23 years I have walked this earth, as of two days ago.
"So far so good", I wondered as I awoke on the 4th of this new month. I slept in and missed the annual festival of Kitanotenmangu shrine, my newly acquired sunburns left me weak and tired so it wasn't until around 4 p.m. that I finally made my way down there after two bus rides in the suffocating heat. The festival began at 8 a.m. so I had completely missed everything, what remained were a few shrine employees drying nuts under pristine white tarps.
I did enjoy walking around the grounds and chatting with the people, there were these 2 girls from the U.S. that needed translation and the girl selling the おまもり talismans asked for help on spelling and properly pronouncing what I translated. I got to share some information I had learned about Buddhism and Shinto and of course Sugawara no Michizane, who the temple is dedicated to.
I found myself at the place where they sell the talismans in order to buy one for help with my studies, they do sell them everywhere but Sugawara no Michizane was a known scholar in his time and so the Japanese pray to him for everything related to studies. I thought I would too... it couldn't hurt, right?
I later met with Sabine and Edda and we had Indian food and went to the movies to see Inception, starring some of Hollywood's finest. Leaving the theater and stepping into the Kyoto evening I looked around the bustling streets, at the people enjoying time together by the river, pedestrians walking by and laughing, the steady never ending traffic of Shijo street, the neon signs, listened to the many languages (mainly Japanese) around me and the dark stones under my feet that had been trod by so many people for hundreds of years. I am so thankful for this, the most brilliant opportunity in my life, to have been able to live in Kyoto for almost a whole year, make friends, learn the language, see so many things, travel everywhere - it's way to huge to be condensed and restricted into a few words or sentences.
It has been the adventure of a lifetime and I am sad to be leaving, but I am also happy to be leaving one part of my life for another.
Life never stops, there is so much to see, do and learn. I will never do even half of what I want to do it in my lifetime even if I live to be a hundred so I know I will never get bored. My eyes glimmer and shine as they look to the future to see what it has in store, its going to be epic. :)
Thank you so much for everything, people of the I-House I have shared so much time with, Japanese people I have met during my stay, Japan - you have been so good to me, and everyone who is reading this.
I will be back one day for certain. :)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
I knew this was going to be difficult.
We have already said goodbye to 3 people now and the next weeks more will go streaming out the door. Somehow I managed to choke back the tears....
...but it got more difficult when I reached the 4th floor again and thought how I would be leaving too, very soon.
All of the kings horses and all of the kings men will not be able to put my heart back together again...
We have already said goodbye to 3 people now and the next weeks more will go streaming out the door. Somehow I managed to choke back the tears....
...but it got more difficult when I reached the 4th floor again and thought how I would be leaving too, very soon.
All of the kings horses and all of the kings men will not be able to put my heart back together again...
Friday, June 25, 2010
Oh what a morning...
Went to a Zazen meditation session this morning at a nearby temple. With me was my culture sensei and 4 other people from my class.
We woke up at 5:30 a.m. and rode our bikes in the rain down to Kitaoji station. From there the temple was only a few minutes away. We were greeted by two monks and an Englishman who is training there.
Leaving our shoes outside, we were invited into one of the halls where we each sat on a small mat with two pillows and listened to the instructions of the head monk.
He told us how to sit, breathe, keep our hands and eyes and finally - to clear our minds. One resounding clang of a bell and two claps of wooden stick later we did our best, keeping our backs straight, eyes half open, breathing slowly and counting to ten on each breath out.
25 minutes later the sharp sound of the two sticks being banged together brought me back into reality as we had a short break to adjust our legs (for me, to actually get the blood running again at all) and stretch. The next 25 minutes the monk said he would be walking around with the big wooden stick they use to hit the monks who they feel aren't focused enough and by all means we should ask him to hit us on the shoulders if we wanted. We had seen a video of this in class and of course we had to try. I bowed as he walked past me and after bowing back he lightly put the stick on my right shoulder and whack! whack! smacked the focus right back into me. After hitting my left shoulder as well we both bowed again and I continued by meditation - this time having a better time at focusing on my body.
Usually when I meditate I try to forget my body and completely closing my eyes I soon drift far away, this was the first time I have tried keeping grounded and centered with my eyes open and focusing on breathing and counting rather than retreating into my mind.
I will definitely start alternating between these two methods from now on.
After the meditation we were invited to drink tea with the monks which of course we accepted and sat for a while chatting about our countries, Buddhism, Christianity etc.
Now I'm back home with another mug full of steaming hot green tea, some nice jazz music I got yesterday, ready to work on the mountain of homework, essays and presentations that await me.
We woke up at 5:30 a.m. and rode our bikes in the rain down to Kitaoji station. From there the temple was only a few minutes away. We were greeted by two monks and an Englishman who is training there.
Leaving our shoes outside, we were invited into one of the halls where we each sat on a small mat with two pillows and listened to the instructions of the head monk.
He told us how to sit, breathe, keep our hands and eyes and finally - to clear our minds. One resounding clang of a bell and two claps of wooden stick later we did our best, keeping our backs straight, eyes half open, breathing slowly and counting to ten on each breath out.
25 minutes later the sharp sound of the two sticks being banged together brought me back into reality as we had a short break to adjust our legs (for me, to actually get the blood running again at all) and stretch. The next 25 minutes the monk said he would be walking around with the big wooden stick they use to hit the monks who they feel aren't focused enough and by all means we should ask him to hit us on the shoulders if we wanted. We had seen a video of this in class and of course we had to try. I bowed as he walked past me and after bowing back he lightly put the stick on my right shoulder and whack! whack! smacked the focus right back into me. After hitting my left shoulder as well we both bowed again and I continued by meditation - this time having a better time at focusing on my body.
Usually when I meditate I try to forget my body and completely closing my eyes I soon drift far away, this was the first time I have tried keeping grounded and centered with my eyes open and focusing on breathing and counting rather than retreating into my mind.
I will definitely start alternating between these two methods from now on.
After the meditation we were invited to drink tea with the monks which of course we accepted and sat for a while chatting about our countries, Buddhism, Christianity etc.
Now I'm back home with another mug full of steaming hot green tea, some nice jazz music I got yesterday, ready to work on the mountain of homework, essays and presentations that await me.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Last Thursday we went down to Kamigamo jinja to see the fireflies. Much like the sakura trees they only live for a few days and as I had never seen a firefly before in my life I hurried down there in the dusk to find them.
When I got to the darker part of the temple, by the bridge over the small stream, I saw something glowing in the hand of a small Japanese child, coming closer I saw he had caught one of the fireflies that by this point had started to glow all around us. Some of us sat down and stared at these fairy-like creatures that glowed in the dark, swooping down at us every now and then, while others tried to catch them in their palm.
One of the most magical nights of Kyoto....
This weekend me, Hanne and Olga went to Emi's house in Okayama, a 3 hour bus ride from Kyoto. She lives with her parents and little brother in the country side, in a huge Japanese house that we all fell in love with. We were greeted by her mother who dropped us off at a cozy jazz bar where we all had very nice drinks and a huge bowl of ice cream. When we were leaving we were informed that we didn't have to pay, Emi knew people who make cakes for the restaurant and that did it.Feeling like V.I.P. we went home to sleep on soft futons on the floor.
The next morning after a breakfast of cakes we drove to the beach 2 hours away, where we found a desert complete with horses and camels. Thrilled, we ran around and played in the sand, ending up wading in the ocean. The view was amazing and the sand felt so nice. After going to another beach we drove back and stopped by at an onsen for 2 hours or so. They had massage baths, a hot pool, outside hot spring, a sauna and a cold bath. After lying around we went back and forth from the sauna to the cold bath until we felt completely detoxed and relaxed. That evening Emi's family had a bbq in the garden and we feasted on all kinds of meat including tongues and intestine, grilled vegetables and onigiri. Soooo delicious!
We had plenty of refreshments as well, Emi's father offered us umeshu, Japanese liqueur, and various other drinks. We had some beers and watched the world cup, where Japan lost to the Netherlands.
The morning after we had to go home even though we would really rather have stayed longer. Emi's mother made crepes, we cut bananas and strawberries, whipped cream, and feasted on this amazing breakfast.
The weekends just keep getting better. :)
When I got to the darker part of the temple, by the bridge over the small stream, I saw something glowing in the hand of a small Japanese child, coming closer I saw he had caught one of the fireflies that by this point had started to glow all around us. Some of us sat down and stared at these fairy-like creatures that glowed in the dark, swooping down at us every now and then, while others tried to catch them in their palm.
One of the most magical nights of Kyoto....
This weekend me, Hanne and Olga went to Emi's house in Okayama, a 3 hour bus ride from Kyoto. She lives with her parents and little brother in the country side, in a huge Japanese house that we all fell in love with. We were greeted by her mother who dropped us off at a cozy jazz bar where we all had very nice drinks and a huge bowl of ice cream. When we were leaving we were informed that we didn't have to pay, Emi knew people who make cakes for the restaurant and that did it.Feeling like V.I.P. we went home to sleep on soft futons on the floor.
The next morning after a breakfast of cakes we drove to the beach 2 hours away, where we found a desert complete with horses and camels. Thrilled, we ran around and played in the sand, ending up wading in the ocean. The view was amazing and the sand felt so nice. After going to another beach we drove back and stopped by at an onsen for 2 hours or so. They had massage baths, a hot pool, outside hot spring, a sauna and a cold bath. After lying around we went back and forth from the sauna to the cold bath until we felt completely detoxed and relaxed. That evening Emi's family had a bbq in the garden and we feasted on all kinds of meat including tongues and intestine, grilled vegetables and onigiri. Soooo delicious!
We had plenty of refreshments as well, Emi's father offered us umeshu, Japanese liqueur, and various other drinks. We had some beers and watched the world cup, where Japan lost to the Netherlands.
The morning after we had to go home even though we would really rather have stayed longer. Emi's mother made crepes, we cut bananas and strawberries, whipped cream, and feasted on this amazing breakfast.
The weekends just keep getting better. :)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
A weekend in the life of a ryuugakusei
Procrastinating is a wonderful thing. Among the many things on my to-do list is a presentation and an essay due in two weeks so I could think of nothing else to do but sit down and blog for a while, just to get into the writing gear. So, without further ado, here is the tale of last weekend.
The weekend that just slipped away from my fingers was just so adorably enjoyable that I must scribble down a few words in its honor. The Friday was just your typical school day at Kyoto Sangyo University were I got to speak a lot of Japanese and French, followed by a cozy evening and cup noodles (me being a poor student). Nothing special there, but this is when Saturday came along.
Just about two hours train ride from central Kyoto is where you find Nara, a wonderful city littered with temples and shrines. This happens to be where me and the rest of my religion class were headed in the first rays of Sunday morning.
From 11 a.m. we trotted along in the heat that I have missed so sorely, taking in the beauty and endless wonders of the city's temples. The main one we visited was Horyuji temple, built sometime in the 7th century. It consists of some of the oldest buildings in Japan, a place where the custom is rather to take the temples apart every now and then and rebuild them for various reasons I won't get into now. Suffice it to say there aren't too many old temples in their original condition lying around. For these reasons they were all the more breathtaking, and the national treasures they keep seemed endless, each one more magnificent.
We walked around with our teacher who is a bottomless well of information regarding Japanese religion and she showered our little heads with little known facts about everything we saw. After she left us alone we saw some more temples and went to the deer park, where wild deer roam freely among the inhabitants of the city. You can pet them, give them cookies and just generally hang around. Good place to make new friends. Magnificent creatures, really....
Before our sensei left she mentioned that on Sunday the marathon monks of Mt. Hiei (I think I have blogged about them before) would be finishing their 1000 day challenge and walking through Kyoto, holding a ceremony at a small shrine in Gion. Of course I decided to stop by.
So it was that me and Karina, from Mexico, woke up early on Sunday and took the train to Gion, completely unaware of the splendor the day had in store for us.
Walking out of the subway station in Gion, my favorite part of town, we followed a group of white-clad people carrying a drum to a crowd of people at that small shrine. We couldn't see what was going on so we decided on walking around the crowd a bit to our left and ran right into our sensei who again, told us everything that was going on. I noticed a gap in the crowd right in front of me - this was where the monks stormed out of the small tea house next to us, followed by two maiko and some followers/supporters and walked over to the shrine - about two meters to our right - and started to rub their rosaries and chant. At this point we had clear view of every single detail that was happening.
I was listening intently to their chanting when all of a sudden the whole crowd joined in, so I got goosebumps all over. It was such a magical moment, and the energy in the air so strong, it was a remarkable thing to be a part of.
A few minutes later they finished the chanting and walked to the river a few meters away as a few of the white-clad men started scooping water and goldfish from a big tank in front of the altar into wooden buckets. The spectators then carried the fish to the river in a single file and poured the fish in, to freedom! Me and Karina got to take our turn, we each got three fish. People were talking loudly, taking pictures of the maiko, laughing, carrying the buckets back and forth, creating such a nice atmosphere.
At this point we thought it couldn't get any better but our sensei suddenly appeared behind us and said 'oh, and if you want to get blessed just get in line over there'. I didn't even stop to think, grabbed Karina's hand and we ran over to where the people were already kneeling in a long line, waiting for the monks to tap their heads with their prayer beads.
We kneeled, put our hands in a prayer position and lowered our heads as the three monks walked by, tapped our heads and said what I'm guessing was a short mantra. I had seen this on the photos our teacher had shown to us before in class, and in videos.... but I never thought I would ever get to be so lucky as to become a part of it. I thanked my lucky stars as I stood back up.
So, alright. Seeing the ritual up close and personal, participating and even getting blessed by a Buddhist monk... surely it's all downhill from here. The procession went on to a big Buddhist temple in the northern part of the city, Kitanotenmangu, where another ritual was to be held two hours later. In the meantime we went to explore the temples a bit further inside Gion, further up to the mountains. We came to a temple I for some reason hadn't seen before. Turns out there was a Shinto funeral in procession, it was very striking to the the people working at the temple all in black, usually they wear white robes. The door to where the ceremony was being held was slid open slightly so we sat on a bench outside for some time, listening to the hypnotizing chanting. Another memory I wont soon forget. When it was over we marched on to the next temple, mentioned in the famous 'Heike monogatari'. It was supposed to be 500 yen to enter but we got in for free... because it was just one of those days. :P
This temple was one of the nicest one I have visited here in Kyoto, there was a waterfall that fell in a narrow stream into a bucket, producing a most pleasing sound. In the face of the rock one could make out the mossy outlines of various figures carved into the stone. We even found a museum randomly standing in the middle of the forested temple grounds, with some very nice Buddhist statues. We were on our way further up into the mountains (with a bell to scare away any approaching monkeys, although I doubt that would have worked...) when we heard music in the distance. It sounded like a soundtrack to a Steven Spielberg movie... and not at all Japanese, so of course we ran to the direction of the sound.
Turns out the Kyoto symphony was having a concert at an open stadium nearby, free of charge! I had read about this but thought it would be very expensive so I had pushed it our of my mind.
We sat down close to the stage and deeply enjoyed songs like 'The typewriter', 'The blue Danube waltz' and many more. We found the conductor to be the happiest man in all of Kyoto, he was such a pleasure to watch! Jumping up and down, waving his hands, giving some of the members thumbs up and smiling incessantly. Between songs he and a woman announcer joked around and he would laugh so heartily. :)
After this, and a short ice cream break (mmm macha ice cream!), we were half-expecting a pot of gold to fall from the skies in front of us.
We decided to try to catch the ceremony at Kitanotenmangu and hopped on a bus (that was conveniently just arriving as we ran to the stop, like all the other buses and trains that day...) but we were a bit to late. Oh well, not that it mattered. We explored the temple a bit and headed back home. On the way we found ourselves in front of Coco Ichibanya, my all time favorite curry restaurant (at this point I wasn't even surprised anymore) and had some amazing Japanese curry. A suitable ending to a remarkable weekend in Japan.
Now lets hope they only get better before I have to go home....
The weekend that just slipped away from my fingers was just so adorably enjoyable that I must scribble down a few words in its honor. The Friday was just your typical school day at Kyoto Sangyo University were I got to speak a lot of Japanese and French, followed by a cozy evening and cup noodles (me being a poor student). Nothing special there, but this is when Saturday came along.
Just about two hours train ride from central Kyoto is where you find Nara, a wonderful city littered with temples and shrines. This happens to be where me and the rest of my religion class were headed in the first rays of Sunday morning.
From 11 a.m. we trotted along in the heat that I have missed so sorely, taking in the beauty and endless wonders of the city's temples. The main one we visited was Horyuji temple, built sometime in the 7th century. It consists of some of the oldest buildings in Japan, a place where the custom is rather to take the temples apart every now and then and rebuild them for various reasons I won't get into now. Suffice it to say there aren't too many old temples in their original condition lying around. For these reasons they were all the more breathtaking, and the national treasures they keep seemed endless, each one more magnificent.
We walked around with our teacher who is a bottomless well of information regarding Japanese religion and she showered our little heads with little known facts about everything we saw. After she left us alone we saw some more temples and went to the deer park, where wild deer roam freely among the inhabitants of the city. You can pet them, give them cookies and just generally hang around. Good place to make new friends. Magnificent creatures, really....
Before our sensei left she mentioned that on Sunday the marathon monks of Mt. Hiei (I think I have blogged about them before) would be finishing their 1000 day challenge and walking through Kyoto, holding a ceremony at a small shrine in Gion. Of course I decided to stop by.
So it was that me and Karina, from Mexico, woke up early on Sunday and took the train to Gion, completely unaware of the splendor the day had in store for us.
Walking out of the subway station in Gion, my favorite part of town, we followed a group of white-clad people carrying a drum to a crowd of people at that small shrine. We couldn't see what was going on so we decided on walking around the crowd a bit to our left and ran right into our sensei who again, told us everything that was going on. I noticed a gap in the crowd right in front of me - this was where the monks stormed out of the small tea house next to us, followed by two maiko and some followers/supporters and walked over to the shrine - about two meters to our right - and started to rub their rosaries and chant. At this point we had clear view of every single detail that was happening.
I was listening intently to their chanting when all of a sudden the whole crowd joined in, so I got goosebumps all over. It was such a magical moment, and the energy in the air so strong, it was a remarkable thing to be a part of.
A few minutes later they finished the chanting and walked to the river a few meters away as a few of the white-clad men started scooping water and goldfish from a big tank in front of the altar into wooden buckets. The spectators then carried the fish to the river in a single file and poured the fish in, to freedom! Me and Karina got to take our turn, we each got three fish. People were talking loudly, taking pictures of the maiko, laughing, carrying the buckets back and forth, creating such a nice atmosphere.
At this point we thought it couldn't get any better but our sensei suddenly appeared behind us and said 'oh, and if you want to get blessed just get in line over there'. I didn't even stop to think, grabbed Karina's hand and we ran over to where the people were already kneeling in a long line, waiting for the monks to tap their heads with their prayer beads.
We kneeled, put our hands in a prayer position and lowered our heads as the three monks walked by, tapped our heads and said what I'm guessing was a short mantra. I had seen this on the photos our teacher had shown to us before in class, and in videos.... but I never thought I would ever get to be so lucky as to become a part of it. I thanked my lucky stars as I stood back up.
So, alright. Seeing the ritual up close and personal, participating and even getting blessed by a Buddhist monk... surely it's all downhill from here. The procession went on to a big Buddhist temple in the northern part of the city, Kitanotenmangu, where another ritual was to be held two hours later. In the meantime we went to explore the temples a bit further inside Gion, further up to the mountains. We came to a temple I for some reason hadn't seen before. Turns out there was a Shinto funeral in procession, it was very striking to the the people working at the temple all in black, usually they wear white robes. The door to where the ceremony was being held was slid open slightly so we sat on a bench outside for some time, listening to the hypnotizing chanting. Another memory I wont soon forget. When it was over we marched on to the next temple, mentioned in the famous 'Heike monogatari'. It was supposed to be 500 yen to enter but we got in for free... because it was just one of those days. :P
This temple was one of the nicest one I have visited here in Kyoto, there was a waterfall that fell in a narrow stream into a bucket, producing a most pleasing sound. In the face of the rock one could make out the mossy outlines of various figures carved into the stone. We even found a museum randomly standing in the middle of the forested temple grounds, with some very nice Buddhist statues. We were on our way further up into the mountains (with a bell to scare away any approaching monkeys, although I doubt that would have worked...) when we heard music in the distance. It sounded like a soundtrack to a Steven Spielberg movie... and not at all Japanese, so of course we ran to the direction of the sound.
Turns out the Kyoto symphony was having a concert at an open stadium nearby, free of charge! I had read about this but thought it would be very expensive so I had pushed it our of my mind.
We sat down close to the stage and deeply enjoyed songs like 'The typewriter', 'The blue Danube waltz' and many more. We found the conductor to be the happiest man in all of Kyoto, he was such a pleasure to watch! Jumping up and down, waving his hands, giving some of the members thumbs up and smiling incessantly. Between songs he and a woman announcer joked around and he would laugh so heartily. :)
After this, and a short ice cream break (mmm macha ice cream!), we were half-expecting a pot of gold to fall from the skies in front of us.
We decided to try to catch the ceremony at Kitanotenmangu and hopped on a bus (that was conveniently just arriving as we ran to the stop, like all the other buses and trains that day...) but we were a bit to late. Oh well, not that it mattered. We explored the temple a bit and headed back home. On the way we found ourselves in front of Coco Ichibanya, my all time favorite curry restaurant (at this point I wasn't even surprised anymore) and had some amazing Japanese curry. A suitable ending to a remarkable weekend in Japan.
Now lets hope they only get better before I have to go home....
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Don't the photo-ops just come rolling by once your camera dies...
Last week my camera got this amazing idea all own its sweet little own that perhaps I would like my pictures a bit more ghostly with the colors all run together. I had to disagree... this does nothing for my photo subjects so if I want to keep snapping happily away the rest of my time here I might have to buy a new one soon.
Ever since, I have been experiencing the hard life without a camera on my travels around Kyoto City.
Yesterday we went to Aoi Matsuri, one of the biggest festivals in Kyoto. We were situated at the perfect spot so we could see the whole procession of courtly men and women walking into Kamigamo shrine to perform rituals. There were a lot of horses present as Kamigamo shrine is connected with those animals in particular, huge wagons I have never seen before, great costumes and so on... I silently cursed my camera as I took mental pictures of the whole thing. Afterward we went on a field trip with my culture seinsei to a nearby shrine to see the beautiful Iris flowers that were in bloom and then we headed back to see the horses race. As we ate the macha chocolate and ice cream that sensei treated us to we watched one of the horses forgetting to turn before it came to the main shrine and gallop full speed through the gate, receiving a big 'ooooooohhh!!' from the crowd.
On the way back of course the scenario was more beautiful than I have ever seen, a farmer was burning stacks of hay which sent thick piles of smoke into the air, in front of a backdrop of the mountains with the setting sun turning the sky orange and yellow. We were not the only ones who stopped and stared.
Today I slept in as I was still tired after Friday's clubbing in Osaka. I took the trains downtown and finally found presents for everybody back home, will be sending a package tomorrow if possible.
I came across the most amazing temple I have seen in Kyoto. I housed a stone that was supposed to be in the dead center of Kyoto, hundreds of pigeons, lots of small statues and shrines. I sat down for a while and read with the sun shining on my back..... these are my favorite moments out here, they make me never want to go home again...
I took some more turns guided by my insight and stumbled across the Kyoto museum. Upon entering I heard someone playing the piano beautifully and turned to find the source. It happened to be a six or seven year old girl at what seemed to be a concert for musical students. I stopped and listened for about half an hour, after playing she sang some nice Japanese songs and then other kids took the stage, a girl playing the cello, followed by a girl and a boy playing the violin. I was completely enthralled by these young musicians but finally tore myself away and entered the museum.
There I was greeted by a woman who served as a museum volunteer and told me if I had any questions I should ask her. She then asked me where I was from and when I told her 'Iceland', she said she had been there 10 years ago. We spent the next hour or so talking and she showed me around the room, telling be about the history of Japan.
After this I found the rest of the gifts I needed and hurried on home.
Now to get ready for a relaxing week after a hectic weekend... :P
Last week my camera got this amazing idea all own its sweet little own that perhaps I would like my pictures a bit more ghostly with the colors all run together. I had to disagree... this does nothing for my photo subjects so if I want to keep snapping happily away the rest of my time here I might have to buy a new one soon.
Ever since, I have been experiencing the hard life without a camera on my travels around Kyoto City.
Yesterday we went to Aoi Matsuri, one of the biggest festivals in Kyoto. We were situated at the perfect spot so we could see the whole procession of courtly men and women walking into Kamigamo shrine to perform rituals. There were a lot of horses present as Kamigamo shrine is connected with those animals in particular, huge wagons I have never seen before, great costumes and so on... I silently cursed my camera as I took mental pictures of the whole thing. Afterward we went on a field trip with my culture seinsei to a nearby shrine to see the beautiful Iris flowers that were in bloom and then we headed back to see the horses race. As we ate the macha chocolate and ice cream that sensei treated us to we watched one of the horses forgetting to turn before it came to the main shrine and gallop full speed through the gate, receiving a big 'ooooooohhh!!' from the crowd.
On the way back of course the scenario was more beautiful than I have ever seen, a farmer was burning stacks of hay which sent thick piles of smoke into the air, in front of a backdrop of the mountains with the setting sun turning the sky orange and yellow. We were not the only ones who stopped and stared.
Today I slept in as I was still tired after Friday's clubbing in Osaka. I took the trains downtown and finally found presents for everybody back home, will be sending a package tomorrow if possible.
I came across the most amazing temple I have seen in Kyoto. I housed a stone that was supposed to be in the dead center of Kyoto, hundreds of pigeons, lots of small statues and shrines. I sat down for a while and read with the sun shining on my back..... these are my favorite moments out here, they make me never want to go home again...
I took some more turns guided by my insight and stumbled across the Kyoto museum. Upon entering I heard someone playing the piano beautifully and turned to find the source. It happened to be a six or seven year old girl at what seemed to be a concert for musical students. I stopped and listened for about half an hour, after playing she sang some nice Japanese songs and then other kids took the stage, a girl playing the cello, followed by a girl and a boy playing the violin. I was completely enthralled by these young musicians but finally tore myself away and entered the museum.
There I was greeted by a woman who served as a museum volunteer and told me if I had any questions I should ask her. She then asked me where I was from and when I told her 'Iceland', she said she had been there 10 years ago. We spent the next hour or so talking and she showed me around the room, telling be about the history of Japan.
After this I found the rest of the gifts I needed and hurried on home.
Now to get ready for a relaxing week after a hectic weekend... :P
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The final segment
Arriving at Siem Riep we soon hopped out of our small tuk tuk and walked the dusty, smelly streets to find a place to stay for the night. Not heeding the call of the driver who tried to sell us the 'best hostel in town', we chose a small alleyway and followed the few foreigners we saw to one of the many hostels in the area. It was extremely rustic, the rooms had bamboo walls, one or two beds, a bamboo window latch and mosquito nets. But it would be more than enough. And cost next to nothing.
We had dinner at the top floor and lounged around, listening to booming reggae music, watching people chat nearby or play pool. Exhausted, we soon went to bed.
Woke up at 6 a.m. to see the sunrise and beat the crowds to the famous temples in Siem Riep's backyard. After some delicious breakfast we rented some bikes and went to explore the day. It turned out to be quite legendary, I think I will never forget the excitement and happiness of cycling around the huge temple grounds amidst the lush forested surroundings. On the way we saw a herd of elephants that they were renting out for people to ride, which just added to the foreign, rustic feel of the whole thing.
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm (the one famously being choked by a large tree) were the highlights of the trip, I still can't fully believe that I was actually there in person.
Along the way Svanni had a flat tire so we were forced to take a slower pace but luckily we met this young girl who offered Svanni to go with her father and have it fixed while me and Jessica had some delicious noodles at their 'restaurant'. Everybody wins.
After cycling back into the city me and Jessica went and had a blind massage (such an experience), which we enjoyed thoroughly. Meanwhile Svanni went online and tried to get us tickets back home which was not going so well, the prices keep going up and they won't accept our booking. Oh well, life in Cambodia is good. Had dinner and a mojito so I had no worries or thoughts of home.
On the 27th we took a bus to the capital, Phnom Penh. I think it was a local bus so it didn't leave until it was filled with people. This process took around an hour and a half. Four hours later or so we were walking around the busy streets of the capital, yet again looking for a place to stay for the night. After much looking around and bargaining we settled on the Drunken Frog. It was set on a small river with amazing view that we were told would disappear soon when the Koreans would come and build hotels by the bank. At this point I had come to love hostel food so we had some dinner, beers and chatted with Algae, one of the staff, a young Cambodian man who told us about the country's drug problem, how no one can talk about the government (I saw he got a bit nervous touching on the subject) and his history of drinking and fighting at the local bars, apparently a popular pastime here.
The next day we visited the killing fields and S-21. A must for anyone visiting the country, but a horrible experience nonetheless. How the Khmer Rouge wiped out one third of the whole population, tortured the political prisoners of S-21 ... there are no words for how horrible and bloody Cambodia's history really is. I recommend reading up on it though.
The rest of the day we spent at a russian market, tuk tuk-ing around the city, eating more super cheap and heavenly food and of course looking for flight tickets back to Japan. Still no luck. During the evening we explored our neighborhood, met some local kids at a colorful fountain, locals eating in the streets, dimly lit dusty streets, I fell in love with the city. After the day's events I could not see the people in the same light, there was not a single person that was left unharmed by the turmoil and war that had swept over the country just a few decades ago.
On the morning of the 29th we tried for a few hours to get tickets but by this time we couldn't find the cheap flights anymore and still Svanni's credit card was not accepted. I had failed to put more money on mine so I was no help. Well, what to do in times of trouble? That's right! Hit the beach!
Our next destination was Sihanoukville with it's many beaches and resorts. Our tuk tuk driver gave us some trouble concerning prices etc. but in the end we made up and shook hands. It was night time by the time we got there so we sat down in the light of the full moon and indulged in some local curry and lassis. There were a lot of people celebrating the night by the ocean, dancing, eating, laughing, talking. It was by far one of the best nights of the trip.
We found a hostel on the beach (where I saw my first rat ever, ugh), and got an amazing room that was more like an apartment, with a bathroom, kitchen, a large bed and two futons on the floor. Not to mention a spectacular view of the ocean. Ahhh this is the life!
After catching some sleep we hit the beach! Swam in the ocean, sunbathed, ate some more, drank some lassis and I got my feet stringed (hair removed) by one of the women offering various services to the guests on the beach. I had refused the first couple of ones and then I thought why not, let's try it. This angered the first woman who had asked me who had now come back and starting arguing with me, saying I betrayed her and should let her do something else for me. When she offered to string my arms I told her 'sure, come back and do it tomorrow'. We left the next day.
In the chairs next to us were two girls in their 20's enjoying the sun. At one point I looked over and I saw how one of them was paying a girl of maybe 5 or 6 to string her legs. She lay there while this small thing huddled over her legs and removed the hairs as best as she could. I could do nothing but stare in disbelief that someone would encourage this and spent the rest of the day giving the two of them angry glances. Some people....
After that day of luxury our trip had finally come to and end. We said our goodbyes to Jessica and wished her luck on her travels, exchanged information and went our separate ways. Me and Svanni took the bus all the way back to Bangkok, which took most of the day. And this is where I stopped writing in my journal. We finally found tickets back to Japan, the day before leaving, went to the market one last time, took some pictures with the wonderful staff of our hostel - one of the best ones, highly recommended!, and took a taxi to the airport. I was terribly sad to be leaving but luckily the plain was taking us back to Japan, so the adventure hasn't ended yet.
A million points to whomever managed to read the whole thing! I will try to continue to dazzle you with stories from Japan whenever I can.
Congratulations to everyone back home who just finished their exams, go party, have fun, you deserve it! :P
We had dinner at the top floor and lounged around, listening to booming reggae music, watching people chat nearby or play pool. Exhausted, we soon went to bed.
Woke up at 6 a.m. to see the sunrise and beat the crowds to the famous temples in Siem Riep's backyard. After some delicious breakfast we rented some bikes and went to explore the day. It turned out to be quite legendary, I think I will never forget the excitement and happiness of cycling around the huge temple grounds amidst the lush forested surroundings. On the way we saw a herd of elephants that they were renting out for people to ride, which just added to the foreign, rustic feel of the whole thing.
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm (the one famously being choked by a large tree) were the highlights of the trip, I still can't fully believe that I was actually there in person.
Along the way Svanni had a flat tire so we were forced to take a slower pace but luckily we met this young girl who offered Svanni to go with her father and have it fixed while me and Jessica had some delicious noodles at their 'restaurant'. Everybody wins.
After cycling back into the city me and Jessica went and had a blind massage (such an experience), which we enjoyed thoroughly. Meanwhile Svanni went online and tried to get us tickets back home which was not going so well, the prices keep going up and they won't accept our booking. Oh well, life in Cambodia is good. Had dinner and a mojito so I had no worries or thoughts of home.
On the 27th we took a bus to the capital, Phnom Penh. I think it was a local bus so it didn't leave until it was filled with people. This process took around an hour and a half. Four hours later or so we were walking around the busy streets of the capital, yet again looking for a place to stay for the night. After much looking around and bargaining we settled on the Drunken Frog. It was set on a small river with amazing view that we were told would disappear soon when the Koreans would come and build hotels by the bank. At this point I had come to love hostel food so we had some dinner, beers and chatted with Algae, one of the staff, a young Cambodian man who told us about the country's drug problem, how no one can talk about the government (I saw he got a bit nervous touching on the subject) and his history of drinking and fighting at the local bars, apparently a popular pastime here.
The next day we visited the killing fields and S-21. A must for anyone visiting the country, but a horrible experience nonetheless. How the Khmer Rouge wiped out one third of the whole population, tortured the political prisoners of S-21 ... there are no words for how horrible and bloody Cambodia's history really is. I recommend reading up on it though.
The rest of the day we spent at a russian market, tuk tuk-ing around the city, eating more super cheap and heavenly food and of course looking for flight tickets back to Japan. Still no luck. During the evening we explored our neighborhood, met some local kids at a colorful fountain, locals eating in the streets, dimly lit dusty streets, I fell in love with the city. After the day's events I could not see the people in the same light, there was not a single person that was left unharmed by the turmoil and war that had swept over the country just a few decades ago.
On the morning of the 29th we tried for a few hours to get tickets but by this time we couldn't find the cheap flights anymore and still Svanni's credit card was not accepted. I had failed to put more money on mine so I was no help. Well, what to do in times of trouble? That's right! Hit the beach!
Our next destination was Sihanoukville with it's many beaches and resorts. Our tuk tuk driver gave us some trouble concerning prices etc. but in the end we made up and shook hands. It was night time by the time we got there so we sat down in the light of the full moon and indulged in some local curry and lassis. There were a lot of people celebrating the night by the ocean, dancing, eating, laughing, talking. It was by far one of the best nights of the trip.
We found a hostel on the beach (where I saw my first rat ever, ugh), and got an amazing room that was more like an apartment, with a bathroom, kitchen, a large bed and two futons on the floor. Not to mention a spectacular view of the ocean. Ahhh this is the life!
After catching some sleep we hit the beach! Swam in the ocean, sunbathed, ate some more, drank some lassis and I got my feet stringed (hair removed) by one of the women offering various services to the guests on the beach. I had refused the first couple of ones and then I thought why not, let's try it. This angered the first woman who had asked me who had now come back and starting arguing with me, saying I betrayed her and should let her do something else for me. When she offered to string my arms I told her 'sure, come back and do it tomorrow'. We left the next day.
In the chairs next to us were two girls in their 20's enjoying the sun. At one point I looked over and I saw how one of them was paying a girl of maybe 5 or 6 to string her legs. She lay there while this small thing huddled over her legs and removed the hairs as best as she could. I could do nothing but stare in disbelief that someone would encourage this and spent the rest of the day giving the two of them angry glances. Some people....
After that day of luxury our trip had finally come to and end. We said our goodbyes to Jessica and wished her luck on her travels, exchanged information and went our separate ways. Me and Svanni took the bus all the way back to Bangkok, which took most of the day. And this is where I stopped writing in my journal. We finally found tickets back to Japan, the day before leaving, went to the market one last time, took some pictures with the wonderful staff of our hostel - one of the best ones, highly recommended!, and took a taxi to the airport. I was terribly sad to be leaving but luckily the plain was taking us back to Japan, so the adventure hasn't ended yet.
A million points to whomever managed to read the whole thing! I will try to continue to dazzle you with stories from Japan whenever I can.
Congratulations to everyone back home who just finished their exams, go party, have fun, you deserve it! :P
Saturday, May 8, 2010
I'm sorry, I've been lazy. I still haven't finished my travel log, though I have high hopes that the next one will be the last one. My excuse isn't a very original one, things have been really hectic here as of late.
Coming back from my 2 month long vacation, diving back into my projects and devious plans at the I-House has been quite crazy. We had some new people come in around the end of March, and it's so good to see the dorm brought to life again. Where for two months or so there was only silence and dust floating around the corridors one can now hear the melodic sounds of laughter, shouting in endless different languages and people running around, studying, talking, playing games, having parties etc.
The new people really left a good impression on me from the start; they are such a breath of fresh air.
It's good to get new voices, new opinions, different foods etc. into the dorm.
And we have been keeping busy. Every week there is some event taking place; a few days ago we went to see a play performed by an all female cast at a theater called Takarazuka, we've been to see Alice in Wonderland, had parties at the tatami room at the dorm, gone clubbing down town, visited temples and shrines and so much more.
On top of everything, summer is finally here. Everyday the temperatures rise up to around 25°C and the sun is blinding. Such a good break from the freezing colds of winter. I sent all my winter clothes, along with some books etc., home as I won't be needing them anymore. Not until I get back home, that is. But I'm trying not to think of that now....
So, I just wanted to write a few lines since I was taking the Sunday off to study. As I use the internet as my major source I've been surfing like crazy for the last 3 hours and decided to take a break and show you an example of just how fascinating the Japanese language is.
Saying that the Japanese use a lot of onomatopoeic words is an understatement. Almost every action you could think of can be uttered using the word for the sound that action makes. Amazingly this works for feelings as well. Or something visual. There is even the sound of silence! ('shiiin')
Some more examples include:
パチパチ (pachi pachi) could mean any of the following things:
1. pleasant clapping sound;
2. sound of something hot bursting open (i.e. popcorn);
3. incessant blinking
バラバラ (bara bara) – rattle
クスクス (kusu kusu) – giggle
ポチャポチャ (pocha pocha) – splash
フサフサ (fusa fusa) – a full and attractive head of hair
ギトギト (gito gito) – being oily
イライラ (ira ira) – the state of being frustrated
ポカポカ (poka poka) – the state of being nice and warm
Interesting, no?
Coming back from my 2 month long vacation, diving back into my projects and devious plans at the I-House has been quite crazy. We had some new people come in around the end of March, and it's so good to see the dorm brought to life again. Where for two months or so there was only silence and dust floating around the corridors one can now hear the melodic sounds of laughter, shouting in endless different languages and people running around, studying, talking, playing games, having parties etc.
The new people really left a good impression on me from the start; they are such a breath of fresh air.
It's good to get new voices, new opinions, different foods etc. into the dorm.
And we have been keeping busy. Every week there is some event taking place; a few days ago we went to see a play performed by an all female cast at a theater called Takarazuka, we've been to see Alice in Wonderland, had parties at the tatami room at the dorm, gone clubbing down town, visited temples and shrines and so much more.
On top of everything, summer is finally here. Everyday the temperatures rise up to around 25°C and the sun is blinding. Such a good break from the freezing colds of winter. I sent all my winter clothes, along with some books etc., home as I won't be needing them anymore. Not until I get back home, that is. But I'm trying not to think of that now....
So, I just wanted to write a few lines since I was taking the Sunday off to study. As I use the internet as my major source I've been surfing like crazy for the last 3 hours and decided to take a break and show you an example of just how fascinating the Japanese language is.
Saying that the Japanese use a lot of onomatopoeic words is an understatement. Almost every action you could think of can be uttered using the word for the sound that action makes. Amazingly this works for feelings as well. Or something visual. There is even the sound of silence! ('shiiin')
Some more examples include:
パチパチ (pachi pachi) could mean any of the following things:
1. pleasant clapping sound;
2. sound of something hot bursting open (i.e. popcorn);
3. incessant blinking
バラバラ (bara bara) – rattle
クスクス (kusu kusu) – giggle
ポチャポチャ (pocha pocha) – splash
フサフサ (fusa fusa) – a full and attractive head of hair
ギトギト (gito gito) – being oily
イライラ (ira ira) – the state of being frustrated
ポカポカ (poka poka) – the state of being nice and warm
Interesting, no?
Friday, April 23, 2010
A fine Friday afternoon, all classes this week are officially over, what better time to sit down and write.
We have almost come to the end of my travels. As I recall we had just left Guangzhou on a three hour flight surrounded be Egyptians going home to Cairo, heading toward...
Bangkok!
We arrived pretty late, around 11:15, and so we had booked bungalows close to the airport where we stayed for the night. Compared to the hostels we had stayed at in Korea and China this was something else. We had a whole bungalow, which is pretty much like a small apartment, all to ourselves. Complete with the teachings of Buddha and a tv set. Sweet.
That night my foot started to itch pretty heavily....
As we woke up to catch a taxi to the town center I had to rush to the bathroom, wet a towel and put it on my ankle because the itch had gotten unbearable. It was around 6:30 when we woke up and could sleep no more so we just got dressed and headed straight for the town center. We took the sky train to the boat stop and from there a boat up the river closer to our hostel where we hoped to get rooms for the night. From the moment we arrived at the airport we were followed by holy men; when we exited the gate we were surrounded by monks in bright orange garments. There would always be at least one monk in every vehicle we traveled in.
On the boats they even had signs that said something like 'place for monks', and people would stand up and offer them their seats.
After some walking back and forth these new and unfamiliar streets in the blistering heat we finally found our hostel (which I highly recommend !), after having stopped for 30 minutes at a police box and asked for directions. They called all kinds of people on their cell phones and walkie-talkies, finally another police officer arrived on his motorbike, yelling at them that it was right next door! And so it was, we walked 20 meters up the street and saw the hostel sign....
During our long walk I got a weird sensation in my ankle where that damn blasted fly bit me so I started examining it as I sat down. I don't want to be too graphic but I now had two (soon turned into three) huge blisters that stood out probably 2-3 cm from my ankle, filled to the point of almost bursting with ... well yes. Anyway, I punctured them and drained the fluid, after which I applied hand sanitizer to the wound - thinking I had to put alcohol on it to clean it.... needless to say it burned pretty badly once I went back to the 30 degrees outside. It still hasn't quite healed.
Now, we flagged down a tuk tuk and after negotiating the price (cheapest way to travel ever) we zig zagged through the heavy traffic at record braking speeds to the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun to the Thai people). A magnificent Buddhist temple, it consists of a big tower that you can climb up (with very steep stairs) and admire the view of the city, surrounded by four smaller towers.
The decorations and statues carved into the walls of the tower are amazing, with such small details, it was really worth it to make a trip down there to see it.
Having walked past the flower market and various other places in Bangkok what struck us the most was how colorful the city is. Everywhere you look you can see in your line of sight at least 10+ colors. Even the taxis don a bright pink color. Such a vibrant amazing city!
We went to see some other temples and ended up at the mall where we found a big market and lots of lady boys. Apparently this is very common in Thailand, something I was completely oblivious before my arrival. I wasn't too surprised at this, the real shock would come after dinner, as we were walking back through the market on our way home by sky train.
As I was walking, I quickly glanced to my right and had to do a double-take as I thought I had seen a strange looking tree. Looking back, instead of staring at the dark bark I was expecting, I met the eyes of a woman, begging in the street. Her face was so deformed I found myself gasping and as I recoiled back I felt my eyes water. My heart started to pound and I dragged Svanni into the nearest 7/11 where I reclined up against a wall and 'came down' from the shock. It might sound like I over-reacted but I have never seen anything like this before in my life, even though I have seen all kinds of medical deformities in books/tv before seeing it face to face is something completely different.
This woman's face appeared to have leaked downwards, almost as if it had been burnt horribly and was now drooping towards the ground, in short strands. It is impossible to describe but you could not make out eyes, nose or a mouth, just dark brown sausage-like strands hanging off her face.
I became horrified of seeing her again... and I guess the tears forced themselves to my eyes because my first thought was how horrible it must be to live like that.
On to the 25th of March.
After only two days in Bangkok I found myself thirsting for some more adventure. What had appealed to me the most about the whole trip was getting into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. As I explained before we had been stripped of two out of those three options so I was eager to make the most of what little time we had left - in Cambodia.
Early in the morning we bought two tickets to Siem Riep and boarded the Playboy bus (it had the bunny on one of the windows) to the boarder. We scouted the waiting room for other foreigners to share a taxi/tuk tuk with once we got into Cambodia and saw one girl traveling alone. Getting off the bus at Aranyapnathet (and they say 'Eyjafjallajökull' is hard?) at the Thai/Cambodian border we quickly went over and asked her to join us on our journey.
And so it was that our party gained another member, Jessica - for that is her name - stayed with us throughout our travel in Cambodia. As I write she should be traveling somewhere in Thailand with her sister who she was going to meet after traveling a bit around Laos.
As soon as we stepped off the bus we were surrounded by an army of tuk tuk drivers, fighting to take us to the border. We stepped out of the crowd, picked up our bags and chose a nice elderly lady and asked her to take us to the border. What she did was drive us to a small three-walled shack with a sign that said 'Cambodia official Visa'. Now, this didn't look at all like a border or a Vise issuance place to me but we went inside anyway, were greeted by the few men there and filled out an application.
Handing over our passports we were then promptly asked for around 50 $ for the Visa, which is more than half the normal price. We argued for about 10-15 minutes and they used all kinds of ways to try to get us to pay, one of them kept yelling at us to go back to Bangkok then if we didn't want to pay, another kept picking up a small carpet knife, opening and closing it as he spoke and the third just got confused when I told him how much we were willing to pay and that he should be smart and just take the money ( a bit more than we were supposed to pay normally). The best part was when they handed us an old book about tourism in Cambodia and pointed to the price for the Visa. It clearly said 20$ but someone had written with a pen in front of it a small "1". We laughed so hard and thanked them for trying...
Not just because of this cheap trick, but just listening to what they were saying and looking at their body language it was obvious that they were lying - they kept talking about how this was different from a government issued Visa and so it was more expensive. We asked them in turn "well, don't you work for the government? You just said so before. Cause if you don't we don't want to do business with you."
They gave us the reply that is now famous in Thailand and Cambodia (we saw it on a couple of T-Shirts and also a hostel by that name) that yes, this was "same same, but different".
We laughed it off and told them we knew what was going on and maybe we should just get their names and report them to the police. I had had enough so I asked for our passports back and sharply said to the man who was telling our only other option was to go back to Thailand that then that is what we would do.
As I turned around I thought that maybe this wasn't the smartest thing to do, threaten and yell at these men as they might as well use that carpet knife at any moment and god knows what other weapons they were equipped with and discard our bodies behind the shack with all the other defiant tourists but I quickly shrugged the notion off. Although at that moment I noticed that my hands had been shaking as I yelled back at them that this is what we will pay and to give us the Visa.
I had no idea where we were supposed to go next as we were so ill prepared so I just went back inside the tuk tuk and apologized to Svanni and Jessica as I didn't know how we were supposed to get our Visas now but the lady took us straight to the real border this time. Phew!
We paid the 20$, got in and were greeted by three men with government 'badges' who took us on a free shuttle bus to the bus station. On the way one of them would not stop talking and laughing, telling us about how good tourism in Cambodia has become and how they have this job now to greet tourists and 'protect them' from scams. At the bus station we exchanged our money into riels because this nice man told us that you can't really use dollers or baht... funny, and I just read online that you can... well whatever. So we exchanged most of our money. (turns out you can use all three)
Now, it was getting dangerously close to seven p.m. and I had no intention to stay any longer at this border town of Poipet as I had read carefully about its notorious reputation online. The bus however, had stopped running until the afternoon on the next day so we would have to take a taxi. At this point the warning bells in my head started chiming vigorously - how convenient for the taxi driver - and almost drowned my thoughts when he went on to give us the price of the taxi. We started to bargain with him and he decided to give us a 2 dollar discount. Wow.
We told them we were going to go outside and check other taxis - this is when they became desperate and followed us, increasing the discount until they had started to ask how much we wanted to pay.
Now, its not normal to have to bargain with government officials about the price of a taxi, I thought, so I tried my best to shrug them off. We tried at least... They were stuck to us like glue, pleading to us to take the taxi as it was 'very dangerous' walking these streets and there were no other taxis because it was so late. Apparently scare tactics are very popular in these parts. Finally we found a taxi in the streets which took us to the city for less than half of what they had offered us.
I later found out that these men are running a tourist scam, sponsored by the government. It was quite the feeling, standing in the dark in the middle of the street in Poipet, known for nothing but gambling and brothels, having been advised not to stay there for any longer than necessary, with no means of getting away.
During the four hour drive into Siem Reap we got to know each other a bit better. Only a few minutes into the drive, lightning lit up the inside of the taxi. For the rest of the ride the lightnings turned the dark skies brilliantly white.
Cambodia was bidding us welcome.
-----------------
For the riveting conclusion (I hope), tune in next week.
We have almost come to the end of my travels. As I recall we had just left Guangzhou on a three hour flight surrounded be Egyptians going home to Cairo, heading toward...
Bangkok!
We arrived pretty late, around 11:15, and so we had booked bungalows close to the airport where we stayed for the night. Compared to the hostels we had stayed at in Korea and China this was something else. We had a whole bungalow, which is pretty much like a small apartment, all to ourselves. Complete with the teachings of Buddha and a tv set. Sweet.
That night my foot started to itch pretty heavily....
As we woke up to catch a taxi to the town center I had to rush to the bathroom, wet a towel and put it on my ankle because the itch had gotten unbearable. It was around 6:30 when we woke up and could sleep no more so we just got dressed and headed straight for the town center. We took the sky train to the boat stop and from there a boat up the river closer to our hostel where we hoped to get rooms for the night. From the moment we arrived at the airport we were followed by holy men; when we exited the gate we were surrounded by monks in bright orange garments. There would always be at least one monk in every vehicle we traveled in.
On the boats they even had signs that said something like 'place for monks', and people would stand up and offer them their seats.
After some walking back and forth these new and unfamiliar streets in the blistering heat we finally found our hostel (which I highly recommend !), after having stopped for 30 minutes at a police box and asked for directions. They called all kinds of people on their cell phones and walkie-talkies, finally another police officer arrived on his motorbike, yelling at them that it was right next door! And so it was, we walked 20 meters up the street and saw the hostel sign....
During our long walk I got a weird sensation in my ankle where that damn blasted fly bit me so I started examining it as I sat down. I don't want to be too graphic but I now had two (soon turned into three) huge blisters that stood out probably 2-3 cm from my ankle, filled to the point of almost bursting with ... well yes. Anyway, I punctured them and drained the fluid, after which I applied hand sanitizer to the wound - thinking I had to put alcohol on it to clean it.... needless to say it burned pretty badly once I went back to the 30 degrees outside. It still hasn't quite healed.
Now, we flagged down a tuk tuk and after negotiating the price (cheapest way to travel ever) we zig zagged through the heavy traffic at record braking speeds to the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun to the Thai people). A magnificent Buddhist temple, it consists of a big tower that you can climb up (with very steep stairs) and admire the view of the city, surrounded by four smaller towers.
The decorations and statues carved into the walls of the tower are amazing, with such small details, it was really worth it to make a trip down there to see it.
Having walked past the flower market and various other places in Bangkok what struck us the most was how colorful the city is. Everywhere you look you can see in your line of sight at least 10+ colors. Even the taxis don a bright pink color. Such a vibrant amazing city!
We went to see some other temples and ended up at the mall where we found a big market and lots of lady boys. Apparently this is very common in Thailand, something I was completely oblivious before my arrival. I wasn't too surprised at this, the real shock would come after dinner, as we were walking back through the market on our way home by sky train.
As I was walking, I quickly glanced to my right and had to do a double-take as I thought I had seen a strange looking tree. Looking back, instead of staring at the dark bark I was expecting, I met the eyes of a woman, begging in the street. Her face was so deformed I found myself gasping and as I recoiled back I felt my eyes water. My heart started to pound and I dragged Svanni into the nearest 7/11 where I reclined up against a wall and 'came down' from the shock. It might sound like I over-reacted but I have never seen anything like this before in my life, even though I have seen all kinds of medical deformities in books/tv before seeing it face to face is something completely different.
This woman's face appeared to have leaked downwards, almost as if it had been burnt horribly and was now drooping towards the ground, in short strands. It is impossible to describe but you could not make out eyes, nose or a mouth, just dark brown sausage-like strands hanging off her face.
I became horrified of seeing her again... and I guess the tears forced themselves to my eyes because my first thought was how horrible it must be to live like that.
On to the 25th of March.
After only two days in Bangkok I found myself thirsting for some more adventure. What had appealed to me the most about the whole trip was getting into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. As I explained before we had been stripped of two out of those three options so I was eager to make the most of what little time we had left - in Cambodia.
Early in the morning we bought two tickets to Siem Riep and boarded the Playboy bus (it had the bunny on one of the windows) to the boarder. We scouted the waiting room for other foreigners to share a taxi/tuk tuk with once we got into Cambodia and saw one girl traveling alone. Getting off the bus at Aranyapnathet (and they say 'Eyjafjallajökull' is hard?) at the Thai/Cambodian border we quickly went over and asked her to join us on our journey.
And so it was that our party gained another member, Jessica - for that is her name - stayed with us throughout our travel in Cambodia. As I write she should be traveling somewhere in Thailand with her sister who she was going to meet after traveling a bit around Laos.
As soon as we stepped off the bus we were surrounded by an army of tuk tuk drivers, fighting to take us to the border. We stepped out of the crowd, picked up our bags and chose a nice elderly lady and asked her to take us to the border. What she did was drive us to a small three-walled shack with a sign that said 'Cambodia official Visa'. Now, this didn't look at all like a border or a Vise issuance place to me but we went inside anyway, were greeted by the few men there and filled out an application.
Handing over our passports we were then promptly asked for around 50 $ for the Visa, which is more than half the normal price. We argued for about 10-15 minutes and they used all kinds of ways to try to get us to pay, one of them kept yelling at us to go back to Bangkok then if we didn't want to pay, another kept picking up a small carpet knife, opening and closing it as he spoke and the third just got confused when I told him how much we were willing to pay and that he should be smart and just take the money ( a bit more than we were supposed to pay normally). The best part was when they handed us an old book about tourism in Cambodia and pointed to the price for the Visa. It clearly said 20$ but someone had written with a pen in front of it a small "1". We laughed so hard and thanked them for trying...
Not just because of this cheap trick, but just listening to what they were saying and looking at their body language it was obvious that they were lying - they kept talking about how this was different from a government issued Visa and so it was more expensive. We asked them in turn "well, don't you work for the government? You just said so before. Cause if you don't we don't want to do business with you."
They gave us the reply that is now famous in Thailand and Cambodia (we saw it on a couple of T-Shirts and also a hostel by that name) that yes, this was "same same, but different".
We laughed it off and told them we knew what was going on and maybe we should just get their names and report them to the police. I had had enough so I asked for our passports back and sharply said to the man who was telling our only other option was to go back to Thailand that then that is what we would do.
As I turned around I thought that maybe this wasn't the smartest thing to do, threaten and yell at these men as they might as well use that carpet knife at any moment and god knows what other weapons they were equipped with and discard our bodies behind the shack with all the other defiant tourists but I quickly shrugged the notion off. Although at that moment I noticed that my hands had been shaking as I yelled back at them that this is what we will pay and to give us the Visa.
I had no idea where we were supposed to go next as we were so ill prepared so I just went back inside the tuk tuk and apologized to Svanni and Jessica as I didn't know how we were supposed to get our Visas now but the lady took us straight to the real border this time. Phew!
We paid the 20$, got in and were greeted by three men with government 'badges' who took us on a free shuttle bus to the bus station. On the way one of them would not stop talking and laughing, telling us about how good tourism in Cambodia has become and how they have this job now to greet tourists and 'protect them' from scams. At the bus station we exchanged our money into riels because this nice man told us that you can't really use dollers or baht... funny, and I just read online that you can... well whatever. So we exchanged most of our money. (turns out you can use all three)
Now, it was getting dangerously close to seven p.m. and I had no intention to stay any longer at this border town of Poipet as I had read carefully about its notorious reputation online. The bus however, had stopped running until the afternoon on the next day so we would have to take a taxi. At this point the warning bells in my head started chiming vigorously - how convenient for the taxi driver - and almost drowned my thoughts when he went on to give us the price of the taxi. We started to bargain with him and he decided to give us a 2 dollar discount. Wow.
We told them we were going to go outside and check other taxis - this is when they became desperate and followed us, increasing the discount until they had started to ask how much we wanted to pay.
Now, its not normal to have to bargain with government officials about the price of a taxi, I thought, so I tried my best to shrug them off. We tried at least... They were stuck to us like glue, pleading to us to take the taxi as it was 'very dangerous' walking these streets and there were no other taxis because it was so late. Apparently scare tactics are very popular in these parts. Finally we found a taxi in the streets which took us to the city for less than half of what they had offered us.
I later found out that these men are running a tourist scam, sponsored by the government. It was quite the feeling, standing in the dark in the middle of the street in Poipet, known for nothing but gambling and brothels, having been advised not to stay there for any longer than necessary, with no means of getting away.
During the four hour drive into Siem Reap we got to know each other a bit better. Only a few minutes into the drive, lightning lit up the inside of the taxi. For the rest of the ride the lightnings turned the dark skies brilliantly white.
Cambodia was bidding us welcome.
-----------------
For the riveting conclusion (I hope), tune in next week.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Still more adventures
Ok, lets try to wrap this thing up!
Last time I left you our heroes were on a train which would, after only 15 hours or so, take them to the big city:
Shanghai!
We had hardly arrived and stepped out of the Subway before we were approached by 3 lovely young Shanghai-ites who wanted to practice their English. Sally, Stephen and Sophia - yes I know, I was very confused as well when I heard their names but its apparently fairly common in China to have a western name. In this case they got them from their English teacher. We talked for a bit and we found out that they were going to a tea ceremony close by, right now there is an expo in Shanghai (you can see the mascot, "Haibao", his name made out of the kanji for 'person', everywhere you go) with the slogan "better city, better life" and so many cultural events are being held all over the city.
We decided to join them and so marched with all our belongings (very meager compared to all other backpackers we met) and went into this small tea ceremony room where a Chinese lady gave us five different kinds to try and our new friends translated for us the history of each tea and the story behind their names. At one point she picked up a small yarn-like ball, put it in the glass and told us to watch carefully. Before long, it started to open up before our eyes, revealing first a small white flower and then a few seconds later a long stemmed yellow flower burst out from the white one and stretched all the way to the top of the glass. Very pretty.
When we left they gave us two each as a souvenir.
We found our hostel, checked in and hit the streets. I quickly fell in love with Shanghai with its tall buildings, each more magnificent than the next. It is really such a multicultural city, walking around I saw more foreigners than in all my time in Japan. The sun shone, people did Tai Chi in the parks, played hacky sack, lounged around on the grass talking and eating and just seemed so darn happy!
We went to the Bundt district which has some very tall, modern buildings, planned to go to the tallest tower but it was incredibly expensive so all such plans were canceled.
The next day we switched hostels because of springy mattresses and found a better one, albeit a bit far from the center. That day Svanni had a bit of a misunderstanding with the washing machine, apparently there was toilet paper in one of the pockets of the clothes she was washing so they were now all completely covered in little snippets of paper. Unfortunately for me, I had put my shirt in there with her clothes so it stayed half-white until we got back home to Japan.
Donning her now only set of clothes, Svanni went to the mall and bought a new shirt. I must say I was impressed with the destructive power of toilet paper and will be careful in the future not to recreate this little mistake.
The 19th we woke up early and went to the train station. With the help of some more of Shanghai's youth we bought tickets to Guangzhou in the south of China - we would be leaving Sunday as all other tickets were sold out. This meant two more days in Shanghai.
That day we went to see Longhua temple - of course it was being renovated like every other sightseeing spot of the trip! Because of this though the admission was very cheap - 10 yuan - so we happily jumped between overturned pieces of cement (apparently they were re-doing the whole floor of the grounds) and climbing into the many halls of the temple. One of the most beautiful I have visited.
Next on our schedule was an old catholic catheral - Xijiahuí cathedral - and guess what? It was under renovation so you could barely bask in its splendor outside so we ventured inside after being given a green light by one of the construction workers. Surprisingly though he sent the Chinese couple behind us away, maybe he let us in because we were foreigners.. I don't know. But anyhow we had the whole cathedral to ourselves, which pleased me to no end.
That evening we had dined on tasty Chinese dumplings and noodles at a local restaurant.
The 20th of March we bought tickets to see the circus! As I have never been to the circus before, the rest of the day I was beside myself with excitement. In the meantime we went on a very short tour bus ride, where the nice woman gave us murky water to drink and barked information in Chinese. Since when were tour buses all about the locals? After some general walking around and looking for pants that fit (by this time my only jeans had been ripped almost to shreds) we went to the circus where I was completely mesmerized. One day I will run away from my life and join the circus, I'm sure....
Our last day in Shanghai we went to the Science Museum where we saw animals from all over the world, survived an earthquake, became scientists for a day and had some fun with the interactive part of the museum. The space and robot section was pretty lame though, I was hoping for a glimpse into the future of technology but only got ancient robots and a laughable and confusing dance performance by those robot arms that are used to make cars. After having killed some time we rushed to the train station. Somehow we almost missed the train, we had to run through the station and jump on board five minutes before it took off. The trains in China are serious and wait for no one...
Same as last time we got some cozy top bunks and took to discussing all possible ways to continue our travels. Should we take a bus from Guangzhou to Laos? Cambodia? Vietnam is out of the question, how about flights to Bangkok? Ponder, ponder.... Wish we could have made it to Tibet and Nepal...
Such conversations, sitting in a tiny seat in an impossibly narrow corridor, traveling in a rickety train to somewhere I have never been before, not knowing where I'll be staying the next night or even where I'm going or how I'll be getting there... such are moments of complete bliss beyond words. This I wrote down in my travel book, staring out the window into the darkness outside, thinking of all I had already seen, wondering what the future had in store.
Finally, we have arrived into the heat. A bit further south, all the way to:
Guangzhou!
I don't have all too much to say about Guangzhou, we were situated in a very quiet location, on a street that promised lots but offered so little. Neon signs, empty houses, other buildings that looked like restaurants/clubs/interesting places but were .. well I don't really know what kind of service they provided. Everything was completely empty until the evening. We spent a lot of time walking around, seeing nothing much really, exploring alleyways and taking a boat trip over to the other side of a big river that runs through the city, although there was not much to see there either...
One of the highlights of the day was walking through a park where we sat down and listened to a man and a woman singing traditional Chinese theater songs in a big gazebo by the river. We took a much needed break and sat down, listening to some sweet tones. Its pretty shrill but still very entertaining.
That day we ate nothing but noodles and come dinnertime, we finally found a restaurant and tried to make ourselves understandable with sign language and simple kanji drawings (tried to draw the kanji for "beef/cow") and finally just asked them to bring something they wanted to. We had asked for rice or beef but were told there was none but a few minutes later we saw a waitress walk past with 6 bowls full of rice and a huge bowl of beef for the next table. Maybe its a foreigner thing...
People still said hi to me on the streets - you would think they never get any foreigners in China.
The next day we took a taxi to the airport and said goodbye to China. It felt a bit strange after having spent so much time there but it was time to move on. Next up: Thailand!
---------------------
Oh no, the time has run away from me yet again. I have homework to do so I'm going to be a good student and go study. You will have to wait a bit more for the next segment!
Besos y abrazos!
Last time I left you our heroes were on a train which would, after only 15 hours or so, take them to the big city:
Shanghai!
We had hardly arrived and stepped out of the Subway before we were approached by 3 lovely young Shanghai-ites who wanted to practice their English. Sally, Stephen and Sophia - yes I know, I was very confused as well when I heard their names but its apparently fairly common in China to have a western name. In this case they got them from their English teacher. We talked for a bit and we found out that they were going to a tea ceremony close by, right now there is an expo in Shanghai (you can see the mascot, "Haibao", his name made out of the kanji for 'person', everywhere you go) with the slogan "better city, better life" and so many cultural events are being held all over the city.
We decided to join them and so marched with all our belongings (very meager compared to all other backpackers we met) and went into this small tea ceremony room where a Chinese lady gave us five different kinds to try and our new friends translated for us the history of each tea and the story behind their names. At one point she picked up a small yarn-like ball, put it in the glass and told us to watch carefully. Before long, it started to open up before our eyes, revealing first a small white flower and then a few seconds later a long stemmed yellow flower burst out from the white one and stretched all the way to the top of the glass. Very pretty.
When we left they gave us two each as a souvenir.
We found our hostel, checked in and hit the streets. I quickly fell in love with Shanghai with its tall buildings, each more magnificent than the next. It is really such a multicultural city, walking around I saw more foreigners than in all my time in Japan. The sun shone, people did Tai Chi in the parks, played hacky sack, lounged around on the grass talking and eating and just seemed so darn happy!
We went to the Bundt district which has some very tall, modern buildings, planned to go to the tallest tower but it was incredibly expensive so all such plans were canceled.
The next day we switched hostels because of springy mattresses and found a better one, albeit a bit far from the center. That day Svanni had a bit of a misunderstanding with the washing machine, apparently there was toilet paper in one of the pockets of the clothes she was washing so they were now all completely covered in little snippets of paper. Unfortunately for me, I had put my shirt in there with her clothes so it stayed half-white until we got back home to Japan.
Donning her now only set of clothes, Svanni went to the mall and bought a new shirt. I must say I was impressed with the destructive power of toilet paper and will be careful in the future not to recreate this little mistake.
The 19th we woke up early and went to the train station. With the help of some more of Shanghai's youth we bought tickets to Guangzhou in the south of China - we would be leaving Sunday as all other tickets were sold out. This meant two more days in Shanghai.
That day we went to see Longhua temple - of course it was being renovated like every other sightseeing spot of the trip! Because of this though the admission was very cheap - 10 yuan - so we happily jumped between overturned pieces of cement (apparently they were re-doing the whole floor of the grounds) and climbing into the many halls of the temple. One of the most beautiful I have visited.
Next on our schedule was an old catholic catheral - Xijiahuí cathedral - and guess what? It was under renovation so you could barely bask in its splendor outside so we ventured inside after being given a green light by one of the construction workers. Surprisingly though he sent the Chinese couple behind us away, maybe he let us in because we were foreigners.. I don't know. But anyhow we had the whole cathedral to ourselves, which pleased me to no end.
That evening we had dined on tasty Chinese dumplings and noodles at a local restaurant.
The 20th of March we bought tickets to see the circus! As I have never been to the circus before, the rest of the day I was beside myself with excitement. In the meantime we went on a very short tour bus ride, where the nice woman gave us murky water to drink and barked information in Chinese. Since when were tour buses all about the locals? After some general walking around and looking for pants that fit (by this time my only jeans had been ripped almost to shreds) we went to the circus where I was completely mesmerized. One day I will run away from my life and join the circus, I'm sure....
Our last day in Shanghai we went to the Science Museum where we saw animals from all over the world, survived an earthquake, became scientists for a day and had some fun with the interactive part of the museum. The space and robot section was pretty lame though, I was hoping for a glimpse into the future of technology but only got ancient robots and a laughable and confusing dance performance by those robot arms that are used to make cars. After having killed some time we rushed to the train station. Somehow we almost missed the train, we had to run through the station and jump on board five minutes before it took off. The trains in China are serious and wait for no one...
Same as last time we got some cozy top bunks and took to discussing all possible ways to continue our travels. Should we take a bus from Guangzhou to Laos? Cambodia? Vietnam is out of the question, how about flights to Bangkok? Ponder, ponder.... Wish we could have made it to Tibet and Nepal...
Such conversations, sitting in a tiny seat in an impossibly narrow corridor, traveling in a rickety train to somewhere I have never been before, not knowing where I'll be staying the next night or even where I'm going or how I'll be getting there... such are moments of complete bliss beyond words. This I wrote down in my travel book, staring out the window into the darkness outside, thinking of all I had already seen, wondering what the future had in store.
Finally, we have arrived into the heat. A bit further south, all the way to:
Guangzhou!
I don't have all too much to say about Guangzhou, we were situated in a very quiet location, on a street that promised lots but offered so little. Neon signs, empty houses, other buildings that looked like restaurants/clubs/interesting places but were .. well I don't really know what kind of service they provided. Everything was completely empty until the evening. We spent a lot of time walking around, seeing nothing much really, exploring alleyways and taking a boat trip over to the other side of a big river that runs through the city, although there was not much to see there either...
One of the highlights of the day was walking through a park where we sat down and listened to a man and a woman singing traditional Chinese theater songs in a big gazebo by the river. We took a much needed break and sat down, listening to some sweet tones. Its pretty shrill but still very entertaining.
That day we ate nothing but noodles and come dinnertime, we finally found a restaurant and tried to make ourselves understandable with sign language and simple kanji drawings (tried to draw the kanji for "beef/cow") and finally just asked them to bring something they wanted to. We had asked for rice or beef but were told there was none but a few minutes later we saw a waitress walk past with 6 bowls full of rice and a huge bowl of beef for the next table. Maybe its a foreigner thing...
People still said hi to me on the streets - you would think they never get any foreigners in China.
The next day we took a taxi to the airport and said goodbye to China. It felt a bit strange after having spent so much time there but it was time to move on. Next up: Thailand!
---------------------
Oh no, the time has run away from me yet again. I have homework to do so I'm going to be a good student and go study. You will have to wait a bit more for the next segment!
Besos y abrazos!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Burning my tongue on some Jasmine tea I come to you again, with part II of my travel log.
If I remember correctly, we are still in ....
China!
After Beijing we really had no plans where to go next, we were going to visit our teacher in Changchun but as it was just a few degrees too cold we decided to take the first train down a bit further south to Xi'an. In our blissful innocent state of not knowing how things are done in China we ordered two tickets for hard seats, thinking they were the same as normal seats on a bus and we could get some sleep as the ride took about 13 hours. When we entered the train our dreams of our own seats and some sleep were roughly taken away. We had to fight to get in and to our seats, which were basically at the end of a small bench, facing another three seat bench so privacy was out of the question. Looking around all you could see was Chinese people carrying incredibly big packs filled with god knows what, chatting loudly and standing in the hallway as many of them didn't even have seats. All of them were of course very interested in the foreigners and I got a lot of long stares followed by whispering and chuckling. Somehow the 13 plus hours passed but there was not a lot of sleeping done on our part.
Xi'an. Stepping out of the train station we had to fight our way through throngs of taxi drivers eager to take us to hotels or hostels around the town. At this point I was very happy to have learned to say "no thanks, not needed" because if you say it in Chinese they will quickly go away and leave you alone.
We escaped into a five star hotel where we got a map and asked for directions to our hostel. We hopped on a bus, which costs 1 yuan (18 ISK), found our hostel which turned out to be one of the coolest hostels I have ever stayed at. Such nice atmosphere, amazing people, good food and cheap rooms!
I still wish I could pop over from time to time and hang out there.
Our first day of sightseeing we walked around the shopping district and the Muslim quarter. Such a lively place, narrow streets lined with market stalls, shopkeepers tossing noodles in the air, the smell of roasting nuts filling the air and in the heart you find the big Mosque.
We also made our way to the Big Goose Pagoda, with its massive square of joy and happiness; it was filled with people strolling around and children flying kites, I could have spent the whole day there.
But the tour must go on, we had an early start the following morning as we had booked a trip to go see the Terracotta warriors.
This must have been on the 15th of March. We woke up at nine a.m. and joined the small group of people going to see the warriors. The bus ride took about 2 hours so we got to know each other on the way. There were backpackers from England, America and Canada. One of them, Dave, had been traveling around China for some time and told me tales of jobs teaching English in S-America, I spent the rest of the trip dreaming....
Apart from it being a huge tourist trap, the tour was nice, the old farmer who discovered the warriors was now being kept at the museum, signing autographs. He had become something of a mini-celebrity, but I just felt sorry for him. They had turned his land into a museum and forced him into retirement. Actually, he was not the first to unearth these warriors, other farmers had found them earlier but thought it was a bad omen so they just put them back and stayed silent.
Lucky them....
Our last day in Xi'an we spent buying train tickets to Shanghai as it had been recommended to us by some of the backpackers, walking around the city, hanging out at Starbucks and playing games at the hostel. That night they had an open mic night and we enjoyed some wonderful tones from the guests.
17th of March and we were on our way to Shanghai! This time we were prepared and got hard sleeper seats. A bit more expensive but we got bumped up from 4th class (hard seats) to 2nd. Our bunks were on the top, so close to the ceiling that you couldn't sit up straight, you had to lie down or suffer a massive sore neck. We soon fled our bunks and spent the evening in the dining cart, facing the window, enjoying the great view of the Chinese countryside. In the morning we returned but were told we needed to buy something to stay there. We asked for some tea and the woman handed it to us and sat down next to me and began a one-sided staring contest with me. We ended up talking in a mixture of English and Chinese (teaching each other Chinese and Icelandic as well) but mainly using a lot of gestures. We took some pictures before leaving and I gave them some green tea. Instead I received some Jasmine tea, which I am enjoying as I type.
------
It's Sunday and it's getting late, I have class early tomorrow so I must stop now and retire to my bed. More on our travels soon, next week will be hectic as it is the first 'real' week of school of this new semester but it should be good.
Until next time!
If I remember correctly, we are still in ....
China!
After Beijing we really had no plans where to go next, we were going to visit our teacher in Changchun but as it was just a few degrees too cold we decided to take the first train down a bit further south to Xi'an. In our blissful innocent state of not knowing how things are done in China we ordered two tickets for hard seats, thinking they were the same as normal seats on a bus and we could get some sleep as the ride took about 13 hours. When we entered the train our dreams of our own seats and some sleep were roughly taken away. We had to fight to get in and to our seats, which were basically at the end of a small bench, facing another three seat bench so privacy was out of the question. Looking around all you could see was Chinese people carrying incredibly big packs filled with god knows what, chatting loudly and standing in the hallway as many of them didn't even have seats. All of them were of course very interested in the foreigners and I got a lot of long stares followed by whispering and chuckling. Somehow the 13 plus hours passed but there was not a lot of sleeping done on our part.
Xi'an. Stepping out of the train station we had to fight our way through throngs of taxi drivers eager to take us to hotels or hostels around the town. At this point I was very happy to have learned to say "no thanks, not needed" because if you say it in Chinese they will quickly go away and leave you alone.
We escaped into a five star hotel where we got a map and asked for directions to our hostel. We hopped on a bus, which costs 1 yuan (18 ISK), found our hostel which turned out to be one of the coolest hostels I have ever stayed at. Such nice atmosphere, amazing people, good food and cheap rooms!
I still wish I could pop over from time to time and hang out there.
Our first day of sightseeing we walked around the shopping district and the Muslim quarter. Such a lively place, narrow streets lined with market stalls, shopkeepers tossing noodles in the air, the smell of roasting nuts filling the air and in the heart you find the big Mosque.
We also made our way to the Big Goose Pagoda, with its massive square of joy and happiness; it was filled with people strolling around and children flying kites, I could have spent the whole day there.
But the tour must go on, we had an early start the following morning as we had booked a trip to go see the Terracotta warriors.
This must have been on the 15th of March. We woke up at nine a.m. and joined the small group of people going to see the warriors. The bus ride took about 2 hours so we got to know each other on the way. There were backpackers from England, America and Canada. One of them, Dave, had been traveling around China for some time and told me tales of jobs teaching English in S-America, I spent the rest of the trip dreaming....
Apart from it being a huge tourist trap, the tour was nice, the old farmer who discovered the warriors was now being kept at the museum, signing autographs. He had become something of a mini-celebrity, but I just felt sorry for him. They had turned his land into a museum and forced him into retirement. Actually, he was not the first to unearth these warriors, other farmers had found them earlier but thought it was a bad omen so they just put them back and stayed silent.
Lucky them....
Our last day in Xi'an we spent buying train tickets to Shanghai as it had been recommended to us by some of the backpackers, walking around the city, hanging out at Starbucks and playing games at the hostel. That night they had an open mic night and we enjoyed some wonderful tones from the guests.
17th of March and we were on our way to Shanghai! This time we were prepared and got hard sleeper seats. A bit more expensive but we got bumped up from 4th class (hard seats) to 2nd. Our bunks were on the top, so close to the ceiling that you couldn't sit up straight, you had to lie down or suffer a massive sore neck. We soon fled our bunks and spent the evening in the dining cart, facing the window, enjoying the great view of the Chinese countryside. In the morning we returned but were told we needed to buy something to stay there. We asked for some tea and the woman handed it to us and sat down next to me and began a one-sided staring contest with me. We ended up talking in a mixture of English and Chinese (teaching each other Chinese and Icelandic as well) but mainly using a lot of gestures. We took some pictures before leaving and I gave them some green tea. Instead I received some Jasmine tea, which I am enjoying as I type.
------
It's Sunday and it's getting late, I have class early tomorrow so I must stop now and retire to my bed. More on our travels soon, next week will be hectic as it is the first 'real' week of school of this new semester but it should be good.
Until next time!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The beginning...
A few days after my return to the I-House, and about time I started writing about my travels.
I'll try to go over this quickly, for my sake and yours. :P
Let's start with.....
South Korea!
At first this was supposed to be a trip to South-Korea only, the idea was to head over to the land of cheap things to spend some money and live like queens but soon our imagination started taking us further and further, down through China, into Tibet, perhaps Nepal, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Sadly fate would not have it so, we found ourselves begging for more time (at least myself) and visas. But more on that later.
Early on the 4th or 5th of March (didn't write it down...) me and Svanni boarded the Panstar ferry which took us over to Busan, Korea. After some walking around town and almost going swimming with the sharks at the aquarium we hopped on the next train to Seoul.
On the way we saw millions of red crosses scattered around the cities and towns, at first we thought they were pharmacies but apparently they are very religious down there. The people are also somewhat different from the Japanese; much more playful, open and loud. Seoul is a lot like any other big city, a bit more messy and dirty and some of the streets are rather run down.
Some of the things we went to see were the fish market, Jongmyo royal ancestral shrine, markets where we ate some of the local delicacies, seoul N-Tower, we rode a cable car, went to the roots of a nearby popular mountain route.... Svanni wasn't sleeping so well so she kept falling over a lot and once managed to scare some people on the street by falling and running into them. They clutched their purses while I laughed like a maniac. The 8th of March we moved over to China.
China!
The flight over to Beijing took about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check-in was postponed for a few minutes due to ... snow! I stood there in jeans, autumn jacket and sneakers, refusing to believe my ears. Actually it was minus 6 degrees when we landed and snow was scattered on the ground.
We left the airport and tried to find a bus downtown, but all that the bus boys would do was shout at us in Chinese and point in random directions. Finally we got some answers and hurried onto one of the buses. During the ride the driver would yell at the top of his lungs, I still don't know what for, at one point we stopped talking because we thought he was telling us to shut up.
At one point he stopped the bus, stood up and yelled some more, this time with more fervor. The people on the bus started yelling as well and started getting off the bus. I didn't want to spend any more time in a closed space with this man so we hurried off the bus as well.
Getting off the bus, we were now completely lost in the middle of Beijing, surrounded by armed guards and police officers. Luckily I noticed a building close by that I recognized so I dragged Svanni over there. When we stopped again I realized we were standing right next to Tiananmen square!
Feeling like a kid in a candy store I ran wildly around, not knowing which site to explore first.
As it was freezing we decided to go find our hostel and then come back later.
As it turned out, our hostel was in a pretty run-down part of town (this would follow us throughout our travels), or at least it looked like that to us, coming from Japan. Actually its a long bustling street with crazy traffic and romantic alleyways. Due to our amazing Chinese skills we finally found the street and took one of the narrow alleyways to find a carpeted door (to keep the cold out) into the Lotus Hostel. We asked about visa for Tibet with high hopes but they told us it could take up to a month because of the meeting of China's officials in Beijing at the time. So we quickly pushed any notion of getting there out of our heads, sadly.
The hostel was nice, we shared a room with two Chinese guys, one of whom spoke flawless English with a British accent. It was good to have someone to talk to - English is apparently not high on their agenda of stuff to learn.
Among other things we went to visit the Forbidden City - a seemingly endless array of halls, the Opera where we got to know the Monkey King a bit better, the Great Wall of China where we climbed the almost vertical steps and slopes up and down, Temple of Heaven - closed, some nice restaurants (we skipped the pigs tail, chicken claws and cartilages...), Summer Palace - it was a frighteningly cold day, Lama palace - beautiful temple, and more.
Actually, when we were going to the Great Wall we were greeted by lots of people trying to sell us tickets for a 'low, low price' - only about 4 times what we thought it was supposed to cost. One of them would not leave us alone, I told his it was outrageously expensive, he told me in turn that there were no buses running that day and this was the only way. His mistake was stopping a young couple to do some translating for him as his English was not so good; the woman obviously felt bad about repeating what he was saying so I looked to the guy who beckoned us to follow him. We did and they helped us find a bus to get there. To show how incredibly nice and helpful the Chinese can be we had six people standing around us at one point, discussing how it would be best to get there. After a few minutes a man passing by overheard their conversation and told us to follow him - he was going the same way.
We sat down and bought tickets - after thanking them - they cost us only a few yuan...
When visiting Tiananmen square our last day in Beijing we were touristing around, minding our own business, when this woman taps me on the shoulder and yells something in Chinese. I though I had dropped something and quickly turn around. She then grabs my arm and points forward, there is a another woman standing there, pointing a camera at us. Understanding, I smiled and turned to keep going. Then I get another hard tap on my shoulder and this woman is smiling at me and speaking Chinese, touching my hair and saying how tall I was. A very weird day indeed.
----------
I think I will stop here for now, lets do this in small doses.
To be continued....
I'll try to go over this quickly, for my sake and yours. :P
Let's start with.....
South Korea!
At first this was supposed to be a trip to South-Korea only, the idea was to head over to the land of cheap things to spend some money and live like queens but soon our imagination started taking us further and further, down through China, into Tibet, perhaps Nepal, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Sadly fate would not have it so, we found ourselves begging for more time (at least myself) and visas. But more on that later.
Early on the 4th or 5th of March (didn't write it down...) me and Svanni boarded the Panstar ferry which took us over to Busan, Korea. After some walking around town and almost going swimming with the sharks at the aquarium we hopped on the next train to Seoul.
On the way we saw millions of red crosses scattered around the cities and towns, at first we thought they were pharmacies but apparently they are very religious down there. The people are also somewhat different from the Japanese; much more playful, open and loud. Seoul is a lot like any other big city, a bit more messy and dirty and some of the streets are rather run down.
Some of the things we went to see were the fish market, Jongmyo royal ancestral shrine, markets where we ate some of the local delicacies, seoul N-Tower, we rode a cable car, went to the roots of a nearby popular mountain route.... Svanni wasn't sleeping so well so she kept falling over a lot and once managed to scare some people on the street by falling and running into them. They clutched their purses while I laughed like a maniac. The 8th of March we moved over to China.
China!
The flight over to Beijing took about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check-in was postponed for a few minutes due to ... snow! I stood there in jeans, autumn jacket and sneakers, refusing to believe my ears. Actually it was minus 6 degrees when we landed and snow was scattered on the ground.
We left the airport and tried to find a bus downtown, but all that the bus boys would do was shout at us in Chinese and point in random directions. Finally we got some answers and hurried onto one of the buses. During the ride the driver would yell at the top of his lungs, I still don't know what for, at one point we stopped talking because we thought he was telling us to shut up.
At one point he stopped the bus, stood up and yelled some more, this time with more fervor. The people on the bus started yelling as well and started getting off the bus. I didn't want to spend any more time in a closed space with this man so we hurried off the bus as well.
Getting off the bus, we were now completely lost in the middle of Beijing, surrounded by armed guards and police officers. Luckily I noticed a building close by that I recognized so I dragged Svanni over there. When we stopped again I realized we were standing right next to Tiananmen square!
Feeling like a kid in a candy store I ran wildly around, not knowing which site to explore first.
As it was freezing we decided to go find our hostel and then come back later.
As it turned out, our hostel was in a pretty run-down part of town (this would follow us throughout our travels), or at least it looked like that to us, coming from Japan. Actually its a long bustling street with crazy traffic and romantic alleyways. Due to our amazing Chinese skills we finally found the street and took one of the narrow alleyways to find a carpeted door (to keep the cold out) into the Lotus Hostel. We asked about visa for Tibet with high hopes but they told us it could take up to a month because of the meeting of China's officials in Beijing at the time. So we quickly pushed any notion of getting there out of our heads, sadly.
The hostel was nice, we shared a room with two Chinese guys, one of whom spoke flawless English with a British accent. It was good to have someone to talk to - English is apparently not high on their agenda of stuff to learn.
Among other things we went to visit the Forbidden City - a seemingly endless array of halls, the Opera where we got to know the Monkey King a bit better, the Great Wall of China where we climbed the almost vertical steps and slopes up and down, Temple of Heaven - closed, some nice restaurants (we skipped the pigs tail, chicken claws and cartilages...), Summer Palace - it was a frighteningly cold day, Lama palace - beautiful temple, and more.
Actually, when we were going to the Great Wall we were greeted by lots of people trying to sell us tickets for a 'low, low price' - only about 4 times what we thought it was supposed to cost. One of them would not leave us alone, I told his it was outrageously expensive, he told me in turn that there were no buses running that day and this was the only way. His mistake was stopping a young couple to do some translating for him as his English was not so good; the woman obviously felt bad about repeating what he was saying so I looked to the guy who beckoned us to follow him. We did and they helped us find a bus to get there. To show how incredibly nice and helpful the Chinese can be we had six people standing around us at one point, discussing how it would be best to get there. After a few minutes a man passing by overheard their conversation and told us to follow him - he was going the same way.
We sat down and bought tickets - after thanking them - they cost us only a few yuan...
When visiting Tiananmen square our last day in Beijing we were touristing around, minding our own business, when this woman taps me on the shoulder and yells something in Chinese. I though I had dropped something and quickly turn around. She then grabs my arm and points forward, there is a another woman standing there, pointing a camera at us. Understanding, I smiled and turned to keep going. Then I get another hard tap on my shoulder and this woman is smiling at me and speaking Chinese, touching my hair and saying how tall I was. A very weird day indeed.
----------
I think I will stop here for now, lets do this in small doses.
To be continued....
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Good day, fine readers.
I am finally back from my travels (since of April 3rd) and have a lot to share with you. The wonders I saw, what I discovered etc. It is a daunting task and so you will have to be patient with me while I write down the highlights.
Not to leave you empty handed I thought I would write about one of the wonders of Japan, the Sakura trees! I came back just in time to see them blossom, I was getting worried that I would miss them as they blossom sometime in March/April, only to wither a few weeks later.
There is no easy way for me to accurately describe how the Sakura have transformed Kyoto. The city was beautiful before but now, taking a stroll down Kamogawa river feels like being in a dreamlike state, walking in the palace of the gods. Sounds overly dramatic but this is truly the feeling I get, I described them yesterday like the clouds had split up into small pieces and sat down on the branches.
Walking with Hanne the other day down Philosopher's walk (crowded with people enjoying the flowers) I made up a story of how when the trees were all picking colors to wear they all wanted to look their best so they competed at picking more vibrant, beautiful colors. When they found that the Sakura had picked plain white with only a tiny red dot in the middle of the flower they mocked it for its ridiculous choice. How the people would laugh and scorn the Sakura trees come spring when they would don their simple white dress. They would do nothing for the landscape with their drab foliage, scoffed the other trees, having chosen radiant red, vibrant green, brilliant yellow and so on.
The poor Sakura trees were so ashamed with their choice after all this scorning and laughing that they, in their humility, decided to only bloom for two weeks every year, to let their petals scatter like white tears before they would even see summer.
Today they are the most beloved of trees, transforming their surroundings into a state of white paradise, having people come over from all over the world to witness their blossoming.
Happy spring!
I am finally back from my travels (since of April 3rd) and have a lot to share with you. The wonders I saw, what I discovered etc. It is a daunting task and so you will have to be patient with me while I write down the highlights.
Not to leave you empty handed I thought I would write about one of the wonders of Japan, the Sakura trees! I came back just in time to see them blossom, I was getting worried that I would miss them as they blossom sometime in March/April, only to wither a few weeks later.
There is no easy way for me to accurately describe how the Sakura have transformed Kyoto. The city was beautiful before but now, taking a stroll down Kamogawa river feels like being in a dreamlike state, walking in the palace of the gods. Sounds overly dramatic but this is truly the feeling I get, I described them yesterday like the clouds had split up into small pieces and sat down on the branches.
Walking with Hanne the other day down Philosopher's walk (crowded with people enjoying the flowers) I made up a story of how when the trees were all picking colors to wear they all wanted to look their best so they competed at picking more vibrant, beautiful colors. When they found that the Sakura had picked plain white with only a tiny red dot in the middle of the flower they mocked it for its ridiculous choice. How the people would laugh and scorn the Sakura trees come spring when they would don their simple white dress. They would do nothing for the landscape with their drab foliage, scoffed the other trees, having chosen radiant red, vibrant green, brilliant yellow and so on.
The poor Sakura trees were so ashamed with their choice after all this scorning and laughing that they, in their humility, decided to only bloom for two weeks every year, to let their petals scatter like white tears before they would even see summer.
Today they are the most beloved of trees, transforming their surroundings into a state of white paradise, having people come over from all over the world to witness their blossoming.
Happy spring!
Friday, February 26, 2010
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
It´s hard to believe that this could come true... <3
Seoul, South Korea.
Beijing, China
Lhasa, Tibet
Bangkok, Thailand
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Vietnam
And that is just glimps and pieces....
Tokyo, yet again!
What a splendid rainy evening to continue writing my travel journal; I am coming to you live from one of the I-House´s comfy leather chairs, ears filled to the brim with the beautiful sound of rain hitting the roof and balcony from beyond the open door. But it is not rain or roofs I sat down to write about, but my latest spring break trip, this time to Tokyo.
After my amazing trip to Kyushu and spending some nice relaxing days at the dorm inertia drove me yet again onto a night bus on its way to the big city. Stepping off the bus around daybreak I met up with Svanni and Björk as we had decided to make a day trip to Kamakura, a rough hour away from Tokyo station.
Not even complete lack of sleep could prevent me from enjoying the quiet atmosphere of this small seaside town. We stumbled upon a huge statue of the Buddha which the other girls would probably describe as mediocre as it is not the biggest one in Japan but for me it was quite impressive, I even managed to make a small trip to the inside of this content man´s belly.
Stepping into the sunlight again mine eyes caught those of a squirrel dancing around on a nearby rooftop and my attention span was thus diverted from the magnificent Buddha to a tree where I stalked the poor squirrel.
After around 15 minutes I lost the squirrel so we kept walking around, eventually taking a train to Enoshima, about 10 minutes away. There we explored the huge temple, complete with escalators, and ventured into some caves by the ocean level. It was quite magical, especially when we got small candles to better see the darker parts of the cave. Having explored Enoshima quite thoroughly we made our way to the monorail and went back home.
The next day was spent exploring some more, this time with Svanni's classmate, a very nice Chinese girl named Kohi, equipped with one of the biggest digital camera I have ever seen. Among other things we saw a carnival, played some games, had the most awesome dinner ever and missed our chance riding the Ferris wheel because it was a bit expensive.
The day after that we marched down to the Ghibli Museum and had a blast!
Ghibli is the company that produces very famous anime films such as Spirited Away, Kiki´s delivery Service and Ponyo! ... well, if you don´t know.... you don´t know.
Anyhow, it was a child´s dream; the house was made up of weird corridors, random bridges between floors, memorabilia from the movies, a theater where we saw a movie about samurai mice ^^, and much much more.
The main purpose of my going to Tokyo though was our ski trip. Kin-chan (my teacher) had booked a trip for us up north in Manza where we tried our hand at snowboarding. Neither me nor Svanni had done this before, Björk had more practice but with skiing, so it was up to Kin-chan to guide us. She was such a patient sensei, I think it took me two or three hours just to stand up and not fall straight back down on my face. This is hard work! Especially when you have completely no idea what you are doing. After a while I got the hang of it and actually managed to slide down pretty fast a long bit of the way and keep from falling, before I came to a fork in the road and almost slid down the advanced course, panicked and threw myself to the ground. I escaped any broken bones but had a very nice adrenaline rush as I was going too fast for someone who doesn´t have a clue how to stop.... :P
In the afternoon we put the boards away and slipped into the Yukata provided by the hotel. Thus dressed we made our way to the onsen, filled with its lively customers, and spent a few hours sitting under the moon and the stars, chatting and resting our very tired muscles. After some mojitos and weird dreams we took to the hills again the next day, ready to give them hell. Well, the girls went down a few times but my oshiri could take no more beatings, as I had used it as a cushion for my many, many falls the day before. It still hurts to sit down...
A complete, perfect retreat from the noise of the city in great company, trying something new... what more could a person ask for.
I love Japan. <3
Next, I am planning the mega, crazy, dreamy Asia trip I am going on with Svanni in a few days. I think it would be best to share the details after I get back, just before the next semester, as I probably won´t know where we´ll end up until we get there. Contentment finds me when traveling, and I have been dreaming of traveling around Asia for a long long time. Why dream if you aren´t going to put them into reality :P
Until next time!
-Travelgirl.
After my amazing trip to Kyushu and spending some nice relaxing days at the dorm inertia drove me yet again onto a night bus on its way to the big city. Stepping off the bus around daybreak I met up with Svanni and Björk as we had decided to make a day trip to Kamakura, a rough hour away from Tokyo station.
Not even complete lack of sleep could prevent me from enjoying the quiet atmosphere of this small seaside town. We stumbled upon a huge statue of the Buddha which the other girls would probably describe as mediocre as it is not the biggest one in Japan but for me it was quite impressive, I even managed to make a small trip to the inside of this content man´s belly.
Stepping into the sunlight again mine eyes caught those of a squirrel dancing around on a nearby rooftop and my attention span was thus diverted from the magnificent Buddha to a tree where I stalked the poor squirrel.
After around 15 minutes I lost the squirrel so we kept walking around, eventually taking a train to Enoshima, about 10 minutes away. There we explored the huge temple, complete with escalators, and ventured into some caves by the ocean level. It was quite magical, especially when we got small candles to better see the darker parts of the cave. Having explored Enoshima quite thoroughly we made our way to the monorail and went back home.
The next day was spent exploring some more, this time with Svanni's classmate, a very nice Chinese girl named Kohi, equipped with one of the biggest digital camera I have ever seen. Among other things we saw a carnival, played some games, had the most awesome dinner ever and missed our chance riding the Ferris wheel because it was a bit expensive.
The day after that we marched down to the Ghibli Museum and had a blast!
Ghibli is the company that produces very famous anime films such as Spirited Away, Kiki´s delivery Service and Ponyo! ... well, if you don´t know.... you don´t know.
Anyhow, it was a child´s dream; the house was made up of weird corridors, random bridges between floors, memorabilia from the movies, a theater where we saw a movie about samurai mice ^^, and much much more.
The main purpose of my going to Tokyo though was our ski trip. Kin-chan (my teacher) had booked a trip for us up north in Manza where we tried our hand at snowboarding. Neither me nor Svanni had done this before, Björk had more practice but with skiing, so it was up to Kin-chan to guide us. She was such a patient sensei, I think it took me two or three hours just to stand up and not fall straight back down on my face. This is hard work! Especially when you have completely no idea what you are doing. After a while I got the hang of it and actually managed to slide down pretty fast a long bit of the way and keep from falling, before I came to a fork in the road and almost slid down the advanced course, panicked and threw myself to the ground. I escaped any broken bones but had a very nice adrenaline rush as I was going too fast for someone who doesn´t have a clue how to stop.... :P
In the afternoon we put the boards away and slipped into the Yukata provided by the hotel. Thus dressed we made our way to the onsen, filled with its lively customers, and spent a few hours sitting under the moon and the stars, chatting and resting our very tired muscles. After some mojitos and weird dreams we took to the hills again the next day, ready to give them hell. Well, the girls went down a few times but my oshiri could take no more beatings, as I had used it as a cushion for my many, many falls the day before. It still hurts to sit down...
A complete, perfect retreat from the noise of the city in great company, trying something new... what more could a person ask for.
I love Japan. <3
Next, I am planning the mega, crazy, dreamy Asia trip I am going on with Svanni in a few days. I think it would be best to share the details after I get back, just before the next semester, as I probably won´t know where we´ll end up until we get there. Contentment finds me when traveling, and I have been dreaming of traveling around Asia for a long long time. Why dream if you aren´t going to put them into reality :P
Until next time!
-Travelgirl.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
More adventures of Travelgirl!
Read on for the exciting conclusion of my story....
Now, it was on a rainy morning that the Jay drove us to the harbor and after buying a one way ticket we were whisked away over the bright blue sea to Shimabara. Due to some meticulous planning it was still early so us travelers were able to see all the highlights downtown Shimabara has to offer. On the way from the ferry terminal we came to the famous bird tree next to the fish market (the tree was white, I swear, from bird droppings as they sat there in a big huddle overlooking the fish store....) and, more importantly, a big temple. It was famous for a statue of the Buddha reaching enlightenment and I must say it was pretty good. After skulking around in the cemetery for a while we came to the koi street. There were actual koi fish swimming in the (very clean) gutters, a brilliant idea in fact to attract tourists and brighten up life. I fed the fish my last cookies and on we went, past the castle (no time to go in), the old samurai herb garden, past the genki schoolkids who waved and shouted "herro, hao aa joo?" (japanese equivalent of 'hello, how are you'), and some hidden artifacts from times long since passed. Our main concern was finding an old samurai town that had been turned into a museum, which was no small feat - we ended up walking in several circles but thankfully the streets were full of townspeople so we had no problem asking around for directions. The always drop what they are doing and walk you half the way to the plae you´re trying to find so if you have some japanese skills or just plain pointing and gesture skills getting around in Japan is no problem!
Finally, we came to the narrow street along which were very old Japanese houses that you could get into and explore, get an idea of how the Japanese lived some 100 years ago. We noticed some shy Japanese women dressed up in samurai clothes and a kimono and when we finally walked up to them and got brochures and info about the area they were so relieved that we spoke Japanese, they had been afraid to approach us because they thought they would have to speak English, a fairly common reason behind Japanese people being so shy. Anywho, by the time we had had enough of pretending to be back in the 1700s our train was leaving so we ran back to the station and headed toward Nagasaki, with a small stop in Isahaya.
And how I love Nagasaki! Such a wonderful magical place!
The very first thing I noticed was that there are nearly no old houses to be found near the center of the city, everything was obliterated in the bombing and so had to be built from scratch. The city is heavily influenced by its Chinese and Western inhabitans, as for over 200 years it was the only city in Japan that foreigners (mainly Dutch and Portuguese) could do trade with. We arrived just before the lantern festival that is held at the end of february so above every street were strings with magnificent Chinese lanterns that gave the city a magical look. We ate some heavenly food, drank Chinese beer, stayed at the most organized, tidy and helpful hostel I have ever been in, and walked endlessly around this beautiful city.
We saw the Peace park, peace statue, Urakami Cathedral (which had been rebuilt after the bombing), memorial museum for the victims of the A-Bomb, A-Bomb museum (very horrible), the hypocenter where the bomb hit, a torii with only on leg (the other had been crumbled to dust by the blast), the Dutch Slope, the only Confucian temple built outside of China (but it was closed, sadly), the oldest Cristian church in Japan, some western houses and much, much more. Unbelievable how much we managed to see in one and a half day. The atmosphere in Nagasaki is so peaceful and calming, not to mention international, this place is a must for everyone visiting Japan.
The next day, that would be the 11th of February, for the last leg of our trip we hopped on a bus to Fukuoka, where it was raining buckets so we decided to quickly move on to Hiroshima.
As it is way bigger than any of the other cities we had been to, getting around was more tricky and took considerably more time so I spent three nights before returning back home.
We found our hostel quickly and met up with Svanni and Stefán who had come down from Tokyo to explore the city with us. On our first day we went to Miyajima, an island just off the mainland, an extremely holy place. Back in the day there were no women allowed and old people were shipped off the island before dying so not to defile the island. I was very excited to go there to see the temples and the red torii in the ocean, the trademark of Miyajima but little did I know that it held so many more treasures! A highpoint was when we met an Australian nun named Tenzen, her Tibetan name, who was touring with some relics for show in one of the temples and she gave us a small tour and lots of info about the statues and relics. Furthermore, Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, went to the island´s tallest mountain, Mt. Misen, and you can see many relics and temples related to him. We took the ropeway up there (like talking a walk in the sky... ) and enjoyed the spectacular view. Up in the mountain you can get to the famous 1200 year old fire that is used in fire ceremonies, but we very in a hurry to catch the ropeway back down so I just got a picture of a picture and as I gulped down some of the island´s famous grilled clams I silently swore to go back there some day.
The temples were one of the most beautiful ones I have encountered in Japan so far, and that is saying a lot considering I live in Kyoto, and the parks, shrines, statues, trees, deer that roamed freely around the city... it was breathtaking. Another must for anyone visiting Japan.
Henna had to hurry back to catch the bus to Kyoto so it was up to me, Svanni and Stefán to continue exploring the city. We took bike rides, had lunch in a park, ate some delicious food - Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki and very good pizza with red wine, followed by an apple pie... I always eat like a queen when I travel around here, should do it more often.
Visiting the A-bomb museum in Hiroshima I didn´t get the same feeling as in its sister museum in Nagasaki. Some of the stories in this museum were just too sugary and designed to pull your heartstrings, I felt it was just a bit too much. Looking at the burnt, torn and bloody clothes on display and pictures of the scars and swollen heads is horrifying enough. I do like how at both the museums they do say that they too have a hideous past and started the gulf war, leading to the misery of many people.
Outside the museum, in the peace park, the A-bomb dome stands as a monument to that horrible August day of 1945. It used to be a Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall and somehow managed to escape complete destruction when the bomb exploded a few hundred meters away and still stands, crooked and half collapsed, as a memorial for all the souls lost in the first A-Bombing in history.
The next day I just barely caught the 4 o'clock bus back home with four minutes to spare, we had been riding the tram around and I underestimated the largeness of the city and had to hop off our tram onto the next one in the other direction, find the platform and run on board. Six hours later I was back in Kyoto, planning my next trip. I went this morning and bought a ticket for Tokyo and should arrive in the morning. Day trip to Kamakura, chilling in the big city and then I finally get to try snowboarding!
Spring break is goooood ^^
Kudos to all who read all of my ramblings, make sure you visit Kyushu some day.
Besos,
Travelgirl.
Now, it was on a rainy morning that the Jay drove us to the harbor and after buying a one way ticket we were whisked away over the bright blue sea to Shimabara. Due to some meticulous planning it was still early so us travelers were able to see all the highlights downtown Shimabara has to offer. On the way from the ferry terminal we came to the famous bird tree next to the fish market (the tree was white, I swear, from bird droppings as they sat there in a big huddle overlooking the fish store....) and, more importantly, a big temple. It was famous for a statue of the Buddha reaching enlightenment and I must say it was pretty good. After skulking around in the cemetery for a while we came to the koi street. There were actual koi fish swimming in the (very clean) gutters, a brilliant idea in fact to attract tourists and brighten up life. I fed the fish my last cookies and on we went, past the castle (no time to go in), the old samurai herb garden, past the genki schoolkids who waved and shouted "herro, hao aa joo?" (japanese equivalent of 'hello, how are you'), and some hidden artifacts from times long since passed. Our main concern was finding an old samurai town that had been turned into a museum, which was no small feat - we ended up walking in several circles but thankfully the streets were full of townspeople so we had no problem asking around for directions. The always drop what they are doing and walk you half the way to the plae you´re trying to find so if you have some japanese skills or just plain pointing and gesture skills getting around in Japan is no problem!
Finally, we came to the narrow street along which were very old Japanese houses that you could get into and explore, get an idea of how the Japanese lived some 100 years ago. We noticed some shy Japanese women dressed up in samurai clothes and a kimono and when we finally walked up to them and got brochures and info about the area they were so relieved that we spoke Japanese, they had been afraid to approach us because they thought they would have to speak English, a fairly common reason behind Japanese people being so shy. Anywho, by the time we had had enough of pretending to be back in the 1700s our train was leaving so we ran back to the station and headed toward Nagasaki, with a small stop in Isahaya.
And how I love Nagasaki! Such a wonderful magical place!
The very first thing I noticed was that there are nearly no old houses to be found near the center of the city, everything was obliterated in the bombing and so had to be built from scratch. The city is heavily influenced by its Chinese and Western inhabitans, as for over 200 years it was the only city in Japan that foreigners (mainly Dutch and Portuguese) could do trade with. We arrived just before the lantern festival that is held at the end of february so above every street were strings with magnificent Chinese lanterns that gave the city a magical look. We ate some heavenly food, drank Chinese beer, stayed at the most organized, tidy and helpful hostel I have ever been in, and walked endlessly around this beautiful city.
We saw the Peace park, peace statue, Urakami Cathedral (which had been rebuilt after the bombing), memorial museum for the victims of the A-Bomb, A-Bomb museum (very horrible), the hypocenter where the bomb hit, a torii with only on leg (the other had been crumbled to dust by the blast), the Dutch Slope, the only Confucian temple built outside of China (but it was closed, sadly), the oldest Cristian church in Japan, some western houses and much, much more. Unbelievable how much we managed to see in one and a half day. The atmosphere in Nagasaki is so peaceful and calming, not to mention international, this place is a must for everyone visiting Japan.
The next day, that would be the 11th of February, for the last leg of our trip we hopped on a bus to Fukuoka, where it was raining buckets so we decided to quickly move on to Hiroshima.
As it is way bigger than any of the other cities we had been to, getting around was more tricky and took considerably more time so I spent three nights before returning back home.
We found our hostel quickly and met up with Svanni and Stefán who had come down from Tokyo to explore the city with us. On our first day we went to Miyajima, an island just off the mainland, an extremely holy place. Back in the day there were no women allowed and old people were shipped off the island before dying so not to defile the island. I was very excited to go there to see the temples and the red torii in the ocean, the trademark of Miyajima but little did I know that it held so many more treasures! A highpoint was when we met an Australian nun named Tenzen, her Tibetan name, who was touring with some relics for show in one of the temples and she gave us a small tour and lots of info about the statues and relics. Furthermore, Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, went to the island´s tallest mountain, Mt. Misen, and you can see many relics and temples related to him. We took the ropeway up there (like talking a walk in the sky... ) and enjoyed the spectacular view. Up in the mountain you can get to the famous 1200 year old fire that is used in fire ceremonies, but we very in a hurry to catch the ropeway back down so I just got a picture of a picture and as I gulped down some of the island´s famous grilled clams I silently swore to go back there some day.
The temples were one of the most beautiful ones I have encountered in Japan so far, and that is saying a lot considering I live in Kyoto, and the parks, shrines, statues, trees, deer that roamed freely around the city... it was breathtaking. Another must for anyone visiting Japan.
Henna had to hurry back to catch the bus to Kyoto so it was up to me, Svanni and Stefán to continue exploring the city. We took bike rides, had lunch in a park, ate some delicious food - Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki and very good pizza with red wine, followed by an apple pie... I always eat like a queen when I travel around here, should do it more often.
Visiting the A-bomb museum in Hiroshima I didn´t get the same feeling as in its sister museum in Nagasaki. Some of the stories in this museum were just too sugary and designed to pull your heartstrings, I felt it was just a bit too much. Looking at the burnt, torn and bloody clothes on display and pictures of the scars and swollen heads is horrifying enough. I do like how at both the museums they do say that they too have a hideous past and started the gulf war, leading to the misery of many people.
Outside the museum, in the peace park, the A-bomb dome stands as a monument to that horrible August day of 1945. It used to be a Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall and somehow managed to escape complete destruction when the bomb exploded a few hundred meters away and still stands, crooked and half collapsed, as a memorial for all the souls lost in the first A-Bombing in history.
The next day I just barely caught the 4 o'clock bus back home with four minutes to spare, we had been riding the tram around and I underestimated the largeness of the city and had to hop off our tram onto the next one in the other direction, find the platform and run on board. Six hours later I was back in Kyoto, planning my next trip. I went this morning and bought a ticket for Tokyo and should arrive in the morning. Day trip to Kamakura, chilling in the big city and then I finally get to try snowboarding!
Spring break is goooood ^^
Kudos to all who read all of my ramblings, make sure you visit Kyushu some day.
Besos,
Travelgirl.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Travel log, star date ... one million and.. five...
Early on the 6th of February me and my travel companion took off in a snowy blizzard from Kyoto to Osaka. It took no less than three trains to reach our first destination and on the way we met a nice man from California who engaged us in conversation about WWII. He had some weird ideas of Britain plotting to take over the world but still, I always enjoy random conversations with complete strangers, something that happens a lot here because it´s easy for foreigners to spot each other here.
From Osaka we took a ferry to Beppu, a small town on the east coast of Kyushu. I spent the night envying the people who had ordered private rooms as we were stashed in a big common room for the night, equipped only with a hanger, extra thin futons, blankets and a green plastic "pillow". Nevertheless it delighted me to no end how Japanese the ship was, jidohanbaiki (vending machines) were littered throughout the hallways, people had slippers and yukata on as they wandered around the ship, and there was even an onsen on board. I laughed under my breath when I walked past the claw machines and other games, in the corner was a man playing Pachinko, a favorite past-time of many Japanese. I guess he couldn´t bear the thought of spending six hours on a ferry and not playing...
We arrived in Beppu the next day, somewhere around the devilish hour of 7 a.m. As we walked to our hostel the town got increasingly more lively. The first thing I noticed in Beppu was how different the people were. I had hear stories about the people of Kyoto being a bit stuck-up and reserved and how in the south they were much more warm and open. The first restaurant we went into we got drink tickets as a gift from the man on the next table, and everywhere we went people were so eager to talk to us and help us. I bought some makeup in Nagasaki and ended up talking to the two women selling it to me for over twenty minutes because they were so excited that I could speak Japanese and wanted to know about the place I came from. I was happy to get the practice. :P
This first day of our legendary trip we spent roaming the streets of Beppu until the evening. There was a lot to see, many onsens to swim around in and museums to explore. We visited about four of the six hells of Beppu (really hot springs), one of which that had alligators, took many pictures and the most unnecessary bus ride ever, took a mud bath and tested the onsens.
The mud bath was quite the experience, first you bathe in scalding hot water and then you go down into this big pool of murky water where you can bury yourself in hot, earthy mud. There was even a mixed bath outside. Oh the bliss of lying in the hot hot water, facing the sun, burying my toes in the mud.... You can also go take a sand bath where they bury you in hot sand for a short while but we opted for the normal onsen instead and got some tips on bathing etiquette from the obaachans (old ladies) that were taking their morning dip in the burning water.
I recommend Beppu for anyone who is traveling around Kyushu, the pure white smoke coming out of every pore of the city, fresh sea air, interesting museums, mountain view etc.
The next day we wanted to go see Mt. Aso but the train from Beppu left so late it was already dark by the time we got there so we just kept going all the way to Kumamoto. The train ride took about 5 or 6 hours so we got an amazing, scenic tour of the countryside, the misty mountains, huge fields, endless forests and small towns. On one of the stops I saw two school girls waiting for the next train, one of them suddenly stands up, sees me and nods her head in eishaku (nodding of the head in greeting), I do the same, she flashes me a big smile, waves and runs away. As I was waving back I couldn´t help think how genki (err.... energetic and happy) the people here are. Many of them have never seen a foreigner before so they get very excited and curious when they see you.
Now, on to Kumamoto!
Well rested from all the hot water we left arrived at Kumamoto around seven p.m.
The hostel we got was by far the best one on the trip as it was a private house of a family of three; Jay from America, his Japanese wife and their son. They teach English in Kumamoto and rent out a big room on the upper floor of this over 100 year old house. A very Japanese experience indeed!
We went to explore the town, had the best ramen I have had since coming to Japan, and went back to make our beds for the evening. What was supposed to be a short conversation with Jay for directions etc turned into a four hour plus talk. He treated us to wine from California, strawberries, and some home-made mikan sake (Japanese alcohol made from mandarins). It was thrilling to hear of his very exciting life, I only hope to become such a seasoned traveler one day.... ;)
I highly recommend staying at their house if you ever find yourself in Kumamoto, they are so hospitable and nice. Apparenly if you let them know you are coming in beforehand they cook dinner and make breakfast for you. :) In the morning Jay´s wife gave us home-made cookies and he proceeded to drive us to the ferry station the next morning as it was raining quite heavily. We left Kumamoto high spirited!
That´s enough for now, more on the trip tomorrow. Oh, and if anyone wants travel info (hostels, ferries, prices etc. comment below).
From Osaka we took a ferry to Beppu, a small town on the east coast of Kyushu. I spent the night envying the people who had ordered private rooms as we were stashed in a big common room for the night, equipped only with a hanger, extra thin futons, blankets and a green plastic "pillow". Nevertheless it delighted me to no end how Japanese the ship was, jidohanbaiki (vending machines) were littered throughout the hallways, people had slippers and yukata on as they wandered around the ship, and there was even an onsen on board. I laughed under my breath when I walked past the claw machines and other games, in the corner was a man playing Pachinko, a favorite past-time of many Japanese. I guess he couldn´t bear the thought of spending six hours on a ferry and not playing...
We arrived in Beppu the next day, somewhere around the devilish hour of 7 a.m. As we walked to our hostel the town got increasingly more lively. The first thing I noticed in Beppu was how different the people were. I had hear stories about the people of Kyoto being a bit stuck-up and reserved and how in the south they were much more warm and open. The first restaurant we went into we got drink tickets as a gift from the man on the next table, and everywhere we went people were so eager to talk to us and help us. I bought some makeup in Nagasaki and ended up talking to the two women selling it to me for over twenty minutes because they were so excited that I could speak Japanese and wanted to know about the place I came from. I was happy to get the practice. :P
This first day of our legendary trip we spent roaming the streets of Beppu until the evening. There was a lot to see, many onsens to swim around in and museums to explore. We visited about four of the six hells of Beppu (really hot springs), one of which that had alligators, took many pictures and the most unnecessary bus ride ever, took a mud bath and tested the onsens.
The mud bath was quite the experience, first you bathe in scalding hot water and then you go down into this big pool of murky water where you can bury yourself in hot, earthy mud. There was even a mixed bath outside. Oh the bliss of lying in the hot hot water, facing the sun, burying my toes in the mud.... You can also go take a sand bath where they bury you in hot sand for a short while but we opted for the normal onsen instead and got some tips on bathing etiquette from the obaachans (old ladies) that were taking their morning dip in the burning water.
I recommend Beppu for anyone who is traveling around Kyushu, the pure white smoke coming out of every pore of the city, fresh sea air, interesting museums, mountain view etc.
The next day we wanted to go see Mt. Aso but the train from Beppu left so late it was already dark by the time we got there so we just kept going all the way to Kumamoto. The train ride took about 5 or 6 hours so we got an amazing, scenic tour of the countryside, the misty mountains, huge fields, endless forests and small towns. On one of the stops I saw two school girls waiting for the next train, one of them suddenly stands up, sees me and nods her head in eishaku (nodding of the head in greeting), I do the same, she flashes me a big smile, waves and runs away. As I was waving back I couldn´t help think how genki (err.... energetic and happy) the people here are. Many of them have never seen a foreigner before so they get very excited and curious when they see you.
Now, on to Kumamoto!
Well rested from all the hot water we left arrived at Kumamoto around seven p.m.
The hostel we got was by far the best one on the trip as it was a private house of a family of three; Jay from America, his Japanese wife and their son. They teach English in Kumamoto and rent out a big room on the upper floor of this over 100 year old house. A very Japanese experience indeed!
We went to explore the town, had the best ramen I have had since coming to Japan, and went back to make our beds for the evening. What was supposed to be a short conversation with Jay for directions etc turned into a four hour plus talk. He treated us to wine from California, strawberries, and some home-made mikan sake (Japanese alcohol made from mandarins). It was thrilling to hear of his very exciting life, I only hope to become such a seasoned traveler one day.... ;)
I highly recommend staying at their house if you ever find yourself in Kumamoto, they are so hospitable and nice. Apparenly if you let them know you are coming in beforehand they cook dinner and make breakfast for you. :) In the morning Jay´s wife gave us home-made cookies and he proceeded to drive us to the ferry station the next morning as it was raining quite heavily. We left Kumamoto high spirited!
That´s enough for now, more on the trip tomorrow. Oh, and if anyone wants travel info (hostels, ferries, prices etc. comment below).
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Interestingly enough, I have found out that time passes more quickly in Japan than anywhere else in the world. Or so it would seem.
The days after last semester´s exams flew by and all of a sudden I am back home from my much awaited trip to Kyushu. And it was heaven! Getting away from the I-House, which has become almost vacant, to a hotter climate to explore the southern part of this magical country... a much needed vacation.
After having planned the trip for two days I was joined by a Finnish girl named Henna who was eager to escape the cold. And what a traveling team we made! My very modest skill of speaking Japanese combined with her kanji reading skills made us deadly when it came to asking for help or reading random signs or town names. Also, as Henna was joining a trip I had already planned I could drag her everywhere without complaint. As I have a lot to explain about each place, although I go quickly over things, I want to split it down into separate posts, so not to bore you to death, my dear readers.
We´ll start off with Beppu....
The days after last semester´s exams flew by and all of a sudden I am back home from my much awaited trip to Kyushu. And it was heaven! Getting away from the I-House, which has become almost vacant, to a hotter climate to explore the southern part of this magical country... a much needed vacation.
After having planned the trip for two days I was joined by a Finnish girl named Henna who was eager to escape the cold. And what a traveling team we made! My very modest skill of speaking Japanese combined with her kanji reading skills made us deadly when it came to asking for help or reading random signs or town names. Also, as Henna was joining a trip I had already planned I could drag her everywhere without complaint. As I have a lot to explain about each place, although I go quickly over things, I want to split it down into separate posts, so not to bore you to death, my dear readers.
We´ll start off with Beppu....
Monday, February 1, 2010
Today it snowed! And I who had been waiting eagerly for the coming of spring... will stop holding my breath for now. Still, even if it is the first of February, the prospect of finally being able to see some snow and possibly make a snowman or two is very exciting. Speaking of snow, recently I have had these strange feelings of Christmas.... what with everything being so quiet and cold recently. My mind, deprived of real Christmas this year, is probably making up for it now, silly thing.
The snow swiftly turned to rain and it gave me no small pleasure to open the door-window to the balcony, breathe in the fresh air and listening to the rain hitting the ground and tin roof, much like listening to a waterfall in the distance. Ahh the small moments of life....
I am so excited to be hitting the road soon. These past few days I have been scouring the internet for means of transportation, places of interest and Japanese-style hotels. I have been waiting a long time to go out and actively explore the country, not just sit still in one place. Just thinking of how much sightseeing I will be doing and all the places I will be able to explore, it positively gets my skin tingling. :)
To conclude today´s blog; I finally feel more at home in the I-House and less like I am... in the way.
p.s. I just started reading the diary of Anne Frank and it took some force to remove myself from it again. Highly recommend it.
The snow swiftly turned to rain and it gave me no small pleasure to open the door-window to the balcony, breathe in the fresh air and listening to the rain hitting the ground and tin roof, much like listening to a waterfall in the distance. Ahh the small moments of life....
I am so excited to be hitting the road soon. These past few days I have been scouring the internet for means of transportation, places of interest and Japanese-style hotels. I have been waiting a long time to go out and actively explore the country, not just sit still in one place. Just thinking of how much sightseeing I will be doing and all the places I will be able to explore, it positively gets my skin tingling. :)
To conclude today´s blog; I finally feel more at home in the I-House and less like I am... in the way.
p.s. I just started reading the diary of Anne Frank and it took some force to remove myself from it again. Highly recommend it.
Friday, January 29, 2010
I talked with Sonja yesterday on Skype and among other things we discussed my love for Emerson. She asked for an example of what kind of things he writes and at a loss for words to describe such a magnificent writer I decided to simply post this beautiful example. I welcome the opportunity to post something by my dear dear Emerson on all of my blogs so here you go. Enjoy!
Bliss. <3
Peace out.
Who troubles himself about his ornaments or fluency is lost. This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.
Bliss. <3
Peace out.
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