I changed my mind that night. I had been planning to go to Suva to experience more of the culture. However, I was growing tired of some of the culture I was getting in Fiji’s cities. The native Fijians were wonderful and kind people. But, the people who had moved there from India were quite trying on my tolerance. Everywhere I went I got leers and, “Bula! Where you from?!” Sometimes I would allow them to think that I was Australian since I still had a bit of an Australian accent. Usually, I just ignored them though.
I decided to go to Nadi that night and then go on to a plush place called Beachcombers where I would spend a whopping $23 a day (that included meals). My roommate had been planning to stay where she was for a few more days. I refused to allow her to do so. Both of us knew that it wasn’t really safe because she was the only one in the entire dorm with no new guests anywhere in sight. So, she went my way. We stood at the road for about an hour and waited to flag down the local bus. The guy siting in front of us begged her for her address so that he could write her love letters.
Before we knew it, we were in Nadi right outside the market. I shopped for a while. She disappeared. I found my accommodations for the night and decided to find a place to get my hair out my face. Just around the corner I found a salon that put me in a chair the moment that I got in. Three hours later I had a head full of blonde braids. “Your hair is so funny,” one woman said. “We have never done hair that is so straight and smooth.”
The next day, I caught my boat to Beachcombers. It looked like a big pirate boat. Nearly everyone aboard was in their 20′s or early 30′s. Beachcombers is on an island so small that a very slow leisurely walk around the perimeter takes about 15 minutes.
I stayed for about two days and did what you are supposed to do at those places. I ate when the bell rang, I swam and snorkeled and I drank a lot. I really liked the accommodations there though. It was a very large open air co-ed dorm. I was excited to be on the top bunk but I was face to face with one snoring guy and my feet were in another guy’s face. But, when the cool breeze came at night, we all passed out just the same.
Fiji is beautiful. I have seldom met a group of more welcoming and genuinely kind people than the native Fijians. The Indians however, made me feel far from welcome and were kind to me only for their benefit. I hate to stereotype and categorize people but that is how things went for me. Certainly there are some Fijian natives who are not so kind and as well, there are some Indians in Fiji that are as sweet and welcoming as your Grandmother. I did not experience either though.
I think that as with any other journey, when planning a trip to Fiji, one needs to consider what they are looking to accomplish. Cities offer little true culture of particular countries. Instead, they show the result of cultures blending together.
Resorts also offer little culture. However, if you are looking to relax without having to think about anything other than sun and booze, then that is where you want to be. But, please don’t go to a resort and then tell people that you have been traveling in that country because you haven’t really been. Instead, you have only been sitting in a bubble that happens to be in that country.
