Japan (finally)

Our flight to Japan landed in Tokyo, so that's where we spent our first few days. We tried to continue with more couch surfing, but believe it or not, in a city of 30 million people we couldn't find someone to take us for the dates we needed, so we booked into a hostel. Tokyo might be big, but it's a small world - what are the odds that on our second night Amanda's friend Luke from the school she studied at while in Germany showed up at our hostel with his friend Nathaniel.



There are 30 million people in Tokyo, and almost a million things to do. For example, walking distance from our hostel is a famous Shinto shrine...




We also visited the very cool Sony building.



This is where they unveil their latest products and we saw some pretty cool things – including their 3D televisions. I even played a 3D PlayStation game on a 3D TV. It was very cool, and if I was 13 years old again it would have been the best thing ever. Understandably, you're not allowed to take photos inside the building.

After all this sight seeing a guy can get hungry, so we opted for some Japanese fast food. This franchise is called Mo's Burger. What makes them unique is the hamburger “bun” is actually made of sticky rice in the shape of bun...



And speaking of fast food and such, how about these...



I don't even know what flavor that's supposed to simulate. What does the Grand Canyon taste like, exactly? I wasn't brave enough to try them. And speaking of brave, who among you would dare to try the intimidating Japanese toilet? Sooner or later you are going to have to use it...



I don't think the toilet on the space shuttle is this sophisticated. Take a look at the toilet control panel



Houston, we have a problem....

Anyway, we also met another friend in Tokyo...



This is Akira, who we met in while in Dahab, Egypt.

We went out for dinner with him a few times, and he showed us some great local spots. Such as a “stand up” restaurant. To pack more people in they don't put out chairs. It's kind of like eating at a stand up bar. He also took us to a restaurant that saves money by having no waitresses. Instead you put money into a vending machine and push buttons for the items you want. For each selection a ticket is produced which you had to the kitchen staff (just as a waitress would do). So here's what a digital waitress looks like:




With so many people, it should be no surprise that Tokyo is also home to the world's busiest intersection. The traffic lights even have a sequence for pedestrians to rule the intersection (no cars for 60 seconds). They call this doing the “Shibuya shuffle”.




One thing I was very much looking forward to in visiting Japan was the food. I love Japanese food – probably more than any other type. And I was not disappointed. Number one on the list is sushi (maki, sashimi, shusi, it's all good). Here's something that some of you may not have seen before – it's a restaurant with a sushi train...



You don't pick items off a menu and make an order. Instead Sushi chefs prepare small plates (usually two pieces) and put them on a moving track that circles around the restaurant. If you see a plate coming by that looks delicious to you, pick it up and it's yours. When you're done a waitress will count how many plates you have and different color plates have a different price code.



This was what our pile looked like after one particularly delicious evening. I'd like to say most of those plates belong to Amanda ;-)

And you probably think sushi is raw fish – but sometimes it is cooked. Here's a chef “cooking” a piece to get just the right taste



Yup – those are two hand held propane bottles he's using. Not exactly haute cuisine, but what do I know?

And who could resist a little sake with that? The sake shops are as plentiful as the selection...



Continuing in Tokyo we went to an eight story toy store. I had some fun playing on the race car track. And this was no kids game – it seemed to be adults only playing the track. And these guys take it seriously, and they're good. I kept spinning out, but they could drive their cars perfectly. Here's me giving it a go...



Later that night we went to see that icon of Japanese film – the statue of Godzilla. It was kind of funny actually, in that it took us quite a while to find it. I had assumed that any statue to a giant fire breathing dinosaur would be gigantic. We must have walked past it four times before I finally spotted this diminutive replica.



We made a visit to Tokyo's famous fashion district where on Sundays the teens like to dress up in their most audacious “fashions” and parade around for the photographers who show up for the spectacle.



Before catching an early morning train south, we went to the very early fish auction in Tokyo. Every day about $15,000,000 USD of fish (the daily catch) is sold auction style. That was pretty fun to watch.







And then we jumped on a plane – no it was a train – a really fast train. Japan's “shinkansen” or bullet train. We took this train south



And once again our world trip took on a more sombre note as we traveled to Nagasaki to see, first hand, one of the cities to be hit by a nuclear weapon. That was at 11:02 am on August 9, 1945, and this is the exact spot where it happened – the hypocenter:



Well, actually, the bomb, named “Fat Man”, was detonated about 600 m above this spot, in order to achieve maximum blast damage. And in that regard it was an absolute success – but I would think of this as one of mankind's greatest failures. This is what it did to Nagasaki on that day...







Following the initial effects of the pressure blast and heat wave, any survivors received a huge dose of radiation and within a week their hair and teeth started to fall out and before long they developed many types of cancer and died slowly and painfully.

Here is what Fat Man looked like (cut away view)



and those were the effects from just 2% of its 16 kg of plutonium going critical. Imagine just 2% of 16 kg - do that math – that's just 320 grams! And this was one of the world's first nuclear weapons. Following this, the H-bomb was developed which is intrinsically about 2,500 times more powerful. In other words, it would have taken just 0.1 grams of H-bomb fuel going critical to cause this same destruction.

At the museum we learned that while only two nuclear weapons have ever been detonated in war, there have been well over 2,000 experimental detonations to improve upon the weapon's technology. How much is enough???

With that darker side of Japan's history seen, we could once again focus on more enjoyable things. So we went a little further to the town of Oita and met up with friends we'd met in Edmonton some years ago – Katsunari, Yumi, and their family (Shinji, and Yume).



After three days enjoying time with the family we went to Osaka. Its most famous site is the Osaka castle – site of a major civil war in 1650.



Japan's cultural center, Kyoto, was our next destination where we saw Japan's ichi ban (number one) tourist attraction, the golden temple



What else is Kyoto famous for? More temples. There were millions of them.




But we were also fortunate enough to be visiting a temple on a Saturday when a very brief (like five minutes) wedding ceremony took place right before our eyes. I got lucky with this great shot of the new couple...




Finding our way around was not problem – sometimes the street names are even written in English, so you can just say the street name to someone when asking directions...




Don't be intimidated – it is pronounced just like it's spelled! So armed with that and the easy to navigate Tokyo metro network, it was no sweat getting around:



Japan has some other interesting traits – some of which arise from the crowded cities where space is valuable. In some cases your space is too small...



Or maybe his car is just too big. Either way, it doesn't quite fit.

Our next flight departed from Tokyo, so we returned there for our final few days. En route we passed Mt. Fuji. That was cool to see.



We tried a sleep in one of the many “capsule” hotels. This is a hotel very much like a vending machine. You put your money (about 30 CAD) into a machine and it prints out a ticket and you get a key with a capsule number. There you will find a room with rows and stacks of things like coffins. One coffin (or capsule) per person. It's definitely long enough and is high enough to sit up in. Each capsule has a TV on the ceiling, some lights and a radio and a clock. The bathrooms are at the end of the hall. Males and females are separated onto different floors of the hotel.



Among the last things we did was visit Tokyo's Imperial Palace, which is situated in a giant park right in the center of Tokyo.




They say that at the height of Japan's real estate bubble (the late 1980's) the value of this park's land would have been more expensive than all of California combined!

And that was it – sadly our time in Japan had come to an end. We even had to sacrifice our plans to visit Korea because Japan just had too much to see.

the Philippines

That's what we saw while boarding our flight out of Vietnam. Hmmm. And I thought you just plain weren't allowed to bring them on. I guess if you ask politely...

Anyway, the Philippines...




Right away as soon as we got off the plane we began to fall in love with the country. People are really nice – and not because they want to sell you something. Everyone speaks English to a very high level, which just makes everything easy, and there's a ton of things to do and see, which we discovered as we traveled north to the tiny village of Batad. Home to just 3,000 people, Batad is almost that many years old. The village mainly exists for the terraced rice paddies carved into the mountain side. This is basically a rice farm on a 45 degree angle!




Since there are no roads to get there we had to walk a few hours from the nearest road. Hot and in need of a bath, where better to freshen up than the waterfall (which was another hour walk away)...




We planned to spend the night there, and lucked out when we found a villager who rents out a traditional hut for the night. This is the real thing – over 200 years old. You walk up and duck under the low roof to find a ladder that leads up inside...



And once you're inside, when you look up at the ceiling inside, it had all these animal skulls. Creepy...



We wanted to cover more ground, so we just spent one night, and then walked out early the next morning. We caught a bus to another small village – this one named Sagada. One of the interesting attractions of Sagada is the huge cave



We sort of ended up at the cave by accident and thus unprepared, but we ventured inside anyway. It didn't take us long to realize that without lights we couldn't get too far. That's when I remembered that my camera has a little red-eye reduction light (separate from the flash) and it can be forced to turn on. Not much of a flashlight, but we did get a ways further. That's when Amada's wisdom prevailed and said something along the lines that this tiny light will only be able to get us into trouble, but not out of it. And wouldn't you know it – right about then a tour group was entering – with a nice big lamp that totally lit up the inside. So we asked if we could pay and join their tour and then we were all on our way. At one point it is necessary to get a little wet as the water is about knee level, so we rolled up our pants and removed our shoes and continued on.

There is another cave withing walking distance, and we visited this one also – but for a different reason. This one is known because of its use as a traditional burial site. Bodies were put into hollowed out tree trunks and placed into this cave.



The last body to be placed in this manner was not all that long ago – it was the late 1980's.

And while on the topic of burial ceremonies there are also the “hanging coffins” in Sagada. These are wooden coffins placed onto the vertical face of a mountain cliff.



But I'm telling the story in reverse. Before a body is put into a coffin (hanging or otherwise) the deceased is first placed on a wooden chair, and their body tied in place to hold it from falling or slumping. The wrists and ankles were bound to the chair, straps hold across the waist and chest, and then a wide strap to hold up the head is strapped across the mouth. This chair was then hoisted up – maybe five feet up, and people came to “talk” with the recently departed. This could last from a day, to maybe even a month – depending on how much money the departed's family could afford for hosting the visitors. And paying your respects could be just about anything – you had carte blanche to even tell the dead what a terrible person they were. But hopefully you had nice things to say. The photo we saw of this practice was really creepy looking – the dead looking like a deity being worshiped. And with that strap across the mouth – wow – that looked really creepy!

So if I'm telling things in reverse order, why not discuss how someone might die out in the remote villages of norther Philippines. Well if you were terribly unlucky, you might succumb to headhunters. Of course everyone has heard of this practice before, but I must admit that I didn't know it was from these parts that headhunting originated. And it was our interest in this which took us to the next village called Bontoc.



Anyway, if you were ill fated enough to run into one of these warriors you might lose your head – literally.



Did you see what he was holding in his hands? It probably came from this poor guy



Wow – that's serious. And we're told they did this for sport. We're also told that headhunting has long since stopped, but I don't know. Some of these remote villages without roads or any connection to the modern world still cling pretty firmly to their traditions, and don't have much need for “civilized” laws, etc. We heard from one traveler that in the region just a little further north than we ventured that some of the tribes were preparing to go to war against each other. He said they had all their weapons laid out and ready and were just waiting for the sign. Apparently that's when the red bird sings. Luckily there were no red birds singing while he was around.

So after four days running through a few of these small villages we took a day to head back to Manila, and that's where one of the little travel miracles happened. Discomfort, bad luck, and being ripped off happen often enough, so I really cherish the times when something unexpected and good happens. It was on the first leg of our way back to Manila that we took a jeepney, which is a custom retrofitted jeep with a long back end attached to carry maybe 20 or 30 people. Sort of like a 4x4 bus. Like this...



A fellow backpacker suggested that we should try sitting on the roof for the two hour drive from Bontoc to Banue, and we did just that...



And that gave us the chance to see completely unobstructed views as we traveled the dangerously high, and dangerously twisty single lane road past some of the roughest and most spectacular views to be had anywhere. Like this....



And just a short 12 hours later we were back in Manila where we arranged transport to go south on the main island of Luzon. Our destination – the coastal village of Donsol, which is famous for.....




whale sharks! These truly are gentle giants. Growing as much as 18 meters in length and weighing up to 20 tons, these guys are actually docile. And Donsol had, literally, tons of them. We swam around with them for maybe three hours (and got quite a sun burn in the process).

Here's a video I took during one of our many encounters...



We headed to Manila after this to deal with several things and did manage to see much of this city of 11 million. One thing we did was visit the Chinese cemetery, which was really interesting. They say that when you die you can't take it with you, but these rich Chinese families are sure trying. Rather than burial plots this cemetery is full of mausoleums. Nice ones. Think two story house with running water, flushing toilets, electricity, air con, kitchen, even maids (living ones). These mausoleums were nicer and larger than many the homes in Manila.



And that was about it for the Philippines. We then boarded a plane for Hong Kong, so stay tuned for that. Oh ya - my so called "tough" Olympus camera died. Again. Ugh. Well, lucky thing we're off to Hong Kong next. That's probably the world's best place to pick up electronics for cheap, so I shouldn't be without a camera for long.

Vietnam

Upon entering Vietnam we headed straight to Hanoi, in the north of the country. It's a big busy city, but doesn't have all that much to offer tourists. We went to the water puppet theater, enjoyed some great food, and visited the prison where captured American pilots were held during the Vietnam war (which, they refer to as the American war).

This prison was sarcastically dubbed the “Hanoi Hilton”. In fact, former USA presidential candidate John McCain was held here after his bomber was shot down during his attempt to take out an electrical power station. Here is his flight suit...supposedly...

It was almost humorous to read the biased description of the treatment of the American prisoners. Apparently they received better medical care and food than Vietnamese citizens, and spent much of their time playing volleyball and doing crafts. And when they were released they all received a gift bag and they thanked their captors for teaching them the best of Vietnamese culture. Hmm - ya - I'm sure that's exactly how it happened.

Next was the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay:

We did some trekking around the larger islands and even did a little gentle kayaking around some smaller islands.

Of course there's also the caves in the bay. And to improve upon nature's artistry, some government official thought it best to add colored lights inside.

Ahh - yes - that's much better with the colors.

Further south we went to Hue, and did a day trip in the area known as the DeMilitiarized Zone (DMZ) which marked the 1960's ear border between the separate countries of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Once the Americans sent soldiers into active fighting, this area became the theater of intense fighting.

Here's a few remnants of those days...

To defend against the superior American technology the civilians and North Vietnamese army made extensive use of tunnels. In fact, they credit the tunnels as a key element in their victory. Entire villages lived much of their lives below ground – only coming up to farm the fields. We visited the tunnel system known as Vinh Moc

Families were each assigned a tiny room in the tunnel network to live in.

Imagine having such a tiny place for your family. They even had schools, maternity rooms, kitchens, etc. underground. Some children born here spent the first five years of their lives living underground.

And Hue had more than reminders of the war to offer. Such as these gardens from an ancient royal burial grounds.

A little further south we stopped at the fantastic town of Hoi An. What a great atmosphere in the area known as “old town”. Great restaurants, fantastic looking buildings, no cars allowed, and inexpensive tailor shops - yup – I got myself a suit. Custom fitted and made in just one day.

Ya - I didn't buy any socks.

But that's not all – there are, of course, the ubiquitous massage shops. Now this is sort of strange, but I remember when I was in Taiwan seeing people having some sort of treatment where small warmed glass jars were put onto the skin of people's backs. When the air in the jars cooled, the jar was sucked onto the skin. Anyway, I was suffering from a cold (congested, coughing, etc.) so the massage lady recommended I try this as it's supposed to be therapeutic. Well, part of what this trip is all about is trying new things, so I gave it a shot.

She lit a small fire and used its heat to warm small jars one at a time. Once a jar was heated a little she put it directly onto my back. Within a few minutes my back was completely covered with 30 of these jars.

And sure enough, as the air inside each jar cools a suction is formed – a really strong (read: painful) suction. After about half an hour she removed them and, well, now I have a polka-dot back.

The verdict is still out as to whether this particular eastern medicine works, but I don't think I'll be trying it again any time soon.

We also made a day trip out of Hoi An to see the oldest temples in all of Asia – the My Son ruins. Tragically, many of them were heavily damaged by American bombs during the Vietnam war, but a small number remain. These even pre-date the Khmer temples of Angkor.

Our final destination in Vietnam was Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh city). For us the two big things to visit were the Reunification Palace, and the War museum. The first of these two - the Reunification Palace - can be said to be the place where America lost the Vietnam war. It was from the roof of this building that helicopters began to evacuate diplomats, etc. while three stories below Vietnamese soldiers had stormed the doors and were taking the palace, and indeed the whole city by force.

We also visited the War museum, and found it to be a very biased propaganda tool. The museum exists to highlight the many atrocities committed by the American solders during the war. And there were many examples - the worst (if such things can be measured) might be the legacy of terrible disfigurements of developing fetuses caused by Agent Orange, Agent Purple, and other dioxins that were sprayed over populated areas. I thought the pictures were a little too extreme to post here.

Also mentioned were American attacks on civilians and the habit of destroying entire villages suspected of sympathizing with the VC. Here is one of the most famous images from the war showing terrorized children fleeing the remains of their homes.




There were many other pictures showing the most grizzly and violent scenes. Again, I didn't think it appropriate to post them here as they really were extreme. They are among the most gruesome things I've seen in my life.

The museum presentation was entirely one sided, but that does not change the fact that war is a terrible thing. I'm very fortunate to have lived while my country is at peace - something I have never taken for granted.

We finished our time in Saigon with a reunion with a British couple we met months ago in India. We first met them in Amritsar, and then later in Goa. And now our paths crossed again in Vietnam, so we arranged to see them for dinner.

Ahh - what a fun night. Hopefully this won't be the last time we meet up!

Laos

Next we went to Laos...



Our first stop was at the 4,000 islands just across the border into Laos. We spent three days in a sleepy little village there. These islands are made by the Mekong river delta, and are quite picturesque with the river flowing by.



We took the opportunity to hire a boat and went out to the Laos / Cambodia border to see the rare Irrawaddy river dolphins, so that was sort of neat. We did see a few, but our pics aren't great, so I won't bother posting any of them. Otherwise we rented bicycles and peddled around the island looking at some of the waterfalls, and other sights – like the old French railway and locomotive.

We took a bus (yes, I know – but options are limited) up to the capital city, Vientiane. Like a European city with its cathedrals, Vientiane is full of Buddhist Wats.



which in turn are full of monks in their iconic orange robes



The oldest wat in Vientiane (Wat Si Saket) is home to more than 10,000 Buddha statues:



Another of Vientiane's sights is Patuxai, Laos' less attractive version of the Arc d'Triumph. Apparently it was constructed from cement donated by USA for the construction of an airport runway. I guess the cement was more urgently needed for a “beautiful” victory monument.



We had hoped to travel further north in Laos, but running of out time we chose instead to jump into Vietnam. Yes – by bus again. But this was by far the best “sleeper” bus we've seen yet



...and good thing – the ride from Vientiane to Hanoi was 24 hours. And now we're in Vietnam, after just six days in Laos.