Alaska... part 1

This is my first time in Alaska and I'm finding it to be as beautiful as expected.  We started off in the small town of Dutch Harbor on the island of Amaknak, part of the Aleutian Islands.   This is the town where "The Deadliest Catch' is filmed - big fishing and crabbing town.  We went into the tiny town to take in their museum and to have a lunch of King Crab. 

Next up was Kodiak where the day started off with pouring rain so I skipped a scheduled hike.  But, by the afternoon the sun came out and I took in some local wildlife down by the docks.

I had been sitting on a floating dock watching the cute otter above when a boat pulled up and apparently startled a very large sea lion that, unbeknownst to me, had been hanging out under the dock.  He came charging out so fast that I barely had time to get this photo.

Yesterday we were in Seward.  Its a lovely little town where we enjoyed the Alaska SeaLife Center and checking out the shops.

I had taken lots of photos of Bald Eagles as they flew in a distance around our ship, but finally was able to get a close up of this guy sitting on a light pole.

Today we'll be cruising to Hubbard Glacier, then tomorrow Glacier Bay.  Fingers crossed for good weather as these are suppose to be gorgeous areas.

A Bit of Russia

This was my third time in Russia - the first on the east side of the country.  The block apartment buildings and stark surroundings were familiar to me but having snow on the ground seemed to lighten things up a bit.  It turned out that we needed to tender at both ports; we were successful at only one. 

The town of Korsakov is on the island of Sakhalin, located half-way between Russia and Japan.  At one point the island was shared by both countries, each taking their side of it, until Russia took over the entire island at the end of WWII.   I did an excursion to the town of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk about an hour away where we visited a Japanese museum (the only sign of it's Japanese ties that I saw) and had a traditional Russian meal, including that typical bowl of borscht.

The Japanese-style museum...

 

Winter landscape in Russia: 

A cemetery adds to the stark landscape:

Typical winter scenes along the way that could be most anywhere.

 

Cruising along the coast to Petropavlovsk, our second port of call in Russia, had stunning landscape and ice fields. 

The very protective harbor for the town of Petropavlovsk, our second port, didn't provide the security needed to tender in to the docks. It was a beautiful day but high winds made it unsafe for us to disembark.  Too bad as it looked like a pretty area.  We had to enjoy the town from a distance... 

Since leaving Russia, we've been cruising along the Northern track of the Aleutian Islands and will reach Dutch Harbor in the morning.  I'll be happy to finally see Alaska!

By the way, I’m finally back on the same day as the rest of you.  Since crossing the International dateline a couple of months ago, I’ve been a day ahead.  But, we just crossed it again, this time coming eastward.  The last time we did it we were going west, so lost a day.  This time we repeated a day.  That day, April 21, happen to have been the 21^st birthday of a lovely young woman who took a semester of college off to join her mom on the full world cruise.   How many people get two days of the same birthday, never mind your 21^st.  She has parties planned for both days.  What fun for her!  If I were her I’d be using 21 as my lucky number.

 

Japan

Once again I’m way behind on this blog, so I’ll just be giving a glimpse of my stay in Japan by focusing on my trip to Kyoto.

I’m not sure why, but Japan was never a country on my must-do list.  Having just spent a week there, I’ve got to say that I’m very impressed and would come back if the opportunity ever presents itself.  Our first port of call was Fukuoka in southern Japan – the region that suffered a major earthquake just days after we left (I was in northern Japan by then and didn’t feel any of the quakes).  Devastating for them and of course for those in Ecuador as well.  Hopefully the ‘Ring of Fire’ will settle down now for a while.

From Fukuoka I was off on a bullet train to Kyoto, the imperial capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years. Three days wasn’t enough to see this beautiful city with its many temples, shrines and gardens.  We were on the go constantly and barely skimmed the top what there is to see. 

 

On the way to Kyoto we stopped at the Himeji Castle in the town of Himeji.  This beautiful example of a Japanese castle is stunning.  Blue skies would have been a nice contrast to the white walls, but even in cloudy conditions it was quite a lovely site, especially with many of the cherry trees still at, or just past peak.   Completed in the year 1346, the fort/castle was built to withstand invaders and has a long history of power-struggles.  Fortifications included a wide moat, high surrounding walls, 997 ‘shooting holes’, special windows to prevent entry of arrows, bullets and intruders and massive gates.

 

 
 

 

 

Our first night in Kyoto included a Japanese dinner with geishas.  The dancer was just 18 years old, in training for the past 3 years.  After the performance they came to the table to converse and to aid us with things like pouring our drinks.  Apparently, spoiling people is part of the job description J.

This young gal was delightful.   She’s only working as a geisha for a while as she’s already finished university majoring in business and plans to move on to other endeavors in about a year. 

The Golden Pavilion at the Kinkakuji Temple, built in 1398, was perfectly good until a crazy monk in the 1940’s (around that time) burned it down.  This is said to be an exact replica and all that remains of a temple that was originally built as a retirement estate for one of the Shoguns and then turned into a Buddhist temple after his death.   

Walking up a hill to another temple that was lined with shops and the streets filled with tourists.  Visitors from China, South Korea other parts of Japan like to rent kimonos to wear and take photos in.  It all made for an entertaining environment.

 

 

The Miho Museum, in the hills outside of Kyoto, was a delight.  The museum was designed to be in harmony with nature and it exceeds that goal with 80% of the building located underground.  When one arrives and picks up a ticket at the entrance, you then walk along a cherry tree-lined walkway, through a cool tunnel and finally to the main entrance that is oddly reminiscent of the pyramid at the Louvre. Turns out that’s because the museum was designed by the same architect: I.M. Pei.   I loved the building, the landscape and the art on display.   

 

 

On our way back to meeting the ship in Shimizu, we stopped at a beach for a view of Mt Fuji but it was not to be.  Completely socked in by an overcast sky. 

The rest of the time in Japan was spent in Tokyo, Aomori and Otaru.  I loved the fish market in Tokyo and so much more.  Mostly I liked the efficiency and quirky things about the country.  For example, the bowing.  People bow as if a part of their being.  The conductor on the train who bows when entering a train car and turns back to the passengers upon leaving the car at the other end to bow again.  Lots of bowing and it felt so respectful.  The box lunch on the train where someone like me conjures up visions of a ham & cheese sandwich but ends up with a HOT steak and rice lunch that’s delicious.  One gets the box, pulls a string to initiate a chemical reaction, waits 5 minutes and then eats a hot meal.  Do we have such a thing at home?!. 

Vending machines are everywhere and very cool.  Actually, cool or hot – items are distributed at the proper temperature. 

Best of all are the toilets.  With controls on the wall or vanity (flush, bidet…) and a warm toilet seat, what’s not to love?  Directions on the cover.  Who knew one needed instructions to use a toilet?  In public restrooms (which have the same fancy equipment), there is the added feature of playing the sound of a toilet flushing.  Apparently women use to flush constantly to block the sounds they may be making.  To save water the sound of flushing is played instead.  By the way, I’m told that more people have these high-tech toilets then own a computer.   Crazy!  But, did I mention the warm seats?

I’m in Russia now where it was snowing today and quite cold.  Where are those warm seats when I need them?!

South Korea

We were lucky to be able to see three areas in South Korea: Incheon, Jeju Island and Pusan.  Incheon is the port city for Seoul in the Northwest section of the country.  As in China, most city-dwellers live in high-rises.  This photo was taken from the gardens at the National Museum in Soul.

 

The kids are great and always willing to pose for photos.  They would put up the peace sign and giggle.  Very cute and it seems that everyone uses the peace sign when taking photos all over Asia - I'm guessing that the action still means the same thing these days...

Some of the young girls like to dress up in traditional clothing.

 

We went to the top of the Seoul Tower for the city views and a very good Korean lunch buffet.

 

We also walked around the Bukchon Village, an area with dozens of traditional homes called hanok (which translates to 'northern village').  Many of the homes are still lived in, others are now used as shops, artist studios and tea houses.

 

The next stop was Jeju Island where I visited the Spirited Garden and a tea plantation.  The garden, focusing mostly on bonsai, also had waterfalls and interesting carvings made of volcanic rock.

 

 Tea bushes covered the landscape for acres.

 

In some ports we're greeted by dancers &/or musicians - these were the greeters in Busan.  Busan (Pusan) is located in Southeast South Korea and is known for its beaches, mountains and temples.

 

A portion of my day was spent at the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple.  Also known as the Dragon Temple, it sits along a rocky shoreline - a very picturesque setting.

 

 

 

 

Walking along a city beach.