The Gibbon Experience

The Gibbon Experience was just that: an experience, full of incredible highs (literally and figuratively) and of course some lows.

We started off in the little town of Huay Xai and took a pick-up truck about 2.5 hours to the start of the wilderness. The first thing we did after buying some remaining necessities like snacks and water was to drive across a river and continue on a windy dirt road to base camp. From base camp it's only about 2 hours to the first treehouse and zipline network; on days of heavy rain the first river is uncrossable by truck (yet somehow possible on foot!) so the trek time jumps up to 7 hours. Thank god the weather was nice because even the first two hours of the trek to the treehouse was pretty gruelling as it was nearly straight up hill and our guides showed no mercy break-wise. Our group consisted of 2 Dutch girls, an English girl traveling alone and three other Americans from Seattle. As on my previous trek, we all got along quite well and I'm hoping to rendezvous with some of them later on in my trip.

Once we got to the first ziplines, we donned the harnesses we had been given at base camp and without much hesitation started our first ziplining! Zipping around was absolutely amazing--there were lines several hundred meters long and just as high and we'd fly from hill to hill to traverse the Bokeo nature preserve. Here's a pic of Cat, the English girl on her first zip:

From Gibbon Experi...

Unforunately Bokeo seemed to be a bit of a Bermuda triangle for technology. Mine and another girl's camera spontaneously stopped working on the second day as well as my flashlight, so I don't have too too many pictures at the moment. I'm hoping once the group re-connects via e-mail I'll get some more shots that other people took and maybe a video too!

Upon getting to the treehouse in the afternoon, we were pretty beat so we ended up just kinda hanging out, playing cards and drinking some really horrendous rice whiskey one of the girls picked up. The treehouse itself was really cool and had just enough amenities to make it tolerable but still totally rustic and fun. There were two levels with a little squatter (effluent dropped to the ground below--high enough up that we couldn't smell anything) and even a spring-fed sink and faucet for a shower. The food we were served was quite good though it did get a bit old by day three--it was all pretty much steamed vegetables and rice.

Predictably, I woke up at dawn to the sounds of the jungle. Here's the last pic I snapped before my camera pooped out:


Fog rolling into the valley with treehouse roof and zipline

We got an early start on trekking that day but unfortunately it had rained quite a bit the night before and we discovered that with rain and mud come...LEECHES! Ick Ick Ick, I cannot describe how disgusting these little beasts are and how much they slow everything down when every 100 paces you have to flick the slimey little buggers off of your shoes before they inch their way up to your ankles. I had in my head that leeches sorta kept to rivers and bodies of water a la The African Queen, but no. They must sense vibrations because as you walk by, you can see little leeches on the ground straining to get as vertical as possible, vibrating around sickeningly just waiting for something to walk by to latch on to. I was lucky to only have to pull off one big mothersucker which managed to create hole in my ankle that bled for about two hours afterwards. Leeches are actually used in medical settings nowadays (like, legit ones...not for balancing the humours like in the middle ages) because their saliva has such potent anti-coagulation agents but it must be said, this is their only redeeming quality.

Anyway, we ate lunch after a nice dip in a waterfall-fed pool and from there took a few more zips to the second treehouse. After resting for a bit, most of us left our bags in the treehouse and went out for another round of zipping which was much more quick and enjoyable when not lugging around a backpack full of clothes and water. Unfortunately, we never ended up seeing any black gibbons or much wildlife at all really. It's interesting how in a jungle with so many freaking bugs flying around, there were so few birds. We did see a few flit by and a couple lizards but that was about it.

On the third day, I was woken up in the early hours of the morning as a mouse scuttled across my chest. A thorough inspection of the quarters revealed that the mouse smelled some peanut brittle in a bag in a bag in my backpack, infiltrated our mosquito net, and chewed its way through my backpack to the nutty reward. As a final insult it just traipsed right over me on its way out. I'm kinda bummed that the Fjällräven backpack I got in Sweden which has tremendous sentimental value now has holes in it, but I can patch them up and suppose it lends a certain amount of character to the pack.

It rained a lot on the last day and we were convinced that we were going to have to trek all the way back to the main road since the river would be uncrossable and a truck wouldn't be able to pick us up at base camp. So the general mood on the last day was pretty grim--rain, fatigue and leeches had us pretty worn down. With a different group it might have been different as under those conditions, bad attitudes can become virulent and a real downer, however we were all pretty tough and bore it out as best as possible. At base camp we celebrated with plenty of Beer Lao (a surprisingly good and cheap lager) and cheered when the pickup truck came after all.

Overall, the Gibbon Experience was a great adventure but I must say I think I'm all trekked out and have earned a more leisurely time the rest of the trip. OK, time to sign off. I'm in a sleepy little town called Luang Prabang down river and getting ready to bus to a waterfall and take a dip. Here's a view of the former French Colonial town from a simple wat at the top of the hill:

Day trip to Pai and off to Laos

After trekking, I spent the night in Chiang Mai, and headed to Pai the next day by mini-bus (about 3 hr). Pai is a tiny little town of maybe 3,000 along the route of the Mae Hong Son loop that many backpackers like to take but has become a destination in it's own right. I confirmed my booking for the Gibbon Experience on the 27th, meaning I had to be in Laos to check in on the 26th. I was under the impression that there were direct buses from Pai to the border crossing in Chiang Khong which would have given me 2 days there, but sadly I had to backtrack to Chiang Mai first and left Pai yesterday. I must say I instantly fell in love with little Pai, nestled snuggly in a valley between mountains with butterflies fluttering constantly about. It was extremely reminiscent of a little Thai version of Fairfax, replete with vegetarian/organic restaurants and chilled out hippies (Anglo and Thai) strolling lazily along the roads. To boot, they had a great used book store and were it not for the Gibbon Experience, I probably would have lost days there just lounging in my little bungalow by the river (rustic at $6/night) and reading. I arrived in the afternoon and just hung out that day, sharing a drink with a young English couple I had met on the way earlier later on in the evening.

From Pai and Surro...

A snap from my little bungalow (the cottages in the background resemble my accommodations)


This is how I keep my iPod fed

The next day I took the last bus back to Chiang Mai at 2:30, but before that I (sorry, mom) rented a motorbike and rode to the Lod caves about 30km outside of town. The bike ride was a total thrill even though I just had a little Honda Click (about 150cc engine) owing to the serpentine mountain roads and the twin terror of driving a motorbike for the first time and being on the left side of the road. Here's some snaps from the caves which took a good 1 hour to work through with the aid of my "guide." She really spoke almost no English and merely pointed out formations that resembled various animals or the Buddha, but the kerosene lantern she carried did cast a more appealing and spooky glow about than my Japanese LED flashlight.




That cool blue glow is from my light

After the caves, it was a quick ride back to town where I caught my bus back to Chiang Mai. This morning, I caught an early bus and rode an uneventful 7 hours to the boarder crossing town of Chiang Khong and crossed the river into Huay Xai, Laos! Tomorrow morning I embark on another trekking adventure in the Bokeo nature reserve. Depending on how muddy and unsurpassable the jungle is, I'll be trekking from 1-7 hours to the zipline-connected network of tree houses in the Bokeo nature reserve. Look for heaps of pictures in a few days!

Trekking in Northern Thailand

I'm nearly too spent to write this right now but wanted to jot down some notes and throw up some pics while it's all still fresh. In brief, the trek was fantastic. The hiking itself was hard enough to be rewarding but not exhausting, the food and especially the company of my fellow trekkers was great and the jungle was a really nice, beautiful escape. A fortnight into my trip and I feel like I finally hit my stride--the laid back rhythm of the wilds and rural village reminders to slow down a bit and enjoy the surroundings before packing up my bag and hopping off to some new locale. I've given up on the idea of making it as far as Indonesia and am perfectly alright with that. After all, a slow boat up the Mekong is so much more appealing than an overnight bus even if it means "losing" a day or two on the way.

Enjoy some pics...better annotation and stories from the trek are on the way.

From Trekking in N...

Heading out on the first day


Camp on day 1












On the farm, day 2




5 day old elephant


River crossing by elephant

Chiang Mai

I immediately liked Chiang Mai more than big, bustling and dirty Bangkok. Maybe if I had taken the suggested canal rides I would have found Bangkok a little more charming, but I will say whatever charm may be there is overshadowed by thick plumes of tuk-tuk smoke and grime. Chiang Mai on the other hand is a little sleepier and serves mainly as both a jumping point for numerous treks into the north Thai jungles and as a commercial hub for the crafts of the various hill tribes in the area.

This morning I took a slow boat up river and had lunch at a quaint little restaurant and then up a serpentine road to a beautiful wat on the mountain top (camera battery died, so can't upload just yet). After that there was just enough time to meet up with my guide to get instructions for our trek tomorrow! I was a little nervous about what I was getting myself into, having booked the expedition through a travel agent as opposed to an organization recommended by my reliable Frommer's Thailand guide, but I think it will be a nice trip. The guide speaks pretty good English, seems very responsible (we drop off photocopies of our passports at the tourist police's office first thing in the morning), and a good sense of humor. My trek mates will be two Dutch girls, two Swedish girls (who were stunned when I chatted them up in their native tongue), a French couple and an Aussie/British man/woman pair--all seem quite nice. We'll be sleeping in the wilds, river rafting, riding elephants and visiting hill tribes in their villages...3 days, 2 nights, can't wait!

Also, on Abram's suggestion I confirmed my booking for The Gibbon Experience in Laos, which is gonna be awesome as well. Imagine camping out in tree houses in the middle of a nature preserve, hunting for the endangered black gibbons with zip lines as your mode of transport. Yes, a little pricey but going to a great cause.

OK, I'm signing off for a while...might not have a chance to blog again for a while but I'll have some great snaps when I'm back!

EDIT:
Ok, some pics from the wat on the mountaintop:




Looking towards enlightenment


I like the guy on his mobile

Bangkok Day 2 and Pattaya

Sawadee-krup!

The grand palace/temple in Bangkok was pretty stunning and I'm glad I got the early rise on the day in order to beat the crowds. I was actually starting to get wat-ed out, as temples abound in this city, but the grand palace was something in a league of it's own. The weather has been consistently warm yet overcast so the lighting in all my Bangkok pictures is pretty diffuse. I think the pics might have taken better in full sunlight but you get the idea...

From Thailand

The palace itself I think is the most interesting as you can see it has very Victorian/Western architecture but is clearly physically and symbolically topped with a traditional Thai roof.

Pattaya:

So Pattaya is Thailand's "sin city," where sunburned European men stroll down the polluted waterfront with their young wives or "girlfriends." The place was originally a small beach town that Vietnam GIs used for R and R, but quickly overdeveloped and became a yucky mess of a place. Nowadays it's a little cleaner and there's a real estate boom going on so once in a while you see an Anglo husband/wife couple but I couldn't help feeling that every Thai there just assumed I was a bit pervy. No matter, as I mentioned before, I was there to see my good friend Jess and we had a great time together.

The bus rides there and back were characterized by twin campaigns of incursion into my personal space--first an obese Thai then a pungent Pakistani. Bus rides, I'm finding, are a real die toss (more later). Anyway, after the two hour ride, I met Jess at her work (all the women giggled and teased Jess that her boyfriend was here...the men gave me coy grins). Jess and I took a little stroll through the town before she had to head back to work and I just hung out in her apartment for a bit to put up my feet. Later on, we ate at a great restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms and got Thai massage with one of Jess' co-workers, Mark. Thai massage has been described as having yoga done to you, and I would argue that this is even a tame description. The large Thai woman manipulated my body in wholly unnatural ways but I will say afterwards I felt amazing (and for the whole hour, a mere $6).

The next day I just had time to visit an amazing temple a little outside of town before heading back to Bangkok to catch my overnight bus to Chiang Mai in the north. I got a lift from Mark on his motorbike--fun ride.


Mark and I


En route...little nervous

The temple is called Prasat Satchatham, The Sanctuary of Truth. The pictures don't really do it justice (again, the lighting makes for poor contrast and I can't touch-up on the road) but the entire thing is hand carved from wood. Admittedly the place is a bit of a tourist trap (the steep entry fee and Seaworld-esque dolphin show and elephant rides were tip-offs), but the place was still pretty awesome.


Temple in its glory






Sorry, no more banana

After the temple, I bused it back to Bangkok and hurried to another station to catch my bus to Chiang Mai. This bus ride, was in a word: hell. It was a "VIP" bus, meaning A/C, a neck pillow, blankets etc. (even a small meal like an airline) but for totally inexplicable reasons, the bus was air-conditioned to something like a meat-locker degree. When we took a pit-stop, the bus was literally dripping wet with condensation on the outside. The warmest thing I had was my rain jacket which at least cut out some of the chill from the icy breath of death pouring out of the a/c vents. Rigging up my handkerchief to re-direct the flow helped too (travelers should never leave home without one). After a very restless night, I arrived in Chiang Mai at 5:00 am, checked into my hotel, showered thoroughly and slept in until 9:00.

Bangkok: Day 1

I covered a lot of ground in my first full day of Bangkok yet didn't end up seeing all too much, unfortunately. I packed up and checked out of the overpriced Royal Hotel a little late after languishing in my first real bed in so many days. Freddie, the Swede suggested a cheap guest house on Khao San Road that seemed to fit the bill and even though I wanted to avoid the scene there, the area is positioned well to sight-see so I relented. Not more than a block away from the Royal Hotel though, I was stopped by a man asking where I was going and soon had my map out pointing to places that couldn't be missed, and the most sensible route to hit them all. He was even "so kind" as to arrange a tuk-tuk ride for me for a song of 5 baht (like, 16 cents). Tuk-tuks are basically three wheeled scooters with a little enclosure built around them and buzz around the city like smoky insects. Here's a pic of my driver and his work horse:



Tuk-tuks are the cheapest way to get around town if you don't mind the exhaust and grit of all the other vehicles zipping around you however you do have to bargain aggressively to get a good price and insist that you go to your destination directly. Typically the drivers will try and take you to various "factories," the general word they use for suit tailors, gem sellers, souvenir shops etc. where they get a commission for bringing business in. Apparently there was some sort of government sponsored promotion going on that day wherein the drivers get free petrol for bringing tourists to these factories (the logic of this is still unclear to me), which is why my fare was particularly low. So I was prepared to make a stop or two...Mai pen rai ("no problem"). In retrospect, this is nearly always folly. If you subscribe to the notion that time is money, spending 30 minutes getting to and wandering around a factory where you may be persuaded to buy stuff you don't really want all to save a few dollars on a taxi fare, is dumb. Some things I did manage to see in-between factory visits:


Lucky Buddha


Temple of Golden Buddha


Golden Buddha (they're mostly all golden, really)

I also got set up with a much cheaper hotel and made a trip to the TAT office which is the government run tourist booking agency. I intended to just buy a ticket to Chiang Mai, a city in the north that's used as a jumping off point for trekking and exploration of the surrounding environs, but of course was offered an exciting package deal. It probably would have been prudent to consult more closely with my guide book and do a little more homework before consenting to such an arrangement, but the price was right so I took a chance. For about $120, I got my overnight bus ticket to Chiang Mai, one night in a decent looking hotel and then a 3 day, 2 night trek into the jungle staying with people of the hill tribes. I'm sure there will be some other unseen expenses aside from food (which is cheap cheap), but all the same, that's not bad and nice to have it all arranged rather than wasting a bunch of time in internet cafes or on the phone.

Two more factories and two more wats (temples) later, I was ready for a bite and a break so I set off to wander around on foot. Another tuk-tuk scooped me up soon afterwards, same deal. This time I was adamant about just one factory and the rest of the time to be taken to the said sites. Midway through the ride, the daily monsoon began and started pouring rain. The driver wanted me to go to more factories than we agreed on which I firmly refused. On the one hand, 15 minutes looking in a shop costs me nothing, especially since I'm saving souvenir shopping until my return to Bangkok in 6 weeks so I don't have to carry the stuff around, and would have gotten the driver 5 litres of petrol. On the other hand though, I was through wasting my time and firmly refused (with a smile of course, as all things in Thailand are negotiated with). The driver eventually relented and was supposed to drop me off in Chinatown, our final destination. When he stopped, he waved vaguely in the direction of an alleyway and muttered, "Chinatown" before driving off. It was pouring buckets at this point but I was determined to make a little bit more of my day so I donned my new rain jacket and struck off. Granted, I didn't really consult my map since the guidebook said you can more or less just wander through Chinatown and find lots of shops and markets and stuff (and it would have dissolved in the deluge anyway), but the further I wandered down the street I was directed to, the less and less I came to believe I was actually in Chinatown. This surprised me as I was told by various sources that while many in Thailand will ensure you get ripped off relative to what a local would pay for a good or service, outright lying is rare. Bad karma for him. I wandered around another hour or so, eventually making it to Chinatown (indeed, kilometers away from where I was deposited) but by then most stands were closed on account of the late hour and rain. Hungry and soaked, I finally threw in the towel and tuk-tukked it to Khao San where I dined at a highly recommended vegetarian restaurant.

The guidebook said absolutely find this place, May Kaidee, tucked away in an alley off Khao San. There was little ambiance, few patrons, but I can say that this was one of my best meals of my life. Just thinking about it nearly brings tears to my eyes. I got some coconut curry mixed vegetable dish with an interesting rice (grown organically by Aunt May's family in Eastern Thailand) and black sticky rice with banana and mango in coconut milk for dessert. It was literally like one of those cheesy commercials where people bite into something, close their eyes with a soft smile and moan in delight. Had I visited this place earlier, I would have made it a point to eat all my meals here, but at least I can come back on my return to Bangkok and enjoy more.

I made plans to meet up with my college buddy, Jess, in the town of Pattaya (2 hours east of Bangkok by bus) where she is doing some really noble condom and STI education work with the numerous sex workers there the following day. Wanting to see the premier attraction of Bangkok, the Grand Palace early in the morning before it's overrun with tourists, I called it a night.

Kyoto and first days in Bangkok

Despite two less-than-ideal nights of sleep on buses, Kyoto was definitely worth the trip. I nearly didn't make it on account of the most cryptic of bus stations (in an unlabelled underground parking lot...wtf?!), but thankfully this really nice Japanese guy walked me about a full 2 km to it and gave me a bag of pizza-flavored potato chips as a parting gift (oishii!)

The bus arrived about an hour early, which under normal circumstances might be desirable. However as it was 5:30 am and I had no guide book for Kyoto, no sense for the orientation of the city or anything really, I was a bit lost until the tourist office opened 5 damn hours later. I passed the time mainly by getting jacked up on caffeinated beverages from the vending machines and finishing my one brought book (Imperial City, a great book about San Francisco and Bay Area history for anyone interested). Another highlight from that morning I will recall in haiku:

Early morn' Kyoto

What do the heavens bestow?

Bird shit, dirty shirt

Anyway, the tourist office finally opened and I got a city map, bus routes etc. Kyoto is a beautiful city set in the hills and has a veritable plethora of temples--one could easily spend days there and still miss a number of gems. Unfortunately, fatigued from the night before I didn't have it in me to do marathon temple visits, so I stuck to a few highly recommended ones:


Kiyomizura


More Kiyomizura

Part of the charm of Kyoto was just meandering through the little streets and alleyways. There seemed to be a shrine or temple along every turn. Here was another highlight


Kodaiji

After wandering the peaceful Kodaiji temple for a while, I sat down at the teahouse and had a cup of matcha next to a woman my age who chatted me up. Marie, originally from Paris was in Japan on business from Switzerland where she works for Cartier. We shared some tips about the temples we'd seen and agreed to meet up for a drink later that evening as we were both on our own.

I spent some more time wandering around Kyoto...I think the Air song, "Alone in Kyoto" captures the feeling well. After some time, I was all templed out and finished my book and killed some more time wandering around the giant "Cube" mall there. Marie and I had a nice drink together that evening after meandering through some small streets along canals, and losing track of the time, I had to run back to the station to retrieve my backpack and catch the bus. After another overnight on the bus, I was back in Tokyo and on a plane bound for BKK shortly thereafter.

Edit: Forgot to include this hilarious shot...

In case of cardiac arrest, please insert 120 yen and press A1

Welcome to Bangkok

The plane arrived at about 4:oo and was quickly set up with a hotel recommended by guide book by the kind people at the airport's information center. A taxi was soon negotiated to take me there and I was on my way. Unfortunately, we hit atrocious rush hour traffic coupled with an accident or two and what normally takes 30 minutes, turned into a grueling 3 hour crawl. I tried to make lemonade by getting some language instruction from the taxi driver, with varying success. Thai is a tonal language and has some tricky phonemes so unlike Japanese which has very literal and pronounceable transliterations, when I take a stab at an expression in my book, the actual pronunciation is way different. At this point I still have command of only the very most basics, but this is apparently enough to impress most.

I decided to "splurge" (~$35/night) on my first night in Bangkok on account of the taxing bus nights and overall grimy state I was in and checked into the Royal Hotel. It's about 3 blocks from the backpacker ghetto, Khao San Road and was a big let down, unfortunately. The staff at the front desk was less than welcoming and the odd cockroach in my room confirmed my belief that I was getting ripped off. After a long shower, I struck out to wander around Khao San and get some food. Khao San is definitely where it's at if you're a young backpacker in Bangkok. There's food stands everywhere, tons of bars, cheap grubby guesthouses (e.g. $6/night) and pushy vendors. I've heard that serious backpackers consider Thailand "too easy" and I understand why now. Just think the Thai equivalent of college students in Tijuana and you're not too far off. Still, for the solo traveller, it's a good place to meet people and I ended up chatting with a seasoned Swedish traveller over beer for a long time and got some good tips.

Tokyo Final Day

I don't head out to Bangkok until Monday morning but I decided to go for it and take an excursion to Kyoto, hence today was my last in Tokyo. Rather than paying about $130 for the bullet train and then having to find cheap accommodations there, I decided to take an overnight bus instead for about $40. I'm doing the same on the way back so since I won't need a place to stay I'll break even and get a little bonus trip in. The downside is that I won't have any chance to bathe until I get to Bangkok with this itinerary and as the weather has been warm, I'm gonna be a nappy mess. A little wet towel bath in the airplane bathroom might be a courtesy to my plane neighbors.

Anyway, today I took it relatively easy, starting off in Ueno with a walk down the arcade. This district was a little rougher around the edges--more like China town style where the shops have their wares spilling out into the street and people are hawking goods:

From Japan

It was hot...I was jealous of the women with parasols

From there I took a long stroll through the large Ueno park and couldn't help but visit the national science museum. Parts of it were hands on a la the Exploratorium and parts were just really well laid out and informative exhibits despite being almost entirely in Japanese. And in the museum gift shop aside from little plastic dinosaurs and such, there was actually scientific apparati for sale!



From Ueno I headed to the Imperial gardens, hoping for a nice grassy spot to relax on and write some postcards. No dice...the imperial gardens have to be the world's largest, most meticulously manicured stretches of putting-green-perfect grass and are fiercely guarded by guards with obnoxious whistles. Here's a picture of one of the buildings though (also not open to the public):



After the gardens, I headed to the hip, commercial area of Rippongi hills. The complex is a super-posh mall and had plenty of things I was not prepared to spend an arm and a leg on. Architecturally it was pretty cool too.




Parkour wet dream

Time to go now, the non-smoking rooms in the internet cafe were all booked so I'm suffocating in the heat and smoke and I've got a bus to catch. I have a feeling my posts will be a little less frequent once I leave Japan (e.g. not daily) as I'll actually be able to afford nightlife-type activities and internet may be harder to find. Stay posted gentle readers, and please comment...it strokes the blogger's ego.

Sayonara!

Tokyo Day 2 and Kamakura

Like Tokyo itself, the last two days have been a bit schizophrenic--dividing my time between urban frenetics and pastoral serenity.

Yesterday I started my day off with a wholesome breakfast at Mister Donut. Well, the donut had some matcha (a type of green tea) in it at least:



From there I wanted to check out Akihabara district, the electronics mecca of an electronics mecca if you will. Unfortunately that neighborhood gets a late start (manga and electronics nerds are universally night-owls, I suppose) so I consulted the guide book and learned a Shinto shrine was nearby and decided to check it out:


Kanda Myojin temple

Akihabara was in full tilt by the time I went back a little later and was everything it was billed to be...shops full of arrays of gadgets and accessories, electronics components etc. etc. I restrained myself to a larger memory card for my digicam and some mundane necessities like an alarm clock and flashlight.

From there I checked out the nearby Harajuku district, popularized recently by Gwen Stefani because of its cool shops and zany clad youth. I was expecting some sort of crazy costume party I guess and wasn't quite blown away in that regard but I got a rad t-shirt at least and the internet cafe there had a foot and leg massager!


Bonus!

Right next to Harajuku is the beautiful Meiji gardens and shrine which honor the emperor who ended the long era of Japan's self-imposed isolationism (with some persuasion from the US). Two shots from there:





The atmosphere was so nice and peaceful and I couldn't believe that in the midst of a city of millions, there were paths I walked down alone.

I returned to my capsule hotel in Shinjuku and took a nice soak. The bathing area is communal which initially seemed less than ideal to your typical prudish westerner (i.e. me), but the beauty is that there's a huge tiled hot tub with jets and a sauna too, standard. Plus, somehow being in the midst of a culture where "nakedness is the great equalizer" (according to my guidebook), made any embarrassment fly out the window and I was soon soaping up my nether regions unabashedly like everyone else. Here's me chilling in my capsule after a nice soak:


(Left hand strategically positioned)

I ended my day with a drink with Abram, a guy I went to high school with and whose brother I used to take piano lessons with way back when. He's been living in Japan for the last 4 years teaching English and gave some great pointers about what to see in and around Tokyo and in Asia in general as he's traveled quite a bit since being here (thanks Abe!) We met at a place that only locals frequent, which is to say cheap, delicious and a hole-in-the-wall but was actually in the movie Babel for a few moments towards the end, I'm told. On another movie note, the following picture is Shinjuku across from my hotel room...this is where an early scene of Lost in Translation was filmed:



Kamakura

Today, wanting to get out of the city for a bit, I decided to take a day trip to Kamakura, a town about 45 minutes south of Tokyo by train. Kamakura is home to some phenomenal Zen Buddhist temples and is essentially where Zen gained a foothold and subsequently spread through Japan. The town is nestled in a valley and the nearby hills with various temples peppered around, many of which are connected by little wooded trails:


One of many buildings at one particular temple grounds


Everything was so green and beautifully arranged


Shy graveyard cat


Daibutsu (meaning freaking huge old bronze Buddha)

I made my way back to Tokyo after seeing the Daibutsu, stopping in Shibuya district. This area has some great pedestrian streets and is fun to walk around in. The weather today was sunny and quite warm so even at night everyone was in t-shirts. There's also the highest grossing Starbucks in the world there which has an incredible view of the busiest intersection I've ever seen. For those who have seen the movie Baraka, remember that scene where there's about a thousand people and cars taking turns streaming across an intersection every few seconds? Yep, that's this one.


Don't walk


Run!

I squandered some money in an arcade on my way back to the train station and now here I am, about to call it a night.

Miscellany: There are vending machines everywhere in this place. I have been literally a stone's throw from upwards of 5 vending machines at a time, all for canned beverages, leading me to believe this is an excessively thirsty and/or hydrated society.



Also, each train stop seemingly has it's own whimsical jingle that plays when the train doors are getting ready to close. Oh, and just about everything that plugs into an electrical outlet talks to you cheerily.