Kansai Trip

> I know I didn't ever finish writing the blog for our previous trip. Cambodia was nice but nothing TOO much worth writing. So, if you're REALLY curious - ask us when you see us ;)

Here is our most recent trip to the Kansai Area... Enjoy

We took an overnight ferry to Kobe. We arrived around 7:00am. The ride over was nice. The ferry had a big buffet, showers, game room, and an onsen. We got a community room. Each person got a futon, blanket, and block pillow. Needless to say, we were not very comfortable and the ride was little shaky. We got a little bit of sleep but we managed.

We arrived in Kobe and got some breakfast. We then walked around the city. Around noon, we met up with a family friend, Bob Nichols who is a missionary in Japan. He showed us around the city. The next stop was Himeji Castle.

We got there near closing time and it was a bit rainy so there were very few tourists there. We walked around the grounds while Bob shared its history and secrets with us. Later we watched the James Bond movie that takes place in Japan (with a few scenes from Himeji Castle).

We stayed with Bob Friday night. The next morning, before heading to Osaka, Bob took us to this place where they made these huts in the style of homes that were built around 1000 years ago.

We got to Osaka and started to explore. It started to rain but we had an umbrella and were able to make the best of our experience. We saw someone with a box of KrispyKreme doughnuts. We walked down the street and found it! We went to get in line but we were told we need a ticket. Okay, no problem! We ended up having to go two blocks down and around the corner. Where there was a 45 min wait, to just get your ticket. We decided it wasn’t worth it… and moved on.

That night we stayed with a ‘couch surfing’ friend. Couch Surfing is a website where you can sign up and find people to stay with. You e-mail them and let them know you’ll be in the area and ask if they have room. Many times they have a floor or couch for you to crash on. It was very handy to use this because you stay for free!

The next day, Sunday, we explored Osaka a bit more and then met up with Bob again. We went to church with him. Unfortunately it was just the three of us. All the other members were sick or out of town. We still made the best of it and had a nice service!

After church he took us to the Osaka Castle and then out to Hard Rock Café. It's the first time in a year we’ve had an “American size portion” which the waitress made sure we understood! “Just so you know, this is American size portion!?” – ‘That’s ok, we understand it's a lot of food! But thanks J.’

Monday morning we headed to Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710-784. The city is not TOO big and is known, apart from being the old capital, for its free roaming deer. We walked around a national park seeing many deer, temples and shrines. It was a very nice park but a LOT of walking. We took a tap on some benches under a gazebo and then finished up. We met up with our Couch Surfer, Dessy, later that night. Dessy owns a dance studio, where we stayed. She also teaches English. She was very nice.

Tuesday we visited Heijo, the old capitol castle (mostly ruins and recreations). It was very large and took a few hours to walk around. The Imperial palace just finished it’s restoration. It was quite breathtaking! Tuesday night we went to sushi with Dessy.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Kyoto. Kyoto was the capital of Japan from 794 until 1868. Kyoto was rather difficult to get around in. It’s way to large to walk to most places. Shrines and Temples are EVERYWHERE. In the evening we saw a historical performance at Gion Corner. It was a 1 hour performance of Kyogen (classical comedy), Kyomai (Geisha dance), Gagaku (Imperial Court music), koto (Japanese harp) , flower arrangement, and Tea ceremony.

We stayed with a guy name Youri . Nice guy, musican, and in school. Thursday morning we took a walk along the “Philosopher’s Path”… kinda lame – basically a little path by a river, which wasn’t even a nice river. Lol. The main reason it’s famous is for the cherry blossoms, but that season was over.

We did a lot of sightseeing. We saw the Koto-in Zen Temple, which was by far, one of our favorite places. Beautiful trees, bamboos, and grass give many different green colors to the place.

We also went to the Rojuon-ji Temple. The main attraction here is the Golden Pavilion. The 2^nd and 3^rd floors are covered with gold-leaf on Japanese lacquer. We then went to the Ryoan-ji Temple, where the famous Rock Garden, Karesansui, is. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Rocks. But small white pebbles raked into rows and then strategically placed large rocks are in different areas. We then walked around the main city area, then had dinner. We stayed in a love hotel that evening, which was an interesting experience.

Love hotels are quite popular in Japan. In a society where many family members live in the same small house, private time with your spouse is a rare thing. Love hotels are basically hotels designed for couples. You can get a room for different amounts of time; 90min, 120min, or STAY – all night. They are cheaper often cheaper than a regular hotel. We walked around for a few hours trying to find one that wasn’t full or too expensive. The one we settled on was a yacht theme. The shower room was HUGE, with a large Jacuzzi. In the main room was a large comfy bed, massage chair, big screen TV.

The next morning we got up early and went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. We then went to the Fushimi Imari shrine. This was incredible! SO MANY tori gates making winding paths up and down a mountain. 1000’s of them!

We headed back to Kobe and went back to the ferry. Saturday morning around 7:20 we arrived back in Oita. Erika and I stopped at Star Bucks and then I headed to the preschool and she headed home.

Our SouthEast Asia Trip (Vietnam)

DAY 6

We woke up, feeling better still a bit timid about Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), but willing to give it a chance. We only walked a few feet down the road when a man with a bike carriage (Cyclo) approached us. We decided to go with him. He would take us to all the major places and bring us back for a good price.
The first thing to know about Vietnam is that the traffic is INSANE! Three lanes will quickly become 5. Probably 75% of the traffic is motorbikes. 4-Way stops, become 4-Way goes, everyone uses their horn, not in a rude way but as a “FYI, Im HERE!”, And the likelihood of getting killed is 99.2% (**percentages not exact**) The first place we went to was the War Remnants Museum. They were about to close for lunch so we only had about 20 min; therefore, we didn’t have to pay to get it! We then went to see some major sights around the city. Later that evening, we took a taxi to the bus station. We had to wait for about an hour in the heat, stuffed in a little mini-van until we left the station. This 15 seater (including front seats) was filled with 21 people. We made it to Vinh Long late that evening. We walked a ways and found a huge store where we were instantly celebrities. Every child ran to us and sometimes followed us around, saying “Hello!”. We found something to eat and then our hotel. By that time we were exhausted! We went right to sleep.

Day 7

We went and got breakfast at a local river café, which consisted of French bread and fried eggs to dip the bread in and of course our usual, coffee. We went to the info place and booked a ‘home stay’ for the evening and then a boat tour around the Mekong Delta. The boat trip was nice. The water was brown and yet people were bathing, washing clothes and dishes, and swimming in it (maybe why it was brown in the first place – haha). Our tour stopped at a Pop-Rice factory where they showed us how they made pop-rice (similar to rice cakes or rice crispy treats). We were also taken down a narrow river way by this rowboat, steered by an old woman. We got to our Home Stay (guest house) in the early evening. We borrowed some bikes and road around town. (dirt roads, dirt sidewalks, etc) Many children, and adults, that saw us riding would say, “Hello” to us. That evening they served us dinner. We made our own rice paper rolls and had a few other things. It was very tasty. We stayed in a bungalow over the water.

Day 8

In the morning we were picked up by motorbike taxi’s and taken to the bus station. Most of the day was spent on the bus. We needed to get to Rach Gia because the next morning we were to ride the speedboat ferry to Phu Quoc. We got off at the bus station and found a place to eat. The woman spoke some French but little English. After looking at the map and where we were, we realized we did not get off at the right station. After chatting with the locals, they showed us which bus to take to get to the city center. Luckily, it was only about 20min away. We got to where we wanted to be and checked into our hotel. We explored a bit, ate some dinner and called it a night.

Day 9

We woke up to a knocking on our door. We had been told there were no more tickets for the early boat to Phu Quoc so we were going to have to take the afternoon boat. The owner informed us that there was a couple that wanted to switch tickets. They wanted the later one. So, we quickly got ready and barely caught the boat! We arrived in Phu Quoc, a large island off the coast of Vietnam. We took a bus to the main part of the island, found an internet café, booked a hotel, then explored a bit. An overfriendly motorbike taxi driver kept trying to give us EVERY bit of information he knew. After seeing him about 4 different times, we agreed to rent motorbikes from him the following day. He gave us a very good price for the whole day (something we had already planned on doing). We walked a good ways down the coast trying to find a public entrance to the beach (mostly resort and such). We finally asked a guard at a resort “beach?” he pointed us through the resort… so we went. The beach was beautiful. We had lunch at a beach café, swam in the ocean, and had a little spa treatment for EXTREMELY cheap. That night we went to the night market and shopped around and ate dinner. We met a French-man who lives on the island and owns a restaurant at the night market. We agreed to come back the next night to eat at his place.

Day 10

We met up with our taxi friend who gave us our motorbike. After a few practice runs, we were off to explore more of the island. We traveled around the southern coast. We saw a pearl museum and ended up at a beautiful beach. We stayed at the beach for a good part of the day then headed back to our hotel. Erika went for another massage while Thayne swam a bit more. That night we met our French-friend and a few other foreigners living on the island for dinner and chatter. We went to bed early because we had to be up early to catch our bus. Tomorrow would be filled with travel (heading to Cambodia)

Our SouthEast Asia Trip (Thailand)

**Sorry we have not written in sooo long! Things have been going on, as well as I've been feeling a little lazy! Usually it takes a lot of time to put all my thoughts down and give detailed info, so I've been putting it off... NO MORE! This blog will be a bit different. Not as 'story like' and more info based (if I can!)

Day 1

Most of the day was spent traveling to Thailand. No problems with our flights, all went well! We got into Bangkok then took a bus to the main city (about 45 min away). Our hotel, Diamond House, was very nice. We went out that evening to check out the street markets and such. FOOD was our #1 priority. (The food was amazing! Some was too spicy to enjoy but for the most part, amazing!) We ate Sweet and Spicy Coconut Milk Soup w/Chicken, Shrimp Curry, and PadThai w/egg and chicken.

We tried 'Dr. Fish'. You put your feet in this fish tank and the little fish swarm your feet and nibble on the dead skin. It was an interesting experience (tickled!). We drank from a coconut and explored till decently late in the evening.

Day 2

We ate at this amazing little restaurant for breakfast! We had Spring Rolls, and Chicken Massam curry. We also had our first of SE-Asia coffee... VERY thick but SWEET!!! = AMAZING! We then took a Tuk-Tuk (motorbike that pulled a carriage-like seat) tour around Bangkok. We saw many beautiful temples and major sites. It was great! Later that afternoon we went to the Chaduchak Market. There we experienced Coconut Ice-cream and our new favorite, Thai Tea. That night we took a night train to Suretani. It wasn't very easy to sleep. The seats made into a type of bunk beds.

Day 3

We arrived in Suretani around 7:30am and decided on a whim to head to Krabbi area. We took a truck (in the back) to a Bus Stop. Then took a minivan to another stop. Then a Bus to Krabbi. The bus had Thai Pop Sing-a-long videos playing the whole time. When we got to Krabbi we took another truck (packed full) to Ao-Nang Beach. We stayed in a hotel called Sea World. The room was not great but the view was nice! We went to the beach for a bit then had a Thai Massage. We found some stairs that led up and over this mountain. It was a little scary! But fun :)

Day 4

We took a longtail boat to a few islands around. We got about half-way and ran out of gas because there was a leak in our gas hose. First, our driver tried to siphon the gasoline back into the gas tank. Then he dumped the rest of the gasoline into the ocean. So, we not have gas all around us in the water, all over the boat, and all over our driver. While waiting for this guy to come bring us new gasoline our driver decided to smoke... WHAT!? Luckily we didn't go up in flames... UGH!

We saw some BEAUTIFUL beaches. One beach and the other a type of cave-like beach. The was was so clear! We did get stung by microscopic (we didn't ever see them) jelly-fish. But nothing bad! That afternoon we took a ferry to Phuket. On the ferry we met a French Scuba instructor and sang a bit with him.

We then took another Long-Tail Boat to Ko Nakha Yai where our private beach bungalow resort. Tenta Nakara. It was amazing! There was one other couple staying there but they left early in the morning. We got in late so we enjoyed the beach at night. Ate Basil-Rice with beef and Shrimp-Paste chicken&rice, with cucumber soup. Mmmm. They have no electricity in the bungalow's so we had to use a gas lantern.

Day 5

We woke up early and ate breakfast then had the whole beach and place to ourselves. The other couple left early. Since we got in late, and no one else was there the owner said we could stay as long as we wanted! So, we did! We took a little row boat and explored, searched for shells, and tried to not get too much sun (we were already burned).

That evening we got picked up and were taken to the airport. We flew to Vietnam that night. We got in and took a HORRIBLE taxi to our hotel. The man totally jipped us. We learned quickly from that experience how to NOT get overcharged! Around 11pm we went out to go get food (we got in late) and found a restaurant and ate. Around 12 we were walking around. SO MANY people were out hanging around on the streets, just chillen'. We were exhausted and went to bed!

Charity Bike Ride

Just when you thought, "I exercise enough, I can handle a bike ride"...
You realized YOU WERE WRONG!!!

WHY:
The Oita City JETS (as I'm sure you've discovered by now) are big into charity. The main charity we support is Room To Read (www.roomtoread.org). RTR is a NPO that promotes education through building schools, libraries in third-world countries. Over the years, Oita JETs have raised enough to build one school in Vietnam and one in Nepal, and we recently reached our goal to build our 3rd school in Sri Lanka! We will now begin fund raising for a new library-building project called the Reading Room.

WHAT IS IT?
This event is an annual event. Every year around 30-40 participants bike around the island of Kyushu (approx. 300k routes) within 3 days.

OUR STORY:
We started Friday night, riding our bikes to Tsurusaki where our friends, Nick and Rhea, live. We stayed the night with them and got up early the next morning to head to the next city, Sakanoichi. We met up with the rest of the cyclists and volunteers. We got our maps, talked about the route, got all our gear together, and nabbed a group picture.

Day 1 would be our shortest distance (65k), a few inclines, and 1 mountain. What we didn't expect was the wind! The weather was supposed to be rainy, but warm. It turned out to be the hottest day yet and no rain. The wind made the ride exhausting! Even while going down a hill, often you had to pedal because the wind was pushing you backwards!

We quickly learned which other riders had similar riding styles: speed, breaks, endurance, etc. After about the first 3 hours we all spread out. The faster, more experienced riders flew ahead; the slower riders took their time; the nature observers stopped for pictures; and the average (us) did a combination of all. We stuck with another Oita Jet named Chloe. Chloe is from Australia. She's fun to hang out with and is always finding something to make others laugh. The worst part of Day 1 was about 3/4 of the way into our route we reached a mountain. We decided, after about 15 min of pushing through the pain, to get off and walk. It was a nice break and we enjoyed the beautiful views. The BEST part was making it to the top of the mountain because then you get to FLY down! We were rewarded near the bottom with an unusual ice cream shop. They had CRAZY flavors: Corn, rose, sesame seed, green tea, red bean paste, and some more average flavors.

We got to camp about 5 pm that evening. Many had finished but a few more were behind. That evening we all cleaned up and had chicken fajita's that the volunteer's cooked. There were three large rooms which we all crammed into with sleeping bags or sheets and tried to get some rest. That night there was a HUGE storm that kept many of us awake through the night. (By this time, Thayne had completely lost his voice due to a cold he had just got. Erika had started to get sick also but managed to keep it controlled.)

The next morning we had bagels, oatmeal, and fruit prepared for us by our awesome volunteers. We ate, packed up and prepared ourselves for Day 2!

Day 2 was our hardest day, in terms of route. This was a 75k route but we had to go over many steep mountains! The first half of the day we kept in a group of about 8 riders. We enjoyed each others company and kept a steady pace. Once we hit the mountain, again - there was a separation. The first mountain, was probably one of the steepest and highest. Many of us quickly realized "It's not happening" and got off to walk but Erika, with a few others, pushed on... ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP. We were all so inspired and proud of her that she was able to make it. Once we all made it to the top, we grabbed some food from our packs and ate. Most of the others in our group pushed on but we enjoyed the view a bit longer and wanted to let our food settle. The trio (Erika, Thayne, and Chloe) was back together again as we pushed on through the next 3 mountains. We decided to try our hardest to ride the whole time, and mostly accomplished that! The down-hill part of the mountains was very dangerous with sharp turns, side debris and fatal edges. Luckily NO ONE got hurt or fell! Near the end we met up with the rest of our group and finished the day together.

We made it to the Marine Culture Center around 5:30 that afternoon and at this point we all were extremely sore. By this part of the trip (around 16 hours of biking in 2 days) you start to walk a little funny, your bottom is too sore to enjoy sitting down, and your legs feel as if they are bricks. We all tried to stretch our legs and pump ourselves up knowing we've done an awesome job.

We had dinner in the cafeteria then showers\onsen. The Marine Culture Center is very dormitory like. There are specific rules and times for everything. We were separated by gender into rooms with 4 bunk beds. Boy's rooms' smelled of sweat and manliness and girls rooms' smelled of flowers and cookies (hah). It was Chloe's birthday so we all sang happy birthday and had cake then went to bed.

That night neither of us slept very well. Thayne felt pretty sick and the medicine he took kept him up the whole night. Erika had some distractions that kept her up late, but like it or not... we MUST CONTINUE!

The next morning about 8 of us started the morning off with a short yoga routine down at the beach. Eyes swollen and legs sore we all tried to regain our enthusiasm for the day. After breakfast we gathered for our last briefing and were off on day 3.

Day 3 was our longest day consisting of 94k. Much of it was flat but a few hills\mountains slowed us down. Again, we gathered in a group of around 12-13 and rode about half the day in that group. This day was also, possibly, one of the most dangerous days due to the amount of tunnels we had to go through; The worst of which was the "Tunnel of Death" (TOD) as we affectionately called it. This was a tunnel about 2k in length and no sidewalk. Once we made it up the large hill, where TOD starts, we were greeted by our awesome volunteers. A car would follow us through the tunnel, with hazard lights to make sure we did not get hit by any cars. Once we made it thorough we stopped to get our picture of "WE SURVIVED TOD!" A smaller group of us, about 5, decided we didn't want to waste any more time, and headed off. The down hill was AMAZING! Thayne, having a speedometer on his bike, topped off at 60.5 k/h. (this is where he got his nick-name "the bullet" It was such a rush! (again no one was injured!)

The rest of the day was biking around the coast back to where we started. Our group (Erika, Thayne, Elaine, Kate, and Jeanelle) were the first group (besides the "professional riders) to make it in. We arrived around 4:30 that afternoon.

We still had to ride our bikes back home (about 45min ride). We felt very proud that we had completed the task put before us! We would not have been able to finish had it been for 1- God and his aid through it all (plus his BEAUTIFUL creations\landscapes we were able to witness), 2-The help of our fabulous volunteers who cheered us on, gave us snacks and water, watched our backs, gave us medicine or any thing we needed!!!!

Day 4 - RECOVERY. Erika's knee started bothering her quite badly by day 2 but she pushed through and thankfully did not injure herself! She took the next day off of work to recover. We both sat on the couch most the day watching TV\movies and enjoying each other and our success!

FYI - we rode, in total about 181 miles. If you start in Tampa, FL and travel 181 miles you will make it to Lake City, Fl. Just a few miles south of the GA border. Sure, going 70mph you can get there in about 3-4 hours but we did it ALL on BIKES! (plus, Florida is FLAT!)