Vanuatu Day 7 - I'm avin a kava this arvo

In the morning I went to the local tourist office to ask what I should see or do here. The guy was very helpful and told me to hire snorkel gear and go to Million Dollar Point, where tons of equipment was dumped by the US after the WW2. So I took the bus there. It’s probably the second most famous tourist attraction in Santo, and it was empty when I got there! I only saw a couple of locals. I love it, Vanuatu really isn’t invaded by tourists yet! I was hesitating to go in the water, the waves looked big and I didn’t really know where to go…

Then these local boys, who were collecting the fee to enter the beach, came to talk to me. I asked if there are sharks. ‘Yes, reef sharks.’ ‘Are they dangerous?’ ‘Can’t really say.’ Oh, that’s comforting. One of the guys offered to go with me because I was scared, and the other boys promised to look after my bag while I’m in the water.

The water wasn’t as clear as in Efate. Corals were really pretty, but I don’t really see the excitement of seeing lots of junk in the bottom of the sea. Santo is a really famous place for divers, there are some nearly intact world famous ship wrecks, but as I don’t dive I didn’t get much out of the snorkeling there. After the guy who I was snorkeling with got stung by a jellyfish, I’d had enough of snorkeling there.

Then the sun came out! I took the most out of it, although it was only out for maybe half an hour, while chatting with the boys. They told me that their father owns the Million Dollar Point. So they were from a bit of a better family. A couple of them went to university. And once again, they told me that I’m a loca girl traveling alone here. One of them told me that he’s been working at Million Dollar Point for 15 years and he’s never seen a girl come there by herself.

I didn’t realize to ask the bus driver to come and pick me up, so I didn’t have a lift to home, and Million Dollar Point is a bit of a drive from Luganville. So I had to wait at least an hour or two, chilling with the boys, until the first tourist bus arrived and took me back to the motel. One of the guys told me that if I didn’t have a boyfriend, he would buy me, lol. I told him that you can’t buy people. And he actually told me that in their culture, when they meet a girl they like, they ask her if she wants to get married, and if she agrees, he has to pay her father 80,000 vatus, 3 pigs and 3 peacocks or ducks or whatever, I can't remember. I found it pretty amusing. Then, if the guy leaves her or takes another wife, he gets a fine of 60,000, is tied up and whipped! Awesome! But still, I don’t think I would want to live in a village in Vanuatu…

We also talked about religion. People are very religious here, 90% Christians. They asked what’s the religion in Finland, and I said Christianity, Lutheran… And they asked: ‘So… Do you worship on Saturdays or Sundays?’

In the evening I went to a kava bar with the local couple. The kava tasted stronger than the last time. But still, after a few cups I couldn’t feel anything special. They urged me to drink more. The bar closed (the bar closes when the kava finishes, and then they turn off the light) and we went to another one. I had 850 vatus worth of kava. And that’s more than a litre of kava lol. I felt so dizzy that I could barely walk on my own. The locals were laughing at me. Once I got to the motel I started throwing up. I’m never EVER touching kava again. I really couldn’t feel any of the positive effects that the couple was telling me about (you love the world, you wanna share all your secrets blah blah blah). I only felt really dizzy, my movements were very slow and I felt very sick all night. Well, at least now it’s confirmed; It’s not just muddy water! 

So, from now on, I’m sticking to alcohol, the cause of, and solution to all life’s problems!