cleveland
ferry from zanzibar to dar es salaam
we took the fast ferry from stone town to dar es salaam to catch our flight out, and it was quite nice! the first step was spending basically an entire afternoon sweatily trying to procure ferry tickets by pushing to the front of a large group of people much more skilled than me at the art of not getting in a line. definitely do this the day before, as multiple folks missed the last ferry that afternoon because this process is exceedingly inefficient.
in dar es salaam, we used some hotel points for a free night at the holiday inn, and i went on a run on the newly constructed seaside barack obama boulevard before our flight home. a great time in zanzibar!
changuu / prison island, zanzibar
about 6 km off the coast of stone town, zanzibar, is the fascinating little island of changuu. the first use of the island was as a prison for zanzibar. later, in the 1800s, it was used as quarantine facility for travelers during cholera and bubonic plaque outbreaks. (btw, did you know there was a bubonic plaque outbreak in india in the 1800s that killed over 10 million people?)
you can easily hire a boat from stone town to the island for about $5-10, about a 30 minute trip. the prison is interesting to explore. even more exciting are a population of large tortoises, the oldest of which are 180 years old! they were initially brought to zanzibar from the the seychelles, and when they started to be stolen, were retired to the island for their own protection.
zanzibar!
we spent an amazing 4-5 days in stone town, zanzibar! zanzibar is a semi-autonomous archipelago off the coast of tanzania. for much of the last 500 years it was under the influence of the sultanate of oman – it was even the capital of the entire sultanate for a few decades in the 1800s. it remains almost 100% muslim. in the 1960s, it merged with the mainland colony of tangyanika, and the names combined to form the new country of tanzania. it was also the childhood home of freddy mercury of the band queen, and produces much of the world’s spices. though part of tanzania, it retains its own immigration policy and other laws.
the capital, stone town, is a maze of alleyways that one can wander for days! we stayed in a relatively inexpensive boutique hotel called the shaba. it was close to the beachside park hyatt, which ended up being a cooler place to hang out (both literally and figuratively), which they were fine with as long as we bought some refreshments.
the beachfront is where the action is, and the forodhani gardens turn into a street food market at dusk. we found the best restaurant in town – lukmaan swahili restaurant where one can chose any number of east african delicacies from a picture menu.
doors of stone town
primeclass lounge, muscat
we had a few hours in the brand new terminal at muscat international airport, oman, and spent it in the primeclass lounge, which was amazing!
new years in hyderabad!
to save some money on flights, we flew from pune to hyderabad for about 24 hours before the the next leg of our trip. it happened to be new years eve! we went to a new years eve party at what is apparently one of the nicest hotels in the city – it was somewhat underwhelming but an experience nonetheless. the countdown to midnight was unceremoniously disturbed by hundreds of intoxicated partygoers trying to get on the stage for a photo at the same time, to the distaste of the emcee who wanted to keep the stage an exclusive space for his countdown; the countdown was perpetually delayed and finally concluded about 8 minutes after midnight!
hyderabad is a massive city in central india with a storied history. it almost joined pakistan and bangladesh during partition as it has a high proportion of muslims, but then was conquered by the indian army so didn’t end up having much of a choice. it is famous for its biryani and is a hot spot for india’s burgeoning information and technology sector, hence its other moniker – cyberabad.
on new years day i took a rickshaw downtown to see the charminar, a four-pillared, elevated mosque built in the 1400s, the can’t miss sight in hyderabad!
around pune
after the wedding we got to hang out with the bride and groom and their families, which was really nice! they really welcomed us in. the evening after the wedding we got dinner with a bunch of cousins in a very nice, almost suburban area of pune, and then dessert at mcdonalds for someone’s birthday; whereby the birthday person goes around and feeds a bite of their dessert to everyone.
the next day the groom took a group of foreigner wedding attendees on a tour of pune! we went to the shaniwar wada, a pasha fort in downtown pune, and walked around downtown and through a hindu temple. we then got a lunch of noddles and dosas at one of his favorite restaurants, including an amazing dessert called a felluti, a rich concoction of vermicelli noodles, cream, jellies, ice cream, and cashews.
pune is considered the cultural capital of maharashta state, has a very high quality of life, and is one of the cleanest cities in india. there are many excellent universities, and over half of the foreign university students in india are in pune.
we then proceeded to another function with the bride’s family – by this point we were the only non-family members so felt quite honored!
lastly, we headed out into the countryside to the groom’s family’s “farmhouse,” which was a very luxurious home surrounded by manicured lawns and herb gardens. we felt very welcomed!
an amazing indian wedding!
ann and i were lucky enough to be invited to an amazing wedding in pune, india! the festivities went for 3 days, but unfortunately due to my work schedule we could only make it to the last day. better late than never though!
we arrived in mumbai at about midnight, and right away took a shuttle to pune, which took about 4-5 hours in heavy traffic. slept for 2 hours at the hotel orchid pune, then up for the wedding!
the wedding was at a very nice baquet hall called the marigold, and the day started with a number of rituals around a fire, with attendees mingling around. all the men got a fabric hat tied on their head, the color of which indicated if they knew the bride or groom. then, all proceeded to the rooftop of the building, where the groom entered on a white horse to the beating of drums and the dancing of guests! this is a northern indian tradition, so apparently there was some struggle of the organizers to find a white horse in pune, but they came through! the groom then needed to try to get to the wedding ceremony room, but was ceremonially blocked by the bride’s family, and they had to negotiate his passage, another custom!
the ceremony then occurred in large room flanked by literal walls of real flowers, and then we had an amazing meal. it was definitely worth the trip around the world; thank you nayha and vineet!
angkor wat!
the very impressive temple of angkor wat is the reason most people visit cambodia. angkor was a vast city and the center of the huge khmer empire about 1000 years ago – indeed, with about 1 million inhabitants at the time, it was the largest pre-industrial city in the world. angkor wat really is unbelievably impressive.
the surrounding area is scattered with many other temples, which one can visit in a few different circuits. the most famous are ta prohm, which is being overgrown by massive tree roots, and bayom, the architecture of which evokes a sense of mysticism and has carved facades of faces of the gods.
toward the end of the day i found myself at a relatively simple temple called east mebon, which is flanked by stone elephants. this would undoubtedly be a world heritage site in its own right if it were anywhere else in the world, but because there are so many other more famous temple sunset views close by, i was there completely alone as the sun set:)
