We had our first misadventure of the trip on Sunday as we traveled by Shinkansen bullet train to Mishima, a city near the base of Mount Fuji. The bullet trains we’ve been on have all traveled at a speed of 170 mph. I was so busy writing my Miyajima blog post as we zipped along … Continue reading
Besides the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, there wasn’t much in Hiroshima of interest to us, so on Saturday we went on an excursion to Itsukushima Island, a short train ride along the coast to the southwest. Itsukushima Island is popularly known as Miyajima, which translated means “Shrine Island.” We scooted over to the JR Ferry … Continue reading
We left Kyoto on Friday for Hiroshima, a port city near the southwestern end of Honshu, the largest of the four main islands that make up Japan. Hiroshima’s sister city in the United States is Honolulu, symbolically linking the beginning and end of the Pacific theater of World War II. In Hiroshima city, we had … Continue reading
For our final day in Kyoto, we decided to visit the main tourist attraction, Kinkaku-ji, the Zen Buddhist Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The original Golden Pavilion was created in 1408, but it was burnt to the ground by a mad monk in 1950. A reproduction was built in 1955, complete with gold leaf covering … Continue reading
Having enjoyed our day out of Kyoto, we went on another excursion on Wednesday, this time to the city of Nara, 25 miles to the south. Nara was the capital of Imperial Japan from 710 to 784 A.D., the “Nara Period;” thereafter, the capital was moved to Kyoto where it remained until 1868. In 1998, … Continue reading
Two days in Kyoto visiting congested shrines and temples was enough to make us anxious to get out of the big city for a day. So on Tuesday, we got up early and took the train to the northwestern outskirts of Kyoto for a day outdoors. From the JR Saga-Arashiyama Station, we walked west through … Continue reading
After leaving the Inari Shrine, we visited the Rengeō-in Buddhist temple, commonly known as Sanjusangendo, a short distance to the north. “Sanjūsan-gen-dō” translates to “33-interval-temple” which relates to the building’s architecture of 34 columns, creating 33 intervening spaces. The number 33 has special significance with regard to the goddess Kannon, to whom this temple is … Continue reading
Sunday, April 15th, was a travel day. It was raining in the morning and when we tried to arrange for a taxi to the train station we were told that road closures due to the Spring Festival meant no cabs would pick up on our side of town. Fortunately, our landlord, Hiroto, graciously offered to … Continue reading
Our purpose for coming to Takayama was to attend the Spring Matsuri, one of two festivals held each year: the Spring Festival, every April 14-15, and the Autumn Festival, every October 9-10. Dale had read that there could be as many as 200,000 visitors for this event which is why we booked everything in advance. … Continue reading
The city of Takayama is located in Gifu Prefecture in Japan’s Northern Alps, a little less than 200 miles WNW of Tokyo, although by going to Nagoya first we traveled a little over 300 miles by train to get here. Takayama’s sister city in the USA is Denver, Colorado, but it should be Jacksonville, Florida. … Continue reading
The afternoon of Monday, April 9, we flew from Hanoi to Tokyo on the same plane as Bob and Annie, arriving late and discovering to our dismay a long line to clear immigration at Haneda International Airport. Finally clearing customs around 11:00 p.m., we made our way to an airport hotel, grabbed a bite just … Continue reading
It was a 6-hour drive from the Can Cau market on Saturday to Hanoi where we checked back into the Silk Path Boutique Hanoi in the heart of the city on Hồ Gươm, the Lake of the Sword. Sunday morning, Loc took us on a quick tour of the major sites in Hanoi, starting with … Continue reading
Saturday morning, we were up early to visit the Can Cau market, north of Bac Ha. The Can Cau market is a “minority” market, that is, a market by and for the local villagers. Vietnam has 54 distinct ethnic minority groups and 24 of them are found here in Lo Cai Province. The Can Cau … Continue reading
We spent Thursday night, April 5, in Sa Pa, established by the French in the 1920s as a get-away in highlands. The weather was beautiful when we pulled into town in the late afternoon after our visit to Na Luong village, but the fog quickly enveloped us, foreshadowing a cold front. We had planned to … Continue reading
As soon as we stopped the van in Na Luong village, a group of women and children surrounded us. Before we knew it, one of the women had taken Dale by the hand and led her off to the longhouse, chattering away the whole while in Laotian. Na Luong is a village of 94 households … Continue reading
Back in Hanoi, we walked around town, stopped for an egg coffee, and then saw a water puppet show. I rank water puppet shows a close second to kabuki theater, something you only need to do once; egg coffee, on the other hand, is worth a repeat performance. We are now in the final phase … Continue reading
After a night in Hanoi, we caught a seaplane Monday morning for a 3-day, 2-night cruise in Halong Bay. The flight from Hanoi took us over bustling Haiphong harbor and out into the Gulf of Tonkin, then over the 2,000 islands peppering Halong Bay, yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Halong harbor, we boarded … Continue reading
Sunday was April Fools’ Day and today the joke was on us. Once again, Vietnam Airlines unilaterally rescheduled our flight. But it was problematic this time because the rescheduled flight from Dong Hoi to Hanoi would have made it impossible for us to catch our upcoming cruise in Halong Bay, so Loc arranged for a … Continue reading
The day after our Hang En expedition, we went caving again, this time at Paradise Cave. The first 1 km of Paradise is a tourist attraction like Mammoth Cave in Kentucky or Carlsbad Cavern in New Mexico. But we were going to be doing much more than that. We were spending an entire day underground, … Continue reading
Our purpose for driving to this remote part of Vietnam was to go caving in one of the world’s most beautiful karst systems at Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our base was Chay Lap Farmstay for two nights, sandwiching one of our hikes, an overnight camping trek to Hang Én … Continue reading
We didn’t spend much time at all in the city of Hue, choosing instead to visit sites in the surrounding area. Our first destination was the old Thanh Toan bridge, but as we walked from the parking area, we crossed paths with a wedding party and they seemed happy to have us tag along (at … Continue reading
On Monday, we drove north from Hoi An to the city of Huế (pronounced: “Whey”). About fifteen miles north of Da Nang, we stopped at the Hai Van Pass where defensive embattlements have been built in turn over the years by the Chinese, French and Americans during their military excursions here. Here’s the view looking … Continue reading
Our last day in Hoi An was a “foodie day” at Tra Que Water Wheel. Our guide and chef was Ms. Thuong – she told us her first name, then after we botched its pronunciation, she said, “just call me Jessica.” To start, she took us on a tour of the garden, pointing out the … Continue reading
Hoi An is a popular coastal tourist city, modern and fast growing. But it also has a beautiful old town and our hotel, Hoi An Silk Luxury Hotel, was directly at its western gate. Loc had arranged for a group of local 20-year-olds to shuttle us around the countryside south of town for the day. … Continue reading
The Vietnam War was a formative event for my generation. I remember watching the nightly Six O’Clock News war footage and body count as a teenager, wondering if I would end up being drafted to fight in far away Southeast Asia when I came of age – and what I would do if that happened. … Continue reading
The Road Less Traveled 