Supaya tidak membuang masa, let's get on with the second part of my posting on Mauritius punya holiday aku.
Pening sakan sebenarnya nak tulis bebanyak, tapi sebab selain daripada nak sharing is caring ngan semua, I've always maintained my blog is my diary, public though it may be, and that it records every momentous occasion of my life, so terpaksa gak walaupon berejam nak abihkan nak edit dan resize dan align pics yang bebanyak...lum agik teks nak merapu tak abih-abih.
Anyway, the next morning, on Thursday morning, aku tekejut dari tidur suddenly. Turns out, it was only 4am in the morning. That means I had less than six hours tidur. Kalau ikut waktu Mesia pun, it's too damn early to be up as it would have been only 8am (yes, you all know what time I always wake up,kan?)
Turns out, at bloody 4am, an unGodly hour to me...it was already the crack of dawn. Aiyo....by 4.30am, the sun was up, and by 5am da memang siang.
Got up, watched two hours of repetitions over BBC and CNN and hit the beach and then breakfast. Turns out EVERYONE da bangun time tuh and decided to stroll by the beach...so I wasn't the only weirdo.
I think the people keja kat the coffee house of the resort mesti pikir orang Mesia ni psycho bangun awal-awal pagi, kul 7 bukak tuk breakfast kami semua kecoh-kecoh da hit the buffet line.
After breakfast was done, gi rehat kat bilik jap, and by nine-ish we were on the move.Celah celah tuh, kak Aina dari Astro along ngan crew yang termasuk Lydia sibuk ler shooting for Mawi special yang akan ditayangkan kat Astro Ria. Yang picture on the left tuh is Lydia yang sibuk amik shot meka dari belakang. Yang cameraman baju biru tuh abang Ishak. Hah...central characters ni...remember the names.
We then headed into this town which seemed ages away. Macam pasar pagi ler. There kami tukar duit US dollars kami ke Mauritian Rupee (kat sini takleh convert direct so kami da tukar Ringgit ke Dollars dari KLIA)
RM1 lebih kurang 8.6 Rupees, so not much difference ler duit meka. Nak kata murah pun nothing much ler bebarang meka. In fact sebab aku banyak travel, I think the market didn't offer much as most of the stuff seemed to be of Indian origin...thus not very cheap in comparison kalao dapat from the originating country.
Sesak nak mampos! Bau takyah cakap ler...BO heaven ler kan...so sabar jer.
Didn't take much shots there as bijik mata very the roaming everywhere out of excitement.
Ni fotos ler for the sake of a laugh or two. Ni tengok...market ni sibuk sangat sampai patung display pon patah kaki kena pijak dan langgar.
No ballet lessons for you anytime soon then luv...
Just to give you an idea of the market yang banyak jual textile related items like clothing and such, ni one of the stalls (on the right) yang jual langsir...cantik cantik fabric dia. Tapi perlu ke aku nak beli?
Rushed to meet everyone at the bus, and all I bought was two bottles of Coke, one being Diet Coke for my Coke bottle collection yang wajib mempunyai botol daripada wherever I've travelled.
Sampai balik pas berejam travelling (more time was spent to get from one point to another than in the actual place!)
Petang petang, semua decided to go strolling by the beach, but Mawi had other plans. Member botak da beli layang-layang nak main kat pantai katanya.
So we all hit our rooms, showered sebab melekit (yes cuaca memang hot and humid), before changing into more proper beach attire and then... it was suntan lotion and the beach!
Nak tengok apa cerita Mawi ngan layang-layang dia?
Yes, whatever it is, I can now proudly claim that I am the first person to literally tell Mawi to go fly a kite (matilah translation jadik lain lak).
We didn't do much sebab later that night lak ada pre-listening of single baru Mawi (korang mesti da layan kat ERA kan?) And then it was an early night. Dinner...and then back to our rooms. At least most of us ler.
The more adventurous of us went late night swimming. Sambil sipping on a cappucino, aku berendam with the gang in the pool yang sebelah ngadap resort punya lounge situated at the edge of the pool, while the other faced the open sea as we basked under the night sky.
Stared into sky and searched for Orion sebab da pesan ngan yang tersayang saat rindu, stare at the sky and look for the belt of Orion as we'll be staring at the same three stars to remind us kami berselimutkan langit malam yang sama and that we're not too far apart walaupon rindu gila babas.
Dapat SMS kata dia nak tidur dan tak tengok langit.
So aku sambung feeling diving...kowser.
The next day was a whole lot more fun. Again, the routine, 4.30am in the morning following by a little early morning beach stroll and tanning before breakfast.
It was another long ride before we got to the top of a hill overlooking the town of Curepipe.
Now comes a slight geography lesson. Since Mauritius is an island of volcanic origin, which explains the interesting elevations of mountain ranges, waterfalls and cliffs of course we were on the way to see a volcano!
A dormant volcano ler...that means it ain't blowing its top anytime soon.
The crater of the dormant volcano called the Trou aux Cerfs was a little (but bloody tiring) walk from this fantastic view of Curepipe which is, if I'm not mistaken, the third most populated township in Mauritius.
From the crater, you can have a 360-degree view of the town of Curepipe and the coastal plains
Interesting fact : the name 'Curepipe' originated from the fact that once the trains arrived from Port Louis to the highlands for trade, the messieurs would clean their pipes, thus 'cure pipe' in French.
See...who says my blog can't be educational. Thank goodness for touristy brochures, kan?!!!
Sampai kat puncak, kami pun apa lagik...bergambar sakan ler cause this was the first sightseeing we've really done in Mauritius.
Ignore the differing shades of green sebab that was just the bloody effect the scorching sunlight had on my Nokia camera. Sempat ler bergambar kenangan ngan kak Aina.
Selain amik pic toilet dia yang erm...keji lah pada pendapat aku. Walaupun rasa nak go to the little boys' room, tak sanggup aku walaopon Marliah wat opening ceremony gituh nak ease herself there.
But I took a shot anyway of it cause seriously...how many pictures can you take of a damn hole in the ground. Now if we had seen some hot, molten lava....you're talking awesome photographic memories ler kan?
Merasalah kalau if there was there wouldn't be blog updates in the first place.
Wanted to take some shots of these rival ice cream vans yang charge about RM5 for a drumstick siap ngan wafer and Kit Kat sebab meka ni berlawan tuk customer je. Yang sakit jiwa, ada yang beli siap leh tawar menagar harga ice cream.
Sentap aku bila dapat tau ada yang dapat the same thing for half the price. Ok...that settles it....the bargain hunter in me has been set free.
Keji tau ice cream pun leh tawar harga!!!
Stopped for lunch yang feeling Italian tapi yucky nak mampos with pumpkin openers (or something). Kak Aini and Co again dapat ler Mawi nyanyi with some tourists in the shot. Hid my face under the napkin as bursting out in song in a restaurant where people don't know who you are is not my cup of tea.
By the we had made a few stops at the typically tourist trap designated areas as the practise by every bloody tourist guide in every stinking country. Which of course means no shopping as most items mahal nak mampos, plus look closely at the tag, it probably reads 'Made In Taiwan' sebab cheap trinkets passing of as souvenirs ler.
Keji...
Teruskan usaha gigih meka untuk merakamkan shooting meka tuk the program of Mawi shopping. Ni masa masuk kedai Billabong yang patutnya kat Mauritius murah sebab manufactured locally, tapi mahal dari Malaysia sebab memang destinasi pelancong.
Boring!!!!
Pusing punya pusing, we stopped at two other outlets. Semua shopping sakan because time ni ler banyak barang branded from Burberry to CKs to D&Gs and Armanis and Versace abundant. Murah gak some of the items while others not any cheaper than in Kuala Lumpur.
Plus...some of the items were hardly original, so kena pepandai ler usha mana yang local meaning none ori (as they say in Petaling Street, genuine imitation - keji!!), yang mana under license dan yang mana original punya.
Semua yang tahan nak shopping, unleased their Mauritian Rupees ler akibat memang tahan geram nak shopping.
Still....BORING!!!
The more interesting part of the sightseeing which ended the day was again passing Casa Noyale village, through all the fields of sugarcane and pineapple (their two biggest agriculture features) to Chamarel.
We all groaned in horror sebab kena jalan kaki agik to the top of this hill where from afar we could see the 100 metre high Chamarel falls.
It was breathtaking ler, though I was inclined to bitch too when someone made a comment about what's so bloody interesting about someone leaving a giant tap on.
True...tapi since we had come this far, we took it all in jer lah.
From there, we were taken to the Chamarel Seven Coloured Earths.
We were told ler, and quote 'the undulating lands are a kaleidescope of colours, ranging from green, purple, blue, red, yellow, ochre and brown, which geologists believe to be the result of weathering of volcanic rocks'.
We were also told how oddly enough, the soils are not washed away despite torrential rains and cyclones where a plausible explanation to this natural phenomenon reveals that the soils may be rich in volcanic ash.
Whoopie.
We were also told how samples of the seven coloured earths in test tubes are sold almost everywhere over the island. Erm...ok...how...interesting.
When I reached there, I decided to spend time calling everyone back home as I didn't bother myself with counting if the earth did indeed have seven colours.
Aiyak...baby aku demam...pass kat Mawi tuk nak tenangkan dia, lagik dia terkejut demam.
Merasalah....
Found the earth not the most interesting thing to photograph, so again got Mawi to masuk shot to make things more interesting.
Yes, you can tell by the shots we were absolutely thrilled by the wonder of nature. Puh-lease la...cam tanah merah kat area Puchong je (read : ungrateful and uneducated tourist) But seriously...I don't think it's all that great to make an hour long trip just to see tanah merah lah.
Balik hotel, usual routine, dinner and then supposed early night in, but actually followed by midnight swim, a night cap, and then followed by sleep interrupted by the early morning sun.
Routinely too, was the morning at the beach, and the breakfast at the buffet line, while enduring stares of the staff who were still probably weirded out by us who kep bangun awal je.
Friday siang kami kuar, took off to Port Louis.
The guys semua gi semayang Jumaat kat masjid ni in the heart of Port Louis sementara the womenfolk, those yang tak semayang as well as moi gi shopping.
Hah...disini ler my real purchases began.
Banyak sangat kedai aku kuar masuk sampai nak patah kaki.
The guys met us only after semayang Jumaat for lunch at an Indian restaurant called Namaste near the Caudan Waterfront.
Sana banyak area sebab dia encompassing the Port Louis Bazaar, the Mauritian Chinatown and the old Port Louis theatre.
The capital has also three museums which are: the Mauritius Natural History Museum, the Blue Penny Museum and the Mauritius Stamp Museum but I think it's obvious why they weren't on my list of must see places kan?
Interesting fact : Port Louis is the busiest city of the country. It faces heavy traffic congestion as there is only one motorway which leads in and out of the city. Which pretty much decribes the road network in the country lah actually.
Ok here are some pics around Port Louis. Malas nak cita pepanjang...
They're all from the Port Louis vicinity and the waterfront area... so enjoy
Ok dalam bebanyak pics aku amik tuh, ada pic Mawi stop pose kat gerai buah. You can't really see it here cause I wanted to show that litter can next to him sebab the next thing aku mintak Lydia pose sebelah sana.
Why?
Because after I took the picture, I told her I'd post it in my blog and caption it, NOT ALL LITTER MAKES IT IN THE TRASH.
Aiyo...matilah aku.
Janji ko vogue, Lyds....dan ko ada featured dalam blog aku ni. Susah tau! Pose sorang-sorang ni dalam blog aku. Ko hengat ko star nak masuk senang-senang kalao bukan? (keji...dahler kutuk orang...pastu nak reasoning to justify pun nak keji lagik)
Anyway, interesting picture of the day nominee is this Muslim restaurant in town yang kami singgah beli barang makan sebab kak Aina, Lydia dan Marliah kebulur.
Since tau makanan sana halal, so without the was was ler meka tapau some stuff to munch.
What's so cute about this place? Dia ala ala mamak punya kedai jer. Standard fare...but what I like is...you know kan kedai mamak suka recycle makanan kan?
Like sometimes it tastes like it's been there for days and dead cold. Hah...notice the number of microwaves kat belakang tuh? One thing for sure, makanan dalam kedai ni recycle camna pun takkan sejuk ok!
Yang penting masa dalam kedai ni, ada minah ni, Mauritian tegur aku. Tanya aku ni orang Mesia ke.
When I said yes, dia pun interview mana nak cuti. Katanya nak ke Cameron Highlands. Erm...ok jer.
Another interesting picture I took for the day was this one on the left.
What's so interesting about the damn mineral water?
Sebab dalam setiap tempat kami makan, I mean of course the hotel and also the bigger restaurants, jangan feeling mintak sky juice ok.
Hanya ada mineral water, meaning ko bayar lebih. No other options, They don't serve the complimentary air sejuk, so in other words, they make more money. Keji kan feeling nak paksa orang pay for overpriced tap water gituh.
So all of us bak stok mineral water sendiri.
Keji memang la keji nak wat camtuh...but hey...we're tourists. We're supposed to act that way kan?
Just in case you guys wanted to know, this shot was taken in Namaste masa lunch on Friday. Pastuh we spent a little more time walking the waterfront shopping before calling it a day.
The rest of the routine korang tau kan?
Yeap...dinner after the long journey back, and then tidur, tapi for us another round of midnight swimming.
Only malam tuh, on Friday night, Mawi termenung panjang sebab masa makan malam (since Mauritius four hours behind Malaysia) kami da dapat berita Kian tak layak dalam kategori Balada ke Anugerah Juara Lagu.
And he spent the whole night just termenung even though kami semua paksa dai berenang.
He ambled off to sleep later, and sebab rosak sikit mood malam tuh, we did too.
Is this posting going to be the longest entry EVER?
Time to call it quits. Until the next entry...
0 comments:
Post a Comment