My Guesthouse in Laos

I am staying at the venerable Oudalon GH. It is on the SW side of town that sees very few tourists, actually most of the guests are cousins of the owner.









My room in the GH. Comfy bed. Gets a little chilly at night since there is only a screen for a window, nothing to close. Does have beautiful silk window shades...












The view from my window. The wooden shack in front is where the owners live and operate a laundry service. When I eat dinner with the family, we eat on the picnic tables in front. Laundry costs $0.80 per kg.











The lightswitch in my room. Don't touch anything metal, that's my advice.













And that most important of places, the toilet (and shower). There's a couple things to note here. The bucket is for low-tech flushing, not washing. The shower only has one knob, and yes, its not for hot water...

Day one in Laos

I wasn't nervous about landing in Laos like I was in Bangkok, somehow I could sense the laid back vibe before I even set foot here.

The pace here is so laid back and friendly, I immediately felt comfortable. After meeting the people I will be volunteering with over a fried rice lunch. Photo of my first, of presumably many, beerlao along the bank of the Mekong river.


After meeting some other volunteers over dinner, the inducted me in the Laos disco. I certainly wasn't thinking about discos when I signed up for this. Place is crazy! There was hip-hop dancing to modern Laos music. Line dancing. Laos version of salsa dancing. Sad slow songs. All while being at least two feet taller than anyone in the entire place. Plus there were massages while peeing in the WC. Too much info for one paragraph? That's kind of how the evening felt to me...

Met so many wonderful people at the disco last night, I hope that I can remember your monosyllabic names the next time we meet. Cheers!

Cock Fighting

Went to the weekend market, which was amazing in and of itself, but my friend and I happened upon a line of roosters in cages. Around the corner was a bunch of shouting, I realized they were cocks for fighting...

Pangs of animal rights and animal cruelty kept flashing through my head, but I had to remind myself to observe. This was real Thai culture in action that we had stumbled upon. Lasted a lot longer than I would have guessed, the single match lasted thirty minutes at least. Lots of shouting from guys watching. Feather flew. Money changed hands. In the end, I'm not even sure which cock won, they both looked exhausted.

I had heard that they attach razors or knifes to the cocks legs but this was not the case today. Perhaps it was just a training fight, which is why it lasted so long and ended without a clear winner. I really have no idea.

Loi Krathong festival

Was lucky enough that my week of layover in Bangkok between Japan and Laos landed on a major festival called Loi Krathong that is celebrated on the full moon night of the 12th lunar month (mid-November). Also known as the Festival of Lights, the banks of the Chao Phraya river shine with Krathong and boom with fireworks.

The word Loi means to float and Krathong is a cup created with banana leaves in the shape of lotus petals and adorned with flowers, incense, candles and coins. People dress in their finest clothes and make a wish before drifting their Krathong onto the river. The floating of the Krathong is intended to expel all sins and sufferings as well as ask for amnesties to the Goddess of the River in contaminating her bounty.

I thought it was interesting they floated a bunch of junk, albeit beautiful at night, to ask forgiveness for "contaminating her bounty". Heard a second explanation that the ritual is meant to worship the Buddha's footprint on the bank of the Narmada River...



And then there were fireworks. Although not as impressive as Japanese fireworks in terms of size, the proximity to the crowds certainly made up for it. My chest was reverberating with each shell they exploded...

Apparently the festivals vary quite a lot across Thailand. A friend staying in Chiang Mai described thousands of Khom Fai released into the air. Imagine mini hot air balloons floating in the sky instead of the river. Sounded interesting..

Loi Krathong

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Bangkok everyone!

Send me photos of your feast and family and I will post them here if you like.

Art show

Tokyo Ramen

This is what multicolored Tokyo ramen looks like. Delicious eh? Not really, it is actually quite difficult to swallow. The locals don't call it ramen they actually call it "the subway".

My last two days in Japan I trolled the streets of Tokyo for supplies before I leave for Bangkok. Now that I am an expert in Japanese language, with all of the 50 words I know, navigating Tokyo (and the subway system) should now be easy. Wrong! Its just as difficult in Japanese as it is without.

But I survived... Now armed with a new journal full of empty white pages and a ticket from Bangkok to Luang Prabang airport I am set! SE Asia, here I come...

What a wonderful experience Japan has been. If anything stands out, it was the incredible hospitality. Thank you. I only hope that the USA can return the favor for you some day in the future. I will be back to slurp ramen noodles again...

Morioka leaves

I was surprised to find some Japanese maple leaves still changing colors in Morioka. A couple of my favorite photos from the park.

Farewell Party - どうもありがとうございます！

Very sad to be leaving friends in Hakodate, they threw me a going away party last night. Friend closed her restaurant, Cocolo, on a Friday night for a private party for me. Humbling. Amazing o-sakana nabe cooking; a sort of fish/veggie mixture that you cook yourself in a bowl of boiling broth with veggies. Wow, delicious! She went all out with salads and sashimi and snacks and beers. Even a cake. Did i mention i was humbled? I wish I could remember the names of all the different kinds of sashimi and the names of the veggies in the salads. I was having so much fun, I forgot to take photos during dinner, I suppose its best that way.

After dinner we went to Eileys and Yamashitas for a couple beers and to share the leftover food with everyone. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends in Hakodate. Thank you for the gifts, I only hope I can repay the hospitality someday.

Thank you my Hakodate friends!!

函館友人:
どうもありがとうございます！
私は、すぐにあなたに会います。

V ( ^ _ ^ ) V

Showa Shizan at Lake Toya

Decided to take a day trip to Lake Toya and Showa Shinzan.
Photo from the ropeway to the top of Mt. Usuzan.


Once I got to the top it started snowing. Big snowflakes. Keen sandals and ankle length socks were definitely not up to the challenge...


If you look at the timestamps, the photos are only 20 minutes apart...

Freezing cold, I stopped at the onsen hot springs in Toyako. What a view of the mountains from the rotemburo outdoor hot springs! Feeling uber clean and relaxed and warm I slurped some ramen at the onsen while waiting for the train to return me to Hakodate.

Noboribetsu

Day trip to Noboribetsu, the town of hell and devils. It is a hotbed of geothermal activity that the locals have used to create numerous onsen hot springs and themes of hell. Spent the morning hiking around the hell pits photographing boiling mud and steamy mountains. Took lunch at a delightful little noodle shop called Dosanko. The name is what the locals call themselves; I enjoyed giving them a hard time about it. Rode the ropeway to the top of the mountain and the view of the Lake Kuttara was amazing. A bit touristy, but there is a bear park and a mock Ainu village as well.



Spent several hours at the famous onsen in town. Its impressive. Huge glass walls give boiling bodies a sunset view of the hell pits. Saunas or varying temperatures and scents. Back massaging waterfall pools. Cold water shock pools. Outdoor rotemburo. Its become a bit of a hobby to compare the different onsens and their varying cultures across Japan. Wish I could take photos inside, but its kind of hard to smuggle a camera into a public spa with a hundred other naked men.

nb: blog comments

I finally figured out how to change the comment settings to allow anonymous and guest comments on my blog. Please comment away.

Shiretoko National Park

The name Shiretoko comes from the Ainu expression, "the end of the earth". I am now certain that the indigenous Ainu people were referring to the complicated set of bus and train transfers required to get here. Unfortunately, right now is between seasons, the majority of the autumn colors are gone and the icebergs have not yet shown up on the coast, so the park was mostly closed.

I did find one trail that was open down to a lighthouse from the nature center. Steep ocean side cliffs protect the national park from bergs (and people). In the spring there is a waterfall that comes down the canyon near the lighthouse, it is just a dribble right now.

The nearest town, Utoro was also mostly closed. Of all of the hotels, YH and minshuku in town, only two were open. And I was the only one staying there... Actually I was quite content to have the park and minshuku to myself.

This is one place I must return, and next time I will rent a car or motorcycle. If its summertime, I will trek through the chain of mountains. If its wintertime, I will ski through the park and watch the bergs arriving at the coast.

Sa-bai dee

Its official, I am off to Laos! I will be in Laos for up to three months as a volunteer, teaching English to the Buddhist monks. I will be staying in Luang Prabang, the former capital of Laos known as "the Kingdom of a Million Elephants", which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995. Wow!

Hopefully my main source of agony will be negotiating with tuk tuks and escaping mosquitoes but no doubt language will be a struggle until I am able to learn some Lao. It is a former French colony, but hopefully I will not need much of that French (I didn't learn) to squeak by.

But mostly I am excited to do some traveling that will benefit the local people as well.

Please send advice on Laos?! Where to go, what to do, language, food, books... Anything!

Off to the land of ant egg soup and fermented fish sauces...

Pop gan mai!

I am famous

OK not really.

http://collekite.com/taisetsu/modules/popnupblog/index.php?param=1-20071110100211

Photo from the ropeway lodge in Sounkyo Onsen. The workers thought I was crazy cause I was hiking in sandals and ankle length socks. They were right. But I hung my shoes and socks on their heater to dry. I was the most entertainment they`d had in weeks.

Sounkyo Ropeway and Canyon Hiking

Went to a little town called Sounkyo Onsen that is famous for its hot springs (is there a town in Japan that is not famous for its hot springs?), waterfalls in the gorge and Mount Kuro-dake above the ropeway.

Met a French girl named Sophie on the bus into town and we spent the next couple days hiking around Sounkyo.

Day one, we took the ropeway to the midpoint of Kurodake and hiked up the trail. I use the verb hiked loosely, perhaps post-holing up to my thigh is more appropriate... I was a little under dressed to say the least. We turned back before reaching the top because of blowing snow, but it was beautiful!

Ropeway:


Hiking:


So we contented our frozen selves with hot cocoa, hot ramen soup, and a soak in the hot onsen.

Day two, we hiked up the gorge to see the waterfalls and even with the majority of fall foliage gone, there are still some splashes of color clinging to branches.



A place to return for rock-climbing in the Summer, fall colors in Autumn and skiing down from the ropeway in Winter. Flowers in the Spring, who needs them.

Asahikawa Snow Crystal Museum

Walls of icicles behind glass under arched passageways. Everything is snow or snowflakes in this place. Glass doors etched with snowflakes. Handrails with snowflakes on them. Snowflakes on the ceiling. Floor tiles arranged in patterns of hexagons and snowflakes. Macro photographs of every single snowflake. Even the chain-links keeping me out were made of iron snowflakes...

A science section explains, in Japanese, the types of ice crystals and how & why they form. Luckily there were lots of pictures.

A beautiful painted dome named Kita no Sora (Northern Sky)is used for concerts and weddings.

The whole place, although beautiful, has a creepy feeling to it... I kept waiting to turn the corner and be zapped with an icy blast from the ice queen. Straight out of Narnia, this place.

They're proud of their snow in Hokkaido aren't they?

Sapporo friends

Some friends from Sapporo... Kyung Sik, guy from Seoul I met in the YH. A fun couple, Konomi and Shyue, who showed us around Sapporo one night...

Hokkaido University in Sapporo

This may be the most beautiful university campus in the world. Wow.

Spent the afternoon wandering the university campus and the museum attached to the science building.