it begins: Indonesia

After an evening layover in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, Sarah, Mark and I touched down on Bali, a small bustling island in eastern Indonesia, popular for its Hindu temples, beaches, and indigenous art scene.

Lindsey arrived several hours later, after a heroic 26 hr journey from NY that involved a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska. We were all happy to see her awesome red hair. AND SO THE TRIP BEGAN.Mark bartered a cheap taxi to our hotel, about 45mins away in a small beach town called Sanur. Taxi slalomed through heavy traffic on small winding streets full of people, construction, chickens, and stray dogs. scooters are everywhere and immediately exploit any openings in the traffic. it's amazing any of the cars still have their side view mirrors. Petrol is sold in plastic bottles in booths on the roadside.

Smells are great. Spicy, tangy, meaty smells. We pass a lot of construction. sidewalks sometimes have holes in them that drop 4' to where water flows below. a literal tourist trap. Everythign here is somewhere between being built, rebuilt, and eroding away. I see one man operating a jackhammer in sandals, which is just cool. Whole families pile onto scooters, and, though the driving age here is 18, we've seen children as young as 10, sometimes three to one bike, zipping past.
Our hotel in Sanur is really nice. tile and old polished wood and with a garden abutting an ornate temple. we dropped off our bags and headed into town.

Most people here are poor, but they don't beg, instead they offer "services", which can be anything from a ride in their car (hello- taxi, taxi!) to a curbside massage. Art stands are everywhere. Clothing, trinkets, masks, for example, and all of them full of color (even fishing boats are works of art). Lots of stray dogs, too (and rabies, we've been told), to say nothing of our fellow hoard of photo-snapping Caucasians (it's peak tourist season).

The next day we hire a driver (a sweet man named Wayan), who, for $35, drives us around Bali for the day. We visit several pretty beaches and then make our way (along with what seems like half the hoard) to one of the more famous temples in the area. It's perched high on a cliff and overlooks the ocean and is equipped with monkeys (monkeys trained to pickpocket items from tourists who then have to pay a handler to retrieve the items... which we witnessed, a confused Japanese couple).

Then, as the sun set, we were herded into a small colosseum to see a traditional "fire dance." A cast iron serpent with many heads had each of its mouths stuffed with fuel and was then ignited. then forty or so bare chested men emerged, surrounded the thing, and sitting cross-legged began fluttering the their hands toward the flames in tempo with the rhythm, whch they produced using an array of complex vocalizations. Eerie and very cool. eventually, other dancers in costumes emerged, one of which was a large baboon.

Afterward, the Caucasian hoard dispersed, most of them packed as we were into the backseat of a local hired "driver." yes, there was a traffic jam on the way back to the hotel. and yes, Wayan confirmed that the extent of the hoard and the traffic are about ten years old. Lifestyles here have had to change fast.

Tomorrow Wayan will drive us to Ubud, the cultural and literal center of Bali. We are expecting it to be less crowded and touristy. And in teh backs of our minds, of course, is the fact that soon we will be far away from such things.

Goodbye Japan! We will miss you!

After spending a year in Kudamatsu, it was time for Chris & I to say goodbye last Saturday. We knew leaving was the right decision but we couldn't help but question why we were leaving the kids, friendships, and countryside we have grown to love so much. We couldn't have picked a better way to say goodbye to Japan because on our last night we had the opportunity to perform at our local festival with our Taiko drumming group. We'd been practicing with them for the last couple months. As you can see from the pictures below, the average age is about 7 years old but they can still out drum us any day.

We were pretty nervous so Mai helped us warm up.

To the left: Chris and I with an exchange student, Michelle, from Switzerland and a student from my technical high school plus fellow drummers.

Below: Mai, Chris, our Taiko instructor Baba Sensei (quite possibly the most patient man in the world) and me.


Of course we had to have one last meal with Hiromi and her husband Masauki. We all managed to avoid crying until we got to the bus station for the overnight to Osaka. Hiromi has taken such good care of us and the only thing that made saying goodbye a little easier was knowing that she will come visit us next September with her baby boy who is due in about a month.

Japan in a week

Tokyo
Just a week into our adventure and we have experienced a sizable portion of Japan. I rendezvoused in Tokyo with Sarah (sister) and Chris (future brother) and we hit the ground running, exploring the bustling streets of the world's largest metropolis. There were throngs of people everywhere as we ambled down the narrow and sinuous streets marveling at the bizarre offerings of the shops and restaurants.
Photo to the right is a photo of a market in the Ueno neighborhood..

During our brief two days in the city we were able to explore much, bearing witness to the unique, nay odd aspects of Japanese life, including a christian themed dining experience (see Chris with candle below) and 7am sashimi breakfast at the fish market (note strange stuffed wildcat next to dried squid at bottom right).

Nikko
After Tokyo we were off to Nikko home of many amazing world heritage shrines and temples. We spent the day achieving our inner zen and then set up camp nearby. The sleeping quarters were a bit tight as our tent did not allow for much elbow room, but we slept well after a hearty meal of assorted grilled seafood items.























Mt. Fuji
The next day we were off to Mt. Fuji or as the Japanese say Fuji San. We set up camp in the five lakes region. The guide book had said that Fuji was "notoriously shy" but we really lucked out the next morning when after an arduous hike the great Fuji San revealed his majestic peak.



Kyoto
No time to rest, as we continued making our way south though the island of Honshu to Kyoto. Kyoto was a beautiful city and around each corner lay ever more impressive charming streets and magnificent shrines. Best of all in Kyoto was the food! On our first night we sampled Sake and Unagi (eel) followed by a red bean dessert. This was just a warm up for the nest night when we had a truly grand 9 course feast comprised of such delicacies as whole river trout baked in miso, octopus, ikura (salmon roe) and peach soup.