My thoughts on the pilgrimage

This pilgrimage was the most challenging experience I have undertaken in my life. Whilst that probably doesn't say much since I have led a rather sheltered life, it has fundamentally changed my values and way of thinking. I am still thinking about what this pilgrimage has taught me but I still need some time to distance myself from it and from the present aches and pains I feel that colour how I am thinking about it mentally...if that makes sense.

It's been about 5 days since I finished and I guess my body realised it could finally rest. Consequently, I have been absolutely exhausted. I tire by the afternoon and often can't keep my eyes open past 9pm at night. Aches and pains that I thought I had overcome in the first couple of weeks came back with a vengeance.

I started the pilgrimage rather hard-core, walking about 10 hours everyday on very little sleep the night before since I slept outdoors. I didn't eat very well bc I wanted to just keep walking, when I think about it now I realise in the beginning my goal was just to reach as many temples as possible in a day and trying to keep pace with the other pilgrims. Certainly not in a very spiritual place during that time. I was in a lot of pain and often thought of giving up. Each morning I woke up at about 5 or 6am to start walking. A late morning was starting my walk at 7am. Since I slept outdoors I had to clear out fairly early anyway and I felt pretty good walking in the morning. It was after walking about 7 or 8 hours when the pain would set in and taking one painful step after another was a trial. Those were the times I wanted to quit and give up the crazy idea of walking an entire island. The pilgrimage seemed insurmountable and 88 temples was just one too many.

I still enjoyed each day of walking though. There was never a morning when I woke up and was depressed about being on the pilgrimage. I knew that doing the pilgrimage was a choice I made and I was determined to make the most of it. It was only those few hours in the afternoon when I would doubt myself. Looking back now, I realise that I needed to go through all those self-doubts and pain in order to appreciate my peace of mind in the latter half of the pilgrimage. On Day 3 of the pilgrimage whilst climbing for 7 hours up a mountain to Temple 12, I befriended 3 other Japanese guys who were also doing the pilgrimage. They were all about my age and we were all sleeping outdoors. The rest of the ppl I met were old guys and they all had bookings for hotels. So the 4 of us ended up walking an extra couple of hours down the mountain that day after reaching the peak and found a shelter in a parking lot. So I slept on a table and the other 3 guys slept on the ground. I guess being a female foreigner, alone on this pilgrimage and sleeping outdoors was pretty strange to other pilgrims I met. Consequently, those 3 guys felt like they had to take care of me and make sure I was ok. So we all traveled together after that and for the first 2 days life was easier for me; I didn't have to worry about reading the map, speaking Japanese or worrying about where to sleep at night. However not being in control of my time, keeping pace with guys who were much more hard-core than I was ... I slowly realised that taking this easy way out was making me unhappy. I thought long and hard on the 3rd day of traveling with these guys and came to the conclusion that I started this pilgrimage wanting to learn as much about myself as possible. Blindly following and relying on ppl to complete this pilgrimage for me was the wrong way of going about it. At the end of the third day with them, I thanked the guys but told them to go on ahead of me as I wanted to take it slower.

Doing the pilgrimage on my own after that was the best decision I could have made. While I walked, I had time to notice all the small things, take photos of moments that caught my fancy, stop and rest whenever I wanted, do a lot of thinking. I no longer felt so pressured to keep a pace that was not natural to me.

Being a pilgrim, I wore the pilgrim outfit. I walked with a walking stick, I wore the traditional white shirt that the Japanese wear when they die. I also had the big wide pilgrim hat but it was so big it kept hitting my huge backpack so I left it and used my old ladies' sun hat instead. The outfit identified me as someone different and I found the elderly locals approached me all the time; bowing, wishing me luck on completing the pilgrimage, and engaging me in conversation to understand why I was doing the pilgrimage. Usually they would try to help me any way they could. These gifts were called osetai and usually involved food, money, directions on how to get to a temple, shelter, lifts in the car or offers on taking my backpack to the next temple so that I could walk unburdened. It is rude to refuse osetai but I usually refused the car lifts unless it was very necessary. Sometimes the money osetai was a lot and I would refuse it but the locals would push the money at me anyway. I was always very touched whenever I received osetai. The kindness from these strangers were never asked for but always given freely. It made me appreciate just how much good there was in this world and how kind ppl are.

It wasn't until the 2nd week of the pilgrimage that I also came to another crucial lesson. It wasn't how much I suffered on this pilgrimage that would allow me to learn the most. Every night for the first two weeks my feet ached. Sometimes it ached so much it felt like my toes were falling off. On days when I walked over 40km I found that I was in so much pain at night I couldn't sleep and it would take me the next 2 days to recover. This, I realised, was not how I wanted to do the pilgrimage. Pain was not going to bring insights and lessons. I deliberately slowed down. I planned only about 30-35km of walking a day. By the third week I found I got more and more tired, on some days I rested early. I also booked more nights in Japanese inns so that I could have a good night of rest. I accepted car lifts during the day if it meant I could get to a place to sleep at night that was indoors. I also took the train a couple of times to shorten some distances that would require 2-3 days to cover between temples. It was no longer a "pure walk" on this pilgrimage but for me, it no longer mattered if it was a pure walk or not. What mattered was how I conducted myself on this pilgrimage, how I interacted with the locals, what lessons I learnt and my frame of mind.

My next lesson? I had to experience the bad in order to appreciate the good. I had to go through the entire spectrum in order to understand just how blessed I was. Not everyone I met were nice and kind. There were a few times when I found myself in some scary situations but I had faith that I would get through it. This didn't mean that I would be passive and rely on some higher power to see me through. One of those scary moments was staying in a zenkonyado (a free room provided by a local) with other pilgrims that I didn't know. We all got along really well and one of the pilgrims suggested we head out to the next temple together, a walk that was 2 days away. Even though I preferred to walk on my own, I didn't know how to refuse, so I agreed we would head out together the next morning. That night, one of the elderly ppl who ran the zenkonyado came up to me quietly and away from all the other ppl. He told me that the person that I was to travel with the next day was a "waruii no hito, sukoshi abunaii", quite literally, "a bad person, a little dangerous". I was shocked, he seemed fine to me but when I pressed him to explain, I found that my limited Japanese made it difficult to understand his reasoning. I concluded the elderly person was just overly cautious. The next morning however, another elderly man came up to me and expressed the same sentiments. This was then followed by a girl who was staying in the zenkonyado and she confirmed the man was not safe to travel with... I decided to leave straight away. I told the man that I would start on ahead and I would meet up with him at the end of the day since there was only one place to stay for the night between the 2 temples (a roadside hut, out in the open). What I was planning to do was walk as fast as I could for 10km to the expressway and catch a bus that would take me past that roadside hut and to another place to sleep for the night, closer to the next temple. By a sheer stroke of luck, my teacher Ms. Yamazato, quite out of the blue decided to look for me that day. Despite me being in the next prefecture and her not knowing where I was in the pilgrimage and us not being in touch for over a week...she found me. I was taken much further that day then I had planned, as far away as I could physically get from that bad person who was a little dangerous.

So the pilgrimage wasn't a walk in the park. The 2 typhoons added to the excitement, basically the only time I was glad my backpack was heavy bc it kept me anchored during the strong winds. Most of the temples happened to be located on top of mountains so I did a lot of trekking during the month, no matter what the weather. The only time I was scared for my safety was during the 2nd typhoon that hit Shikoku while I was climbing up and down 2 mountains to reach Temple 81 and 82 (there were 3 typhoons in total that hit Japan but one of them veered off and hit the main island instead) . I was completely alone on the mountain trails, it was raining hard, fog obscured the path and the heavy rains kept washing the trails away. It was a little dangerous going downhill and I was soaked right through despite wearing raingear, so I was chilled to the bone.

Despite that, the weather on the whole was pretty good. The hot spell was over on my first day of walking, the remaining days were sunny but not as oppressively hot as when I started. I kept meeting many kind ppl, my wellbeing kept improving as the pilgrimage progressed. I kept marveling at how lucky I was to be able to do the pilgrimage; to have the time, money and health to complete it. The 2nd typhoon hit on my second-last day of the pilgrimage so I had to stop early. It was the perfect way to end the final days of the pilgrimage bc I stopped at an onsen (public bath) that had an outdoor rock pool. It was so quintessentially Japanese; right in the middle of a typhoon, there I was soaking in an outdoor onsen, experiencing the wild wind and rain, while out piped fake nature noises through the speakers. It doesn't get more Japanese than that.

So for me, it was a life-changing experience. Though the days boiled down to walking and thinking, I experienced so much more than that. I stepped out of my comfort zone and accomplished something that in the beginning seemed impossible. I got to know Japan on a very personal level and it was the perfect way for me to say good-bye.

Tuesday Oct 26, 2004. 4.55pm. Dwayne's place, Aichi-ken, Japan

Pilgrimage COMPLETED!

I can't believe I am writing in this blog right now. Thank you so much to Dwayne for updating things for me. His calls every few days to check that I was still alive and keeping me sane with news of the outside world were wonderful, thanks D.

So it's been an amazing journey for me and I still can't believe that I actually did it. I can't even begin to describe all that I went through. It was a life-changing experience and writing up just one post just can't do it justice. I still need time to digest all that I have been through and all the lessons I have learnt on the way. Right now I am resting at Ms. Yamazato's place. My body is trying to recuperate and strangely enough I have had to sleep all day despite not doing a thing. Walking for 8-10 hours a day has been physically draining and walking through the last typhoon (incidentally the biggest one this year!) was really challenging esp. having to climb a couple of mountains the day before during heavy wind and rain. Hmm...I am going backwards in the tale!

So I could not have completed this pilgrimage without the immense kindness of many, many strangers. The ppl of Shikoku were absolutely amazing. I bumbled through it rather clumsily, constantly getting lost, never knowing what exactly I was getting into, got stranded a couple of times on the coast and on top of mountains, had to sleep outdoors quite a few times (I really roughed it in the first couple of weeks), walked through 2 typhoons, climbed too many mountains and fell a couple of times. I also met so many kind ppl on the way, they provided me with food, money, transportation and shelter during very crucial moments. I traipsed through the entire island of Shikoku with my steadily shrinking backpack, gaining a wicked tan on the way. By Day 3 I had left my tent, by temple 21 I had shipped off my change of clothes and unnecessary luxuries to Dwayne, by temple 51 I left my bed roll and sent off my sleeping bag.

I met ppl from all over Japan, slept in many strange places (train stations, under temple bells, roadside huts, toilet blocks...just to name a few) and also encountered one crazy woman who stalked me for an entire night. I walked through all 4 seasons, up and down too many mountains, along beautiful coast lines, down expressways, through lots of tunnels...ahhh but I digress...it was an amazing, incredible journey. I was definitely looked after by a higher power as I found myself in some very scary situations. Yesterday I somehow hitched a ride back from temple 88 to the next prefecture bc most of the roads were closed from landslides after the typhoon, all buses and trains were cancelled, I don't know how I did it esp. since I couldn't walk anymore, I had busted my right knee going down a steep mountain bc the typhoon from the night before had washed away the trail. The temple ppl from Temple 84 have a lot to answer for telling me it was perfectly safe to take that route. Ahh again I am getting off the topic, I keep rambling and going off on tangents.

I will write more coherently in the next week, being on the internet after an entire month is making me giddy.

Friday Oct 22, 2004. 4.48pm. Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku island. Ms. Yamazato's place

Shikoku Pilgrimmage, Day 29

This morning, Pauline is on her way to Temple 80. She's well into Kagawa Prefecture now, but there's another typhoon heading her way now. Just her luck. It's the third typhoon we've had since her trek began, and there will be a fourth before she finishes. That being said, she'll be finished in a few days!

Shikoku Pilgrimmage, Days 22-26

Day 22
Pauline is now on her way to Temple 65. This is the last temple in Ehime Prefecture, the rest of her trip will take place in Kagawa Prefecture. This trek will take another day for her to complete.

Day 26
Pauline has been flying through this trip, and is on her way to Temple 70. For the most part, the pilgrimmage has been smooth, but she has had a few rough spots lately...for example, the crazy lady who kept calling her hotel and the old guy who is against foreigners in Japan. Other than that, the people have be great. She's starting to be sad because the pilgrimmage is almost over. She has about one more week to go.

Shikoku Pilgrimmage, Days 17-21

Day 17
Pauline made it to Temple 37 in record time...she got a ride to the temple from an old teacher of ours. Ms. Yamazato has been meeting up with Pauline at various points thoughout the pilgrimmage, and this time decided to drive Pauline to the temple. Not bad, not bad at all.

Day 19
Pauline is on her way to Temple 44, which would be a ten hour walk, if she walked it. I called her and she was on the train. It won't take as long to get there, and at this pace she'll finish the pilgrimmage much quicker than expected. She says she's physically drained from the walking...I say she's lazy.

Day 21
There's a big typhoon on the way to Japan today. It won't be too bad in Shikoku, just a lot of rain. Pauline is on her way to Temple 51. She met a couple of older ladies who offered to take her to lunch, so she gladly accepted. After lunch, they kept her out of the rain by driving her to the next temple, a 20 km drive. Ah, the random kindness of strangers. She'll call it a day once she arrives at the temple.

Shikoku Pilgrimmage, Days 9-15

Changing the style a little bit. The title will be Day...whatever the day is. It's easier to track Pauline that way, methinks. Alot has gone on since the last time I wrote.

Day 9:
Pauline fought through strong rain to make it to Temple 24 before the fierce typhoon came. She even had a few hours to spare, although she fell flat on her face, and couldn't get up by herself because her pack was too heavy.

Day 13:
Tired and on her way to Temple 31. Had walked 40 kilometers the day before, and she sounded like it. Walking and crying, crying and walking, asking herself why she was doing this. Then she got over it and walked some more.

Day 15:
On the way to Temple 37. Making excellent time, quicker than expected. Long journey today, so most likely only one temple. She'll be in Ehime Prefecture in 2-3 days. But she's got a long walk to get there...should be fun.

Shikoku Pilgrimmage 3

Pauline is now on her way to Temple 24...midway there, to be exact. It's a two-day trip, 78 kilometers, and she'll enter Kochi prefecture at the end of this mini-journey.

Shikoku Pilgrimmage 2

Pauline is still in Tokushima Prefecture, and will be there for 2-3 more days. She's left Temple 19, and is on the way to 20. So far, she's walked an average of 30 km a day.

Shikoku Pilgrimmage 1

Pauline started the pilgrimmage around the island of Shikoku today. She has gotten to Temple 4, and will stop for the day at Temple 5. All-in-all, about 20 kilometers...not bad for a first day.

Being a pilgrim

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes! Am hoping I will be able to finish the pilgrimage, trying to be realistic. The weather here in Japan has not been helping, it's really hot and humid here, feels like being in a sauna outside. I didn't realise it was still so hot here despite it being autumn so have had to repack my backpack, got rid of some cold weather gear that I had bought in Korea. Yesterday I went to book my airline ticket back home and estimated 40 days to complete the pilgrimage. After reading some accounts on the internet and also since I will be carrying a tent and sleeping bag around (most ppl who do the pilgrimage don't carry that much stuff, they usually stay in inns and hotels at night) I think I may have under-estimated the time it will take to finish. I don't want to be rushing from temple to temple and with the heat and weight of my backpack...I am thinking 40 days is not enough. Added to that, my level of fitness is definitely not what it used to be, especially after sitting in a jeep in Mongolia 10 days in a row...! I am going to call the travel agent and change my airline ticket today, hoping 45 days is being more realistic. It's so hard having a flight deadline.

It was difficult saying goodbye to Fiona yesterday. She flew on the next available flight back to Canada, so it was an abrupt departure. It's strange to be doing the pilgrimage alone, we had done so much planning for it together and had been looking forward to it. It was Fiona's idea for it from the beginning so it's really sad that she couldn't complete it. She has to go back to be with her family though. So Fiona, if you are reading this - thank you so much, we did an awesome trip, I am still trying to digest how much we did in all those countries. Hope everything goes well with your godfather.

So I am leaving on Monday to go to Wakayama. Pilgrims usually begin their pilgrimage there. I have to buy my henro (pilgrim) gear, which includes a walking stick, hat and jacket to identify that I am a pilgrim. I will be carrying a book as well that will contain a stamp from each temple. As luck would have it, my favourite teacher while I was teaching here retired back to Shikoku and lives near the first temple. So I am staying with her for the first night - thanks Ms. Yamazato!

I'm not going to be contactable while I am walking since I don't have a mobile phone here anymore. I guess it's a worrying thought since no-one will know how I am doing while I walk. Dwayne has been kind enough to update this blog on where I am in my pilgrimage. So I am going to call Dwayne every few days to tell him I am still alive :)

So if all goes well, in about 40 or so days, I will be back online having finished the pilgrimage! I am really excited about starting it. Until then, take care!

9.19am Sat 18 Sep, 2004. Dwayne's place, Japan

A Nomadic Story Continued

Finally back in Japan! I walked out of the plane and just felt like I was finally back home. Sad that the incredible trip ended but really happy that I managed to do so much. It was the craziest, dirtiest, most interesting and tiring trip that I have ever done!! Oh the stories, the memories, all the photos that we took. Would have been a few thousand photos between me and Fi - at least! Not to mention all the videos... we just looked through my Mongolian videos today and nearly expired laughing so hard.

So some brief excerpts from my travel journal on the Mongolian road trip -

Day 1 - Thurs Sep 2, 2004. 8.36pm
I am sitting in the big tent that has been set up, vast plains abound! The sun is setting, the horizon looks awesome. The emptiness is quite mesmerising.

Day 2 - Friday 8.53pm
I am sitting at the Byanzag before a beautiful sunset, the cloud has formed an eagle and it looks as though a flaming eagle is about to set upon a group of gers. We have set camp at an amazing place where Zag trees take a thousand years to grow, almost the only vegetation to grow in this harsh, dry landscape. We went for an hour long camel ride around the Byanzag and also to the ruins where dinosaur bones were found. The camel ride was a lot of fun, mine was a female who seemed to go at a perpetual trot as I bounced up and down, trying to take pictures.

Day 3 - Sat, 7.34pm
In the middle of the Gobi desert. What are the chances that I am sitting here watching rainfall in the far distance? This place is amazing. Rather menacing clouds obscure the sun but the sun's rays are shining valiantly through. This morning we drove to the flaming cliffs, it was peaceful there until I had to pee. We then drove to the National Park called Yollym Am - Vulture's Mouth. We saw a nice meandering stream going through the valley; goats, horses, camels. Had an awful germ-infested lunch at a nomad family's ger - all through the walk I didn't know whether I wanted to puke or go to the toilet!
The driver and our guide, Uyanga are really friendly. I still miss Tibet but I can appreciate Mongolia for what it is.

Day 4 - Sun, 7.52pm
In a bad sandstorm at the moment! It's been an exciting day. We were climbing the Khongor sand dunes, an hour back later and we would have been caught in this sand storm!! The sand dunes were beautiful, climbed 2 peaks, the first of which I was pretty much on my hands and knees bc the slope was so steep! Just bad navigational judgement on my part though that was certainly an experience, wtih sand filling up my boots as I valiantly clawed my way up the steepest part. It was great getting to the peak and seeing all the sand dunes undulating across the horizon. I sat there for a while just taking it all in; the view, the heat, just the experience of sitting on a sand dune at the Gobi Desert.

We were there from 4-6pm and after we drove a little way to pitch our tents amongst the sandy desert. The wind was palpable but obviously not in full force so we were able to pitch both tents and have time left to boil water for afternoon tea. It was as we were sitting in Uyanga's tent that the wind picked up and blew at full force! Kym (the other girl on the trip with us) and I scrambled to zip up the tent flaps whilst simultaneously holding the walls up against the wind. It was a losing battle. Before long we heard Uyanga's voice outside the tent saying, "Come on girls, we're going to a ger." What followed was mad scrambling for our belongings during a severe sand storm that obscured my vision. The winds were so strong I could barely stand upright.

Certainly experienced all 4 seasons today in the desert, even saw a rainbow - the 2nd one on this trip!

Day 5, Mon 4.51pm
Not far out of the sand dunes this morning and our jeep got stuck in a ditch! It took our combined shrubbery-gathering skills and over an hour before we were free of the mud. The poor thousand-year old shrubs...though we had to be freed!

Day 6. Tues, 9.46am
Slept in a hotel last night, no hot water though unfortunately, so a cold hair-wash in a sink.
7.43pm - Here we are at Orkhon Waterfall and Gorge, it was really beautiful when we hiked it, pre-tourist horde. Nice to see water and vegetation again after the desert. In a beautiful ger right now as Uyanga prepares dinner, the days seem to have sped by.

Getting v. tired of sitting in a jeep esp. since I am a lot more wary of the driver, who stroked my hand twice and then told me he loved me. Ugh! How random! All I could think of was, why is it always the old gross ones who find me attractive?

Day 7. Wed, 11.32am
Our jeep is stuck in a river. We've been stuck here for abt an hour, currently awaiting the cavalry who is pulling apart a ger. Water level has been inexplicably rising, esp. in the back, may well be getting the floor wet. It's been an adventurous trip - we've been stuck in mud, caught in a sandstorm and now our jeep is drowning in the driver. At least the scenery is beautiful, sun is shining. We look like refugees w/all our luggage on one side of the riverbank, sitting on our mattresses, waiting for rescue.
9.36pm -
Well after 4 tries by a truck, our jeep was finally pulled out of the river. It was a long 4 hr journey to Tsetserleg though, sitting in the middle along a v.bumpy road was far fr pleasant. Addedto that, a lack of sleep last night. Ugh...long and strange story. Last nite as I was abt to fall asleep, I felt my bed move a few times. In my sleepy state I thought perhaps there was smthg under my bed. I stretched out in my sleepg bag into a more comfortable position when suddenly smthg grabbed my foot! I was freaked out, my first thought being a monster let loose. I surreptitiously reached over to my backpack and grabbed my torch. I realised it was the driver since his bed is at the foot of mine. It was a long and sleepless nite as I fell asleep fitfully whilst holding onto my torch... as a weapon I guess. I also didnt stretch out fully the entire nite lest he reach over and grab me again.

Day 8, Thurs 4.20pm
Just came down from climbing the Khorgo Volcano.

Day 9, Fri 12.06pm
We have left White Lake, it was beautiful there. We stayed in a ger overlooking the lake. Went for a 2hr horse-ride up and down hills. I sat on a gorgeous black horse that was soo lazy! She wouldn't move faster than a trot though later I found it was a good thing since, on our way back, the horse guide forced my lazy horse into a fast canter and I thought my internal organs were going to be jarred out through my mouth!

Driver has been a real dick- been ignoring him the past few days. Last night I built a veritable fortress of my clothes and bags against the bed posts closest to his bed. He has been driving like a maniac across pot-hole filled roads, been short-tempered and basically an ass.

Day 10, Sat 10pm
We drove all day and got back to UB at 4pm. We paid for our tour and told the guesthouse abt the driver's behaviour. They were understandably shocked.

The trip was good, I'm glad I did it bc some of the sights were amazing, def. not the same level of awe as in Tibet but glad it was done. A little tired and run-down right now.

So I'm going to start the pilgrimage next Monday.

I feel like all that has happened during my stay in Japan and on this trip, has led me to this point where I am mentally prepared to do the pilgrimage. I'm aware of how difficult this is going to be but I also have this deep-seated belief that I was meant to do this. I feel that this will be a true test of my character, of my ability to finish what I have started. I need this time alone to just contemplate all I have done and what my next steps will be back home in Australia. What better way to ponder than on your feet, as a pilgrim, walking a path that other pilgrims have followed for a thousand years, pondering the same questions? It's getting late here in Japan, I'm sounding very abstract and probably not making much sense.

To all those who are worried, I will be fine. Whatever is meant to happen, will happen - so there is no point in feeling trepidation for the unknown. I'll see what I can do about finding internet access on the pilgrimage path, if not, will update in abt 5-6 week's time.

Fri 17 Sep, 2004. 12.14am - Kuz's place, Japan.

Shopaholics Anonymous

Wow the last 2 days here in Korea has been consumed with shopping and eating. I can't believe how much Fiona and I shopped. Literally we did 10 hours non-stop and managed to each blow a grand in one day! It's been crazy but definitely fruitful shopping, too bad for me I can't wear any of the autumn clothes for another 6 months when I get back to Aus, being practical was never one of my strong points.

I know I have a lot to write about regarding Mongolia but there is so much to write that these half hour spells at the internet cafe won't be able to cover it. I am heading back to Japan on thursday though, so will be able to update at leisure then.

Everything is going great, am really churning up the Korean economy.

8.27pm Tues Sep 14, 2004. Seoul, Korea

Kimchi ... and going solo

Am in Seoul right now - ahhh civilisation....loving it here - the electricity, plumbing (actually indoors!), running water! really missed these necessities!

We found a semi-love hotel to stay in that is pretty reasonable, in a great location. It's been great being reacquainted with delicious food (no more mutton, thank god!), shopping, oh the shopping!

So it's only been a few hours here but already blew a wad of money, I guess infrastructure and customer service comes at a price. Anyway, I am long overdue for a spending spree so it's all good.

The big news is...Fiona is flying back to Canada early and won't be doing the Buddhist Pilgrimage anymore. I've decided to continue doing it on my own so whilst it is kinda scary, I am really looking forward to it still, actually even more so bc it will be a true test of my character, faith and willpower. So will be walking the Shikoku island - a distance of 1400km, up and down mountains to get to 88 temples and camping at nights on my own. It will be tough, I am being realistic about it, but it will be an incredible life-changing experience.

Loving Seoul right now. We are just focused on enjoying the food and shopping, it will be a chill 5 days or so before returning to Japan.

Sun Sep 12, 2004. 5.29pm Seoul, Korea

A 10 day Nomadic Existence

Just came back from traveling around Mongolia for 10 days, we packed so much into 10 days that even our guide told us she has never done so much. It was pretty incredible, visited the Gobi desert and pitched our tents on the Mongolian steppes - vast open plains as far as the eye can see with no obstructions except maybe a few gers in the distance. We pitched tents for the first 4 nights but as we travelled further north it got steadily colder, so the rest of the time we stayed in gers - now that was a great experience. Also saw a beautiful lake, climbed a volcano, rolled around on sand dunes and even walked (ok crawled) to the peak of a few. My dirt record so far is 5 days without a shower :)

There is so much to write about but right now I am extremely exhausted and hungry, we just got back. One of the more crazy things that happened was our driver developed a crush on me during the trip, it was so gross. He stroked my hand twice while driving, felt the need to tell me he loved me AND THEN, during one of the nights we all shared a ger, he took the bed at the foot of mine and in the middle of the night, grabbed my foot. ICK ICK ICK!!! When I rejected him, he proceeded to be in a shitty mood for the remainder of our trip and basically drove like a reckless maniac. That was a crazy experience.

Anyway, will write more later, my growling stomach requires food!

Oh, heading to Korea tomorrow and staying for 5 days after which going back to Japan.

Sep 11, 2004. 7.05pm Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia

Tearful Good-bye to Tibet

Literally. I have never cried leaving a hotel before, it's a crazy tale and even Fiona and I find it quite amusing though the sadness from leaving Tibet is very real.

Our final day in Lhasa at the Gorkha Hotel was incredibly sad. The weather matched our mood, wet and dreary. I came down for breakfast to our regular breakfast nook, looked about the beautiful restaurant and felt very depressed. The night before Karma came by to visit us in our rooms to say good-bye and to gossip about what we did that day. He is so amazing. We were so subdued for breakfast that morning. Our cute restaurant manager who has the most beautiful smile (and who I have a crush on) came by for our usual small talk, he told us the staff were sad to see us go.

That morning, Karma invited us up to see his private suites, we walked about as he spoke of the improvements he was making to the hotel (the hotel only opened 2 months ago, it is absolutely beautiful and the food at the restaurant is amazing - we ate there for all our meals, the chef came from a 5 star hotel in Nepal).

The rest of the day sped by, we had a final lunch and Fiona left to get our bags. I saw the porter bringing our bags down and the stark reality of leaving such an incredible hotel and city really hit me. We sat down on a bench overlooking the courtyard and Fiona started crying. Even writing about this last day now is bringing tears to my eyes. I have never felt such incredible comfort and ease living in a hotel, the owner and staff literally welcomed us like family. Lhasa city itself is gorgeous, I really loved it there. The last few days were idyllic, I woke up each morning in a beautiful Tibetan-designed room, waltzed downstairs for a yummy breakfast as I contemplated what to do that day. Do I go for a massage, go around the Barkor circuit deciding what to buy, roam around the city experiencing the friendliness and vibrancy? I would invariably find something new to buy and meet some old Tibetan stallkeeper who I would sit and chat with for a while as we swapped life stories. There were 2 old stallkeepers that I actually went back to for quick chats during my last few days there, they were so welcoming and warm, when I caught a cold the old lady was worried for me. The ppl there are beautiful and I was so lucky I was able to communicate with them.

After roaming about, I would go back to the Gorkha for lunch. Have more chats with the cute restaurant manager, it felt like I had to compete with him on who could smile the biggest, he really did have a beautiful smile. What I miss the most though is seeing Karma's face as I walked through the foyer of the hotel, he would have this wide grin, greet me and ask me what I did, what I bought, sit there at the restaurant chatting to me as I ate lunch. On the plane ride out of Lhasa his face would intermittently surface in my mind and I would feel like crying all over again.

So back to our final hour there, after trying to compose ourselves since I had started crying too, we walked out into the foyer and saw Karma waiting there for us. Karma had these white scarves that he placed over our heads to keep us safe on our travels. So much for composing ourselves, I just began crying like a baby. Thinking about it now, it was quite funny how emotional we got. Karma was hugging us good-bye, making us promise to email him so he would know we got to Mongolia safely. I have never cried so much, not even leaving Australia or Japan! I guess knowing that I would probably not be returning anytime soon was a huge contributing factor.

Lhasa is definitely my favourite city of all time. We arrived into Mongolia and it just doesn't feel right. I want to go back to a place that welcomes me. Where I can discover new things about the city each time I go out the door. Where I can return and feel like it's home.

I am grateful that I experienced it though. Tibet is wonderful and I am grateful for all these priceless memories. It's a pity Mongolia was next on the itinerary, there is no way it can compete. We walked into our guesthouse today in Ulaan Bataar and saw our room, it doesn't feel right. The capital of Mongolia itself is a huge disappointment, quite ugly as it tries to westernise, there is no culture here. We embark on a 10 day tour around Mongolia tomorrow, covering the Gobi desert, a volcano, sand dunes and lots of other wonderful sites. I hope it takes my mind off leaving Tibet. We have decided to only stay a few days in the city itself and then head on to Korea. I can't believe what a heavy influence Korea has in this city!

Since leaving Tibet I have begun thinking of returning back home to Australia. I realise how important it is to have friends and family nearby. We have decided to cut our stay in Mongolia short, we are covering the main sites but won't be spending as much time as originally planned. I am looking forward to going back to Japan and completing the pilgrimage and then returning home to Australia and beginning a new life there. Tibet has put things into perspective for me.

4.19pm, Wed Sep 1st, 2004. Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia.

Gorkha, what an amazing hotel!

Last night here in Lhasa, we have been so incredibly lucky to have stayed at the Gorkha Hotel. So this sounds like some shameless plug but you would not believe how amazing the staff and the owner of this hotel has been.  Just today the hotel owner (Karma) took Fiona and I to a monastery and drove us around to show us some beautiful countryside and mountains. He lent us his driver so we could run some errands.  I just came back from playing tennis with Karma and his friends at some ritzy tennis club. It sounds strange right? but he is an amazing guy. We have even swapped emails and will probably keep in touch with him.

 

So both Fi and I both have crushes on these 2 guys working here. Good looking nepali guys!! lol. We've been laughing all day about it and even Karma knows and has been making fun of Fi about her crush cos she makes it so obvious! Each time she walks by reception she has this huge smile on her face. It's hilarious! Anyway, the staff really are great, so friendly. So sad to leave Tibet tomorrow, it's been like home here with everyone taking care of us esp when we were sick a couple of days ago.

 

So did a bunch of shopping today, posted all the souvenirs home. Stuff I bought was apparently fake antiques though, grrr...the ppl seemed so trustworthy. Oh well, it's all nice stuff and my non-existent apartment is already half furnished.

 

It's been so amazing here in Tibet, we were considering staying a few more days (most ostensibly bc of the hot staff here!! lol) but we are heading on to Mongolia. I'm really sad to leave, I really feel like this hotel has been a second home.

 

oh btw, if you want to check out fi's blog, her url is: http://fionastory.blogspot.com

 

9:03pm, 30th Aug 2004. Lhasa city, Tibet

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Mt Everest & Our Rescue Mission

So back in Lhasa city after 9 days of traveling on the landcruiser. It was such an incredible trip, can't believe how much ground we covered! I can't remember what I wrote in the last blog so from memory, we went to the following cities on days 5 to 9: Sakya, Shagar, Rombuk and then back to Shigatse.

 

So the highlight was definitely getting to Mt.Everest! Seeing the peak was amazing, I must have taken at least 50 photos of the peak alone, from all different angles and vantage points. We were so exceptionally lucky that it was a clear day when we got there, apparently during this season it's common to have cloudy days so another lucky mountain viewing day for us!  (Fuji being the other one).

 

The altitude at 5220m nearly did me in though.  I developed a throbbing headache walking the 2 hours to base camp, when I made it I just collapsed at the Everest tea house, drinking copious amounts of tea. It's hard to describe how I had to keep figuratively pinching myself each time I saw the mountain, this is the highest mountain in the world...who knew I would see it?!

 

We stayed there for a couple of hours, the others walked the extra hour or so to the glacier, I made it halfway, thought I would pass out so walked back to base camp. From base camp we had to all walk back to the town of Rombuk where our driver was waiting for us. How lucky for me that our driver realised that something may well have been wrong when we didn't arrive at our designated time and decided to bribe the local police official (PSB) and drive through the barricade. He met us halfway and sure enough, Mark and I were both feeling sick. Our driver was the best, definitely going above and beyond the call of driver duty.

 

So on our drive back to Shagar to our hotel, we happened upon an accident. Our driver stopped the car and I asked the ppl milling about what was happening. The landcruiser in front of us had broken its axle, hit the gutter (not a real gutter considering we were driving on mountainous terrain) and had rolled over 3 times. One more roll and it would have gone over. The windscreen was smashed up and had bloodstains all over it. Luckily no-one was badly injured, just the driver and the female passenger was hurt. The others in the car were standing around while Tenzin, our driver, went to work on the engine. Fiona and I bandaged the driver up, I issued my miracle drug, Ibuprofen, and our driver tied the damaged axle up with some rope. It was a pretty basic rescue mission. The driver had a sprained arm, was bleeding from his other arm, and yet he still wanted to drive his landcruiser the 4 hours back to the town. It was a slow and tortuous journey for all involved since the landcruiser had no windscreen and one of the headlights had busted. Our driver tried to light the way along the dark mountain passages whenever he could, the bunged up landcruiser kept breaking down along the way. We finally got back to town about 11pm, 5 hours longer than we had anticipated. It was certainly a drama-filled day!

 

Back in Lhasa city now, staying here for another 4 days and then flying on to Mongolia for another jeep journey around Mongolia. It's been a pretty incredible holiday so far but anticipating we will be back in Japan a LOT earlier than we expected given that we have covered quite a bit of ground here in Lhasa.

 

10:46pm, Sat Aug 27, 2004. Lhasa City, Tibet.

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Tibet Landcruising - Day 1 to 4

Have been on the road for 4 days now, traveling around Tibet in a beat-up 20 year old landcruiser. Our driver's name is Tenzin, he's a pretty cool guy; getting into snowball fights with us, making sure we get fed in clean restaurants, finding cheap hotels for us bc we are all on a budget. He only speaks Tibetan and Chinese so I have become the default translator on the trip. Fiona and I are traveling with 3 other guys; Mark, Tom and Alex.

Day 1 - Lhasa to Nam Tso Lake, 6 hours
This is the biggest holy lake in Tibet and it was breathtaking! It's the 2nd largest lake in China, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, fields of yaks, nomads. The colour of the lake was a gorgeous turquoise. We hiked around the kora (pilgrim) path, investigated caves and saw a monastery. The lake is at a pretty high elevation, about 5000m so we all suffered from AMS, Alex even fainted at one point but only bc he starved himself on the landcruiser ride up.
We stayed in these tents that seemed really cool during the day but at night it was sooo cold and we could hear the dogs howling all night. A storm hit us during the middle of the night and the tent started leaking! The funny thing was, our toilet was a communal patch of rocky dirt behind a big tree. It was pretty gross navigating through other ppl's faeces, esp during the early morning when everyone took their morning dump. That was certainly an experience. We left after one night.

Day 2 - Nam Tso Lake to Sygatse, 11 hours
This involved a LOOONG drive during the day on bumpy road and at one point through a snow storm. Despite the very old landcruiser we got and mostly bald tires, Tenzin is a great driver. This was a tiring day for all of us though since we didn't get any sleep during the night in those tents. We arrived into Sygatse fairly late at about 8pm, most of the hotels were full so we ended up at a hotel fairly far from town and stayed in dorm rooms that were incredibly filthy! Had to break out the sleeping bag again! I guess the fact that there was a toilet block was a plus, though it was little more than a trough. No showers in the dorm rooms! We had to go yet another day without a shower...my hair was getting so dirty I could barely run my fingers through it.

Day 3 - Sygatse

On this day we went to visit the monastery which was beautiful, this was where the previous Panchen Lamas were buried in these very elaborate chortens. We spent about 2 hours roaming around the monastery, visiting chapels. We then did the kora path up the mountain. At the summit we saw a gorgeous view of the old town. We decided to build our own chorten and put a little message inside, who knows whether any of us will be back. It would be funny if someone found our dinky little message.

So traveling with these guys has been ok. Mark and Tom are easy going and a lot of fun. Alex however is a different matter. He doesn't really do much with us, which is probably a good thing. In the afternoon we drove from Sygatse to Gyantse, about 1.5 hours away. After a false start with finding a hotel (where Tenzin very vehemently refused to stay in a hotel that Tom and Fiona found), we ended up in a nice hotel near the Gyantse Monastery that actually has shower facilities!!

Day 4 - Gyantse

Today we went to the monastery in the morning, again lots of exploring. Seeing old faded murals of buddhas. There was this one chapel that was dedicated to a demon god, or protector god, I don't remember what it was. That chapel involved going deep into a small doorway painted an angry red with a face of a demon on the outside. Inside there were all these scary looking murals of ppl being tortured, these masks of monsters hung all around the little chapel room. It was quite creepy.

We just came down from climbing the fort that was used to protect the Tibetans from an invading British army. In the middle of climbing the fort, there was an Anti-British Museum which was a laugh. The fort itself was enormous fun to explore, the altitude was wreaking havoc with our breathing but it didnt stop us from exploring ruined buildings, delving into dirty rooms, down ladders, through locked buildings. There were exhibits with models of Tibetans, by far the creepiest was a dungeon that was down a hole where you could see a model of a man with his legs cut off.

So there are only about 5 days left of this journey. It has been an eye-opening experience so far. I really love being in Tibet, it's a country that has so much history and culture. The ppl here are really wonderful! Oh, I just remembered on our last day in Lhasa, we went to the Chinese area of Lhasa to buy our airline tickets back out to Beijing...can you believe I got ripped off there??! I bought my airline ticket from the only government agency that is allowed to issue airline tickets, I got my change back and the guy gave me a counterfeit 20 yuan note! In a govt agency no less! I didn't find out until I went to pay for something with the change and the shopowner broke the news to me. The 20 yuan is not worth much at all but I was pissed that a chinese agency tried to dupe me. I went back to the same guy who gave me the change, he denied all knowledge and had the gall to look me in the eyes, lie and tell me that the note I was holding was definitely fake but he didn't give it to me. Such a liar! There were other experiences that day in the Chinese quarters; Mark having his sunnies stolen, me getting told off by the Chinese ticket ppl at the Potala Palace to f*ck off and flinging my money back at me, nearly getting ripped buying groceries... I was so glad to be back in the Tibetan quarter. It sounds ridiculous but that day left a really sour taste in my mouth.

So tomorrow our itin is covering an old and beautiful city called Sakya, I think about 6 hours drive away. The plan after we finish this landcruiser trip is to stay in Lhasa city for another 3 days and then flying into Beijing. Hopefully we get our connecting flight into Mongolia straight away.

6.38pm 21st Aug 2004. Saturday. Gyantse city, Tibet

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Drinking Yak Butter Tea with Monks

Yesterday was absolutely wonderful, I had the most amazing time. It started at a pretty horrendous hour though, had to wake up at 5.30am to catch a 6am bus to the Ganden Monastery. This is apparently THE monastery to visit if you don't visit any others, came very highly recommended. Reading from the Tibet guide though, the elevation was set at 4500m, about 1000m higher than the city of Lhasa. Due to AMS (altitude sickness) it's not a good idea to ascend to high areas unless you have been in Lhasa for a week. We had been in Lhasa for about 3 days. Fiona had second thoughts the night before about going since she is suffering from headaches, so yesterday morning she decided not to go. That left me, Tom and Mark. So at about 5.45am, Tom and I stumbled out blindly in the rain, through the maze of Tibetan streets to get to the bus stop on Barkor Square. Somehow we made it through the quirky turns without getting lost and arrived to a packed bus full of locals. Mark ended up oversleeping so he didn't make it.

The bus ride was completely crammed! I mean, no available space was left unused - the backseat alone accommodated 8 ppl! The aisle was filled with ppl sitting on small plastic stools. I proceeded to sleep for most of the way, it was freezing and still dark outside. I woke up to a chorus of "woahhh's", i guess the universal sound of awe. I looked out as the sun was rising out from the clouds, the bus was making its way up a long serpentine road to the monastery perched near the top of the mountain. Down below were a patchwork of fields, with this one long road meandering up the mountain. The clouds were hung low due to our altitude, the mountains looked so close. It really merited a few "woahhhs"!!

I could see Ganden Monastery at the top of the mountain, it was beautiful, the monastic complex sprawled the height and breadth of the top of the mountain with the main chapel in the centre. The monastery was the most ravaged during the Chinese cultural revolution, some of the buildings were ruined and rundown, the central area had been patched up.

We got some beautiful views down to the bottom of the mountain after arriving at 8am. There were only about 3 other tourists, the rest of the ppl visiting were pilgrims. Tom and I started exploring the complex starting with the centre. We walked around randomly, taking any stairs and ladders we could find, going into doorways that were open. Consequently we found lots of little cosy chapels, somehow stumbled onto a room that may or may not have been the toilet. I really hope it was but had my reservations as I did my business down the hole through the floor and found it all falling into another room....

The monks went about their business in the monasteries, they recited the sutras and we were able to see them practising without any pretense or pomp. It was a serene experience with the added excitement of finding different areas as we randomly climbed stairs and ladders that led us deeper into the complex.

By about 11am it started raining in earnest and I was frozen to the bone. We climbed onto a roof of one building and saw that on the roof of the next building there was a small shelter area where monks were tending to 3 boiling cauldrons. We were careful not to disturb the monks but in our wet, bedraggled state, we found ourselves crossing into the next building and climbing up a ladder to the roof to see if we could go under their shelter for a bit. The monks were so welcoming though and served us unending cups of yak butter tea. It was the most amazing experience thus far in Tibet, sitting with the monks, while it rained buckets all around us, trying to gulp down tea that tasted exactly like water with melted butter. Definitely an acquired taste that after countless cups, I still had not acquired. Different streams of monk kept coming up, most probably for the entertainment value of a couple of foreigners trying to communicate without a common language. The monks were wonderful, so friendly. We sat with them for over an hour as the rain poured around us, trying to make conversation, we tried to teach them english, they tried to teach us tibetan. About midday we saw that the rain had let up and we didn't want to disturb them any further from their daily duties, so we left and explored further up the monastery.

We wandered to the top areas, probably further than the normal tourist route. One of the monks directed us up some stairs and we found that it was another living area of the monks. We stopped at some windowsills and decided to have a snack when suddenly a voice high above our heads called out in greeting. It was a boy, probably about 14 or 15, he invited the 2 of us up to rest in the chapel he was looking after. So up we went and found ourselves in a chapel and this bright smiling Tibetan boy greeting us in Chinese. I was able to communicate with him for a bit and we shared our food with him. It was nice to find out about the daily lives of these monks, this boy called himself a "little lama" he had only lived in the monastery for a year. He had a thick stack of sutras that he was studying from while he looked after the little chapel. This was the only chapel we were able to take photos freely as all the chapels discouraged photo taking. It was a great place to rest for a bit as we waited for the bus to take us back to the city. I mentioned to our little friend that we wanted to hike up to the mountains to see the views and he offered to take us up there since he knew the area well. So we were taken around the back of the mountain to some more awe-inspiring views. By this time we were all getting along really well and during a really touching moment, our little friend said he would like to be our little brother, so I would be his big sister and Tom his big brother. That was so sweet! He even gave me his address so that we can continue communicating. He walked us all the way back down to the bus stop, on the way, we heard a shout from the roof of one of the buildings. It was the monks that we had yak tea with, they were waving good-bye to us.

On our bus ride back to the city, we had lots of fun with the locals since we were sitting near the back. Some of the older people were shy but the young ones were cute, constantly smiling. We played about with our cameras, even the adults getting into the spirit and having their pictures taken. It was great, they also looked out for us when the bus stopped for another monastery, made sure we got back to the bus at the right time.

The entire day was absolutely brilliant.

So tomorrow we are doing the 9 day landcruiser trip, visiting all the main areas and going all the way to the EBC. It's a little daunting since we will be on the road for a while, I'm sure we will be quite stinky by the time we get back but if Lhasa is anything to go by, I think this will be a fun experience. I probably won't be online til we get back, so in the meantime, take care.

5.02pm Tuesday 17 Aug, 2004

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I love Tibet!

Got into Tibet yesterday morning, the view from the plane was amazing. Snow-capped mountains, vast lakes. The plane made a landing between all the mountains, that was a little hair-raising but it was a very smooth flight.

We got a bus into Lhasa city that took about 2 hours (after waking up at 4am that morning, I fell asleep the entire way) and then proceeded to the popular backpacker hostel in the LP guide. Unfortunately we didn't realise that there was a huge festival happening today, so all the rooms and beds were booked out. After lots of phone calls, we managed to find a room in a hotel that was built about 2 months ago. The hotel is gorgeous.

On the bus ride, I met this great British backpacker called Tom, so we recruited him into our journey to the EBC. So that meant we had 4 ppl for our ride up there, then Mark met another guy at his hostel, a Canadian called Alex. That was great, we had enough ppl to organise a landcruiser ride all the way to Mt Everest base camp! After some discussions we settled on traveling for 9 days and visiting all the major sites in the Tibetan area. It's going to be an absolutely amazing trip. We set out this Wednesday and come back the following Friday. Since we are going to get so much done on this landcruiser trip, Fiona and I can head into Mongolia about a week earlier than planned. Everything has worked out so well.

So today was this huge festival at the Drepung Monastery. It actually started at 2.30am but we got there at 8.30am with a huge throng of Tibetans out to celebrate the yoghurt festival. It was so amazing to see this part of Tibetan culture. The Tibetans are such devout ppl, it was eye-opening to see how they practised their faith. We had to climb 30 minutes from the road to the monastery and then probably about a further 20 minutes through rocks to see this huge fabric with a picture of the Buddha on it. On our way into the monastery there was a huge crush of ppl and a rather narrow stairwell up. Everyone pushed en-masse up the steps and into the main entryway, it was rather dangerous given that one fall on those steps would mean being crushed, but the Tibetan ppl looked out for each other, it's so hard to explain but it wasn't the pushing and shoving that I was used to in China. At one point I was pushed off-balance and one of the Tibetan monks grabbed a hold of me and basically led me up the steps, holding me in a vice so that I wouldn't fall. She was so amazing but before I could turn around to thank her, she had disappeared into the crowd.

For our ride back into town, we hitched with the army! The stopped their pickup truck on the road and I waved to one of the army officers and asked in Chinese if we could get on. So all 4 of us, (Fiona, Mark, Tom and me) clamoured on with some other locals into the truck. That was pretty funny.

On to why I love Tibet so much. The ppl here are absolutely wonderful. They smile and are so friendly. The kids constantly shout out in greeting. We are living in the Tibetan quarters which has given us many chances to mix with the locals. One of my favourite moments yesterday was when we were roaming around the backstreets and stopped to watch a Tibetan dance performed by a girl on the street. I took a photo of these 2 cute little boys and showed them the picture on my digital camera. The squealed in delight and wanted to take more photos. They were adorable! The other kids in the neighbourhood soon clustered around wanting their pictures taken too. The adults then got into it, wanting to see pictures of their own kids. Even passer-byes were stopping to see the photos of the kids in their neighbourhood. I had a blast and got so many fantastic photos!!

The photos here in Tibet are priceless, especially of the locals. The colours, vibrancy and energy really shows up in the photos. Even the ppl are colourful with their ruddy cheeks and bright costumes.

I am having a fantastic time here in Tibet right now, so glad to be here.

Aug 15, 2004. Sunday. 4.22pm. Lhasa, Tibet

To Tibet Tomorrow!

We've been taking it real easy after our mountain trek, it's been nice to chill in our hotel room, eating lots of food and generally lazing around. We got a new room mate in our triple room and now have a new travel partner to journey into Tibet with! He's an Aussie guy called Mark who is keen to travel to Everest Base Camp (EBC) too. We totally lucked out meeting Mark, super-nice guy, really laidback and easy to talk to. Our original plans were to trek to the EBC but the journey there requires hiring a landcruiser which is really expensive! To hire the LC would cost about 6000yuan, but if we have 4 ppl on the trip it cuts the price down pp significantly. So now there are 3 of us, we just need one more backpacker, will probably find that person when we head down to Lhasa.

It's an early morning flight, getting picked up to go to the airport at 5.50am! So excited about seeing Tibet, been hearing really amazing stories of how friendly the Tibetan ppl are, the amazing scenery. We have to head out of Lhasa to really see what Tibet was like before the mass migration of the Chinese into Tibet. Apparently Lhasa has turned into a Chinese city so I am really keen to see outside of Lhasa. We will probably have to spend a week in Lhasa to acclimatise to the altitude, there is plenty to see in Lhasa, should keep us busy for that week. The symptoms of AMS sound pretty horrendous though, apparently we would be lucky if our only problems are vomiting and headaches!

It hit me that this is my last night in China. Probably will never head back here if I had the choice. I have seen most of the major tourist sites of Beijing and Shanghai a few months ago. Been to quite a few cities and am honestly not all that impressed. I loved Yangshuo though, so glad we spent the 5 days there, perhaps the activities somewhat spoiled us for the subsequent Chinese cities that we have visited. Looking back now, Yangshuo was so much fun, even the water cave, or what I now refer to as the 'death trap', was a good laugh. I think we were quite lucky to see the inside of the mountain pre-tourist hordes, considering we were only the 2nd group of ppl in there, it was about as untouched as we would ever get. Apparently the other water caves that have been around for a while are really spoilt with garish technicolour spot-lights illuminating stalactites that have grown grubby from too many sweaty hands touching it. Yangshuo was idyllic and will remain my favourite Chinese destination.

I can't believe we have only been traveling for 15 days, so much seems to have happened in the last 2 weeks. Hopefully Tibet will be awesome and we will be able to travel outside of the usual tourist zones. In order to do that though, we will have to wrestle with the PSB for permits, that I am not looking forward to. I don't know whether being able to speak Chinese would be a benefit or not. I know there would be resentment from the local Tibetan ppl given the destruction the Chinese government has caused (and continues to cause) to their history, their lands, the culture. I hope it won't filter down to individual travellers who share a Chinese heritage with the very ppl who are oppressing them. Hopefully this is just an errant and very narrow-minded worry on my part.

12.42pm. Chengdu city. Last day here! Fri Aug 13, 2004.

Hiking, electrocution and food poisoning.

What a crazy day yesterday! Absolutely nuts. Don't really know where to start so will just include the insane highlights...

To set the picture - we went up to the mountains for the "dramatic vistas" according to the LP guide. The day started off inauspiciously as we got on the bus and was shoved and pushed around as ppl scrambled for seats, it got particularly violent with Fiona getting scratched up and me exclaiming in exasperation, 'I friggin hate this country'...i know, not a very nice thing to say at all, I was just so irritated by people squeezing by me in the narrow bus alley in a bid to get to seats. I proceeded to sleep the entire way there on a little single seat behind the driver.

We got to the foot of the mountain and walked through one of the villages. A seemingly nice lady stopped us on the street and offered us a place to stay for 50yuan. We decided to check it out and saw that the room on the ground floor looked nice. We were in a rush to get to the summit of the mountain and back before night fall, so after some haggling, we paid for the room and left.

The hike up was great; waterfalls, trees, rickety old bridges, wooden pavilions, greenery everywhere, a pristine green lake that we crossed via boat. If it weren't for the hordes of Chinese tourists descending the mountain and having to navigate my way on the stone steps around the globules of spit, it would have been ideal... :)

We got 2 lots of cable cars back after racing for the last ones and the view from the first cable car ride was incredible...definitely dramatic vistas as promised.

Oh I forgot about the insane things that happened. The first one was getting screwed over at dinner when we got back to the hotel that woman ran. I ordered 2 dishes, the first was delivered to our table, it consisted of pig skin and fat. Pretty gross, but I figured it was one of the dishes that I ordered so nothing we could do about it. Ordering food is such a hit and miss affair, we have come to expect that we have about 50% chance of liking something we order. Anyway, after us half-heartedly pushing the fat around on that dish, we ate the 2nd dish and thought, hmm...the food here sux. That was when they delivered a third dish, my original order. I then told the lady we didn't order that first dish that was delivered, she assured me that I most definitely did. We figured, how much could pig fat cost? Imagine our surprise when we got our dinner bill! That dish was 2.5 times more expensive than the first dish I had ordered. I was so pissed at being duped like that. We coughed up the cash, went to our room feeling very unsettled. Found our ground floor room had these huge windows that open out to the courtyard and wouldn't lock. It didn't close properly either. The room at night was damp and actually rather dirty, in our haste to climb the mountain we didn't have a good look around. Now for the shower....

The lady came by to show us how it works. I forgot to mention that this lady only spoke the Sichuanese dialect. I know a few chinese dialects but sichuanese is not one of them, most of the time I kinda understand what is being said but this hot water shower thing was something that required 100% comprehension. The contraption involved an electrical power outlet into the hot water canister that was set on a wall above our heads. There was a power lever (one of the old-fashioned varieties that look like they belong on an electric chair to electrocute the prisoners), that was set next to the power plug. The power cord hung just below the hot water canister and connected to another plug on the side of the canister. There was a water lever (not a tap) that ensured water gushed out of the pipe. There was another nozzle on the canister but not quite sure what that did. The lady gave it a few good twists so I figured we didn't have to fuss with it. Does this sound like a safety hazard to you? Electricity power cords around water...?? Well, I kinda got the gist of it, reiterated what was said back to the lady in mandarin, she figured I understood. So I explained it to Fiona but told her I had reservations about this hot water thing. Fi was really gung-ho about trying it out so she stepped into the bathroom first....

As I was lazing around in bed I hear an explosion of water and then shrieks coming from the bathroom, I rush in and find that water has exploded out of the hot water canister and the most scary thing was sparks flying from the socket bc the electrical cord is getting wet. I shouted at Fi to get to the water lever and turn the water off. With that done, I gingerly stepped over to the power lever and pulled it up. After some zinging sparks, it all died down after which both Fi and I break out into peals of laughter. It was the most ridiculous situation and of course, neither of us had showers that night.

Now that room we were in was spooky. I don't quite know why I was so paranoid but I didn't feel safe there. Not being able to close our huge windows was a contributing factor, so was the big dude that came banging at our door at 10pm, ostensibly to give us a mosquito coil but he hung around for a while, checking out our room, there we were standing around in our pj's waiting for him to leave while he looked like he would sit down and watch the soccer game on tv with us. These were the same ppl who screwed us over for dinner, I didn't trust them at all.

I stayed up most of the night, the bed was clammy, I felt grimy, each little noise woke me up. After hardly any sleep, I hear Fi in the morning complaining of stomach pains. She got food poisoning from that dish of pig skin and fat....! At 7am we left the room without bothering to turn off lights, left the door ajar, it felt like we were breaking out of jail bc the doors were locked and we had to find an alternate way out through the kitchen.

We managed to flag a bus rumbling down the mountain road on the way to Chengdu city, it was completely full but as luck would have it, it was the same driver and his friend that drove us to the mountain (the same friend whom Fi insulted while getting on the bus!! lol, we were such bitches on the ride over). They recognised us and let us on board, we both sat on the luggage pad right in front of the bus and one of the guys proceeded to hit on me. What a crazy day at the mountain, all we wanted was to do some hiking... :) Definitely memorable.

4.22pm - Chengdu city. Aug 12, Thurs.

Sitting next to a fat slob at the internet cafe

...waiting for our bus to QingCheng mountain. There are ppl in these internet cafes in China that never leave their chairs. They chainsmoke as they play those online games or watch porn on the monitors.... just an observation as we have been in many an internet cafe.

So you might be wondering why I can still create blogs on my weblog despite the government blocks. I can't view, edit or delete any of my posts (which is annoying bc I can't really remember what I wrote) but I can intermittently create posts. If that doesn't work, there is an email function where I email posts to be weblog but the formatting ends up really messed up so I try not to use that option.

Wed Aug11, 11.18pm, Chengdu

Great Pandas & the Big Buddha

Went to the Panda research centre yesterday, pandas were adorable though seeing them splayed out from heat exhaustion in their cages was really disturbing. They do have an outside enclosure to play around in but the weather was just too hot for them. The pictures of them in their cages look rather awful, especially as they are just lying there, with no energy to move. The museum was interesting though, they showed a video going through the panda stages of dating, mating and breeding. These poor pandas have very little going for them in their love lives, not only are they too picky but they also only have the energy to have sex once a year. The likelihood of them naturally conceiving is so slim that they face extinction. This is where the scientists come in with these huge machines to conduct paternal DNA testing and artificial insemination...poor pandas. Interesting day yesterday though.

Have met a few backpackers that have been good to hang out with. Met this American guy yesterday who went on the same minibus to the panda research centre, we all ended up having Sichuan hotpot for dinner after roaming Chengdu city for an hour looking for a local restaurant. Finally found a great one after asking a few locals, all you can eat for 29yuan! The hot pot was so spicy I had tears in my eyes and sweat running down my face. It was sooo good!

Went on a day trip to Leshan to visit the Big Buddha today. For those Muni JETs out there, the only reason we went to see the buddha was because of the text in the ni-nen-sei text book about visiting Leshan. We thought, what the heck, we've been teaching the passage, we should see what the big deal was about. Took 1.5 hours on the bus to get there and we paid 70 yuan to basically look at other tourists. There were sooo many chinese tour groups there, do these ppl not work on a tuesday?! I decided to climb this look-out area that had a sign that said, "don't climb', found the gate unlocked so I persuaded Fiona to check it out. We got spooked since the stairwells up to the top of the turret were so dark. Sneaked back out the gate and met these 2 british backpackers outside, so all 4 of us went all the way to the top of the turret, ended up being nothing there. However we inadvertently started a trend bc as we came down, all these other chinese tourists were climbing up the narrow stairs to see what we were checking out. That was pretty funny. Nothing else was all that interesting, the Big Buddha was ... big. We
checked it out from all angles, at the head, from the river on a speedboat, from the riverside. It was an interesting day, not particularly exciting.

Oh we have booked our flights into Tibet for Saturday! So off to Tibet. We will probably end up back in Japan earlier than planned given we have cut out so much of our China trip. Tomorrow we are going hiking at one of the mountains an hour away. Will be there for 2 days, staying overnight in a monastery. Looking forward to being alone with nature, it should be awesome.

Aug 10, 10.26pm - Chengdu city.

soft sleeper all the way

arrived into chengdu at 7.30 this morning, 18 hours on a soft sleeper. by no means traveling in luxury (the LP guide has a lot to answer for, where were the potted plants, tv, wood paneling?!) but it was nice. 4 to a compartment, the other 2 was a chinese army dude and an aussie, both guys were quiet and considerate.

its been a good start, checked into the traffic hotel, 40 yuan for a bed in a triple, nice hotel. managed to get money out of the bank, found out organising tickets into tibet is easy. might visit some pandas today, go to leshan for the big buddha tomorrow. going to songpan for a horse trek for about 5 days. chengdu is a good city to be in. will be heading to tibet sometime next week. amazng what a good night's rest does to your disposition! am feeling great.

10.38am. Aug 9, 2004. chengdu city

Kunming City - it's nice here

Spent today hiking around the Western Hills and it was great. I was way too harsh about not liking China yesterday, I guess the train trip just did me in. This city is real chill and laidback, the locals here are friendly and whenever I ask them for directions or help, I don't see their eyes shift as they wonder how much to screw me over for. I like it here and perhaps our hasty departure was a litle premature. Never mind, to bigger and better things in Chengdu! Another 18 hour train ride tomorrow but in luxury!! Actually looking forward to this soft sleeper that is supposed to be top notch.

So today we hiked around the only mountain range in Kunming, it was really nice to get back to nature, stretched our legs out, visited some cool caves, temples, took a 17 min chairlift up to Dragon's Gate where some monk and his pals spent way too many years chipping at cliff faces to create the masterpieces that we saw. That was impressive. So I must be the clumsiest person alive, managed to slip on some stone steps on the way to viewing the Dragon's Gate. My arm is swollen and bruised...matches well with my legs as it is still a bruised and scabby mess. I am so clumsy...!

Am having money problems already! Can't access my ATM account! Grrrr...when I get back to Sydney I am changing banks.

Kunming City, Aug 7. 8.40pm

19 hour train trip from hell

Just survived a 19 hour train ride from Guilin to Kunming. We bought hard sleeper seats which I have never had a problem with having travelled on other long distance trains before via hard sleeper. This one was particularly bad though. I guess it didn't start off too well when I found this big, smelly, old man sitting on my hard sleeper. Mine was the lower bunk and usually ppl sit on that bed during the day. This guy was gross though, constantly wiping the sweat off his brow, looked like he was gonna hurl something big from deep within his guts. I asked him politely if he wanted to trade his middle bunk for my lower one since he was so comfortably spread on my bed anyway. He didn't have a problem with it. Next all the luggage compartments were full and I had to strap my big, fat backpack to the foot of my narrow bed. I threw the used blanket onto the rest of the bags on the baggage compartment and busted out my sleeping bag to the consternation of the other passengers.

So squeezed in this little bed with all my luggage, the speakers blaring some god-awful love story in chinese, I found it difficult to get to sleep. Added to that were these 2 chinese girls talking into the night about their crappy love lives and when I asked them politely at midnight to shut the hell up, they actually increased their decibel level. So lack of sleep, no food, feeling rather dirty, Fiona and I emerged bleary-eyed at Kunming station and thought about shortening our China trip. I know; whinge whinge whinge, you guys are probably sick of hearing about it. The ppl are just too pushy, rude and selfish. We have decided to cut out the entire Lijiang itinerary and head straight to Chengdu. We booked soft sleeper seats for the day after and have been assured by the lonely planet guide that it is luxurious and u can turn the damn speakers off.

So this means we have cut out a week on our china trip, although since it is high season here, it might take at least a week to organise our flights into Tibet. So we may well end up spending a week in Chengdu waiting for flights to sort itself out. So I guess our trip isn't really cut back after all. We planned to do the Tiger Leaping Gorge in Lijiang but found out it was closed for the month due to monsoon season and the danger of doing the trek in the rain. So that made up our mind about crossing Lijiang off.

I'm not sounding very positive at the moment, I guess just the constant haggling and dealing with the locals has drained me and Fiona out. We both agreed that Tibet is the place to be right now. Of course there is so much to look forward in Tibet, Mongolia and Japan that there is no point staying in a country that we are not really enjoying. Yangshuo was fantastic though and am glad we did it. Am glad I am in China too, if only to do what we can and see the beautiful scenery before it all gets revamped by the government. I guess I sound really negative about the people here, which seems rather rascist given that I am Chinese myself, but the pysche and mentality here has been conditioned to such a degree that it seems to be a completely different race. Mao has a lot to answer for, first the suppression of his people and then Deng suddenly lifting the lid on their poverty and giving everyone a chance to be entrepeneurs...I can see how it can really mess with the minds of the people.

Kunming is a nice city to rest in for the next day though and the Camellia Hotel where we are staying in is really nice.

Aug 6, 2004. 6.19pm. Kunming city

Minority Villages

The past couple of days have been fairly tame, went to Longsheng for the Dragon Backbone terraces. This was an interesting village that had pretty amazing architecture. The rice paddies were about 2m wide but they were stacked like steps along the mountain and they wound about in waves. The designs of the terraces were impressive but wasn't really worth the 4hr bus ride to get there. It was tourist mecca too, there were stonepath trails to take you from one view to another. Am getting a little weary of the hyper-commercialism of this place. So that took the entire day, a welcome change and not too strenuous on my sore legs.

Today we caught a local bus to a village called Xing Ping that Bill Clinton made famous on one of his visits. The village itself was really laidback, I imagine what Yangshuo would have looked like a few years ago before it became a mecca for backpackers. This one lady dogged us for ages wanting us to take the Li River tour. The boat trip price was rather high and while we were walking to the port, the sky opened up and we got drenched. So we hitched a ride back into town and decided to climb to the peak of one of the mountains for the view of the town. The climb itself was great though near the top it got pretty scary with the slippery steps. It got pretty steep and we needed to climb up a ladder to get to the top. Definitely not good for ppl with a fear of heights. The view was amazing though, and we were lucky to have it all to ourselves for about an hour. We just lazed around on the lone pagoda that was donated by a Japanese person, saw the skies change as the sun peeked out again. It was a gorgeous view.

The climb down was rather treacherous though, the steps were very slippery, quite narrow. I am getting weary of constantly fearing for my life, lol. Ok am exaggerating (slightly) it was a scary descent but do-able, just had to be careful and slow, one slip really would have meant going over.

So tomorrow we are leaving Yangshuo and catching a 19hour train ride to Kunming. From there we are heading to Dali and Lijiang. As we were languishing in our hotel room this afternoon, we decided to cross Emei-shan off our list, sounds like a huge tourist trap, 3 day up and down a mountain blocked with tourists and aggressive monkeys. Am getting tired of constantly fighting off touts, wondering who we can trust and who is ripping us off. I miss Japan, how straightforward and friendly people are. Maybe am getting homesick. Looking forward to Tibet and Mongolia though. And of course seeing the rest of southern China. Maybe the heat is getting to me.

Dragonbone Terrace - Longsheng

Looks like this censorship thing is a little sporadic... am able to access my blog from this internet cafe, but will have to be quick because Fiona lost her access soon after publishing her post. This is funny, a race against some blocking software I imagine.

We woke up to banging on our door this morning at 7.30am. We slept through the alarm and woke to some angry banging from the receptionist telling us our bus was waiting for us downstairs! We had booked a bus to go to a minority village in Longsheng, a 4 hour drive away from Yangshuo. We jumped up, got dressed and ran out the door in about 5 mins, then proceeded to sleep the 4 hours to Longsheng.

Longsheng is famous for their rice terraces, an awesome feat of architecture, just row upon row of 2m wide rice paddies, that slope and curve around huge hills. It's hard to explain. A little anticlimactic after we saw some awesome pictures on postcards though. It was a nice relaxing day all round, just roaming around the terraces, being hassled by women who live in the villages who wanted to show us their long hair.

Found it a little difficult to climb up and down the steps though, my legs were hurting and found that my thumb was infected from a deep cut yesterday from the cave. I am a walking mass of bandaids! lol

All else is fine, we managed to get train tickets for Kunming on the 5th so heading out of Yangshuo then. Tomorrow we are checking out another village made famous by Bill Clinton on one of his visits. It may well be too touristy so we might head back early. Am completely addicted to the bubble tea and noodles here.

Near death experience

So it has taken me the rest of today to process what happened at our water cave adventure. I think I was suffering post-traumatic disorder bc I came back to our hotel after the water cave and just crashed but woke up to a nightmare of sliding down a rock face to a canyon below. That was what nearly happened.

Let me start from the beginning: this morning Fiona and I went to meet Chufa who discovered some new water cave that he was keen for us to try out. Knowing that we were only the 2nd group of ppl to have explored this mountain made it really appealing. We were idealistic and full of pioneering spirit! No, we were just stupid. He wanted to try out this new cave with some guinea pigs and we happily paid for the privilege. The word water cave sounds misleading; it's more like an exploration from one side of a mountain to another. Inside the mountain there are canyons, sheer drops, water falls, stalactites and stalagmites, muddy pools and crystal clear waters. When we entered the mountain, my first thought was; this reminds me of Lord of the Rings...where Gandalf fell to his death.

So being the first few ppl to have checked out this mountain, there were no safety measures, no rails, 2 areas with ropes to scale rock faces, no nets, nothing. There were 3 ladders throughout the mountain Everything was going fine, probably about 2 hours into our exploration when we had to scale this rock face that had no hand or foot holds. We had to swing onto the rock face from a ledge and scramble up, it was a long drop below. The Fiona had scrambled her way up with the help of Chufa who was hanging off the side of the rock face, somehow wedged in. My turn came and I just kept sliding off, my sandals were caked in about 1cm of mud, so it was one slippery surface against another. Somehow I had managed to scramble halfway up, Chufa had grabbed my hand so the only reason I was not sliding off was bc he had a hold on me. BUT...his hold on the rock face was precarious so as I saw him sliding down towards me, I told him to let go of my hand otherwise he was going to slide right off. Once he did that, I slid down the rock face for about a metre, heading towards certain death or at the very least a couple of broken bones. I was just madly clawing about trying to find something to hold on to. Fiona was at the top having a heart attack as she saw me sliding down into the canyon. Somehow I swung my legs over to the left and got on a ledge, basically i was back where I started.

The next 10 minutes or so involved Chufa and Fiona trying to work out how I could climb up the rock face, I was trying to get the mud off my sandals so I could get some grip...I tried again, again getting halfway, this time both Chufa and Fiona grabbed a hold on each arm and pulled me up the rock face, it was a painful experience but I was just so glad they were both strong enough to pull me up. At the top I found myself completely caked in mud, my legs and arms cut up from the rocks.

Coming back to the hotel and taking a shower, I was able to take stock of my injuries; mass bruises all over my knees, scrapes all along my legs and arms. I am walking around with a slight limp bc it hurts so friggin' much. BUT am glad I am alive to tell this story. The rest of the cave exploration was just as bad but thankfully no more near death experiences, just lots of hairy sheer drops, tight crevices that we had to squeeze through, I think I was just blanking it all out as I tried to assimilate what had nearly happened.

It was a dangerous experience, one I would never repeat. The guide was irresponsible to have taken us through the mountain with no gear except for a hard hat and torch. I really don't want to think too much on what might have happened and how exactly they would be able to get help to us in the middle of a mountain with no set paths or lights to guide the way, how they would squeeze through areas that both Fiona and I barely squeezed through, walking waist deep through water, knee deep through mud. Don't want to think about it now otherwise I am going to get upset. Well tomorrow is going to be one tame day of going to a minority village. Very tame. I need it! Signing out, alive from Yangshuo.

Karst Country - Yangshuo

Got to Yangshuo yesterday after a long day of traveling. We completely lucked out getting off the bus and walking into the first hotel we saw. Funnily enough the hotel name is Fawlty Towers Hotel. The Hard Seat Cafe is right next door! lol The hotel came highly recommended from this website I had been looking up and luckily they had one double room left with its own bathrm for 20 yuan each...! yep thats about $US2.40 for the night. So the room has no air-con, the fact that it is somewhat below ground level makes it cool, though a little damp and musty! lol. It's a good room in a good location and Fiona and I were able to hang our washing all over the place.

Last night we roamed around the town and stumbled onto this road packed with stalls and cool shops. Despite my vow to not buy anything, the seal was quickly broken and 2 gorgeous dresses later, I have a package ready to send home already. Sux having no willpower. Fiona is no help either, she just keeps telling me how cheap it all is and I should buy up otherwise I will regret it. Of course she is right and tonight no doubt will be another shopping expedition.

We spent the day cycling around the countryside on our 10 yuan mountain bikes. So glad we chose the mountain bikes instead of the granny bikes bc the rocky roads were really bumpy!! The scenery was beautiful, in the beginning we had to stop every few hundred metres to take photos. Beautiful karsts rising every which way we looked, rice paddies, farmers pulling oxen. It was fantastic. We rode all the way to Moon Hill to hike up to the top and get a panoramic view of the town.Somehow we ended up meeting this guy called Chufu - of Chufu Water Caves! He discovered these 2 water caves (Black Buddha Water Cave, Chufu's Water Cave). As luck would have it, he discovered a new water cave, which he has named..."NEW WATER CAVE". We were enquiring about checking his old caves but he mentioned this new cave that only one other group of ppl have visited. It will take about 3-4 hours to go through the water cave, inside there will be wading through crystal clear waters, waterfalls, mud baths, lots of climbing up and down to go through the mountain and arrive at the other side. We don't really know much about this cave since no-one else has been through it (except for that one other group), he was pretty keen for us to try this one out and charged us a ridiculously low price [after some bargaining] of 50 yuan each. His normal charge is about 120yuan for his other caves, and he said this new cave is heaps better. Feel like such pioneers as we will only be the 2nd group of ppl to check it out. So tomorrow we will be meeting him and he will be conducting the tour himself. Pretty exciting stuff.

So after these negotiations, we continued cycling around rather aimlessly, trying to veer away from huge cow poo and big rumbling tour buses. We ended up on a little trail away from the main roads and cycled through that with the river Li on one side, gorgeous karsts rising on the other, rice paddies all around. Off to have some grapefruit stuffed with pork and maybe some beer fish (the local specialty). Signing out from Fawlty Towers Hotel, Yangshuo

Friggin' Chinese Censorship

As much as I would love to be updating my weblog right now, here I am in an internet cafe in Shanghai, finding myself blocked out of accessing it! Yes now I know I really am in China, their censorship laws are unbelievable.

So I guess you guys are going to be getting regular email updates from me, that is until they deem hotmail to be too controversial. Better not slag off the chinese govt anymore, they probably have spyware on these terminals and I may well find myself carted off after I hit the send button.

Am in Shanghai right now, good news is weather isnt as hot as it is in Japan. Can you believe i was only here about 4 months ago and my favourite restaurant has already been closed down? Was a little disoriented trying to find our way from the bus stop to the youth hostel, some buildings have changed their neon signs and that was what I used as landmarks the last time.

We managed to book airline tickets from Shanghai to Guilin tomorrow, so heading out of this beautiful smog-filled city at noon. Am itching to get to inaka and experience the fresh country air. From Guilin we are going to Yangshuo to view cool karsts, caves and probably do some hiking around the mountains. If you were puzzled as to what karsts are, you're not alone, I had to google it to find out. Sounds pretty cool though. Will stay there for a few days, cycling and chilling. From there we might head on to Longsheng for the rice terraces, should be beautiful this time of year.

Last Day in Japan

Today was my last day in Handa, I had to do so much last-minute packing. Must have left about 5 bags of garbage in my apartment! gomen to my supervisor who will have to get the apartment ready for the landlord and throw all my trash out...

This entire week has been difficult, lots of sayonaras. Just said bye to Dwayne at the station tonite...that was difficult. It makes it a little easier knowing that I will be back in Japan in about 4 months and we will have lots to catch up on! On Tuesday I completely fell apart and bawled like a baby at my last ikebana class. Things seemed normal until the end when my ikebana teacher gave me a hug and started crying. Even though we can't really communicate well, she kept saying good luck, take care of yourself in japanese. All I could blubber out through my tears was, arigato-gozaimashita, over and over again. It was so difficult, I didn't realise how attached I had grown to our weekly classes and how I looked forward to seeing her and my classmate Satomi.

So tomorrow Fiona and I will be catching our flight to Shanghai. Just our luck there is a typhoon happening in Japan right now, a very sssllloooowww typhoon as the weather forecasters keep reiterating. Apparently it won't hit Aichi though so we shouldn't be affected.  We are at Kuz's place right now, really nice of him to let us leave our luggage here and crash in between countries...thanks Kuz!

5 Days left on the JET program - A look back

The same theme kept recurring in my journal entries here in Japan; time is flying by, I have to go out and experience everything, I have to do it all. Looking back on my time now, I did as much as I could within a year and because of that it has been the most amazing year of my life. I managed to travel a lot, met lots of incredible people, picked up a couple of fun hobbies, I chilled and partied, did my own independent thing, socialised...basically it's been a great year and I would not trade anything in it for the world. Oh...I also fit in some teaching as well, I keep forgetting to mention that.

diary entry: Tues Aug 5th, 2003. 9.41pm
I feel very at home here. I know that it hasn't been a week yet but I feel v.comfortable in my apartmt; the freedom + independence is intoxicating. I really love it. I've been cooking for myself, exploring on my own. I am a country bumpkin - suntanned brown + riding on a bike to get to work :)

diary entry: Mon Sep 1st, 2003. 10pm
How can it be Sep already? Time is just flying by here. I have hardly done anything. I have to get my act together and start traveling. Start learning the language. Start making new friends. Start living instead of constantly buying!

My experience really started in September after I settled into life in Handa. The weather had cooled down, I had picked up some survival Japanese, Nagoya had been explored and all the shopping hot spots were duly noted, I was ready to experience the rest of Japan!

September
September 15, 2003 Osaka
Gotta love the three-day weekends here! First big trip sounds really trite as I write about it now but at the time it was so exciting. I went to Osaka with Fiona and Eva, we caught the shinkansen for the first time on our own and it was so nerve-wracking trying to work out how to say "non-reserved seats please" in Japanese...! We sure did cram a lot into that weekend, did the obligatory sights in Osaka city but also checked out the National Judo Championships and also a huge festival in a town (can't remember the name now...) http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?ID=AF93DC381E6&cb=PA

September 20, 2003 Inuyama, Tagata Jinja and surrounds
Traipsed off to the town of Inuyama on my own, about an hour or so from Nagoya. Checked out Inuyama castle and a couple of strange temples. There was the Penis temple with phalluses of all sizes left there by grateful worshippers. A few train stations down, there was the temple for women with rock formations of vaginas. Very eye-opening experience that weekend...
http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?ID=A7D73F28273&cb=PA

September 21, 2003 Gifu
Came to the conclusion that this city must contain the highest number of senior citizens...never seen so many old ppl in one city in my life.

October

It takes a little while to get used to the primping and preening, women pulling out huge carry-on bags full of make-up and proceeding to do their face during the train ride. This one time I did a double-take after waking up to a completely new woman at the end of the train ride, her transformation was amazing. For the first month I would walk around marvelling at the men who plucked their eyebrows, couldn't help thinking how much better they would look as women. Now I barely even notice the well-manicured brows or the women who take out razors on the train and proceed to shave their face.

diary entry: Wed Oct 15, 2003. 8:57amI think I am in the midst of culture shock. I have felt annoyed at frequent intervals whenever I see the young japanese people constantly primping and preening....it is such a self-absorbed culture.

This month was memorable because I got a horrific haircut and kindly took myself off the social scene...great opportunity to travel around on my own though which was fun. Learnt how to be more independent and experience things on my own.

Oct 5, 2003. Norikura Mountains, Gifu
Tanaka-sensei invited me to go hiking with her up in the mountains of Gifu. Nice trip, my first experience of an onsen! It's hard to explain how any stress over being naked just dissipates in the presence of so many other naked bodies. Hot baths are amazing, I really look forward to trying out onsens now and will definitely miss it once back in aus.

Oct 13, 2003. Three day weekend in Kyoto
Travelled to Kyoto on my own for three days, absolutely fell in love with the city. It was a fantastic experience seeing the temples, doing the Path of Philosophy, checking out geishas. http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?ID=A8FF0F18711&cb=PA

Oct 25, 2003. JET soccer tournament in Nagano
I couldn't keep hiding and managed to make it for the bi-annual JET soccer tournament in Nagano. http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?ID=AE405828861&cb=PA

Mon 27th Oct, 2003 (2:47pm) - Nagano was a crazy w/e, it was so incredibly cold, but the soccer playing was fun to watch and the party on sat nite was gd, though it seemed more of a place to hook up w/random ppl and make out.

Oct 31, 2003. Halloween Party @ ID
Pretty crazy fun nite. Made some dinky little animal ears for the girls and we managed to get into ID for free.
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November

Mon 17 Nov, 2003 (9:55am) - Here I am sitting in school, feeling fat + introspective, eating a cake. I can't stop eating or shopping.

Nov 23, 2003. 3 Day weekend - Hiroshima & Miyajima

Definitely one of my favourite cities in all of Japan. Miyajima is really beautiful, definitely well-deserved as one of the three best views of Japan.
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December
This month was nuts, my family came to visit for three weeks....! Did lots of exploring with them, went back to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Miyajima, Tokyo. New places that I saw with my family - Kobe, Himeji, Yokohama.

Also attended a Japanese friend's wedding! interesting.

January 2004
Mon 12 Jan, 2004 (1:35am) - Family went home on friday + even though i was looking forward to some solitude, I was very surprised to find that I missed all the energy + noise that we made.

Sat 17 Jan, 2004 (10:41am) - I am happy. Right this very moment. I ate a huge bfast, a lot of oreo cookies, did some pilates. I am in my warm loft bed, looking out my balcony to a snow-covered town, snowflakes falling, listening to music, reading an interesting book, feeling at peace in my own apartment. Does it get better than this?

This month was just too cold to even leave my apartment! I have never felt such coldness in my life...chilled constantly to the bones. All I remember doing this month was sitting by my heater, being on Instant Messenger with people complaining about the weather. I ate a lot, sat around amusing myself on the internet and consequently gained lots of weight.

February
Feb 27, 2004 - long weekend in Hokkaido (Sapporo)
Let me clarify, there was no long weekend during this month but being female allowed me to use menstrual leave (according to my contract)...it just so happened I had to recuperate from severe period pain...in Hokkaido...! This was a fun weekend with Fiona, Sarah and Eva. Did lots of shivering, walking, getting lost from our hotel to the Sapporo Beer Garden, partying...Sapporo city itself had a great vibe.
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March
Wed 24 Mar, 2004 (7:56pm) - A lot has happened this March, all w/some very strange themes. Ok I'll list it, you tell me if this doesn't sound strange to you. I planned a party at a love hotel (with Matt), attended a penis festival and visited a sex museum (hihokan).

Mar 6, 2004 - Love Hotel Party
Matt and I planned a party at a love hotel for Sarah's birthday. It was a crazy night of drinking, j-porn, basketball games, hog-tying contests and karaoke. Lots of karaoke.
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Mar 14, 2004 - Mie Ninja Museum
One of the teachers from Aoyama JHS took Dwayne and I to Mie prefecture to check out the Ninja town. I can't remember the name of the town, or much of that trip for that matter, I think we had partied it up the night before so it was definitely a struggle staying awake during the day.

Mar 15, 2004 - Penis Festival (Inuyama)
The annual penis festival held at the same temple I visited last year. It was pretty funny, touches of solemnity with the ridiculous. There were maiden women each carrying a wooden penis that ppl would try to touch as they walk by (for good luck...!). The climax was the huge 2m wooden penis hoisted by about 6 men entering the temple. It took a few tries before they could stagger through the door (sorry for the inadvertent puns!)
This was then followed by people throwing mochi rocks at the spectators from the first storey balcony of the temple. The projectile mochi were dangerous stuff!

Mar 20, 2004 - Hihokan (Mie)
Thanks to Fiona's great research skills, she found a sex museum that was still open in Mie. We couldn't find much about the museum itself but a well-placed call by Dwayne to the museum confirmed that it was in fact still open to the public. So after some quick directions, Fiona and I set off to Mie thinking it was the funniest thing we could possibly do on an otherwise normal Saturday morning.

Fast-forward to Sat afternoon upon leaving the hihokan, with us both traumatised beyond imagination wanting desperately to get out of the very freaky town that housed the equally freaky hihokan. Ok so it sounds very melodramatic but we were both really traumatised by the experience. The hihokan wasn't some simple porn exhibition that we were expecting, it had horribly gruesome exhibits of beheadings, torture, bestiality, motion-sensored exhibits that sent us both screaming and the final straw, a lone pony in her stall standing around waiting for her nightly 8pm rape session with a stallion. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. We can laugh about it now...but it took a good week before I felt normal again.

Mar 25 to Apr 5 - Thailand
Mar 24, 2004 7.56pm - Am heading off to Thailand tomorrow + am feeling SO sick! Never felt my entire body ache like this, how on earth am I going to do a jungle trek for 2 days? I hope I recover soon because this feels awful!

The trip itself was amazing but no, I didn't recover in time and ended up nearly hospitalised at the end of the trip! Did the 2 day jungle trek, through burning logs no less! Also rode an elephant through the Maetang River which was an amazing experience, did bamboo rafting for 4 hours. Went to Krabi and at Tonsai island did snorkeling, swimming, rock climbing. Visited Ayuthaya which was awesome. The entire trip was great though on the final day, Fiona got food poisoning and by that time I had run up a fever. We both ended up at the hospital, I was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. It was an eventful trip that's for sure and I am glad I didn't let my bad health get in the way of doing all that amazing stuff in Thailand.
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April
Apr 11, 2004 - Onbashira Festival (Nagano)
This festival is only held once every 7 years so that was the selling point for a group of us (including my friend Pommy from Aus) to get up at 5.30am in the morning to board a train for Nagano to check it out. I am embarrassed to say that I have no idea why a bunch of otherwise sane men would all jump on a huge log as it rolls down a hill. I am sure there is some historical story about it, I think it involves building some temples in that area. Interesting trip up, was pretty exhausted though so apparently (allegedly) I threw a tantrum that would do a 2 yr old proud. Like I said; apparently, allegedly. I can't remember any of it. I deny all knowledge.

Apr 25 - May 9 2004 - China
Mon 10th May, 2004 (9.30am) - I came back yesterday from a 2 week trip to China. What an eye-opening experience; I was simultaneously in awe and repulsed. Awe due to the relics and the knowledge that I was facing a part of my heritage for the first time; and repulsion from the filth and crudeness of the Chinese locals for which I felt an affinity to. I was rather confused by my identity while I was there. I felt like I belonged b/c I could speak the language and understand the culture, but the deeper I delved, the more I realised that simply being able to speak the language did not make me an insider.
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May
Friday 14 May 2004 (8:30am) - Last night I went out to Nagoya to Elephant's Nest, the regular hang-out for JETs. It's a cool, relaxed, low-key place. I'm still in awe over how many great ppl I've met on this program. Even though I have a close-knit of friends that I hang out w/, there are a lot of others whom I get along well with. So my closest friend here + w/whom I share most of my experiences would be Dwayne. I can't imagine this year w/o him. He's been my greatest support here and has made life here a lot more comfortable and enjoyable. We treat each other like brother + sister + he is genuinely the nicest guy I have ever met. Next would be Fiona, after Thailand I think we have really bonded. She is the person I can plan activities w/, the flamboyant one who is wise beyond her years.

May 14, 2004 - Weekend at Okayama
My cousin Vicki came to visit me from Colorado. We hadn't seen each other for 14 years so I was glad we were able to spend time together that weekend in Okayama. Fiona found a great little villa in Hattoji that was still in its original condition, with a thatched roof and one of those iron bath tubs. We also went and stayed in Ushimado (also in Okayama prefecture). It was such a chill weekend and a welcome return back to nature. I realise now that I really love inaka...! The cities like Tokyo and Osaka just leave me cold.
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diary entry: Just came back fr the computer room after researching into the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. It sounds absolutely incredible + I really think it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Fiona suggested we bike the trail which will take approx. 3 wks to do, whilst we camp outdoors....I also want to do Tibet + Nepal. How else will I ever have the time or the ability to do this? I must seize the opportunities + make the most of it. I believe this may well ease the restlessness I feel and allow me to return home w/ a greater sense of well-being. Of course I don't want to place too many expectations on this. After all, it's just another way for me to delay my return home...I have an escape complex!

This was the weekend Fiona and I talked about the Shikoku pigrimage. Our original plans were to bike the trail which would take 3 weeks and then head back to our respective countries. I have no idea how it ballooned to include other parts of Asia. The itin then evolved into 6 weeks in China, Tibet and Nepal (total). Of course now that it has been finalised, the Shikoku pilgrimage is now 6 weeks long bc we plan to hike the entire trail rather than bike it. The 6 weeks in all three of those countries? Well, there are landslide warnings in the Nepalese region right now, so we substituted Mongolia in its stead. From 1.5 weeks in China, 1.5 weeks in Tibet, 10 days in Mongolia...it has somehow stretched to a month in each of those places. And of course since we are traveling back to Japan anyway, we might as well stop over in Korea for about a week...

Here is an essay that a past JET wrote about the Shikoku pilgrimage that was really inspiring:
http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/new/essay03/02_2.html

May 28, 2004 - Tokyo Disneyland
An all-round disappointment really. Being able to compare it to the Anaheim and Orlando disneylands brought up lots of shortcomings in the Tokyo one. Oh well, am glad I did it though, it was on my to-do list and I really wouldn't have known if I had never checked it out.
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June
Wed 9 Jun, 2004 (12:11pm) - I know I keep saying this but I can't believe how fast time is flying. I guess the more I try to hold on, the more I feel it slipping away.

Jun 17, 2004. Nara
The one month with no 3 day weekends! Luckily the school I was at had scheduled school trips for all the grades on this day so I unexpectedly found myself with a day off. Took myself off to Nara as I had been itching to go for a while. Checked out the temple housing the famous big daibutsu (buddha). At the back of this temple there is a pillar that has a hole at the bottom the size of one of the the daibutsu's nostril. The popular belief is that if you can crawl through this hole, you will be blessed with good luck. So I saw lots of little kids scrambling through the hole quite easily. Seeing adults trying to do it was hilarious. I wasn't sure if the minuscule weight I had lost from sweating it out in the gym for the past few months would mean I could fit through the hole or not...but thought I would try anyway, no harm in making a fool of myself in front of a group of strangers, right? I had asked one of the school girls that was standing around to capture me trying to go through the hole on my digicam. She agreed, looking dubiously at me. Anyway, the trick is to wiggle through positioning your body at an angle with your arms above your head. So I did it and was hoping it was all captured on film, unfortunately the girl was so busy screaming "sugoii, sugoii!!" she forgot to take any photos. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Mon 21st Jun, 2004 (8:36am) - There's a typhoon happening in Japan right now! So I naively rode the bike to school thinking the typhoon seemed fairly mild, in actual fact the typhoon hasn't even hit yet. These Japanese take these weather extremes rather seriously...it just seems like a more windy day than usual.

Jun 25, 2004 - Weekend climbing Mt. Fuji
See previous post
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July
Mon July 5th, 2004 (8:18am) - My final 2 weeks of teaching in Japan. It really is true that the older you get, the faster time flies, that should be the theme for my year here. I'm pretty sure I won't miss the act of teaching but I will miss the life here. The simplicity of it all; I wake up, go to school by bike or train, last through the day til 3.30 sometimes doing something fruitful, more often not. I come home, depending on the day of the week I grocery shop (mon), do ikebana (tues), aikido (sometimes! wed), chill (thurs), chill/socialise (fri), travel (sat + sun).
Aikido -
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Ikebana Sayonara -
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Last English Club @ Handa Junior High School -
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Jul 03, 2004 - Nagoya Sumo Tournament
Great tournament. Woke up on Sunday and decided to wing it and turn up at the gym to see if I could get tickets. Worked out well, I got there at midday, there were some seats left. Went in and was entertained for the entire day. I didn't realise that the sport requires so much skill -watching the higher ranked players compete was really gripping.
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Jul 10, 2004 - Weekend at Takayama
Monday 12th July 2004 (8:22am) - I love the freedom of getting up in a messy apartmt, eating bfast as an afterthought, throwing a few essentials into a bag + just taking off on the w/e. I went to Takayama + really enjoyed the independence of strolling the temple grounds, buying knick-knacks, taking photos of random statues. It was relaxg and exactly what I needed.
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Jul 17, 2004 - Weekend at Amanohashidate
Took off for the weekend again, didn't realise how long it would take me to get down to Amanohashidate though! The month before I had resolved to see all 3 of the great views of Japan, so Amanohashidate (Bridge to Heaven) was the 2nd view on my list.

Had worked out how to scam my way around on the trains but requires sitting on local trains the entire way. Took from 10am to 5pm to get there but wasn't that bad since the view on the train ride was so pretty. Kinda went there blind having lost my photocopies from the LP guide, so just winged it and worked out really well. Good weekend just to chill and sort through my thoughts and feelings about leaving Japan.
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July 24, 2004 - Day trip to Matsushima
The 3rd great view of Japan. So lucky that Fiona's family left their JR railpasses with her. There was 1 day left on the pass so we went up to Matsushima on the shinkansen. Matsushima is about 30mins express train ride from Sendai, which is 2 hours shinkansen north from Tokyo.
It was a great day trip, unfortunately I missed the last train back to Handa. Good thing there were a bunch of JETs partying at ID that night so I went clubbing after a tiring day at Matsushima... which brings everything up to date now since I woke up at 2pm today after getting back to my apartment at 7.30 this morning from ID and chilling at 59's.
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