Chasing the Sun - Hagi to Gyeongju, South Korea

Hagi – charming Hagi, boasts one of the best-preserved samurai and merchant quarters in Japan as well as a ceramic tradition that dates back nearly 400 years. Hagi is also known as the place where a group of samurai spearheaded the revolt against the Kyoto shogunate in the mid-19th century, eventually restoring the emperor to power and moving the capital to Tokyo.

The mayor welcomed us enthusiastically and encouraged everyone to buy pottery!

We were welcome to Hagi by dancers dressed in purple kimonos.

Our group occupies 3 buses that rotated between three sites:

The old samurai quarter including time to shop and visit a traditional merchant’s house. This was the garden at the merchants house.

Toko-ji temple, with its atmospheric grounds featuring hundreds of moss-covered stone lanterns that guard the graves of five Mori lords

Visit to the kiln of a master potter to learn how the highly acclaimed Hagi-yaki is made

Lunch was delicious!

We cross the Korean Strait to South Korea overnight and have been warned to secure all of our things in our cabins because the seas a little more energetic overnight.

May 15 – Gyeongju, South Korea

From the city of Ulsan we drove about an hour to the ancient city of Gyeongju. Before a visit to the National Museum we saw the remains of tombs of the rulers of the Shilla kingdom.

These tombs look like mounds of dirt, but inside them there is a large “coffin” that would have held not only the ruler’s remains, but all of his servants, concubines, etc… that he would need in the next life. 

The National museum displayed many of the artifacts from these tombs including gold crowns, pottery, armor and weaponry.

Fertility was a major theme during this period and I thought it interesting that their symbol for fertility was an embryo because we all begin life the same whether we are fish, horses, chickens or people.  There were many of these “half moon” shaped pieces of jade hanging on the gold crowns and incorporated into jewelry of the time.

We had lunch at the Hyundai Hotel complex followed by a folk dance performance.

Next stop was to visit Bulguksa to see, one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples in Korea. The original was built in 523. The colorful buildings must have been spectacular in their prime!

Then back to the ship to cross back to Japan! 

There was a full moon rising that reminds me of the beauty of ocean cruising! 

Chasing the Sun: Kyoto to Miyajima Island

Chasing the Sun: Kyoto to Miyajima Island

In Kyoto I stayed, along with Leslie Rose, my co-tour manger, 4 nights at the Hotel Okura, located near restaurants and shopping along side a slow river where you could jog or walk. The daily lectures covered “The Introduction to Buddhism in Japan” (Helen Hardacre, Harvard), and “Buddhist Temples” (Mimi Yiengprukasawan, (Yale).  These prepared our group for the sightseeing trips to the largest and oldest temples in Kyoto.

Nijo Castle was first and very impressive! Built in 1603 (the first time) it has floors that squeak in the most lyrical way called “nightingale” floors. Designed to keep out intruders.

Next was the Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion). Lovely!

Final stop this day was to Ryoan-ji’s Zen rock garden. 

The weather was warm and sunny and I escorted the Kyoto cusine & crafts group.  I enjoyed this very much as I learned how to make some traditional Japanese dishes and to write my name in Kanji.

Next day we checked out of the hotel, made sure we had everyone’s luggage loaded onto trucks and headed for Nara where we visited two sites, Todai-ji  and Horyu-ji, Japan’s oldest surviving Buddhist temple and the world’s oldest wooden structure.

Todai-jji is home to a huge Buddha, so I enjoyed taking quite a few photos of this monolithic structure.

I never made it into the Horyu-ji temple because one of our travelers tripped and fell, so I helped out with some clean up and bandages.

Finally we boarded our ship, The Caledonian Sky in the port of Kobe.

We were welcomed by a troup of drummers/dancers from a local high school and welcomed aboard by the staff with a ceremony from the Port officials who presented a plaque to the Captain. The Crew welcomed Leslie Rose, my co-tour manager with a Port of Kobe Hat and bouquet of flowers.

We dressed for the Captains dinner and enjoyed a very pleasant evening.

Hiroshima

We cruised all night in the inland Sea to Hiroshima where we docked for the whole day & overnight.

Lectures began at 9am: “Memorials of War and Peace” (H. Hardacre,Harvard) and “The Atomic Bomb in Popular Culture” (Constantine Valporis, Princeton). I think everyone was looking forward to the Peace Memorial Park and Museum, even though it was raining a steady gentle downpour. As part of our tour manger role, Leslie presented a briefing with slides about where we would be walking and how to get back via public transit if guests wanted to stay in town for the afternoon.

Instead of visiting the Peace Memorial Park I escorted the guest who had fallen, and his wife to a clinic and then to the Emergency room to have some further examinations and tests done for him. This was very interesting for me, never having been in a Japanese medical setting before.  I observed that the nationalized medical care system moves very slowly here. The ship’s doctor (from Odessa, Ukraine) was with us and we also had our transportation and translators provided by the ground based support team. Communication was fair, but because it was not exactly clear for everyone, it took longer to come to agreement on how best to proceed.

Finally my guest’s tests came back with good results so we finally returned to the ship at 10pm after about 7 hours in clinics and hospitals.

Miyajima

Zodiac rides to the island of Miyajima were easy and fun.  We toured the town and watched the ceremonial Bugaku (dance) and Gagaku (orchestral ensemble) in a special viewing area arranged for us by Criterion Travel.

Miyajima Shinto Gate

 Bugaku

Back on board our ship

Chasing The Sun

Left São Tomé last Friday morning May 2

 Dinner with good friends during Lisbon Layover. Maria João Pombo, Bob, Estrela Olivera

Paella!

Bob and Roberta flew Newark to SFO

  Mommie is home!  Roberta Ayres and her Lucas at SFO!

  I flew Lisbon - Newark - Denver - Reno  (Never gonna do that again!)

Leaving Newark, Freedom Tower in the Distance

Flying into Denver

Arrived home in Reno on Saturday Night May 3

 No snow!

Love this view from my deck!

Jess and Lisa gave me beautiful flowers and a mother's day gift! 

 This was my ride from SFO to Osaka, 12 hours.

Tinted windows - very nice job Boeing!

 On the coach riding from Osaka KIX airport to Kyoto

Left side drive

 Dinner out with Leslie Rose (Senior Tour Manager)

 Never seen so many amenities in the hotel bath!

 Yes, it is a heated seat! 

 Strolling around the Hotel Okura neighborhood

And now it appears to be Wednesday evening and I'm in Kyoto, Japan! May 7

Gulf of Guinea VIII - Done!

The last two weeks have been hot, rainy, sunny, and full of some of the most memorable moments of our trip!
The remainder of the week following Easter we traveled to schools that are far from the main city of São Tomé first and then went to the main school in town on Friday. The Portuguese TV station, RTP,  came out to film us making our presentations - we were on the six o'clock news!

 Just to give you an idea of the crowded conditions we encountered - there are 72 students in one classroom we visited in a town called Neves that is on the Southwest side of the island.

 To Bob's right stands Quintino Quade who has worked with Bob for the last 14 years. He is an excellent teacher in his own right (English and French) and helps out as translator in the classes.

 We gave the middle school students a ride to their school in the back of our truck.

It is always a good sign to see some of our materials from previous years' visits. Here a student is wearing the patch from GGVI in 2012.

 The girls wanted to feel what my hair was like. They were so charming and lovely!

Roberta, me and Bob taking a break!

 This is a group of 10th and 11th grade students at a private high school that we always visit at the end of our trips.

 The main primary school is still using our materials - the poster from GGV 2011 has been repurposed. It was so worn that they had to cut apart the pictures - but they are still using it!

Here we were served fresh bananas from the school yard tree by the principal, Francisca de Ceita. We will be visiting her 3rd grade students (500) to start the process all over again on our next expedition in January of 2015.

 This is Andrew Stanbridge photographin the critter in the picture below - it is our mascot, the Cobra Bobo or Cecillian. An endemic anphibian that live only on ST.

 São Nicolão Cascade

 Quintino and family

This year our car actually has a spare tire!  No spare wheel, but there is a tire!!!

Now we are ready to pack our bags, say farewell to our dear friends, and head for home. We depart São Tomé Friday morning and will arrive in California/Nevada on Saturday evening. It has been a wonderful experience and I'm sad to have to go.

But - I've got a flight booked for my next adventure out to see on Tuesday May 6 for Kyoto, Japan!

Here is a link to the blog that Bob Drewes posts on about this project
Gulf of Guinea Blog