Sun (and rain), sand and boat travel

It's hard to believe that this month long vacation has now been reduced to one last day. Tomorrow we start the trek home: a 3 hour flight from the southern Islands (Okinawa) back up to Tokyo, a 5 hour layover and then our flight from Tokyo to Vancouver.

The last 5 days in the south have been much better than expected. While it's not like me to be pessimistic, I was causious in hoping for the best while looking at the path of a typhoon as it tracked right beside the islands we were heading to on our 25 hour long ferry. This wasn't exactly what we were planning on for our last week soaking up the rays on a tropical beach, though maybe a bit more research into the exact timing of the rainy season in the south would have helped (fyi: the rainy season is now!).

The boat on open seas through the night proved to be quite rocky. We were in a room with a dozen other women, layout on mats. I wasn't too worried about the waves we were cruising over, until the odd wave would slam the boat from the side, pitching us on our side while still either rolling forward or back. Still, the next day I felt quite refreshed heading to the top deck to watch various islands roll by. We even had no rain for the majority of the following day!

Getting in at night, we found a place to stay in the city of Naha, while we plotted out which small island to call home for the next couple days. The guesthouse we stayed at was quite... uh... colourful. The cheap price was reflected in it's limited cleaning schedule, cramped quarters and interesting personalities frequenting the "chill out rooms". Now back in Naha, we are at a different guesthouse for our last couple nights here.

Our original plan was to island hop. Wanting a bit of time to just relax, we picked one island for our time here, Tokashiki jima, and headed out to it.

Traveling through Japan, many locals told us that Okinawa (the southern islands) were "not Japan". How ironic for us was it, that we felt we had the most true Japanese experience while here! In our guesthouse, we were treated like family by the woman and man who ran it. They went out of their way to make us feel at home, including sharing whatever food they had with us (this was both a good and "interesting" experience!... you should have seen my face when he happily plunked a plate full of 3" long little fish down in front of me as a snack... or the raw sea snail... or the...). One night we bought a bottle of wine and asked for glasses. Then next thing we know, he was coming out of the house with a ice crest, insisting on chilling our red wine for us. We offered for him to join us... which he did, though not without bringing another bottle of (pre-chilled) red wine, more snack, fried chicken, a bottle of awamori, etc. By night's end, we had collected a few others from the town in an exercise of sign language and laughs.

With the precident set, we enjoyed "knowing" many locals. The bus driver for the town drove us around in his off hours when it was raining, getting some beautiful views around the island. Another Japanese traveller took us to a local restaurant, translating the menu and allowing us to try more local specialties. Another night of miscommunication and laughs...

And the best part? We arrived on the first day in a down pour, left on the last day in a down pour, but we had beautiful weather for the couple days in between!!! Not bad for the rainy season to be coming back with a bit of colour! The beach we were on had beautiful white sand with emerald waters out front teaming with tropical fish. We spent our days reading on the beach, floating in the water or snorkeling through the fish and coral. We even saw a beautifully graceful manta ray pass by infront of us (yes... lots of "get me out of here" screams from Nic!).

Back from the smaller island, we have one last day on a larger island before flying from here home. It's been a great holiday, but I think I am ready for home. I have dreamed up lots of plans for the summer during the hours on trains / boats!...

In the land of volcanos

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! :) :) :)

I thought, being over in Japan, I'd get to celebrate for 40 hours, with the 16 hour timezone change. But, we were at a friends place the day before and he whipped us up a monster birthday dinner (complete with champagne and presents!) the night before. So really, I got almost 3 days of birthday! Super special!

I won't have too much time to write, since Nic and I just used up our internet time chatting / miming to a bunch of high school girls here for a badminton tourney.

The last week...

It was good to get out of the hostel / ryokan / guesthouse circuit for a few days and spend time with a friend we haven't seen since he moved and started a family here many years ago. We got first class treatment, with a personal tour guide around Fukuoka, home cooked meals, local advice, and answers to all the questions that have been accumulating through the travels.

We headed out the morning of my birthday, with the first stop being the beach for breakfast (pearing through the fog, looking for Korea). Then we were off to Nagasaki.

I thought Nagasaki would be a depressing way to spend a birthday, but was surprised at how vibrant the city was. The town was beautiful to wander through (both during the day, and wee hours of the morning!) and loved the look of the city at night from the hills around it.

That night, we created our own adventure... starting in the heart of town, trying to find the local hang outs. We had many successful venues... with the last being an eclectic mix of locals that were overly welcome of us and kept us having a blast on the dance floor until the wee hours of the morning. I'm pretty sure it was the owner of the joint, with the long dreadlocks, ensuring everyone was having a good time.

From there, we weaved our way South. The town of Aso (yes, the jokes started pretty early on that one...) was neat with it's volcano, but it "wasn't behaving" (too much gas - how about that for Mt. Aso...) so we couldn't get all the way up to the rim.

We had better luck with another volcano on Sakurajima... while cruising around the base of the volcano (also conviniently the perimeter of the island!), it started spewing ash. By the time we hopped aboard the ferry to get back to the mainland, we were covered! Not exactly what we were looking for, but definitely more exciting!

We also got out to a National Park and did some hiking around extinct volcanos. It was super beautiful, hiking through the trees and seeing bright green / turquoise lakes in volcano craters. I found Japan's answer to the grouse grind, and cruised up it in record time in order to snap a few pics from the top and make it back to catch the last bus out!

Speaking of pics... haven't had too much success with getting more pictures posted. I'll be trying again at the next computer...

And with that, it looks like Nic and I ARE in fact continuing our trip. We did some quick research on changing our flights and coming back early when it sounded like our ferry tomorrow was on a collision course with the eye of a typhoon. But, it now looks to be heading further North (sorry Venny... I think it's aiming at you now in Tokyo!).

Here's to brighter skies ahead...

On the "Gaijin" trail

We seem to have met up with the other international tourists. Up until this point, we were blisfully in the midst of national tourists and hords of school groups with kids in their cute little matching hats.

Out of the Alps and back on the bullet train route heading south, the ease of travel is just too much to pass up for us all!

Kyoto was fabulous, though I have to say the city warmed up to me over time. I think I was too overwhelmed at first with all the other camera whilding foreigners to feel like I was seeing something different. That all changed as Nic and I were wandering around the Gion district on her birthday and spied a geisha down one of the narrow alley ways. We ended up taking 4 hours to do a 1 hour suggested walking path, with the side excursions and people watching we did.

Our first geisha sighting was the first of many - they seemed to be out in full force. It was topped off by getting seats to a geisha dance performance later that afternoon.

We spent another few days exploring by foot, and after trying an evening cruising the alleys by bike, I was able to convince Nic to put foot to pedal and join me with the locals riding their bikes on the sidewalks of Kyoto. Thankfully, we didn't have to master the ability to hold an umberella or talk on a cell while riding like the locals. We were able to cover so much ground and see so many more out of the way places through Kyoto on bikes... it was fantastic (and, Nic breaking her 15+ year hiatus from being astride a bike, not of the stationary variety, had more squeals of excitment than giggles of nervousness!)!

The plans for Osaka and Kobe changed en route (which is what I love about traveling by the seat of my pants!)... Osaka was a maze of concrete, and other than a fascinating few hours at night wandering the Dotombori district (men with hair like Tina Turner, women dressed like barbie dolls, all of it over the top and backlit with neon lights that could rival Vegas) we had no interest in staying. Kobe... much of the same.

Instead, we took to the hills again, and headed to Koyasan, a hilltop temple infested Buddist haven, away from the hussle and bustle of city life. The highlight here for us was the 2km long paths through an amazing cemetary. Granted... this might sound a little weird - enjoying a cemetary! But, the tomb stones and torii and carved buddhas were fascinating. Oh, and did I mentioned we were walking through here at night, with light from hundreds of concrete pillar lanterns lighting the way? I didn't find it creepy until there were unidentifiable squeeks coming from the tree tops! *Insert stern lecture here from Nic to calm down!*

She didn't have any luck in calming me down for the trip back out. I LOVED the cable car, meandering down the hillside, with it's amazing views and the twisty turney train that cruised through tunnel after tunnel snaking it's way out of the mountains. It's been a while since I've realized how much I love trains!

Next Gaijin trail stop... the castle in Himeji. Very cool! I'll have to get some pictures up on my blog. OH YA! Here's the link to the photos I've already posted... http://www.flickr.com/photos/69647219@N00/sets/72157605099479696/ It's also on a link over on the right side of my blog.

Anyway, we're now in Hiroshima, having spent a rainy day wandering through museams, tribute halls, and watching taped testaments of atomic bomb survivors. It's definitely been a day for reflection...

We're off to Fukuoka next and will hopefully have a chance to plug in my camera and get a few more photos uploaded!

Happy Birthday to Nic...

... well, in Japan at least. It's still 5pm the day before back home!

We're off for a fun filled birthday day for Nic in Kyoto, having arrived here last night. The plan:
1) lazy morning and non-Japanese breakfast (i.e. no fish, fish products, or anything that grew or came out of the sea)
2) Meander through the outskirts of Kyoto in it's older district to downtown
3) Indian curries for lunch
4) Afternoon at the downtown market
5) Pre-dinner: seeing a Geisha dancers show
6) Dinner: Pizza?
7) Post-dinner: a few beveys at Kyoto's finest establishments! ;)

Since part of Nic's lazy morning has her still in the shower, it's probably as good a time as ever to reminisce on the last 1+ weeks here...

Although we're only been here for 10 days so far, we've covered lots of ground! We started off in Tokyo, staying and visiting with Venita and JF. I think we were spoiled to have a home base, somewhere to cook and get things ready, etc.

We spent the first couple days getting used to the time change . Using our early morning wakefulness, we headed off to the fish market at 4am to see the tuna auctions, dodge crazy cart drivers and point questioningly at the odd things neither of us new existed or could come out of the ocean.

Having studied the language a bit leading up to this trip, we were off to a nearby market to get some breakfast. Unfortunately, I met my first (and so far only) grumpy Japanese man who didn't want to have anything to do with a gaijin and had no interest in selling me fruit. Ba humbug.

Things went up from there. I have found my most useful Japanese learnings are: "Do you speak english?", "Sorry, I only understand a little Japanese", "Excuse me" and "Good morning". All good. :)

The rest of Japan was taken up with meandering the streets with Venita, going to see a sumo wrestling tournament (SO cool! Big men with wedging stomping away the evil spirits and madly lunging at each other!), cooking dinner with Venny... and... well... Nic and I decided to head out for a day at Tokyo Disneyland. Who knew Indian Jones AND Mickey Mouse could speak Japanese!

Having had enough of big cities, we took to the hills... litterally! We were off to the Japan Alps. First, a day at Nikko. Temples, temples and more temples. Oh ya. And some shrines. A did manage a walk out to a wood carving center, being startled by wild deers en route.

Nagano. The olympic city. Other than a few sewer main covers that proudly displayed the olympic logo, I didn't see much to indicate this town was once the center of the world's attention. The hostel that confirmed our reservation for the night was closed , but our homeless wandering turned up a delightful little Ryokan (Japanese style in).

We weren't expecting our first real Japanese experience quite so soon. Lots of first... and faux pauxs. Mainly to do with slippers:
1) We took off our shoes, but then didn't put on our slippers. Tut tut. They ran after us with slippers and insisted we slip them on.
2) Going up the stairs, not being used to the slippers, I lost one! Lots of laughs from the Japanese entourage behind us!
3) Getting to our room, we then walked across the tatami mats with our slippers on. They gasped, pointed and then began to chuckle. The "Excuse me" phrase came in handy here.

Our room was fantastic! Little mats on the ground to sleep on, pillows for chairs by a table that was 1 foot off the ground, robes to wear down to the common bath... oh ya... the common bath. THIS was an experience... walking in naked to a common room, to sit at tap, wash, and then slip into a hot tub of sorts with a few other ladies. Not TOO many stares at us whities! ha ha.

Nagano's highlights included an early morning service we were allowed to sit in at, at a buddist temple, wandering the temple grounds and a day trip out to see monkeys in their natural habitat, complete with their own onsen (Japanese hotspring bath)! The moms with their babies were the best. I was super lucky to have one come plunk down right beside me, offering up the chance for some up close photos. Nic, did reasonably well, considering her phobia of monkeys and having dozens running around her while I was off snapping photos.

Deeper into the Alps, we made our way to Kamikochi. This place was amazingly beautiful and the gateway to week long treks. I wish we had another week or two (don't you always!). We stayed in a little bungalow there... when we checked in, we were given a basket: sheets, a key and a flashlight.

Yikes... running out of time! Nic's out of the shower!

Okay. The last few days in a nut shell...
- Had a blast wandering through rivers and mountains near Kamikochi
- LOVED the bus trip to get to/from Kamikochi... tunnels, steep cliffs, dams, etc.
- Takayama: beautiful old buildings, hill sides, etc. Amazing markets.

Now... Kyoto. And, we're off!

Ready for another adventure???...

I have to brush off the blogging cobwebs. It seems like just the other day that I returned from my 8 month adventure living & volunteering in South America.

But I have already been home for almost a year. It's been a blast... getting a handle on a new job, moving into my condo (though many would argue I need to fully unpack to concider myself "moved in"), summer backpacking and kayaking adventures (okay... and soggy fall backpacking adventures too!), winter fun with both inbounds and over a dozen back country days, and the odd extended weekend roadtrip through BC and Washington. Phewf.

Yet, with all the fun I've been having in my BC backyard... I still need to get away! :) With my last two adventures in latin america, I'm now heading West back to asia... Japan, here I come!

After a struggle over the last couple months with a nasty flu and relapse turned pneumonia, the last week has been a whirlwind. With 36 hours until I fly out, I'm in the middle of printing out the last of my tax return (ya ya, I know it's late!), trying to decide what to bring... oh... and I was going to buy a new backpack too! Hum.... Yes, I'm in my typical last-minute frantic stretch before heading out.

And other things haven't changed either... We have our flight booked, and... well... at least we have our flight booked! :)

The rough plan:
- Nic and I will be flying out on May 8th to Tokyo
- Hang out with Venita and JF at their place in Tokyo for a few days
- Head out by rail... first going North (for however long and however far we feel like), then head South as far as we can by rail, continue on through the tropical islands by ferry.
- Fly back to Tokyo and off home on June 8th

Can't wait for the adventure ahead. :)

Yes.... I'm back in Canada! :-)

Okay, okay. I KNOW! It's been over 2 months and NOTHING! Why?

TOO BUSY!

I know. I know. Everyone is in that boat. And most of the time that I was "too busy" I wasn't even working! ha ha. So, forget the dialog, here's a picture show of the last month travelling through Bolivia / Peru:

After our trek through the high mountains in Northern Peru, we headed looooow... to the amazon!

Enroute, we went mountain biking...



... passing by villages on the way down into the amazon, where they were drying coca leaves on the side of the street...


... and getting to sample freshly baked bread (uummm... jungle bread...)


There was also a fun white water rafting section to get to the main river that we would then be on for the next 7 days going through the amazon jungle.

During these days, we saw lots of monkeys:

Oops. REALLY... that's not the monkey picture! ;) Even in the jungle I found "extra adventure" zip-lining around the jungle canopy. There were really lots of monkeys. From red howler monkeys to spider monkeys, my favorite were the squirrel monkeys who would fling themselves from branch to branch of trees hanging over the river or lake that we were on. Below them in the water would ALWAYS be a caiman (like a crocodile), waiting for one of them to screw up!

We didn't see any monkeys fall prey, but we did see a couple caimans fight it out for a kill (think it was a deer) as well as a pack of giant fresh water otters take on a caiman. We were lucky enough to spot a jaguar. Our guide then promptly jumped out of the boat, motioning for us to the same and sneak in for a closer look. Based on my experience watching lions in Africa, I didn't stray TOO far from the boat! :)

Smaller adrenaline rushes included friendly tarantulas:


It was also great to be on the rivers of the amazon to see amazing sunsets and sunrises...


Or just chillin' enjoying the breaze (keeping both the heat and the BUGS at manageable levels!)


After the amazon, with a few days to spare before heading back into the mountains, we headed over to the floating islands on the Peru side of Lake Titikaka. Although I wasn't all that impressed with the floating islands since it seemed to be more a tourist attraction rather people living their ordinary lives, I was really glad I went to the other islands near by. We stayed with a local family over night, went dancing, tried out the tradition clothes, etc.

From there, we trouped back to Cusco and headed out on the famous 4-day Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu. Having been on a lot of high altitude trekking, I didn't find the trek too difficult... because of the high altitude passes or the monstruous steps!...



It was incredible to think of all the people that have travelled over that same pass over the centuries, not to mention the work that went into it. There were larger boulders with steps cut out...


... even tunnels!


On the morning of the 4th day, we lucked out and had a beautiful clear day. We were fortunately to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu from the sungate...


... then to hike down closer to explore the ruins up close....


... before heading to the top of a mountain on the opposite side of Machu Picchu to get a view down on it from the other side....



That same night after completing the Inca Trail and exploring Machu Picchu, we were off on an overnight bus back to Bolivia. It felt SO GOOD to be back in Bolivia!!! Peru was good, but I definitely have a connection in Bolivia!

We stopped off on Isla del Sol, an island on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. This was the view from my bed!...



The next morning, I was up in time to see the sun rise over the Bolivian Andes... of which one mountain I would then test myself on during a ascent attempt a couple days later...



... I had been wanting to try another high altitude mountain attempt and the mountain "Huayna Potosi", sitting at 6088m in elevation (just shy of 20,000ft at 19,975ft) had been an idea in the back of my head since arriving in Bolivia last October.

Huayna Potosi:


Here I am, suited up on day 1....



... ready to head out to a nearby glacier to try out some of my ice climbing techniques. Going up....


...And coming down...


After getting to our base camp, I had some soup and tucked in for a couple hour nap....


At midnight, I was up, getting suited up in my ice boots, crampons, harness, etc. 7 hours later through the snow and up a few ice walls, the last one of which was over 200m long right to the summit. I MADE IT!!!! :)



The views were incredible. Both at the summit watching the sun rise over the clouds below....


... and also on the way down...



And with that, (and of course one more day of going to the markets), I ate my final favorite Bolivian food and got on a plane for home.

Now... you might have noticed that in the entire time I was away, I never made it to anywhere that would be concidered by most as required in a vacation: a "relaxing day on the beach". Not to worry... with an 8 hour layover in Miami on the way home, I did just that and headed to the beach. Okay... I wouldn't say that I didn't try to have a little fun there by body surfin' the awesome rollers coming on shore!!!....



Since being home, I have since....

• been out to a conference in Calgary with the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that I went down to Bolivia through


• celebrated turning another year older in while there


• met up with Nic and headed on a 2-week roadtrip through Revelstoke, Calgary, Edmonton, Jasper, Prince George, Hudson's Hope, Spirit River, etc.... Seeing friends, doing some hiking, lounging / relaxing / catching up in Hudson's Hope, and then celebrating my grandma's 90th bday.


• Started my new job!!!!!!


• Been trying to see everyone!

So, more posts will be coming. I'll try to get a few more pics up there... And, I'm going to put together a slide show, so come on over if you want to see it! :)

Over a week in the mountains....

Well, we made it. We had a day for a "warm up hike" out of a town called Chiquian and then 8 days in "back country" of the Peruvian Andes in the Cordillera Huayhuash, trekking 120km(ish). Our average camping elevation was around 4200m and trekking aroud 4500m. 7 high passes later, we were ruling the Andes....

We had a bit of all weather fronts. But, we still lucked out with amazing views every day.... Here´s day 3:



The highest pass of 5000m on Day 5:

We had some really high rivers to cross because of the extra rain / hail / snow fall of the end of the rainy season. I knew if I missed or slipped off of my rocks, I´d be wait deep in water to the right, and swept down the river and over my head to the left!!....

This river, I had to cross my fingers and make a flying leap!!!...

Other "problems" from the weather fronts included our tent collapsing on us at 1:30am due to the weight of the snow. I somehow found it really funny and enjoyed pushing all the snow off the tent while singing Christmas carols... hoping to get the tent into a somewhat standing condition. This is how far I got:
But, the snow afforded some beautiful views the next morning!!!

For more photos from the trip, I´ve uploaded a slew to the end of my Photos Folder from the trip.

We´re off now for 8 days in the "other" direction: The Amazon!