Tokolinji Temple, my new home.
Hello friends, my Mom sent me a Happy Easter email. I almost forgot, so I just wanted to say Happy Be-lated Easter to my Christian friends! Also, Happy early Birthday to Buddha for my Buddhist friends. I’ll be spending April 8th at Uniyama, which has a BIG celebration for Buddha. They dress up the whole town, I think even the castle! I’ll be going with my new friend Noriko-San. She is a retired traditional Japanese teacher. She knows everything about tea ceremonies, kimono set-up, and the history of traditional women. I am very lucky to have her as a tour guide!
But what am I doing till then? Well, I’m living at Tokulinji Temple in Nagoya, Japan. I sleep with the staff and I help in the kitchen. I also play with the children. I wake up at 6:00am to help make hand-made noodles or bread for the monks or I just cut veggies/fruit. I have learned a lot about Japanese cooking these last 5 days! Since the monks are vegetarian, I have learned to make many vegetable dishes.
People from all over Japan come to this temple to celebrate the week before Buddha’s b-day. They give food to Buddha or money for the temple as offerings. The monks lead activities throughout the day. There is 6:00am zazen (sitting meditation), 9:00am zazen, 10:00am ceremony to pray to Buddha, and 5:00pm zazen. The monks are also big permaculture people, so they have workshops between zazen to teach about sustainable living. Yesterday I made a composting toilet for the temple and 2 days before I made a Teepee for overwintering plants (but this temple uses it for their beehive).
I mentioned my friends in my last post: Tamiko-San and Charlie-San. Tami-San is a monk and her husband, Charlie-San, is an Indian harpist. They were kind enough to bring me here and I am so happy they did. It is strange to say, but I feel so at home.
This is Tami-San and Charlie-San. Charlie-San is performing for the visitors.
When cooking is finished, I walk around the grounds and visit my new friends. One is Lin-San, a Chinese monk, who lives here to study under the head monk. Lin-San is the quintessential monk in my mind; he’s got the garb, the completely genuine smile, and he is very humble. He loves to speak Chinese with me and he shows me what fruits to eat from the trees. Hah, today I finished making lunch and was walking through the Sakura trees back to my room. I bumped into Lin-San and he showed me that the trees outside my room have kumquats. So, we jump onto the railing and start picking kumquats, like 2 monkeys. We were laughing the whole time. It was awesome.
Yum, kumquats!!
I have another friend named Jun-San. He is studying to do acupuncture. He’ll be living in the temple for 3 years, taking classes, and helping out around the grounds. They are building a new housing area and he has been helping with that. Today he cleaned the beehive and we walked around the temple together (with our hands sticky from eating honeycomb!) He’s been kind enough to teach me some Japanese, while I teach him English.
I have other friends, but I just wanted to say that my favorite person here is the head monk, Oshou-San. He is the most amazing person. He is so patient with the children (and me with my terrible Japanese), his laugh and smile can make the world brighter, and even though he is 78, he is as nimble as a cat, and teaches me many things (like gardening, Buddhism, building houses, and cooking). The children love him because he is still a child at heart. This evening I heard a sound in the bushes, I was startled to find 4 children and him, hiding, waiting for unsuspecting victims to scare. So cute, right?!
Oshu-San has grown fond of me and has invited me to stay at the temple for as long as I want. I think I just found my new home away from home.
So, that’s the plan. I’ll be living here until Golden Week. Then I’ll travel with Sam to Kyushu. : )
I have so much more to say about my experiences here (learning Nepalese dance, 6:00am meditation, kimono wearing, partying Japanese monk style, and my long walks under the Sakura trees), but I’ll tell you another time. Maybe by blog or maybe over a cup of coffee. Till then…
Much love,
-Molly
Wowie Zowie, these Sakura are gorgeous!!!!
The Japanese Alps and Azumino.
Hello again,
It is Saturday March 30th and it is my last full day in Azumino. I really like it here. I have made many friends who I will miss very much (Hiroshi, Kinu-San, Miyako-San, Tomoe-San, Muki-San, Erica, and many more). But, I’m on an adventure. I am here to see the world, which means I must depart to find other great places and meet other equally wonderful people.
I’ll mention some highlights of my week and then I must go to the cafe and work my last shift.
As I said before, I made a friend named Miyako-San. She was kind enough to bring me hiking with her and her husband. We were fortunate and had amazing weather. When we reached the top of our hike, I could see the Japanese Alps and then some! It was crystal clear and the perfect temperature. Miyako-San outdid herself and made a feast for our lunch. I ate like a queen on the trail, it was glorious! The best part though? Well, they are fond of nature and the organic lifestyle, so they know a lot about the local plant life. While hiking we would stop and they would take me off trail to look at little wild flowers and they’d cut off a tree twig and have me smell it. They knew all the names of the plants and I tried my best to remember, but Japanese is hard! Gyocombi (maybe?) was a tree with Dr. Seuss yellow flowers that smelled divine, but not as divine as its inner tree bark. They also know a lot of birds, so we bird watched while going back down. It reminded me of my bird watching days with Josiah (le sigh).
They also brought me to an overwintering river/pond for swans. They spend their winters in Japan and then fly back to Siberia in the Spring. Many had flown North, but there were still a couple hundred left. They were very beautiful and so graceful in the air! The rest of the day went well. Had tea time, went to an onsen, and ate a delicious dinner. Miyako-San was so gracious and her husband was very kind. I am thankful to have met such wonderful people. I hope to repay them someday.
The swans. Maybe I’ll see them when I go to Russia?
Kinu-San is my host Mom. I have spent many nights and days with her laughing. She is a very sweet person. She invited me to her house/studio and told me she needed my help with something. I entered her house and found myself in a different world. She is a clock artist, so her whole house is full of clocks. I walked through her hallway to the sound of ticking. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland (I’m late, I’m late! I must not let the Queen wait!). Even with all the ticking, her studio was adorable. She had a lot of artwork on the walls and her work area was filled with pieces of carved wood and stone. I was curious what she would need help with, since her house looked completely fine, but there was one thing missing. A sliding door for her doorway. It was on the floor and she had paper all around it. She showed me that each of her doors are decorated by people she cares about, so each time she opens it, she can remember her friends fondly. I was touched.
So, that was how I spent my afternoon. Pasting and drawing onto her sliding door. It was a fun day, full of laughter. Again, I am very lucky to have met such great people.
My last highlight was a night out with my good friend Tomoe-San and a German named Matthias. We went to a bar and drank beer. We shared stories and asked questions about our cultures. I was very interested to hear what the Japanese think of Germans and vice versa. We were there till closing enjoying the night and each others company. It was very nice to spend some time with people my age. I will miss Tomoe-San. I think we would’ve been best friends if we grew up in the same town. I will hopefully see Matthias again in Germany!
My next destination, you ask? Well, it’s Nagoya. But why Nagoya? Well, Kinu-San invited me to a dinner with her friends. Two ended up being Buddhist monks and the other two were a local artist and an organic farmer. The 2 monks had just returned from India, so we ate dinner, drank saki, and listened to their stories. I learned Charlie-San is a world renowned Indian Harpist. He was invited to play at the Yoga 2013 convention in India, which is why they were there. They also spent the other 2 months traveling from one temple to the next temple to pray and meditate.
It was Tami-San’s birthday!
Charlie-San and Tami-San grew very fond of me. I told them I was Atheist, but that I do like to learn about other religions. They were delighted to hear and invited me to join them to Nagoya for a Buddhist cherry blossom ceremony. Charlie-San will be performing and Tami-San will help lead prayers and meditation. I was overjoyed and decided to join them! I’ll be living in the temple with the other Buddhist monks and I think I’ll be doing a lot of meditation too.
Well, that’s about it. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning with Charlie-San and Tami-San. Then I’ll be off to Kyoto and then to Kyushu to WOOF some more. How exciting.
Much love,
-Molly
Hitsujiya Cafe. My workplace.
Hello friends,
As I type, I am comfy-cozy in my tatami floor futon. It’s been rather nippy, so I have my room heater on (or as my friend Sam would call it, the At Home Atomic Bomb! Since, it is run by kerosine and flames.) I also have 4 blankets on top of me. Brrrr…
I am lucky enough to work at 12:30 today, so I get to relax on this chilly morning. Every morning, I wake up at 6:45 (sometimes 6:59… >.>) for breakfast at 7:00. Hiroshi (my host dad) makes breakfast for me every morning and man is Japanese breakfast good! Each morning is different, but there are the essentials: a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, pickled cucumber/veggies, and green tea. The main course changes. This morning it was an egg roll with cooked turnips in a meat broth… Mmmm…. Yesterday it was big bowl of rice with chicken and egg.. Mmm… And my favorite was a cabbage wrap with pork, onion, mint, and other spices…. Yeah, mmmmm…. It’s pretty obvious to see that one of my favorite parts of traveling is trying new foods.
Let’s see. I’ve been in Azumino for a week now and have finally realized something, this city has a very similar feel as Eugene, Oregon. Young people wear baggy/hemp cloths, composting and sustainability is big here, there is a large art scene, and eating locally grown food is a must. The cafe I work at, as I said before, is filled with local art. Well, for the last 2 days an artist named Muki-San has been premiering her new bags. People from all over Nagano Prefecture are coming to Hitsujiya Cafe to buy her purses. Hiroshi told me she is very famous in Nagano and is well known in Tokyo too. How cool is that?!
Muki-San and her bags. So cute, right? (“kawaii desu, ne?”)
I had Thursday off because the first day of Spring is a government holiday. I decided to jump on my bike and explore more of Azumino. My host Mom (who is named Kinu-San), told me that Azumino is very famous for its Wasabi farms. People from all over the world come to Azumino to learn how to take care of wasabi. To prove that point, while I was biking earlier that day I bumped into 2 guys from Portugal. They were here to make business with a wasabi farmer.
I looked on the map and found “Wasabi Nori,” and I headed South. It took me about 20-30 minutes to get there. The farm is very big and it is chalk-full of wasabi plants. I learned quickly that the farm is mostly water and rocks. Wasabi plants grow healthy and strong with cold water and rocky foundation. I walked around the whole farm with my arms crossed behind my back, smelling the wasabi, and listening to the birds. “natsukashii”… A sweet memory.
The best part of the farm you might ask? Well, I gotta say it was the wasabi soft cream. I was skeptical, but the sweet cream and the spicy wasabi flavor worked rather well together. Who would’ve thought?
a field/marsh of wasabi plants.
mmmmm…. wasabi soft cream.
On my map, I saw another soft cream shop near the mountain onsen. Since it was still early, I decided to just go for it and bike towards the mountain. And whew, that was some bike ride. I passed by a Glass Museum and decided to check it out. My Mom is an artist and works with glass, so I sent her some inspiring shots. ; )
As I kept going up the mountainside, I saw a quaint road/trail. I thought, “why not, let’s check it out!” I followed the path for a while. It was very woodsy. Lots of conifers, it really felt like Oregon. As I was walking I recognized someone from the Cafe! Her name is Mari-San and she runs a guesthouse called Shalom Hutte. I had magically found her GH. She welcomed me in and introduced me to Erica, an American! Huzzah! Erica works at the GH for room and board. Erica showed me around. The GH has a cozy public space, a locally made clothes shop, and a vegan restaurant (am I in Eugene? Honestly?). They also have an Organic Farm.
Erica and I were walking outside, looking out over Azumino. While, we were walking I heard a trumpet in the distance. She told me one of the farmers practices in the fields during his breaks because he’s too loud inside the house. The whole ambiance was charming. The beautiful view, the good company, and the music made that moment for me unforgettable. I met the trumpet player and he turned out to be a very handsome guy who was my age. He’s from Tokyo and wanted to escape the city and learn how to organically farm. I asked him if I could take video of him playing trumpet and he agreed. I set up my equipment and he warmed up a bit. When all was ready and I pressed record, he did something that I will (for the second time today) never forget. He started to play the opening theme from Laputa, Castle in the Sky. I was in awe. I found myself just looking into the distance, watching the clouds go over the mountains. There were even swallows flying around us, which is almost equal to the doves that were in Laputa. I closed my eyes and and let the music takeover my mind and body. I imagined myself in the movie, playing my clarinet beside him and watching the pet doves fly out of their cage into the sky. Just… Wow. Now that was magic.
The Japanese alps. I see them wherever I go.
The trumpet player.
It was hard for me to leave the GH, but it was getting dark and a cold wind had started to brew. I bid farewell to my new friends and flew down the mountainside, racing the sunset.
I will remember that day fondly for the rest of my life.
The next day was just as wonderful (“sticki”), but in an artsy-fartsy way. I’ll tell you another time.
Best,
-Molly
Azumino (the view from my window)
Howdy friends, I hope you all have recovered after Saint Patrick’s day. I spied on some of your Facebook statuses and it sounds like lots of you had a great time. I’m glad. I spent my evening with my host family. Instead of beer and fish and chips, I ate fried squid with seaweed, boiled tofu, rice, and cucumber with salty fish. I am very lucky that my host mom is a great cook, holy cow! (or in French “O la vaesh,” bad spelling I know).
I bet some of you are wondering how I went from hosteling in Kyoto to living in a Japanese household. Well, it’s all because of WWOOF. Yep that’s right, I’m a bonafide WOOFer. It stands for world wide opportunities for Organic farming. The premise is that they want people to learn how to farm/work organically and gain cultural experiences to bring back to the US. At least, that’s my take on it. It’s a really cool site, you should check it out.
I’m apart of WWOOF Japan, so I sign in and can see a list of hundreds of families I can live with. I found the Takahashi family in the Nagano Prefecture. Hiroshi Takahashi runs a cafe and rents bicycles in Azumino city. He also has a kind heart and helps disabled children make pottery once a month, which he sets up in his cafe. I mean, c’mon. How could I not want to smell coffee everyday, hang out with kids, and fix bikes? So I contacted him, got the okay, and headed towards Azumino.
Azumino borders the Japanese Alps to the East and has more mountains to the West. Anywhere you look, there are beautiful mountains to see. I picked one helluva spot!
The cafe is super chill and is called Hitsujiya. The word “Hitsuji” means sheep, so there are lots of sheep drawings, art, and pottery. 
He also sells local art which he hangs up all over. Pretty much, the cafe is frickin’ adorable.
So, with WWOOF you agree with the family that you will help at their farm/cafe/whatever for food and board. On the WWOOF Japan site, it said the workload is a bit more than usual because the work ethic here is more intense than in America. And they weren’t joking. My first day at the cafe, Hiroshi put me to work on his bicycles. I changed the tubing in the pump mechanism, washed the rims, and re-pumped the tires. At first I thought, “psssshht, this is easy. He only has 10 bicycles,” but when I thought I finished, Hiroshi brought me around back and I found 60 more. Whew Nelly, my back was sore that night.
The next day, Hiroshi had me work the cafe as a server. I washed dishes, served tables, and busted tables. I learned some handy Japanese too; “konnichiwa irishaimasu” =hello, welcome; “gochu manwa okimari deska?” = what have you decided to order?; and my favorite “goyo kudi dozo”= take it easy, enjoy! Then on my third day he made me weed his garden, which was filthy! So much trash, weeds, and leaves. It took me all day, but by the end his garden looked spotless. I have gained much respect from Hiroshi after that one!
I’ve been having a great time with my co-workers too. I really like my co-worker Nao-San. She is very spunky and is an artist. She works at the cafe as a side job. The funny thing is that she speaks no English, but we understand one another. Maybe it was that first day where Hiroshi made us fix bikes for 5 hours that bonded us. During our lunch breaks, I speak broken Japanese to her and she instructs me how to pronounce words better. It’s a pretty sweet deal. She also makes me mochi… Mmmm…. Sakura mochi.
I work for about 5-6 hours a day and then I jump on my bike and explore.
The first morning I biked to the mountains near Hiroshi’s house. I found a trail that had signs saying don’t feed the monkeys. Monkeys?! Really? Here in Azumino? Well I guess I’ll go hiking there this week! I walked a bit of the trail and it really reminded me on the old growth forests in Oregon… Except with monkey sounds in the distance, oooo!
The second day I explored a bit of the city, which is not much of a city. It is maybe 4 blocks by 6 blocks. There are a lot of museums in this tiny town, though. I’ll check them out later. Other than that, I’ve been putzing around on my bicycle, embracing the Japanese countryside. I am not ashamed to say that I hummed the Totoro soundtrack while biking. Every corner looks like roads the main character made when looking for her little sis. Also, you all will just have to accept that I’ll mention Miyazaki at least once per post (sorry in advance).
I’ll post about why Azumino is a destination spot for people in the near future. I will be here for 1-2 weeks, so I’ve got time to write more.
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it. And let me know what you guys/gals would like to hear about.
Much love,
-Molly
A shrine near the cafe. Tokoji Shrine is the name. My bicycle is so cute, right?
I found Fuji-san!
So, where was I? Oh, yes, I was talking about Oshima. So, we drove around and found ourselves back at the guesthouse. There were some new guests there, one being Yumiko. She was very kind and let me practice Japanese with her. She also helped me figure out how to get to Kyoto from Tokyo for the cheapest price. It’s only been a week, but I’m slowly but surely going to become coherent at Japanese; I can feel it! I now know simple sentence structure and she taught me how to put verbs in the past tense.
The next day Anne and I decided to go on a long hike. Our hostel owner showed us that there is an onsen near the volcano, but it is on the opposite side of the island. We saw that there was a trail that lead to it from the volcanic crater. So, we put on our hiking boots and headed out!
We hitched a ride from our hostel owner to the trailhead. When we got to the top we could see the world renowned Mount Fuji! I will remember that moment forever; my first glimpse of Mt. Fuji. (See above photo)
We walked for about an hour and made it to the outer ring of the crater. When I saw the crater before, I was far away, so I couldn’t tell how big it was. Seeing it up close gave me a whole new perspective! Here is some history. In 1986, the volcano erupted and left a very large crater in the center of the island. It also left 3 smaller craters that formed on the Southern face of the mountain. Our hike that day included 3 out of the 4 craters. 
Here’s me on the outer ring looking like a champ.
We continued around the crater and climbed high enough to be able to look inside. There wasn’t any lava, but knowing that the earth beneath me was semi-hot magma made me feel a tad uneasy. It took about 1.5 hours to hike around the craters and then we descended towards the onsen (hot spring). The trail leading to the onsen was beautiful. At first we were surrounded by black sand and rock, but eventually the landscape turned into grassland, then to bushes, and finally into a forest. The landscape told the amazing story of how plants regenerate after volcanic eruptions. While walking, all I could think about was the pioneer species and ecological importances of grasses. My ecology professors would be so proud.
We reached the onsen near sunset and man were we beat! We went into our changing room and were surrounded by tiny naked Japanese women. We joined in the naked festivities and found our onsen outside, facing the volcano. The sunset was gorgeous. During our soak, the older women who joined us sang songs. I didn’t understand them, but I still enjoyed their voices. It was a great way to finish the day.
Here’s Anne with the sunset we saw the day before.
We slept like babies and caught our ferry back to Tokyo. We had a whole day before out night bus to Kyoto, so I spent it in the UENO district at their central park. There are lots of museums and shrines in that area, so I rented a bicycle and explored. I ended up going to the Tokyo National Museum and spent most of my day there. I love museums, especially the part with clothing. My favorite part was the old samurai armor!
Later that day, Anne and I met up to go to Odaiba, which is known for it’s life-size Gundam statue. We explored the area, but of course I had to pose for my good ole’ friend. I spent many hours watching Gundam Wing as a kid; it was such a good show!
We found an arcade and Anne really wanted to try out DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). Little did she know that in middle school I spent many nights mastering the art of DDR in my basement and in the basement of my friends houses. I had so many flashbacks while dancing. I thought back of the slumber parties during middle school when my friends and I would play DDR and Final Fantasy 10/10-2 till the wee hours of the morning. I remembered reading manga and watching the anime called Fruits Basket. I even remembered how I would race back home from elementary school to watch Sailor Moon with my twin sister. So many memories! So many amazing memories.
Last night, we caught our night bus to Kyoto. We got into Kyoto at 6 am. We explored the NW corridor and visited the famous stone gardens. We also visited the Gold Pavilion. Mostly we walked around the city just to get the feel of it. From my first impressions, I like it a lot better than Tokyo.
The Gold Pavilion. The Kyoto shogun used to live here hundreds of years ago.
I met a home-sick American and made us grilled cheese with ham for dinner. I offered Anne a sandwich, but she told me to fry her bread with eggs. At first, I was skeptical, but now I know if I want my sandwiches to taste 2X better, then you must fry the bread with eggs. Try it the next time you make a sandwich.
K, well I am finally caught up! Tomorrow I’ll rent a bicycle and see the Southern corridor, then I’ll travel to a town called Azumino to start my WOOFING job! I’ll let you guys know more about it when I get there.
Also, Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I spent it with Anne. I got a beer and ate a slice of cake. It was a great way to celebrate.
Well, gotta go to sleep. I wish you all the best.
Much love,
-Molly
Hello friends, my goal today is to get up to date on my blog. I have been trying to catch up and now I am so close! So, here I go!
As I have told you, I am on the island called Oshima. It is SE of Tokyo by about 5 hours by ferry. Anne and I took the ferry Sunday evening and slept in the cheapest area, the tatami floor. I didn’t take a picture, but we slept on the ground pretty much. We were given a designated area that was distinguished by duct tape. A nice group of guys sleeping near us bought us blankets to rent and we ended up becoming friends. I even got to practice my Japanese with them. When the ferry left the port, I went outside to watch Tokyo disappear into the distance. Tokyo is a very beautiful city at night.
When everyone went back into their designated duct tape squares, I decided to stay up on deck for a short while longer. I really like the smell of the ocean and the air was crisp. I also really like to sing when I’m near the ocean (am I the only one?). Maybe it is because I watched The Little Mermaid a hundred times as a child, but the sound of waves crashing and the wind rushing through my hair makes me want to sing even louder! So I did just that. I spent 30 minutes singing to myself. It felt wonderful. I forget how much I like singing.
Here’s a shot of Anne and I. Isn’t she cute? : )
The guesthouse was an old Japanese home with all the things you would find in a japanese manga: sliding doorways, tatami floors, no shoes inside, short tables, no chairs only floor pillows, and outdoor patios to sit on. We relaxed for a short while, but then decided to climb up the nearby mountain, Mount Mihara. It was a really fun hike. It reminded me of hiking in the Amazon because the trail was very hard to follow. We followed a canal for a while, then we went off trail, got lost twice, found our way again, and eventually found our way up to the mountain. My favorite part was the time we got lost and went off trail. We found a wall that stopped us dead in our tracks. I noticed a vine hanging from a tree and climbed it to see what was above the wall. We ended up following a false path, so here’s me posing, while climbing back down. During the whole ordeal, we sang the Indiana Jones theme song.
While climbing up we found an old shrine with 7 Buddhas. We paid our respects and threw some coins into their dishes. We got to the top of the mountain and found ourselves in a cloud. We couldn’t see anything! Nonetheless, it was worth it. We walked back down and cooked a pasta feast! It was glorious. We also found out we could borrow the hostel owners car the next day. Guess what we did the next day…?
We rented a cute asian truck! It was quite the experience to drive on the opposite side of the road.
We drove around the whole island. We lucked out and the weather was very beautiful. We drove back up the mountain to see what we missed. Tah dah! A volcanic crater!
We decided to hike the crater the next day. So we continued around the island and found lots of pretty sites.
I decided to hike down to the water. Here was the trail I had to take.
This is called Semba, I’m sure my geology friends could explain the formations to me.
And here is our cute van just chillin’.
At the end of our day we found a free dancing performance. We saw 6 tiny Japanese women dance the local Oshima dance. They were so cute.
I’ll finish off Oshima in my next post. I gotta make some dinner.
<3 Molly
Hello with a Japanese peace sign! This is me in the Tsukigi Fish Market.
As I type, I am staying in an old fashioned Japanese household. I am sitting on a cushion upon a tatami floor, using a computer on a short table. I hear birds chirping and I see Japanese artwork on the walls. It is all so… Japanese.
All the manga I read throughout middle school is coming back to me. The sliding doorways, the tatami floors, the noodles, the floor futons, and the sticky rice cakes… yummmm… sticky rice. Also, the kindness of Japanese people is overwhelming. They are so polite… ALL THE TIME! It is incredible. Yesterday I could not find a can opener in the shared kitchen of the hostel/guesthouse, so I asked a random person staying in the hostel. He began to search, then his friend started to search, and then out of no where 3 other boys were trying to find me a can opener. We never found one, but they opened it for me with a tool of some kind. Then they just returned to their own business. All I could say was arigato and an occasional domo arigato guzaimas! I also have learned sugoi, which means “great!”
Overall, Japan has been a great time. I’ll start from when I first landed in Tokyo.
My flight to Tokyo went swimmingly. I landed in Japan at 5pm and luckily made friends with a French-Canadian at customs. His name was Alex and I decided to join him to Tokyo that very evening. He had made a reservation to stay in a capsule bed that night, so I decided to jump right into tourist culture and try it out. Have you heard of capsule beds? If not, here’s a picture.
Image from this source.
They are rooms no taller than 4 feet. It was 6 feet deep and maybe 4 feet wide. Many locals use these capsule beds as places to sleep if they get too drunk at night and can’t drive home. They are also the cheapest option for sleeping arrangements in Tokyo. Overall, it wasn’t so bad. I actually think there should be more of these around the world. Realistically, all you need is a bed. I don’t need a huge room with a chair and a television while traveling. While, yes, that is nice, but in the end it is just a luxury. I enjoyed my time staying in the capsule beds.
The next day Alex and I went to the fish market (see first picture) and ate delicious sushi at a small hole in the wall restaurant. (Delicious is “oishii.”) We explored the whole market and found some small shops where people sell the world renowned Japanese knives. (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cutlery). They are very sharp and I learned that the way to make them takes a lot of time and effort. They fold metal over and over until it makes a very strong material that stays sharp for a long time. You should read about it, it is cool!
We then went to a park South of the market. It was pretty big and there were lots of blossoms. It used to be a hunting ground for the emperor’s family, so there was lots of fields, ponds, and hiding spots for the hunters. The male ducks themselves were very beautiful. They have long tails with black and yellow patterning.
There are plum blossoms blooming now, but I can see the cheery blossoms will be blooming soon! Aren’t the colors beautiful? (Beautiful is “utsukshii”)
We continued on our way to Shibuya district to explore another part of the town. There were lots of tall buildings and lots of lights. I can see why the world views Tokyo as an technological anomaly because it is full of advanced gadgets but also keeps a traditional Japanese attitude. For example, there are toilets with seat warmers and 10 different buttons, but there are slippers for specific use in the bathroom. Also, there are lots of flashing stoplights and stop signs, but a man stands in the middle of a busy road directing Tokyo traffic. All I’m trying to say is that Tokyo is a very interesting place for an aspiring anthropologist (Colleen?!).
We also went to Shinjuku district and went to the top of a government building to see the sunset and the Tokyo city-scape. It was all very nice. Here’s a shot of Shinjuku during the day. Lots and lots of signs and people.
Alex and I went our separate ways, but I made friends with a French girl named Anne from couchsurfing.com and a Hollander named Joren from WWOOFJAPAN.com. We rented bicycles for 5 dollars and biked all across the city. I was surprised how bike friendly Tokyo was. There weren’t too many trails or bike lanes, but the cars are courteous. I felt very safe. We biked to Ueno park, which has museums and grass. We biked to the Emperor’s palace, but it was closed. We then found a University and biked around there. Then Joren and I biked through the Akihabara District, this district is known for the girls dressed up like anime characters. I was impressed with all the flashing signs and dressed up girls, but what really caught my eye were these places called Pachinkos. They are the equivalent to casinos in America, but they are even weirder. They are 2-3 stories tall and have only 1 type of game called a Pachinko. I don’t really get the rules, but its a vertical pinball machine, pretty much. I walked through one and I felt so uneasy because almost all the machines were full and the people playing the game would not look away from their game. They just stared and had one hand on a nozzle, which directs the balls path, or something like that. It was so loud, yet so silent at the same time. I bet a Japanese horror movie has been made about Pachinkos.
I said goodbye to Joren and met up with Anne again the next day. We decided to take a ferry to an island called Oshima. It is famous for their summer snorkeling and whale watching, but during the winter/spring the island is quiet and much cheaper to travel in. So, we took a ferry that evening and slept on tatami mats with lots of other Japanese people.
Here’s a shot of Anne and I leaving Tokyo. You can see Tokyo Tower in the distance.
I’ll make a second post for Oshima Island. Onward!
<3 Molly
Lugu Lake – The land of the Mosuo People
The reason Colleen and I were heading towards Lugu is because Colleen’s Fulbright research is about the Mosuo people. She is studying the affects of tourism on minority groups, focusing mostly of the Mosuo. Knowing this, from Lijiang, we took a 7 hour bus to this beautiful part of Yunnan. We got into Lugu by the afternoon and we were told it only took 2 hours to walk to a village across the lake called Lige. We thought, “Man, we just hiked Tiger Leaping Gorge, but we can hike 2 hours more!“ So, we hiked along the lake and holy cow is the lake pretty!!! It was soooo blue. We even spent a short while on a dock, enjoying the warm day.
Colleen leading the way to Lige. That is Gemu Mountain and the village is right beneath it.
The highest point on our short hike and a shot of the lake facing the other way.
We walked through villages and under Buddhist peace flags until we found Lige. We came to Lugu on the tail-end of tourist season, so all the hostels were full. We luckily found an open room that was very nice. It was also very romantic. It was a little bit more expensive than we wanted, but to have a nice place to sleep after sleeping on trains and buses the last couple days was a treat.
We explored the village and found a barbecue restaurant. It is common to roast your own meal in Lugu, so we ordered potato and chicken. We got invited by other travelers from China to eat with them, as well. I ate so much food! The exciting part of the night was being introduced to some locals. I decided to head out early so Colleen could really get to know them, since she had to translate for me so much. In the end, Colleen made some good friends and we were invited to join them for a car ride around the lake. We thought, “why not?” and jumped in the car.
The next day we visited a famous tree called the sister tree and the lover tree. (Colleen and I got a picture with both. Ooooo). We also saw a couple shrines. At one of the shrines, Colleen and I met a French woman named Pascale-Marie. She is an anthropologist who studies the Mosuo. How wonderful, right? We decided to meet up the next day to meet her friend Lidy. So, Colleen, our Chinese friends, and I continued on around the lake. At the end of the day, we went to the Walking Marriage bridge. Here’s a cultural note; something that is different in the mosuo culture is that there is no marriage. There is only a walking marriage, which is pretty much exclusive dating. Mosuo couples do walking marriages to prove their love for each other, similar to Western culture.
One of the local tourist businesses is a boat ride. The Mosuo are known for their handmade canoes.
The lakeshore.
We said goodbye to our new friends and got dinner at the same barbecue place. We made friends with a Chinese girl who ended up being Lidy! She brought us to a local bonfire to witness the local song and dance of the Mosuo. Colleen even sang in front of everyone! She is so brave. It was very fun to breath the bonfire smoke and watch the spectacle. Sometime during the night, Lidy told us of Pascale-Marie (PM) and her plans to go to a Mosuo village called Lijiazui. Colleen and I exchanged looks and I could tell she was thinking the same as me, “I hope we can join them!!!”
Luckily, it all worked out and Colleen and I were invited to visit the Mosuo village with (PM) and Lidy. We hitched a ride to a town and hitched another ride to the remote village. It was a long bumpy ride to Sichuan. We had to stop a few times to drop off supplies for people who had asked the driver to pick up for them. We even had to help transport roof tiles from a house to the truck itself. Those Asian tiles on the top of houses are heavy! It took an hour to move all the tiles to the back of the truck and we were rewarded a large bottle of beer. It tasted very good after a long work out.
We entered the village in the evening and were welcomed with open arms to our new host Moms. They had cooked us dinner already and offered us their local alcohol. This village has no electricity, so we ate under the light of a fire pit and had hot tea from their local stream. While eating, I could hear the cows and pigs through the walls, eating their own dinners. The smells of Chinese spices and wood smoke filled the whole house. It smelled good.
Sadly, Colleen got very sick that night. Probably from the local alcohol or the dried pork we ate. I woke up fine and helped on the farm, while Colleen slept. I helped feed the pigs and chickens. I also helped do field work. I pulled out corn stalks and burned the plants, to return the nutrients back to the ground. After our hard work, it was lunch time. During lunch, the host moms were talking to one another and PM told me they wanted to dress us up in Mosuo clothing. So, we did!
Here is Lidy (Right) and our host mom pulling up corn stalks and burning them.
Our host mom and PM
Lidy and myself!
Colleen got out of bed for a short time to join the festivities.
By late afternoon, I also started feeling a bit upset in the stomach. I ended up getting very sick, as well. I won’t get into detail, but anyone who has gotten a bad case of food poisoning will know my pain. bleeeeh! I slept for a whole day and read Clash of Kings. I think I read 200 pages in 3 days while at the village. I spent 1.5 days sick in bed. The last day in the village I felt better and helped build a house with the locals. I packed dirt to make large blocks of hard dirt. I then sifted through more dirt and dumped it back into the block making area. I repeated this for a long time, with the occasional green tea break.
Here is our host grandma making rope. Whenever we saw her, she would tell us to come over and then she would give us candy. Sweetest lady ever.
Lidy, PM, and Colleen walking through the village. We were walking towards a family who needed help building a house.
Mount Gemu and all her glory.
Hello friends, I made it all the way from Kunming to Tokyo in one piece! I’ve been in Tokyo for 3 days and now I am traveling with a very nice French girl named Anne. We decided to visit an island called Oshima Island off the West coast of Honshu. I’ll let you know more about my Japan travels in a moment, first I must finish my tales of China.
Shangri-La – Tibet within the China border
So, where was I? Oh yes, Colleen and I had just caught our bus to Sangari-La. I thought the sights from Tiger Leaping Gorge were breathtaking, well the mountains we were passing by on the bus were 10X better. Imagine. We were above the clouds. We could see all the peaks of the Himalayas in the distance. All the pictures I took didn’t give it justice.
We spent the whole 3 hours talking to our new German friends behind us. Their names were Theresa, Simon, Julian, and Kai. We decided to stick together and find a hostel. After we got a room and dropped off our bags, we explored the town for some good ‘ole Tibetan cuisine. On route, we found the center of the town and there were locals dancing. I saw some other foreigners dancing with them so I jumped in as well! Our new friends jumped in after me and we had a blast. I learned the locals dance every day at 7pm.
Town Square. You can see the traditional Tibetan headdresses the women wear.
One of the streets off the main square.
We had a typical Tibetan meal: yak meat, potato, yak butter tea, eggplant, and mushroom. Even 3 weeks later, I remember the dinner fondly. Especially, the mushrooms…. yum. That night, I spent most of it talking to Simon, Julian, and Kai. We talked about politics and education. It was great to hear about German politics. Now I am up to date. They also had lots of questions about Obama and our economy. Then, I went to bed.
I slept like a baby (I have been sleeping soooooo well in China. The beds are really hard and I sleep much better on stiff mattresses.) We woke up and got directions from Colleen’s friend Jonathan to see a monastery in the outskirts of Shangri-La. Jon gave us some funny directions. We took a bus to the last stop, which was in the middle of nowhere. He then said to follow a small alley on the left side of the road until we could see a white house in the distance. We walked by small homes and a shrine. By the time we were walking beside yaks and cows, then we could see the monastery in the far distance and the white house was to the right of it. We went onward through the Tibetan countryside.
We found the white house, look!
Tibetan horses enjoying the beautiful day
A yak grazing and you can see how farmers dry their hay in the background.
We hiked up to the house and here was the view
Jon said we had to go behind the white house to find a dirt path leading to the small village bordering the monastery. So, we did and found ourselves in a very quiet town. At first it was a bit creepy because there was no one around. Only the sound of music on a speaker. We were worried we went the wrong way because we could not see the monastery anymore. Colleen and Julian went inside a home to ask for directions, but didn’t come out for a long while. During the time I was playing with some local boys. They were biking around, trying to run me over, and I was trying to avoid them (which I successfully did, thank you very much).
While I was having fun, Colleen and Julian got invited to a Tibetan Birthday Party! We were all invited inside and they fed us dumplings, butter yak tea, pastries, and other goodies, They were so sweet. We were even invited to have tea with the head of the household. A honor in that society. Eventually, we left, but we wrote a Thank You/Happy Birthday card for the birthday boy.
A relative having a smoke. Look at his cool Tibetan garb.
Jon told us to walk behind the monastery to find a hole in the wall, so that we didn’t have to pay the 80 kuai. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that was the main goal. That is why we took the long way to get there, so we didn’t have to pay.) We found the hole and ended up in the middle of a beautiful Buddhist monastery. Just wow. There were beautiful yellows, reds, blues, and greens. Lots of paintings and patterns. 
We’re walking around the monastery to find the hole. Those are Himalayan peaks in the distance.
We’re walking the sacred path around the monastery. Kai is leading the way.
I walked around the whole monastery and saw monks praying and old paintings of Shiva and Buhdda. My favorite part was the bells. On every corner of the monastery roof, there were bells. Large bells. small bells. animal shaped bells. So many bells! All of them ringing to the wind. I loved the sound so much. When I got to the top floor I stood for at least 5 minutes with my eyes closed, just listening. Listening to the bells. I ended up buying a little bell that I put on my pack. It jingles whenever I set it down. It reminds me of Tibet. <3
The windows. I like the colors of the curtains (and yes, that is my finger on the right side. my bad).
Shiva. There were beautiful drawings inside the monastery.
We had to leave to catch our bus to Lijiang-Lugu Lake. Our German friends had to go to Kunming to catch their flight to their cities. It was a sad to say goodbye.
Colleen, Jason, and I went to Lijiang and found a hostel to spend the night. We had to catch our bus to Lugu at 8:30 am. Jason was sweet enough to wake up early to say goodbye. He was a bundle of Korean sunshine and I will miss his ridiculously sweet smiles.
Much love,
-Molly
Alrighty, here is the second installment of my hike at Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Colleen and I had decided the day before to take an extra day on the gorge. So, we slept in, ate some breakfast, and headed off towards our next destination, Halfway Guesthouse. We only had 2-3 hours of hiking for the day, so we took it nice and easy.
On our way there we crossed paths with a Chinese family and a Chinese couple. They were delighted to hear Colleen speak Mandarin, so they encouraged us to join them the rest of the way to Halfway. We thought, “why not, they’re friendly enough.” We continued on our way, taking pictures of the mountain and chit-chatting. I enjoyed talking with the little girl; she was a little sassy pants.
We made it to Halfway with lots of daylight to spare. Colleen and I still had a bunch of energy so the father, the boyfriend, Colleen, and I explored the village a bit and found a trail leading down towards the river. We followed it for awhile, until it got too treacherous. It had rained that night, so there was a lot of mud. We still enjoyed our hike down and got to relax with a herd of goats. There were so many baby goats, I almost died from cute-ness.
There were lots of fields we walked through. This was at the beginning of our hike from Halfway House.
We hiked back up and relaxed. Colleen has been in quite the drawing mood, so the little girl (Cece) and her drew together. I decided to be a hermit and find a place to read. I had just started the second book of The Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and wanted to know what would happen next. I also took some footage. I’m hoping to put some more up, but the internet connection is being a bit finicky.
I forgot to mention how epic the toilet was at this guesthouse. There was a channel for your excretions, but then there was a just a cliff facing the mountains. There was a step, so someone wouldn’t fall off, but I had never taken a #2 with such a great view. Holy cow!
We ate dinner with our new friends and drank baijiu, which is very very very strong vodka. The Chinese tend to love drinking even more then Americans (even college age kids. I’m not kidding). So, we joined in on some drinking games. It was very fun to learn some new games for when I come back to the U.S. Sometime throughout the night a friendly Korean, named Jason, joined in our festivities and decided to join us on our hike to Tina’s Guesthouse the next day (this is where we catch our bus). Overall, a very fun day.
I woke up before everyone else and looked out the window to the mountains. Clouds had come in from the East and brought rain. Since we’re in a gorge, there is a lot of wind being funneled in the gorge itself, so the clouds below the mountain range were travelling very quickly. I watched a long while. I even came to realize that the clouds looked like dragons flying across the gorge. I made up stories in my head and found myself daydreaming until I heard Colleen wake up. It was a great way to start the day.
We got up, ate some breakfast (wet rice with apples) and headed towards Tina’s Guesthouse with our new Chinese friends and Korean friend. It was a pretty chill hike. The only scary part was this waterfall we had to cross. It would’ve been easy enough, but it was raining and it was very windy. I lost my footing on a slick rock and almost feel near the cliff side (Mom and Dad, I survived! No worries.). Luckily there were bunches of other rocks that I could hold onto; I didn’t even fall into the water. Awesome me, right?
We made it to Tina’s Guest House with 3 hours to spare before our bus to Sangrila departed. We at first spent 30 minutes catching our breath and eating some snacks, but then Colleen told me the famous part where the tiger leaped the gorge is down below the guesthouse. Colleen, Jason, and I decided to put our legs into gear and run down the cliff to the raging Jinsha river and find the famous boulder, where the Tiger leaped away from its hunters.
I forgot to mention that Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the world’s deepest river canyons. We got to the trail head and hikers hiking up the pass said it took them about 2.5 hours (which is how much time we had till our bus was departing). Colleen, Jason, and I looked at each other and just started to book it down the gorge. We jogged for 20 minutes straight down the hill and found the boulder. We spent 10-15 minutes enjoying the moment and catching our breath and then walked briskly back up the very steep gorge (it was way worse than the 28 bends, but this time I kept some of my sanity).
Where the tiger leaped the gorge and escaped its captors.
We made it back with enough time to have a Coca Cola. We said goodbye to our Chinese friends and caught our bus to Sangri-La with Jason.
We were fortunate enough to have 4 friendly Germans behind us on the bus (and you guessed it), we became fast friends.
I’ll write a post about Sangri-La either later today or tomorrow. For now I must get out of Colleen’s apartment and move to my friend Erin’s apartment.
best,
-Molly
We did it. Here is Colleen near the end of the hike with the Jinsha River behind her.
Molly's Journey to the West 
