chance to get to know our shipmates, of which there were 10. Amazingly, there were no New Zealanders on board. We represented the U.S., there was a couple from Vancouver (who had been 4 times since their wedding on Rarotonga 5 years before), an engaged couple from Finland, a couple from Austria, an older couple from our resort from the U.K., and a guy from Germany. They were all quite pleasant and we enjoyed getting to know them during the meal. We finished our lunch by competing in a hermit crab race. Teking was obviously on something as he said I was first prize, he was second prize, and Raechel was third prize for the victors. I know that the 1st place winner was not exciteed with their prize :)

We stopped for some more snorkeling, another couple islands (where they filmed Cook Islands Survivor), and concluded our trip at One Foot Island. Other than enjoying the sun and water, nothing too notable. After that, Teking took us home. Fingers crossed, but if they have enough petrol (there's a shortage since the boat couldn't dock last week), we're going out for a champagne brunch on one of the islands tomorrow for Rae's official birthday.

Tonight, we're heading to happy hour, a buffet, and a show here at the resort.

Hard to believe our honeymoon is coming close to conclusion. We both agree it has been amazing, and we also agree we booked just the right amount of time as we're starting to think about home and all the nice things (like Sunday coffee in bed) that come with it.

Happy Birthday to Rae

Day 11 Well, a couple days early...

In case we didn't mention, we did conclude last evening with the exciting fire-dancers. They had to move indoors from the beach because of the wind outside, but we were still impressed by their throwing lit torches up and about. Two of them had actually been to North Carolina as part of an exhibition at universities on world dance.




BTW- the word has obviously spread amongst the beasts as to my ability to unleash the fury: as we were relaxing last evening we heard a thump on the floor. One of the lizards had either gotten tired or drunk, as he fell from the ceiling of the living room onto the floor. I walked out to the room, and scared the bejesus out of the lizard with my thundering roar. He scampered this way and that, and safely made it out of the way of my pounding feet.

Today we enjoyed a somewhat abbreviated bike ride on the island. We utilized the map to head through town, which lasted approximately 90 seconds. We also noticed that some of the lines on the map were dirt versus asphalt. What we didn't anticipate is that those dirt trails would eventually go from pseudo-roads, to two dirt trails, to a single dirt trail. With ominous clouds behind us, and unsure what lay ahead, we instead turned around after getting around the south end of the island (about 1/3 of the way around) arriving at PRA just in time for a late lunch. The weather brightened considerably in the afternoon in time for some sun at the pool. Increasingly brave, we've shed the sunscreen increasingly over the past few days. That also led to a purchase of Aloe Vera, which we have used copiously in the last 24 hours.

After some lazying around, Rae and I dressed for dinner. I had slipped a hint that we might have a special occasion upcoming. After a brief happy hour shared with a few friends we met (apparenently there ARE professional cricket coaches), we were escorted down to the beach to our 4-post suite with candles aplenty. We are a couple days early, but given our upcoming travel schedule, I wanted to make sure Rae had a very special birthday! We sat in our bean bag seats with pillows a la Aladdin and took in the view of the ocean and lagoon with a soft breeze in our faces. We talked about how certain moments seem so amazing as to just be surreal. This was one of them. After being served some bubbly, we enjoyed a wonderful feast of seafood, including the best tuna sashimi we've ever had (sorry Mikuni). The feast kept coming, with calamari, oysters, mussels, shrimp, and fresh crab. We finished off the meal with a plate of wonderfully decadent desserts, made up of cheesecake, chocolate cake, and raspberry ice cream. Delicious. We had amazing timing, as not more than 10 minutes after we finished dessert and champagne did the rain start. The resorts hosts were very kind in running through the rain to bring us an umbrella to make our way back to hour room.

Tomorrow, we venture on a half-day cruise of the lagoon with TeKing. Camera charging now so we have plenty to show manana.

The sun came out

Day 10 Pool day

Yesterday was a lazy day given the wind and rain, mainly getting situated at our new location, and doing a little shopping. Today we were fortunate that the wind blew away the clouds and it's a lovely 85 degrees with an ocean breeze. Not a lot of excitement to report, which I think will be consistent on this island given there's few touristy things to do outside of enjoying the resort and the lagoon. Just a great day hanging out at the pool drinking some Mac's Gold and the cocktail of the day, a "Jolly," made of vodka+pineapple+Malibu+lemonade, which Raechel loved. One nice twist they have the drink of the day is that they name it after the last name of a guest staying at the resort. Not entirely sure what a Frick would be made up of, though I'm sure there would be at last one part pink in it for the newest addition to the family. We had the infinity pool overlooking the ocean to ourselves this afternoon.

After pool time, Dave smoked a cigar, then we both head down to the beach to soak our toes in the ocean water and take a couple pictures.

Tonight, they have the fire-dancing show, which I'm sure we'll have photos to share tomorrow.

Man v Nature

Day 9 The Day I Destroyed the Bug

As I mentioned before, we are in the midst of a jungle and are amongst bugs and critters. Today, we had our first encounter with a cockroach, located above the mirror in the bathroom (the hottest and most moist area of our dwelling). I'm not going to lie, it was a pretty big bastard. Raechel's scream drew my attention to the bathroom, and I grew nervous upon witnessing my adversary. I questioned myself as to how I could best the beast. Should I use cunning and wile, or brute strength? Rae's suggestion of calling the front desk was cast aside with disgust, mankind has been conquering nature (bugs) for ages. I, too, could live up to my forefathers well-trodden path to make nature bow to me. Deciding upon both cunning and strength, I strategically positioned the trash can below the beast. Then with the blind courage of a kamikaze, I thrust forward with the kleenex box. In a matter of milliseconds, the beast was crushed, falling to its grave in the shadowy depths of the garbage can. Quickly I secured my victory by tying the garbage bag, and again double-bagging it in our other trash bag, before deposing of my foe on the outer step. Homer has spoke of quintessential victories in epic terms, this would have fit well beside the epics of Odyssey: such was the epic battle of Frick vs Cockroach, circa 2009.

Video to come on youtube

Rae's version of the story goes a little differently... and in the end the bug was not "crushed", but buried alive in the trashcan.

Wikipedia facts on cockroaches:

• Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger than the best-known American cockroach
• Are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps
• Ampullex wasps sting the roach more than once and in a specific way. The first sting is directed at nerve ganglions in the cockroach's thorax; temporarily paralyzing the victim for 2–5 minutes, more than enough time for the wasp to deliver a second sting. The second sting is directed into a region of the cockroach's brain that controls the escape reflex among other things. When the cockroach has recovered from the first sting it makes no attempt to flee. The wasp clips the antenna with its mandibles and drinks some of the haemolymph before walking backwards and dragging the roach by its clipped antenna to a burrow, where an egg will be laid upon it. The wasp larva feeds on the subdued, living cockroach.
• David Frick and Chuck Norris are cockroaches best known predators

Day 8 Departure for Aitutaki

We left Rarotonga today to head to our second destination island, Aitutaki. We concluded our Rarotonga experience with a kayak trip in the morning and a quick lunch at Sails before checking out and heading to the airport. Rarotonga International Airport checkin was interesting. No check of ID, but they were very clear that there was a 3kg weight limit for items you were carrying on (reverse of our logic where only weight consideration is the items you check), and I was permitted to carry-on our leftover bottle of Bacardi.

The flight was smooth, for which we were thankful given the wind and rain from the day before. Our arrival into Aitutaki was a pretty amazing view. There are probably 20 sq miles of turqoise water surrounding a view islands/motus, so it creates quite the impression. The reef surrounds the area and provides for all of that shallow water. We were again greeted with a lei by the local airport staff, who also happened to be our guide to Pacific Resort Aitutaki. The drive to the resort showed a slightly drier climate from Rarotonga. Having done some reading on the islands, it appears to be due to the lower elevation, with Aitutaki's highest point being only 120m (400 ft). Without mountains to help create cloud formation, there is lower precipitation.

We were duly impressed with the resort when we pulled up, there obviously is a reason why this is ranked by Tripadvisor as one of the best resorts in the world. Our host escorted us to Beachfront Suite 300. Walking in we absolutely loved our new home for the next 5 days. The suite is about 1000sq ft, with an entry living room opening out onto an extended patio overlooking the lagoon and ocean. Up a few stairs leads to the bedroom, with an entire wall devoted to a window overlooking the water. Past that, there's an entry way into the bathroom area, with an outdoor shower option as well as indoor shower (with the walls being windows into the garden area). Rae loved the soaps and lotions from Bvlgari. So all in all, a fantastic honeymoon location. We have had to stretch our acceptance of nature. Given we're on a largely uninhabited island in the middle of a jungle, there are bugs and lizards. We have quickly identified lizards as "friends" and bugs as "foes" (or at least I have, Rae prefers to sleep with the lights on). Perhaps after our 5 days here that squeamishness from seeing a gecko on the wall will have disappeared, but we'll see. We also received complimentary sarongs - which of course, we put on immediately.

After getting settled in, we went to the dinner. At this location we have our meals included, so all of them will be on site. We were seated at one of the front tables, which was fortunate since there was a dancing show that night of the local rituals performed by Aitutaki residents. Dinner was a delicious 3-course meal, with springs rolls and salad, local wahoo, and dessert of chocolate cake and panacotta. We're definitely going to be working off the calories later after our 5 days here.

The dancing show lasted about 30 minutes. It was entertaining, similar to native Hawaiian dances, though it also started a conversation afterwards about whether these people enjoy doing this or it's the best option they have for employment on the island. They were good, but occasionally showed an amateur side in terms of lacking excitement about what they were doing. Not to take away from the performance. The best part of the show may have been the crowd participation, which both Rae and I were chosen for. We were not the best performers, to be kind :) My chicken leg dance was not really active enough to be visible to the crowd, and Rae was a bit nervous to really move those hips. But we enjoyed it and had a lot of fun.

Today was a good day. We're happy to be trying a new island, and intrigued by the fact that it is a more remote location with only a little over 1,000 residents. This part of the trip will likely be more relaxed and indulgent. We look forward to the next few days.