Bluewater Lodge

Drinking some kava

by csarah

Kava is a local medicine drink that is offered to guests when entering a traditional village..It is used in the welcoming ceremony.
It is made from the roots of the pepperplant and it has an earthy taste. Your tongue will become thicker and dumb. This should result in a relaxing effect. Although some people told me that if you drink to much it will do the opposite..
When somebody offers you a bowl of kava you should say 'bula' and after finishing you should clap 3 times in your hands and give the bowl to somebody else

Nadi

by jaycee1401

"Welcome to Fiji..."

The moment I stepped of the plane, I felt a great sense of falseness. 3 guys playing those small guitars with a big smile which clearly wasn't from the heart, probably getting paid pennies by the airport. I hadn't booked any accomodation so I just followed people carrying backpacks and jumped on a mini bus which took me toa hostel in Nadi (think it was called Nadi Bay Hotel). It had 2 swimming pools, excellent food and very cheap of course. I immediately booked sometime on Beachcomber Island in Fiji for a week, but I erally wanted to see what it was like in the centre. I was warned to be careful as it's very dangerous and people quite regualrly get attacked and mugged, but I believe when its your time, you will go one way or another. it was getting dark and a young 18 year old lad called Mark asked if he could join me for a thrill. We agreed on hitch-hiking in from the hostel as it was a good hour walk, and fairly soon a van puilled over for us. The man was of Chinese origin and wouldn't accept any money for the trip. He was telling me we should NOT hitch-hike here as people have been known to go missing and never be found. When we arrived at the Cashpoint he told me to cuickly get the money and go back to the hostel, but we of course being neive ignore this and went for a qalk around....its now pitch black and the streets are heaving with locals, we were getting looks from everyone. Then we saw a man getting chased, he had a backpack on. He ran down a lane, then a minute later 3 men walked back out the lane carrying his bag and laughing. Mark was now terrified and wanted to go, but how? No taxis at all. No buses? How can we get home? Then a bunch of local men approached us asking if we needed help. mark mentioned he fancied an Indian Curry and wanted some dope! The men said if we gave them the equivilent to £5 he would get us 2 big meals and dope, so we paid him and he ran off. The others asked us to come into their uncles shop to see the real Fiji. Since we had no choice in the matter I agreed to go in, and it was full of weapons from hundreds of years ago. They sat us down and an old man came out from behind a curtain. He was dressed in what could only be described as a blanket with holes for his head and arms. He was carrying a big wooden bowl filled with powdered white water. They were saying words such as Bula and Anaka, then drinking to water with half a coconut. I was then passed the coconut ....(continue soon)