All My Wanderings

The bus ride down from Chiang Mai to Bangkok gave me a little bit of time to look through the guide book I had brought with me. Don't think it helped though. There was just so much to see. So many different neighborhoods, each with it's own style.

Being the history enthusiast that I am, I did know that I wanted to take one day and do a side trip to the River Kwae. I watched the movie and read the book, I really wanted to see the actual location (even if Pierre Boulle made the mistake of thinking the railway crossed this river when it didn't. The actual bridge crossed over the Mae Khlung.) I took the train out to ride along some of the original "death railway". Once there I had this feeling of accomplishment. I don't really know why. All I could remember was once thinking when I was a kid sitting at home, watching the movie, and whistling the Colonel Bogey March, how interesting it would be to travel around the world and see places like the River Kwae, and there I was, on the banks, looking at the bridge. They have a small museum on the other side of the tracks that talks a little bit about the history and tells the story of the allied troops that were held there and forced to work on the bridge. After a quick lunch of fried fish, I jumped on a bus and headed back to Bangkok.

I spent a couple days wandering in and out of the streets of Bangkok, exploring the various markets, sampling the food from the different vendors, and picking up a few new t-shirts. My first impressions of Bangkok before I headed north were not very good. Dirty, polluted, loud, and congested. On the surface, yeah, that's what Bangkok is, but take the time to wander amid the locals and other tourists all going this way or that and you slowly start to see something else. An order to the madness, a beauty in the simplistic, and even a slight melody to the roar of the bus engines, the whine of the scooters and the honk-honk of the tuk-tuk drivers trying to get your attention. Order some food at any stall and the people always want to know "where you are from", "how do you like Thailand", "have you seen this temple" or "been to this park". Who needs a guide book, just strike up a conversation with the street vendor on the corner. Talking with the vendors took me to so many places "off the beaten track". Some of the markets I ended up in didn't have a single tourist in sight. After getting a particularly interesting tip about a monastery where the monks encourage people to come in and listen to them chant and sing I decided to brave a tuk-tuk ride across town. As my driver weaved in and out of traffic, sometimes missing a bus here or a truck there only by inches, I really had to sit back and wonder how with traffic as crazy as this there weren't more accidents.

Well after a while I decided it was time to move on. I grabbed a bus - boat combo ticket and made my way to Ko Tao. Everywhere I read and everyone I've talked to has said the same thing. Ko Tao is the cheapest place to get your Open Water diving cert. With this in mind I called up a dive shop, Crystal Dive, and asked for accommodation and a spot in the next Open Water course. I couldn't believe the amount of tourists on the boat from Ko Panang to Ko Tao. I don't think there was a single Thai person on the boat. I didn't realize it at the time, but the full moon party on Ko Panang was the night before. With that done, everyone was moving on. This also made for a lot more divers than I was expecting. Although to be honest, it was a lot more fun than I think it would have been with just 2 or 3 others in the class. I was able to meet people from all over the world, with all sorts of English accents. England - English and all it's verities, South African - English, Canadian - English (with the outs, abouts, and sorrys) and even Swedish - English. (Just playing Marcus. You really did have some amazing English). By the end of the 4 days, I was so confused. I left the Island saying "yeah" at the end of any sentence that was a question. You know what I mean, Yeah?

Christopher, Marcus, Gemma, Jenna-Lee, Megan, Sam, Me, and David

It really was a lot of fun though. That first dive, going down 10m or so underwater, breathing and swimming around, was one of the coolest things I've ever done. Kneeling on the sand watching so many fish just swim around you and interact with the corral. I caught the bug on that first dive. I knew this was something I wanted to continue. Every dive, the sights and animal life, seemed to get better and better. We saw sting rays, angel fish, schools of barracuda, clown fish, and so many different types of corral. After the open water course was done, I stuck around to do my advanced open water and my Nitrox certification. I'm now certified to dive as deep as 30m and use Nitrox up to a 40% blend! I'm definitely going to be using this again in the very near future.

I was able to rent a camera for 2 of the dives and take a bunch of pictures of the corral and the various fish swimming around us. On one of these dives we even got to see a turtle.

After spending roughly a week diving, I finally headed for Ko Samui. The week diving was definitely worth the time, but it did put me a ways behind schedule. I still have a number of places I want to see. Time is running short. (Don't worry Mom, I promised I'd be home for Christmas and I will be.) That just means I'll have to come back here, and that I can guarantee.

Thailand. I've probably heard more about this country than any other on this years itinerary. I've had a number of people tell me I should go here or, I should do this, I'd read a number of guide books and internet postings and finally came to the conclusion that I just had to jump in with both feet as they say. There were so many options, so many suggestions.

My adventures started when I landed in Bangkok. I got out of customs and was immediately set on by 5-7 taxi drivers asking if I needed a taxi, and 3-4 tour operators asking if I would like to buy a tour package. After weaving my way through the gauntlet, I grabbed the train into the city. I hadn't really had a chance to read about Bangkok and it's different neighborhoods, so I decided to just jump on the night train for Chiang Mai and do Bangkok on my way back through. Getting to Hua longphon train station reminded me of a small treasure hunt. I got a map of the train and subway system in the airport and headed out. I first jumped on the express train from the airport to Makasan station, which on the map looked like it was connected to Phetchaburi subway station. Not quite. There was a sign pointing me in the direction of Phetchaburi station 300m away once I got off the train, but as soon as you leave the station you've pretty much on your own. Now it really wasn't that big of a deal finding the next station, but it was a whole lot different that my many experiences in Japan. I also had my first experience with Thai drivers. Crosswalks are really more for decoration than to signify a safe place to cross it seems. Anyway after a small walk and a nice A/C ride on the subway I arrived at Hua Longphon station and got my ticket to Chiang Mai.

The ride to Chiang Mai was relatively uneventful. It was actually kind of nice. I got a second class sleeper car and was able to sleep the majority of the way up. Once I got to Chiang Mai, I grabbed a shuttle to my hotel to drop my bags and then set off to explore the city. There were quite a few temples within walking distance of each other. I also went down to china town to check out the various markets. The next day I went even further north to the Golden Triangle and some of the hill tribe villages. The Golden Triangle is a section around the Mae Kong river where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand come together. I jumped on a boat and was able to cross over to Laos. Right next to the docks, there were various shops set up selling the usual touristy good, including a few fake bags and wallets. I really don't know anything about ladies handbags, so maybe my female friends can help me out here, but I'm pretty sure Louie Vuitton and Gucci never teamed up to make a bag, right?

Anyway, back to Thailand for lunch and then I crossed into Myanmar just because. It reminded me of the first time I crossed into Mexico from the States with some friends. The instant change in the buildings, the streets, the language, the people, etc. I was kind of getting used to people pushing their goods and asking you to buy something. In Cambodia, and Thailand to a certain extent, that seems to be the norm. Up until now, I just had to keep saying no 4-5 times and they would leave and go for the next person. In Myanmar, boy are these people persistent. No matter how many times I would say "no thank you" it would never end. I'd say no and they would then pick something else out of their basket, like I just said no to that first item. Then it would start all over again. Haha. Once I even tried to escape by entering a store to buy a drink. The whole time I was trying to talk to the shop keeper, asking for the drink, buying the drink, opening the drink, and drinking the drink, the same 2 peddlers from the street followed me into the shop and continued to ask me if I wanted to buy stuff. I tried to push my way through the narrow alleys near the boarder crossing to take a look at the various shops, but after just 10 mins I had collected such the following that I could barely move. After getting back into Thailand I headed back south toward Chiang Rai and the various hill tribes. This is were I was able to see the Long Neck people. I've seen pictures and videos in National Geographic, and on the Discovery channel, but to see these amazing people in person, talk to them, and feel just how heavy those rings really are (they're made of solid brass!) was quite the experience. They were really nice people, soft and quite spoken. Lots of smiles (although it seemed they would stop smiling right as you take the picture).

The next day was a day in the jungle. I took off that morning for a zip-line ride through the tree tops in the jungle just outside of Chiang Mai. This was a whole lot of fun. We went from 32 different platforms, zip-lining, and repelling as we went. The longest was around 200m or so. after the zip-line, I stuck around and did hike through some of the trail there in the mountains round Chiang Mai.

That night was the start of the 3 day Lampang Loi Krathong Festival. There were Lanterns all over the town. People were also lighting their own "Floating Lanterns". They work like a hot air balloon, light a wick under a paper lantern and then let it float away. Some would have a small streamer like a sparkler under the lantern. After the lantern got air born it would then trail sparks as it rose. It was pretty cool. One of the locals told me the lanterns were only seen in Northern Thailand. Everywhere else for the festival people were lighting small boats on fire and sending them down the river.

As the lanterns started to rise up above the city, the sky started to glow with hundreds of little orange flickers floating on the breeze. Back on the ground, people were lighting fireworks, taking pictures, and and enjoying one of the best parts of any festival the world over, the food! So much food! Stands were popping up on every corner selling some of the most delicious smelly curry, ramen, and bar-b-que'd meats.

After a couple days of the festival I took a night bus back to Bangkok to save on the hotel costs. Northern Thailand, I'll definitely be back.

Cambodia. I really didn't know what to expect with this part of the trip. This was my first time visiting a third world country in Asia. Anyone who knows me knows my favorite thing to watch on TV is the History and Discovery channels. So I thought I had some ideas of what I was going to see, and honestly it really wasn't all that different, visually, but add in all the sounds, the wind rushing through your hair while your tuk-tuk driver races through the streets, the various smells, and the fact that you are actually here and you have a new, amazing, and completely foreign experience.

Flying into Cambodia was pretty interesting. You could tell just by looking out the window where the border was between Thailand and Cambodia. The Thai side had a good amount of infrastructure, plenty of buildings, roads, and a few dry fields. the Cambodian side was flooded rice fields? for as far as you could see. 20 minutes of flying and all you could see was waterlogged green surrounded by dense jungle. So much green! When I landed at the airport in Siem Reap I was able to meet up with my good friend Reed. He had gotten in earlier and hired a tuk-tuk driver, Mao, to take us around. It was good to see a familiar face.

We wanted to spend the next day exploring the temples so we asked him what he would suggest for the first day. He took us to the floating village of Chong Kneas. This was... educational. The ride out you really were able to see how many of the people live, especially after we left the city and got out in the country. There were a lot of children running around, most with only either a top or a bottom, few with both. The houses were small shacks made of bamboo with a couple of hammocks strung up inside. Once we got out to the dock we got on a boat and headed to the floating village. Every house / shanty / shack is built on a boat or a raft. Obviously the main industry is fishing. There were people all over the place batting nets with rackets trying to get this little fish, as small as a goldfish, out, packaged and ready to sell to Thailand as chicken feed. We had a couple locals with their boats pull up along side and try to sell us cold drinks, turtles, snakes, and all sort of other goodies. On the way back to the docks we stopped of at a common area, like a store, where we were able to take a look at some crocodiles that were being raised for their skins, take a picture with a snake, and take a look at the local alcohol made with a poisonous snake and a scorpion. We then past the school, a floating raft of sorts with desks and everything else you'd find or need in a classroom, and a basketball court complete with fencing to keep the ball from falling into the water.

You might want to turn down the volume as the wind is kind of loud.

That night we went and saw sunset from Phnom Bakheng, one of the first temples built around 890 AD. It was definitely a popular place to see sunset as there were at least 150- 200 people on top of this temple. This was also our first experience with the crazy steep stairs that are on all the temples. Only 4-7 in deep but 10-12 in high, they were more like ladders than stairs. We stuck around for a little bit after the sun went down to watch the last of the light play out on the clouds to the East. As we walked back down to the bottom of the hill it started to pour. I've been in some decent rainstorms that seems to start suddenly, but this was the fastest and strongest one I had ever seen. Within 30 seconds of the first raindrops, it was dumping buckets. Reed and I were completely soaked by the time get got to the bottom and back to the tuk-tuk.

The next day started with sunrise at Angkor Wat. We headed up to the north pool over looking the main entrance on the west side. There were a lot of people, but with a little patience and a little time Reed and I were able to work ourselves to the front and take some nice pictures of the temple in silhouette and again as the sun started to climb. After the sun had came up we entered the temple itself and wandered around the various levels. The lower level has this really detailed bas relief all the way around. The second level was very similar to the lower level. The halls of this level were filled with statues of Buddha. The upper level open at 8 am so we went and checked out a more modern temple just south of Angkor Wat and return in time to be some of the first people up to the upper level. The upper level has 4 courtyards in a square around the main spire. Being in the front of the line allowed us to take some pictures with really no one there.

After Angkor Wat we headed over to Angkor Thom. The largest section of Angkor and actually more an ancient city that a single temple. The first stop was the actual gate into Angkor Thom. The South Gate has a small bridge across the moat built around Angkor Thom lined with gods on one side and demons on the other. Each side pulling their own Naga. (A seven headed serpent.) After entering the walls of Angkor Thom, the next stop was Bayon. 216 faces on 54 spires (one for each providence in the ancient empire) in a temple that was smaller than I thought it would be. The face is supposed to be the face of the King at the time. Each spire representing a providence of the empire, each face looking to the north, south, east, and west of that providence. I.e. the King sees all. The detail of the faces was nothing short of impressive. Especially when you take into account the scale of these thing. They were huge, and there were 216 of them!

From there we went to a number of different sites inside Angkor Thom. The Terrace of Elephants, Phimeanakas, Royal Palace, Baphuon, Terrace of the Leper King, and Victory Gate or the East Gate. Each one of these sites had a history all it's own. A style all it's own. The reliefs on the inner wall of the Terrace of the Leper King were some of the best preserved carvings we had seen anywhere in Angkor.

After a quick break for lunch, we asked Mao to take us to Preah Khan, Ta Prom, and Pre Rup. We were able to take our time at Preah Khan as the number of tourists up at this temple was far fewer than any of the previous locations. It also had a lot more hallways and rooms being only one level. I soon found out though, that the entrances to the various rooms were considerably shorter than the previous temples as well, as I smashed my head full on into a massive stone hanging over one of the door ways, twice. I tried to blame it on the brim of my hat but honestly that's what I get for always having my camera up to my face.

The East Gate of Angkor Thom and Ta Prom were both filming locations for Tomb Raider so I really wanted to go see these places and see if I recognized anything. However it wasn't quite meant to be. Just as we were approaching Ta Prom, it started dumping buckets again. I know I've used that phrase couple times in this entry, but I can't honestly think of anything else to call it. It's not just "rain", or even "pouring rain". It really was like someone was dumping a bucket of water over my head. Heavy and persistent. Anyway, our driver asked us if we wanted to wait until the rain died down before we went in. I asked if it would die down and how long until it would. He looked up at the sky, laughed, and said "maybe it won't!" We decided to go anyway. It's all part of the experience right. I had brought a dry bag with me so we put all the stuff we didn't want to get wet in the bag, Reed put on a thin plastic garbage bag, I mean "poncho" , I grabbed my waterproof camera and we took of. There were a few people hiding here and there trying not to get wet, but the place was almost as empty as Preah Khan had been. We got, ok I got pretty soaked in just the first few minutes. My head was still dry thanks to my hat, but it really didn't matter as the rain was nice and warm and the temperature that day was at least 80 - 82 degrees. Anyway, we made our way through the temple, side stepping all the other tourists that were hiding out until the rain stopped, taking pictures as we went. Once on the other side we meet up with our driver and headed for Pre Rup.

I had read in a couple books that sunset from on top of this temple was pretty amazing with the near 360 view of the jungle that surrounded us. The view was stunning and the temple a different experience from all the sandstone temples and carvings we had seen all day long, but with the rain still pouring down around Ta Prom and to the west of us, sunset was a bust. After walking around the top of the temple for a few minutes we decided to head back into town early. On the way back however, the light from the west hit some of the storm clouds in the south and gave us quite a show. Quick, but beautiful none the less.

After returning to the hotel and changing into some drier clothes our tuk-tuk driver, Mao, invited us to his place for an authentic Cambodian dinner. The food was amazing. My favorite was the lemon grass - ginger - coconut soup. Reed seem to enjoy the fried whole frogs the father had caught that afternoon (they were pretty good). After dinner we headed back to the hotel, split up and went exploring on our own. I was quite surprised how every shop was asking for dollars, not Cambodian reils. I started thinking though, in US dollars the 1 dollar bill is the lowest currency in bills we have. One dollar was still 4000r. So by asking for a dollar you really couldn't bargain it down any lower. Where as in reils you still had a few thousand to go. Smart. It was also weird paying a dollar for something that was 75 cents and getting 1000 reils back as change. I even paid for one meal with a dollar and 10,000r. All the ATM's dispense US dollars too. Anyway, I ended the day with a Cambodian massage. While there was some massage in the Cambodian massage, there was a whole lot of stretching and pulling as well. This little 80-90 lb light weight was constantly pulling and twisting my limbs and body every which way, she had claws of steel too. It felt more like a forced yoga work out than a massage at times, but by the time it was done, my muscles actually felt relaxed. It was nice.

The next morning I jumped on a plane and headed for Thailand once again.

All together a great trip and some very memorable moments.

Kume-jima, this place has been on my dream list since I first saw an ad for Hate no Hama at a travel agency near my apartment in Naha. I've been going to Japan for a few years now, but it's always been Tokyo, Osaka, etc. Every time I thought how awesome it would be to get back down to Okinawa and then on to Kume, but the problem has always been the same, it costs a little bit of coin to get this far south in Japan. For the price of the flight alone I could spend 5-7 days with a rail pass exploring places I've never been on the main island, Honshu. However this year I decided to just do it!

This little island about 90-100km off Okinawa was just amazing. I took off from Okinawa on the ferry and figured it was going to be like the ferries up around the Puget Sound, fast and for the most part, pretty smooth. This one was a little more exciting. The boat was rocking back and forth with the waves, the larger ones around 4-5 ft, the entire 3+ hours. I've never had any kind of motion sickness, I can read a book in a car while driving up and down the craziest mountain road you could imagine and no amount of turbulence in a plane has ever made me come even close to loosing it. But this... I was able to hold on to my stomach, but my head started feeling a little light headed. I think it was just the constant up and down. Very rhythmic. Anyway I was pretty happy when we pulled into port. It was a new experience that's for sure.

Once I got on the island I rented a car and went for a drive. All the rentals in Japan have GPS and a car navigation built in so I decided to get lost going down what ever road I wanted and taking pictures of whatever I happened upon. It was awesome. The tourist season was official over so at a number of the more famous spots/ viewpoints I was the only one there taking pictures, soaking in the amazing ocean breezes, and just getting lost in the views. The drive around the entire island was about 30km. The first stop was on the north side of the island was at a place called "Mifuga". It has a very special role to play in the history of the Ryukyu people. Evidential people from all over come to this spot to walk under / through the opening in the rock, believing it to help with fertility issues.

After this I then drove up to the highest point on the island. This spot was claimed by the king of the region a few hundred years ago, who promptly built a castle on top. There is nothing but the foundation left but you can see how it would have been a very imposing building, almost impossible to sneak up on.

The rest of the day was spent driving the coast, taking pictures of the waves crushing on the rocky northern shore and lapping up on the beautiful white sand on the southern shore. One place in particularly was pretty interesting. It's a place they call Tatami Ishi, or rocks placed together like tatami. Here you have columns of volcanic rock, kind of like at Devils Tower, only these are right on the shore line so as the water comes in and out with the tides the rocks get nice and polished. The tide was just right when I got there and I was able to walk out on to the rocks to take these pictures. I had never seen anything like it. This one section of volcanic rock completely surrounded by white corral sand. (Not to mention the awesome turquoise color of the water.) Close to the Tatami Ishi I found these trees with an interesting fruit hanging on the branches. I have no idea what they were, but they smelt kind of like a pineapple.

I grabbed a room at a hotel on the south side of the island close to Eef Beach and went for a swim at around sunset. I of course brought my camera and was able to take a couple shots while I was playing around in the ocean.

The next morning I caught a boat for Hate no Hama. Hate no Hama is basically a 1 km long sand bar that sticks out off the southwest side of the island 7-8km out in the water. No plants, no animals, and no permanent structures. Stepping off the boat and looking at that picturesque scene really was a realization of a dream for me. The snorkeling was amazing as well. The water was only 6-8 ft deep even 200-250 yard of the shore. I saw some sea turtles and all sorts of fish that, name wise, I have no clue about. I took a ton of video since taking pictures underwater proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. :-) This drained my battery in the first 2+ hours I was in the water. I was a little upset because I still hadn't taken the pictures of the beach that I wanted. (The shots of the beach that was used in the ad to get me here in the first place!) Luckly I had made friends with one of the other customers on the boat, a girl named Aya. She had an extra disposable camera and I was able to get something. Not the pictures I was hoping for but still, it's something.

The next day I preped mentally and physically for a wild boat ride back to Naha, but I was pleasantly surprised as the ride back was comparatively calm. After landing in Naha I headed for Shuri Castle to get some night shots, and then on to another Net Cafe in Oroku to spend the night.

This portion of the trip was one I was really looking forward to. That and the fact that I really lucked out with the weather, made it worth every effort to make it down here. Next stop, Cambodia.

Okinawa!! This week of the trip is one I have been looking forward to since I moved back to America from living in Japan. I lived on this Island for 14 months and made a number of really good friends. (The 2 best friend are both out of the country, one in the states, the other in London, but that didn't stop me.) The moment I got home I dreamt about the trip I would take back here to Okinawa. Hence the diving, snokeling, the trip out to Kume-jima, etc.

So far it's been a blast. I've been able to meet up with some old friends and go see some old favorite spots. And of course there is the amazing island food like Soki soba, Shikuwasha drinks, and Blue Seal ice cream =) I took a walk down Heiwa dori that afternoon and decided to get lost wandering the various back alleys and shops. I found a small seafood and meat market tucked in the back of a small warehouse. It was the coolest thing I'd seen in a while. All sorts of live crustaceans and fish laying out on ice.　You pick what you want, they took it up to the 2nd floor and prepared it for you. I got some blowfish and a parrot fish. Half of each as sushi, the rest fried up. It was sooooo good. The fried blow fish had a texture more like chicken then fish. It was different than I thought it would be.

I got a room using my Travel Agent discount at a hotel right on Kokusai dori for the first night I was here. Went to a club that had some live entertainment and ate dinner. Soki soba. (Noodles with a few slices of the most buttery, fatty, roasted pig you can imagine) The band was a local band playing some old fashion Okinawan Eisa as well as some more modern stuff using the shamisen. (An Japanese instrument. Sounds kind of like a banjo. The Okinawan version is wrapped with a snake skin.) They closed their act with Hisai Ojiisan which has got to be one of most popular Okinawan songs there is. After that I took a walk down Kokusai dori. I forgot how big alcohol is to the Okinawans. Especially their awamori. It's sold in almost every shop. It's a type of shochu with a poisonous snake in it.

The next day I headed north, up near Kadena Air Force base. There are a number of dive shops up around that area. I was able to rent some gear from Scuba Locker, at Kadena Marina, just outside Gate 1. Even though it was cloudy as could be with a constant rain, the reef was still this beautiful turquoise blue. I had 2 parrot fish that wouldn't leave me alone. I brought my camera with me and was able to get some good video of the fish. None of the pictures really turned out though. Except for a couple I took of a little hermit crab about the size of my thumb nail. I then rented a car and drove around the island for the rest of the day for some real nostalgic moments as I hunted down my old apartments, favorite restaurants, and memorable viewpoints.

Weird snack of the week. Collon Cream, sorry Cream Collon. Either way it's never going to sell in an English speaking country.

Well the sells are done. I had a number of meetings with a few different companies. All went well. I was reminded on numerous occasions that I am a bit taller than the average person here. Most sinks in the restrooms only come up to my knees and I am rarely able to see my face in the mirror :-)

I was able to spend the last few days in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kyushu. Had lunch with a family I had taken on tour to Alaska and the Grand Circle in Nagoya. I was able to eat at Yabaton. Amazing. I've always liked Aka Miso Katsu, but this was awesome. I had thought about going to Korea, but finally got a hold of an old friend and went to Kumamoto instead. Spent half the day walking around the castle and park there in the center of town.

After all that walking I decided to get a drink and had to laugh at some of the options. Mr. Pocari's sweat, some "cow piss" (calpis ;-) or a pancake flavored drink. The Pancake flavor was alright at first, but it just got to be too much by the end.

Back in Tokyo now. I love this rail pass. You can ride any JR line for free. That includes the Shinkansen or the bullet train.

I take off for Okinawa on Friday. I'm really excited for the diving and the white sand beaches.

On of my favorite things about traveling abroad is trying new foods. When I first moved to Japan I promised myself I would try anything twice. (just in case I ate at a crappy place the first time) It`s a motto that has served me well and has lead to some amazing meals that at first glance might not even look edible, at least not to most humans, but end up becoming favorites I come back for year after year. Here in Osaka that means Tako-yaki. It's a batter filled with little pieces of octopus, cooked in cast iron pans, in a ball shape. (A Japanese friend of mine made the mistake of telling another American friend of mine they were octopus balls. Yeah he was a little shocked.) Smothered with tako-yaki sauce and and a little picked ginger and it makes for an amazing snack. For dinner last night was a nice spicy bowl of Mabo-dofu, Gyoza, and some niku-man. Ah it's good to be back

Dinner in Osaka

Well landed in Japan and got to the Hyatt without any problem or delays. I was even able to swing an emergency exit seat. I did however realize while seating in the airport that I completely forgot my watch. So first stop this morning before my meeting was Akihabara, the electronics playground of Tokyo. I know oh darn right. I have to admit the techno nerd in me was smiling pretty big. However after sleeping in until 10 am :-) it left me little time to wander. Guess I'll just have to go back. I head for Osaka tonight.

Well I'm off to an interesting start that's for sure. I was able to fit everything I needed for this trip in a 40 liter day pack so I was pretty excited about that (at around 2:30 this morning.) I try not to sleep the night before I leave for Japan in hopes that I sleep trough the long flight. I think this put me in a little bit if a fog as I checked my camera and charging equipment 4-5 times and then totally forgot my watch and my sunglasses. The sunrise this morning at 30,000ft was just amazing. Just the perfect amount of wispy clouds to catch that beautiful reddish orange first light. I swear I took a picture with my phone but now I can't find it in my memory card. Not a fun start so far, but hey that's what makes these thing memorable right.

Last year I spent 5 weeks completely in Japan. I went from Sapporo to Kagoshima taking pictures of the leaves changing color. This time I wanted to do something more. I wanted to see more. See the differences between the different Asian cultures. So this is what I came up.

First week is going to be all sales going between Osaka and Tokyo like I do every year. Then I'm going to head up north to Yamagata, Niigata area to get some more fall colors. I've been to a number of places throughout Japan, but this will be my first time that far north on the western coast. If anyone has any must see suggestions I'm all ears. Then I fly to Okinawa. Of the Japan portion this is what I'm looking forward to the most. I haven't been back to Okinawa since I lived there 8 years ago. I'm hopping I can get out to Kume-jima and go diving. After returning to Tokyo I then leave the familiar behind and take off for Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. Then I cross the border in to Thailand for Chaing Mai. After backpacking through the national parks and the hills of Northern Thailand, Im heading south to Bangkok for a few days, then on to the white beaches of Puket. I'll then cross into Malaysia, jump over to Borneo, and maybe climb Kinabalu. After that I fly to Singapore for a couple days break before the last leg in Bali.

There will be plenty of pictures I can guarantee that :-)

Alright, hello friends, family, random strangers and whoever else ends up reading this! Welcome. After telling a lot of friends about what I was planning on doing this fall/ winter, a number asked if I was going to write a blog, and an overwhelming number almost flat out demanded it. I've never written a blog so I apologize in advance if its not really all that interesting. I guess one nice thing about a blog over a conversation is if you get bored you can walk away and I'd never know ;-)

But I digress. I've worked in the travel and tourism industry for the last 7 years, with my customer base being primarily Japanese. I started out working as a tour guide taking people to the Grand Canyon and other national parks throughout the Southwest as I worked to finish up school. It wasn't until my third year I realized I had landed my dream job. Soon I was traveling all over the western United States taking customers hiking, backpacking, and sightseeing to some of the most beautiful scenic wonders our beautiful country has to offer. The last couple years I've been able to plan out my own itineraries and sell them to a growing customer base in Japan allowing me to guide in places I've always wanted to go ( like Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest) and hike and climb various mountains and canyons I've always wanted to tackle ( 14ers in Colorado, Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon etc) all the while getting paid making sure the customers have the time of their lives. This creates an interesting balance. During the summer I am ridiculously busy. During the winter, not so much. Hence the 2 month trip :-)

I'll try to keep in touch as often as possible. If you have any suggestions or any questions, let me know. Outside of Japan, everything on this trip is going to be new to me. So wish me luck and Ganbaremasho!