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.
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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!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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).
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