Burma!!!

Hey all,

release an Owl for extra super good Karma!

Sorry for not writing for so long. I suppose my life has not changed as much as I thought it would since I started writing this blog. I figured now that my life finally got boring I would have all the time in the world to write but as it turned out... things kept happening and I am hardly ever bored. Add to that I still hardly have any discipline to sit down and write, and that I usually have a stack of papers from school to check.. I hope I am hereby apologized.

On top of the Amarapura Teak Bridge.

Ah, Burma, as the title of this post goes. What a great place!

The famous Amarapura Teak Bridge

Somehow I lured my girlfriend of the time into joining me to one of the most secretive places I know, of which I had heard very positive stories from some travelling friends. This particular girlfriend still is my favourite London lass and has Nigerian roots. So as a pair, she so dark and I so fair, we stood out fantastically! To proof that the Burmese are not as much out of this world as most westerners think... Upon the sight of the two of us they would often start singing Shakira's "Waka-waka, it's time for Africa" song which was the tune of the world championship football the previous Summer. (Yes, the one where Holland so shamefully lost the finals against Spain, thanks for reminding me).

praying young monks in Bagan

Burma! Sorry for all that side-tracking...

Shwedagon Paya

Upon arrival I made my way straight to the shining Shwedagon Paya and thoroughly enjoyed it's Golden splendour that first evening. My favourite time to visit any temple is about one hour before sunset, when the light is always Golden, and the solemn atmosphere slowly changes with the artificial light. Around this time in a lively place like the Shwedagon Paya (agreed, it took me some time to get that name right too) the local Buddhists drop in after working hours, say their prayers and make their offerings.
The pagoda is massive! The huge one in the middle, and then loads of little ones around it. Inside you can find very colourful Buddha statues, often surrounded by multi-colour flashing lights. An amazing sight! Everywhere there are monks. I am not exactly sure how the dress code works. Older man usually wear crimson red robes, while younger, and female monks, wear the most beautiful dress I have ever seen on any religious person. Crisp pink with orange ribbons. Fantastic! To me, as a photographer with a strong visual focus, this was like paradise. I must have shot about 500 pictures in this single temple!

Word is that the bad generals are building a new capital city in Myanmar, Burma's new name. It is situated somewhere deep in the jungle and I don't think tourists are allowed to visit. It reminds me of Brasilia, or Almere (some city in the Dutch polder, but not really). A problem of this new city is that it must look as splendid as the rest of Myanmar, which looks pretty splendid, so it is costing billions of dollars. Money that is urned by selling lots of teak and other hard-wood from the forests in the outskirts of Myanmar... where large groups of minority tribes live.  For tourists, Yangon is still the capital and this is where the international airport is situated.

cheap internal flights with modern planes

Yangon is a lovely place. My favourite part being the bicycle rickshaws, that are very narrow and in which the driver is on the left, while the passengers are on the right side, one facing forward, and one backwards. The reason why they make such a great impression is because of the wonderful contrast, compared with the noisy Tuk-tuks that you find in places like Bangkok, for instance.

Rickshaw across the river in Yangon

Yangon does remind of some other Asian capital cities, like Phnom Pen of Vientiane (admitted: the latter one I have not yet visited) but this one seems even more laid-back. And that's pretty much exactly what is so attractive about Burma. It is indeed Asia as we want it to look like forever. And as the rest of it still did, about 30 years ago. Things are changing fast in Asia, but not so much in Burma.

Moustache brothers, Mandalay

I am not writing this blog to give you political warnings or official tourist information. I am merely sharing my experiences. I may be a Geography teacher, travelling all around the world to experience all kinds of places, which makes it able for me to show my photo's to my students and tell them all about the world.

Force-on-guide in Sagaing, we rode the bike as a threesome.

I may also try and convince them not to go... to save the environment... Generally speaking I am a very bad hedonist and travel addict. And I keep on looking upon the world as naive as I did when I first started travelling.

Lovely girl with tanaka cheeks in Bagan.

If you ask me to give my most honest opinion about Burma, I would say: "Those bad generals did a great job at saving Burma as a treasure of Buddhist culture. There is loads of Gold hidden in it's jungles and the people are about the happiest I have ever witnessed! They are held back from many modernities that the world does not need anyway and sometimes I think I would gladly trade places with them!" (But then again, who would write my blog and teach my students...?)

That would be me, acting all Buddhist and shit.

One of the worst stories I had heard about Burma was about it's public transportation. About locals throwing up their guts all night long and terrible roads. So, shamefully I admit... I took a bunch of internal flights. From Yangon to Mandalay. Then the bus to Bagan. Another flight to Inle Lake, one more to Ngapali beach and then back to Yangon. Four in total, which cost me about $200 US.

Ngapali Beach

In between some massive fights with my (soon to be ex-) girlfriend it was all so happy and peaceful! The security people at the airport carrying our baggage to the right place. The flight attendants, the fruit-sellers on the beach, the praying locals, the monks, the taxi-drivers, the force-on-guide that showed us around Sagaing,  the bird-releasers, the hostel keepers, the Indian Dosa maker, the scooter renters... even the backpackers seemed to be totally at ease!

Masala Dosa, my favourite Indian food in Yangon

I could go on forever, writing about this two week trip that turned out to be one of the most amazing I have ever made. But for now you will have to do with just this first starter, and some photographs. Chances are I will be going back this Summer to guide the first ever Junior-trip that Djoser organizes there... This will give me plenty of opportunity to check up on some more great stuff and fill in the blanks.

modern monk

Now I am in Amsterdam and I have to go hang up my laundry... To be continued!

Oh, and for all the disappointed perverts out there... sorry not to be writing about hot Japanese girls this time. It's just that those apparently draw the largest crowds to a blog and I hope you had a good read after all... So long. Will write about those more often later, I promise.

We have a Winner!

When I started this blog I put up one interactive part where readers could vote for their favourite next post-topic. No less than FOUR people voted, out of which 50 percent chose the topic that this post will be about. Therefore: By popular demand.... (drum-roll):

Sailing the Mediterranean Sea

"like a pro"

Working abroad is a great way to prolong your stay and make the money last. Most of my travels have been sponsored by my tour company Djoser, for who I guided tours in about 18 different countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Morocco - South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania - Cuba - Thailand - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to be exact) but apart from that I have worked some other jobs as well. Actually my travelling career started, when I was 18 yo, with working in a dish washing kitchen in a Summer Camp in Texas. In Egypt I ran my own bar for a couple of months, but most of the time I spent working abroad was in Italy, teaching sailing off the beach of the island of Sardegna.

"checking the weather"

I had learned about the opportunity through a friend of mine who is a colleague sail instructor in Holland. Together with my girlfriend of the time we decided that working here for a full 10 weeks would be a perfect start to our year of travelling, so after applying in Utrecht in the Spring of 2001 we set out hitch-hiking towards Rome. From there we would take the 8 hour boat-ride to Olbia and hitch our way to the camp-site where the sailing school had its base. When we arrived in Rome we bumped in to somewhat of a problem. We received an e-mail from Amfibie-Treks (that's the name of the sailing school) that we were not needed any more because they had more then enough personnel at that moment.
We could go back home. But this would be a very unwanted end to our travelling so we just ignored the e-mail and took the boat anyway. Taking the boat from Civitaveccia, Rome, to Olbia, is great! The boat is quite luxurious and even has a swimming pool that stays open until the sway becomes to much and the water might poor out. The weather was great and we enjoyed the ride thoroughly. Upon arrival we easily found a ride and passed by the camp-site late in the evening for a night under the stars on a beach some kilometres further to the South. Then the time came to confront the head of the school with the fact that we had come anyway... hopefully not too unwanted. This awkward moment turned out perfectly fine and after a slow start - where we had to help out on the camp, beside teaching some lessons - we became more and more important. By the end of the season we were about the only instructors still working and to be honest, these were the best times I ever spent at this place. (I came back three more times to this paradisical place which was great but had its downsides as well.)

"who's that white girl?"

Amfibie Treks offers a very interesting package holiday that combines camping in a family size tent (with a bed...), full board (eating home cooked Italian food, together on long tables) lazing and playing on the beach and learning how to sail. They have about 10 little Varuna sail boats that seat four students and an instructor, for learning the basics and they have Hobie Cat 16 catamarans for the more advanced sailors and thrill seekers. Admitted, the material is not the newest or the best, but considering its intensive use it is still good enough to have a lot of fun. The beach is broad and sandy, the people there are cool and friendly and the Mediterranean is light-blue and lukewarm (in Summer). Teaching sailing here gave me the best suntan ever! After about a week there is no need for the use of sunscreen lotion. Being on the water at least 6 hours per day gave one of my colleagues such an intense tan that you could seriously not see any difference between the colour of his skin an chocolate paste...

"let the drinking begin"

Six hours on the water... yeah, that is at some point one of the downsides of this place, as an instructor. Breakfast at 8.30 going to the beach at nine, preparing the boats. First clients arriving at 9.45 and at 10 you are on the water. On a catamaran there is no real sitting up or back support so I was hanging on the trampoline all day. Wet all day. After one or 1.5 hours the first shift was over so time to pick up the next clients from the beach. Maybe running into the dunes to find a toilet in between. Apart from the real Summertime, I needed to wear a "shorty" wet-suit so peeing in the water was not an option, really. After the next session there would be a break from 1pm till 2 pm, having lunch in the dunes. Then three more hours of sailing and dismantling the boats and packing up the sails. Back to the camp, shower, getting ready for the happy hour of free drinking and starting to party at the "zuipschuit". An old sail-boat turned into a bar. Dinner from 7 till 8 pm. Then some kind of evening program that often resulted into dancing and partying late, usually not allowing you to get enough sleep or stay sober enough to feel fit in the morning, for breakfast at 8.30 going to the beach at 9... and so on. Seven days a week. One free day per two weeks. 42 hours per week on the water. Ten weeks on a row. Madness.

It was a tough job, but somebody has to do it, I suppose.

I would not mind going back though. Teaching for two weeks during my Summer holidays. Who knows. I might meet you there?

Varuna sail-boat

After this first period on Sardegna we hitch-hiked our way down to Cagliari, from where we took the boat that brought us, via Trappani, Sicily, to Tunis! We made had made our way from Amsterdam to Africa, just by hitch-hiking and boating! You can imagine how I felt when upon our arrival I could actually hear the muezzin calling for evening prayer, at dusk, over Tunesia...

This trip we made it all the way to Egypt (unfortunately using the plane, for tress-passing Lybia is not so simple...) where we ran the Nesima bar in Dahab, and on to Madras, South-India, from where we travelled overland to the Himalayas in Nepal.

And then home. About that trip, I never wrote before. Will do soon. That's what this blog is all about.

Five things you should know about Japan before going.

Japan. What's not to love?

Matsumoto Castle

Japan has been at the top of my travel bucket-list for a long time. Before going I had quite some ideas and images in my head of what it would be like. Partly caused by movies and stories of friends who study Japanology I had very high expectations about the country. I would love to see the Cherry Blossoms and the Snow Monkey's for instance. I was very excited about Japanese girls. Admitted I am pretty excited about any kind of girls but still, Japanese girls seemed slightly more interesting than the girl next door. And than the food. Glorious food! Who does not love Sashimi? Oh, and isn't Japan the country that is abound with volcano's and an earthquake a day? Yummy. Let's Go!

But it is very expensive! And they don't have many backpackers there! And they don't speak English! What the heck. I am an experienced traveller, I have been around and I am not scared of just going to Japan and see what happens. So there I went. Booked a ticket to stay a full month, bought a three week Japan Railpass and left.

1. Japan is very hot and humid in Summer. Of course, I have been to many hot places before, some of which were humid but hey you just chill out most of the day and make the most of the times when it has cooled of. Nothing wrong with that strategy but I was a bit disappointed by the fact that there actually are no SNOW MONKEY'S TO BE FOUND IN THE SUMMERTIME. Errr. Right, I could have known that, and did of course but somehow, the picture of snow monkey's on the edge of a hot onsen spring never had left my mind... until I arrived in the Japanese Alps and it poured hot water all day long. Somehow I thought that at least the North, Hokkaido, would be a cooler place... but in August... not really.

in Kyoto

2. Cherry trees DO NOT BLOSSOM IN SUMMER. Oh, right, yeah. That I could have thought of as well. But why are there so many pictures to be found on the internet with the coolest blossoms in front of the coolest temples? I can figure that one out by myself but there you have it. Same like the monkeys, in my mind there were cherry blossom everywhere all year round. Although, being from Amsterdam, I do realize the Tulips in the "Keukenhof" only flower for about a Month by the end of April...

3. I am an alien in Japan. I don't speak Japanese. And the majority of Japanese don't speak English but that is of course not the only problem. Fact is that Japanese are so rich they don't really need tourists. We are looked upon as poor buggers with little money that walk around in drags and look for cheap places that are hardly to be found in Japan. Our manners are rude and if they don't understand us we become very loud. Therefore I was very interesting to Japanese girls. To giggle about. To wave at. To take a photograph with... but there was no real interaction going on whatsoever. The Japanese culture is very strong and you are expected to adjust, for they are never gonna adjust to your culture. They haven't in the past and they don't intend to now. Japan is the best place in the world. They look at the rest of the world. Take what they like, make it Japanese, and leave it there. I have met westerners in Nagasaki who nearly went mad for they had no people to relate to. I met a Dutch friend there who admitted to me he was so happy to see me, just so he could act normal for a bit. Say what you feel and think without insulting someone's feelings... Japan is a different planet.

Shibuya crossing in Tokyo

4. Japan is modern. But it is not "Western" at all! The Japanese culture is traditional but traditional Japan is quite hard to find. The Japan that you see in the movies is often reconstructed in China. The temples of Kyoto are surrounded by a neon-lit noisy concrete city and spread out over this large (pop. 1.5 mln) place. You can find some traditional areas in Japan that are crowded with... Japanese tourists for they have become tourist attractions. I have not been able to find such a thing as Japanese countryside. They have used all the money that they make to find technical solutions for any problem that might occur. And a traditional house is not as comfortable as a concrete apartment so they have all disappeared. In Tokyo and Kyoto you find foot-rikshaw, comparable with the bicycle-rikshaw you would seen in India or Cambodya that look traditional... But these are run by well managed companies and would charge at least 10 euro's per 15 minutes. Traditional Japan is hard to find. You better be aware of that.

5. Yeah, we all know. Japan is expensive. How expensive? Well at least I covered most of my travel-expenses by booking my JR rail-pass ahead, for 525 euro's. And I thought I had some of my accommodation covered by applying for a couch on couchsurfing.com but it appeared that there are not so many couches available in Japan. The reason for this may be that Japanese are generally, culturally not very open and that their houses are very little. Oh, and the Summertime is the O-bon season. The time of year when the Japanese honour their ancestors and have lot's of festivals. The time of year when all Japanese go an a holiday which gives a bit of extra pressure on the couchsurfers availability of course. So accommodation wise... A bed in a back-packers hostel will set you back about 30 euro's, and so does a spot in a Capsule Hotel. One note: There are not many hostels and the ones in Lonely Planet are always full. So reserve well ahead if you can. Otherwise check out the local tourist information. A nice option could be to stay in a Love Hotel. Double rooms start at 60 euro but you can only stay from 11pm till 11 am. And you need to speak Japanese in most Rabu Hoteru (Which is Japanese for Love Hotel). A room in a business hotel starts at about 70 euros. I never used that option. A traditional Japanese guesthouse, a Ryokan, looks very nice and will start at about 75 euros per person, usually including some meals.
All in all... staying a full month in Japan will set you back about 1200 euro's. And than you can start thinking about food. Glorious food. But it may not surprise you that this is also quite expensive. When you go to Thailand you will find that local, Thai food is much cheaper than you would find it back home. Somehow that doesn't go for Japan. Sushi and Sashimi at the heart of the produce, the Tsukiji fish markets, is more expensive than where I live in Amsterdam.
In many a place around the world, i.e. the Arab World you can bargain a better price if you go for it. Don't expect any of this in Japan. Japanese stick to the rules and you better get used to their rules.

Food in Minjuku, traditional Hotel

Japan is a great experience! But is has been the hardest country for me to travel in and believe me, I have certainly been around. I have been spoilt by the world and was slightly disappointed with the (lack of) natural beauty in Japan. Somehow I got side tracked and missed my glance at Mt. Fuji. That alone will be a reason for me to go back. Even better prepared and Japan deserves my second chance. Maybe during Springtime?

Hiroshima A Bomb centre

When you go, I hope I have been some help to you on the part of expectations management. I could have used some of that! Read more about my travels, do's and don'ts at my weblog new-world-adventures.

Into the unknown Japan... Hokkaido

Even to Japanese people "Hokkaido" has quite a magical ring. Hokkaido is the empty Japan where nature thrives and life is still slow. Travelling North the Shinkansen (bullet train) line does not go any further than Hachinohe. From there on it's slower train business. As a matter of fact the Japanese are building the Shinkansen line to Hokkaido as we speak so in a couple of years you will probably be able to get to Sapporo without too much delay.

Shinkansen bullet train - to get there fast!

The present train-line, riding through the longest train tunnel worldwide, has some mayor pluses though. On the Shinkansen you sometimes tend to pass bye places well worth stopping at. One of these places here is definitely Aomori where my visit was lucky enough to coincide with the yearly Nebuta festival. Now if you want to see what a "happy Japanese person" looks like, go to such a festival and see them jumping about, cheering, dancing, singing, making music and throwing little presents at bystanders.

Between some Aomori dance/jumpers.

Aomori was packed when I arrived. The wonderful girl at the tourist information tried to help out but even finding a spot for my backpack in a locker and a capsule to stay overnight proofed impossible. In the end I parked my bag at a local green grocer lady - who parked bags as a side-business - and reserved a seat on the overnight train to Sapporo to solve my accommodation problem. I was not really planning to travel onwards so quickly but since I already had a Japan Rail pass, staying on an overnight train was a fantastic free option.
As said, the train to Sapporo is a slow train which gave me just enough time to have a proper nights rest, from about 10.30 pm till 6 am and after thoroughly enjoying the festival and a few drinks with the locals I slept really well that night. Should I add that the previous night I had slept on a secluded beach and the sun rises amazingly early in the land of the rising sun, so I had woken up around 4 am?
Sapporo is partly famous because it is a beer brand. Some Japanese local ruler once (1876) travelled to Germany and brought back it's golden brew that is all too popular nowadays. Mental note; write about Drunk Japanese soon. Since I arrived too early in the morning to enjoy the Sapporo drink I just wiled my time at the train station, waiting for the Starbucks to open and had a large Cappuccino. On my way back south I would probably have a reversed schedule and spend an evening here.
The Northernmost tip of Hokkaido that can be reached by train is Wakkanai. On the train from Aomori to Sapporo I met a group of South Koreans who travelled all the way from Tokyo, in one go, (even I had a stop over) and I met them again on the train to Wakkanai. There they would have 1 hour before they would take the train back to Tokyo. Distance, 1600 km one way. Wakkanai is nothing as a destination on it's own. But it sure has a magical ring to it and does give you that end of the world feeling. From here it is possible to take the boat to Russia, with the right visa.

The name sign IS a destination in it's own.

On the train I also met a bicycle. Standing in a corner of the carriage. And an English white girl. Sleeping beauty deep down in dreamland. After a couple of hours she woke up and chatted along with me and one of the South Korean girls. Her plan was to take the boat to Rishiri island and circum-cycle it before cycling all the way back to Saporro where she worked as an English teacher. The plan of cycling round the island seemed totally appealing to me so of course I tagged along. If you don't have a plan you can tag along with anybody else's, is one of my main travel philosophies anyway.
Hanging out with Kim proofed lots of fun. She is the one who taught me all my Japanese chat up lines. After her long sleep she had so incredibly much energy that she nearly double timed mine.

Pro-biker in front of Rishiri San volcano

Admitted, the bike she used to cycle round the island was so much better than my "momma-cherry" bike but still. She camped outside and had to put up her tent in the storm, hardly slept that night when I spent mine in a hostel. So she had already cycled for some hours before she decided to come and wake me up at around 9am.
Rishiri Island and nature reserve is an awesome place! The dormant volcano in the centre gives spectacular views from any direction and the pace of life is nice, nice and slow. A mayor pass time of the inhabitants this time of year was to collect seaweed from the ocean floor and lay them out to dry. Compared to all the rest of Japan only here did I experience a last remnant of old Japan. The slow world that I had been looking for I had finally found. Unfortunately when I travel I myself always seem to be in a hurry so the next day we sailed back to the mainland where I could continue my explorations.
Somehow I forgot to mention the outdoors Onsen (hot spring bath) we visited, (separate sexes), the most beautiful cloud ever just hanging over the island for some hours and bloodily wrecking my big toe when running up the hostel stairs, causing my thread to go limp for over a week. Also moving house to a very local hostel where inclusive food an accommodation were good and cost the same as just the one mattress in the official hostel. And of course the worst sun-burn since the boatride from Battambang to Siem Reap in Cambodia but that would be side tracking for which I sincerely apologize.

Awe some cloud!

The more I write about Japan, the more I remember and miss it. Maybe that's the whole purpose of writing? And I do solemnly vow, that I will be back some day.

How am I ever going to visit all the world if I need to go back to all places I have already been?

Will dig into that question some other time.
Good travels.
Good readings.

Thanks.

Love Hotels - the budget option in Japan

choose you favourite room

Japan is still expensive. More expensive than Europe and the US. More expensive than Australia. In fact, Japan is quite possibly the most expensive destination you can travel to. And, big surprise... accommodation in Japan is also expensive. This may come as quite a shock for many an experienced traveller, since we are used to finding our way cheap, pretty much where ever we are, right? Now finding cheap accommodation in Japan is possible and the most exciting possibility are... Love Hotels!

In Nagoya, one station from the centre...

Through my blog you have already been introduced to Capsule Hotels. I have stayed in only one and I really liked it. Although I didn't sleep very well, partly due to my jet-lag and getting used to rather thin mattresses I suppose, the general service was quite good. For 3000 yen (about 30 euro's) you get your own capsule in the male or female department. The best part of this particular "riverside capsule hotel" was the "onsen" (hot bath and sauna) with the little roof terrace, overlooking the river. And hosting back-packer like parties, for those back-packers who had not been smart enough to make any reservations at a hostel before arriving, like myself.

One of the reasons why Japan is so expensive is because they are not used to catering for back packers. So there is a big shortage of hostels in places like Tokyo and Kyoto. If you want to find a spot at such a hostel you need to book well in advance, especially during the Japanese holiday season (O-bon) in the Summertime.

much better than a capsule...

Now I am the kind of traveller
who usually doesn't plan ahead and like to just go with the flow but in Japan this is not really the smartest option. Luckily, if you arrive before 7pm at the train station of your destination, there is the possibility of asking the local tourist office to make a telephone call to the place that they might know. I guess there are new hostels appearing very often recently and the Lonely Planet has not been able to keep up. During my trip in Japan I have never been able to stay at one of the places that Lonely Planet suggested. They were always fully booked. A hostel bed would normally set you back about 2500 tot 3000 yen.

By the way, apparently camping wild is allowed in Japan (even sleeping in the park is...) so I stayed overnight on a deserted beach this one night when I had not made any arrangements and when I was not ready to pay 5000 yen for a bed in a hostel. If you may ever be in the neighbourhood; just north of Matsushima you will find some beaches that are excellent for camping, er..., sleeping under the stars. All you need is a sleeping bag... and a dry night.

more expensive room in Morroccan style

Now back to Tokyo. You must have heard about Love Hotels. They are to be found close to many main train stations and are different than business hotels. They are actually, usually also cheaper and therefore an expert budget option... if you bring along a Japanese speaking girl (or guy if you prefer). They would cost about 6000 yen. So twice the price of a capsule... but more than twice the fun! The ones that have a special theme are not the cheaper ones but in a way they all have the same theme anyway... Love. So you will find a soft and large bed and a nice hot shower and bath, all private, nothing shared, like in all the hostels where you pay the same price. You will also find a TV with at least one Japanese porn channel and if you are lucky the bath will be a Jacuzzi and you will find a massage chair or a Karaoke set.

near Hein Jingu Shrine in Kyoto

One of the things about Love Hotels is that they are a public secret. They are not always easy to find an are hardly mentioned at all in the Lonely Planet. They have names like "princess hotel", "penthouse hotel" and such but still... You are not supposed to go into a Tourist information office and ask where you can find a love hotel. I once did... and found out anyway (ask for Rabu Hoteru) but I must admit I do feel along with the embarrassment this brought about. For the girl who worked at the office and for the girl that I was with, who did not dare and go ask for it. Luckily that same girl had the balls to actually go to the hotel and check in. Now this is all very discrete. You get to choose from the available rooms, press the button and go to the counter and pay ahead. You don't see the person behind the counter nor do they see you. You pay through a narrow slide and get your key there too. Sometimes you get the key from a machine and pay at a machine in your room. Mind, this may include that you can not actually leave the room without paying so do bring enough cash (Japanese Yen) along with you.

caters to all needs...

I have also experienced that my girl was leaving for work, earlier than I was ready to wake up, and she really had to convince the receptionist that I would leave before check out time. They were afraid that they could not explain it to me for I don't speak Japanese...

close to Shibuya lies the seedy heart of the Love Hotels

Oh, one last important thing to know about Love Hotels: Check IN time for staying overnight is usually not before 10 pm, so you have to hang out in town until then and often may need to park you luggage at the lockers in the train station. These usually cost about 500 yen. Check OUT time of the Love Hotel is conveniently later than most other places. Around 11AM to 1PM. All and all this means that your daily rhythm might shift to the later hours of the day. I most cities this is not really a problem. It's just a slightly different way of travelling.

Some extra's to be found in your room...

Some of my main highlights in Japan took place in the Rabu Rabu Hoteru but what happens in the Rabu Hoteru... stays in the Rabu Hoteru

Sweet talking Japanese girls

I am an alien. Or all Japanese are aliens. That's a thought that often crossed my mind in Japan. Japanese girls are nice and interesting. Good looking and hip. Sexy and sweet. But most of the time I was totally clueless on how to approach them. They would wave at me. I would wave back. Once a friend and I invited three beach girls to play frisbee with us. They gladly joined in but afterwards our chatting was leading nowhere at all. Their English was hard to understand nor would they understand mine. So after some basics... we pretty much left it there. Japanese girls still are aliens to me...

When I travelled in Japan I met two girls. One was half Japanese, half Afro-American. She had never had a Japanese boyfriend, said she scared them off for she was too big...? Actually she was very exquisite and her half Japanese background really worked for her. She had a lot going for her. To me, not in the last place, because she could speak proper English! She worked as an English teacher with young kids in Tokyo. The other girl I met was your perfect English broad. Pale skin (accept after staying in the sun all day of course) and blond hair. She taught English in Hokkaido's capital Sapporo and was a big hit with Japanese guys. She had had more than one Japanese boyfriend and would teach me some important Japanese sweet talk. Some words that the half Japanese girl did not even know... where would she have picked them up? From me?

If you ever find a nice Japanese girl, try these words. 
Kissu shi tai (I want to kiss you).
Kutshi biru ga ghiree (you have beautiful lips)
Opai wa ghiree (you have beautiful brests)
Oshidi ga ghiree (you have a nice ass)

I did learn some more but unfortunately lost the notes I took. I will have to ask again some time!

The English girl vowed that she would never go back to England. She simply liked Japan too much and found England too normal. As for the sex... I have seen quite some Japanese man in the nude, at several visits to public baths, onsen... And they are definitely not well hung. So there must be something else...

Read more about how you need to be able to speak Japanese or bring someone Japanese if you want to stay in a Love Hotel in my next post.

What happens in Japan...

... stays in Japan, as the saying goes for Vegas.

capsules are designed for 1 only

Long time I have been contemplating, whether all adventures I have had, in Japan or elsewhere, should be written on this blog. I know some of my blogger friends never seem to write about the juicy details about which I hear during booze infested evenings in bars. I cannot vow that I will write all about mine but I will try...

Maybe we should all have a ghost-writer's space somewhere anonymous.

Having said that...

After my last blog from a Tokyo internet cafe things started happening so fast I hardly know how to write about them. The last time I wrote I was still thinking I would be watching the fireworks in Asakusa all by myself, but...

After the Tsukiji fish market I took the metro to find the Government buildings in Shinjuku. Now Shinjuku station is massive and only finding the right exit can take a few hours. So I took the wrong exit and found myself strolling the streets in all directions to find out where on my Lonely Planet map I was. Then I got distracted by this pretty girl, it happens, and decided to ask her the way instead. She first had to take of her headphones before she could even hear me but then she was willingly giving me directions. I walked along with her for a bit and found out where she worked. Later on I went back to take her out for lunch and we ended up watching the fireworks together that night. Hanging out with her was great for she spoke fluent Japanese and was half American too. She even stayed by my side when I found out that, due to the firework crowds, all ATM's where empty and I could not get any yens! The only way to solve this problem was changing some Euro to yen with a complete stranger in a restaurant. Luckily I had my trustworthy blue-eyes on me...

That night the metro's were totally overcrowded so she decided to stay overnight in the capsule hotel. Although she lives in Tokyo she had never slept in a capsule before, so this was her little adventure for that night too! We slept like babies, both in our own capsules mind, for a "party in the capsule is prohibited". It also helped that some drunk Japanese had given us their left-over bottle of wine.

The next day we parted but luckily we had agreed to meet again later to hang out a bit more. Turns out she had already one week of holidays planned... but her ex-boyfriend would not be joining any more. So she might as well join me on part of my Japan-discovery trip. And all of a sudden, within the time span of about a day, I had gone from totally lost in translation to having found a personal guide for a full week.

and I can cook too!

Later on I may write more about our all-you-can-drink-Karaoke sessions. Still contemplating on whether what happens in Japan should stay in Japan.

Catch you later!

Japan photo's online!!!

Some really cool shots and stories to go with them are to be found here!

It almost seems like a dream now (October 21, 2010), looking back about a month after coming home from Tokyo. I have not had time to write since then but luckily my Autumn Holidays have arrived. Once again, some time to write about new-world-adventures, that are already in the past. To get an overview of my latest Japanese adventures, just click on the photograph. This week I will ad some new posts. Let me know what you think!

Well...

It seems like I have slept about one hour... Kept myself busy watching online series and planning the rest of my trip, so definitely not a waste of time to stay here...

Its already 6.20 AM now, so I may as well be off to the fishiest fish market ever, Tsukiji!!!

Will catch up with some sleep later on. It promises to be a nice day and I have already discovered a nice beach near the harbour. By about 3 pm I will probably check into the Capsule place again so that I can watch the fireworks from there, which will be lit are around 7.30 pm... Meanwhile taking another nice bath and a nap an reuniting with my larger luggage.

Good morning, by the way.
Cheers,
Vincent,

Tokyo Nights

This is quite a weird experience.

Am typing this post from an overnight Internet Cafe in Tokyo.

Last night I spent in the Capsule Riverside hotel. Where all you get is a round capsule of about 2m by 50 cm-square. But then again, nothing much different from a bunkbed in a dorm anywhere in the back-packers world. Lest this one is made up of plastic and has an integrated TV, so you have to dug when youre getting in. Best thing about it was the top floor bathing room, Onzen, overlooking the Tokyo River! Including a real hot shared (men only) sauna and large hot tub. So before bedtime I got very nice and clean.
This morning, on my quest for a better place to stay, it was raining and the reception lent me a lousy umbrella. All normal, affordable, guesthouses were fully booked. Tomorrow is a big fire-works festival is what must be the problem here. Coming back to the riverside place i found out I had to check out by 10 am and couldnt check in any more until 3pm... so I put my luggage in the free locker room and headed off into town. Strolling and strolling. Using the river cruise, monorail, subway and JR (Japan Railway) trains to hop around. Checked out the Tokyo Design show and the Science Centre before I went to the hip and happening Harayuku area where I bumped into one of those famed all-night internet places, Alpha Harajuku. Here you can stay in a small room, larger than a capsule though, inlcuding free use of internet, dvds and bedsheets. Singles or doubles. With a large chair or mat. I chose the latter option to stay overnight after I had a short but cute encounter wiht Mayu, the only Japanese girl I know, whom I once met in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, of all places.
So here I am. Tempted to work on my blogs all night and taking a rest to nap or watch a DVD or the Dutch News on "Uitzending gemist". Will see what will happen. All in all, I am (finally) starting to like Tokyo. This place looks like a little office, really.
Worth mentioning is that Mayu actually treated me on a real Japanese feast in one of those eateries that never usually sees a blond haired bloke. The tempura frogs were a bit boney, but the Japanese Beef Spare Ribs were delicious!
Wondering how much sleep I will get, since everyone else here is typing e-mails or watching DVDs as well, and there is a nice mellow background tune that will surely be playing all night.
Tomorrow this place even offers a shower, which will be very nice before (and after...) I head off to the giant Fish Market and later on to the fire works, that I may watch from the balcony at the Riverside Bathing penthouse...

To be continued!!!

Five things about Amsterdam. Previous title: Unexpected beauty in Amsterdam

Yes. I love photography.

At this moment I study at the Amsterdamse Fotovakschool and get very inspired. I want to professionalize my art and am working hard on it.

Up until this year I would only take photo's during my travels. I have a giant stock of about 30 beautiful countries, but now I have started to look beyond the obvious and learn to create a beautiful setting to photograph.

on top of the bicycle flat

The world was always my favourite "location" and everybody in it could be my "model".

in front of the bus personnel's office

This weekend, for the first time, I chose my location nearby and invited my beautiful friend Jalida to model for me. I am very proud of the results.

on the free ferry crossing the Y canal.

When people first come to Amsterdam they expect to see three things.

top floor of the Noorderlicht café

One. The red light district. A short stroll from Central Station and instant satisfaction. In many ways. Shocking for many, how prostitutes try to lure you in from behind a thin layer of glass that their shop window is. (Knock, knock... psst, how much? Fifty euro's? That's very cheap... for a double glass window!) All this sex and temptation is set amidst picturesque 17th century canals and around the Old Church and University. Overwhelming. Don't make it worse.. but. If you must...

in front of the Greenpeace boat

Two. Coffeeshops. Beware. Dutch pre-rolled joints are much stronger than what you may be used to from your local wannabe dealer so handle with care. Soft drugs have become harder over the last decade. High quality stuff that can keep you stoned for days. And if you want just a coffee with some cake... take very little bites. Space cake works very slowly and long.

on the horizon the Amsterdam West power plant

Three. Canals. And the Anne Frank house. That is along the Prinsengracht. One of the main canals surrounding the city centre. Instant satisfaction again. Right in front of CS you take a boatride on the canals. More in front of Anne Franks house or let the boat take you to your next main point of interest, the Vincent van Gogh museum. Here you can also find the now famous I Amsterdam sign. Get in line an take a nice photo. Amsterdam is so easy to please...
But. For more unexpected beauty, turn the other way! Look north my friend. Taking a free ferry from Central Station across the IJ will bring you to the former NDSM docks and docklands. A wild and deserted industrial area where young urban artists have had their way with the elements and smart entrepreneurs have set up tantalizing restaurants.

interesting "bakfiets" standing around

Where ever you look, there is a photo opportunity. And it's the perfect place for a photo shoot! You don't even need a good looking Kenyan-Dutch photo model friend. (It does help though.)

Want to see the larger size photograph, just click on it. Once again... there is plenty more where this came from. Tag along and enjoy the ride.