November 4, 2009
The next 2 days are really the definition of Orion’s byline,… “a path less traveled”. This is only the second time that this village has had tourists visit, the first being Orion on a previous voyage. There is no communication here; no phones, no emails. So our Expedition Leader, Justin, told us all he was hoping they remembered that we were coming from his personal visit with them a month earlier. Around 7:30 am we approached the island and were relieved to see the officials and locals standing on the pier to greet us. With the exception of the ports of embarkation and disembarkation, this is the only port where we didn’t have a water landing and could walk off the ship. A nice change but not nearly as much fun as those zodiacs!
As we walked down the gangway, we were escorted by the locals to cars that await us to take us to their city center. By escorted I mean an elderly lady maybe 4’ 9” took hold of my forearm with a firm grip and led me to the cars. The cars are about that only ones on the entire island and they were government vehicles on loan for our arrival. They were new, small Toyotas that they squeezed 6 or 7 people into, some of them still had the plastic on the seats. Others from the ship were loaded into “paddy wagon” type vehicles from the local Police Department. If you’ve been reading this blog for any time now, you know the passengers got the maximum laugh value out of this, especially since it was mostly the Expedition Staff that were transported in this way.
When you think about what is the difference between Orion Expeditions and other cruises, the next couple of days are a perfect example. It is an authentic experience allowing you view people, cultures and destinations how they are. Not a rehearsed version of sanitized life for the tourists. The people were very curious about these pale visitors and timidly approached until the passengers greeted them with big smiles and bowed slightly their “Hello”. They absolutely loved their picture being taken as we snapped away, with their permission, and then turned the camera around so they could view their image. When they saw it, they squealed with joy and laughter. Soon they were coming to us and pointing to the camera for us to take their picture.
There were so many beautiful, curious faces that we captured to take home with us. There were a few people who had cell phones and were busily taking our pictures as we were just as unique to them as they were to us. Sarina Bratton, the Founder and Managing Director of Orion was greeted as basically our group’s “Chief” and given traditional Beatle Nut and some gut-wrenching alcohol they make. I know this isn’t her first time to the dance and she graciously accepted, and then what can only be described as an Academy Award winning performance, pretended to consume. You have to love a leader with real poise!
We were privileged to attend two performances of different tribal dances and then attend their outdoor market where they sold mostly fruits, vegetables and meats. Some unidentifiable meat part was hanging on a fence along with several dozen of small, reddish fish. Of course, no refrigeration and heaven knows how long they had been hanging there. Dorothy, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore. It seemed most of the locals were there to see us rather than shop as they stood gathered together to watch what we did and take in how we looked. But I guess we didn’t look too scary because when you smiled at them and said “Hello”, most were quick to smile back returning the same greeting.
As we all piled into our vehicles for the return drive back to the pier, we waved good-bye but this day certainly won’t be forgotten. In addition to the cultural uniqueness of this experience, the waters surrounding this island were like a picture postcard. We could stand at the edge of the pier closest to the ship and still see clearly to the bottom. Colorful schools of fish waived back and forth with a background of pure white sand. So, that’s it until tomorrow!
Follow Judy Parker through her cruise with Orion Expedition Cruises.
Read more from Orion Expedition Cruises from SDNN’s blog Onboard the Cruise Experience.
Tags: cruises, cultural experiences, island natives, Orion Expedition Cruises, outdoor market, SDNN, Southeast Asia, tourism, traveling, tribal dance
