Today was our last full day on land in Fiji. We decided to take the $1 (60 cents Canadian) bus into Nadi. When traveling, we enjoy mixing with the local people and learning about their culture.
It was about a 20-minute ride to the town centre. Once we reached the bus terminal, we saw that all the buses were painted different colours. It was easy to figure out the system; getting on a yellow bus would take us back to the island. Easy!
Almost 40% of the Fijian population declare their ethnic background as Indian, so it wasn't surprising to learn of a Hindu temple in Nadi. Lonely Planet travel guide shows it as being one of the rare examples of that type of Indian architecture outside of India. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the temple, but the wood carvings, and paintwork (including the ceilings) was intricate.
We had read that we should have our knees covered and that we would need to be barefoot. No problem. When we arrived, however, we were told that we needed to have our legs fully covered. The temple was prepared for tourists though, and for $5 each we were loaned a sarong to wear over our clothing.
I was the one who wanted to go into the temple, so I was pleased that Greg didn't balk at the idea of wearing the sarong, and even agreed to the photo being taken. What a good sport!
Ladies were given red sarongs and the men wore beige. Notice how we accessorized the sarongs so appropriately - t-shirts of motorbikes and rock music. I'm not sure how respectful we really looked, but I'm sure they appreciated our $10 donation.
While we were at the port, about six smaller cruise ships came into dock. This is the sister ship of our cruise line, Captain Cook. They also run day cruises from this port. I just love the colour of the sky at that time of day.
This is one of their competing cruise lines, South Sea Cruises. Notice the way the coloured sky reflects on the water - just beautiful.
On checking in for the cruise we learned that there are 43 passengers booked for our cruise. This ship has the capacity for 130 passengers. Living with that few people for a week, chances are we'll get to know them all. If they're representative of the usual tourists here, most will be from New Zealand or Australia. I wonder if we'll be the only Canadians aboard? I'm guessing we'll find out by the end of the week, if not before.
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