Spring is here, meaning the hot sticky humid weather that I love is just around the corner. The most appealing adventure Gino and I had in early Spring was traveling through Panama.
It was wild at the Panama Canal!
Hehe, this photo makes me laugh, I swear we didn't photoshop it! We look like body builders:
Panama's Kuna people:
I also took a trip in late Spring for a bachelorette weekend. It was so great to see my friends from the University of Richmond. I am happy I will have many chances to celebrate a few weddings with them this year as well.
Gino surprised me this year with a trip to France for New Year's. He said I glow when I travel. I don't want to glow when I travel, I want to glow all of the time. We travelled around and stayed with a friend there, which was a great way to feel the local culture and save money. We started in the city of Orleans, and then moved to the mountains of central France and then the medieval old towns of southern France. Gino and I finished alone in Paris. It was really cold, which worked to our advantage as far as eliminating lines in museums during a low tourist season.
Before going I had a sense that french people snubbed travellers, an opinon formed from a few bad apples I met in a previous experience. But this trip set me straight. Everyone was so generous and really tried hard to communicate in English with us. I always can appreciate when people go out of their way to try and speak English, even though it's not easy for them. Our friend along with all of his friends would try to include us in every conversation.
Also recently, my friend from Japan, Hiroyuki, started living with us. We've been having great weekends, but on the weekdays I would really like to find something for him to become involved with. Any ideas?
This photo was taken at Angkor Wat in Siem Riep, Cambodia. The temples of Angkor were built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220 AD. These magnificent structures are relatively intact. Ancient things fascinate me. Here, I am kicking up my heels on the surviving remains of a grand religious, social and administrative metropolis that was the place to be a thousand years ago. This temple has become the symbol of Cambodia, appearing on the national flag.
I just returned from a girls weekend at the Outer Banks. Head straight down south past Virginia Beach and settle into the OB. If you can endure the six to seven hour drive you will be thankful. You will praise the uncrowded beaches, the absence of high-rise hotels and the limited commercialism.
I loved having no other entertainment besides my girlfriends at my fingertips. I met Francesca in the third grade, Kateri around the same time and Paula a few years later. Lauren entered in high school. Francesca is funny, conservative, sensitive and grounded. Kateri loves hard-core adventure, is athletic, loves to travel (to cold places)and is selfless. Paula is open-minded, silly as a butterfly, hardworking, smiley and energetic. Lauren lives life for her adorable family, is a great hot young mama, likes to stay local and values security. And well, you all know me.
We all used to be the same: athletic, goofy, cute, intelligent and fun-loving. Through the years we have branched off to acquire different motivations in life. At times when (almost) the entire group can get together are the moments that these changes can be noticed. For example, my friends are more sensitive than I remember (or the correct tag would be I'm more abrasive.) If I rag on myself I find that they tell me that the opposite is true. Yo mates - I have the right to make fun of my gut if I so please. I also quickly realized that I had to tone down my comments about others that were only funny to me. It made me realize how often thekidg and I can tell each other things half-jokingly without sensitivity on the receiving side. Kate gets stir-crazy if the activities aren't adventurous. If Paula has something worrisome on her mind, it can not be joked about. These are all things I noticed on the trip.
Given these differences, we never got frustrated with each other. Childhood friends are loyal to each other, playful, and always satisfying to be around. Even through all our changes, my Dream Team is just as much as a delight as they were when we all were adventurous little brats. Last weekend we "boogied" (meaning utilizing the boogie board) until we were about to drop, we screamed at the mega waves, we exaggerated on our beat-downs by the water, we played football like no other girls you've ever seen, we frisbeed weaving and cavorting on the sand, and we laughed until our bellies hurt. No matter how different we've become, we still do know how to have a genuine good time together.
We finished Vietnam three days ago. In a lot of the parts in Vietnam it felt like the people were scamming you. Though, now in Cambodia, the feeling is much more laid back. Traveling down the coast of Vietnam opened my eyes to the lingering effects of the Vietnam war. My American education glossed over the fact that we unnecessarily attacked and infilitrated their country. And for what purpose? Kind of reminds you of the war now.
Ho Chi Minh city, the most populous and tropical city of Vietnam, seemed much more developed than the other cities. The jungles of the central highlands were rich with animal noises and the mountains were refreshing. Although the altitude was high and Gino had to rest every 10 minutes (not me though.)
Phom Penn is the capitol city of Cambodia. Here, as perfect timing would have it, we had planned our meeting with our friend who used to live in Japan with us. Andy Lovedland was traveling from England to research his graduate paper about an NGO in Cambodia. It was nice for Gino and I to have a friend from way back when to seek out adventures with.
Today we arrived in Angkor Wat and juicy details of this expansive experience are soon to come... love from cambodia, Danielle
I've been having trouble viewing my blog address and figured something was wrong with blogger. Turns out, though, blogger is blocked in Vietnam. Maybe because it's communist? I am still able to post, just not see, so I will continue to share our stories.
It turns out it's a lie when they said dry season lasts until the summer here. It's tough motorbiking in the rain, but it's important to ignore the weather. The other day we set out to see a tomb and ended up at local family's house in a small village in the jungle for lunch...then we stayed for dinner.
The family has five children and both parents are farmers. The mother walked 180 km to escape the American bombings in the Vietnam war. Still, all houses had an underground bomb shelter because the bombings were so common. Many people have war stories because the war was relatively recent.
The parents want their kids to become something better than just farmers and to see the country outside just the village. So the parents go in debt every month to afford their childrens' $50 a month university education and to pay for schooling past primary.
The product is five kids who speak English eloquently, who are very knowledgable about the world only through their studies and who protrudes intelligence. And it all started in a tiny little village where the family makes dollars a day.
It was an eye-opener seeing the hope and hard work of people whose prospect of affording that month's schooling means everything to them.
It's our second full day in Hanoi. We signed up for a tour going bicycling in a really rocky path through rice fields, staggering rocks and villages. We then took a three hour canoe ride along a river. My blog audience already knows I'm not good on a bicycle. Gino said the scenery around us was beautiful, but my eyes were down at the ground and on business the whole time! lol!!
Hail Ho Chi Minh! It's our first day in the Vietnamese city, Hanoi, and I'm already an Uncle Ho fan. He could speak 8 languages, preached peaceful communist ideals and unified his country.
The warm climate has made it easy to tour the city. I have been in many busy motor-scooter ridden Asian cities in my day, but this one far surpasses anything I've ever seen. You have an influx of pedestrians, bicyclists, motor bikes, and cars battling the streets. It's chaos that somehow finds an orderly way to work.
Well, we tried to go to Vietnam. Passports in hand, tickets ready, on time honeymoon let's go. With a big to-do list one sometimes forgets the little things, for example, a visa for the destination. We couldn't board the plane! So we are stuck in Japan for a few days.
Good thing is that I will get more time to gush out the Wedding gala we put on. I am so blessed it turned out the way it did. I felt like I really got to enjoy it, even though from the pictures you would thing I was away changing outfits every 15 minutes. There was no mirror in my changing room. I had to wait just like you to see the pictures and finally see what I looked like.
It's unfortunate I discovered the beauty of hiking in Japan only a few months before leaving. My partner in crime, Kimiko (who is a bigger cheapskate than me) and I have a new hobby: planning athletic excursions for ourselves for less than $10 a day.
Sunday we drove 2 1/2 hours to Mt. Fugen volcano. Our buddy, Takashi, came along with us. Takashi is Gino's best guy friend here, and consequently will be giving the best man speech at our wedding in 27 days. He too, has the only car among the three of us that travels more than 45 mph. The other great thing about Takashi is that he always seems to bring sunny weather.
The hike up was hot, but we found frost covered trees on the top. That frost quickly turned my little limbs into frost, which lasted the entire time down. I thawed, though, in a hot spring afterwards.
Total cost of trip: $2.00 toll $1.50 hot spring $3.00 sandwich $3.00 snacks a drinks for a sum of $9.50. It ain't easy being cheap!
Driving to the hike: Hands in, Let's Start! Ganbare! This mountain was our destination It's getting chilly ...and chillier Alas, the top!
The verdant national parks, white beach shore lines and boogie boarding waves will just have to wait until next time, I guess. I am talking DOWNPOUR. My bikini-clad, bronzed skin, skimpy clothes summer vacation is not developing like I thought it would.
Don't sulk Danielle. Instead, improvise. We'll settle for less rain. Therefore we jumped on a train and started north to Kaohsiung (on the bottom left side of the map to the right).
A good decision: here the rain subsided. We rented our staple 125cc motorbike and Gino set off doing what he does best: not getting us smacked on a road full of aggressive scooter drivers.
On the bright side, when it's all said and done, we will have circled all of Taiwan by train in seven days. Kaohsiung Confucius Temple, Taiwan's largest Confucian temple.
On Day 5 we started to see a break in the clouds, although what laid behind was only a fainter gray. The sunniest weather we've seen so far! Let's go to the beach! The nicest beaches are in Taiwan's southern tip, so today we traveled to the young surf town of Kenting. Kenting is the Hawaii of Taiwan. A night of pouring rain (thumbs down) , good food (thumbs up) , a kicking nightlife (another thumbs up) and HBO filled our night. Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow?!
On the morning of day 4 we continued our circle of Taiwan island. Not being the biggest city people, we jumped off the train along the country side to see the mountains and hotsprings. The foreboding weather held off for us. The problem with getting off in the middle of nowhere is your chances are minimal of finding a person who can speak English. Also, you are lucky if you can find a visitors center. Well, a 15-minute taxi ride and many hand gestures later, we found ourselves in a visitors center sitting down with yet another friendly Taiwanese telling us nicely that we were in the middle of nowhere.
Our answer: "That's OK, we can do nowhere." Here we met Arthur. He was a 48 year old from northern Taiwan traveling by car with his friend. He came to the area to see the blooming of the famous day lilies. With no guide book, no Chinese ability and the threat of a downpour, we were grateful when Arthur invited us along with him.
There Gino and I were, sitting back, worry free, being chuaffered around by our new Taiwanese friends. First, we went to a tea garden, which was actually not a garden at all, just a tea shop. After we went to the mountain top to see the day lilies. At night they dropped us off at a hotspring resort where we frolicked in the steamy pools until 11 pm.
The cloudy day made for picture perfect backdrop against the day lilies:
The first picture is Arthur. Followed is Arthur's buddy, Mr. Yao.
He couldn't speak a word of English. His personality was so strong that when he spout off in Chinese you couldn't tell if he was angry or happy. Although we couldn't communicate directly with Mr. Yao, his vibrant personality and thirst for knowledge made a lasting impression on us.
The wall paintings of a confucius temple: It is raining, naturally. After all, Gino and I are in the country. Today we took our motorbike to Tongmen, off the beaten path.
Tongmen is a natural reserve, with simliar sights to yesterday's nationally renowned Taroko Gorge, but on a smaller scale with very few people. Tucked inside the forests was a hydroelectric power plant, so we needed to seek out a permit to enter the park.
Here are pictures from the day and other miscellaneous things:
The night of our first full day in Taiwan we stayed in the city of Hualien (pictured on the right side of the map). In the few travel articles we read, it was noted as being easy going and one of the most desirable cities to live in.
This also marked my first encounter with the splendor of Taiwanese people and shopping.
Shopping: Taiwan is roughly 1/3 the price of Japan and the states. A nice hotel costs $30 a night and a luxurious one would cost $60. Before coming, I thought of Taiwan as a hub for exports. "Made in Taiwan" is something I had seen on many products, most notably computers.
I got an adorable Japanese brand handbag. The Japanese price tag was $110 USD but the Taiwanese price was $25. A bargain buyers paradise! Unlike other south-east Asian countries, I didn't see many rip-offs being sold. More like the real deal being sold for less.
The Taiwanese people are collectively some of the friendliest people I have ever met traveling. Ranging from salesmen to anyone in the service industry, their intentions are genuine. This is a welcomed relief from other countries I've been to. The worst being the Philippines. In the Philippines, if you are a tourist then you are subjected to getting ripped off everywhere. Even in Thailand, S.E. Asia's most popular destination, you have to be careful with over charging. In Japan, people are polite, but you can never be sure of a person's true feelings of a situation unless you truly know the person.
But in Taiwan, there are no hidden agendas. Absolutely everyone we met and sought out for help went above and beyond our expectations, and thereafter continued to do so. There was David, the owner of our small hotel. David was 58, clad every day in a well-worn NY cap with a jersey-tee and a bulging gut. He spoke broken English and was the first Taiwanese person we befriended. He drove us places, helped us arrange anything we wanted, and always wanted to sit down and chat. We quickly realized, by our third day, that Taiwan is full of "Davids."
With towering cliffs and indented gorges, Eastern Taiwan has rivers of crystal clear water meeting with sludge-like but clean, gray raging water. A jagged coast line is interrupted by beaches which are the foreground to steep cliff faces.
We spent our first full day in Taroko National Park. Here, majestic beauty and natural marble-walled scenery surround the Liwu river. We rented a motor bike and paid no mind to the intermittent rain.
First, we hiked along the blue river water of Shakadang trail. Next we rode through the rock tunnels, sighing in amazement at the sheer precipices and contorted turns in the road.
Siangde Temple sits above the confluence of the Liwa and Dasha rivers. Here we ate a vegetarian lunch of bean curd, day lily soup and a tofu noodle dish that - fortunately for me - actually tasted like beef.
We also climbed Tiafong Pagoda. At one point we crossed the river over a scary lord-of-the-rings-rickety bridge. Gino got this video right before slamming his head into the archway. Doh!
We winded up the mountains and visited more enchanting sights. It's hard to put into words views the back of a motorcycle has to offer.
In its center, this east Asian country has more than 200 peaks that tower over 3,000 meters (about 10,000 feet). It has pacific light blue beaches in the south and is famous for its production of jade.
If the above isn't enough to pique your interest, among the 20 foreign countries that I have traveled to, in my opinion, along with Singapore, the people that reside here have been the friendliest.
Where is it? Taiwan. Surprised? So was I.
Knowing little of this country before arriving last Friday, I soon discovered the difficult decisions Taiwan posed: Do we traverse mountains the size of Fuji; do we explore the country's gorges with daggering cliff faces and flawless blue rivers; do we veg on the beach, searching for the nearest boogie board and tackle surfers perfect waves?
Well, this decision was made easy by one simple obscure fact: Gino and I are not fair weather people. Coupled together, we are actually stormy. Taiwan, usually sub-tropical and sunny, was experiencing the tail-end heavy rains of two nearby typhoons.
We flew into the mega-city of Taipei and immediately fled by train to an eye-grasping area and ignored the ominous clouds.
Here is what we found: (... to be continued tomorrow...)
Read first, and after, for the immediate post-hawk reaction, check my video blog. The Hawk even got some AIR time at the end. (haha, get it, "Air Time")
A past time, exercise, an outing; hiking is all of these. But what it shouldn't be is a death-by-bird incident.
This is what almost happened to me and my company Easter Sunday. We wanted to show Gino's friend visiting from New York the natural side of Japan, so we took her hiking to Shijikiyama, a mountain tucked in the south-western corner of Hirado Island.
Amid the rolling rice fields and Japan's dense forest, we hiked a short but steep 45 minutes to our goal: a picnic atop a crowning mountain.
With our feet swinging freely over daggering cliffs we gobbled down our half-sandwiches, soaking in the 360 view of the sea beyond.
With one half of a sandwich left, Gino reached across the rock he was sitting on, his feet touching nothing but air.
He went to hand me the half sandwich. The half-second in which it took that half sandwich to travel in his hand across his body, almost to my hand, is the time in which the highlights of this posting unfolded.
SWOOOOOOOOSH, is what I hear as I reached for the sandwich. Out of nowhere a Hawk-- yes I said HAWK-- barrels down from the sky, bowling between our heads, while nabbing the sandwich from Gino's hand.
Luckily, he still has a hand.
I scream as I am jabbed in the face by a right wing.
Fortunately, the hawks prowess was believed to have saved us from falling hundreds of meters to our painful death.
For I know, if I saw that thing coming towards me beforehand, I surely would have kept my scream, and probably would have added a scoot forward to avoid his talons, consequently causing me to fall into the abyss below.
