So here we are in Kanchanburi! Its really nice, very touristy, but there is a lot to do. We are staying at the Sugar Cane guesthouse, which is as sweet as its name, and we are also treating ourselves to their best rooms - floating on the kwai! We have visited the war cemetaries and museums (some very very odd!) and also the bridge again. This morning we had a cookery lesson where we learnt how to make Pad Thai, Green curry (spicy!!!!!) and spring rolls, it was fun especially because our teacher was a ladyboy! Sugar took us to the market in the morning and we learnt loads and loads and then we cooked loads of food and ate it for lunch! We cant wait to get back and cook it for everyone!
Tomorrow we are off to see the elephants and some other stuff (we booked a tour...).
xxx
Sunday, 31 August 2008
An adventure...we think
So we set off from Bangkok really really early in the morning and headed for the northern train station. We had directions to get a train to one place, a bus to another and to ask in at a cafe to visit the 'amazing' ganesha park.
The station was straight out of a Michael Palin documentary (the old ones where he actually travelled and didnt have everything arranged already), it was full of local Thai people and next to a market and even early in the morning there were so many smells and sounds from the food being prepared for the day. We were in 3rd class (wooden seats and no air conditioning, but all the windows open and some fans), it was so cool, we loved it! We bought snacks along the way like barbequed chicked on squewers with bags of sticky rice and fruit. The scenery was immense! It went from the suburbs of Bangkok to little slums by the river to small villiages to fields (most of them - think of The Beach), to jungle. It was brilliant! Suddenly the train stopped and loads and loads of tourists got on, we were a little bemused until we remembered that we were travelling along the same line that was built by the POWs under the Japanese invasion of SE Asia and we would eventually cross over 'the bridge over the river kwai'. It was bizarre, the train slowed at scenic points for them and then after about half an hour they all disappeared and got back on their tour buses. It became a local train again and we got off at our destination NamTok. Namtok is a small town in Kanchanaburi province, nevertheless, we were pestered by touts as we got off asking us to get in their taxis so they could drive us to their guesthouses in the middle of nowhere and take all our money. It was also pouring with rain and we were soaked with our backpacks on, and we didnt know where the bus stop was and no one would tell us, they just directed us to the touts, we were feeling a bit miserable to say the least!
Anyway, we escaped down a random road and asked some normal local people who directed us to the bus stop (on big lady even offered to tak us on the back of her bike, we didnt think there would be enough room even for one of us, let along with our big bags too!). We got to the bus stop and met a lovely lovely man who wanted to practice his english with us. He helped us to ring our guesthouse (there was no answer) and wrote down our destination (Dawadung) in our book in Thai so we could show the driver, he also told the driver and some other people where we were going, so we had lots of help! He also told us that we were just 1km from the Burmese border and that it was very dangerous in the jungle because there are some minority groups there who are recognised by no one so have to live in no mans land and train their kids up as child soldiers. It was all very interesting. Anyway, we got the bus and got off by the restaurnat in Dawadung. We got there and a French guy greeted us and told us that the owners had just disappeared that morning after telling him to look after the place and that there was little point in us staying more than a night. We were so disappointed as there were supposed to be elephants there! Anyway, we slept in a cool raft house on the River Kwai, in the middle of the jungle, it would have been beautifully peaceful were it not for the kids of the cook (they cooked us heaps and heaps of food) who were so loud and stayed up drinking and diving off the raft all night, there was also the biggest thunderstorm ever! It was crap and soggy, but the next day the french guy told us not to bother paying, so we were happy!
We took the bus to Kanchanburi (where we are now), it was really nice taking the bus again, and again felt very off the beaten track, the locals looked at us strangely and a lady kept giving us sweets, it was nice!
The station was straight out of a Michael Palin documentary (the old ones where he actually travelled and didnt have everything arranged already), it was full of local Thai people and next to a market and even early in the morning there were so many smells and sounds from the food being prepared for the day. We were in 3rd class (wooden seats and no air conditioning, but all the windows open and some fans), it was so cool, we loved it! We bought snacks along the way like barbequed chicked on squewers with bags of sticky rice and fruit. The scenery was immense! It went from the suburbs of Bangkok to little slums by the river to small villiages to fields (most of them - think of The Beach), to jungle. It was brilliant! Suddenly the train stopped and loads and loads of tourists got on, we were a little bemused until we remembered that we were travelling along the same line that was built by the POWs under the Japanese invasion of SE Asia and we would eventually cross over 'the bridge over the river kwai'. It was bizarre, the train slowed at scenic points for them and then after about half an hour they all disappeared and got back on their tour buses. It became a local train again and we got off at our destination NamTok. Namtok is a small town in Kanchanaburi province, nevertheless, we were pestered by touts as we got off asking us to get in their taxis so they could drive us to their guesthouses in the middle of nowhere and take all our money. It was also pouring with rain and we were soaked with our backpacks on, and we didnt know where the bus stop was and no one would tell us, they just directed us to the touts, we were feeling a bit miserable to say the least!
Anyway, we escaped down a random road and asked some normal local people who directed us to the bus stop (on big lady even offered to tak us on the back of her bike, we didnt think there would be enough room even for one of us, let along with our big bags too!). We got to the bus stop and met a lovely lovely man who wanted to practice his english with us. He helped us to ring our guesthouse (there was no answer) and wrote down our destination (Dawadung) in our book in Thai so we could show the driver, he also told the driver and some other people where we were going, so we had lots of help! He also told us that we were just 1km from the Burmese border and that it was very dangerous in the jungle because there are some minority groups there who are recognised by no one so have to live in no mans land and train their kids up as child soldiers. It was all very interesting. Anyway, we got the bus and got off by the restaurnat in Dawadung. We got there and a French guy greeted us and told us that the owners had just disappeared that morning after telling him to look after the place and that there was little point in us staying more than a night. We were so disappointed as there were supposed to be elephants there! Anyway, we slept in a cool raft house on the River Kwai, in the middle of the jungle, it would have been beautifully peaceful were it not for the kids of the cook (they cooked us heaps and heaps of food) who were so loud and stayed up drinking and diving off the raft all night, there was also the biggest thunderstorm ever! It was crap and soggy, but the next day the french guy told us not to bother paying, so we were happy!
We took the bus to Kanchanburi (where we are now), it was really nice taking the bus again, and again felt very off the beaten track, the locals looked at us strangely and a lady kept giving us sweets, it was nice!
Bangkok part 2
I found it incredibly surprising that we really loved Bangkok, but we did! We were staying in the nicest hostel which was mercifully no where near Khao San Road, but on an amazing street which looked like a scruffy slum by day but turned in to a (still scruffy) food market at night, we dined there nearly every night on delicious and very cheap (usually about 60p) meals including Liam's new favourite Pan Siew and Pad Thai and my new favourite Sticky rice with Mango and sweet coconut sauce... that has made me so hungry and I cant find it outside of Bangkok!! It was right new to the cool sky train, so we used that a lot to get everywhere.
We did loads in Bangkok, we did nearly everything in the guide book and were very touristy tourists! We took many trips up and down the Chao Phraya river to visit the three main temples (Wot Phoh, Wot Prah Kaew and the the Emerald Palace and Wot Arun - temple of Dawn), they were really impressive and beautiful (see facebook pictures). We worked out that the tourist ticket to go on the river is extortionate and so if anyone is going to Bangkok just get on a boat and pay the flat rate, its sooooo much cheaper!
We went to some of the shopping centres, but felt way to scruffy to be browsing Louis Vuiton and Gucci, so didnt spend too long there! We also went to the cinema because they are renouned for their luxury, they were very luxurious, and we saw a Thai film (I think it was Thai, although it was dubbed in Thai from English and then subtitled in English) called the Coffin (We didnt know what it would be called until we got in! It was a bit spooky but a bit crap. The best thing about the cinema was that before it starts the screen asks you to pay respect to the king (The Thais adore their king so much, you cant go far without seeing a picture of his bespecticled self, I think its really sweet), we had to stand up and watch a film of him doing stuff while the national anthem played. Of course, the more I thought about what we were doing and that you can go to prison for treason, the more giggly I got, it was so awful, luckily I managed to keep it in and Liam didnt even notice (because he was keeping his own giggles in!).
We also visited Jim Thomson's house - I still dont really know why, hes supposed to have brought Thai culture to the world, but his house was ridiculously un-Thai, even though its advertised as being the opposite. He had this big mansion in a time when Thais lived in teeny houses, and he didnt seem to follow any of their customs. It was all a bit wierd.
We also visited Khao San road by boat one afternoon, at first we were laughing at the awful western tackyness of the road - really, its much much more expensive than the rest of the city and the stuff they sell there is the sort of stuff you could probably pick up in Benidorm or probably even in Camden. I dont think the smelly backpackers realised how much they're being ripped off because they dont visit the rest of the city, which is a shame. Anyway, after all this critisism we sat down at a pub on the front of the road and didnt get up again until the middle of the night. We had a lot of Chang beer and decided that Khao San road wasnt so bad after all and even bought some fake sunglasses which we badly haggled for. We ended up eating our dinner on the pavement there too! Ah well!
After that amazing night out, I got the flu so we had to laze around our hostel for a day or two, and then we said a sad goodbye to Bangkok (although we're coming back) and headed for some random place in the middle of nowhere...
We did loads in Bangkok, we did nearly everything in the guide book and were very touristy tourists! We took many trips up and down the Chao Phraya river to visit the three main temples (Wot Phoh, Wot Prah Kaew and the the Emerald Palace and Wot Arun - temple of Dawn), they were really impressive and beautiful (see facebook pictures). We worked out that the tourist ticket to go on the river is extortionate and so if anyone is going to Bangkok just get on a boat and pay the flat rate, its sooooo much cheaper!
We went to some of the shopping centres, but felt way to scruffy to be browsing Louis Vuiton and Gucci, so didnt spend too long there! We also went to the cinema because they are renouned for their luxury, they were very luxurious, and we saw a Thai film (I think it was Thai, although it was dubbed in Thai from English and then subtitled in English) called the Coffin (We didnt know what it would be called until we got in! It was a bit spooky but a bit crap. The best thing about the cinema was that before it starts the screen asks you to pay respect to the king (The Thais adore their king so much, you cant go far without seeing a picture of his bespecticled self, I think its really sweet), we had to stand up and watch a film of him doing stuff while the national anthem played. Of course, the more I thought about what we were doing and that you can go to prison for treason, the more giggly I got, it was so awful, luckily I managed to keep it in and Liam didnt even notice (because he was keeping his own giggles in!).
We also visited Jim Thomson's house - I still dont really know why, hes supposed to have brought Thai culture to the world, but his house was ridiculously un-Thai, even though its advertised as being the opposite. He had this big mansion in a time when Thais lived in teeny houses, and he didnt seem to follow any of their customs. It was all a bit wierd.
We also visited Khao San road by boat one afternoon, at first we were laughing at the awful western tackyness of the road - really, its much much more expensive than the rest of the city and the stuff they sell there is the sort of stuff you could probably pick up in Benidorm or probably even in Camden. I dont think the smelly backpackers realised how much they're being ripped off because they dont visit the rest of the city, which is a shame. Anyway, after all this critisism we sat down at a pub on the front of the road and didnt get up again until the middle of the night. We had a lot of Chang beer and decided that Khao San road wasnt so bad after all and even bought some fake sunglasses which we badly haggled for. We ended up eating our dinner on the pavement there too! Ah well!
After that amazing night out, I got the flu so we had to laze around our hostel for a day or two, and then we said a sad goodbye to Bangkok (although we're coming back) and headed for some random place in the middle of nowhere...
Japan - The End
Well, I think Liam was a bit hasty to write about Bangkok as we hadn't really finished with Tokyo yet. We visited Shibuya again in the dark, ate at our favourite restaurant one last time (I wish I knew what it was called, but its name was written in Japanese), we also took a tip from our guidebook and travelled to the business part of the city at night to view the city from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building - its free and has brilliant views of the city and of course many key rings to purchase (and also lots of Totoro and Moomin merchandise!). I'm sure we did some more stuff now, but I have forgotten now!
On our last day we headed to the station and picked up the most expensive bento box we could find to spend our last yen (en) on. It was wicked! It was had two layers of goodness and was wrapped in a cool cloth! It had all sort of wierd and wonderful fishy treats in it - we didnt know what they were but ate them all the same.
Then we set off to Thailand!
On our last day we headed to the station and picked up the most expensive bento box we could find to spend our last yen (en) on. It was wicked! It was had two layers of goodness and was wrapped in a cool cloth! It had all sort of wierd and wonderful fishy treats in it - we didnt know what they were but ate them all the same.
Then we set off to Thailand!
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Bangkok
Just a quick note from me (Liam) to say that we arrived safely in Thailand and both loving Bangkok and the Thai food. We move on north in a few days to a national park where we will be sharing our accomodation with some elephants. For you fellow history lovers we will also be crossing the Bridge over the River Kwai.
We will post more on here soon including our itinary for the next few months of our travels.
X
p.s we are not near the demonstrations
We will post more on here soon including our itinary for the next few months of our travels.
X
p.s we are not near the demonstrations
Monday, 18 August 2008
Tokyo part 2
I thought I`d (hannah) write about the Tokyo mishaps Liam mentioned. Well it was awful! We were both so excited about Tokyo and when we saw rain from the train window (we rode all the from Hiroshima and it rained the whole way there, I think the whole of Japan was in that storm!), we were even quite excited about getting to use our raincoats for the first time in the trip. We were jumping about and splashing in the deep puddles with our rucksacks on for the first few minutes, but then we realised that our bags were getting wetter and wetter and then wondered if they were waterproof enough to withstand the downpour, they got heavier and heavier as our map turned to pulp and we got loster and loster! We walked around the surrounding streets for ages until I turned round to talk to shout to Liam over the rain and slipped on a grid in the pavement. It wouldnt have been so bad if I hadnt have had my super heavy wet bag on my back, but I did and so I was then limping. We asked a man in a little Mr Miagi-esque shop for directions and he got out his monacle and an antique map and pointed us back where we came from, we finally got to the hostel but realised that our bags werent waterproof enough and everything was soaked through including our passports which we dont normally keep in our bags, but did just this once! My raincoat wasnt even enough for the rain! Anyway, we`re here now and we couldnt face a dorm after the harrowing day, so paid extra for a private room.
Today we went to see the Palace and the Sony building which had an AMAZING 3d aquarium in it, its all for free, because you have to pass through floors of their merchandise (amazing new cameras and tvs and wierd new earphones) to get to the extra special 3D cinema aquarium where you wear 3d glasses and it was really cool and very 3D!
We also visited Shibuya where we saw the famous Shibuya crossing where hundreds of people cross paths at the traffic lights of a junction (its quite immense), we even did the extra extra touristy thing and watched it ffrom Starbucks with an overpriced coffee. We also went to Harijuku (yay!), which wasnt a very good idea because we went when all the kids were still at school, so we didnt see much dressing up, but it was still cool, although a little (a lot) like Camden. We also found the biggest Daiso (100 yen) store in Japan, it was great!
Well thats all from Tokyo for now, from Hannah with a sore toe
xxx
Today we went to see the Palace and the Sony building which had an AMAZING 3d aquarium in it, its all for free, because you have to pass through floors of their merchandise (amazing new cameras and tvs and wierd new earphones) to get to the extra special 3D cinema aquarium where you wear 3d glasses and it was really cool and very 3D!
We also visited Shibuya where we saw the famous Shibuya crossing where hundreds of people cross paths at the traffic lights of a junction (its quite immense), we even did the extra extra touristy thing and watched it ffrom Starbucks with an overpriced coffee. We also went to Harijuku (yay!), which wasnt a very good idea because we went when all the kids were still at school, so we didnt see much dressing up, but it was still cool, although a little (a lot) like Camden. We also found the biggest Daiso (100 yen) store in Japan, it was great!
Well thats all from Tokyo for now, from Hannah with a sore toe
xxx
Tokyo!!
We have arrived in Tokyo and are both enjoying ourselves in this amazing city. But before we write about our Tokyo adventures I (Liam) will update the blog.
On our second full day in Nagasaki we visited this little Peace Museum which has been set up by volunteers and advocated on-going peace. Hannah brought a post card and one of the volunteers gave us both a War-Brush (to sweep away wars) and Peace-Box (a small origami cube). This was also a free museum and one which is not mentioned in the guide books but worth a visit. Before we found the museum we walked to Hollande Slope, this was the area where the Europeans used to live and contains European style buildings. I really enjoyed Nagasaki, finding it a humbling place to be, but also interesting, I recommend the hostel we stayed at.
From Nagasaki we headed to Kumamoto for one night. We visited the castle and strolled around the streets enjoying the Japanese atmosphere. We also found our favourite cheap ticket vending machine restaurant. These places are really cheap to eat at and the food is pretty good. You get a good bowl full of food and also miso soup for free. We have found this chain in a few towns and cities now and keep looking for them.
We took the train the following day to Beppu past some amazing mountains and landscapes. Beppu is famous for its spa`s and is also a seaside resort. I was not impressed with Beppu and thought it was a little shabby for Japan. With our full day we headed out to Mount Aso which was about 2 hours away by train towards Kumamoto. Mount Aso is Japan`s and one of the worlds largest calderas, which is also an active volcano. You take a cable car to the crater and walk around while the green sulphur lake in the crater steams, it was a magnificant sight and very impressive. We took many pictures of the crater and surrounding landscapes.
From Beppu we took the train to Tokyo, the journey in total was around 5 hours and the trains were packed because of the end of the Oban festival (where relatives return to their homes and celebrate the rising of their deceased relative`s spirits) but we were lucky to get seats and was able to eat our lunch. I was really looking forward to getting to Tokyo and was not disappointed when we arrived. From Tokyo station we took a further train and metro and arrived at Asakusa and was confronted by torrential rain and after a few mishaps, we finally arrived at our hostel.
On our second full day in Nagasaki we visited this little Peace Museum which has been set up by volunteers and advocated on-going peace. Hannah brought a post card and one of the volunteers gave us both a War-Brush (to sweep away wars) and Peace-Box (a small origami cube). This was also a free museum and one which is not mentioned in the guide books but worth a visit. Before we found the museum we walked to Hollande Slope, this was the area where the Europeans used to live and contains European style buildings. I really enjoyed Nagasaki, finding it a humbling place to be, but also interesting, I recommend the hostel we stayed at.
From Nagasaki we headed to Kumamoto for one night. We visited the castle and strolled around the streets enjoying the Japanese atmosphere. We also found our favourite cheap ticket vending machine restaurant. These places are really cheap to eat at and the food is pretty good. You get a good bowl full of food and also miso soup for free. We have found this chain in a few towns and cities now and keep looking for them.
We took the train the following day to Beppu past some amazing mountains and landscapes. Beppu is famous for its spa`s and is also a seaside resort. I was not impressed with Beppu and thought it was a little shabby for Japan. With our full day we headed out to Mount Aso which was about 2 hours away by train towards Kumamoto. Mount Aso is Japan`s and one of the worlds largest calderas, which is also an active volcano. You take a cable car to the crater and walk around while the green sulphur lake in the crater steams, it was a magnificant sight and very impressive. We took many pictures of the crater and surrounding landscapes.
From Beppu we took the train to Tokyo, the journey in total was around 5 hours and the trains were packed because of the end of the Oban festival (where relatives return to their homes and celebrate the rising of their deceased relative`s spirits) but we were lucky to get seats and was able to eat our lunch. I was really looking forward to getting to Tokyo and was not disappointed when we arrived. From Tokyo station we took a further train and metro and arrived at Asakusa and was confronted by torrential rain and after a few mishaps, we finally arrived at our hostel.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Mongolian Engagement - Living in a Ger
I thought whilst I wait for these photos to load on to Facebook I`d update you all on our engagement which we didnt have time to blog about before.
Well it was amazing! We drove out to Terelj National Park in the morning with our guide, our guesthouse owners daughter, and three English kids who had just finished teaching in China and were doing an exciting Trans-Mongolian/Russian/European adveture home.
It was a beautiful clear day and we stopped off at some sights along the way. First was a pole decorated in blue material and other bits of coloured cloth (blue cloth represents `blue sky` which I believe is a shamanistic thing, although there was lots of blue in the Buddhist temples too), it was on top of a huge pile of stones and we had to walk round three times whilst throwing more stones onto the pile for safe travels and peace. We then climbed up 100 monks rock, which is a cave through a tiny crack in a huge big rock which alledgedly hid 100 monks during the Russian occupation when Buddhism was banned. It felt quite dangerous to climb up, but it was fun anyhow!
The we visited turtle rock which we climbed up into. At the top there was another cave and in that another very small crack which didnt look big enough even for a skinny child to climb through. Our guide insisted that she`d led rugby players through it so I had a go (no one else did and I felt brave like Indiana Jones!), I managed it aftre helping a small Mongolian child scramble back through the other way. The view from the other side was incredible and well worth it. I stayed there a while taking pictures and chatting to our guide. When I went back through I realised it was harder to get back up, but there waiting for me was the little boy I had helped through, he gestured that he wanted to help me up (instead of Liam who was also waiting there), so he did! He practically lifted me up, it was incredibly sweet of him, he must have only been about 6 (although Mongolian kids are teeny weeny).
The we went up to the temple which was so incredibly picturesque, and was across a very Dr Jones-esque rope bridge over a ravine that only 4 people were allowed on at a time. It was gorgeous and wasnt as garish and scarey as some of the other monsateries in Mongolia.
We then drove to our ger through the wilderness. We ended up sharing with the three English kids (I think this was the plan of our host in the first place), but it was fine, they only stayed one night anyhow and we were staying two. The Ger was set on a hillside overlooking the river Terelj and some woodland. There were horses and yaks wandering about and it all felt very Mongolian. Our ger was dressed up inside like a dolls house with pretty painted furnture and wall hangings. We had a traditional outdoor pit toilet, but after the pit toilets in our guesthouse and the awful toilets of the Trans-Siberian, we were fine with that!
We explored the surrounding countryside and washed in the river, it was very peaceful and lovely. Before dinner (our mutton-based food was cooked by a Mongolian family who lived on the next door ger), we were wandeing along a pebble beach by the river when we heard drumming. We went to explore and peeped through a fence surrounding some more gers. We saw some dancing going on and a lady beckoned for us to come in. We went in and it turned out to be a large group of Korean holiday makers who were performing traditional Korean dancing and Tae-Kwon-Do. It was bizarre and lovely and after ending with a song about how much they loved Mongolia including the waving of Mongolian and Korean flags and a banner saying `we love Mongolia`, they all surrounded us and shook our hands and said `god bless you`, it was lovely!
We ended the night with some beer and Mutton and star gazing.
The next day we went out horse riding. I didnt like it at all! The Mongolian saddles are really uncomfortable and the horses jump about, but the scenery was fantastic and I was appauled the we forgot to bring our camera because we saw some amazing things! There were so many beautiful herds of horses and little gers scattered around and we rode though shady little glades and through rivers. We then stopped and went to visit a Mongilan family. There was a mum and dad and a little baby and a small boy and girl. They offered us bowls of airag (fermented milk - very Mongilian, but tasted exactly like bile), creamy fresh yoghurt, which the children showed us to eat with spoon fulls of sugar and a sweet milky pudding which was nice. The family were very nice and ther house was beautiful with the traditional brightly coloured furniture and a small family shrine with pictures and candles and ornaments. It was lovely to see how simply people live. Then we rode back through a big big river.
Later on the other English people left and after a little wander around the village and some stone skimming competitions we went back to our ger to find that some Mongolian holiday makers had moved in next door. They came and sat on the steps to our ger and a very intoxicated girl with her baby brother befriended us and chatted to us in Mongolian for a bit.
When the sun started to set we walked up to the back of our ger which was on a hill, so we were attempting to catch the sun from the top. The hill turned out to be full of meadow and alpine flowers and we saw many strange and wonderful birds flying about and singing their evening choruses.
The hill was steeper than we thought and we kept stoppiong off out of breath and in wonderment at the amazing views around us and the changing light. We stopped off at a little outcrop of rocks and as I sat down to take a breather thats when Liam proposed! Of course I said yes and my ring is beautiful and I was so happy I cried! We walked back to our ger hand in hand and sat by the fire (ireally cold at nights in Mongolia even though its boiling in the day), and toasted our engagement with some Mongolian vodka!
It was such a happy and wonderful day that we will remember it forever.
xxx
Well it was amazing! We drove out to Terelj National Park in the morning with our guide, our guesthouse owners daughter, and three English kids who had just finished teaching in China and were doing an exciting Trans-Mongolian/Russian/European adveture home.
It was a beautiful clear day and we stopped off at some sights along the way. First was a pole decorated in blue material and other bits of coloured cloth (blue cloth represents `blue sky` which I believe is a shamanistic thing, although there was lots of blue in the Buddhist temples too), it was on top of a huge pile of stones and we had to walk round three times whilst throwing more stones onto the pile for safe travels and peace. We then climbed up 100 monks rock, which is a cave through a tiny crack in a huge big rock which alledgedly hid 100 monks during the Russian occupation when Buddhism was banned. It felt quite dangerous to climb up, but it was fun anyhow!
The we visited turtle rock which we climbed up into. At the top there was another cave and in that another very small crack which didnt look big enough even for a skinny child to climb through. Our guide insisted that she`d led rugby players through it so I had a go (no one else did and I felt brave like Indiana Jones!), I managed it aftre helping a small Mongolian child scramble back through the other way. The view from the other side was incredible and well worth it. I stayed there a while taking pictures and chatting to our guide. When I went back through I realised it was harder to get back up, but there waiting for me was the little boy I had helped through, he gestured that he wanted to help me up (instead of Liam who was also waiting there), so he did! He practically lifted me up, it was incredibly sweet of him, he must have only been about 6 (although Mongolian kids are teeny weeny).
The we went up to the temple which was so incredibly picturesque, and was across a very Dr Jones-esque rope bridge over a ravine that only 4 people were allowed on at a time. It was gorgeous and wasnt as garish and scarey as some of the other monsateries in Mongolia.
We then drove to our ger through the wilderness. We ended up sharing with the three English kids (I think this was the plan of our host in the first place), but it was fine, they only stayed one night anyhow and we were staying two. The Ger was set on a hillside overlooking the river Terelj and some woodland. There were horses and yaks wandering about and it all felt very Mongolian. Our ger was dressed up inside like a dolls house with pretty painted furnture and wall hangings. We had a traditional outdoor pit toilet, but after the pit toilets in our guesthouse and the awful toilets of the Trans-Siberian, we were fine with that!
We explored the surrounding countryside and washed in the river, it was very peaceful and lovely. Before dinner (our mutton-based food was cooked by a Mongolian family who lived on the next door ger), we were wandeing along a pebble beach by the river when we heard drumming. We went to explore and peeped through a fence surrounding some more gers. We saw some dancing going on and a lady beckoned for us to come in. We went in and it turned out to be a large group of Korean holiday makers who were performing traditional Korean dancing and Tae-Kwon-Do. It was bizarre and lovely and after ending with a song about how much they loved Mongolia including the waving of Mongolian and Korean flags and a banner saying `we love Mongolia`, they all surrounded us and shook our hands and said `god bless you`, it was lovely!
We ended the night with some beer and Mutton and star gazing.
The next day we went out horse riding. I didnt like it at all! The Mongolian saddles are really uncomfortable and the horses jump about, but the scenery was fantastic and I was appauled the we forgot to bring our camera because we saw some amazing things! There were so many beautiful herds of horses and little gers scattered around and we rode though shady little glades and through rivers. We then stopped and went to visit a Mongilan family. There was a mum and dad and a little baby and a small boy and girl. They offered us bowls of airag (fermented milk - very Mongilian, but tasted exactly like bile), creamy fresh yoghurt, which the children showed us to eat with spoon fulls of sugar and a sweet milky pudding which was nice. The family were very nice and ther house was beautiful with the traditional brightly coloured furniture and a small family shrine with pictures and candles and ornaments. It was lovely to see how simply people live. Then we rode back through a big big river.
Later on the other English people left and after a little wander around the village and some stone skimming competitions we went back to our ger to find that some Mongolian holiday makers had moved in next door. They came and sat on the steps to our ger and a very intoxicated girl with her baby brother befriended us and chatted to us in Mongolian for a bit.
When the sun started to set we walked up to the back of our ger which was on a hill, so we were attempting to catch the sun from the top. The hill turned out to be full of meadow and alpine flowers and we saw many strange and wonderful birds flying about and singing their evening choruses.
The hill was steeper than we thought and we kept stoppiong off out of breath and in wonderment at the amazing views around us and the changing light. We stopped off at a little outcrop of rocks and as I sat down to take a breather thats when Liam proposed! Of course I said yes and my ring is beautiful and I was so happy I cried! We walked back to our ger hand in hand and sat by the fire (ireally cold at nights in Mongolia even though its boiling in the day), and toasted our engagement with some Mongolian vodka!
It was such a happy and wonderful day that we will remember it forever.
xxx
Nagasaki
Well, we`re almost up to date now thanks to the wonderful internet and the lovely Akari International Hostel in Nagasaki, which is where I am now.
We arrives yesterday, its actually really lovely to be back at a hostel and meeting fellow travellers again, staying in (albeit budget) hotels in Japan can get a bit lonely. This hostel is fantastic though and we`ve been making our own food (we bith admitted to each other yesterday that we were growing a little tired of sushi and soba!).
Today we visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb museum, peace park and hypocentre of where the bomb went off. It was really harrowing and we both feel very reflective and sad now. I can`t believe such a thing happened and also that England had in some part something to do with it. I couldn`t help crying when reading a story about a child who was trying to rescue its 2 year old sister from being trapped under a pillar, everyone, including the fire brigade, had tried to remove the pole, but had given up. Then they spotted a lady running over, completely naked and burned all over, the child realised it was her mother and knew that everything would be ok. Her mother looked at the pole and then lifted it up with some kind of superhuman strength. The child was rescued but then they realised that the mother was in an awful state and that she was bleeding from where her skin had stuck to the pole. She died that night.
There were so many awful stories like that, it was so so sad. The worst part was that the second half of the museum focused on how atomic weapons are still being tested and built around the world to this day, and on the peace efforts which are trying to irradicate it. It just makes no sense after seeing the devastation it causes and I feel so cross about it now!
Well, sorry for the depressing post, but thats been the mood of today (in the best possible way), its even rained a little bit.
Peace park was lovely though, there is a beautiful fountain in the shape of doves wings so that you remember all of the people who died longing for water. There was also hundreds and hundreds of paper cranes everywhere, some in garlands and others making beautiful pictures. There was lots of peace art and the whole place ha d avery peaceful and reflective feel about it.
I echo Hannah`s comments about the museum. It was probably the best museum i have been to and it is very thought provoking. It seems strange that after such a horrific event we still are determined to destroy humanity in a similar fashion.
xxx
We arrives yesterday, its actually really lovely to be back at a hostel and meeting fellow travellers again, staying in (albeit budget) hotels in Japan can get a bit lonely. This hostel is fantastic though and we`ve been making our own food (we bith admitted to each other yesterday that we were growing a little tired of sushi and soba!).
Today we visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb museum, peace park and hypocentre of where the bomb went off. It was really harrowing and we both feel very reflective and sad now. I can`t believe such a thing happened and also that England had in some part something to do with it. I couldn`t help crying when reading a story about a child who was trying to rescue its 2 year old sister from being trapped under a pillar, everyone, including the fire brigade, had tried to remove the pole, but had given up. Then they spotted a lady running over, completely naked and burned all over, the child realised it was her mother and knew that everything would be ok. Her mother looked at the pole and then lifted it up with some kind of superhuman strength. The child was rescued but then they realised that the mother was in an awful state and that she was bleeding from where her skin had stuck to the pole. She died that night.
There were so many awful stories like that, it was so so sad. The worst part was that the second half of the museum focused on how atomic weapons are still being tested and built around the world to this day, and on the peace efforts which are trying to irradicate it. It just makes no sense after seeing the devastation it causes and I feel so cross about it now!
Well, sorry for the depressing post, but thats been the mood of today (in the best possible way), its even rained a little bit.
Peace park was lovely though, there is a beautiful fountain in the shape of doves wings so that you remember all of the people who died longing for water. There was also hundreds and hundreds of paper cranes everywhere, some in garlands and others making beautiful pictures. There was lots of peace art and the whole place ha d avery peaceful and reflective feel about it.
I echo Hannah`s comments about the museum. It was probably the best museum i have been to and it is very thought provoking. It seems strange that after such a horrific event we still are determined to destroy humanity in a similar fashion.
xxx
Himeji
Himeji was lovely, We stopped here just as a stopping off point between Osaka and Nagasaki because they are so far apart, but it was well worth it just for the cheap(er) shops. We made our way to the castle (as ever!) after checking in, it was really really impressive. You can see it on its hill when you pull into the station. Its one of the only castles in Japan that hasnt been entirely rebuilt and it was beautifully repaired. The views from the top were stunning and we had a lovely time exploring its many many floors.
Later on I found some Yukatas on sale, this is very exciting as they are normally very expensive, so I bought one, yay! I also bought a new top, yay!
After the excting shopping experience, we tried to find some kind of night life, but the streets were deserted, we did find a little row of buskers though with many trendy young things as their audience. We then treated ourselves to doughnuts and tea (with milk!).
Then we stayed up to watch I am Legend in Japanese, it was interesting!
xxx
Later on I found some Yukatas on sale, this is very exciting as they are normally very expensive, so I bought one, yay! I also bought a new top, yay!
After the excting shopping experience, we tried to find some kind of night life, but the streets were deserted, we did find a little row of buskers though with many trendy young things as their audience. We then treated ourselves to doughnuts and tea (with milk!).
Then we stayed up to watch I am Legend in Japanese, it was interesting!
xxx
Osaka
We were staying at a Toyoko Inn in Osaka, it was very exciting because we got a free gift because we booked online! That was about the most exciting thing we saw in Osaka. Its a big city with some impressive buildings, but we didnt have very long there and it was very very extra super hot! We did manage to get the train to the castle though, it is another reconstruction, although it was very impressively on a big hill with a huge moat, we didnt pay to go in (castled out!!), but we did stroll around the surrounding park which made me (hannah) very jealous as there were about a million children coming out of Disney on Ice with armfuls of Disney merchandise and excited little faces.
We bought a banquet of pick and mix fried food, including tempura squid and small eggs from the supermarket and had our first night in in front of the Olympics (what a strange and bizzarely impressive opening ceremony!). We have since watched a little of the Olympics at our hostel in Nagasaki, but they concentrate almost solely on Japan so its a bit boring - doubly boring for those of us who detest sports!).
The next day we headed for Himeji.
We bought a banquet of pick and mix fried food, including tempura squid and small eggs from the supermarket and had our first night in in front of the Olympics (what a strange and bizzarely impressive opening ceremony!). We have since watched a little of the Olympics at our hostel in Nagasaki, but they concentrate almost solely on Japan so its a bit boring - doubly boring for those of us who detest sports!).
The next day we headed for Himeji.
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Sad news
I just thought I`d let you all know that we can`t go to the beloved Studio Ghibli Museum because its all booked up and you can only book it here in Japan, so we never would have got tickets unless we booked it ages ago! Its really sad (especially considering our blog`s title), but on the same day we realised this, we also found a shop selling loads of Ghibli merchandise, and so we did find Totoro in a way! We also found loads and loads of things for Kiki`s special delivery (sorry if you`re out of the loop here!), but they really love it here and so I so I`m really happy and may be able to afford to buy myself a keyring or something!
Ooooh! Also, theres a new Ghibli film out here, it looks amazing! All the kids love it and there are posters everywhere, we`re considering seeing it in Japanese, we watched `i am legend` in Japanese last night and kind of understood it, so maybe it will work?
xxx
Ooooh! Also, theres a new Ghibli film out here, it looks amazing! All the kids love it and there are posters everywhere, we`re considering seeing it in Japanese, we watched `i am legend` in Japanese last night and kind of understood it, so maybe it will work?
xxx
Kyoto - Geisha land!!!
After a sad goodbye to Tom (who is now somewhere in Russia having also taken the amazing Fushiki ferry and Trans-Siberian back). We caught the train to Kyoto. Again we seemed to land another wicked cheap hotel (who needs hostels?) near the impressive Nijo castle.
Kyoto was fantastic! I know I have already been quite excitedly raving about Japan, but Kyoto really was cool.
We got bikes free from our hotel and cycled round to the castle and to Kinkakuji (The famous Golden Pavillion) and Rioanji (The most famous rock garden in the world apparently). My personal best part (Hannah - and I wrote the last two posts as well) has to have been going to the Gion distric of Kyoto where we went Geisha (or rather Maiko) spotting along Hanamachi-Dori (not sure if thats the right spelling)!!
It was amazing, the streets are really old-style and feel like a film set even more than Matsumoto, they are dimly lit and full of screen doors. Round each corner will be a couple of tourists with cameras at the ready and when you hear a door slide, or some wooden shoes clopping then you quickly head there to take a picture. Its a bit strange really, and I felt so bad for the Geishas, especially as the first Maiko we saw looked so tranquil and lovely, and me and Liam just stood there in wonderment as she walked past us , and then two american girls spotted her and pounced and ran after har flashing her with their cameras and shouting at her. I couldnt help taking a few pictures too though after I got over the shock and I think they`re used to is anyway, they probably like it, they cant really dress that way and not expect attention! Anyway, it was magical!
Later on we wandered down an alley that turned out to house a `love hotel`, look it up! It was really seedy and we saw loads of couples coming out and going in, and they say they`re supposed to be for married couples, but they are certainly not! It was very bizarre as so far we had only seen the happy, smiley sweet saide of Japan!
Anyway, Kyoto was amazing, it was just the right mix of new and trendy and old and traditonal. I`m sure I`ve missed so much out, but those we`re the memorable parts!
We`ve also been to Osaka and Himeji and are now in Nagasaki, but we must eat now!
xxx
Kyoto was fantastic! I know I have already been quite excitedly raving about Japan, but Kyoto really was cool.
We got bikes free from our hotel and cycled round to the castle and to Kinkakuji (The famous Golden Pavillion) and Rioanji (The most famous rock garden in the world apparently). My personal best part (Hannah - and I wrote the last two posts as well) has to have been going to the Gion distric of Kyoto where we went Geisha (or rather Maiko) spotting along Hanamachi-Dori (not sure if thats the right spelling)!!
It was amazing, the streets are really old-style and feel like a film set even more than Matsumoto, they are dimly lit and full of screen doors. Round each corner will be a couple of tourists with cameras at the ready and when you hear a door slide, or some wooden shoes clopping then you quickly head there to take a picture. Its a bit strange really, and I felt so bad for the Geishas, especially as the first Maiko we saw looked so tranquil and lovely, and me and Liam just stood there in wonderment as she walked past us , and then two american girls spotted her and pounced and ran after har flashing her with their cameras and shouting at her. I couldnt help taking a few pictures too though after I got over the shock and I think they`re used to is anyway, they probably like it, they cant really dress that way and not expect attention! Anyway, it was magical!
Later on we wandered down an alley that turned out to house a `love hotel`, look it up! It was really seedy and we saw loads of couples coming out and going in, and they say they`re supposed to be for married couples, but they are certainly not! It was very bizarre as so far we had only seen the happy, smiley sweet saide of Japan!
Anyway, Kyoto was amazing, it was just the right mix of new and trendy and old and traditonal. I`m sure I`ve missed so much out, but those we`re the memorable parts!
We`ve also been to Osaka and Himeji and are now in Nagasaki, but we must eat now!
xxx
Tom`s Place!
We arrived at Shizuoka and met the lovely Tom at the station. Shizuoka is a busy little town near to Tokyo, it had just the right mix of not being to big, but have a really nice and compact little town centre, with nice shops and places to eat and a reconstructed castle.
Tom`s house was a bit out of town and he took us on a bus (a new experience in Japan!) after a lovely cheap but very tasty meal. Tom`s apartment was lovely and had views of mt Fuji (we were told, but it was too hazy!), it even had a 100 yen shop nearby (Thankyou thank you Tom for showing us the wonders of 100 yen shops!). We bought some amazing bargains and then headed back to town where we had another lovely (this time chinese) meal and then played in the arcades!! We played this drumming game that aparently is a big craze, and loved it, we may become addicted now! We also had our pocture taken in this cool cool booth where you can hang on ladders and have different scenery and then you get the see the pictures on a screen and doodle on them and then they get made into stickers!! It was so much fun, after and ice cream and a beer on Tom`s balcony we went to sleep!
xxx
Tom`s house was a bit out of town and he took us on a bus (a new experience in Japan!) after a lovely cheap but very tasty meal. Tom`s apartment was lovely and had views of mt Fuji (we were told, but it was too hazy!), it even had a 100 yen shop nearby (Thankyou thank you Tom for showing us the wonders of 100 yen shops!). We bought some amazing bargains and then headed back to town where we had another lovely (this time chinese) meal and then played in the arcades!! We played this drumming game that aparently is a big craze, and loved it, we may become addicted now! We also had our pocture taken in this cool cool booth where you can hang on ladders and have different scenery and then you get the see the pictures on a screen and doodle on them and then they get made into stickers!! It was so much fun, after and ice cream and a beer on Tom`s balcony we went to sleep!
xxx
Nagoya and Gero
Sorry! Its been a while, but we`ve been doing so much! Nagoya was a sprawling hub of a city, I believe it is Japans 3rd largest.
It was very very hot, but we managed to take a side-trip to Matsumoto (see Liam`s previous post), which was absolutely stunning, Matsumoto had some kind of frog theme going on and there were little frogs everywhere, there was a shrine with a similar name to the frog thing in supermario...so that must mean something! Anyway, it was incredible picturesque and some of the little alleyways with shops in them were so typically Japanese that they felt like being on a film set. I was very excited about buying a parasol/umberella, its the best thing in the world!
From Nagoya we were due to head to Gifu as I had heard that we could watch cormorant fishing from there, however, I messed up the booking and actually booked a night in Gero (a small spa town in the Gifu prefecture). It was an amazingly happy mistake! In our guide book there is barely a line on Gero, it says that it is a spa town and that old Japanese people go there. The book is so misleading! It was the most beauiful town set on two sides of the Hida river in a valley surrounded by Japans famour green green hills. We were lucky enough to be there on the day of their dragon fireworks festival. The town was full of Japanese people on their holidays (we didn`t see one other western tourist there), they were all dressed in traditional dress, yukatas and kimonos and there was festival food everywhere. There was so many young people and it had such a vibrant happy feel about it. We arrived at our hotel and found that there was a free bus from the station, when we got there we were sure that we still had the wrong place. We found it on `hosteworld.com` and it was down as a budget hotel, and we had paid a pittance for it. We arrived at what looked like a 5 star hotel, with a huge ornate traditional japanese-style lobby with hot spring water fountains which lead into a free footbath with rose petals in it. No one spoke english, so we explained that we were early, but they didnt undertand and were apologetic that they hadn`t prepared our room yet. So instead of the western-style, shared bathroom room we had booked, they really really apologetically lead us to a palace of a Japanese-style room with an ensuite and free tea and traditionally Geroian delicacies free! It was amazing!
After a shocked wander through Geros streets, where we met a lovely lady who ran an art gallery and couldnt speak a word of english but still kep us there and wouldnt stop chatting away and who asked us to paint pictures for her - which we did! We got our Yukatas on and, after readung the instructions again and again, headed to the hotels Onsen.
Men and women are separate, so we parted and got naked! Onsens are like huge baths of hot water which you relax in, its a strange concept because its already 35 degrees outside and then you get into scalding water, but it was great! Liam even went into the male outside one where everyone could see his nakedness! (the womens one was screened off). It was actually an amazing experience and we both enjoyed it loads!
Later on the fireworks started (after we ate some bananas on sticks covered in blue sweet stuff?!), everyone gathered by the banks of the river (there were thousands for such a tiny town!). The fireworks were spectactular and lasted for over an hour!
After that some music started in the street and everyone started dancing the same dance in a circle, we were told it was a summer dance, traditionally done because the heat of summer is so intense that you need some kind of escape in the cooler evenings. It was so beautiful to watch and it lasted well into the night (we could see it from our luxury hotel window).
The next day (after running out of the hotel in excitement because it REALLY was that cheap in the end!), we headed for the bullet train to take us to Shizuoka.
It was very very hot, but we managed to take a side-trip to Matsumoto (see Liam`s previous post), which was absolutely stunning, Matsumoto had some kind of frog theme going on and there were little frogs everywhere, there was a shrine with a similar name to the frog thing in supermario...so that must mean something! Anyway, it was incredible picturesque and some of the little alleyways with shops in them were so typically Japanese that they felt like being on a film set. I was very excited about buying a parasol/umberella, its the best thing in the world!
From Nagoya we were due to head to Gifu as I had heard that we could watch cormorant fishing from there, however, I messed up the booking and actually booked a night in Gero (a small spa town in the Gifu prefecture). It was an amazingly happy mistake! In our guide book there is barely a line on Gero, it says that it is a spa town and that old Japanese people go there. The book is so misleading! It was the most beauiful town set on two sides of the Hida river in a valley surrounded by Japans famour green green hills. We were lucky enough to be there on the day of their dragon fireworks festival. The town was full of Japanese people on their holidays (we didn`t see one other western tourist there), they were all dressed in traditional dress, yukatas and kimonos and there was festival food everywhere. There was so many young people and it had such a vibrant happy feel about it. We arrived at our hotel and found that there was a free bus from the station, when we got there we were sure that we still had the wrong place. We found it on `hosteworld.com` and it was down as a budget hotel, and we had paid a pittance for it. We arrived at what looked like a 5 star hotel, with a huge ornate traditional japanese-style lobby with hot spring water fountains which lead into a free footbath with rose petals in it. No one spoke english, so we explained that we were early, but they didnt undertand and were apologetic that they hadn`t prepared our room yet. So instead of the western-style, shared bathroom room we had booked, they really really apologetically lead us to a palace of a Japanese-style room with an ensuite and free tea and traditionally Geroian delicacies free! It was amazing!
After a shocked wander through Geros streets, where we met a lovely lady who ran an art gallery and couldnt speak a word of english but still kep us there and wouldnt stop chatting away and who asked us to paint pictures for her - which we did! We got our Yukatas on and, after readung the instructions again and again, headed to the hotels Onsen.
Men and women are separate, so we parted and got naked! Onsens are like huge baths of hot water which you relax in, its a strange concept because its already 35 degrees outside and then you get into scalding water, but it was great! Liam even went into the male outside one where everyone could see his nakedness! (the womens one was screened off). It was actually an amazing experience and we both enjoyed it loads!
Later on the fireworks started (after we ate some bananas on sticks covered in blue sweet stuff?!), everyone gathered by the banks of the river (there were thousands for such a tiny town!). The fireworks were spectactular and lasted for over an hour!
After that some music started in the street and everyone started dancing the same dance in a circle, we were told it was a summer dance, traditionally done because the heat of summer is so intense that you need some kind of escape in the cooler evenings. It was so beautiful to watch and it lasted well into the night (we could see it from our luxury hotel window).
The next day (after running out of the hotel in excitement because it REALLY was that cheap in the end!), we headed for the bullet train to take us to Shizuoka.
Friday, 1 August 2008
Day 3 - Matsumoto
Just a quick update from me (Liam) as to what we got up too today. We ventured out from Nagoya to Matsumoto to visit the castle there. The castle is only one of a few castles left in Japan in its original state apart from a few repairs. Its is a beautiful castle which was built not on a hill as castles normally are. The ticket for the castle also gave us access to the near by Matsumoto City Museum.
We have just got into our hotel from gorging at a nearby restaurant and now looking at hostels to book or a few days.
X
We have just got into our hotel from gorging at a nearby restaurant and now looking at hostels to book or a few days.
X
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