{"id":11451,"date":"2020-02-26T16:18:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T16:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/?p=11451"},"modified":"2020-02-26T16:25:28","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T16:25:28","slug":"vegan-in-jamaica-yah-mon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/2020\/02\/26\/vegan-in-jamaica-yah-mon\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan in Jamaica? Yah Mon!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don’t worry, I’m not gonna pull a Tom-Hanks’-least-fave-child and say anything else patois. Recently, we escaped the dreary dullness of a London winter and went to WEPA JAMAICA (that’s how I referred to it the whole time, in the style of In the Heights<\/em> when everyone shouts “Wepa! Vanessa!” but I said Jamaica instead, it does not make sense no but I heard it in my heart) for a wedding. I know the known thing is like ‘people have destination weddings if they don’t really want you to come’ but hell no were we missing our best excuse for a trip to Jamaica! We stayed at the famous Round Hill resort in Montego Bay, but we also made sure to visit the actual city and its vegan food options, which were prettayyy great, mon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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liiiiike hello paradise<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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so there’s Jamaica<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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So let’s learn about Jamaica real fast! Jamaica is an island mon! You knew that! In the Caribbean! You know what’s weird, everyone says ‘Caribbean’ with the accent on ‘RIB’ BUT whenever anyone says Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> they put the accent on BE isn’t that something. Columbus happened upon in in 1494 and so he said ‘The Spanish own you now!’ and the Spanish killed a lot of native people either the old fashioned way or by bringing new diseases to them. Fun fact: Columbus is in the Bad Place because of all the raping, slave trade, and genocide!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

After some more shit, the English conquered it, named it Jamaica mon, made it into a leading sugar exporter (more slave trade), yada yada yada, it became independent in 1962, though it is still a Commonwealth country (so Lizzie Dos is their queen). Jamaica is a wee small island with international fame and influence much greater than you’d expect for a wee small, considering the spread of Rastafarian culture, reggae music, and their bobsled team.<\/p>\n

Kingston is the capital and the largest city, but tourists tend not to go there because it has some violence. Tourists, especially from the UK, will likely fly into Kingston, however, and unless you get a connection to MoBay (that’s how the cool kids say Montego Bay), it’s a 2.5 hour drive at least. Luckily for us, we were coming from Philadelphia so it’s an easy flight to MoBay. I’m gonna tell you all this up front before you get to the beautiful resort stuff and fun vegan food jawn: the Montego Bay airport is a nightmare. It’s an absolute zoo, and after you get off the plane you will wait in a sea of endless people pretending to be some semblance of a line until you get to immigration hours later. HOURS. And this entire route, snaking from the gates to immigration, have no toilets. (Obviously I weasled my way through all the halls to the front of the mess somehow to find the bathroom but then went back to Z.) Immigration has kiosks where you enter your info, it prints out a document, and then you take it to a person at a desk. It’s a MADHOUSE. The only funny thing is that tourism is such an enormous part of the economy that the short list of ‘reasons to be in Jamaica’ that you have to answer – the normal options being ‘business or travel’ – also includes ‘for a wedding’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also baggage took FOREVER to arrive. You might be like ‘oh that’s fine I always just use a carry-on’ but our flight was ‘overcrowded’ and made everyone check their carry-ons too…and then all the overhead bins were empty, completely empty. The people in front of us on the plane were carry-on people and they were LIVID. See sometimes it’s good to overpack!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alright you did it you made it through the nonsense. And now:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Round Hill is lovely, refined resort that seemed perfect for the calmer crowd that does not go clubbing every night (like us!) (although tell that to the gaggle of divorced blondes who arrived on our last day and WERE SO LOUD). It was honestly one of the most ridiculous places I’ve ever seen in real life. Not for regular tourists like us who stayed in the main hotel (it was nice but regular), but for bigwigs staying in the luxury villas on the outer grounds. If you are supes loaded and want to go to Jamaica, THIS is where you stay. One of them was a favorite vacation spot for JFK and Jackie, and one is owned by Ralph Lauren (who is on the Round Hill board). If you are really eager to waste a bunch of your time today, go to the Round Hill website and take video tours of each of the 28 luxury villas. It’s like watching the (amazing) Netflix show The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes <\/em> but somehow more upsetting. The posher of the wedding guests stayed in villas, so I visited and took some sneaky photos (shared anon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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i do love an infinity pool jutting out over an ocean, good work<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We stayed in the main hotel since we are Not Royalty, with a really nice room that we got for half price with the wedding rate. Honestly, I cannot believe that people pay twice TWICE as much as we did for the basic rooms. It was nice but man alive that’s some crazy talk. And NB this is NOT an all-inclusive resort; in fact, we felt quite nickel-and-dimed by how exorbitant the cost for food &c turned out to be. We definitely had snobbish attitudes in the past about all-inclusive resorts being like lower class or something STUPID like that, but after experiencing this ridiculously expensive place where you get like a $20 salad and you’re like ‘ugh that was mediocre but we knew it would be expensive’ but then you get the bill and there’s already 20% service included which fine that’s fine waiters deserve it but then there’s also like an extra tax fee and then a separate service charge and you’re like wait how is that different from the other service fee but you don’t want to make a fuss don’t make a fuss and then somehow there’s also a random $5 like resort fee or something that is inexplicable so if you ever order a drink it will not be $8 it will be $25 which is why I only drink water, we are so ready to board the all-inclusive train (not that we have ever done a resort vacay before or plan to in the near future, you know us and our penchant for difficult travel!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the first thing we saw, from the lobby when we checked in. It was nice.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The resort comprises endless standalone buildings spread throughout the expansive grounds (most of it unseen by the regular guests, with the grounds uphill from the beach reserved for villas), with the public areas – the restaurants, the reception, the main block of rooms, the gym, the pool – along the beach in a semi-circle. The entrance to the hotel room building was surprisingly drab compared to the rest of the place – you entered from a very industrial-looking side with all the giant tanks and AC units on your doors’ front stoops (all rooms entered from the outside). Weird but inside was a beautiful room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love a hotel bed and this was a pretty good one! Not in my top 5 of all-time hotel beds but probably in my top 10! I loved the little sitting area by the balcony; you can’t see in this photo but against the right-side wall is a daybed (“Janet! Fetch my dizzy couch!”). Here’s the view from our balcony:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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so yeah, I mean, jfc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The weird thing about that unfinished-seeming entrance to the hotel block meant that the resort staff worked like right up against our windows and we could hear everything they did and said whenever we were in the bathroom. It was awkward! There were also like bags full of linens and towels on our front stoop at all times (and not for me to use!). So that was weird. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the pics I promised from inside one of the villas – not even one of the “fancy” ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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just their living room nbd<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This is their private pool – every villa has a private pool so they don’t have to hobnob with the poors. It’s about the same size as the main one! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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okay I’m most jealous of the private pool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

We used the main hotel pool every day, and it was super lovely. During the weekdays, it wasn’t too crowded at any point, but on the weekend it was a bit. The infinity pool stretching over the ocean was so beautifully designed. I was just surprised that it was a little small (and that there was no other public pool on the grounds like for lap swimming (I brought my googles<\/a><\/strong>!)). I guess most people are using their private pools!<\/p>\n

One day we had the pool to ourselves at sunset and it was the most magical thing ever. <\/p>\n\n\n

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this is the back half of the pool shared above, on a grey day. sometimes it rained! but only for like 20 minutes and then the sun would come out. it was so hot that the rain was nice (but real torrential)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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the main pool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Round Hill has a great gym (included in the room rate thank goodness) that I super enjoyed, although it’s about a 15 minute walk around the beach from the main hotel block (and you have to pass the restaurant, so I’d see people I knew having breakfast and I’d be all sweaty). They also have a yoga pavilion next to the gym – which sounds amazing, right? Except the yoga classes are around $25 and it’s more like hot yoga since pavilions are outdoor structures. I was okay sticking to the gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the fitness center and the yoga pavilion <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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not pictured: a whole room with treadmills, hand weights, medicine balls, balance balls, all my faves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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this tiny dip pool is in front of the fitness center, which I find funny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The whole fitness center complex also had a deluxe spa, which I did not use (cannot imagine how expensive the massages are) but I used the bathrooms during the wedding and they were super nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admission: I didn’t actually go to the beach here. Eeeek. I mean I walked in it and put my foot in just to have done that, but when faced with a beach and a pool\/the chance to be sandy vs not sandy, I’m always going to pick pool. I should have had at least one beach day, I know. OOPSIE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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there’s a ‘water sports’ hut on the grounds so you can go out on rafts and boats and kayak and stuff. lots I didn’t do!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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in the mornings, you can also go for a ride on this glass-bottomed boat so you can see the fishies! It was at 9am I believe and so I did not. I’M ON VACATION.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So as you can see, the Round Hill was pretty paradisical. The only drawback was that I was SUPER excited to play tennis every day and…I just couldn’t. It was too hot. I was shocked that the courts were always empty, but then the staff and Jamaican friends were like, uh yeah? People only play before the sun is up, otherwise YOU WILL DIE. I even had a lesson booked and everything but had to cancel because it was 1000 degrees. So sad! (And they were like oh thank god.) Aside from that, we had an amazing time, even though we aren’t really sit-by-the-side-of-the-pool-for-days-and-don’t-see-anything-of-the-land-you’re-in kinds of travelers. And we weren’t! We were the only guests to venture downtown into Montego Bay, even though we were told pretty much that “tourists stay in their resorts.” I must admit, everyone downtown was staring at us, with faces like WHAT are you doing, you lost? But the people we actually spoke to\/who fed us seemed happy to see us out and about. And we had to go, not only to see the real Jamaica and not just a resort, but to find the good vegan food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Round Hill catered fine to my veganism, and I had some nice quinoa stir-fries and veggie stews. Also, if you are in the market for a destination wedding, their buffet at this wedding was incredible, and super vegan-friendly (and also really, really not) (you know what I mean, think Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall <\/em>when he cries on the beach). But as I said, the food was supes expensive, and Montego Bay had several exciting vegan joints to check out anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the view from one of the restaurant areas. Every day at 4 or 5 there was tea time, where they had (complimentary!) sandwiches and cakes and cookies and stuff. Minted melon salad was the only vegan option but hey I’m down to clown for some fruit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s annoying to get downtown, because you probably aren’t renting a car (if you do you are nuts in that traffic and all-around lawlessness re traffic laws), and the resorts charge an arm and a leg to take you downtown, but that’s the way you have to do it. It’s such a racket. We planned on getting our own cabs once we were downtown, but we literally could not. Every single taxi we saw was a route taxi, meaning they fill up with lots of people and operate like a small bus. They weren’t taking us to our specific destinations, let alone back to the resort! So that’s just one annoyance you have to suck up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One morning, we had to go downtown anyway for the BEST MOST RIDICULOUS experience (with dogs) of all time, which will be its own (next) post. After that morning experience, we went straight to Millennium Victory<\/strong>, a vegan Rastafarian restaurant. It was THE BEST. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There’s a long history of vegetarianism in Rastafari culture. It\u2019s called Ital food in the Rastafari tradition, derived from the word \u2018vital\u2019 but with no \u2018v\u2019, emphasizing the \u2018I\u2019 as it emphasizes the unity of each individual with nature. (Thanks wikipeeds.) It means food that\u2019s natural, pure, and from the earth. Ital food aims to increase \u201clivity\u201d, the life energy in all people. (That’s why that vegan raw dessert market stall in London is called Organic Livity, I am just now realizing; and yes the people who run it are Rasta.) Rastafari commonly believe that everything you put in your body should enhance livity and not reduce it. That means there\u2019s no chemicals or additives. It also can sometimes mean no salt, which is yikes (but often especially means no salt treated with iodine, which is yay for me), but this food was seasoned well and delicious. I would LOVE to go back here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the restaurant’s decor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We asked the staff to decide for us, as everything on their big board menu sounded excellent. So they brought us two big plates of their best stuff, and everything was indeed excellent. We had jerk tofu (omg), roasted plantains and veg, all in amazing sauces. There were huge chunks of homemade seitan and sauteed ackee, the famous Jamaican fruit that whips up somehow just like eggs. AMAZING. I don’t remember everything else so just ask them to decide for you if you go, which you def should if in MB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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UGH IT WAS SO GOOD. We also got a melon skin juice, which was ace. There was a really friendly man eating at the table next to us who was like \u2018this melon skin juice is the best, you need to try it\u2019 and we were like \u2018we\u2019re okay thanks though\u2019 and he was like \u2018no I insist, I\u2019ll order it for you\u2019 and we were like \u2018ok thanks man!\u2019 and he really did just mean order it, not pay for it, it sounded like he was going to pay for it, but then the staff was like you need to pay for your juice, it was funny and also a Larry David moment. We also got Jamaican patties (like pasties\/hand pies but not flaky crusted, which is amazing for me because I don’t like buttery flaky things (I do know that this is weird)) filled with veggies to take away to have the next day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best part of any hotel room is a fridge that’s empty <\/em>(not full of minibar crap you don’t want (or worse the kind of minibar where it charges you if you MOVE something? LET ME USE THE DAMN FRIDGE ASSHOLE)), and since we had one in our room, we went to a giant supermarket called Progressive, in a downtown mall, so we could stock up on snacks, fruit, breakfast foods, and drinks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I forking love this supermarket. They had SO much vegan stuff, like an entire enormous aisle of non-dairy milks, a war chest of strange vegan meats that I’ve never seen before even in Chinese groceries, a juice\/smoothie bar, all kinds of great stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n