The Last Adventure

Well, here it is. I knew it would come this week, but I didn't actually believe it. My last adventure on Reunion.

Yesterday, Sarah (from Wales), Stephanie (fellow Nashvillian) and I decided that we wanted to see Cilaos, the most visited place in Reunion. It's the southernmost cirque, and is accessible by car and bus, but it takes a longgggg time to get there.

We left a little after 8am and took a bus to the big bus station in town. We thought we'd hitchhike to St. Louis, which is where the buses that run to Ciloas leave from, but we actually didn't get a ride, which is very odd for three white girls. I should probably blog about hitchhiking, but I'll give you condensed blog here, as I am running out of battery power.

When I first got here and learned that hitchhiking (faire l'autostop- isn't that adorable?) is a major form of transportation for people here who don't have cars (ie: study abroad students) I was a little hesistant. After all, hitching in the US is pretty much a death sentence, whether it be for the hitcher or the hitchee, ESPECIALLY for girls. Nevertheless, with a few seasoned students, I became used to the idea when we were running late, it was a Sunday or bank holiday, or we just were plain tired of taking the dang bus. I would like to be clear that I never hitch alone. People are very friendly on this island (more on that to come) and it is nearly always a good experience, if not an adventure. I've been picked up by old ladies, couples with kids, singles, moms, you name it. They are always very polite, and most of the time will take you exactly where you need to go in their quick little manual French cars. The fact that hitchhiking here is relatively safe is a really neat thing about being here. Most people are very curious about the US, the University, our studies, where we're going, and life in general. Plus, it's a great way to get to know some locals and practice French.

Okay, but back to our adventure. Since we didn't get a ride, we took two buses to St. Louis. When we arrived there, we had just missed a bus to Cilaos by about five minutes. So, we asked a nice young couple where the best place was to faire l'autostop. They pointed and gave directions, but since we weren't really in the most convenient part of town to get a ride, we were somewhat disheartened. About two minutes later the woman came back and said there was a local bus we could take that would put us in a better place to hitchhike. She even went and explained to the bus driver. So, we let a complete stranger put us on a bus to somewhere we didn't know. It was neat! Some fifteen minutes late we were dropped off at a random intersection. After about 10 minutes of no luck and tired thumbs, we asked a pedestrian if there was better place, and she directed us up the road. No sooner had we arrived than the first car that passed picked us up!!! It was awesome.

She was a really nice woman, about my mom's age, which made us all feel really comfortable right away. We got to chatting and told her about our travels, and the semseter, and Reunion. She informed us that winter officially started on March 23rd here, even though I got sunburned at the beach yesterday and it's still hot enough to sleep with your fan on all night. She also told us all about Cilaos (where she was born and ran a tourist gite, as a matter of fact) while she zipped up and over the hairpin turns and one-lane tunnels. It. Was. Awesome. She said we couldn't see much in one day; after all, it had taken us 5 hours to get where we wanted to go, and had to be back that night. She even offered us a place to stay in her gite for free so that we could properly see Cilaos, but we had to politely decline. She said that the next time we come back we can stay for free! I'm telling you, you meet the nicest people. I'm bummed I don't have the chance to come back.

The sleepy town of Cilaos is high in the hills of a collapsed, ancient volcano. I feel like a say that a lot when explaining Reunion, ha. But it is beautiful. Beyond it, really. You can't even see the top because it's in the clouds, which, in Reunion, are always perfectly white and fluffy and give just the right amount of coolness to a hot day. About 7,000 people in total live in the cirque, with about 3,000 living in the main city where we were. That means about 4,000 others live in tiny villages that you can't see from the main road. Reunionais are so hardcore.

We visited the church, which was founded in 1850, and took lots of pictures of the garden and the green, mountainous walls that surrounded. We searched fruitlessly for a crepe because somehow we had heard that they're the best on the island. We settled instead on buying some Cilaos wine, which is meant to be served as an aperatif and not as a table wine. I have yet to open the bottle, but I'll let you know. We found a yummy patisserie and then had some amazing cafe au lait before getting the bus back home. Although our visit was short, it was so relaxing and peaceful to be in the mountains, away from the noise of the city. I never realized how loud it was until I left.

We made it home around 9pm (after having taken 7 buses, a new record). I was quite tired for not having done much all day except for eat pastries and sit on bus, at a bus station, or in a nice lady's car. However, I realized that by doing this last minute excursion, and crossing "do Cilaos" off my list, I was saying goodbye to my island. I know I've said it before, but I CANNOT believe I'm leaving this week. Four days, and I'm off for Paris to begin my travels before coming home to the US.

I'm going to the beach (for my second to last time!) this afternoon to say goodbye to my Quebecois friends. Tonight, I begin packing.