After days of sun, sand and sea, we're going to get down to earth today and see the overland tourist attractions of Mauricius!
As mentioned in the preparation, Mauricius's geographical environment is very unique because of the volcanic eruption. Don't think that such fertile soil is only used to grow sugar cane, she has a rich biodiversity! Flying in the sky (especially birds and bats), swimming in the sea, climbing on land (many lizards), growing in the soil (flowers)... Varieties teach people to be overwhelmed.
However, due to the honeymoon relationship, we only reported a relaxing one-day car trip this time, and we could not appreciate the colorful animals and plants at close range. Overall, though, the day's trip was a great one.
One of the benefits of the day trip is the late departure time and we can easily enjoy a good breakfast, especially the free a la carte ham and egg.
This is the Eggs Benedict I ordered, which looks good and delicious, and the ingredients are very fresh. And the tomatoes are fried just right, hot enough and not too bad. Also the eggs themselves were good.
How does cheese omelett seem so far behind? But it was so delicious that I went home and immediately made a homemade remake!
In addition to the free a la carte, of course, there are other delicacies that are also indispensable to the buffet.
Don't get me wrong, we have wide eyes and narrow stomachs, we can finally clear the food on the table, huh! (In the lower left corner is the finished Terminals =P)
All the buns are very tasty and definitely satisfy me as a person who loves bags.
After eating, we arrived at the lobby on time to wait for the driver, but the driver had not yet arrived.
After so many days, we have never tried to have a driver who wants us to wait, what can happen?
We asked at the front desk and he said no one came looking for us. After waiting for more than ten minutes, I looked at the lobby with only one driver and us, and asked the driver who had been waiting for someone, only to find that he was waiting for us! It is because the front desk made the wrong room number he said, so there is such a mistake.
The driver immediately apologized and said that if necessary, he would definitely make up the time for us. We didn't care, and happily followed him to the four-person car in front of the hotel - hey, isn't it a van?
Originally thought that this day to visit with a group of people I was happy, I did not expect a thousand yuan tour fee can also be included in a day, really cost-effective!
This day's tour is booked together with the Hainan Airlines package in Hong Kong. At that time, the staff of the travel agency did not even want to provide the name of the travel agency over there (probably afraid that we would rate it ourselves), I looked at the leaflet that did not even swim with dolphins, and thought that it might not be a large travel agency, so I only reported a simple one-day tour.
As a result, it felt good all day, and the driver was quite professional. As soon as he got into the car, he took out a map and explained to us the order of the day's itinerary, and promised to go around a circle as well, but the starting point and lunch time were different:
1. Deer Hole
2. Grand Bassin (Ganga Talao) – Hindu temples and sacred lake.
3. Black River Gorges
4. three course lunch at the scenic Le Chamarel Restaurant
5. Seven Colored Earths and waterfalls
6. Rhumerie de Chamarel (rum factory)
He also said that there are scenery along the way that you want to stop and take a closer look, or there are attractions that you want to complete early and you can also propose to him, anyway, on this day he followed us, and the route will not change.
If so, we set off for the first attraction - Trou aux Cerfs.
The driver was a talkative man, but after a few words, Mr.B was asleep, and he closed his mouth with interest and let us rest.
It was very dark and it was raining at any time, but I had seen the weather change yesterday, and today was a full day of getting on and off the bus, and I wasn't too worried.
After looking at the scenery for a while, Mr.B also woke up. The tour guide will open up to tell the story of Maurijos' souvenirs - affordable designer clothing, cashmere, carpets, sailing models. I said we weren't interested in shopping, and he was embarrassed to say that the company had to take us to a few points, so it was good to bother us to go in, even if it only took a minute or two, and it didn't matter if we didn't buy anything at all. In return, if we have anything we want to buy, as long as it's not too far away, he's willing to take us there.
Because he was very polite, and we had expected that there must be shopping points, we didn't care, but after thinking about it for half a day, the only thing I wanted to buy was postcard. He said postcard wasn't popular in Maurijos, but he knew where to buy it.
Soon after, we arrived at what he called the first shop - a cashmere and designer store in the deserted city.
That shop... How to say it, quite large, there are two floors, but gloomy (later I learned that 90% of the stores in Maoguo do not have lights during the day, so there will be such a situation), selling as if they are all brand-name brands, but we have decades ago style, so we only shopped for two minutes.
After getting into the car, the driver didn't say anything about us, and we quickly fell asleep in the lazy sky.
Deer Hole
We woke up almost as we went up the hill. The driver then introduced us to Trou aux Cerfs and the nearby scenery.
He said Trou aux Cerfs is a sleeping volcano in the center of Maurijos. Even so, those who live in the highland area are not rich or expensive. And in our opinion, the houses along the way are indeed more luxurious and luxurious than the mid-levels of Hong Kong Island.
We followed the car round the hill one by one, and before we could get out of the car, we felt that the weather was getting colder.
Waiting for us at the finish line was such a cutie ice cream cart.
I can't imagine that Maurijos is so similar to the ice cream cart in Hong Kong, and also prints the cartoon characters we are familiar with!
However, I have always had an ice cream cart phobia, so I took pictures and didn't help.
This is the crater that hundreds of tourists visit every day. Geographers say the lava she spewed out may be the source of Mao' country!
The volcano was twelve hundred years old from the last eruption, and has been sleeping ever since.
Her lava brings countless nutrients to the neighborhood, giving birth to many different species of plants, especially oak trees. Under the care of the sunshine of Mao country and the rain formed by the nearby rational environment, the plants have grown thriving, dressing her up like a paradise, completely unlike a volcano that can take countless lives.
Because she is of great conservation value, the government does not allow idle people to wait, and cars can only be parked in the nearby parking lot. That area is not for anyone to live in.
For the convenience of tourists, the government has built a beautiful area near the parking lot, that is, the entire crater area where you can see - grass, trees, flowers, wooden benches... It's like an ideal picnic venue (if you're willing to picnic in front of hundreds of tourists).
Then again, the situation owes its credit to nature and not to the government. After all, trees and flowers are nurtured by volcanoes and later nourished by abundant sunlight and rainfall, and the role of the government is to lay asphalt and put a few wooden benches.
Leaving the volcano, the driver stops in front of the carpet shop on the mountainside.
The carpet shop didn't seem very professional, and everything was sold. The owner said that they have their own factory, and the weaving method of carpets is different from that of Turkey, Nepal and so on.
Carpets, I have only seen South Africa and Turkey, no research, only to see that the patterns they sell are different, but also somewhat unconventional. We struck at the price of the knick-knacks from the side and left the carpet shop with our hearts in mind.
The driver continued to take us south, saw the model sailing shop, bought the postcard, and then we arrived at the next attraction - Grand Bassin.
Great Basin (Ganga Talao)
Before I talk about what we have seen and heard, I would like to give you a little understanding of the religious culture of Mao.
As I said in the preparations, many years ago, when the Maoist country was still a colony, the rulers brought many slaves from India to the Mao country. They did not leave because of the independence of mao, but regarded mao as their home and took root here.
They brought many cultural and religious changes to the Mao country. Today, about half of the population in Mao is Hindu.
Legend has it that more than a hundred years ago, a Hindu priest dreamed of a spring gushing out of the ground to form part of the Ganges. He then organized a team to search for the place, trying to collect the lake water to dedicate to their Lord Shiva, only to find Grand Bassin of Maurijos.
Since then, every year at the Maha Shivaratri festival (the day of The marriage of Lord Shiva to parvati, the goddess of the snowy mountains), countless devotees have come here on foot from various parts of Maurichus to offer flowers, fruits and songs and dances. Countless good elders will provide food and drink for these believers who have come from afar to celebrate the festival together.
In addition to doing good deeds during festivals, the elders also donate money to repair temples and idols. For example, near Grand Bassin, the 33-meter-high statue of Shiva was obtained from the donations of the good elders.
This idol is the tallest statue in Mauricius. It's a pity it was in the middle of a repair when we went. The tour guide said that soon the elders will build a statue of the same height nearby!
After passing the statue of Lord Shiva, we boarded the car again and headed for the holy lake.
The Holy Lake is very lively, full of groups of tourists listening to the stories of the Holy Lake and the various gods.
Sorry, I don't like to photograph deities, for fear of offending the religion of the locals, so you can only see the nearby scenery, including the holy lake where fishing is strictly prohibited and has thousands of fish:
Monkeys running through the mountains:
The size is scary, but surprisingly the big fish that doesn't eat the other fish:
Well, then we walked through several temples with our guide, heard several myths about Lord Shiva's wife and young son, and then headed to the next attraction, Black River Gorges.
Next issue preview: Mauritius day 5, into the Black River Park ~
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