z world travelers

Europe

2007-07-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

With ten days remaining in our around-the-world adventure, we began our dash through European cities. Please pardon the poor quality of this blog as it has been hastily written and posted in our final hours in Frankfurt. Two days in each city has not given ample time for much reflection and yet we know that when we get home tomorrow, blogging will drop lower on the to-do list, somewhere behind seeing friends, buying groceries and rebooting our "regular" lives.
ZAGREB
We left Dubrovnik on the southwest coast of Croatia and spent a night in Zagreb. What a stunning European capital this is. Large boulevards with expanses of grass and tall trees. Seized by the urge to do cartwheels in the grass, we reflected that we haven't seen big trees and grassy areas since leaving Istanbul. Musicians peppered the streets of Zagreb, from a youthful, thrash metal band performing in a square to a mature man belting show tunes in a gazebo, one can find it all here. How wonderful to see this city so vibrant and prospering after first being introduced to Zagreb by CNN's Christian Amannpour during the civil war. Here we validated our Eurail Pass and headed for Hungary.
BUDAPEST PHOTOS
From our hotel window on the Buda side of the city, we watched the Danube River flow past Parliament and under the Chain Bridge. Comparisons to Paris abound when one walks the streets of Budapest: the soaring architecture, excellent shopping, sidewalk cafes and a vibrant art scene. Every weekend a pedestrian market takes over the Chain Bridge, so we got to hear loads of musicians and peruse artists' wares.
We spent six hours walking around on the Pest side of the river, moving from one stunning building to the next, from the Parliament to St. Stephen's Cathedral to the enormous Synagogue. We spent a few hours in the National Museum studying Hungarian history. Especially intriguing was the resistance of the Hungarians to the Germans and then the Soviet occupations. When the Austrian-Hungarian empire cleaved apart after WWI and then the Soviets controlled the territory between Berlin and Moscow, Hungary was separated from their western european bretheren by an iron curtain. Now reunited in the EU, Hungary is thriving.
VIENNA PHOTOS
While sitting at a sidewalk cafe, Brian Wilson walked right passed us! You know, the genius behind the Beach Boys. He was singing (to himself) as he strolled along. It was quite a highlight, as was our dinner with Annette's cousin, Conny and we got to have great conversations with her (unlike Brian Wilson). In fact, we visited a Versaille-like chateau called Schloss Schoenbrunn and ate a delicious meal together. Thanks Craig and Annette for introducing us to this lovely lady! The weather turned pleasantly cool while we were here, a relief from the 40+ degree celsius we had in Greece and Croatia.
SALZBURG PHOTOS
What fun to revisit the land of Maria and Mozart with the girls. A bus tour took us through the rain to various scenes from the Sound of Music while we sang along to the soundtrack. It was like the Magical Mystery Tour bus in Liverpool, only really, not nearly as good. Wearing gansta' hoodies and matching trousers, we headed below ground into the land of "white gold", the saltmines. Sliding down wooden slides at 20mph and taking an underground boat ride made this an outstanding adventure.
MUNICH PHOTOS
On safari in Kenya, we met an amiable German couple, Birgit and Dejan who live in Munich. Now, a month later, we met for dinner in their hometown at a great local beer hall and restaurant. The last time we saw them they were pushing the back of their safari van, mired in the mud leaving the Masai Mara. How fun to hear the rest of their adventure and share photos and travel stories. With images of Disney and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang dancing in our heads, we took the train to Fuessen to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. The weather cleared as we explored the castles and the dramatic mountains that form the backdrop. Over dinner we toasted the last field trip of world school and the final sightseeing adventure of our trip.
HOMEWARD BOUND
It's hard to believe that 131 days has already passed. We fly home from Frankfurt in the morning. Hopefully in the coming days we will write a final blog about what this journey has meant to us. On the other hand, that will certainly require four blogs, one from each of us. Thanks for traveling around the world with us. See you soon.
The Z Family

Dubrovnik, Croatia

2007-06-28T14:49:00.001-07:00

Dubrovnik is called the "Pearl of the Adriatic" for good reason. Looking out our apartment windows at the white marble city walls, against the clear azure waters of the sea, it seemed like a Hollywood set for a pleasant fairy tale or pirate movie. We marveled at the contrast between the present beauty and the damage of the war, that scarred the architecture and the hearts of the Croats we met.

One man told us of his experience during the eight month siege without electricity or water. At one point the women and children were allowed to leave and his family went to America. He fought in the Croat army and did not see them again for 2 and a half years. Now that peace has returned, the Croats seem happy with their lives and their country. Many people we talked to will vote against EU membership because they don't see how it will benefit them. The referendum is 2008 so we shall see.

Here we vacationed from our travels for a week. What fun to cook our own meals, do laundry (a task well overdue), check emails in our apartment and watch DVD's. We got a lot of exercise, walking around town, sightseeing, swimming and climbing the many stairs in this terraced city. Often we conducted gelato taste tests in the evenings.

During a day trip to the island of Mljet, we met an engaging family from Seattle. We passed a memorable day together exploring this national forest and swimming in the saltwater lakes. The girls thoroughly enjoyed having other young people to play with. We met again for gelato that night and hope our paths will cross again.

Now we make a sprint to the finish line, visiting Zagreb, Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich and Frankfurt in the next ten days.

Enjoy more photos of Dubrovnik!

Meteora, Greece

2007-06-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Enjoy more photos of the stunning monasteries and convents of Meteora.

Our jaws dropped at the sight of monasteries and convents perched at the zenith of natural stone towers. A prehistoric inland sea carved these formations; a lot of human labor created edifices atop them. Meteora is first and foremost a holy center for prayer and study. Photography inside the buildings is prohibited, visitors are limited and the monasteries are open on a rotating basis to limit interruptions. In fact, when the James Bond movie, "For Your Eyes Only," was filmed there, the Church insisted they completely camouflage the monasteries so they didn't appear on film. I may just have to watch a James Bond movie, just to see how they pulled off that feat.

Ladies must wear skirts and gentlemen long trousers to enter the premises. Appropriately attired, we explored the chapels with their elaborate frescoes. Martyred saints: beheaded, eaten by lions or stoned to death, were common motifs and somewhat disturbing to the children. We studied the two headed egret, symbol of the East/West schism dividing the Church. Besides the enthralling views and welcome breezes, the old elevator captured our imaginations. Before there were stairs to reach the monasteries, monks sat in cargo nets and were hoisted up by their bretheren, a first test of faith perhaps....

We knew we'd reached a convent when we smelled the gardenias. The nuns have enchanting gardens at the convents and it reminded me of visits to Bethlehem, Connecticut as a child. My mother took us to visit a cloistered nun she knew from college. It was there that I first smelled gardenia and honeysuckle perfumes, ate hand-churned, vanilla ice cream and joined the Latin masses. Indeed it made an enduring impression as did this visit to the holy communities in Meteora.

Thank you Melissa and Ken for recommending Meteora. It was definitely a highlight!

Athens and Delphi, Greece

2007-06-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

At right: Girls at the ruins of Delphi, north of Athens.

GREECE: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
By Maya
THE GOOD - Greece is truly a lovely, wonderful place to be. The people are kind and always willing to help and 60% of the time it's NOT to sell you something or to take you to their 2nd cousin, twice-removed's store or to spend the night at their uncle's hotel etc. The beaches in Greece are marvelous, with water seemingly made to cool you down after the heat of the day. Though not always soft sand, the water is positively cool and crystal clear. The monasteries placed on the top of sheer cliffs, white washed buildings with blue windows, centuries old columns like at Delphi and the Acropolis, you name it, Greece has it. The food is delicious. Greek salads are truly fantastic in Greece. (The tomatoes are so yummy!) As a vegetarian I tend not to eat animals, but supposedly the fish is delectable. Clothes, shoes and accessories are in abundance in Greece. Most aren't utterly repulsive and the majority are cute. Lastly the ice cream is really yummy. Plus, they have many sweets you haven't heard of before such as sesame cookies or twists, and honey dippers (big crunchy rolls smothered in honey).

But, no person or country is perfect so we proceed onto THE BAD. Unfortunately not only pleasant people go to Greece. Now, I'm not saying that these people are bad at heart, but in my opinion, if you are a man with a really big belly, you should not be wearing a speedo as you will cause "speedo trauma" to the children who see you. Topless bathing is just gross. Also, there should be a law against obnoxious, self-absorbed tour guides, like the one we had at Delphi. It really is easier to walk around by yourself and spend time where you want to and avoid the expensive, repulsive food you're served on tour.

But none of this is as awful as THE UGLY. It is so bloody hot in Greece! With temperatures reaching up to 40+ degrees celsius, it's almost unbearable. Especially because there are large amounts of white everywhere, reflecting the heat right up in your face. Also, Greeks can bare grudges that last for eternity. Don't mention Turks, Turkey, Turkish architecture or Greek made buildings that reside in Turkey unless you want a sharp telling off and/or a piercing stare. Plus, there is no falafel in Greece! Don't go to Greece with the expectation that you're gonna get a great falafel. No, apparently though the falafel and pita sandwich made it across both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to North America, it hasn't managed to get from Egypt to Greece. What's up with that?

All in all, Greece is truly a wonderful place, just don't go expecting a falafel.
To enjoy more photos of Athens and Delphi, click here.

Patmos, Greece By Skylar

2007-06-17T04:06:00.000-07:00

We are staying in a house in the Hora. (It is the top of the island.) It is beautiful! When you walk in, you walk into the kitchen. The next room in front of you is the living room. Then if you go back into the kitchen, there are stairs. You go up the stairs to the balcony with a table. Inside the blue doors are the three beds. One is a loft and below it is a single bed; one is a double bed. All of the houses in Patmos have blue doors and white stone walls. Our house was built in 1604!!!!!

One day my Mom found a way to the roof and we watched sunset. It was fun. We brought drinks and we made brownies that day so we had brownies too! The sunsets were beautiful! Another good place to watch sunsets is at the windmills. We go to the windmills and look over Patmos. It is very beautiful and windy.

Ireni Gouras is really nice. She is our landlord. She gave us 2 chocolate bars and invited us to her house for a sweet called Honey Dippers. Another day she gave us cherries. She is like a grandma. Two other friends on Patmos are Robert and Christopher. They are very nice and showed us a lot of good places to go on the island. Robert's sister works at my school so that's how we learned about Patmos.

Lampi Beach is my favorite beach on Patmos. It is full of beautiful rocks(see picture above). Some of them look like shiny marble. I saw so many colors: all different shades of blue, brown, green and more. It was fun to collect rocks and swim there.

I got leather sandals with flowers on them. They are pretty and so comfortable! I even got the next size bigger so I can wear them for longer. Even though I have to wait until next year to get my ears pierced (when I'm 10), I got gold hoop earrings. They are so pretty.

WHAT I DO IN PATMOS
I get up and get dressed. My mom and dad go for cappuccinos while Maya and I have breakfast. We either go to a beach and swim, go shopping, check email, get ice cream or take a car ride around Patmos. We come back for lunch, read, do stuff, have dinner and go to bed. Patmos is fun and beautiful.
Click here for more pictures of Patmos!

Ephesus, Turkey

2007-06-14T03:23:00.000-07:00

Click here for more of Jeff's awesome photos of Ephesus.
We arrived in Selcuk by night bus from Istanbul. (The drive bore no resemblance to the night bus in Harry Potter.) The bus had airplane style service and at midnight, unexpectedly drove onto a ferry to cross the Dardanelles. Oddly, men were not allowed to remove their shoes on the bus, though women and children could.

A bit weary from only napping on the bus, we arrived in the ancient ruins of Ephesus, built by the Greeks, it grew to 200,000 people at its zenith. We walked the marble roads and climbed across all kinds of old rocks, marble carvings, ancient latrines and amphitheaters. The girls became Greek goddesses atop unoccupied pedestals. (Most of the high quality statuary and mosaics can be viewed in the British Museum or the Louvre.) Occasionally we would follow an English speaking tour to hear a fact or two, then continue our self-guided tour. The library is really cool with its two story facade still in tact. The library windows frame trees, hills, blue sky and clouds, like a portrait hall in mother nature's home.

While sitting on a fallen column from the first century, eating a macaroon, Skylar lost yet another tooth. She has added a Turkish tooth fairy to her pantheon of U.S, Hawaiian, Japanese and Kenyan fairies. She writes letters, asking questions about their country and collecting cash and self-portraits from them.

As we left the ancient city, among the newer cars, a fabulous 1964 Chevy Impala taxicab was waiting to take us back to town. Riding in this blast-from-the-past was a highlight for Jeff whose mom owned one back in the day. We explored the center of Selcuk, dining at Erjun Restaurant at the base of the Roman Aquaduct. The Selcuk storks now reign atop the columns, raising their young in Big Bird-sized nests.

Traveler's Note: Arrive early to Ephesus and go directly to the library. By 10:00 the tour groups arrive in a steady stream and photography without large groups of people becomes impossible.
Second Note: It was so difficult to get ferry timetables and reservations, it seemed that we were the first tourists to attempt a trip from Turkey to Greece. Internet sites are unreliable; travel agencies are the best bet and they will need to make several phone calls. Even then, the 8:30 ferry from Selcuk to Samos left at 9:30 and the 15:30 ferry from Samos left at 16:30. When traveling, don't ever be in a hurry.

Istanbul, Turkey

2007-06-14T03:16:00.000-07:00

Istanbul, ancient Constantinople, its location on the waterways connecting Europe and Asia made it a target for conquests of every Empire. This crossroads blends cultures, religions, foods and languages into a unique flavor as deep and rich as their coffee. Turkey is a nation of Turks. After saying, "Shukran," (Arabic for thank you), we were quickly corrected. They do NOT speak Arabic. They speak Turkish. "Thank you" in Turkish sounds something like a tea-sugar-a dream, but our awkward tongues settled for "Sow," meaning "thanks." It's a beautiful Mediterranean nation, not unlike Italy or Greece and our family experienced warmth and kindness at every turn during our stay.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast in the heart of Istanbul's old city, Sultanahmet, where each morning we gladly climbed to the rooftop for breakfast overlooking the Bosphorous. Savory olives, feta cheese and tomatoes graced the daily buffet, along with fresh yogurt, breads and jams. We looked forward to fresh Turkish bread and meze for dinner each night. It's like an antipasta plate with stuffed grape leaves, garlic spreads, hummus, eggplant, ratatouille, mushrooms and more. One night we tried to eat like the Turks, ordering meze starters and a main course, but we were too stuffed. So, the rest of the time, we just confused the wait staff by ordering only meze.

Turkish people are charming and there is a constant patois from business people on the sidewalks, particularly in the labyrinthian Grand Bazarre:

Hey, can I help you spend you money?
How many for dinner? (Even when you have no intention of dining in their restaurant)
Are you looking for my shop?
You look like rug buyers!

After four days in the city, as silly as a pack of middle schoolers, we decided to alter our route to the hotel to avoid a few folks: the rug salesmen we continually refused, the man who wanted Skylar to have apple tea in his shop and the restaurant owner who was moving to SanFrancisco. If we lived in Istanbul, we would soon be unable to leave the house for fear of offending someone :-)

The soaring architecture of Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace gives Istanbul a stunning, minaret-studded skyline. However, we were a bit disappointed visiting the Church of Divine Wisdom (Aya Sofia); the famed "floating" dome was held up by a mile-high scaffolding, wrecking the illusion. It was like seeing Notre Dame while the stain glass windows were being cleaned. Shoulders covered in our borrowed wraps, we sat on the carpets of the Blue Mosque and observed the goings on. The vibrant blue tiles wear a wide array of patterns. It would be a bold homeowner to decorate a kitchen with this scheme. As for Topkapi, we enjoyed walking through this palace museum, picturing where brutish rulers exhibited their enemies' heads on tall standards. The monuments felt slightly familiar as Jeff and I had both recently finished The Historian, a fun work of fiction spanning centuries and roaming from France to Istanbul, while searching for vampires.

Istanbul continues on the other side of the Marmara Sea. To get a panoramic view of the city, we took a local ferry to Karacoy and back again. Of course, we stopped at the original turkish delight candy shop and stocked up so we could sample these chewy sweets on the boat ride. Aside from Edmond in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, we'd not really heard of it, but it's mighty tasty. We particularly recommend the lemon and pistachio flavors.

Beneath Istanbul, we walked along the raised boardwalks of a roman cistern, finding carved Medusa heads awkwardly placed at the bottom of two columns, one upside down and one sideways. Why did they bother to decorate a room that would be filled with water? Were there slacker builders who finished the columns and then said, "Oh snap, we put her head upside down!@#! Leave it. No one will ever notice."

Whirling dervishes or "semazen" are Sufi Muslims who follow the teachings of Rumi: love and tolerance, a refreshingly simple creed. We watched them whirl for an audience of tourists at the train station on Wednesday night. How can these guys walk a straight line after spinning for 30 minutes? It's a graceful and yet dizzying way to pray.

Mr. Mustache squeezes the best orange juice in Istanbul. His righteous facial hair, kind eyes and tasty juice earned him loyal customers in our family. When we stopped at his hole-in-the-wall shop, he had changed to a gray fez and was praying on the floor. Instead of leaving us to stand on the sidewalk, he invited us to sit on a couch in his tiny shop while he pressed the oranges.

Each night, we waited to sleep until the al-mu’azin's final prayer call at 10:30. It seems a bit late to keep a whole city awake, as the melodies to Allah broadcast from multiple minarets. No one climbs the towers any longer to chant across the city; they employ loud speakers and amplification systems now.

Traveler's Note: Beware the travel agents of Istanbul. They are not all travel agents. If they don't have Grade A certificates on the wall and computers on their desks, they will probably be ripping you off. We compared prices among travel agents for bus and ferry tickets and found that one such "travel agency" attempted to charge us $300 US over the actual cost of tickets. Needless to say, he didn't get our business. Also note that the DHL shipping company bargains the cost of packages. There are no fixed prices in this country.
To enjoy more photos of Istanbul, click here.

Masai Mara, Kenya

2007-06-06T11:31:00.001-07:00

Caption: Walking along the Mara River (with an armed guard) to see hippos and crocs!
Masai(named for the indigenous people) and Mara(meaning spotted hills because the trees dotting the landscape make it appear so)

You have likely heard of athlete's foot and tennis elbow, but there is a lesser known affliction called safari butt. One contracts this ailment from lurching, bouncing and otherwise careening along the highways and dirt tracks of Kenya for eight hours a day, eight days in a row. When our Toyota van broke, it was a relief not to drive for a day. The girls caught up on schoolwork and interviewed Professor Dickson who answered all of their questions about animals and ecosystems. We met a German couple who invited us to visit them in Munich at the end of our trip and an intriguing British family who has found homes for street children in Uganda and Kenya for the last twelve years.

Jeff and Maya took a nature walk with the camp host, Elly a 26 year old self-taught Kenyan. They returned contented in a downpour after two hours of walking the red clay roads of the area and climbing a ridge to see the Serengeti in Tanzania. They sipped the sweet nectar of an orange, brown flower and saw a Masai elder herding 1,000 cows. Each of his four wives has an additional 200 cows each. Elly and Jeff share an interest in history, politics and religion so they traversed these topics while Maya silently predicted what would happen in the final Harry Potter novel.

Grass, grass and more tall grass waved across the Masai Mara awaiting the hungry hoards of wildebeest and zebra who will migrate here next month. These immense grasslands yielded little in the way of game for our viewing, but the Mara River provided an adventure. It's one of the few places tourists can escape their vehicles in the Mara, albeit with an armed escort. We walked the shores of these hippo and crocodile infested waters, learning that these odd companions have a truce. Crocs only try to eat baby hippos and adult hippos use their powerful jaws to crush crocs that try. Did you know that when hippos converse, it's like the deep snort of several Harley Davidson motorcycles trying to start? A crocodile resident of the river has reached the length of our safari van over the last hundred years. Thankfully he basked on the opposite bank of the river.

We visited Kenya at the end of the rainy season, which produced little rain. However, on our last night, it rained in earnest through the night and into the morning. Dickson had "repaired" the van so we could limp back to Nairobi, a five hour drive that would take nine hours this day. For those of you who understand cars, the rear, left leaf spring had broken loose. (For those of you who don't, that's the part of the car that fastens the axle and the suspension to the car.) It's really important and ours was now tied on with rubber tubing and baling wire. It needed welding, but that wasn't available in the Mara. With the conviction that Dickson had led us safely thus far, we got back in the car.

Rain had turned the dirt roads and minor stream crossings into muddy batter and major rivers. The slick slime, one-foot deep in many places, spun tires, mired buses and the tractors that tried to rescue them. Smart, patient, experienced Dickson doubled his tip as he navigated the roads like a Hollywood stunt driver. We are certain he was the only driver not to become stuck at least once on the road between Nairobi and Masai Mara. When I told him this, he said, "Yes, I think I am the only one. I have a four wheel drive mind." We agree that he does. Like a chess master he strategized several moves ahead. At times he left the so-called road, jumped the embankment and fishtailed along the grass instead.

We watched impotently as our former cook, Dominic and the kind German couple pushed on the back of their trapped van. Impossible to stop and attempt a rescue; we would have been undone by our own heroics. Car loads of Korean and Japanese tourists stood marooned at the side of the road while their guides attempted to free their vehicles. Local buses offloaded 100 passengers while Masai chopped small trees to lay under the bus wheels. These are some of the things we witnessed on that wild ride to Nairobi. That night, the 43rd anniversary of independence in Kenya, we learned that extra police arrived to guard the forty safari vans, full of tourists, who spent the night stuck in the mud without facilities or extra food.

Finally back on partially paved roads, we stopped at a curio shop to purchase souvenirs. Simon relieved us of many shillings and a few pens. His son offered us 100 cows and two donkeys to marry Maya when she finished high school. Unable to negotiate for more livestock, Maya remains available to decide at a later date whom she will marry.

To us it was an extraordinary day. To the people of Kenya, it's called daily life.
Enjoy more of Jeff's amazing photos in the Masai Mara, our last stop in Kenya.

Lake Nakuru, Kenya

2007-06-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

After roughing it at Amboseli, even the basic guesthouse at Nakuru with its indoor plumbing and electricity, warranted five stars from us. Zebras welcomed us, grazing along the driveway and on the front lawn, a sight that Dickson had never witnessed.

This fragile park is an island, separated from the town by a high voltage fence. Nakuru has experienced extreme hardships in recent years, such as the flamingo die-off and diaspora when sewage polluted the lake. 1.8 million of these boldly decorated birds are back, significantly fewer than the 3 million that lived here in 2004. Five years ago, a lion began eating pedestrians who wandered into the park, so an official ordered all of the lions eliminated and imported new prides. The endangered black rhino have made a home here and are slowly increasing their number.

Within fifteen minutes of starting our early morning game drive, we heard alarmed monkeys calling through the canopy. Dickson shut off the engine and whispered, "Look, in the road, a leopard." There it was: muscular, silent, spotted and walking straight toward our open-topped van. "Mommy, I'm scared." Dickson didn't blink in this game of chicken so we trusted too. After many minutes of awe-inspired silence, with a leopard five feet from us, the big cat disappeared into the tall grass. Later, when we asked how he knew the leopard wasn't a threat, Dickson explained how you can read an animal's tail. If the leopard's tail is curled up, it's not hunting. Down between the legs, it's another story. (FYI Rhinos curl their tails before charging.)

Another twenty minutes and we stopped again to observe forty Anubis Baboons parade cautiously passed us, within three feet of the van. Mothers held babies on their backs or tucked underneath them. The alpha male, last in line, sat on a log to make sure his troupe had safely passed before following them. Later in the day, we enjoyed another troupe grooming each other while juveniles played king of the branch, often comically tumbling into the grass.

In West with the Night, Beryl Markham writes of her adventurous life in Kenya from 1910-1940. I read her autobiography in Kenya and found some of her observations described Kenya in 2007!

There were no subtle strokes in the creation of Nakuru....as long as the day lasts, Nakuru is no lake at all, but a crucible of pink and crimson fire - each of its flames, its million flames, struck from the wings of a flamingo,(Markham, 161).

The image of Lake Nakuru is inextricably linked to its flocks of flamingoes. No matter how many times we saw their images on National Geographic or Animal Planet, walking on the muddy shores among these pink and black birds was incredible. The noise is deafening as they all talk at once and beat their wings in the water. As the only creature with a fixed LOWER jaw, flamingoes must eat their blue-green algae upside down! "Why does a blue-green food turn them pink?" we asked. The high keratin content in the algae does the trick. Take away that food source and they return to their original all white color.

In Nakuru, we saw all of the "Big 5." In the days of big game hunting in Kenya, the Big 5 were the most dangerous to hunt because they would always fight back: elephant, rhino, lion, cape buffalo and leopard. The five lions lazed under a distant tree surrounded by an unconcerned herd of cape buffalo. They stood after a while and moved farther away to enjoy the abundant shade of another tree.

Now and then the whimsically fashioned figure of a rhino has moved along the horizon like a grey boulder come to life and adventure bound,(Markham,33).

The black rhino has anger issues and lives alone. That's one of the reasons they have trouble reproducing. Our fortunate group saw three of them, one wounded from a recent fight, bleeding from his neck and leg. The other two, a courting pair, wallowed in a mud hole that is a necessary part of each rhino's territory.

After such a comfortable night and abundant game drive, we wanted another night at Lake Nakuru, but with the Masai Mara separated from us by ten hours over rough roads, we had to move on. The main highways would be deemed impassable and closed in the US. French and German companies are currently building new roads, but for now, bouncing along them is just part of daily life in Kenya and according to Beryl Markham, that's the way it's been for decades.

The more traveled roads were good and often paved for a short distance, but once the pavement ended an aeroplane, if one were at hand, could save hours of weary toil behind the wheel of a lurching car- provided the driver were skillful enough to keep it lurching at all,(Markham,6).

Thankfully Dickson proved very skillful in this regard.

Click here for more photos of Lake Nakuru.

Amboseli National Park, Kenya

2007-06-02T06:11:00.001-07:00

Resting at the base of cloud-covered, Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National Park was the first stop on our "safari" (Swahili for journey). Thanks to the Rogan's recommendation, we traveled with the best guide and driver in Kenya, Dickson and a kind, talented cook named Dominic. As Dickson says, "Game drives are like fishing; you never know what you'll catch." Surprises lay around every turn in the wildly bumpy road. As the animals are most active in the early morning and early evening, we rose at sunrise most mornings and retired to our tents at dark. It is low season, before the summer crush so we enjoyed cool temperatures and saw few vans on the dirt tracks. We mostly had the animals to ourselves.
Some of the most transcendent snapshots included:
-Sunrise in with large herds of elephants moving majestically across the grasslands toward the swamp. Mothers and babies, all have their tusks, as Kenya has eradicated poaching.
Something about a "shoot to kill" order and a special paramilitary unit protecting the animals.
-Smelly army tents and squat toilets did nothing to stifle our enthusiasm (OK, the accommodations were a bit surprising, but we adjusted our expectations.)
-Groups of giraffe striding elegantly toward the next acacia tree and then disappearing into the forest.
That's something that never failed to awe us. Everything can disappear so quickly, no matter how large. An elephant into scrub bushes, a hippo into the swamp, giraffes behind acacia trees.
-An enormous bull elephant strode silently passed our van, at a distance of ten feet.
-Male wildebeest, gazelle and elephants clashing horns resolving some unspoken dispute.
- Five cheetah, camouflaged in the tall grass, wrestling each other like overgrown house cats
- Spying a rare African wildcat that looked like a domestic cat until it stood to its full height and turned into the grass.
- Dr Seuss like birds live here including the Crested Crane, Maribou Stork and Helmeted Guinea Fowl.
- Running zebras, outrageously painted, each with a unique striped pattern like a fingerprint
- Maya and Skylar standing up with their heads out the roof of the van, wind in their braids, straining to spot another beast.
-The soft light of sunset, brilliantly lit the snowy peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
We have eight days and two more parks to visit. The people we meet adore Barak Obama and definitely think he should be the next President of the US. While electricity is rare, there is cell phone reception across the country, including the game parks. Kenya is full of surprises.
For more photos of Amboseli National Park, click here.

Masai Village: Amboseli, Kenya

2007-06-02T03:42:00.001-07:00

Skylar kicked her soccer ball with a Masai man, moments after arriving to our campsite in Amboseli National Park. Over the next few days, John (as he called himself), returned to visit us, teaching the girls Swahili and Masai words and telling us about his village. Perhaps he does this with all the foreign tent campers, but the invitation to his village felt authentic and personal. We had shipped school supplies and needed a recipient; his village had recently built a school. We had a match.
John roused the village from their afternoon siesta to greet our family with songs, the men holding down the rhythm section with their voices and bending from the waist. Jeff joined their chorus as the women invited us to join their dance. The Masai have a presence with their red robes, impressive height and noble bearing. Surrounded by these friendly strangers from such an ancient culture, we couldn't stop smiling and exchanging quizzical glances. A very young (approx. 27), English-speaking, Chief Ipetek, welcomed us to his village with a warm smile and kind eyes. He explained that we could take as many photos as we wanted and ask as many questions as we wanted. Jeff thanked him with a Masai "Ashe" and
Thorny acacia branches encircle the village, providing some protection from wild animals for the 180 residents. The inner courtyard holds additional acacia corrals to hold the cows, sheep and goats at night. Until they reach six months in age, the domesticated animals spend the night inside the Masai huts. Gender and age roles are clearly defined in this polygamous culture. Men carve wood, make fire, protect the village, govern and herd animals. Women do everything else including building the huts, cooking, caring for the children and beading. In fact, girls by the age of 12 can build the low, stick, dung and mud huts.
We stood in the gray/red dust of the courtyard under a lonely tree to see a demonstration of the vertical jump of the Masai men. They can jump straight up as high as their own heads. Holding John's walking staff, Jeff made a sporting attempt as well. Three men then taught us how to make fire without matches. Two took turns spinning a stick between their open palms. Lodged in a piece of flat wood, the friction created smoke and ash. A third man dumped the ash onto elephant dung and blew on the cinders, igniting a fire most efficiently.
Leaning against his grandmother's hut, John diplomatically answered our questions about polygamy. "A man must have enough cows to afford more than one wife; he must pay each wife's family 8-9 cows. It's not good to have the wives in the same house; that can be a problem so each wife must have her own house." We ducked low to enter the dark, cool hut. It's built low because the wind would topple a taller structure. Our eyes adjusted to the dim light, our minds settled on the idea that we were sitting in a real Masai mud hut. John gestured for us to sit on the edge of the stick and cow hide beds, "No mattresses he pointed out." Chief Ipetek joined us and talked about the Masai diet, only three things: meat, blood and milk from their domesticated animals.
The Masai creation myth explains that first God created the cow, then the Masai, then everything else. There never was a time without cows. They never eat wild game and only hunt the lion as a rite of passage to manhood. To us vegetarians, it was particularly surprising to hear that on a diet, void of veggies, the Masai live to be 90-100 years old. Of course, they walk everywhere and don't appear to own chairs, so they get a lot of exercise. "Masai men have gorgeous white teeth," we remarked to John. He explained that they brush several times a day with the shredded end of an acacia twig.
Outside again, we joined the school children gathered in the courtyard to give them school supplies. They sang in Masai then broke into the familiar Alphabet Song. Skylar stood head and shoulders above her Masai age-mates. No one could believe our children were nine and twelve, "They must eat well." This tribe had a meeting three years ago and decided education was more important than their nomadic lifestyle. So they built a school with the help of a Los Angeles Rotary Club and only the men wander with the animals seeking water and grass. The children and women remain in the village year round to attend school. Bic pens caused the biggest excitement as the ones available here are of inferior quality.
Finally, we visited the improvised marketplace where the Masai displayed their beadwork and wood carvings for us to purchase. Jeff, Maya and Chief Ipetek surveyed one aisle while Skylar, John and Michelle walked the other aisle. Despite our protests that our money supply was not endless, we were instructed to choose one item from each family's "booth" and we would bargain later. What a cornucopia of gorgeous items: carved animals, beaded bracelets, necklaces, baskets, wooden clubs and more. One man removed his ankle bracelet to sell it to us. Raindrops came to our rescue, but not soon enough. We'd accumulated 38 items which the men arranged on a blanket to inventory. The bargaining began at a shocking $550. After much back and forth and a bit of discomfort on our part, we put a few items back (making sure we kept the Chief's wooden hippo) and arrived at a fair price. What gracious and likeable people (though they do practice polygamy and female circumcision). What a memorable experience. It certainly gave us all a lot to think about.

Traveler's Note: Ink pens and digital watches can be used to barter for Masai trinkets. At the very least, the many schoolchildren asking travelers for pens and money will not leave empty handed.

For more photos of our family's visit to the Masai Village, click here.

Phi-Phi and Phuket, Thailand

2007-05-22T07:08:00.001-07:00

Click here for more photos.
The ferry from Phuket, had only one engine working, so the two hour trip lasted four hours. During that time, however, we got acquainted with a delightful family from Bombay/Mumbai and spent much of the next three days in their company. They taught us a great deal about the rapid changes happening on the subcontinent. We hope to see them in India one day.
The pace of life shifts to lazy-island gear on Koh Phi-Phi (pronounced co-pee-pee followed by inevitable giggles). There are no cars here, only boats. Shallow water at low tide keeps the ferry at a distance from shore. So in a downpour, we climbed into a local long boat. When we got near shore, we took off our shoes, jumped into knee high surf, walked to a waiting truck and drove the final hundred yards up to the hotel. Staff greeted us with towels and a tasty fruit drink. It was made the most memorable arrival to any hotel yet on record. We spent three days on Phi-Phi boating, snorkeling, swimming and otherwise staying cool in the heat. We woke one day at sunrise in order to take a boat to Maya Bay. Our able captain had to surf the long boat into Maya beach and we had the place to ourselves. Leonardo DiCaprio filmed the movie "Island" in this idyllic and well-named setting.
Each evening we climbed to the top of the island to witness the sunset. It was here that the staff, guests and local sea gypsies spent two nights after the tsunami in December 2004. The isthmus across Phi-Phi was submerged and the main harbor destroyed, but now life has returned to normal and people don't talk about it much. After three nights in our beach side bungalow, we left for Kenya, rested and revitalized.

Traveler's Note: If you must go to Phuket Island, don't stay long and definitely don't stay on Patong Beach. While it's one of the few safe swimming beaches, leaving the hotel is like facing a gauntlet of touts. "Hello. You want a (fill in the blank) tuk-tuk? taxi? tailored suit? massage? t-shirt? just looking in my shop?" At night, Patong becomes a seedy cross between Bourbon Street and spring break on a Florida beach. We did finally find a travel agent here who could issue Eurail passes for that leg of our trip, so it wasn't a total loss.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

2007-05-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

More of Jeff's photos of Chiang Mai

What is beauty? Footbinding for dainty feet? Eating disorders for slender supermodels? Among the Karen Tribe, it means having an elongated neck. In fact, locals refer to them as the long-neck ladies. They begin extending girls' necks at birth, adding gold rings at intervals throughout life. To our American eyes, it was like visiting a circus freak show as the women resembled giraffes with whiplash. We didn't understand the leg bands just below the knees, but it seemed to impair the use of that joint as well. It was difficult to walk through the village, suspending judgment and not running crazed along the dirt paths removing rings from the baby girls' necks.

Elephants as work animals is another unusual concept for our culture, but one must ride elephants in the north of Thailand. Find a good hand hold, rest a foot on the massive neck below you, engage those core muscles and with each rocking step you have a fighting chance of staying aloft. How do royalty in Thailand and India maintain their dignity atop these grand beasts? We don't exactly know, but it was a lot of fun trying.

Meeting Peppe Stokes was the highlight of our time in the north of Thailand. She's an amazing Thai woman who runs an outstanding B & B, cooks delicious meals and supports a local orphanage (see Maya's blog about serving dinner there). She named her hotel Golden Cupids, not to attract honeymooners, but because she thinks love is the most important thing in the world. We enjoyed her hospitality for a week and she personally delivered us to the airport. We will dream of Peppe's banana pancakes for a long time. If she read this, she would say, "Oh, dahling, you make my head too big." Read below for Maya's account of her cooking class with Peppe.

Thai Cooking Class with Peppe
By Maya
So today my dad and I took a Thai cooking class with Peppe, one of the owners of the hotel. First we decided what we were going to make. I made sweet and sour veggies and spring rolls. My dad made Phad Thai and green curry. We then went to a local Thai market. There we bought all the stuff we would need plus some things for the hotel and snack food, (not for us!) such as dried crickets and fried frogs. (I'm not kidding; the other guy who cooked with us tasted them and said that the cricket tasted better than the silk worm.) We chopped all the stuff into certain shapes; to make the spring rolls we had to cook all the stuff and then wrap the cooked veggies in a crepe like pastry and seal it with egg before deep frying it in a wok with LOTS of cooking oil. For the sweet and sour veggies, we chopped and then cooked them with ketchup and chili sauce and sugar and vinegar. After five hours of shopping, cutting and cooking, we ate and the four of us couldn't eat half of it. So we ate it for dinner too.

Maya's Account of the Wat Donjon Temple/Orphanage

2007-05-15T04:31:00.000-07:00

To see my tabblo of photos from the Wat Donjon Orphanage, click here.

Chiangmai, Thailand
Before going to serve dinner at the orphanage we (meaning our family and the Australians that were with us) were all blessed by the Father Monk. He was sitting cross legged several feet above the ground clothed in the same orange fabric I will forever more associate with monks. Surrounding him and all around the room was a amazing variety of statues. There was everything from British soldiers to statues of Buddha to Ganesh. The most remarkable of the statues however was not elaborate nor placed so it would stand out more than anything else, yet the carving was remarkable. It was made out of some sort of light wood and depicted a elder monk. Though he seemed to be looking straight ahead when I looked directly into the wood carved eyes I could have sworn he was looking at me. The wrinkles surrounding his eyes were amazingly realistic. Anyway back to the blessing. Skylar went first walking on her knees (as you aren't suppose to be taller than a monk when being blessed). He wrapped an orange, yellow, white, red and gold cord around her wrist twice and than tying it so both loops were in the knot said a few things in Thai I could not understand (this is very common) and cut the end of the cord still attached to her wrist. After a few seconds silence Skylar placed her hands together and bowed her head. Father monk than placed a large white oval shaped fan on her head and said a blessing in Thai which I also could not understand. Then it was my turn with the same process which only differed in that it had a slight pause in the beginning as Peppe told him I was twelve and he did not quite believe it. The rest of our group did the same and then we were off walking through a not very nice scenery to get to the area where 500 orphans ate, slept, went to school and carried out their daily lives.

The walk was very muddy due to the fact that that it had been raining heavily every evening as it was the start of the rainy season. The ground to the side strongly resembled that of a garbage dump. But unlike in the U.S. there were several hogs chowing down. The boys and girls eat in separate areas the girls closer to the temple ate on picnic benches. The boys on in a cement covered area. But kids don't change and though i wanted to help the girls they needed absolutely no help what so ever. The boys had more atmosphere however as line by line they went up to receive a very nice meal by their standards of steamed basmati rice and a sort of soup mixture of vegetables, spices and chicken. As they did this, they sang and chanted. The discipline was absolute. The lines were perfectly straight and no one started eating till everyone else had their meals. When they started eating it was absolute silence. The only sounds were the clanking of silverware against their tin plates and the occasional scuffle if someone got up to get seconds. After many rounds of this it was time for the real treat of the day... ICE CREAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The most popular flavors didn't differ much from the most popular flavors in the U.S. the hits were Strawberry and Chocolate. I think I'll take a moment here to describe the attire of the orphans. They had obviously been sent and brought clothes from all over the world as the T-shirts bore logos from spider-man to Converse all stars to soccer jerseys with advertisements for Emirates. These kids usually were fed just rice and veggies for dinner so we had provided a special treat. On any given day the orphans consume 100 kg. of rice. After every speck of food was gone we were sung good-bye in Thai that I couldn't understand except for the end when they said in English "Thank you very much." I left feeling good to have done something but a tad guilty that while I was traveling the world these kids were living parentless in an orphanage. I'm going to take a quote from J.K. Rowling here by saying "They looked reasonably well cared for but, there was no denying this was a grim place in which to grow up."

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2007-05-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

Click here for more photos of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Cambodia.
These two history teachers have wanted to visit Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom for twenty years, to explore the ancient capitol of the Khmer people with its unique pyramids and temple complexes that mapped constellations 1,000 years ago. We stood where the Khmer King watched elephant fights, like a Roman Emperor at the Coliseum. Tomb Raider popularized the ruins and enshrined Angelina Jolie in the hearts of the Cambodian people and sparked her commitment to them.

Lonely Planet assured us we could navigate the ruins on bicycles, but who wants to wander the muddy jungle roads in the torrential rains trying to decipher Cambodian? So, Sum became our guide for three days in a car with A/C and kindly shared his personal story so we could better understand this culture. At the age of five (1986) he had sole responsibility for five cows grazing in a rice paddy. He couldn't go too far to the west because of landmines. Sometimes when the civil war raged near his village, he couldn't go to school. As the youngest of six kids in a poor, rural family, he joined the Buddhist monastery at twelve to further his education and get a free room and two meals a day. He learned English and left the monastery in his twenties to become a tour guide. His English occasionally took a poetic turn. Pointing to a hill, he explained, "That is where we climb to visit the sunset."

The girls and Jeff scampered, like billy goats, up the narrow, steep steps of Angkor Wat. Sum stood at the bottom of the steps and said, "Oh my Buddha," and waited for us down below. I followed them up, calling out, "Choose your footing! and Be Careful!" at regular intervals. The view, the breeze, the architecture and carvings made the climb worth it. On the steps, going down, the Cambodians, had installed a more-or-less stable handrail. A Japanese woman burst into tears and became paralyzed on the stairs below us. So, thankfully, we could really take our time and return safely to terra firma.

Exploring the Jungle Temple of Angkor Thom, in a torrential downpour, we climbed atop 1,000 year old carved rubble to get out of the mud. It's amazing that the sandstone buildings have resisted the ravages of weather and roots for a millenium. The Spung Tree sends massive tentacles over and under the stone, trying to return temples to the jungle.

When asked about the time of Pol Pot, Sum said that while the movie, Killing Fields is widely available, the truth about the war time is still secret. Some of the current leaders were in office between 1975 and 1979 so full disclosure may incriminate some of them. Reading the current issue of Time Magazine, we met Youk Chhang, a Cambodian who has documented the four years that claimed the lives of 1.7 million Cambodians under Pol Pot. Because of his efforts, a trial on genocide will start this year. Hopefully Cambodia (following South Africa's example) can confront its demons and begin healing.

Traveler's Note: Don't bother changing money into Cambodian Riel. Their currency is actually the US dollar. Restaurants, hotels, guides, children selling postcards, all prefer US dollars. Carry a stack of $1's and $5's with a few Franklins in reserve. Credit cards are useless except for the hotel room and higher end restaurants. Also, ignore the CDC advice about anti-malarial meds for Siem Reap. There aren't any malaria mosquitoes here unless you're camping in the countryside. None of the tourists we met were taking them.

Tonle Sap, Cambodia

2007-05-12T01:58:00.000-07:00

Click here for photos of Tonle Sap floating villages.

We spent the afternoon on Mars; it was like visiting another planet, in a boat instead of a spaceship. Tonle Sap, an inland sea, near Siem Reap is only 1km from the city during rainy season, but now, at the end of dry season, it's more than 7 kms away. We drove slowly down a dusty isthmus that will be covered by water come June. Naked children gathered around the water pumps to bathe. Women nursed babies in thatched roof huts, National Geographic passed just beyond our car windows. We boarded a boat that labored through a man made canal to reach the lake.

It was absolutely surreal; people live and die in these cramped, fragile, wooden islands. They played cards, floated gardens, raised hogs (those were some hefty rafts), corraled fish, did laundry and raised children all in little houses floating on cafe au lait water. Residents embraced at least one modern technology; fishermen and women precariously perched on dugout canoes talked on cell phones!

When our boat slowed down, a platoon of children approached us; some in canoes, some rowing small tin buckets. "Please madame, one dollah," they called plaintively, turning their previously giggling faces into pitiful, pious ones and displaying a basket of 5 cm bananas or an upturned palm. We decided not to reward the begging here or near the temples, but to support the entrepreneurs. So we have a few bracelets, pictures and carvings to ship home.

The men took great pride in their boats. In spite of how muddy the water was from dredging the arteries, the boats were all clean and painted bright shades of teal, red and yellow. All the boats had eyes painted on their fronts. In a land where Hinduism and Buddhism are rolled up in a unique crepe, they accept blessings from all traditions.

The floating school was hot. Not a single fan or cross breeze abated the heat in the 15'x15' classroom. Still, the children's watercolor paintings cheered things greatly. Cursive Cambodian is beautiful so a math lesson on the green slate chalkboard was art to our eyes. The students in their blue and white uniforms seemed impervious to the heat as they pulled notebooks from their plastic, waterproof folders. These containers make sense given the way they get to and from school.

Cambodia provides free school for only four hours a day from Kindergarten through high school. Students must pass competitive exams in grade six in order to continue formal education. Talk about high stakes testing. The teacher told us that the children in his class were all in second grade, but ranged in age from 7 to 12 because they attended so erratically. He attended university to complete a teaching degree and now earns $30/month. Our guide completed primary school and English classes and makes that much in a day. There are one or two reforms needed in the Cambodian education system to move this impoverished country toward prosperity.

Life in Tonle Sap seemed like a lot of hard work. Perhaps it's easier during the rainy season when boats don't get stuck in shallow water and the fish are more plentiful, if only we could have checked out that assumption with the locals. Maybe it's like a lifelong vacation to them, fishing, playing cards and boating whenever they want. To our eyes, running water, electricity, hygiene, medical care and supermarkets appeared to be in short supply in this neighborhood.

It was a powerfully moving experience. I realized that I am a greatly privileged girl who needs to stop complaining. - Maya

It's amazing that people can live that way. -Skylar

Bangkok, Thailand

2007-05-12T01:48:00.000-07:00

Photo of 1950's lobby of the Atlanta Hotel. The girls meeting British journalists.

Click here for photos of Bangkok.
"Bangkok's Bastion of Wholesome Tourism: Zero tolerance and sleaze free zone. No sex tourists, junkies, louts and other degenerates. No bar girls. No catamites," stated the large sign outside of the Atlanta Hotel. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. And we have a lot of explaining to do to our young traveling companions. Actually, the signs around the hotel were the only indication this family had of the icky side of the city. The Atlanta Hotel is the coolest, funky 1950's hotel with run down rooms, no hot water (who needs it in this heat?) and wireless internet. The honest staff, excellent restaurant and intriguing guests make it a must-do landmark. We met British photojournalists and Canadian geologists who had travelled the world and freely shared their stories of Burmese refugees and prison in the Congo.

After introducing us to her wonderful friends in New Zealand, Joanne W. came through a second time, connecting us with Fritz, a resident of Bangkok for the last six years. Visiting the Grand Palace and walking among the murals, we learned so much from him about the Ramayana, an epic tale of good and evil, similar to the Odyssey in Greece. The mischievous monkey character, Hanuman, would surface frequently in our travels around southeast Asia as would images of the creation myth, Churning of the Milky Sea.

We admired the meter tall, seated, Emerald Buddha and the massive, golden, Reclining Buddha. With Fritz's guidance, we didn't offend too many Thai people by pointing our feet at Buddha or talking badly about the King. How fun to sit at a riverside coffee shop and dine at a local hole-in-the-wall where we couldn't even place an order without a fluent Thai speaker. He also taught us to navigate the sky train and the water taxi systems so we were ready to negotiate Bangkok alone the next day. What a fun introduction to bustling Bangkok where there are 10 million people and 9 million cars.

Thai people love their king. Bridges, shopping malls, buildings and monuments boast his photos and banners cheer, "Long Live the King." A Swiss tourist just began serving ten years in Thai prison for drawing a mustache on the king's image. Thailand has banned YouTube in the country and sued Google because they would not remove a video that insulted the King. This is not a cultural value to take lightly.

Skylar celebrated her birthday in Bangkok and decided how to spend it: sleep in, shop, no school work, shop, get her hair braided, see a dance show, did we mention shopping? You'll have to read her blog about it, but suffice it to say, she'll be telling her college roommates about her Birthday in Bangkok.

Traveler's Note: Carry instant oatmeal packets for an inexpensive breakfast in the hotel room or when the plane food is bad or if you have a child growing 2 cm a day who is hungry between meals. There is always boiled water available.

Japan and China are Different! By Maya

2007-05-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

(Japan on the left China on the right.)

A lot of people think Japan and China are relatively the same thing and in some ways they are. Such as the architecture is a lot alike and both eat lots of curious foods with chopsticks. But I've been to both places and am here to tell you they are more different than the same.

Like take cleanliness for instance. Cleanliness is really big in Japan, not so much in China. They seem to be the two extremes on the scale of clean. Japan is so clean no one eats in public, in China spitting is kind of a trend.
China also has much worse air because of all the pollutants (cars, factories etc.) Japan's air is nice to breathe and all the skies are blue instead of a gray-black color. Except when it rains which it does - often.

China's government is really strict with almost everything such as the internet and movies. One thing they are very lax on how ever is traffic laws. It pretty much comes down to, lines and lights are only a suggestion. Where as I never had any problems getting on websites in Japan and all the cars stop and let the pedestrians go at the appointed times. When the little red guy comes up J-walking is almost unheard of.

This is only a fragment of the differences between Japan and China. Next time some idiot says, "Japan and China are the same thing," at least I will be able to prove them wrong.

Birthday in Bangkok

2007-05-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

It's my ninth birthday and we saw a traditional Thai puppet show about the turning of the Milky Way and how the gods got the elixir of life. There were three people to puppeteer one puppet. When the puppet moved, all the dancers moved the same way. The puppets are beautiful. One of the puppets is Hanuman. He's full of mischief.

Maya and I got our hair braided with blue and purple beads at the end. It took four hours for them to do our hair, but a little longer for me because one lady made the braids too fat and another lady had to start over.

I had so much fun and it's a birthday I'll remember.
For pictures of my birthday that I made into a tabblo, click here.

Li Jiang River and Yangshuo, China

2007-05-06T04:53:00.000-07:00

A river cruise on the Li Jiang River from Guilin to Yangshuo proved the perfect way to spend Labor Day. This is the landscape of traditional Chinese ink paintings. Ping and Daisy Comes Home are two children's book set in this river valley. Water buffalo grazed along the river banks. Cormorant fishermen floated on bamboo rafts, sending their birds into the water to catch the fish. With each dive the collared birds must think, "This time I'm gonna' swallow the fish."

"This is as good as it gets in China," Skylar commented relaxing in the Le Ciu View Gardens of Yangshuo. For this family, accustomed to clean air, green mountains and solitude, China has been a challenge. In this lovely place, we could exhale, away from the tourists and insistent shopkeepers of the bustling market town. We wandered the paths, napped in a gazebo and stumbled upon an artist making ink paintings. Meeting our local guide later, we told her how much we loved the gardens. "Maybe to you it's beauty. To me it's just another holy mountain." As always, it's in the eye of the beholder.
For photos of our river trip and day in Yangshuo, click here.

Guilin, China

2007-05-06T04:40:00.000-07:00

International Labor Day, May 1st, is one of three "golden" weeks in China. Guilin was packed; it felt like the Fourth of July with families strolling, bands playing and fireworks. Flagging down a taxi to take us to Reed Flute Cave, we soon discovered we had a guide for the day, a lovely, honest, lady taxi driver who just wanted to wait for us and shuttle us between sites. Under ground, the colored lights added drama to the stalactite and stalagmite formations. At Elephant Hill Park, we climbed to the top of the hill to get a good view of the city and all the surrounding mountains. These unique, white and green mountains stand alone with rounded peaks. Every formation has a name, though sometimes one must have an active imagination to see the shapes.

"Go with the flow" moments come often in China. For example, we asked a driver, "Why are we stopped?" "The road is closed." "Why is the road closed?" "No one knows." Or in a restaurant, we asked, "Do you have spicy sauce?" "Yes." The waitress brought us forks, then napkins and finally we had exhausted our pantomime skills and gave up. Our number one, go with the flow, moment came during the taxi ride to the airport when the taxi got a flat tire. "Ten minutes," the driver said shooing us out of the taxi and onto the side of the road. As we stood there feeling vulnerable and annoyed, he got to work, changed the tire in six minutes and got us to the airport in time for our flight.

Other awkward moments were avoided because our neighbor wrote in Chinese, "We are vegetarian" on an index card. Thanks Mardi! It was priceless. Showing postcard pictures of places we wanted to go and having the hotel clerks write directions in Chinese also worked well. Tourism in China is set up for tour groups and people with bilingual guides.
For more photos of Guilin, click here.

Xi'an (pronounced shee-ahn), China

2007-04-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

For more photos of Xi'an click here.
We fell out of the five-star cocoon we had wrapped around us in Beijing and found ourselves in Xi'an, where an ancient walled city meets an industrial wasteland. Like most Chinese cities, the air here hangs in a thick, particulate haze, giving visitors head colds within two weeks and residents a smoker's cough when they travel to cleaner climates. Gone was the veneer of the up and coming Olympic city. The typical Chinese beds give as much as sleeping on linoleum; the front desk offers bed boards why? Few people, even at our hotel, spoke English. Credit cards were useless and western loos, few and far between. It was like we were in a foreign country with a different culture or something.

If Italy is in a constant state of 'merge', Chinese traffic is a constant game of 'chicken'. Moving into oncoming traffic to pass a vehicle is common practice. Cars do not give way to bikes and pedestrians. Red lights, crosswalks and lane lines are mere suggestions that are as often ignored, as are no smoking signs. Sometimes, in the back of a taxi, it's the better part of valor just to close your eyes. Crossing the street, our strategy was to position a group of locals between us and oncoming traffic. When they went, we didn't hesitate.

There to soften the culture shock, was Ken, a friend of a friend who speaks fluent Chinese and is teaching English at a teacher's college in town. Lucky for us he had a few days off while his students attended compulsory sporting events. How fun for Jeff to talk with another guy after weeks of being with just girls! We thoroughly enjoyed his company and learned so much about the city and the culture from him. Ken knew the best restaurants, proving that Lonely Planet is no match for local knowledge. His "go with the flow" attitude proved contagious and necessary, especially when our taxi got a flat tire on the way to the airport.

Skylar says, "Xi'an is interesting. It has a lot of fun stuff like: The Terracotta Army," that farmer Yao found when digging a well. The warriors were in pieces and have largely been glued back together. We enjoyed viewing them and wonder why they are so far (1.5km) from Qin's Tomb. We climbed to the top of Emperor Qin's tomb, a mound with over 100 steps, but we lost track of the exact number. High levels of mercury contaminate the mound. Some think he had a gold and silver model of China there, complete with mercury rivers.

We arrived at the Bell Tower, in the center of Xi'an, during a traditional music performance. This edifice was the alarm clock for the whole town while the Drum Tower indicated the end of the work day. Our favorite sites in Xi'an were the park around the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Great Mosque and the Taoist, Eight Immortals Temple. In these places, we found beauty, relative quiet and relief from the crush of humanity.

Traveler's Notes: Taxis and food are incredible bargains in China, just a few dollars to get anywhere in a city and the whole family can feast on noodles for $4. Thanks to Tricia for the grapefruit seed extract! At the first sign of a tummy ache, we take that and feel right again. Finally, the current Lonely Planet China is unfortunately years behind, therefore, riddled with errors.

Blonde in China

2007-04-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

It feels interesting to be blonde in China. They think I'm exotic and want to touch my shoulder and they stare a lot. They want to speak Chinese to you and it usually means, "Can I take my picture with you?" They point and stare a lot and they smile. They pretend that they are taking a picture of their friends when they're really taking a picture of me and it's not convincing. I'm getting used to it and I saw two ladies with blonde hair today, but no children.

Mommy said I had to be a good ambassador so I had to get pictures taken with two shy twins who ran around the Bell Tower because they didn't want their picture taken and their grandma was crazy about me. They took pictures of me and their kids. In the end, their dad took a picture of my dad with his palm pilot, phone camera. They like him too because he's got red hair.

Beijing, China

2007-04-26T06:27:00.001-07:00

Beijing Blog
By Maya and Skylar
Grand Hyatt Beijing
The hotel swimming pool was so much fun. It was like a tropical oasis at midnight with lights on the ceiling like stars. It had fake palm trees and coconuts and two hot tubs. It was inside and underground. We went there every day.

Tian'anmen Square
There's a lot of historical significance about this place, but today, there were just lots of people trying to sell you stuff. We mispronounced boo-yow as boo-jow and so they laughed a little, but left us alone. It means "I don't want it, no thank you." It's really big and open with a lot of concrete. It has an obelisk in the middle so it reminded me a little of the Washington Monument, but a lot shorter. There were some really cool statues of people who looked really depressed; my parents said they were revolutionaries in a struggle. Lots of people were flying kites.

Beijing gets to host the Olympics in 2008 so they are very excited and making a lot of construction. They are putting on their best face for everybody. There are drills going at the airport and they are definitely making it look pretty which was nice for us. They're trying to make people obey traffic laws, but it's not really working out so you're more likely than not to get run over by a bus. In Tian'anmen Square there is a countdown clock until the Olympics start.

Forbidden City or Palace Museum
The Forbidden City is really a city, like, it's HUGE. You enter under a really big picture of Mao. This picture is on the money and everything. You walk through a long stretch filled with people who:
A Want to be your guide
B Want to sell you something or
C Are hideously deformed and would like money.
After this, you buy tickets and enter the haven of the Palace Museum with none of A, B or C. It's now called the Palace Museum because it's now filled with the treasures that were not stolen by the British or the French. This place is really Mulan, except the big palace steps that they come down were under construction which kind of ruined the look. The roof reminded me of Mulan fighting the top Hun and Mushu saying, "I'm your worst nightmare."

The last emperor, Puyi was crowned when he was three and he cried at his crowning ceremony. He had a lot of hardships being the last emperor. Then you walk 15 billion miles through scenery and beautiful buildings to get to the Imperial Gardens, but by the time you get there, you're too tired and hungry to go much further so you go back to your hotel.

Chinese words
There are a whole lot of Chinese characters. To read the newspaper, you have to know at least 2000. We don't know any and we only know how to say four words which have pretty much gotten us by. We don't know how to spell them either.
They are:
1. Ni How, pronounced knee- how, meaning "Hello"
2. Boo-yow, meaning "I don't want it/no thank you"
3. Dui bu qi, pronounced doi boo chi, meaning "Excuse me/sorry"
4. Xie xie pronounced shi sh, meaning "Thank you"

Katerina
Katerina was my mom and dad's student in Switzerland. She is very nice and we got to meet her. She's half Chinese and she speaks Chinese and she's bound and determined to learn 2,000 characters. She took us out for lunch to a really great vegetarian restaurant called Pure Lotus where they served watermelon over dry ice. The place mats were banana leaves and you ate out of hollow gourds. The chocolate fondue was really good. They had lots of fruit with melted chocolate. She's really lovely and we highly recommend her choice of restaurants.

Acrobats
So the #1 Top Acrobatics class was AMAZING! They ranged from ages 10 to 20, but looked much younger. You see, it's harder to flip your body head-over-heels gracefully the taller you get. There were 13 amazing acts but the one that sticks out most prominently in my mind was their signature bicycle finale. It starts with three girls pedaling in helmets (a novelty in China) around and around and doing various one person stunts. Then they all get on one bike and do amazing things, such as one lying in the middle part of the bike by the chain, one standing and one being held up and them going around and around on momentum. Then more and more girls come out as does a trick bike with more pegs and two teachers which gives one a feeling of forboding. Through an amazing sequence of events they manage to all get on the bike, all 13 of them, gracefully. With one arm out, all standing, they go around and around with no one pedaling. The other stunts are just as amazing especially with the really young kids. If you are ever in Beijing they are a must see.

Great Wall
The wall is on top of mountains and it goes up when the mountain goes up and down when the mountain goes down. Instead of hiking up, we took a ski lift up and we saw all the trees and flowers below us. There was also a donkey and lots of touts trying to sell you things. It was fun running down the really steep stairs. There were lots of stairs. The guard houses had doors and lots of windows. It only took one man to send a message on the wall. They could light warning fires and could be easily bribed. Towards the end, I hear they took the latter.

On the way down, we went tobogganing. I sat with my mom and she let me drive. When we got down, I said, "Can we do it again and can I go really fast by myself?" I don't think they had that in Mulan's time.

For more photos of Beijing, click here.

CD Release

2007-04-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

We're so excited, we have to take a break from travel writing to let everyone know that Jeff's bandmate, Eric vonRadics has just released a CD. It's awesome and here's a bonus, we sing backing vocals on Mexican Lebowski and helped write Nothing Dear during a trip to the Oregon Coast. You can hear the CD (or even buy a copy) at CD Baby.

Tokyo, Japan

2007-04-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Tokyo, home to 12 million people, could be a cold and impersonal place, but not for us, thanks to several friends who showed us an intimate and intriguing Tokyo. Delightful Akiko worked at Walker School before moving home to Tokyo. It was so fun to see a familiar face and catch up on mutual friends. We laughed a lot and learned more about Japanese culture from her over dinner, at the Monsoon Cafe, on our first night in Tokyo. We were so glad our paths could cross if even for a short time.

Thanks Elise for the internet introduction to another personal tour guide. Rachel recognized us, from pictures on the blog, in the lobby of the hotel. (OK, there weren't any other families in the lobby at 7am so she had good odds.) First stop was the Tsukiji Fish Market where an impossible amount of seafood is sold daily. Fork lifts and motorized carts race around at a "time is money" pace. They don't slow down for tourists gawking at their commerce so everyone was on their toes. "Look at the size of that fish! What do they do with that table saw? How do you eat urchins? Look out he's dumping that bucket." Exotic and engaging to the adults of the group, the fish market was a tad offensive to the young vegetarians in our group. Just when they thought they'd found a safe haven amidst the commotion, the bucket of live octopi got them squealing and picking up their paces.

Rising above the crowded streets and far from the sounds and smells of Tsukiji, we visited Tokyo City View. It's a 360 degree glass and steel enclosed viewing area, 54 stories up, like the one atop the Guinness Factory in Dublin, only much larger and well, it's Tokyo down there. Wanting to get a closer look at one of those efficient and highly populated pedestrian cross walks, we descended to Shibuya Crossing. Perched on stools at a second story Starbucks, we had an excellent vantage point to watch the ebb and flow of humanity, as dictated by traffic signals. Jeff found a fellow photographer in Rachel and the two enjoyed framing various shots while we tried not to lose them in the crowds.

In search of more Japanese manufactured CD's, we headed to Ginza where we finally purchased a Yui CD. She's our favorite Japanese artist; we don't know what she's saying, but enjoy the way she says it. Also in this neighborhood is the Sony Building, chock full of the latest Sony gadgets: massive plasma screen TV's, tiny video and still cameras, new computers and more.

From high tech to old-fashioned, we made our way to Asakusa in search of (Moby) Kimono, the elusive costume of Skylar's dreams. On a side street, in a shop with sweet ladies, she discovered a peach colored kimono with a bamboo pattern that met her specifications and in which, she looked like a princess. Back in the hotel room that evening, we practiced tucking and tying it using the instructions from the store. It worked!

If you haven't seen the movies of Japan's premier animator, Hayao Miyazaki, run, don't walk to rent them: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Nausicaa, or Kiki's Delivery Service to name a few. They're stunning animation with appeal for children and adults. He also designed Ghibli Museum as a magical space for inspiring creativity and educating visitors about animation. His theme is "Let's get lost together," and in this labyrinthian, play house, it is easy to get lost in thought or in the more literal sense. The Ghibli Cinema shows original short films, not available anywhere else in the world. While the spoken language was lost on us, the message of his animation was clear. Every detail of the building was carefully considered like each camera angle of a film. Photography is prohibited inside the museum, making visitors much more engaged with exhibits. Miyazaki wants children to be equal guests in this house so they get their own ticket (three frames of a film), there are even spaces too small for adults and Skylar was the only one young enough to climb inside the furry cat bus from Totoro.

We lost ourselves for a full day at Studio Ghibli before bidding farewell to our new buddy, Rachel and meeting Miye, Sadatoshi and their family. Thanks to Melissa and Ken for introducing us to this lovely family, who invited us to their home for a delicious feast! Maki taught our girls origami while her sons made acrobatic paper airplanes and entertained us. Their kindness and generosity made our last night in Japan very special. We look forward to their visit to Ashland this summer so that we can reciprocate.

We will miss Japan and our friends in Tokyo. We will miss the warm welcomes and kind bows that greet anyone entering a place of business. We will miss the detailed wax and rubber food that made ordering so easy and we will miss the amazing Japanese toilets and baths.

Traveler's Note: Japan Rail Pass is an exceptional value. It's only available to visitors and must be purchased outside of Japan. All JR trains and buses including reserved seats on the Shinkansen (bullet train) are included. Admission tickets to Ghibli Museum also must be purchased before entering Japan.
Tokyo Photos

Skylar's Photos and Guide to Japanese Potties

More Ghibli Museum Photos

Kyoto, Japan

2007-04-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Photos of Kyoto
Photos of Ryokan Yamazaki
Tatami mats, futons, rice paper screens and lovely gardens greeted us at the Ryokan Yamazaki in northern Kyoto, thirty minutes on the bus from Kyoto Station. Staying at a traditional Japanese hotel proved economical and an educational cultural experience. The Yamazaki family took good care of us, showing us the bus routes and which direction to point our shoes when we take them off. We even sat on cushions at low tables in the restaurant where they accommodated our "odd" vegetarian diet. Takehiro Yamazaki speaks excellent English and cooks the food also. His aunt and uncle had limited English (though better than our Japanese) and greeted us with "Welcome Back" when we returned from the city. Leaving this peaceful setting, Mrs. Yamazaki kindly presented the girls with Japanese change purses saying, "I will be waiting for you when you return."

Visiting Ninnanji Temple and taking the walking tour with Johnnie Hillwalker were highlights of our stay in Kyoto, along with our final, perfect day. It began with a great night's sleep at Kyoto Century Hotel where the staff are extremely professional and speak excellent English. We took a trip to a large CD store to get Japanese imports. (That is, before they got to the US & the cost tripled). After finding several, sought after, "paper sleeves," we went to the corner AM/PM to pack a picnic lunch. Why can't they carried sushi and soba lunch boxes at convenience stores in the US? Taking a picnic to Yasaka Shrine, we dined beneath the cherry blossoms at the edge of a creek. Then it was off to a matinee performance of the Miyako Odori or cherry blossom dance, performed only in April by the maiko (15-20 years old) and geisha. Sitting in a tatami boxed seat, the sights and sounds of traditional Japanese music and dance washed over us. The precision of movements reminded us of the dances of India: hand positions, darting eyes, fan movements, stomping all synchronized. We interpreted the dances as stories of the seasons, of love and of the creation of stars and all of it accompanied by traditional stringed instruments and strident vocals. We ended this exceptional day with dinner in the subterranean city below the train station.

Kyoto Station holds enough stores and services to fill a tourist's week, but that would be a tragic waste of time in this vibrant, ancient city. Still, the Italian restaurant in the Porta, provided a welcome change to a two week diet of, you guessed it, Japanese food. Michelle's likeness now graces the walls of the restaurant as the girls entered a poster contest; they will announce the winner May 25th, Mother's Day in Japan.

Johnnie Hillwalker

2007-04-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

For photos of the walking tour, click here.
Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English, read the pamphlet next to the computer at the ryokan. No reservations, credit cards or URL, just show up at the meeting point at Kyoto Station Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 10:00. So I did. On this brisk April morning, 76 year old Hajime Hirooka, aka Johnnie Hillwalker, wore a red and orange fisherman's hat and black wool coat. He greeted each of the 38 walkers, writing down our nationalities and accommodations in a well-worn black book. Johnnie has toured Kyoto three days a week for the last sixteen years and will continue doing so as long as his doctors allow. He's a man with a mission: to show visitors the "real Japan," off the worn tourist tracks. His articulate lectures and humble manner endears him to those who walk with him.

Working prayer beads between his fingers, Johnnie taught us about Japanese Buddhism at Higashi Honganji. Most Japanese don't go to temples to pray, but the priests go to homes monthly on death anniversaries to say a ten minute prayer at the family altar. For example if a family member dies on December 13, the priest visits on the 13th of each month. Outside, loud speakers amplifying angry voices interrupted his lecture. Black vans with blackened windows passes slowly on the street. Johnnie explained that these are Japanese Nazis angry about the Chinese Premier's visit to Kyoto today. "They like to scare people." Loud speakers on top of cars are common in Japan, especially during this election season.

Along a peaceful, narrow street, we stopped at Ayako-Tenmangu, where Johnnie demystified the Shinto religion. It has no Bible and no one knows where it started. Purity is the only tenet, so the Japanese take off shoes indoors, have a high standard of cleanliness and believe everything has a spirit (trees, rocks, water, people). Demonstrating the purification process, Johnnie washed his hands with water from the dragon fountain and rinsed his mouth. "The spirits are very busy and moving around so we need to get their attention before we pray," he said ringing a large bell attached to a rope and clapping his hands twice. The cow statues signify that this temple is for wisdom and intellect or in Johnnie's words, to "give me a better head." Fox statues indicate a temple for improving business. The fox I understand, but the cow for intelligence doesn't fit into my experience with cows.

Our path continued to the playground of a primary school. When the school year began in March, only 19 kindergarteners registered for school so in two years, the only surviving elementary school in this neighborhood will close due to declining enrollment. Young families have to choose where they live carefully because neighborhood relationships are very complicated. Families live in the same place for a long time and require everyone to perform duties whether caring for the shrines or cleaning the streets.

Also complicated is the role of geisha in modern Kyoto society. At the age of 15, girls can apply to become geisha, that process is now on the internet. Leaving school and entering strict training in music, dance, tea ceremony, her life is controlled by the teachers. If a woman decides to marry, she can no longer be geisha. In old Kyoto the geisha would only perform dance in private tea houses for their patron family. It wasn't open to the public. Still unclear about where geisha reside on the accomplished artist to exotic dancer spectrum, I asked Johnnie, "If you had a daughter, would you want her to be geisha?" He laughed and several expressions crossed his face. After a complicated pause, he answered, "If she really wanted that life."

Cottage industry thrives in the back streets of Kyoto. Johnnie pointed out homes where people made fans, pottery and prayer beads for the larger businesses that sold the products. At Toyokuni Shrine Johnnie related the story of Hideyoshi, a Japanese hero, born a poor farmer 400 years ago, he united Japan. What a treat to hear English for five hours and to converse with such friendly and interesting travelers. During the walk, people offered advice about our next destinations, what to do in Beijing, Bangkok or Frankfurt. A Japanese woman from Osaka graciously clarified some of my burning questions about Japanese culture:

Question: Why do we feel vulgar munching on an apple while walking down the street?
Answer: Because Japanese people don't eat in public. It's a private activity. That may also explain why the oldest people on the planet live in Japan and the heaviest ones live in the States. A coffee to go at Starbucks here comes in a drink carrier, hidden in a paper bag, to be consumed when you arrive at your destination.

Question: Why do some women wear kimonos and some western clothing?
Answer: A kimono is like a cocktail dress, for special occasions.

Question: Why do so many people wear surgical face masks? Is it the pollution?
Answer: Simply hayfever. It's spring and there's a lot of pollen.

Question: Why is the year listed on our rail passes 19 and not 2007?
Answer: Japanese use both calendar systems. It's year 19 of the Heisei Emperor and when a new emperor comes, it will start again at year 1.

I definitely "got a better head" today.

Geisha Girls

2007-04-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

Click here for more photos of our maiko (geisha under 20 years old) girls.
MAYA'S ACCOUNT
The very first thing you do is take off your shoes and put on these un-comfertable slippers. You are lead into a circular room here you will spend the better part of the next two and a half hours. You are robed in a light cotton robe that is low in the front and back. You are lead to a row of chairs set in front of mirrors. Your hair is put into a fishnet hair net. Your entire face is then painted bright white except for a space between the base of your hairline and the top of your spine. This is slightly uncomfortable as your windpipe is pressed to get the desired look. Then you chose your kimono so the white will dry. My kimono was deep blue with pink sort of star streaks filled with flowers and cool patterns. Your chosen kimono is set aside and then it's back into the make-up chair. the eye shadow is pink and lined in red. Your lips previously white are turned deep red and perfectly shaped. Then on comes the kimono. They put a red flowered wrap around your waist that will look good under your kimono. Then lots of things are tied and tucked around your waist so that once your kimono and obi are on, your body will be all one thickness. With this done they wrap a gray cloth around your head to keep sweat off the magnificent head dress decorated with flowers and various ornaments. You know those flip flops you always see with kimonos, yeah you put those on too. Then your picture is taken twenty times with various fans, parasols and orbs. This is an accomplishment in and of itself as the photographer only speaks Japanese. The only truly difficult part of this process is getting the make up off, which you do yourself. This is really neat and totally worth it, so if you are ever in Kyoto go to Yumekoubou Studio.

SKYLAR'S VERSION
Yesterday me and Maya were made in to geisha.
At the very start, you have a white dressing robe and white kimono socks on.
Then they put a hairnet on you so your hair doesn't get painted.
Then they put white make up all over your face, except one place on spot on your neck they don't cover.
The lady said, "It's cold" and it was. They put black eyebrow liner in your eyebrows so that they were black.
She put black mascara on. Then they paint your red lipstick on.
You go and pick a kimono; they are very colorful and there are a lot to choose from.
When you put the kimono on, you feel like a princess because there are so many women dressing you.
It was kind of hard to breath and it was tight. Then they put a black wig on you with all these decorations in it. It looks like the wig is really connected to your head. You put on your flip-flop like shoes and go to the next room and you have to wait a while because there are already people in the photo shoot room. Some of these Japanese ladies asked to have our picture taken with them. People kept telling me and Maya we were so "cute" when they walked passed.
The kimono and wig were very heavy.In the photo shoot room, we got pictures taken with parasols, fans and orbs (balls), tall shoes and a basket. The pictures that you'll see attached are only the ones that my dad took of us. The professional photos won't be ready for a month.
It was so much fun!

Nara, Japan

2007-04-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

Walking among the cherry trees, along lantern-lined paths, we explored the temples and shrines in this ancient capital. The graceful lines of gray tile pagoda roofs against the cotton-candy-pink of the cherry blossoms stopped us in our tracks more than once. These stunning buildings are no longer for practicing Buddhist; crowded with tourists they lack the meditative atmosphere required by the devout. Still, the vast complex in Nara Park allowed us some insight on Buddhism and Japanese history.

Then there are the deer that roam the park. Standing waist high to an adult, these white spotted, white-tailed deer have lost all fear of humans. Not a trace of that former instinct remains. To them, humans are vending machines. Once considered messengers of the divine, they are now "national treasures" who greet visitors to the park; two in our party had different opinions about the deer.

"The deer ignore you if you don't have food and they really love you if you do." Skylar

"The deer in Nara are scary and I don't like them. One of the deer bit my butt because I wasn't opening the deer biscuits fast enough." Maya

We appreciated the warnings we received from friends about the deers' insistent nature and managed to navigate the park all day without incident until we bought the deer biscuits. Then we raced for the nearest bench to dispense treats to an adoring, antlered crowd.

For photos of Nara and the deer feeding frenzy, click here.

Traditional Bath House, Japan

2007-04-10T19:12:00.001-07:00

Nervously, we approached the red-curtained door of the traditional bath house or sento. Would we cause an international incident by breaching etiquette? Immediately we recognized our first mistake. All the slippers in the entry way were blue and those on our feet were white. We raced back, undetected, to our room for the appropriate footwear and returned more confident, ready for our first public bath (that wasn't in our bathing suits at the YMCA).

To enhance your Japanese bathing experience and to avoid any future embarrassment, Skylar has written this step by step guide for first time bathers. As far as we know it may only apply to the women's bath house on the eighth floor of the Dormy Inn, Hiroshima, but we will keep you posted on that point because we definitely want to go again and again.

Click here to read Skylar's Guide to the Traditional Bath House.

Hiroshima, Japan

2007-04-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

Click here for more photos of Hiroshima.
It was a happy accident that our family spent Easter Sunday in Hiroshima wandering among the cherry blossoms and visiting the Peace Park. We had planned to visit this historic city, but did not realize we would reach it on Easter. There was a poetry in this, that we spent the Christian day of rebirth, visiting war memorials in a Buddhist city reborn after a nuclear bomb.

"Nothing will grow in Hiroshima for 75 years," they said after the Enola Gay decimated the city, but it was rebuilt and growing trees within twenty years. On this day, extended families picnicked under the cherry trees lining the Motoyasu-gawa River while a cherry-pink bateau-mouche toured up and down the river. Barbeques overflowed with noodle dishes and children played baseball in the park; a waterfront music festival provided the soundtrack to our day. We walked for several miles, alternately joining the stream of humanity on parade and sitting on benches to eat our paper bag repasts. Our meal paled in comparison to the ubiquitous, elegant, boxed lunches, with a compartment for each dish, preferred by locals.

Across the river, the A-Bomb Dome or Gembaku Domu stands on the site of a former government building. The atomic bomb exploded almost directly above it on August 6, 1945; all of the workers died instantly, but many of its walls remained intact. The ruins, crowned by a skeletal dome, provide a moving reminder of the tragedy.

At ground level at the Peace Memorial Hall, is an abstract clock statue permanently set at 8:15, the time of detonation; rubble from 1945 surrounds the clock. We descended the spiraling ramp into the meditative Memorial, our voices catching in our throats as we read the informational plaques describing Japan on a path of war as well as the atrocity of the bombing.

We entered the softly lit Hall of Remembrance, a round room with a pleasant water feature in the center. Sitting in silence on a small bench, we gazed at the photographs on the walls, 360 degrees of neighborhoods decimated by the bomb. It is a grizzly panoramic view from the hypocenter. The photographs are made from 140,000 square tiles, one for each person who died between August and December, 1945 as a result of the atomic bomb.

All of the victims' names are engraved on the arch that frames the eternal flame. Japan will extinguish the fire only when the last nuclear weapon has been dismantled. An atomic weapon is indiscriminate, killing regardless of age or nationality. Among the victims were Japanese civilians, Korean slave laborers and American prisoners of war. At the Peace Memorial Hall, one can see portraits of all the victims by inserting the guide pamphlet into a touch screen computer kiosk. Our eight-year-old scanned photographs for a long time, finding a human connection that was lacking for her in the concrete and flames.

Familiar with the book, Sadako and the 1,000 Cranes, our twelve-year-old made a poignant connection, to this atrocity, at the Children's Peace Memorial. Sadako developed leukemia at the age of ten from the radiation exposure. According to Japanese custom, if a person folds 1,000 cranes, her wish will come true. Sadako did not complete the 1,000 cranes before her death, but her story inspired this monument and continues to inspire origami crane folding across the world. Display cases exhibit donated cranes, folded in vivid colors and strung up like leis by the 1,000's.

While admiring the Sadako monument, in a particularly contemplative mood, an elderly Japanese woman approached me with a handwritten card, saying in multiple languages,
"Do you mind if I pray for your happiness?"
"Please, by all means." How could I refuse such a generous offer?
So we inclined our heads, closed our eyes and stood quietly for many moments.
Thanking her with a bow and a poorly accented "Arigato," she asked one more question, "American?" She smiled broadly at my positive response and walked away.

The people of Hiroshima are serious about spreading peace and in our short visit, they appeared to live the mission of the Peace Memorial: "Mourning the lives lost in the atomic bombing, we pledge to convey the truth of this tragedy throughout Japan and the world, pass it on to the future, learn the lessons of history, and build a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons."

Their goals have recently come into conflict with elected officials who want Japan to become a nuclear power. The youngest survivor or hibakusha is now 62, in utero when the bomb exploded. With fewer hibakusha to tell the story and political realities changing this peaceful nation, the nuclear atrocity of Hiroshima is in danger of fading into the dusty recesses of history....lest we forget.

As we returned to our hotel that evening fatigued by celebration and somber reflection, our daughter asked, "Mom, why isn't war illegal?" It's a very good question.

Sydney, Australia

2007-04-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

When a family member names their daughter after a city, one has high expectations of the place. We were not disappointed by Sydney. Staying at the B&B Sydney Harbour, in the Rocks, near Circular Quay, we got provisions at a local bakery and walked for miles around the harbour. We admired the bridge, the opera house and the skyline from every angle. We strolled the Botanical Gardens, awed by the grand fig trees and sat a long while observing the flying fox colony. These supposedly nocturnal creatures make quite a racket all day long, fussing over who gets to hang upside down on which branch. Some take flight unexpectedly to change trees.

Thank you Mary H. for introducing us to wonderful Jen and her delightful children. We spent a fun- filled day with them at the Taronga Zoo. The highlight was the free- flight bird show, hands down. We skipped Manly and Bondi Beach in favor of a smaller north shore beach near Mosman with amazing rock formations. All five girls and their parents spent hours in the tide pools finding snails, sea stars, crabs and other treasures. Then our generous new friends gave us the best gift. Maya and Skylar stayed at their house to have dinner and watch a movie while Jeff and Michelle had a date (as in alone, without the children). We enjoyed our night out at a local pub trying to discern the rules of rugby and cricket. We were struck by how slow moving and convoluted is cricket, the polar opposite of rugby and laughed at Bill Bryson's description of the sports. "It has always seemed to me that cricket is much too restrained for the rough and tumble Australian temperament....I am quite certain that if the development of cricket was left in Australian hands, within a generation the players would be using the bats to hit each other."

We ended the day, riding a ferry across Sydney Harbour under a full moon. It was a perfect day and made us understand how one could be moved to name their child after this enchanting place.

For photos of Taronga Zoo click here.

For photos of Sydney click here.

Byron Bay, Australia

2007-03-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

Click here for photos of Byron Bay.
According to Jeff, "There are three categories of trips: travel, visit with family/friends and vacation. The three should not be confused." It's spring break, so we took a vacation from our travels in Byron Bay. The locals refer to it as the Shire, though Hobbiton it is not. The good restaurants, health food stores, yoga studios, new age shops and walkability of the town give it a comfortable, even groovy, ambiance.

Byron Bay becomes an all-ages street party after dark. Friday night, Lemonheads played a 400 seat venue at Hotel Great Northern. Families walked around eating gelato, teenagers paraded up and down Jonson Street, while others dined at sidewalk cafes or went to the beach to watch the lighthouse beacon. Eclectic street musicians entertained passersby on every street corner: cowgirl-folk, power pop trios, jazz, funky caribbean grooves and one you just don't see anywhere, didgeridoo over a techno backing track accompanied by a video of marine life.

During the day, this is a mecca for water sports and sky diving. "No, Maya you still can't sky dive." So, why not kayak with dolphins as the brochure promised? Our family has successfully kayaked in Klamath Lake, Kaileakekua and Airlie Beach, so it was time to kayak in the open ocean. Read Jeff's surreal account of the adventure below to learn what happened when we overestimated our skills.

Michelle and Maya have always wanted to surf so they got back in the ocean the next day for a group lesson with Ben, from Surfing Byron Bay while Jeff and Skylar had fun on dry land. There's a lot to remember when you're surfing and if you've ever tried to jump you foot forward in a yoga pose, imagine doing that on a board in the waves. Here's how you do it: Lay on your stomach with your toes on the back of the board. Paddle, paddle, paddle. Hands under the ribs. Jump up to a wide crouch. Stand up with arms in surfer pose. Whoop and scream really loud and fall off the board with grace and decorum or at least cover your head to avoid the flying surf board. What a great sport. One minute you're one with your board, balanced on top of the water, harnessing the power of a wave and the next moment, you're eating sand.

We'll be sore tomorrow for sure, but today we're proud that we both stood up on our first day in surf school.

Byron Central Apartments provided a cozy home base where we could cook our meals, sleep late (like at least 8:30) and swim in the pool. There are no ocean views here, but that keeps it affordable. When we weren't attempting a new ocean sport, we enjoyed long walks on the beach, collecting shells, watching surfers, browsing bookstores and doing school work. (Yes, even during spring break.) We also worked with Byron Bay Flight Centre to organize our Japan rail passes and accommodations for the next leg of our trip. No matter what we requested, Suzanne's answer was our favorite Aussie expression, "No worries....."

With an international blues festival and surfing competition during Easter week, we're glad we beat the crowds to Byron Bay. It's someplace we'd really like to return. A policy researcher from Sydney compared it to New Town in the city, so we'll need to visit there when we travel south tomorrow.

Ocean Kayaking: A Surreal Adventure

2007-03-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

"Hey, my new Ray Bans stayed on, even after we capsized the kayak - cool!"
This seems very lucky as Hans and Franz cautioned against wearing sunglasses into the oncoming breakers. Maya and I entered the kayak no problem, bottom first, as instructed. We immediately paddled into the first wave. I carefully put the nose of the boat straight into the wave so we could slice our way through. The blue monster broke on top of us. We were wet, but still in the little orange kayak. The second big wave was a different story. The last one had rocked us sideways and it was a good laugh. This baby is twice the size and... "Maya paddle fast!"

(Have you ever had you life move passed you in slow motion? You can think crystal clear but react in slow motion.) The wave hit and I am sent heels over head into the cool salt water. After my brief submersion, I surface and look for Maya. She's OK. Without worry, I snatch the two oars and hand them to Maya. "Hold these and wait here." I swim after my little orange friend as the surf tries to return the kayak to shore. "Whoa there girl!" I throw myself on the hard underbelly of the kayak. Reaching forward I pull up on the middle outer edge as I push down on the inner edge and voilá, she's upright. As I throw myself into the seat, I undershoot as the next wave hits and I splash in the surf on the far side of the boat. "Maya, let me hold the oars. You first this time." Maya does a great job of finding her seat. I'm in and we're off into the next onslaught of waves.

Maya and I finally reach the "meeting place" where the other kayaks have gathered in a loose circle, like poorly thrown horseshoes. We wait. My mind is racing with wild thoughts about what happened to Michelle and Skylar. Our guide finally arrives and informs us that they turned back and will meet us later on the beach for morning tea. So, we set off to kayak in the open sea.

This is a new and exhilarating experience for me and Maya. It also proves to be a great math lesson, as Maya will never forget the difference in meeting a wave parallel or perpendicular. It is best to always meet large, white-capped ocean swells head on in a perpendicular fashion. We are now singing, "Rock the boat, don't rock the boat baby. Rock the boat, don't tip the boat over...." It has a calming effect and improves our stroke rhythm. Feeling a new sense of confidence and common sense, I relax my white-knuckle grip on the paddle long enough to place my new Ray Bans in my life vest pocket. It was at this very moment I remembered that my new Canon 800 IS camera was in my shirt pocket. I think to myself, it must be fine. It's in a double zip, Ziploc bag and I was only under water for a few seconds...twice. I'll check it later.

"Hey Maya, do you see those really big waves? Don't stop paddling!" It's interesting facing giant waves, as long as they don't break on top of you and you take them head on, you stay right side up. If the wave is really big, when you first clear it, the front of the boat drops and slaps the water with a bum-numbing thud, as if someone pulled a chair out from under you just as you were sitting down. Maya is not too thrilled with this part of the ride. It could be worse, we could capsize again. Our guide just paddles off and seems to hope that all is well.

It is then that we see Bertha, the monster of all waves. She is to waves what Jaws is to sharks. I summon my best Ahab courage and paddle little orange toward Moby Dick.

A crashing sound and spinning underwater is all I remember. The next thing I know, my eyes are on fire with saltwater and we are high above a blue whale. "She saved us!" We are gently placed in our boat and guided to the magic dolphin place. Palm trees shade us from the sun as Flipper and family bring us fruit punch with tiny umbrellas, potato salad and baby dolphins to hug.

"Phew!" I exhale and climb into the boat. "That was a close one."

The ride back to shore is much better. Maya and I learn how to surf our kayak on the waves. The wave comes from behind, "Paddle fast!" The boat rises and moves swiftly, wind in your hair, this is fun, the drop is gentle. Finally our last rest break before the mad sprint to the beach. We are the only ones not to capsize during the ride in.

Skylar ran across the beach to hug us and share her story of capsizing. Michelle arrived next and asked, "Did you see dolphins? Did you get any pictures?" It is only then that I remembered the camera and reached into my pocket. Stretching my arm before me, I unwrapped the camera to see it floating in a mere centimeter of terminal, salty brine. As we contemplate how to revive the Canon, the guide approaches and says, "Hey mate, we have a dolphin guarantee. Since we didn't see them today, you can have a go again tomorrow."

Sunshine Coast

2007-03-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

Visiting the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, we enjoyed catching up with our former neighbors, Lisa and Scott, who emigrated to Australia seven years ago. We were spoiled by their generosity and impressed by how they conserve resources. Solar panels provide a portion of their energy needs and rainwater provides all their household water!

Scott introduced us to the most disheveled book exchange one can imagine. A friend of the owner came in, seemingly just to tease him. "Mate, is it possible that you've added even more books? I know CPR. Has anyone been buried beneath the books back there?" he yelled. Lisa drove us inland to visit quaint towns in the Ranges: Mapleton, Monteville and Palmwoods. Most importantly, we finally saw kangaroos! The large reds have the run of the campus at USC, University of the Sunshine Coast, where the marsupials and coeds seem to maintain respectful distances. In a Discovery Channel moment, we watched a roo poke its head out of a pouch and a male scratching the tail of a female and chasing her, in what these junior naturalists decided was a "courting" ritual.

Roo Heaven in the Australia Zoo provided the most enthralling kangaroo experience. We entered the enclosure of these docile animals armed with officially sanctioned Roo Food. Wandering among eastern grays, reds, wallabees and red legged pademelons, we pet and fed loads of kangaroos.

"The kangaroos felt very soft. That surprised me. Their hands were really skinny and they had long nails. Sometimes they would put their hands on your hand when they were eating. Their feet were very long too. They used their tails to balance. Some of them were so hungry they would stand up to get to where you were before you squatted to give them the food; that's the only time I felt a little scared. It's the most fun when there aren't too many people there," reported Skylar.

We could have easily spent a full day in that exhibit alone, but Steve Irwin's zoo had so much more to offer. His father, Bob, a respected herpetologist, started it in the 70's, in a single building and the Crocodile Hunter took the family business to the next level. It includes Australia-specific, animal exhibits (koalas, crocs, camels, dingoes, cassowary, snakes...) and the 5,000 seat Crocoseum. At the Wildlife Warriors show, we saw birds in flight, swimming pythons and a Steve-wannabee, feeding a hungry saltwater croc. Flowers, artwork, letters and signed khaki uniforms form a memorial to the life and legacy of this famous Aussie. His wife, Terri who hails from Oregon and his children, Bindi and Bob carry on his work.

For photos of the Sunshine Coast, click here.

Traveler's Note: Spending only two hours in Surfers Paradise changing buses, was two, too long. It may have lived up to its name circa 1950, but we recommend avoiding this endless-mall with high rises along a pretty strip of beach. Don't believe us? Check out the ultra tacky photographic evidence here. Vegas is missing an Elvis impersonator.

Airlie Beach & Whitsundays

2007-03-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

Click here for more photos of the Whitsundays.

People come here to sail among the 74 islands and it's obvious why. With dependable sunshine, omnipresent breezes, turquoise water and well-placed islands, Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays define tropical paradise. The Whitsunday Organic B & B would then be the hammock under the palm tree in paradise. Our affable hosts, John, Sharini and Jules are all great storytellers and serious about organic products, so their soaps and breakfasts are something to write home, (or at least blog) about. Skylar ignored the pancakes and banana bread options and devoured her favorite brekkie: two poached eggs, tomatoes and sauteéd mushrooms every morning. Surprisingly, the bananas here taste like honey and cream. We spent time every day on the balcony to take in the ocean view and watch the local white cockatoos (with their yellow mohawks). We even salvaged the partially used oatmeal and lavender soaps from our shower to take with us.

Hearing that I enjoyed school visits, John invited me to join him for reading time at Cannonvale State School. Annie, greeted this unannounced foreign visitor warmly and like any veteran teacher, put me right to work with her delightful third graders. Since we had finished the Newbery Medal winner, Higher Power of Lucky, we donated it to their library. In my brief visit, I got the impression that this is a happy place to work and learn. A few other observations:
• Australia provides preschool free of charge.
• Aussie children sing the kookaburra song with a certain confidence, born from personal experience with the bird.
• Cursive has sharper edges here.
• First graders made unique A-Z mobiles with objects starting with one letter. (Y with a yogurt container and yarn for example.)
• All Aussie teachers have to earn a certificate of basic proficiency with computers.
• The parent organization was raising money to build sunshade for play areas and to install newer computers.
• While the federal government actively discusses pay for performance for teachers, it's not an issue at the local level.
• State testing begins in third grade.
• Students in the U.S. can recite the fire safety mantra: Stop, Drop and Roll. Aussie students will tell you the sun safety mantra: Slip, Slop, Slap (Slip on a shirt. Slop on the sunscreen and slap on a hat.) With a hole in the ozone above them and elevated skin cancer rates, they take the sun seriously here. If a student doesn't bring a hat to school, they don't participate in recess or PE out in the open. Sounds like an idea to export!

Even when it's overcast one can easily burn so we've been really careful to maintain our Victorian pallor, enduring a "Geek on the beach" look now, hoping to
skip the skin cancer later. In fact, you won't find anyone who can read swimming at Airlie Beach; the warning signs provide a laundry list of reasons to stay clear
of the water. So, the community built an amazing public pool in the form of a large lagoon, complete with beach-style sloping access.

Thank goodness for the deadly box jelly fish, so we could wear blue stinger suits during our snorkeling trip. We climbed a hill to take in the stunning vista of
pristine beaches. Then some blokes floated a "barbie" to shore and cooked us lunch. When loads of other tour boats arrived, we moved on to snorkel. In a bit of
a party trick, they fed the local reef life, surrounding snorkelers with a frenzy of damsels, parrot fish and a four-foot long Napoleon Wrasse named Elvis.

Our double kayaks skimmed across Shute Harbour on our final day in Airlie Beach, heading toward White Rock Island. Currents converge at White Rock in such a way that chunky, broken bits of coral and seashells form the "beach" and every time the waves lap the shore it makes the pleasant sound of wind chimes or gently breaking glass. We were awed to see a large sea turtle surface twice, before diving again for as much as twelve hours. Salty Dog did a really good job with our family and the girls felt confident and exhausted after half a day.

As Jeff and Skylar lay under the trees one afternoon gazing up into the branches, they decided that Koconut Katchers (large steel framed cages suspended in the coconut trees) are a really good idea.

Crocs and Cassowary in Cape Tribulation

2007-03-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

Cape Tribulation is just waiting to eat you. Take a walk to the beach with us to meet our boat and explore the Great Barrier Reef. The wet tropics provide the perfect environment for mozzies and their bites sometimes swell to silver dollars. We'll be free of them once we're on the water. As we bushwhack through the jungle, we have to duck and cover to avoid leeches and ticks poised on the tips of leaves, eager to pounce upon their next meal. Luckily, we find safe haven behind a stinging tree. We avoid its touch as its needles contain glass-like fibers that slice the skin and deliver a poison (with no known antidote) that leaves one ill for months. We're chased from this hiding place by a 6'4" cassowary, an ostrich-esque, flightless bird with a vicious, talloned kick.(See photo of statue above.) Distinguished by its armored helmet and blue throat, this endangered species is not shy and elusive as previously described, but a mischief maker who stalks humans and pummels those it reaches. All the locals and many tourists have stories of their encounters. Making ourselves look large and slowly backing away, we make loud noises by singing our original cassowary anthem:
Cassowary,
you're so scary.
You're no canary.
You best be wary,
of cassowary!

We flee into a low tide, mangrove swamp. 1,000 crabs emerge for a snack , but we prove too quick, motivated by the sound of approaching crocodiles aka "salties". Arriving at the beach, we decide to take a swim while awaiting the arrival of our boat. Signs warn of poisonous box jellyfish in these waters. The rains wash the polyps from their river nests out to sea and they grow in the shallow waters. The dingy arrives to cut short our swim; clamoring aboard we catch air in the choppy waves as the torrential rains begin. Sopping wet, we board the dive ship and sign our liability waivers as the sea sickness takes hold. For the next hour we are washed, tossed, shaken and stirred as if on a new Disneyland ride. Cue the Gilligan's Island theme song. In the back corner of the ship we take turns surrendering our breakfasts to Poseidon.

A lonely strip of sand, inhabited by nesting birds, indicates our arrival at the Great Barrier Reef. A crew member sits lookout; though no one mentions sharks, we know we're trespassing in the domain of the Great White. They declare, "The pool is open." Entering the water, the seas calm and the sky transforms into a religious painting, with sun rays descending from the clouds. We find Nemo at home and learn how the clown fish can live among poisonous anemones. They brush themselves on the base to gain a mucous coating before swimming among its tentacles. Here's a marine fact that didn't make it into the movie: the clowns are all male, save one bossy female. If she dies, the most aggressive male experiences a chemical change and voila becomes the lead female, easier than an operation!

Giant clams the size of steamer trunks open their jaws ominously. Stingrays bury themselves under the sand and suddenly emerge like hovercraft when we swim too close. Spotting a cod fish larger than herself, Skylar leaps on top of her flotation device. Spitting out her snorkel she asked, "Will it eat me?" Reassured that the fish was also a vegetarian, she smiled, "Then we're both safe." The marvels of this underwater world evaporated our memories of the journey to get here. Is it too late to get a job aboard the Calypso with Jacques Cousteau?

In the wet tropics, we experienced a living jurassic park that is in fact 16 times older than the Amazon Rainforest. It was never destroyed by glaciers or volcanoes after its birth. Some ferns here were thought to only exist in the fossil record, but here they are, "living fossils." This area of North Queensland is Eden incarnate, the only place on the planet you can step from one World Heritage Site to another, from the Daintree Rainforest to the Great Barrier Reef. Just watch where your step and you may survive the visit.

For photos of Cape Tribulation, Australia, click here.

Daintree, Australia

2007-03-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Stepping out of the airport in Cairns felt a lot like New Orleans in June. We came to the wet tropics to explore the reef and the rainforest of north Queensland. After a night in a backpacker hostel, swapping information and tall tales with other travelers, we rented a car and drove north to Daintree Village. Trish and Andrew, the proprietors were away so Ellen and Sylvia looked after us at Red Mill House. Sylvia is delightful and generous with local information. Ellen is a marvel: a great cook and an accomplished potter who is able to name every bird and plant in the garden. She leads birding trips and has been known to build rock walls in the pouring rain.

Debi, Skylar's teacher and a birding enthusiast, would love this place! Did you know that the orange-footed scrub fowl doesn't sit on its eggs to incubate them? Instead, they bury their eggs in leaves and debris so that the rotting compost provides the heat.

On our first afternoon, we joined Scott's electric boat trip on the Daintree River to do a bit of croc spotting. One of these prehistoric creatures lounged with an open mouth on the bank, making us shudder, even from a safe distance. The crocodile warning signs disarm visitors unaccustomed to life among these reptiles. You can read one in our photo gallery. During the course of our boat ride, Scott turned our disgust for leeches into awe as he described the elegance of their "feeding" system: first insert an anticoagulant, feast and then insert a coagulant to finish the job and keep the buffet alive.

Speaking of dining, a yellow-spotted honeyeater dropped by during breakfast on the veranda as did an iridescent blue Ulysses butterfly. Breakfast was delicious, large and exotic here: fruit platter with mango, mangosteen, kiwi and rambutan, homemade bread, yogurt and muesli followed by a hot course of toast, poached eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. We found that this generous brekkie is typical of B&B's in Australia. No need to eat again until dinner.

To pace ourselves, we have occasional "do-nothing" days in which we postpone any new adventures to catch up on email, schoolwork, journaling, photos and blogging. What good fortune that a torrential downpour showed up on a do-nothing day. It is obvious why this is called the RAINforest; at times we had to shout to hear each other over the noise of large drops on the roof. The skies cleared in time for the girls to ride horses on Wonga Beach. The heavy rains and the saltwater crocs prevent any resorts from taking hold here, so the girls trotted and Michelle enjoyed a canter on this deserted beach. We had difficulty leaving Daintree Village and Red Mill House as we'd become so comfortable there.
For more photos of Daintree, click here.

Clouds

2007-03-19T03:47:00.000-07:00

Clouds

Christchurch - Goodbye New Zealand

2007-03-19T03:07:00.000-07:00

Christchurch is Oxford, England in miniature: the stone architecture, the parks, the punting boats on the Avon River. We wandered the streets, visited Christchurch cathedral and rented a canoe to pretend we were pirates about to board the punts. It was a stunning day in a beautiful city.

We enjoyed the hospitality of Michele and Richard, former Eugenites living in Christchurch. After camping for two weeks, we thoroughly appreciated showers, laundry, doing schoolwork at their kitchen table, playing with their dogs and cooking food in a kitchen, the simple pleasures. Their advice, good taste in music and witty banter provided the perfect conclusion to our time in New Zealand. Thanks Joanne W for introducing us!

"Where are you from?" the Air NZ flight attendant inquired handing Jeff a sandwich sans crust.
"Oregon.." he replied.
"The States?" she interrupted.
"Yes."
"I thought so, I could tell because of your accent."
Funny, we thought kiwis were the ones with accents. That's something to think about.

More photos of Christchurch are available here.

Penguins & Chocolate

2007-03-19T02:21:00.000-07:00

More photos of Dunedin and Penguin Place are here.
When the Owens Family emigrated from Ashland to Australia six or seven years ago, we said we'd come visit. Who would have known that Katie and Sarah would be at Otago University in Dunedin, NZ when we finally got down under? How fun to meet the little girls we knew, as delightful and engaging women. Over Italian food, we learned about the Australian and NZ education system and how complex and competitive it is to attend college.

While waiting for Katie and Sarah to finish classes, we donned hair nets and toured the chocolate plant at Cadbury World; sampling raw cocoa beans was the highlight. There are no oompa-loompas here; give it a miss if you come to town. The front desk staff, however, were over-the-top helpful when I said we were keen to see penguins on the Otago Peninsula, she booked us with a naturalist guide for the next day.

There are 4,000 yellow-eyed penguins left in the wild and surprising to this family, their natural habitat is forest (and sea of course). 19 nesting pairs inhabit the a private reserve called Penguin Place, set in an ocean cove and rolling hills. Humans can trespass into penguin habitat here without making a mess of things by using the system of covered trenches and camouflaged hides. The private landowners are committed to reestablishing a penguin colony and tree planting is the first order of business. Who is the Jane Goodall of penguins? If the position isn't taken, Michelle wants to apply. One can easily lose a day or a week gazing at these shy, solitary creatures. We sited two moulting penguins, Brian and Doug under trees and bushes. We imagined their head shakes and weight shifting motions to be shivers against the Antarctic winds. We left the penguins to continue our drive north along the first straight road we've seen in New Zealand.

The Long, Long Trailer

2007-03-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't seen The Long Long Trailer starring Lucile Ball and Desi Arnez it is a must see to have some understanding of our experience in Betty . For the readers who don't know her, she's our old RV which we took to drive across New Zealand. Our journey was not nearly as disaster filled as theirs but when Lucille tries to cook in the back of the trailer, that we can somewhat relate to.

Riding along in the back seat of Betty makes it hard to enjoy the scenery. With the suspension shot every time you hit the slightest bump it is multiplied by ten in the back. Riders are prone to car sickness. So instead of enjoying the beauty that makes up New Zealand you are more likely to by laying down listening to your i-pod with you eyes closed trying not to barf. There is also the matter of devices broken. Such as the fact that the table does not stay up but instead wobbles from side to side and is ridiculously hard to remove. Or that when we parked at the Bumbles Hostel in Queenstown, the water tank emptied its contents all over the parking lot. Or that when there are sudden stops or turns your likely to slide forward a few inches because the seat belts don't stay. Or as we were driving through the small town of Oamaru the temperature gauge suddenly went from warm to beyond hot. But the lovely people of New Zealand pulled through once again and quickly fixed the engine in no time flat - no charge. To Betty's credit she kept us mostly dry, her brakes work and she bears no resemblance to a rental vehicle so we don't look like a driving billboard, just some crazy tourists. This has not changed the way we feel about New Zealand. It is one of the loveliest places on earth with some of the friendliest people you will ever meet in your natural born life. But heed the warning to this tale, should you ever rent an RV, always see the vehicle before you pay.
-Maya

Doubtful Sound & Queenstown

2007-03-14T00:56:00.000-07:00

The allure of Doubtful Sound stole us away from Wanaka, but not wanting to drive Betty another eight hours on winding roads, we booked a trip with Real Journeys out of Queenstown. This remote wilderness in southwest NZ can only be reached by road to Manapouri, boat across Lake Manapouri, another road across the Wilmot Pass to board yet another boat to explore Doubtful Sound. The forested cliffs and islands provide habitat for rare birds, seals, dolphins and penguins. It rains two out of three days here; locals assured us it was a glorious day and only "misting" during our visit. Dolphins raced along the bow of the ship, waterfalls cascaded down the walls and seals rested on rocks at the edge of the open sea. In this Jurassic Park territory, cut by glaciers, one expected a pteradactyl to swoop through the cloud-shrouded canyons at any moment. The naturalist guide cut the boat engines and enforced three minutes of complete, camera-free silence in which we could witness our surroundings in a different way. Returning from the Sound, we visited the James Bond/Batman hide out, aka underground hydropower station and learned how the kiwis turn water into electricity. What an exceptional day.
For photos of Doubtful Sound click here.

In contrast, Queenstown is the Disneyland of New Zealand, offering extreme sports for the masses: paragliding onto boats, heli-biking, sky diving, bungy jumping and white water rafting. It's andrenaline-filled fun and outrageously expensive. One of our party, a certain 12 year old, had to take a death defying risk so we put the independent young lady on a jet boat. That's right, a power boat, traveling at 80km/hr in a narrow canyon performing 360 degree turns in 10cm of water. She proclaimed it "terrifyingly fun and wet!" See photo above.

Traveler's Note: Sandflies rule the west coast so insect repellant is a must. In a quasi-horror-movie moment, we stopped at a rest area near sand dunes to answer nature's call. No sooner did we leave Betty than our pants legs were black with biting insects! This was particularly problematic in the loo.

For photos of Queenstown click here.

West Coast & Wanaka, NZ

2007-03-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

For photos of the west coast and Wanaka, click here.
It's a good thing that the highways are well-marked and the kiwis are eager to help because we did not invest in a detailed driving map.
Around each curve of the winding two lane highway are "oohs and ahhs" waiting to express themselves. The highway slows to a one lane bridge over a rushing stone-littered river. Fern fronds reach like fingers out of the rainforests. Franz Josef Glacier, that ice age remnant, receeding behind a shroud of rain clouds. This country of extraordinary vistas allows one to visit a glacier (elegantly pronounced glass -ee- er) and a beach on the same day!

Stopping for the night in Greymouth, we passed an hour in the local library, researching the people on NZ currency: Kate Sheppard, a turn of the century suffragist, Sir Edmund Hillary, who summited Mt. Everest, the kiwi bird.....Librarians are a kind, helpful sort the world round. A minor twister had preceded us into Greymouth so construction workers restored roof tops along its path.

Wanaka was the prize at the end of our eight hour drive along the west coast. Willow trees brush the edges of Lake Wanaka while Mount Aspiring rises in the background. This is Lord of the Rings territory and we see Frodo against most landscapes. It's no wonder the Boehnkes enjoyed their year living here so much. (Jeff and John completed their student teaching together back in the day.) The entire country has an excellent system of visitor information called "i site." In a country of extroverted, helpful people, the top of the heap work here. Get directions to a holiday park (aka campground, but don't say "RV" call it a campervan) or book a skydiving trip; nothing is too picayune or extravagant for this crew.

A photographic exhibit by Yann Arthus-Bertrand entitled "Earth from Above," lined the Wanaka lakefront. Google this guy. His photos are stunning and his message so important. He takes photos around the world from helicopters: Cotton bales in an African field, pineapple pickers in the Caribbean, heart shaped atolls. The photo from Laura's Lakeview neighborhood post-Katrina gave us pause.

The buzz around town focused on the A & P show. That's the Agricultural and Pastoral show for the uninitiated. Horse jumping, carriage races, heifer showing, tractor exhibitions and other displays of rural artistry, similar to an Oregon County Fair. We passed an unhurried two days in Wanaka, walking everywhere, eating delicious food and partaking in the cultural events. How fun to see Oregon-made Dagoba chocolates in the health food store! When we return, we'll plan to stay longer to kayak the Clutha River and do a bit of wine tasting at Rippon Vineyards.

Abel Tasman Nat'l Park, NZ

2007-03-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Think NZ, think stunning scenery, sheep, beer and rugby. The fact that New Zealand is an island in the south Pacific hit us over the head today as we experienced this tropical paradise by boating, hiking and swimming. We hiked 7 miles through rainforests, viewed seals, collected shells and watched cormorants (or shags as the kiwis call them) fishing. It's a full moon so the tides have a 4 meter range. We watched the low tide recede at 3cm/minute and had to hike through the shallows to reach the water taxi. "Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful," Jeff
"Heart stopping gorgeousness," Maya
"I'll get back to you," Skylar

Our next stop is Franz Josef Glacier. Cheers!

For photos of Abel Tasman National Park, click here.

Cook Strait Ferry and Nelson, NZ

2007-03-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

For photos of the ferry crossing and Nelson click here.

Lancelot gave us "cheeky" driving instructions on our way to pick up the RV in Wellington. This delightful shuttle driver taught us polite and impolite hand signals that would be universally understood as well as speed limits and how to spot police officers. When driving in NZ, remember U-turns and turning at a red light are illegal and one must give way when entering a round about.

Meet Betty,(photo above) she's 24- feet long, dependable and has good brakes. So what if she's missing a few hubcaps, her suspension is shot and she's got 200,000 km on her. This band of gypsies will call her home for a few weeks. To help the driver, everyone calls out, "stay left," at random intervals just to keep the driver on his/her toes! Traveler's note: Rent RV's six months in advance from Maui, Kea, Apollo or Britz.

Crossing the Cook Strait from Wellington into the Marlborough Sounds of the South Island brought us in contact with new birds and Antarctic breezes. Skylar spent considerable time on deck dancing with the wind. Maya met a kiwi ten year old and learned that girls here are also interested in shopping and snowboarding. We marveled at the multilevel sheep transporter and its 240 occupants. Disembarking at Picton, we drove two hours to Nelson and stopped for the night.

Nelson College, has 1,000 male students including 300 boarders; Michelle had an appointment here to visit classrooms and talk to teachers. Students in US grades 8-12 (or NZ years 9-13)wear uniforms and study college preparatory curriculum. Prejudice between maori and white citizens was the focus of a social studies lesson in which the teacher hopes to debunk some myths on both sides of the cultural divide. Students were excited to be dressing "muffdie" and raising money for charity on Thursday, (translation, in street clothes). Class size, encouraging critical thinking and national assessments are all pressing issues to the faculty. How exciting to learn that New Zealand refuses to use multiple choice tests for their accountability measures. Directly next to our holiday park, we dropped in on a primary school where Reading Recovery originated. What a great way to gain a more local perspective.

Wellington, New Zealand

2007-03-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

Click here to view more photos from Wellington, New Zealand.

They call each other kiwis, the letter z is zed, skim milk is trim milk and the girl scouts were selling guide biscuits. The New Zealand accent is charming and the people more friendly than anywhere we've been; well, the Irish come close. The hospitality began with incredible service on Air New Zealand. Our trip was almost derailed when our flight out of Medford was delayed. A call to Air New Zealand assured us that they would do all they could to hold our connection in San Fran. When we got off the Medford flight, an Air NZ rep was waiting to usher us to the waiting trans-Pacific flight. Our fellow travelers, who checked luggage, would be waiting two days to get reunited with their bags. We were glad that we had only carry-ons. The flight to Auckland lasted 13 hours and we enjoyed it thoroughly. After so many years on US carriers that declared bankruptcy, one forgets that economy class can come with real wine glasses, delicious food and personal entertainment systems. Maya and Skylar have begun rating each of the nine carriers we will use; Air NZ sets a pretty high bar.

We arrived in Wellington at 9am March 3rd and were allowed to check into our hotel room right away. We freshened up and headed to the cable car; this is where the similarities to San Francisco began: the red cable car with wooden seats and brass fixtures moving up a steep hill. The harbour front walk to the Te Papa Museum only lacked the sea lions. There is an island in the middle of the harbour, not Alcatraz, but a close relation.

With approximately 36 hours to devote to Wellington,we enjoyed these highlights:
1. Intercontinental Hotel (club level)
What a posh way to launch our next two weeks in a campervan. Breakfast, high tea, wine tasting and high speed internet all inclusive.
2. Cable car to Botanical Gardens, human sundial and walk down to town.
Special note: If one were to ever get lost on Terrace Street, ask a local lady and she'll escort you to one of the hidden elevators required to take you to the quay level, no matter what your map says.
3. Watched a cricket match at a local park and still don't understand the rules.
4. Te Papa Museum (means Our Place in Maori)
The girls did lots of school projects at this unique and inspiring museum. We most enjoy the lessons we've labeled "Get Curious." They are learning to pose their own questions and find the resources to answer them.
5. Dinner at One Red Dog Restaurant
6. Pick up a campervan and take the ferry across to the south island. That is tomorrow's adventure.

- Michelle

The Itinerary

2007-03-02T17:31:00.000-08:00

"It's a dangerous thing walking outside your door. If you don't keep your feet under you, there's no telling where you might be swept off to,"
Bilbo Baggins

The world is a big place. Here's our route around it:

March 3 - 16 New Zealand (South Island)
March 16 - April 5 Australia (East Coast from Cairns to Sydney)
April 5 - April 19 Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima)
April 19 - May 2 China (Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin)
May 2 - 5 Bangkok, Thailand
May 5-9 Siem Reap, Cambodia (Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom)
May 9-23 Thailand (Chiang Mai and Phuket)
May 23-June 3 Kenya camping safari
June 3 - 9 Turkey (Istanbul and Ephesus)
June 9 - 19 Greece (Patmos, Athens and Meteora)
June 19 - 29 Croatia (Mljet and Dubrovnik)
June 29 - July 9 Europe (Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Frankfurt)

Anticipation

2007-02-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

We pack light!
In these bags we fit: three outfits a piece, swimsuits, long underwear, two pairs of shoes, ipods, books, antibiotics and a guitar. It's all carry on size so we won't lose our luggage on any of the 22 flights in the next 131 days. Also on the packing list is a sense of adventure, a sense of humor and a great deal of curiosity. We land in New Zealand on March 3 so the next posts will be from autumn down under. Thanks to all of you who helped us get to this point! - Michelle
My House, USA
February 27, 2007
Waves, water, the smell of the ocean. All of these things I'm looking forward to, especially in Australia. I can't wait to go surfing and snorkeling. The exotic fruit farm is in Australia too. I can't wait to learn about all the different kinds of fruit.
Delays are my main worry at this moment. Though, this will probably change the second the plane wheels leave the ground in San Francisco. I also hope I won't make a fool of my self or anyone else for that matter. I hope to convince some people that not all Americans are blood-thirsty oil hunters. Only 2 days left to go. (not counting today)
Love and Sunshine, Maya