Bob Deschene's blog

China

China Blog

 

Well after spending ten weeks in Japan we were teleported (not really), from Osaka to Beijing to be picked up at the airport Lei Lei our local tour guide and whisked to the Jiangxi Grand Hotel Beijing.

Our first shock was to occur on day one as we discovered that anything related to Google doesn't work in China, nor does Facebook, Twitter, yahoo.com, g mail or Netflix and I am sure many more internet portholes or tools. This meant that we had no way of getting in touch with anyone, until we discovered that Janice's yahoo.co.uk email was working. How come we didn't know about this as most others on the tour were aware, and why hadn't Wendy Wu tours advised us about this. We discovered that what you needed to do was buy a VPN (Virtual Private Network) app and then you can use your tools. We also discovered when occasionally we were able to access BBC World News or CNN that when anything about the regime in China is about to be broadcast they just cut the signal and return it when that piece has finished - normally 5-10 minutes later.

On our first evening there were only 8 out of 25 of us that made the dinner as many were still on route. We met our national guide Felix (his chosen name) and his evolution as a guide was interesting to observe. The tour group was made up of 14 Australians, 9 English and 2 Spaniards who live in the UK. 6 of the group were younger but most were over 60. As our tour included all meals we ate as a group throughout and the dishes were chosen by our tour guides and frankly even though the food was tasty it did acquire a sameness by the end and they use MSG in everything. Also all water had to be bottled or boiled as not even the Chinese drink their tap water.

The focus of our tour was Ancient China so much of what we saw and experienced had to do with the history of China peppered with lots of information about life in a Chinese city, the changes taking place in China and how wonderful everything is under the communist regime (I faintly recall a wee bit of criticism from one of our 4 local guides but that was highly unusual). I don't think they are a one-dimensional people but in public you have no idea who is watching and listening to you so it is prudent to be cautious about what you say. Our local guide in Beijing told us that they can listen in to your conversation when you are in tourist areas, such as The Forbidden City.

China has a population of 1.4 billion and we visited two of the largest cities (Beijing-23 million and Shanghai-24 million). The population of these cities changes dramatically so I am using the figures provided by our local guides which are somewhat different to the plethora of figures you find on the internet. Suffice to say they are large and they ALL have the same feel which is a city in transition as you see all the old low rise, run-down housing being torn down and replaced with high-rises. They grow like locusts and the landscape is littered with them (all the same) and with the poor air quality, traffic chaos and the large numbers of people anything you do, even with a tour group, can be taxing.

 The people we encountered were mainly in hotels, restaurants and at tourist attractions and for the most part they did their job but with not much enthusiasm but language is a major issue as virtually nobody speaks anything but Chinese and with a huge number of dialects they are even challenged communicating with each other, hence the need for local guides. The most interest we had was from those who wanted their picture taken with a Westerner and our young Spaniard Miguel was very popular with the young Chinese woman.

The tour route was Beijing, Datong, Taiyuan, Pingyao, Xi'an ,Zhengzhou and finally Shanghai using tour buses, one local train, two bullet trains and one airplane. Nothing special about the mode of transport other than the local train (6 hours) and the maglev-bullet train (430 kph) from down town Shanghai to the airport. The other bullet trains only did 230 kph which is slower then the Japanese bullet trains which run in the 240-320 range.

In Beijing we visited the major sites Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden city and the scale of both of them was way beyond what we expected. The Square had a lot more colour then normal as the flower decorations were still on display from the one week national holiday called Golden Week. We learned that foreigners are no longer referred to as devils but are referred to as big noses and because we use western toilets, disabled big noses. Fortunately the section of the Great Wall of China that we visited wasn't that busy but it was a steep section and only 5 of the 25 made it to the top, 1700 steps. The Summer Palace which is actually a huge lake with buildings around it was the summer home of the emperor who left central Beijing in the summer (Apr-Sept) to enjoy the lake and his many concubines. The Temple of Heaven (blue is the predominant colour as it is associated with heaven) is another of the Emperor's dwellings used for gatherings and big events.

Lei Lei our local guide in Beijing was very entertaining and it is no surprise that she was chosen to be guide to Tom Cruise when he visited the Great Wall and she proudly showed a photo of herself with the actor on her mobile. She also dismissed the idea that you can see the Great Wall of China from space saying that Richard Nixon had made this up to flatter the premier when he visited China in 1972, the first US President to do so. She also told us that Nixon visited Beijing in February and that it had snowed heavily overnight so to ensure he could visit the Great Wall, which is in a mountainous area, 5,000 soldiers spent all night clearing the roads he would be travelling on.

After we left Beijing we visited the Yungang Grottos in Datong which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and apparently has 50,000 intricately carved Buddhist statues from the very large to the very small (centimetres.) and then to the Bodhisattva Hanging Temple built by monks into the cliff side. There were the usual crowd of Chinese tourists at the Hanging Temple and it proved somewhat daunting for Janice as she doesn't like height or crowds. We then drove over a mountain to the monastic village of Taihuai. The drive over the mountain was in darkness so we didn't get any views but before descending down to the village, we had to get out of our coach and go through security as we were in a national park area and although it was very cold, the air was clear and smelled of pine trees. This was the only time we breathed clean and pure air in China. Taihuai is surrounded by the five flat peaks of Wutai Shan and has many Buddhist temples, which include monks from Tibet. Some of the temples are wealthy because they are tourist attractions whilst others are poor and the monks have to rely on support from the villagers. Our knowledgable guide took us around a couple of the temples, Pusading and Xiantong, before we drove to Taiyuan where we visited the Twin Pagodas and the Jin Ci temple. Taiyuan is the capital of Shanxi province and the home of our local guide who was obviously a history lover. You could hear the regret in his voice as he described how the place had changed in a relatively short time from a town surrounded by farming land to a large city under construction. This was not the first time we heard how the local farmers had become rich by selling their land to developers and are now living in high rise apartments and wondering how to spend their new found wealth.

Our next destination, Pingyao, was the antithesis to Taiyan. It is the only city that survived the Cultural Revolution and because it was in tact the government decided to invest in it as a tourist attraction as it is a large walled town with all the original buildings preserved and liveable. It was built in the 11^th century and its layout is from the Ming and Qing dynasties and many of the buildings have an extensive history. Pingyao was an important financial and banking centre in it heyday so quite a few of the historical buildings were financial institutions. We arrived in Pingyao in the rain but had the next morning free to explore and the sun came out. Our overnight stay in Pingyao was an historical treat as it consisted of rooms around a pretty courtyard, with traditional furniture and wooden window screens. The food was also good.

Then on to Xi'an where the main attraction is the terracotta warriors which once again was much larger than we expected and more interesting as you learned about the finds (those uncovered and many more as yet unexposed). You could actually view the archaeologists at work in the pits. Our guide told us that they had located the tomb of Qin Shin Huang but it had not been excavated as they haven't learned yet how to preserve the finds once exposed to the air. There is also a small museum housing two magnificent bronze chariots and their drivers. Unfortunately it was so full of Chinese tourists that we had to adopt the Chinese way of dealing with crowds in order to be able to see the two chariots which is to stick out your elbows and barge your way ahead. We don't think there is a word for “excuse me” in Chinese! In the evening we viewed some traditional dancing in a square and the amazing light displays – hopefully the photos will do them justice. We also had a little explore of the Muslim Quarter which was colourful and noisy and a bit whiffy with its food stalls, and stalls selling silk and fabrics and oriental knick-knacks.

Then off to Luoyang and the Longmen Grottoes which date back to 500 A.D. and once again filled with Buddhas although many had been plundered by foreigners in the 1950's. The caves are located along the River Yi and it was very pleasant walking by the river in the autumn warmth and although it was a Saturday and there were quite a few Chinese visiting the spot, they were more laid back and, as not that many Western tourist venture here, they were curious and friendly with us. There are as many as 100,000 statues ranging from 1 inch in height to 57 feet. The key statue is the Vairocana Buddha which was carved to resemble the Empress Wu Zetian and is termed the "Chinese Mona Lisa” as her eyes follow you about. See what you think from the photo. Luoyang is known as the city of Peonies and the story is that Empress Wu Zetian was so angry that the peonies disobeyed her command to bloom in the snow that she banished them from her capital at Chang'an to Luoyang. The peonies have become a major attraction in the Spring as they can be found everywhere. Guess what – our hotel was called The Peony Hotel!

The next day we drove to Shaolin temple which is the place of origin of Zen Buddhism and Chinese martial arts. The place was packed with Chinese tourists. We watched a kung fu demonstration by the young trainees – I doubt that they were all monks. Our guide showed us around the temple and then we walked to the Pagoda Forest which proved to be pretty evocative. Each pagoda was a grave for a deceased monk. We stayed overnight in the city of Zhengzhou so that we could take a hovercraft ride on the Yellow River. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the Yellow River Museum as it was closed for renovation which would have been far more rewarding than our experience of the Yellow River. The hovercraft was ancient and smelly and after a brief ride we disembarked on a large sandbank in the middle of the river where tourists could take a horse ride or drive a dune buggy which Bob did. After lunch we took a plane to Shanghai, our final destination.

As Shanghai is by the sea it does not suffer so much from the pollution we encountered in the landlocked cities. It has a cosmopolitan feel to it and has some great modern architecture as well as a well preserved area called the Bund consisting of the older colonial style business buildings on one side of the river and on the other side there are massive skyscrapers; one of which we took the elevator to the 88^th floor at a rate of 9.1 meters per second. We also took the Maglev train 431 kph top speed, did a river cruise at night to enjoy the Shanghai lights (pretty spectacular) and visited the very impressive Shanghai museum which housed a huge range of antiquities. Our last visit was the silk shop or rather emporium and we did break down and buy a couple of silk duvets-why not go out in style.

What else did we learn from our local guides? Well, we learnt that 9 is considered a lucky number; Janice was born in the year of the rabbit and Bob the year of the ox; on marriage night the couple open their red envelopes which are full of money so they have no time for anything else; small people are smart, the Chinese language has 4 tones-flat, rising, up/down, down; the Great Wall is built on the graves of the thousands who died building the Wall; those who created the terracotta warriors were killed so that the Emperor's tomb would remain a secret, and one of the saddest truths is that during the Mao Zedong “Great Leap Forward” between 1959 and 1961 there was the Great Famine and instead of people asking how you were, they would ask “have you eaten?” The official line, which of course our guide gave us, is that the famine leading to millions of people dying was caused by natural disasters but the truth is it was man-made. There is a very cruel streak in those that have ruled China. People will still ask “Have you eaten?” rather than “How are you?”.

Our tour had its fill of entertainment, In Beijing we saw the Legend of Kung Fung show which Janice enjoyed more than Bob and we also saw a traditional Peking Opera which was colourful but rather screechy singing. In Xi'an we were treated to the Tang Dynasty Dancing Show – it was a pretty naff performance which was a shame as there were better performances to be found. On our last night in Shanghai we went to an Acrobatic show which Bob enjoyed more than Janice.

We have our memories, our third suitcase full of souvenirs, and our readiness to return home and after 21 hours of travelling, we walked down from Portslade station at 4 am (body clock) but 9 pm local time back to the familiar and comfortable.

 

Japan Honshu

Japan Blog-Honshu the Last Island

 

We have now arrived on the big island after crossing the long and large bridge over the Seto Inland Sea from Shikoku, an amazing feat of engineering. Honshu is the only island most Westerners see of Japan (Hiroshima, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo). Kurashiki was our first stop and it has a very picturesque pedestrianised historical quarter with a river flowing through it, lovely old bridges crossing over it and at night it is a lovely scene. The most unusual place was a Japanese Toy & Doll Museum which was at the back of a shop and having it all to ourselves (as it was hard to find) and it was full of all kinds of Japanese toys (masks, kites, dolls, wooden toys). We met an older man as we left and I think it was his collection and we told him how good it was but needed more promotion. Our second day was spent visiting Naoshima Island which has a lot of outdoor modern art as well as a village which has the Honmura Art House Project and the Benesse House & Museum plus assorted sculptures around the island. Unfortunately it rained most of the day but it was still fascinating with works by famous artists such as Hockney, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Yayoi Kusama whose sculpture of a yellow pumpkin has become a symbol of the island, James Turrell's experiment with light where you enter in total darkness and wait, and much more . For art lovers we would highly recommend a visit to this island.

Okayama was the last place we visited with our rental car and it was here that we visited the second of the top three most beautiful gardens in Japan. Hopefully the photos do it justice. We also went to the Yumeji Art Museum which is dedicated to the work of Yumeji Takehisa, a local artists and poet, famous for images of beautiful women.

We dropped off our car at Hiroshima Airport and took a bus into Hiroshima. If you were ever in doubt about the abundance of Westerners it was clear from the numbers, use of English and English menus that they are accustomed to foreigners. The contrast between Hokkaido, Kyushu & Shikoku was dramatic as we were no longer a cherished novelty but one of the crowd. This does not obviate the fact that on an individual level the Japanese are continually polite, helpful and occasionally overwhelmed as the woman at the Sake factory in Saijo who loved us so much she gave us both double hugs and we walked off feeling that we connected with someone and smiling as we had a bottle of very lovely sake, compliments of the tasting session.

The main attraction in Hiroshima is the Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Park. It was a similar experience to the one we had in Nagasaki but had a lot more western tourists.

Now some information about breakfast in Japan. We decided that the cost of breakfast at our hotel in Hiroshima was too high and fortunately we found a cafe that opened before 9 am and we could have a hot brekkie. The choices for breakfast in Japan are VERY limited and essentially is only TWO choices (eat at your hotel cost per person is about £7 or go to the kombini (7 Eleven; Lawson or Family Mart) and get some sushi, pork buns, meat sticks, etc. (works out to be about £7 for two people) that you eat in your car, at the hotel or you find a bench somewhere-few and far between-rest stops and picnic tables are nearly unheard of in Japan, except on the motorways. Cafes for brekkie were non-existent on our first 3 islands and on Honshu in a city you can normally find at least one cafe opening early. The other aspect of Japan is the toilets-they are everywhere and always clean – our bladders are delighted.

We no longer have our car and have to now navigate public transit which is relatively easy. However our first major train ride from Hiroshima to Kobe was a bit of a shock at £77 per person until we discovered that it was the Shinkansen (bullet train) but it was the only option available and other choices were much more cumbersome and just as expensive so it was a bit of a treat.

Kobe turned out to be a much more cosmopolitan and modern city than anticipated, due in part to WW2 and the devastating earthquake of 1995, and the only historical area to walk is the Kitano area which is the area settled by foreigners when trade in the 1860’s opened up with the West. We did take the rope way up the mountain to walk down through the Herb Garden and other themed gardens. Kobe is famous for its beef and on day one we went to Wanto Burger and tried the Waygu beef, yummy! and on Janice’s birthday we went to Hotel La Suite’s premier restaurant, to which we could walk from our hotel. It was a meal we will never forget both for elegance, quality and price. I think the evening is etched in our minds and we could both describe our reaction first to the setting, overlooking the harbour, and then to the prices but the beef which was cooked in front of us melted in our mouths – truly delicious. As it was Janice's birthday they presented her with a plate of exquisite desserts – a step up from the sparkler in ice cream presented to her at her last birthday in Durban.

The next day we took the train to Himeji which is the premier castle in Japan, and is known as the white egret. Its level of preservation, setting and sophistication cannot be rivaled with any we have seen in Japan. It has a sad but romantic historical story attached to it concerning a young princess and her warrior husband. We then visited the Himeji Castle Nishi-Oyashiki-Ato garden which is 3.5 ha and is composed of nine different gardens using the gardening techniques of the Edo period. The gardens were magnificent with the castle looming over it.

Our next port of call was Kyoto for 5 days. It is Japan’s cultural jewel and we could have easily spent 10-15 days there given all there is to see and also with the excellent and inexpensive bus system easy to get around. Our Airbnb unit was in northeast Kyoto but it was near the Philosophers walk which follows a small tree-lined canal off which there are lots of shrines and temples, two of which, Ginkaku-ji and Eikan-do, stand out. The former was a Zen Temple and Eikan was also a headquarters of the Jodo Sect Seizan Zenrinji branch and had the most lovely gardens and mosses. The trees were just changing colour so you could get a taste of how lovely it would be in November. We then went to the Zuiki festival but missed the procession but managed to find the ceremony at the end of the procession complete with crowds and food. Dinner was a real treat as we stuck our head into a restaurant which was empty except for the chef and one woman sitting eating her meal at the long counter, it turned out that she was a dentist and spoke excellent English so not only could we spend a lovely half hour with her we could get an authentic Japanese meal which she ordered for us.

We visited the Nishijin Textile Centre which had displays of many traditional folk crafts and a short kimono show-only the photos could do it justice. The weaving demonstration was very interesting as it used a loam originally imported from France in the mid-19th century. Our trip to the Kyoto Museum of Art was particularly memorable as it had a special exhibition of 86 paintings by acclaimed Japanese artists and our wee tour of a historical exhibition of Kyoto by a lovely older Japanese volunteer guide who spoke English very slowly and deliberately but so charmingly you just wanted to listen to her voice and enjoy her engaging genuine smile. Our free Kyoto walking tour with 45 other tourists focused on the Gion district where there is still the 5 remaining schools for training Geishas of which there are only 300 and they are only found in Kyoto. The training of Maikos and Gaikos is very interesting but beyond the scope of a highlight blog so if you are interested, then we will be happy to tell you more on our return. We had a quick visit to Roku on-ji temple which was a photographer’s delight with its Golden Pavilion as it was late in the day and the waning sun showed off the pavilion magnificently. Then off to the full moon festival at Shimogamo Shrine. Unfortunately Janice picked up a cold so was struggling a bit.

Took the train for 2 days in Nara and we visited another of Japan’s lovely gardens Isuien. The garden is a combination of two Strolling-Around-the-Pond Gardens designed in two different periods, the Edo period and the Meiji era. Janice needed to rest so the half day tour with our volunteer guide Makido was Bob only and he visited the two main temples Todaiji temple (Buddhist) which apparently is the largest wooden structure in the world and its main attraction is the Great Buddha which apparently is the largest bronze figure in the world. The park nearby has about 1200 deer which were considered to be messengers of god in pre-Buddhist times and today are so tame they wander among the tourists demanding food. Kasuga-Taisha Shrine (Shinto) is noted for its 1000 lanterns (stone, bronze, etc.). Bob’s guide was an English teacher and she afforded him the opportunity to ask a lot of questions about Japan and in particular about family life.

Our last stop was Osaka which neither of us particularly liked but others have loved it. Our two adventures were to the 27th floor of the Umeda Sky building to visit the Koji Kinutani Tanku Art Museum which afforded us great views across Osaka and to see some of the unique art of Koji Kinutani who had his own peculiar style. We had a day at the Osaka castle and a rather disappointing trip to the well renowned Aquarium which was rather ordinary. We spent our last night at the Kansai Airport hotel as it was beside the airport and had our last meal which had to be sushi as it was also our first meal in Japan.

Well saying goodbye to Japan after 10 weeks was not easy as it was one of our most memorable trips. The Japanese have been lovely hosts and we are privileged to have shared a little of their history, culture and lifestyle.

Now off to China for our whirlwind tour of China.

Japan Shikoku

Japan Blog Shikoku

 

Well the people and food continue to delight our palettes and we seem to have adopted a spiritual bent from the 88 Shikoku-an temple pilgrimage (I think we managed about 8 of them (1, 2,3,31(Kochi), 41, 42, 73,75) but more about them later.

I think the Japanese style rooms have left a permanent impression on mainly Bob’s aging body. The flexibility and closeness to the ground of the Japanese is a wonder especially when you have to get up at night to visit a toilet somewhere in the place. The onsens have for the most part been just too hot but at our last ryokan Bob managed to achieve the lobster effect which after a night on the floor and almost all day walking felt very therapeutic.

Well how have we been occupying our time-mainly tourist sites not too many thrills. Our journey took us on roughly this route (Uchiko,Ozu, Kawabe, Uwajima,Kochi, Miyoshi (Iya Valley), Tokushima, Takashima,Kotohira, Marugame before taking the huge bridge back to Honshu.

Our first stop was Uchiko which has a history of candle making and in the early part of the 20th Century it made about 30% of the candles for Japan and watching them being made today as a cottage industry did produce a candle that burned cleaner and longer but at a price. The Japanese revere craftsmanship and they charge what seems to us an exorbitant price for simple wooden plates, ceramics, etc. so we have managed to shell out for souvenirs but have had to be very selective and controlled.

We stayed at a small town called Ozo. As we drove into the town it looked like another plain and rather ugly Japanese town but fortunately our guesthouse (yet another Japanese style room) was in the old quarter which was pedestrianised. There was an excellent restaurant round the corner by the river and we enjoyed a number of dishes over two nights which were cooked in front of us by the chef. We decided to spend the next day exploring the old part of Ozu which included a renovated castle on the hilltop, which gave a much needed cooling breeze, and a rustic and attractive villa called Garyu Sanso which had one room with a circular window that symbolizes a full moon, while the staggered shelves to its left represent clouds; when the candle on the Buddhist altar behind the window is lit, the window and the shelves resemble a bright moon in the midst of floating clouds. There was also a thatched roof construction which had great views of the river and a curved ceiling onto which the river reflects the image of the moon during the night.

There is an area around Kawabe that has covered bridges which offered an opportunity to glimpse into Japan’s past and they often have a lovely setting to go with them. We did a slight detour to Uwajima to see the famous shrine and sex museum. As photos were not allowed I am sorry but other than the temple’s sizable wooden phallus no photos accompanied this visit. The sex museum was 3 floors stuffed with sexual objects mainly of tribes used in ceremonies related to fertility, photos, Japanese karmasutra type drawings-almost a whole floor of them and so much more it is hard to remember. Tourists only come to Uwajima to visit the sex museum and Uwajima itself was almost like a ghost town with few people walking the streets day or night.

We then visited the first of Shikoku’s Buddhist temples intending to walk from number 42 to number 41 but never managed it as the only path we could find was along the road so we drove. There is quite a story to the 88 temples and the pilgrimage the faithful can make and they have a special attire they use so they are noticeable mainly from the white outfit, staff and occasionally the straw conical hat. The pilgrimage was initiated by the Buddhist priest, Kukai, and follows the trail he walked in 815, when he was 42 years old. Shikoku's four prefectures reflect the four separate parts of the mandala(symbol of the universe). Tokushima is the place of spiritual awakening, Kochi, the place of ascetic training, Ehime, the place of enlightenment, and Kagawa the place of Nirvana. The full trail is 1,400 km but nowadays many pilgrims use their cars to visit the 88 shrines.

We then visited the terraces by the sea where for 400 years they have raised crops but today it is a dieing activity as potatoes can be grown a lot cheaper elsewhere and the terraces do not allow the use of machinery except one nifty unit that you sit on that nips up and down the slopes. Whilst visiting the terraces we met a young Chinese woman who was studying in Kyoto and because she had majored in English we were able to learn more about the terraces.

The next day we took route 381 which the Lonely Planet described as a windy route along one of the few rivers which has not been dammed or interfered with. However, the road along the river had been developed so it was not that windy and the river was not that interesting. However, things improved when we got to Kochi as we visited the Makino Botanical Gardens which were created to commemorate the contribution of Tomitaro Makino who devoted his life to identifying Japanese flora and fauna and his 1940 Flora of Japan (included meticulous illustrations of the plants and flowers) is still used today as a textbook. He was a truly remarkable man that had a burning passion and spent his 94 years living his dream.

We then drove up into the Iya Valley which is one of the prettiest spots on Shikoku with its mountains full of trees, valleys, gorges, vine bridges etc. Some of the roads are one lane only, very narrow and windy so the only way to drive them is with concentration, bated breath and very slowly. Bob walked across his first vine bridge holding an umbrella and gingerly walking across the slippery wooden slats. The other two vine bridges we visited were on route 439 in a more remote area but were less challenging. One was called the male bridge as it is higher and longer than the smaller one which is called the female one. Janice walked across the female bridge after riding in a small box cart across the river with the help of three burly male tourists. There are only three of these vine bridges left in Japan and they do look like something out of an Indiana Jones script, although our pace represented a snail as we groped our way along them. On route 439 we came across Nagoro Scarecrow village where a resident has made life-sized scarecrow type dolls as a way of memoralising former inhabitants of her village.

Whilst in the Valley we stayed at a ryokan with a full meal plan so we didn’t know what to expect at dinner. Firstly we wore street clothes and it appears that in the evening the Japanese, usually single men, prefer to wear the yukatas which is like a stylish bathrobe-just cannot get used to bobbing bits whilst eating dinner. The meal however was a feast and there must have been at least 10 different things but please remember any one dish is small- the Japanese do not do huge portions of anything - if you want more you fill up mainly with rice or miso and along with noodles are the national dishes of Japan. I don’t think we have managed a day without at least one of the “big three”

We then spent four nights in Tokushima (the last night compliments of an impending typhoon which incidentally was more a “storm in a teacup”but the Japanese always prepare for the worst and fortunately our area was not hit that hard). Tokushima was a lot of fun as we visited the museum garden which was a work of art; attended a traditional dance performance at which Bob won first prize (complete with banner, certificate and interview).; ate twice at Domannaka-great food and friendly chef who cooked in front of us; visited temples 1,2,3 of the 88; went to a puppet theatre-performance, tried the musical instruments, lecturn-used by the narrator, elevated shoes and met the narrator (who frankly was the star of the show) in the parking lot and she gave us gifts-because on Japan’s three less known major islands (Hokkaido,Kyushu and Shikoku) western tourists, particularly older ones, are a novelty. We also visited the indigo museum and watched a typhoon.

At our next destination, Takamatsu, we visited one of the three major gardens in Japan-Ritsuran, and also an area that has historical buildings from across Shikoku much like Singleton in Sussex or Blackcreek Pioneer Village in Toronto. There were a large number of buildings and also an art galley that had a Frank Lloyd Wright type water garden. Our next destination was Kotohira a small mountain village which is famous for the major tourist attraction Konpira-san, a Buddhist/Shinto shrine dedicated to the guardian of mariners. There are 1368 steps to the top and we stayed at our last ryokan on step 100. The steps did not feel that strenuous as there were souvenir shops and museums to look at. Also we came across a man feeding these little birds from his hand and he gave Janice some of the food so she could do the same. We also had to visit the Sake Museum and bought 3 (300 ml) bottles so we could sample sake at our leisure. Another attraction we visited in Kotohira was Japan's oldest kabuki theatre and were fortunate enough to have an English speaking guide to show us around. The next day we visited our last two temples, 75, called Zentsuj,i which is the birthplace of Kukai, and has large temple grounds and 73, called Shusshakaji, where according to legend Kukai at the age of seven climbed the 481 metre mountain and threw himself off but was saved by a heavenly being. So he carved a statute, constructed temple buildings and founded this temple.

Marugame was our last stop to visit the “fan facility” where they handmake the bulk of the round fans in Japan. They had 4 men working on various aspects of making the fans and the displays of the fans are very picturesque and we managed to only buy 4 fans. Had dinner at a restaurant across the street from the hotel where we were staying that looked like it had dropped out of an old English/Canadian period house. However the food was very Japanese and fortunately we had a waitress who had lived in San Francisco 30 years ago and was delighted to use English again-once again an excellent meal.

 

 

Japan Kyushu

Japan Kyushu Delights

 

We have included Tsuwano in this blog although it is actually on the main island Honshu, because it was on the way to Kyushu via the large bridge that brought us onto Japan's prettiest island.

We arrived in Tsuwano which is a small town surrounded by mountains just as they were about to celebrate two festivals - Bon Odori Taikai-folk dance festival and Touro Nagashi-floating of the lanterns down the river to remember the dead. The festivities included a warrior in a play who slays 5 dragons, a team of performing drummers and a folk dance in a huge oval on the main street. The woman in the tourist office who we met earlier was there, dressed in her kimono, and showed Janice the dance-she referred to herself as the only licensed English tour guide in the town-she had lived in Manchester and spoke excellent English. We also met a Japanese family who were visiting their parents and as they had lived in Oregon they all spoke English, even the children.

Our next stop was Karatsu and the Riverside Hotel, our first Japanese style accommodation. Our hostess fortunately asked if we would mind if she set out our bedding whilst we were out to dinner and we breathed a sigh of relief. A traditional style Japanese room is made up of tatami mats on the floor, one square table about the size of a breakfast table but only about 2ft off the ground and two chairs that sit on the floor each with a cushion, so life is supposed to be spent on the floor but for both of us the cushions and chairs were moved to the table and we sat on the table. We visited the Takatori residence which was an excellent example of an entrepreneur’s house of the late Meiji period (1868 to 1912) and some of the unusual features built into the house. The villa was located overlooking the sea so a cooling breeze wafted through the building which made it more bearable in the heat of August. It was an exquisite building with beautiful paintings on cedar boards and an indoor no dance-drama stage. There were also some lovely ikebana flower arrangements in some of the rooms. We also visited an exhibition hall in Karatsu that is used to store the Hikiyama floats-15 huge floats used in an annual festival. The inside of buildings has air-con but once you step outside it is like the tropics-very high humidity and lots of perspiration necessitating the use of a small sweat towel. Karatsu, Imari and Arita are pottery centres and some of the pottery and ceramics were outstanding along with the price but we did buy some pieces that we liked that were more reasonably priced.

Next stop was Matsuura and the first bit of theatre at dinner time in the business hotel we were staying in as a result of not knowing what you ordered. We visited Hirado which is the first European settlement by the Dutch and in the museum we met a couple (she was American and he was Quebecois-a bit like the odd couple) who had been sailing the world for the last 30 years mainly in the Far East and the Orient but other places in the world as well. We are like babes in the wood compared to this remarkable pair.

The next day we crossed a huge bridge and came out of a very long tunnel straight into the centre of Nagasaki. We parked our car in one of those elevator parking lots adjacent to our hotel

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and took the trams. The major tourist attraction we visited was the Atomic Bomb Museum which displayed the horrific aftermath of a nuclear bomb. It was cruel fate for Nagasaki that it had an atomic bomb dropped on it as it was not the first intended target but because of poor visibility the pilot went for the next choice of target. Many of the victims were civilians and there were also prisoners of war affected. The overarching message coming through the exhibition was the need for peace which rang even clearer with the missiles North Korea was launching over the northern part of Japan whilst we were there. We also visited the Glover House and Gardens. Thomas Blake Glover at the age of 21 came to Nagasaki from Scotland and brought a lot of western technology and thinking to Japan at a time when Japan had only just re-opened its doors to the western world. We also took the gondola up the mountain to see Nagaski at night. As it had been torrential rain the night before, a lot of tourists joined us which meant that we had a long wait to get on the one and only gondola and consequently we did not have much time to enjoy the view before returning on the last gondola.

Then on to Obama via Unzen and we stayed in another Japanese style accommodation. However it did have a private outdoor onsen on the roof that looked out to sea and we did manage to enjoy a bit of a dip but our bodies are not accustomed to such hot water and when the evening temperature is about 35 degrees you are not cold enough even at 9 pm at night to enjoy a natural hot spring. One of the delightful aspects of staying in a Japanese type room is that you are provided with green tea and either a cake or biscuit relevant to the area. Unzen is in the mountains and is a great place to explore as it has hot springs, fumaroles gushing out of the walkways and a one way road to Nita Pass offering great views of the mountains and sea. We stopped off to take a cute little rope way up to some paths that lead to three mountains. We did a few hours walk along a ridge enjoying the cool air and the views. We crossed the peninsula via the mountains to Shimabara which would have been a far more interesting place to stay with its castle (built in 1618 but restored in 1964 due to natural disasters) and a few samurai houses and gardens and its natural springs offering tasty and pure drinking water. Shimabara has suffered twice from the eruption of Mt Unzen volcano, first in 1792 and then in 1991 and we visited the excellent Museum from where you can see the lava flow and experience a simulation of what it is like to feel the power of an eruption.

Shimabara was the port from where we took a boat on a very calm crossing to another prefecture. We drove to Kirishima Yakon National Park where we did a walk on which we met a group of Japanese painters, one of whom spoke English. They were a jolly crowd and we spent some moments in their delightful company. This was the first of a number of volcano walks that were to be truncated by exclusion zones, closed normally temporarily as a precaution as the Japanese are very safety conscious. We could see from a viewpoint the volcano gently fuming and felt a bit miffed that we could not complete the circular walk.

Our next stop was Kirishima and the architecturally unique Kyocera Hotel (we were in the Annex but connected to the main hotel structure by an elevated enclosed walkway). Our large bedroom (unusually large for Japan) offered us fantastic views of the town, river and mountains.

The weather was good the next day so we did a gorge walk and visited the Kirishima Shrine and the small Maruo Falls. The next day before driving to Kagoshima we visited a museum which housed the findings of the Jomon civilization who lived in the area 9,500 years ago. The artifacts were fascinating and in excellent condition considering how old they were

Then we landed in Kagoshima for 4 nights. Firstly, we visited the Museum of the Meiji Restoration where we learnt about local hero, Saigo Takamori, who was one of the key reformers and played an important part opening up Japan to the West after a long period of isolation from the rest of the world. The next day we headed out of town to visit Chiran in the mountains-home of the Tokko pilots (kamikaze) museum and a street of original samurai gardens. The museum offered a fascinating but very sad insight into the history of the pilots. There were many photos of some of the 4,000 pilots who lost their lives in a last ditch desperate attempt of the Japanese to defeat the Americans and also letters they wrote to their family and children before their final mission. With the aid of an English audio guide we were able to understand the contents of some of the letters. The gardens samurai were an oasis of peace but with the unrelenting heat, we found the museum a far more comfortable place to be.

Kagoshima is famous for the fact that just across the bay is a huge and active volcano called Sakurajima which occasionally erupts and the inhabitants of Kagoshima supposedly put their umbrellas up to protect themselves from the ash. We took the car across the bay on a sunny day and drove around its base which had various viewpoints and points of interest. Fortunately, the volcano was quiet when we were there. On our last day in Kagoshima we visited Sengan-en Gardens and Residence which is a preserved complex that housed the Shuseidan Project that was the first industrial complex to put in place western technology in Japan. Of course we did a tour of the house which was constructed in 1658 for the Shimadzu family who ruled over this for area almost 700 year from 1185 to 1869. The area we were shown was constructed in 1884 and one of the points of interests were the decorative “kugi kakushi” used to cover nail heads. They were in the shape of bats which are a symbol of luck in traditional Chinese culture. We ended our tour with a tea ceremony served by a very elegant kimono clad Japanese woman. We were served matcha green tea and a Japanese sweet called hiryu-zu (flying dragon's head) and has been served to the Shimdzu family for generations. It contained a mix of shitake mushrooms, yuzu, ginkgo and sweet miso paste among other ingredients. We were later to discover that this tea ceremony was a lot cheaper and more authentic than the ones offered to western tourists in Kyoto.

Then off for one night in Aburatsu at a Sports Bar Hostel and it was quite an evening as it was a World Cup group match Japan vs Australia. The manager of the in-progress hostel, the Aussie surfer and one of the patrons all spoke English so conversation along with sake was available and guests and patrons watched as Japan won 2-0 and qualified for next years World Cup in Russia. Even Janice watched the game. Unfortunately we had to retire to a damp room for the night.

Then to the cosy Takamori guest house run by the delightful and spiritual Mr Sakori-our mountain idyll. On the way we visited the Udo Shrine which is on the sea and it was nothing short of majestic and we did the 5 clay rocks into the rope game. We also stopped at Sun-Messe a theme park on the sea with marvelous views (Easter Island statues; coloured men in a row; butterflies made from rocks on a cliff top). We finished with the Takachiho Gorge walk. Whilst in Takamori we visited Naba-ga-doki Falls which you can walk behind and then spent the second day climbing two mountains (Mt. Kijimodake & Mt. Eboshidake both about 1300 metres high but very different climbs-the first was easy and steep and the second was full of waist to head high vegetation and unfortunately we had to return the way we climbed as an exclusion zone existed for both trails due to volcanic activity and last year’s earthquake. We also had one of our most unusual meals in a 200 year old restaurant that does individual barbecue pits and you sit on the floor and cook your food (meat, fish, vegetable, tofu), the salted trout was particularly good. We also had a good soak in Mr Satori’s onsen which soothed our aching legs.

Then off to Yufuin for our first surprise. The hotel had overbooked our room but Booking.com came up trumps and we got referred to another much nicer hotel and Booking.com made up the difference in price. Yufuin lives for tourists and they have one street that goes from town out to the lake that is about 1km long and it’s full of shops and one retro museum which we visited and was like Japan recreated from about 1950-1980 and Bob particularly enjoyed the two young Japanese women enacting a living room scene complete with mobile phone pictures.

Our final stop was Oita for a couple of nights mainly to visit Usuki which had lovely shrines and a historical area and the 50 Stone Buddhas carved from solidified volcanic rock around 1000 A.D. We also enjoyed our comfortable and large room in the Rembrandt Hotel and its proximity to the Amu plaza and its many restaurants. Also the drive to Beppu to catch the ferry to Shikoku was only about 30 minutes away.

Japan Hokkaido

Japan Blog Hokkaido Reflections

 

Well the two words that come to mind are mist and food. The landscape was beautiful, but unfortunately the forest covered mountains and many of the lakes were covered in mist. The consequence of this was that many of our planned walks to summits just didn’t happen and boat rides were a non-starter. On the wildlife front we did manage to see one bear and a lovely male deer with a glorious rack of horns and many foxes who seem to like travelling along the roadside.

Driving is relatively easy with our Sat Nav christened “Susie”. However our first journey using her was a disaster and we still have no idea what happened but going round and round near a toll way is an expensive lesson. We have also never managed to understand the idiosycrancies of Susie and her strange little detours. However without her able help we would never be able to get around. Tolls and tunnels are abundant on Hokkaido. The tunnels run from half a kilometre to sometimes 4 kms. I think the Japanese prefer to tunnel through a mountain rather then build around it.

When people say the Hokkaido is the place for food they are not mistaken. On our first night in Sapporo we went to a sushi restaurant and with the help of the staff and adjacent patrons we got the hang of how to order and eat even with the inimitable chopsticks. The food was divine and we both have become sushi fans overnight. We have tried many types of food along with rice and miso even for brekkie-Japanese style. I particularly like the noodles dishes (ramen, udon, soba). The interesting technique that is used in restaurants is the use of the picture which is an accurate description of the appearance of the dish but the size is very much smaller-it appears as a pygmy cousin.

Now we come to the Japanese people who, as expected, are totally helpful but you must ask for help. They occasionally volunteer help particularly when it comes to reading a menu. They are very polite and pleasantries are found everywhere. They don’t seem to afford foreigners any different attention than the natives. They do however do everything quickly as if it is expected that they provide rapid and prompt service. Consequently you never wait very long for anything-they are on hand the minute you appear. Most of those who encounter tourists have a smattering of English and of course they say they have only a little English which turns out to be more then our miniscule Japanese.

So where did we go and what did we learn in Japan's northern island. From Sapporo we took a train ride to Otaru which is on the coast. The ticket machines at the railway station have an English option and we were also helped by a charming employee who spoke English. Otaru is now a favourite tourist attraction for the Japanese a it used to be a port and has old warehouses and bank buildings you can visit. There are a lot of souvernir shops filled with kitsch which the Japanese appear to love.

Our next destination from Sapporo was Furano which is well known for the fields of flowers, vegetables and fruit which grow in its surrounding areas. It was melon season when we were there but any fruit in Japan is a lot more expensive than in the UK. We drove to Daisetsuzan National Park from Furano to take the ropeway (cable car) up the top of the mountain from where we did a 1.5 hour walk hoping to get to an onsen. However, the onsen was much further than we thought so we turned back, especially as the mist was coming in, and went to view the fumaroles of the live volcano

From Furano we drove for five hours to Abashiri (we think Susie took us the long way!) and visited the Abashiri Prison Museum which consists of relocated buildings from the original Meiji period prison. We learnt how grim it was for the prisoners especially as they were used as forced labour to build the roads in the area which were needed to protect the island against the Russians. It gets so cold here that the water in the harbour freezes!

Our next destination was Shiretoke National Park which is famous for its five lakes and brown bears which are larger than your normal bear. Before we could do the five lakes walk we had a lengthy briefing from a ranger on what to do if you come across a bear and we were expected to walk as a group with the other walkers. Needless to say the only bear we saw was the next day on the bank by the side of the road. We stayed at the Iruka guesthouse (iruka means dolphin in Japanese) and our room overlooked the pebbly beach and harbour. It was great to fall asleep to the sound of the waves.

Our next National Park was Akan but our drive there was a rainy and misty one and sadly it stayed like that for much of our time there. We did manage to visit the Ainu Cultural Village and see some traditional dancing and hear their songs. The Ainu are the indigenous people of Hokkaido and there are about 24,000 of them living in Japan. Some people claim that they are the only natives of Japan. We attempted to see Lake Mashu-ko which is considered to be Japan's most beautiful lake but as it is situated at a high elevation it is usually covered in thick mist which it was when we were there. We were told that it is considered to be a mystery as it is unusual to be able to see it.

Our drive back to Sapporo was a long and slow one on the toll roads as the weather was bad and the roads were busy as it was school holiday time. We are off to Hiroshima airport to pick up our next rental car to see Kyushu and Shikoku and hopefully find better weather. It will certainly be a lot hotter.

 

 

South Africa-Capetown to Durban Self Drive (1.5 months)

Our tour from Capetown to Victoria Falls was 5500 kms in 20 days and it being full on meant that we were a bit worn out when we got back to Cape Town but rather glad to be running our own show. Now for what we did with our 1.5 months driving around South Africa.

 

Capetown

We picked up the car at Capetown airport and Bob drove into the centre of Capetown to our La Rosa B&B on Rose St. Fortunately we knew the area and only got a little lost. Our first priority was to get a South African SIM for Janice's phone. Well, first surprise Janice's phone was locked and no way of unlocking it so we had to buy a cheap South African phone and fortunately for us the woman in the shop was so helpful. This was a sign of things to come as South Africans are universally helpful and seem to always go the extra step.

Our first venture was to drive up Signal Hill to get views all around of the city, sea and the ever present Table Mountain, although the Table is often smothered in cloud. Every day one of the two guns is fired at noon but this is now done electronically. We did a free tour of the Parliament Buildings and there was a group of teachers from the KwaZulu Natal area who were very lively and as they walked down the hall I must admit they presented a rather prominent view of posteriors that made Bob smile. The tour although was boring and the system is similar to that used in the UK (even to the way it is decorated and furnished). However the impact of the diversity of the areas and districts in South Africa is much more significant than English counties are in the UK. Our first meal we started into the game (impala, springbok, eland, ostrich, kudo etc.) which seemed to be available in the Western Cape although the game offerings tended to decline as we moved east.

The gods were looking down on us as we had a glorious sunny and clear day to go up Table Mountain in the cable car and returned the same way. The view is rather impressive particularly out to the peninsula all the way to Cape of Good Hope (although not able to see it from the top). There are about 5 ways to walk up to the top but it takes anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours but talked to a few people who managed it and it's a source of pride to the locals as well as the tourists and of course it's free to walk with no line ups for the cable car. which are huge. We then went off to buy two new suitcases (one to replace Janice's broken into one during the flight from Jo'burg to Cape Town – nothing was missing so it was probably customs - and the other for souvenirs) and also to do a bit of circle dancing with Phil Smith (we have now circled danced in USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa). Phil visits Brazil where circle dancing is popular and we danced a lot of his own dances to Brazilian music which were very lively and quite complex.

Just as we were about to board the boat to Robben Island the tours were cancelled because of the weather but we did re-book and eventually got to Robben Island but frankly it was overpriced and not terribly interesting. We think that as our guide was one of the later ex-prisoners most of the conditions had improved before he was incarcerated there but he did relate to how it was for the original prisoners like Nelson Mandela. The crossing is pretty bumpy on the hydrofoil and takes 45 minutes. We could imagine what it was like for Mandela and the other activists all those years as you could clearly see Cape Town and Table Mountain and yet it was impossible to escape across the treacherous waters. We did learn that Mandela and some of the other prisoners would secretly educate the younger prisoners while they were forced to do hard labour at the cement pits.

Hout Bay and the Peninsula including Cape of Good Hope

Hout Bay is just down the coast a bit and we stayed in a lovely B&B and were upgraded to a large room with a great view of Hout Bay although just like many places in South Africa you have rich white accommodation virtually next door to relatively poor black areas and the township at Hout Bay really was a shanty town, although not all black townships were the same and they seemed to improve as we drove east.

We visited the World of Birds (largest collection of birds in South Africa) which was highly enjoyable as we were able to walk amongst the birds and meet the owner and his group of Bolivian squirrel monkeys who were a real delight as they played and romped over Bob's head. We then decided that we needed a little relaxing so off to our first winery called Groot Constantia which was one of the original wineries in the area and has, like many wineries in South Africa long history. We spent the next day driving down to the Cape of Good Hope which is claimed to be the most southerly point of the African continent and also to be where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. This is a misconception as you will find out later in our blog. We walked out to the peninsula as far as we could and although it was a lovely sunny day, it was very windy on the west side. We also had a stop at Simon's Town to see the African penguins who are very close to the walkways. The drive out to the Cape f Good Hope was just lovely.

Western Cape (Langebaan, Citrusdal and Nieuwwoudtville) and the glorious wildflowers

We the proceeded north up the coast to see the wildflowers and fortunately for us we hit the peak weekend at the West Coast National Park near Langebaan where they open the wildflower area for only two months of the year and it was like driving around a sea of flowers for as far as the eye can see in all directions and some of the game animals (eland, gemsbok, grey mongoose, turtles, ostrich, flamingos, etc.) amongst the flowers just added to what one man said was a miracle. It is hard to describe such colour and intensity, hopefully the photos will do it justice.

After Langebaan we drove to Citrusdal via a very circuitous route looking for more wildflowers and entered up at Starry Nights B&B and the lovely Lez. She has two units and we had the larger one-actually a small palace. Les who is English is married to a South African engineer who is often away working on new highways. She was so excited about having us stay and we did spend a lot of time with her, drinking, talking and observing the stars on her roof terrace. This area of the Western Cape is a very Afrikaner area and in fact in Nieuwwoudtville (up through the Van Rhyns Pass to a plateau type area) we heard no English. We did manage to get to the Clanwilliam flower show and then off to Muisbosskert on the coast for a gourmet fish meal in a very rustic setting on a Sunday and yes we were caught out, you cannot buy any alcohol in a shop on a Sunday anywhere in South Africa. Our restaurant on the sea was more a collection of wood corrals with benches and the food cooked in the middle of the table but we sat with 2 friendly Afrikaner couples who were from Pretoria. I think this is the first time I have had Crayfish and we were full from our feast but it was with a heavy heart that we returned to Starry Nights as it would be our last night with Lez who were would miss.

Tulbagh, Paarl, Franschoek, Stellenbosch (the winery area of the Western Cape)

We left Citrusdal via the rough Middleberg Pass but it had glorious views. We visited the Waverley winery and as it's off season everywhere we go we often get private tours. Tulbagh has a street of 19^th century houses, all of which could be photographed for “House & Garden” and our B&B was on this road. However, the main road which runs behind where we were staying is like many African towns not that picturesque with lots of locals hanging around and the area appears scruffy and down market. On the way to Franschoek we passed through Paarl and did a drive and walk around the Paarl Mountain Reserve which had some lovely Protea and other flowers. Franschoek is a lovely town, very expensive to live in and very well healed as evidenced by the lovely gated properties throughout the town with the townships on the outskirts. Franschoek is famous for its fine dining and we had a divine meal at Ryan's and Bob had lamb and Janice had Angelfish and we shared an exquisite Guava Soufflé. Franschoek has the Huguenot Museum and a monument erected to their settlement and achievements in the area. Huguenots had left France because of the Catholic persecution and migrated to many parts of the world, South Africa being one area. We did go on a bit of a buying spree (two Springbok pelts and a framed photo of elephants that we both loved).

Then off to Swellendam to our building site B&B which was a big disappointment. However the couple running the place were very helpful and even did a load of laundry for us for free and gave us a bottle of wine. We did a walking tour (once again a private tour as we were the only ones) led by Phumla of Swellendam. Phumla was an interesting young woman married to a Scotsman and she had lived in Glasgow but work for him as a white in South Africa was almost impossible to get so he was back in Scotland earning money. She was taking care of her mother and doing tours to earn some money. Swellendam is a university town and it has some interesting historical buildings and an attractive botanical garden. We then ventured forth on a self-guided tour of 3 wineries (Kleine Zalze-we had a wee gourmet snack (Janice shrimp risotto; Bob pork cheek with poached egg and 3 little sauces); Peter Falke; Uva Mira which is high up on a hill and has a view of False Bay in the distance.

Near Coastal Route from Hermanus to Grahamstown with some inland excursions

 Returned to the coast at Betty's Bay and Hermanus hopefully for some whale watching, alas, the weather was misty and rainy and only saw the odd whale which was disappointing as Hermanus is one of the premier whale watching locations from the land. However the accommodation and food in Hermanus was first rate. The next day we left Hermanus still in the rain but as we drove east the sun came out and we decided to do a detour and drive to Aghulas which is were the true location of the most southern point of Africa is as well as where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.

Then on to Swellendam and the rustic Carol's cottages which was memorable for having a crofter's cottage feel and the rustic Carol and her artist companion who didn't do conversation as he was in the zone with his painting. When we were shown the kitchen that was to be shared with other guests I almost burst out laughing as it was small enough for roughly two people at a pinch. Fortunately, there was only one other occupied cottage and the 3 young people would be cooking at different times than us. Fortunately the sun came out the next day where rustic becomes charming as opposed to our arrival in the rain when rustic translates to cold and damp. Swellendam is located in a lovely setting with the mountains as a backdrop. We decided to go to the local Barrel and Blues pub to see if there was any entertainment and we just drove by as it was overrun with hard rock and bikers, we were told it was under new management.

Our next day was visiting the De Hoop Nature Reserve and the roads were rough and our car took a beating but we saw lots of animals and did a lovely walk along the beach and saw whales and soaked up the sun, and had a wee lunch of Butternut Squash soup which seems to be a bit of a speciality along the coast. It was delicious and even as I write this I can taste the mellow, nuttiness of the soup, a very memorable place. Our evening meal was a long, long process at rustic Carol's.

We then drove inland to Oudtshoorn (ostrich capital of South Africa) and the memorable trip over the Swartberg Pass to Prince Albert. We set out from Oudtshoorn over the Swartberg Pass with extensive views to Prince Albert returning via Klaarstrom, De Rust and Meiringspoort Waterfall. This was one of the loveliest and diverse drives we did in South Africa. Prince Albert turned out to be a charming town of lovely buildings, flowers galore and the Lazy Lizard with excellent apple pie and ice cream. It also had an art deco local cinema and we had wished we were staying for a night as it seemed to offer an oasis of luxury amongst a challenging landscape. We visited the Highgate Ostrich farm and learned a great deal about ostrich farming as well as standing on ostrich eggs, riding ostriches (Janice only, Bob had a bad back) and the previous evening at Buffelsdrift having a succulent ostrich fillet enjoyed by both. Janice has become an ostrich fan and for visitors we have the painted Ostrich egg to prove it.

Back to the coast at Knysna which is around a large lagoon and the entranceway to the lagoon is high cliffs with excellent views. Our major memory was visiting a township (black neighbourhood) with a resident guide, Ella, who is one of those women who has a heart bigger then her body. I cannot describe the impact she has made on the large community and particularly the numerous adopted children she cares for. We learned a great deal about township life (they are all different) and particularly in this one the community spirit and willingness to help and support each other. Material wealth was limited but the spirit of camaraderie was evident.

Our next day was hiking the Robberg Nature Reserve (9.5 km) peninsula walk. The first part of the walk consisted of walking along a high ledge with the sound and smell of seals below on the rocks. When you get to the end of the Peninsula the landscape changes to crashing waves and you have to scramble over large boulders. The return is hard work with a lot ouf up and downs and at one point having to use chains to hang on to. Janice will never forgive me for the scary scrabbling on the cliff edge, but we made it a little tired and having done something that not many middle 60's have done.

We continued along the coast but then moved inland to Addo Elephant Park which was our first self drive through a game reserve but not our last. We saw loads of animals warthogs, kudu, elephants, red hartebeast, zebra, black backed jackal, yellow mongoose, cheetahs, cape buffalo, and the mainstay the dung beetle doing its continuous work of shifting elephant dung. The park even asks you to be carefull not to run over the dung beetles. This game reserve is in a beautiful setting and as there had been a lot of rain the previous days, it was very green. On the high points you could see over to the coast. We were blessed with a lovely sunny day. We were looking forward to Grahamstown but what a disappointment, the tourist literature is very overblown but we did meet Nicky who turned out to be our lass in shining armour with a wealth of information about the area north of Durban (St Lucia and the huge game reserves that occupy this area. Nicky was a front person for Bruce Little's studio and he had just completed a bronze for Longleat (a lion park in England) of a large cape buffalo, the original had just been auctioned for a Leonardo DiCaprio charity. We did end up buying a couple of pewter figures of a leopard and a zebra both designed by Bruce Little. Nicky's enthusiasm and energy was infectious, and after meeting her you couldn't help but be charged up. We also changed our plans as a result of the information Nicky provided us and our second inland excursion East Barkely/Rhodes had to be abandoned so we set off to Hogsback on the top of a mountain at the end of the road.

Hogsback was memorable in many ways for the landscape, people, Samango monkeys and the general throwback to the 60's with eco the watchword from the Labyrinth to the Eco-Shrine both with magnificent views over the mountains. Meeting Diana Graham, who referred to herself as an eco-feminist and an artist, was someone you don't easily forgot, or want to forget. She explained the symbolism in her eco-shrine painting that were framed in designed mouldings sitting on a flat area overlooking the mountains and a tribute to her love of the planet and her resonance with James Lovelock's Gaia. Her place was peace personified and she had created a place that visitors would not only remember but could be drawn back to to reconnect with the earth and its spirit.

We had 3 days of a lot of driving and only stopping at Port Shepstone and Mthatha to break the journey as we were heading for St Lucia (iSimangaliso Wetland Park) and the large game parks of Imfolozi/Hluhluwe and Mkhuze Game Reserve.

Eastern Cape (St Lucia, Imfolozi/Hluhluwe Game Reserver/Mkhuze Game Reserve)

On getting to this area we did stop at a village called Quno where Nelson Mandela spent his childhood and where he is buried. After our overnight stay at Mthatha, which is a busy and dusty large town, we visited the excellent Mandela Museum and our respect for Mandela increased. Just outside of Port Shepstone we visited the Oribi Gorge and Bob did a very tentative and slow walk across the suspension bridge in the wind with a slightly elevated heart rate. After a night in a lovely guesthouse with fabulous views of the ocean, we found ourselves driving through torrential rain and it didn't stop when we reached St Lucia so we couldn't initially do the estuary boat ride, lots of hippos and crocodiles, but we did return to St Lucia and did the boat ride on the way to Eshowe. The next number of days was spent in game parks either self-guided driving or going on a night game drive or doing a the fig tree walk in Mkhuze Game Reserve (which was devoid of animals because the only water left was in an area of the park that you were not able to get to by road). However, we were fortunate enough to see Pel's Fish Owl which we were told are difficult to see. They live off catfish. Everywhere it is dry and has been like that for a number of years and is causing serious implications. Water is the big issue in South Africa at the moment and it has created management options (selling animals, culling animals, trucking in water) that result from a lack of rain. There are still numerous animals to be seen and enjoyed but without rain the parks will not survive or a drastic reduction in numbers will be needed so the land can support the dwindling life.

At Imfolozi Game Reserve we stayed in a permanent tent with a shower and a kitchen which was separate to the sleeping area. It was a fun experience and after a night game drive, we decided to have some apple pie and a cup of tea. As Janice was in the kitchen she could hear an animal outside but was not sure what it was. It may have been a hyena as one had run in front of the car on the drive back from our game drive drop off. It was at Imfolozi that we had sighting of a lone lion but it was at a distant. Imfolozi is where the white rhinos are bred. It was a far-sighted conservationist who realised that these animalwould become extinct unless hunting was banned and a breeding programme was introduced. Now it is claimed that wherever in the world you come across a white rhino, its ancestry will be from Imfolozi Game Reserve. We saw quite a lot of white rhinos with their young. Even a young rhino is cute.

Zululand and the Drakenbergs

After leaving the game park area we drove to Eshowe which is near Shakaland, a recreated Zulu village that we did visit and it was informative but rather staged. Shaka was a Zulu king much revered by the Zulus to the point that even Durban airport is named after him.

The area around Ladysmith is a historical area with lots of information and sites that commerorate the Boer War and its various battles. We didn't manage to do a battlefield tour but did manage to get to Spioenkop the site of one of the more significant battles of the Boer War. This is where the British lost to the Boer farmers due to incompetence and lack of knowledge of the area.

Our last area was the Drakensbergs which we knew we wouldn't have time to do properly as it would take a minimum of 2-3 weeks to explore this area in all its majesty. We did elect to stay at Top Lodge in the Northern Drakensberg. We had to leave our car in a resort and undertake the last 4 kms in the Top Lodge owner's 4x4. Gavin deposited us in our spaciou and comfortable cabin for 3 nights of no technology (no TV, no wi-fi and no car). We were not fully prepared for the complete solitude but with Janice's music and lots of eating and drinking, walking, enjoying the fire, even a visit by a rather rare bat that fortuntately we managed to get to leave the cabin. Bob also had a chat with the owner who would have been someone worth spending some time with. However the approach they take, him and his wife who was off visiting, is to essentially drop the people at the cabin, give them his mobile number and leave them to it as it is meant to be a place to unwind and chill out.

We then went to the Kamberg Reserve, in the Southern Drakenbergs, for some walking and doing a tour of the Zulu rock art guided by a Norman a young man from the village. This was on Janice's birthday and involved walking behind a small waterfall, some lovely wildflowers and then a climb, slippery at times, up to the famous rock art. Unfortunately the cloud came down so we did not get a view from the top but we did get to see the rock art which is mainly of eland which are considered by the indigenous people to be sacred animals. The walk took three hours return but it was worth it.

Durban and the final days

We drove to Durban in the rain but we did stop at a wine shop and bought a lovely bottle of “Labore Brut 2011-South Africa” which we polished off as it was the big day, Janice's 65^th, before we walked from our comfortable guesthouse, to “Atasca” a Portuguese restaurant for the birthday supper. The calamari in South Africa is infinitely tastier and much more succulent then what you get in England. Our last full day in South Africa was spent taking the “People Movers”-a number of buses that travel around downtown Durban which frankly is very missable. We walked back to our car around the very walkable waterfront (blue sea and golden sands). On our way to the airport (3 pm arrival) we visited Umhlanga Rocks, Umdloti and Ballito all along the coast just to soak up a bit of Indian Ocean before we departed.

It's a long day, about 22 hours, elapsed time and arrived home after car/plane/bus/plane/bus/train and a short walk to real life and our opulent holiday is over but not forgotten-we have never travelled so well and NO DRAMAS thanks to Bob staying healthy.

 

 

South Africa Tour from Capetown to Victoria Falls-Blog 1

South Africa Tour from Capetown to Victoria Falls-Blog 1

 

Hi All

 

It has taken us awhile to return to our wandering and its only a short two months exploring

mainly South Africa but starting with a 3 week tour of Namibia, Botswana and a brief visit to

Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

 

The elapsed time door to door was 27 hrs but we met a rather interesting disabled woman

on the plane who was a published author and was rather remarkably in her 70’s working on

4 more books but had a number of ideas for new businesses that would be aided by her

children who were in particular lines of work in Capetown and she was returning home after

a considerable number of years living in England, continental USA and Hawaii.

 

We spent roughly a day and a half initially in Capetown, enough to know that it’s a city of

cars and is difficult to walk around. As we are returning to Capetown after our tour more

about it later. We did manage to visit the Jewish Museum and the Holocost Centre both on

the same location and the District 6 Museum which commenmorates the clearance of District

6 in the 1970’s do it could be reestablished as a white only area in the middle of Capetown.

The museum also had a display on minicab hand signs to be used by drivers and

passengers to indicate destinations, almost like sign language used by the deaf. We did

have our first evening meal at Beluga restaurant and it was excellent but a bit expensive but

Janice had Oryx and Bob had Kingklip a local fish. Our initial impression of South Africans is

that they are friendly. However whenever you are being served you don’t necessarily know

what country they are from as Namibians, Zimbabwains, Zambians and many others come

to South Africa for work.

 

Our tour group is made up of of 10 Australians and us which should make for an interesting

group but as there are 4 younger women in their early 40’s who are all smokers and time will

demonstrate that they stick to themselves and the other 3 couples are our age but we have

no connection or flow with them. Our tour guide called Lucky who is from Namibia and Jabu

our driver who is from Zimbabwe are both excellent at what they do and have the capacity to

laugh and carry on a conversation. They have been a font of information about Namibia and

Zimbabwe.

 

After 11 days of the tour almost all in Namibia on dirt rugged roads we cannot say we could

recommend Namibia as a tour destination as most of what we have seen is rather ordinary

but there have been some highlights:

 

a) a massive seal colony that had a smell so bad that only breathing through your

mouth keep you from passing out.

b) the other memorable feature of a enormously dry landscape was some of the largest

sand dunes in the world.

c) the fish river canyon which we believe is second to the Grand Canyon.

d) the Orange River with delightful cabins on the river and a two hour paddle down the

rather shallow river just too work up an appetite and Janice did an excellent job

paddling and giving the captain instructiions.

e) the Brandenbury mountain and a walk to the famous white lady rock ark.

f) we did a tasting of Rooibos tea and it was surprised good

g) Walvis Bay had a large array of flamingos, two types

h) The Himba village made up of 8 men and 2030

women and children creates mixed

feelings as it feels like an intrusion but they earn cash from entrance and selling their

crafts. The women are lovely and artistic in appearance.

i) Swamkmund is a large town on the coast with a Germanic heritage and we managed

to have dinner at the Tug which is an old tugboat converted into a very popular

restaurant and w got a seat in the top of the Tug in what would have been the

Captain’s area and we splurged.

 

The accommodation has been superior and food has been good and excellent value for

money particularly the wine. We have finally reached Etosha National Park and after 3

game drives and lots of water holes we have managed to see lots of springbok, impala,

elephants, rhinos, Kudos, Oryx (national animal of Namibia), Eland, Red Hardebeest,

osterich, jackals, Bustardsground dwelling large bird, and lots of birds. The elephant herd

comes to the waterhole near our accommodation and we have seen it just after sundown

and during the day. Being a group they demonstrate a variety of behaviours and are most

entertaining.

 

We stayed at Kaisosi River Lodge which is on the Namibian/Angolan border so we could

gaze over to Angola which is virtually bankrupt, has no tourist facilities and the President’s

daughter is the richest woman in Africa. We visited a small game park just before entering

Botswana to see hippos, warthogs, sable and down antelope.

 

Our accommodation in Botswana is on the western border of the Okavango delta and we

had to taken to our rather upmarket tents in a four drive vehicle. We are right on the water

with stunning sunsets and our guide is doing a sterling job of preparing g our evening meals.

Our morning excursion involved motor launch and two person canoes called mokoros poled

through the delta vegetation.

 

We spent two nights at Chobe Nat. Park and did a game drive in the early morning and a

sunset cruise for 3 hours from 3 to 6 pm. The game drive finally found a couple of lions as

we had seen no big cats so far. However the sunset cruise on the Chobe river was

magically and we saw so much bird life and animals it was like a Hollywood setting

especially for David Attenborough. The Chobe has delta like island and the animals swim

over and graze, safe from the big cats that don’t swim. The small town has baboons and

warthogs walking around the streets but we managed to buy a very colourful tablecloth that

Janice really liked and have decided to use a spare suitcase for souvenirs. Dinner in the

evening was delicious with entertainment of local dancers and singers who had to scurry as

an elephant decided to come up from the river to the restaurant to nimble on the nice green

vegetation and the dancers ran one way and the tourists approached with camerasthe

elephant decided that this might not be the best place for a quiet meal.

 

We finally ended the tour with a visit to Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls which has a majesty of its

own but we thought Iguaza Falls in northern Argentina which has been included in the next 7

natural wonders of the world was more impressive. The good thing about the Vic. Falls is

that it has kept its natural setting and has only been marginally developed. Whilst in

Zimbabwe are guide warned us not to talk about politics or the government as their are ears

around and you don’t know who they belong to.

 

We left our 10 Aussies and none too soon as the group didn’t work and flew back to

Capetown to pick up our car and do our own thing.

 

Have a look at the photos.

Next blog will be on our 1.5 months touring around South Africa in our rental car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Africa Capetown to Vic Falls Blog 1.doc

 

Well we had a dream 2 months in South Africa and I hope you all enjoy the commentary and photos

Blog 12 South America-Ushuaia to Buenos Aires

We were not fully aware that our tour would include 3 nights in Ushuaia so we have spent more days at the most southern city then we planned.  It has allowed us to visit the small glacier that overlooks Ushuaia and just chill out a bit before we embark on our east coast Argentinian final leg of our adventure.

 We are now back to do things at our pace and Bob's feet were as good as they have been for the last month and hopefully it will last.  We had our last hot chocolate and it was great, made with bitter sweet chocolate but it was delicious and yes it was free because we were given a voucher by the boat company with which we did our Beagle Channel trip.  We visited the Maritime Museum of Ushuaia which is housed in the former Ushuaia prison.  It was expensive at £10 per person but it was full of information particularly on prison life and the prisoners, Antarctic explorers, ships that sailed the waters around Ushuaia in the past, art gallery and also they kept one of the cell blocks as it would have been for the prisoners (cold and damp with crumbling walls). 

We flew to Trelew which is about 1500 kms up the coast and back to shorts and sandals from winter coats, scarves and gloves. It was a clear day in Ushuaia so we has fantastic final views of the Andes and as Janice had made sure she booked a window seat on the right side of the plane, she was able to take photos.  We are going to miss the Andes.

Wow we thought nothing more could go wrong until we were waiting in the baggage area when only Janice's suitcase came through.  After all our travels this was the first time our luggage had gone astray. Panic set in as the implications of Bob having nothing but the clothes on his back and his passport until they found his luggage dawned on us.  Bob managed to convey in his non-existent Spanish that his bag was still hopefully on the plane and not on another plane-well after about 10 stressful minutes a man came through the airport pulling Bob's suitcase.  By then the shuttle to Puerto Madryn had left and we took the last taxi to get to our hostel at £40 for the privilege. The saving grace is that our hostel is great, roomy, friendly staff and we met Hilary, an American microbiologist from Arizona, who has had an interesting life including a stint living in Florence and a recent trip to Antarctica which was life changing for her.  Her Antarctica trip was made even more interesting for her as the grandson of Scott of the Antarctic was on board.  The beach in Puerto Madryn is sandy and wide and filled with people both on the sand and in the water as it is the summer school holidays.

We had dinner at Nautica which is right on an unfortunately busy beach in Puerto Madryn but it was accompanied with a full moon rising over the ocean.  Janice had a rice and prawn dish and Bob had rigoletti cabonara and a caesar's salad. The prawns are cheap in this part of Argentina so she had lots of langoustines.  The next day Janice wanted to have tea in a Welsh tea house in Gaiman an original Welsh village in Argentina.  It took a bit of effort but we managed to get to Gaiman and have a full Welsh tea which was enough to fill more then two people and it was served by a woman who was a direct descendent of the original settlers who came to the area in 1865 and they lived in the house that we had tea which was built by her ancestors.  It was also decorated with lots of Welsh memorabilia. Before that we visited the Dinosaur museum in Trelew.  For some reason they have found many well preserved dinosaur bones in Patagonia and there were some remarkable displays but the most exciting recent find has been the world's largest femur of a dinosaur.  It was found by chance on the grounds of a sheep station not too far from Trelew and the owner's wife comments in a film we saw at the museum that there are more dinosaur bones than sheep on their land.  The work still continues to find the rest of the world's largest dinosaur.

Well we finally bit the bullet and did the Peninsula Valdes tour at £53 per person.  We suspected it wouldn't be good value for money and it wasn't but could be if it was the whale season and you had a chance to see Orcas which incidentally are not whales but from the dolphin genus.  The major plus of the tour other then the wildlife was Juan our guide who was excellent and provided lots of information on the wildlife.  He told us that the orcas launch themselves onto the beach and grab the sea lion pups for an easy meal.  Apparently it is quite something to see but sadly we were a month too late to see the orcas.  We did however see Southern Sea Lions and as each family had newborn pups it was interesting to observe the behaviour of the bachelor males.  We once again saw Magellanic penguins but they were within touching distance and virtually all had a two month old chick, it was like having them in your living room. Our last wildlife were Elephant Seals but virtually all were females with a few juvenile males as the big bulls are not around in this area in January. We are cooking tonight to offset some of the costs of the tour but the food is yummy (pasta with sauce, tuna, corn and topped with parmaesan cheese and a nice apple pie to finish and of course our last white wine).       

Our next destination was Viedma/Carmen de Patagones but alas Janice didn't wear her lucky chain and guess what happened our bus was 3 hours late but we do have the penguin packed away. We got to Viedma just before midnight, after an anxious wait, a taxi came along to whisk us to our boutique hotel in Carmen de Patagones, just across the river from Viedma.  Unfortunately, the address of the hotel  and its phone number were both wrong on the booking.com confirmation form so the taxi was wandering around and we didn't get into the hotel until nearly 1 a.m.  Luckily the boyfriend of the young woman working at the hotel spoke excellent English as he had lived and worked for Unilever in London for six months.  We were shown to our room which was very palatial – faux antique furniture, lovely soft towels, matching white towelling dressing gowns, a walk-in shower and a balcony overlooking the river.  As this was a bit of a splurge for us, we spent most of the next day enjoying the luxury of the room but we did manage to do a self-guided walking tour of the colonial buildings.  In the evening we enjoyed a splendid meal at the hotel (salmon for Bob and a white fish for Janice) with noisette potatoes and vegetables, washed down with a Sauvignon Blanc from Mendoza and Bob had a chocolate brownie with ice cream.  This feast came to the princely sum of 350 pesos (about £25).  We went to bed early as we had an early start in the morning for our 14 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires (oh joy our last long distance bus ride in South America).

Well it was an uneventful day starting at 5:30 am when we got up until 1 am when we went to bed in Buenos Aires.  The bus was typically late and we left at 9 am which meant we arrived at 11:15 pm rather then 10 pm.  The scenery was mostly flat with lots of cattle, ponds along the roadside verges were great for waterfowl and many fields of cultivated sunflowers pleased the eye.  We also briefly saw some flamingoes at the start of thr journey.  We had been warned about the bus company and brought food for the journey which we had for our dinner, as we only received a passable lunch around 2 pm and other then a small cake in the morning and evening it was all the food we got for a 15 hour elapsed time journey-the joys of travelling.  The annoying thing is Argentinians don' t complain or ask for help if things go astray they just accept it consequently nothing ever gets better, problems mount particularly on buses and staff seem to do what they please, when they please.

Well Buenos Aires is a 24 hour city and even at midnight lights are on, people are on the streets and there are huge numbers of taxis ferrying people around.  It's summer in BA and its hot, humid and muggy and we have a weekend left before we return to England and our winter coats.

Its our fourth big journey and despite Bob's health we are not done yet but living out of a suitcase has proven just a bit more tiring although Janice has proved a great hotel organiser and her Spanish has improved greatly-our accommodation on this trip has been much superior to South East Asia and in almost all cases has been most comfortable with a few splurges here and there.  We are going to miss the Argentinians they are warm and friendly people and give great hugs.

Hopefully, our blogs have depicted the variety and beauty of the four South American countries we have visited.  We would highly recommend them as a holiday destination although Argentina and Chile are a lot more expensive compared with Peru and Bolivia.  The accommodation and travel are of a good standard and with a little bit of Spanish the independent traveller can get by.  What have been our highlights? The Iguazu Falls, the Sacred Valley which includes Machu Pichu, the Bolivian Salt Flats, all the area around Salta in Northern Argentina, the bus ride through the Andes from Valparaiso to Mendoza and then back to Santiago, and of course the wild and stunning landscape of Patagonia.

Well we return to England to recharge our batteries and our blogs might next appear where?-likely South Africa but when and for how long!! only time will tell.

Adios and Hasta Luego for now.

 

 

Interesting blog especially as I watched Top Gear as they went throughPatagonia and we saw quite a few of the things you saw except for the penguins! Such a shame about Bob's feet - hope they are getting better. Will be lovely to have you back in England. Mum is getting excited about seeing you again and happily has stopped worrying so much. I think I worry her more going out Street Pastoring on New Years Eve. Will pray for a safe journey home and will give you big hugs when you get home. Love Rozzy