Green Zone and Head in the Sand

I feel like I'm staying in Iraq's Green Zone now. The Sheraton Fiji is located on a large tourist Island that is completely isolated from the rest of Nadi. The isolation along with the fact that the Vice President of China is staying at my hotel makes it seem like the Green Zone. Security is intense. Not as much as you might think it would be for a Vice President of such an important country, but there is still a very visible security force everywhere. The section of Nadi is almost like Sandestin if Sandestin had guards and motorcades and if the rest of Destin were like the 9th Ward.

When I arrived at the hotel today the lady at the front desk told me that everything was so busy because the Emporor of China was here. I'm not the biggest history buff, but I had a good feeling that a a community country China no longer had an emporor. A little time on google quickly revealed the truth. He is here on some kind of Kathleen Blanco style trade mission, but this trade mission involves a Chinese warship being docked right outside the harbor. Fortunately I didn't notice the warship. Those kinds of things don't exactly make me feel like relaxing on the beach.

Pretty much all I have been doing is relaxing on the beach. I was on Beachcomber Island for two nights. It wasn't as isolated as I expected. There was even a very limited supply of hot water. The incredible surroundings make the less than pleasant sleeping conditions and food things I could deal with. The first night I had to have like 5 beers before I was willing to get into the bed. Five beers is a lot for me, but considering the very wild party atmosphere there, I have kept my usual lightweight status. Nevertheless, Beachcomber had the clearest water I have ever seen. Snokeling there was incredible because the fish were so exotic and the coral provided an awesome background. There were people on the Island from all over, but I mostly hung out with British people and a couple Americans.

I have started telling people my name is Martin. People don't really understand me when I say Marty, so for traveling it is just easier to go with Martin. I love the way the British people say my name. I really like the way they say almost everything. It was really nice to meet other people who are traveling around the world on their own too. One of those people was a modern day Canadian hippy who pretty much is the reason I no longer want anything to do with hotels. He kept telling me I needed to more fully embrace the backpacker lifestyle. I kept trying to avoid him. When I finally left the island and saw him for the last time, I told him that I'm a tourist not a backpacker.

Right before I left Beachcomber, I got myself into all kinds of trouble becuase I couldn't find my boat ticket to get back to Nadi. I started to frantically search for it. In the process, I forget my wallet on the counter where I was checking out. I didn't realize that my wallet was gone until I had finally respolved the ticket issue. The people that world at the place took my wallet that I left open sitting on the counter and just set it behind the desk. Everything was still there when I finally located it. I got a good scare and will now be keeping a much better eye on it. Luckly the Fijian people are very good people. Most go to church daily and 3 times on Sunday.

After all of my commotion, staying at the Sheraton has been great. It isn't exactly $14 a night, but I never set out on this trip trying to spend as little as possible. This is probably the most beautiful place I have ever stayed, and it has made me realize that I want to stay in nice places as a I'm traveling even if that means I don't get to travel for as long.

I'm off the Auckland, New Zealand tomrrow. Hopefully that goes well.