Curacao!!!
Made it to Curacao!!!!!!!
So far I like it! Somewhat similar to Sint Maarten, which is also in the Dutch Caribbean, but also a number of differences. Curacao seems more like a "real" place, with people living here, rather than mainly an American tourist destination. More languages here.
Just after getting here, staying at a Dutch/Spanish person's place, went to a Chinese restaurant for Indonesian food. People who talk Chinese, Papiamento, English, Spanish, French, Dutch, German! :)
A tasty bami goreng later -- a huge "medium", not sure what their "large" is like -- went shopping. Tons of new things to see, foods on sale, etc. Giant cacti growing around town. Tons of fruit trees in the garden in this place.
I appreciate the newness. Feels like a new start to travels again! I wanna keep going! :)
Boa noite!
When traveling, if you value trying new things -- which I think is for me and many people one of the main points of travel -- you can justify some extra spending to try new things out. That makes more products affordable. If you'd pay $X for a product type anyways, and you'd pay $Y for the novelty of trying something new, then you can afford $X + $Y for a product. That puts occasional luxuries into the worth-it zone compared to what you'd buy at home.
Curacao seems like a substantially bigger island than Sint Maarten, but conveniently laid out. I think much of the stuff is in the center of the island. The east and west ends seem sparse. I don't feel the need to explore every square inch of the island. Maybe a few side trips. I think I'll mainly focus on the core area. These days I've felt more like society-touring rather than countryside-touring.
Feels like I'm in a somewhat different area of the Caribbean than the other parts I've been. Still recognizably Caribbean, but I think a noticeably different vibe.
Exciting day!!! First day I actually got to see Curacao. I arrived at night, then had a full day's (and night's) worth of work indoors yesterday. Today I woke up late then went for a walk. Covered much of the popular touristy areas of Curacao. Beautiful city, they do a pretty nice job of making it attractive and interesting even if it's touristic.
Early during my walk, just because I saw it on the map near the route I was planning anyways, I went to a location marked as a crashed plane. I looked around for a few minutes but couldn't see any wreckage. A car drove up and the driver asked me somewhat suspiciously what I was looking for.
I explained that I'd been looking for the plane wreckage but couldn't find it, showing him my map. He explained that it had been there for years but recently they took it away. He also offered to drive me to the beach or into town.
We drove for a bit, as he explained things about town. Seems like an interesting enough place for such a small island. Not just a lot of tourists but also some Dutch students come for part of the year, turning certain areas into party centrals. Nice looking beaches.
During the drive he told me he was a police officer, and showed me a badge in a storage compartment in the car. He acted very sociable, and drank something that smelled like it had a lot of alcohol while driving.
When we got to town I asked to get out to walk around. He asked me for a tip. I didn't have appropriate change so I went into a store and got some change, then tipped him. It was a phone store, so while there I piked up a screen protector I'd wanted to buy. Also bought some socks and some local food and drinks. Quite a tasty island so far!
The Dutch people seem quite friendly. I've known a few in other countries, but Curacao has a Dutch colonial past and there are still tons of Dutch people here. They're also quite beautiful, at least the ones in Curacao. Tons of attractive people all over town.
Walked to the other side of town, Otra Banda. Not as touristic but still somewhat. Did a few more errands. On the way back caught some live music and more beaches and sightseeing. Exhausted, went back to the place. Threw up a bit on the way, I think from guzzling like two liters of soda, which I bought so that I'd have the bottle for water back at the place.
Super hot in Curacao, hard to stay out in the sun even in the evening. Somewhat drier than other Caribbean islands. Found some Venezuelan beer in the supermarket, I think the first Venezuelan product I've bought??? Or maybe some of the coke around the islands is also from Venezuela?