Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple Tours and Tickets - page 2

The 1/2 day island tour was very nice with Avi. He was a great tour guide. In addition to the sights, he gave us information on taxi's, restaurants to try, and which stores and markets to go to. He also told us about his life, too, and it was fun to learn how Fijians study and live. When we stopped at the Sri Siva temple, it was especially interesting as Avi is Hindu and explained the temple and region from his perspective. We also were lucky enough to see a couple that had just gotten married at the temple, and a couple that were getting their car blessed. We saw the valley of the Sleeping Giant. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we didn't get to see the sleeping giant, silhouette, but I'm glad we saw the cloudy version. We hiked in the orchid gardens, which was a very nice hike. The flowers and greenery was very pretty. Avi took us to a produce market and explained the various fruits and vegetables to us. I felt no pressure to buy any of the produce. The place was a nice market to buy produce, if you would want to. We stopped at a store where there was a demonstration of the Kava ceremony. You could try the kava, also. The shops had items you could buy (we had ice cream to take away the flavor of the kava!!). I felt no pressure in the store to purchase items. We did buy a bracelet, but I didn't feel obligated to buy it. Avi also took us to the first Village. The village tour wasn't much, but it was interesting to hear. Avi did warn us that there will be a trinkets set up to purchase after it. He told us we did not need to feel obligated to purchase the items, but to also understand that that is how they make their money so they may give some pressure. I did purchase a bracelet at the village. Because I did feel like I should ( not because of how they acted, but because I understand tourism is important to the island). I mentioned that I did not feel pressure to buy items, because several reviews stated they did feel pressure. Maybe it's the guide, I don't know. We had a very enjoyable experience on this 1/2 day island tour, and I recommend it (especially with Avi!).