Lamu archipelago, the diamond of Kenya

又一次的長途跋涉！！這次是我和一個荷蘭女孩一起勇闖Lamu。經過17小時的巴士，半小時的船，終於抵達目的地。這是我第一次坐在巴士上那麼久，肯亞的巴士大概像是台灣的普通巴士，而不是超級豪華的阿囉哈，想像坐在巴士上長達12小時之久，而肯亞的路又不是很平坦，一路上都是凹凸不平的路，如果沒有平時的訓練（以前常常從台北到高雄來回跑）還有上車睡覺下車尿尿的功力，那會是很折騰的。從肯亞首都Nairobi到Malindi要12小時，然後我們換車再坐五小時的車到Mokowe搭半小時的船到Lamu。因為缺乏經驗，我們不小心坐上慢車，慢車把我們帶到村裡頭，村民帶著他們的雞上車，然後八隻雞就這樣在我的座位底下兩小時，我嚇的半死因為我很怕被雞啄，道路超級不平坦，很多大大坑洞，乘客常常因為被屁股被彈出座位而驚呼，更別提在座位底下的雞了。而村民們又不是很有衛生概念，吃完東西就往車＂裡＂丟，被啃光的玉米，夾雜著雞，汗臭味等在高溫３０度的空氣下不斷地在車上散發，讓我每一刻都想往窗外探呼吸新鮮空氣。這是又一次非常特別的旅行經驗。

拉姆群島在肯亞的東部海岸。拉姆是群島的中心，一登上拉姆島，我馬上感受到一種純樸、保守、非常慢節奏的氣氛。多數的居民是回教徒，所以民風非常保守，比基尼或是熱褲是不准出現在島上的，女人只准露出眼睛，如果要喝啤酒或是跳舞，也只有兩家pubs供選擇。我在島上遇到一個很會唱歌的女孩，我鼓勵她去當歌手，她說家人不准她去學唱歌或是跳舞因為那是一種很低俗的職業，島上的女人如果要跳舞，只能到一個地方去，那裏只准女人進入，然後當她們進入室內後才可以把面罩脫掉跳舞。島上的男人就相對非常外放，我和朋友走在路上，常會有人來搭訕，我總是被誤認為日本人甚至有人說以為我來自紐約？！不過相較於肯亞首都，我比較喜歡這邊的氣氛，讓人感覺到很安定。島上的交通工具是驢子，沒有幾台機車和汽車。
在這島上，pole pole (慢慢來)是一切的準則。

扣掉交通時間，我在這裡待了五天。一切都是慢慢來！
Disco
我總共拜訪了三個disco，在這邊的夜晚沒有電視，店舖都關了，所以最棒的休閒娛樂莫過於暢飲幾罐冰涼的啤酒，跳跳舞，聽聽音樂了。我們去沙灘上的disco，我們一手拿著啤酒，跟著音樂搖擺，跳累了看天上的星星，享受海風，就這樣跳舞，沒有爭奇鬥豔，就這樣沉醉在音樂裡，盡情搖擺！另外一家Petely’s Inn是一家比較高檔的酒吧，牆的一角是吧台，另外的三個角落擺著非常棒的籐製躺椅，中間則讓客人跳舞，酒吧的兩邊有落地窗面對著海洋，客人可以舒服地躺在椅子上，享受雷鬼或是其他音樂！另外一家就是比較純粹在聽音樂喝啤酒或是飲料的地方，當地人很喜歡啃一種植物，它可以讓人整晚都精神非常振奮，所以他們通常都不睡太久，它不是毒品、味道很苦，所以必須配合著口香糖一起咀嚼，我問了Bakari(船長)他們島上的居民平均年齡，他說約60歲，我告訴他們在台灣平均年齡約70，我們活得比你們常久因為我們沒有這種植物可以啃哪！這邊的夜晚真的沒有太多的娛樂可言，所以居民多半都聚在一塊聊天喝酒，但這種娛樂僅止男人以及外國觀光客，不包含當地女性在內。
住宿
我們住的地方一晚500塊台幣，和其房客共用浴室，設備非常簡單，有電風扇還有蚊帳，其實設備不是重點，重點在於景觀，窗戶面對著印度洋，在那邊待了兩晚，早上醒來第一眼看到的是映在天花板上的粼粼波光，我可以賴在床上或是坐在陽台享受柔柔的陽光，看著人來人往的碼頭，喝個一瓶水作為一天的開始。不用煩惱要趕赴幾點的約會還有數不完的文件工作，就把手機關掉，這是屬於自己的時間，遠離塵囂，淨化自己心靈，簡單、慢慢來，旅館的頂樓可以看星星，有床還有躺椅可以讓房客使用，有一晚我們就待在旅館頂樓，聽著音樂，看星星，有時加入聊天陣容。如果手頭比較不緊，可以選擇較高級的住宿，你可有獨棟的茅草屋(Swahili traditional house)，裡面有吊床、衛浴設備還有一些南洋的裝飾還有專屬的服務生。在這裡，還是氣氛最為重要，不論是簡單的或是豪華的旅館，都有它的特色在，唯一相同點就是鄰近海洋還有非常慢的步調。

船(dhow trip)
這應該是整趟旅程最精采的地方了吧。我們待在船上共四天兩個晚上，一次是和旅館其他房客，另外一次則是我和我的女性友伴一起。
第一次船上約共有八個旅客，我們搭著中型船出海到另外個島上，途中我們嘗試釣魚，釣魚的方式非常傳統，我們就只有使用釣魚線還有魚餌，但是我們運氣不怎麼好，白天多數魚都躲在珊瑚裡，所以難釣到魚。航行約兩小時後，船到達目的地，大家就跳入海游泳，或是在島上散步、抓螃蟹。我們到達的那個島有1500個居民，有個義大利人在島上買了個獨棟的大別墅，我們無法進入，但是可以看見花園還有在落地窗邊的藤椅，非常別緻。有個英國女人在島上經營旅館，我想總房客數也不過50人，如果我是其中的一個房客，我幾乎可以獨占整個沙灘了。游完泳就回到船上喝啤酒還有吃魚，躺在船上享受陽光或是看書，這就是人生阿。

另外一次的旅程比較特別，是我和我的荷蘭朋友，一個船長Bakari，一個船員Baji，四個人一起出航到Manta toto還有船長的島上去。我們帶了睡袋、木炭、爐子、油燈、食物、水、釣具、還有音樂出航。這次我們比較幸運，途中釣到了很多魚，我就釣到了六隻，其實這都要托Bakari的福，他是個非常有經驗的船長，可以說是拉姆島屬一屬二的船長，他說，在他的人生中，他不曾在第三名之外，他大約40歲，仍然單身，他覺得單身是種自由，我問他在拉姆島有幾個女朋友，他說100個，他很喜歡跳舞，常常沒事就拉著我一起跳，Bakari真是個風流的船長阿。Baji是個captain to be，他很會煮飯，拿手菜是椰奶咖哩，我們吃現做的椰奶，這是我第一是次看椰奶的製作過程，從一顆完整個椰子到椰奶；我們先炒洋蔥、然後放入咖哩粉以及胡椒粉，接著放入煮好的馬鈴薯、胡羅蔔及包心菜燉煮，就完成了好吃的椰奶咖哩。我們烹調魚的方式是，把魚放入調好的醬料裡面醃十分鐘，然後放在爐子上烤，獨特的醬料把魚的鮮味帶出來，簡直是人間美味。我們早中晚餐都吃魚，吃現釣的魚，非常新鮮，身為一個饕客，這實在是頂級享受。
除了釣魚，就是躺在船上看書，享受陽光。此外，我還跟船長學如何開船、如何掌舵，我航行了兩小時，於是我就成為了這艘船的船長！Bakari稱呼我為senior captain！！甚至其他船隻船員看到我也紛紛稱讚我是good captain！掌控船隻航行的感覺真好，這真是滿足了我想當女船長的癮。到了晚上我們就放音樂在船上跳舞或是聊天，或是看天上星星。一早醒來，當Baji在準備早餐時，我們就跳進海裡游泳，不像一般的海水浴場，整個海洋我只看得到我們的船還有自己人，我的心擁抱整個海洋，這種心境是我不曾經歷過的。等到早餐煮好我就由回船上吃飯，吃完再跳回去游泳，如果想尿尿就在海裏面尿，如果想大便就在海裏面大便，這是我第一次看到我自己的便便浮在海上，呵！更精采的是，正當我們在用早餐時，在離船的不遠處，我們看到成群的海豚游出水面，這是最美的驚喜了！在船上有足夠的時間可以想像、做白日夢，這對平日的我來說簡直是奢侈的享受，但我在這，可以從容的度過每一刻，時間是我的，時間走的很慢，我聽見我自己的心聲、找自己，在台灣的朋友總是跟我抱怨他們的暑假太忙、沒時間休息，我很慶幸自己可以走出庸碌的紅塵俗世，慢慢地過我的自在生活、不再被時間追著跑，像一隻自在的魚。
過足了兩天的漁民生活，我們回到了Manlindi，Malindi就充滿了很多觀光客，建築物非常地歐化或是穆斯林建築，Malindi美在她的建築，身為自然以及海洋的愛好者，Lamu比較合我胃口。

在Lamu，你會想要在這邊多待幾天，即使你真的只是在島上晃晃享受陽光，因為在這邊，腳步慢的讓你可以更貼近自己、更愛自己。直到現在我還有點不太相信我曾度過這樣恬靜的時光，這一切都像是夢境般的美麗。

working journal 20070817

The house girl of my host family was prisoned few days before because she stole the wire from the neighbor. There are always a lot of people in front of the police station because there are too many criminals prisoned everyday. Due to the poverty, people steal the money or beg. I really feel so sorry for beggars and thieves because they have no idea about their future and they don’t have the right attitude about their life. Nobody tells them to go back to school or go to work; consequently, they just fool around on the street.
The new semester just started and I came back to school and taught, and I was shocked by the sharply decreasing number of students, dropping from 31 to 6. The teachers told me because parents didn’t pay tuition or they don’t care about whether their children go to school or not. So many school children are idling around with their friends on the streets. I felt so bad to see this. The parents in the slum don’t think that secondary education is necessary. Teachers told me that some of the students dropped out to learn dancing. I think it’s ok to learn dancing but secondary school level is still basic education and it will help them to mind their own business when they grow up. I think parents in the slum need to be educated first.

Terrible traffic in Nairobi
Nairobi is notorious for its terrible traffic. I saw one man died of car accident on the main road few days before. I felt so bad about it and I still panic when I cross the road. There’s no right for the passers-by on the street here in Nairobi. And if I travel at rush hour, it would be very terrible as well because the transportation time and fare will double at the same time, which is very annoying, isn’t it.

Having been here for almost two months, I get tougher and braver to deal with Kenyans. For example, if I find that I am over-charged by the sellers, I will get angry and tell him or her that ‘I am really tired of this and don’t piss me off again. Don’t ever think about giving me mzugu(the white) price.’ Today, when I was in matatu, I paid 10 sh for transportation but the matatu tout asked for another 10 sh. Then, I told him that I’ve been here for more than one and half month and I know the price. My words shouted his mouth up.
Let me tell you the price level here. Agricultural products are cheap here. Each corn and tomato is 2.5 NT dollars. But imported goods are very expensive like electricity. Most of the electricity in Kenya is imported from Uganda. Here in Kenya, water is always more expensive than the juice. At clubs, people have to pay more for water than beer. (Water is essential to our life, according to the bartender.) People here like to have fatty food. Almost everything is fried and meat. They can have half chicken or a quarter of it for one meal. I wonder how many chickens people consume every day in Nairobi. It must be more than 2000. Even though the food is not good but the life is good here!!! I always experience difference things here every day.

Experience of Mt. Kenya--Part III

reach to the peak:
In order to catch up the sunrise, we woke up at 2 am and started to climb at 3 am. There’s no light at 3 am so we had to use torches all the way. I was happy that we started early because the way to the Austrian Hut (one hour away to the peak) was extremely tough. There’s nothing but stones and sand (it’s too high for plants to survive there) on the way and it’s too steep to rest on the half way. We had to finish it at once for 4 hours. That was the time when I realized what a good guide is. A good guide will never show his or her pity to climbers. A guide has to be faster so that all group members won’t slow down and delay the trip. Time is very important when climbing. If we couldn’t get to the camp before the dawn, we would face the danger of starving, attacking of animals and harsh weather. I was chanting all the way and this time I really concentrated on chanting because that’s the only way to keep me walking with hard breath and freezing air.

Competing with the time to catch up the sunrise:
It’s just few minutes before we got to the Austrian Hut and caught up the sunrise. The sunrise only lasts for few minutes so we tried our best to reach there and when we saw the sunrise we were very excited and touched by the magnificent view.

Stick to Point Lenana (4895 meters):
With exhausting body and starving stomach, unlike other teammates, I still didn’t give up my dream to the peak. Besides, by strong practicing of Buddhism, I was confident that I will make it no matter how hard it is. When Gatoto, the guide, asked me ‘May, do you want to try it?’ ‘Yes.’ I answered without hesitation. Gatoto told us it’s just one hour from Austrian Hut to the peak but it’s very hard because of the weather and steepness. There’s nothing but icy stones and snow there.
With strong confidence, I started the last but also the hardest part to the peak. On the way there, I could hardly feel my hands because my gloves were soaking wet and the windy weather made my fingers stiff. I ignored the pain and starving inside my body, only focusing on my goal—Point Lenana. Surprisingly, I spent only 45 minutes to the peak. The moment when I reached to the peak, I cried. This is the first time I cried because of success. It’s the strong belief which brought me to the summit. The brilliant view from the summit is the best gift of all trip.Gatoto was happy and proud of me. We were happy and hugged each other on the summit. He said the happiest thing for him is bringing people to the summit. Another thing I wanted to show off is that I was the only Asian on the peak at that time; even on the way of climbing, I didn’t see other Asians except Rain, one of my teammates. To be honest, I felt vomiting and faint when I came back to the campsite because my body was overloaded by the extreme and intensive exercise. Except this, everything was fine.
We came across with heavy rain when we went back to the first campsite with our shoes soaking wet. I felt like trekking on the pool and rivers on the mountains because we took the different route (it’s very dangerous for us to walk on the main road because it’s very muddy and slippery) and looked terrible when we arrived at the lodge. We didn’t meet anybody climb up when we went down.


Thanks to my strong belief, I came back safe and sound. When I look back to the route which I took this time, I am still very shocked by the power of my religion. Without strong practicing my religion, I wouldn’t have reached to the peak. (I had no experience of climbing before.)
Well, I had serious muscle pain made me look funny when I was on the way down to the gate of national park. Chantale couldn’t stop laughing at my stupid walking. Anyway, the sky was clear on the last day. We saw cops and the skins of leopards in front of the gate which were hunted by poachers with spears. This is my first time to see the ‘raw materials’ of luxurious overcoat. Now I understand that if I wanted to see leopards, I’d better hire the poacher to be my safari guide (just kidding, hunting is always illegal and cruel!!)

Experience of Mt. Kenya--Part II

Good diet keeps you away from sickness:
Physical power and mental power are the main reasons why I succeed during this trip. Thanks to nutritious food at my host family and multi vitamin everyday, I had enough energy to get to the peak.
Lovely forest and lodge:
The Mt. Kenya national park is brilliant. From the bottom to the top, I experienced different weathers and plants, from the tropical to the frigid. We climbed just for 2 hours on the 1st day because we needed time to get used to the altitude. The lodge where we stayed at the first and third nights is 3048 meters high. It’s a lovely lodge. 10 people share one room and there’s a fire place in it (we met people from different countries like Scotland, Austria, and Germany, but none of them are from Asia.). We had brilliant meals (spaghetti with tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes and hot soup for dinner and fresh toast, fried bananas, luxury sausages and hot chocolate for breakfast) which Christopher cooked for us. There’s no electricity on mountains so we didn’t take shower for three days. The only thing we did after meals was chatting. We had rubbish Brandy with hot water outside the lodge, appreciating countless twinkling stars above the sky. I have to say that hot Brandy with hot water is the real inspiration of cold weather. I didn’t sleep well during these three nights because my sleeping bag was not good enough. At the midnight, I trembled in my sleeping bag and stayed awake till the early morning. Animals are our big surprise in the morning. We saw elephants, buffalos and blue monkeys around our lodge.
When the climbing was getting tougher and tougher:
On the second day, we climbed for 8 hours, which is quite long. The route was getting harder and steeper. When it rained, the climbing got worse and more dangerous. The hard climb was beyond description. The other two girls suffered a lot during the climbing, one having headache and the other smoking a lot. Since I was chanting and praying all the way, even though I was worn-out, I felt confident and good.
I still remember that the last summer I was at a summer camp with aboriginal school children in Eastern Taiwan. The theme of the camp is ‘Let’s climb the mountain.’ On the way of mountain climbing, we will face many difficulties like laziness. However, with strong Buddhist religion, we can beat down the weakness inside my mind. Buddhism always reminds me to use my wisdom and perseverance to conquer difficulties of my life.
The second campsite which we stay at is 4300 meters high, where I saw the main peaks very clearly. I made up my mind and prayed for good weather and successful trip on the next day. In the evening, we saw many starts and falling stars on the sky, which was the most beautiful sky I’ve seen of my life. We were surrounded only by quietness, coldness, darkness, peace and shiny stars.

Mt. Kenya--my experience of the holy mountain

Once in a while, I would like to do extreme sports or try something completely out of my comfort zone for challenging myself so as to renew the body and soul. Besides, I enjoy basking in a smug glory by showing off to my friends and family. This time I made a bold decision, targeting on Mt. Kenya, 4985 meters high, the holy mountain in Kenya.
There are totally three of us, Rain, Chantale and me, all working on the same project. We hired one guide, Gatoto, and two porters, Christopher (who is a cook as well) and Amos. It’s always a smart choice to hire guides and porters because you will get more chances to get to the top and avoid the chances of altitude sickness. I never regret hiring two porters during the trip, who helped us carry gears, water, cookers, and food.
Cost: 5500 NT per person for four days (three persons of a group cost including accommodation, food, guide, two porters, ticket, transportation, fuel, hired shoes and backpack). It’s a good price because we know other tourists paid more than us (300 USD or more).
Weather: It’s very cold at the peak. The nightly temperatures could drop down to minus10 degrees.
Route: There are seven routes and we, as inexperienced trekkers, took one of the easiest one—Naro Moru. It’s the most straightforward route although it’s not as scenic as other routes (Had we had more days off, we would have taken other routes with beautiful lakes and views).
The peaks: The highest peaks are Batian (5199m) and Nelion (5188m), which can only be reached by very well-experienced climbers. According to our guide, it took him 600 USD to climb the Batian for the professional climbing gears are very expensive. The peak I reached to is Point Lenana (4985 m). Well, Point Lenana is not an easy one, either. People die on mountains every year.
The gears: Due to the harsh, windy, cold weather, good sleeping bag is necessary. Hiking shoes and few sets of warm clothes will make your climbing easier. Don’t be stingy when choosing hiking gears. Walking sticks are alternative. I didn’t have them with me. Other gears like head torch, raincoats, monkey cap, and gloves are required as well.