We didn’t know what to expect from Laos.  We had heard that it is laid back, poor and without a lot of the modern conveniences of home.  What we didn’t expect was the beauty and ease of Luang Prabang, it’s second largest city.

Loas, like it’s brothers in SE Asia, is a former French colony.  Set at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, Luang Prabang is a jewel of a town with as much French colonial style as traditional Laotian charm.  In fact, the whole place is filled with contrast and contradiction.  Perfectly laid brick thoroughfares wind through traditional bamboo, thatch roofed homes.  Fine European style restaurants serve patrons beside food stalls of traditional Laotian food.  The town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, with good reason.

With a number of wats (temples) it is nearly impossible to move around without seeing young monks.  Our guesthouse is directly across the street from a wat and every morning at 4am a drum is beaten rhythmically for about 2 minutes. The first time I heard it I was a bit upset that we chose a place with such an annoyance.  After hearing it a couple of times, it has me rapt and I now look forward to hearing it each morning.

The mighty Mekong

A plumeria on the way up Mount Phousi Hill in the middle of the city...

I return from 3 days of learning about elephant training more of an elephant lover and with more mixed feelings about the life of the domestic elephant.

The Thai Elephant Conservation Center offers a multi-day mahout training course that enables a tourist to live at the center for 3 days to learn about elephants and elephant training, their relationship with their trainer (the mahout) and general elephant/mahout life.  The course includes accommodation for 2 nights, 5 meals and all instruction for about $125.   Below is one day in the mahout training program.

6am: Awake from our basic bungalow style houses and don our very flattering mahout uniforms- blue denim pants that tie at the waist and a button-down shirt.  I remark that I look like a prisoner.

6:30am: Me, Yuri (from Japan) and Kristine (from San Jose, California) follow the mahouts in pouring rain over a mile into the forest to collect the elephants that had been kept their overnight.  One of the mahouts finds this wicked looking scarab beetle. 

7:00am: The mahout “Tit” and I reach Lu Khan, my elephant for 3 days.  The 50 feet of chain that kept her in place overnight is stretched to the full length and she shows excitement as we approach. much of the vegetation surrounding her is either flattened or eaten.  Lu Khan is covered with dirt that she threw onto herself overnight to cool down and keep the flies away.  Tit has Lu Khan lay down with the command “map long” and he uses his machete to scrape away the dirt and unchains her from the tree.

7:10am:  I mount Lu Khan for the trip home.  During the trek she willfully veers off course to grab some greenery just off the trail.  She is graceful in the mud, taking every step carefully and never slipping down hills.  I think that she is the best all-terrain vehicle ever.

7:30am: Between the jungle and the Conservation Center, we wade through a river for one of her 3 baths of the day.  She completely submerges herself as the mahout and I scrub the remaining dirt off her hide.  I get completely soaked.  It’s easy to tell she loves the water.

7:50am: We arrive at the center and Lu Khan gets fresh water and sugar cane while we scrub her even more.  Tit and Lu Khan disappear and Yuri, Kristine and I have breakfast after a quick change of clothes.

9am:  We meet back at show grounds for training.  I practice with Tit and Lu Khan.  A command of “Song Soong!” causes Lu Khan to pick up her right leg, enabling me to climb up her using an ear and handful of tough skin. “Tag Loong” enables me to slide off the front of her head.  It’s obvious that my commands don’t matter- she only really listens to Tit, her mahout for the last 9 years.  After practice she eats bananas and more sugar cane with me on her neck along with dried bananas.  As soon as I get the package of dried bananas, her trunk appears in front of me, begging for some and breathing elephant breath on my face.  Mmm elephant breath.

9:30am: All the elephants and mahouts (including us students) meet near the back of the center for more eating.  The elephants steal food out of one another’s mouths with no protest. The mahouts lounge on their elephants so comfortably it looks like they could take a nap. I’m not quite so comfortable.  

9:45am: A crowd of spectators gathers near the river beside the center and we ride the elephants into the river for bath #2.  This one is mostly for the crowd, but it doesn’t matter to Lu Khan.  I get soaked again as I do my best to throw more water to clean her hide.  Some elephants spray each other and the mahouts are pre-occupied with a snake that has been sighted on the other side of the river. We appear in many pictures.

10am:  The elephants and mahouts ride through the crowd to the show grounds where they show the crowd a few tricks, how they move logs and some cheesy things like painting and playing music.  The next day I will be part of the show, but not today.

10:45am:  The show ends and I mount Lu Khan while she eats more.  Then more practice.  The elephants are chained by the foot near food if they are not currently involved with the mahout.

12:00 Eat Lunch- Home cooked fried rice.

1:00pm:  We walk to the elephant hospital with an English speaking guide.  I am grateful to have access to him as Tit knows little English and I had many questions.  The hospital has about 10 elephants.  3 with deformities, one with a gunshot wound, a couple in “poor condition”.  The biggest problem for elephants is constipation, which can easily kill them.  Judging from the amount of pooh they create, this is not surprising. We learn that the numbers of Thai Elephants are declining and the hospital does not have the money it needs.

2:30pm:  We meet the mahouts to return the elephants to the park where they stay overnight.  A few lengths of chain is placed around Lu Khan’s neck and she knows what is happening and is visibly excited- ears flapping, tail wagging.  I mount her and off we go.

2:50pm:  It’s time for the 3^rd bath of the day on the way to the jungle.  Once again, I get soaked to the bone with a huge smile on my face.

3:10pm:  Tit picks out a spot of the hillside where Lu Khan will spend the night (he uses a new spot each night).  He ties the chain to a tree and also attaches her front feet together with a small amount of chain. She can walk and move around, but not aggressively.  This prevents her from breaking the chain and is the hardest sight for me to bear.  For the rest of the night she will graze in the area until she lays down to sleep, when she will yawn and dream, just like us.  

3:45pm:  Tit invites us back to his house in the mahout village.  His family lives in a modest home that he built himself. I can see through the floorboards to the dogs and chickens below.  In addition to being a mahout, he fixes motorbikes.  He has a proud picture of a young 4 year old Lu Khan displayed on his wall, like a proud father.  Tit repairs a motorbike while we are there.  We walk back to the bungalow and rest until dinner.  This is Tit- notice pictures of Lu Khan in the background.

 This is his house in the mahout village:

6pm:  We meet at one of the homes and start chopping vegetables over shots of home made rice whiskey that one of the mahouts made.  It is red and tastes like cough syrup. We eat a basil chicken dish along with rice and stir fried veggies.  Very good food served on the floor of the open air kitchen area.  After dinner we watch world cup soccer and play cards with a few mahouts before going to bed.

10:45pm: Retire to bed and wait for the rain to come, as it does every few hours. Look forward to waking at 6am to collect the elephants back in the jungle.

The experience at the Conservation Center was very enjoyable and I learned a lot but I have to admit that I feel a little sorry for domestic elephants in general.  My attraction to elephants comes from a feeling that they are like dogs and through domestication have developed a bond with humans that is special in the animal kingdom.  I hate to think about them being mistreated or unhappy.

Though they are very well cared-for at the center, their size and potential for destruction requires that they lead a life in bondage- chained to a tree or the floor consistenly. Being domesticated from birth, this lifestyle is a reality to the elephant in the way that a dog is kept in a kennel or a rabbit in a cage.  I left with the feeling that the elephants at the center are quite happy, but there are many in the country (and world) that are not so happy and it pains me to think of the life they lead.  Thankfully, organizations like the Thai Elephant Conservation Center are working to raise awareness and educate people about the plight of these incredible animals. 

See Also:  Should We Be Riding Around On Elephants in Thailand? 

Being that we're leaving from Tokyo, we decided to come back to experience three specific things that we didn't get to do on our first visit to the city. 

First, is what are called the cos-play-zoku, or costume play gang, that gather in Harajuku's Jingu-bashi in outlandish costumes.  They like having the attention for the most part, but you get the feeling that they aren't doing it to impress the tourists that photograph them.  They stick together and take lots of photos of one another too.  A weird and fun experience that we recommend highly.

 I didn't smell anything bad.

 You rarely see any young Japanese person without a mobile phone, even if they are wearing a little bo peep outfit.

 This is just plain scary and reminds me of Bangkok.

Next on the list was seeing the Shibuya crosswalk on a busy day. It is the busiest crosswalk in the world.  Amazing.

 This is before:

 and after:

Lastly, it would appear that I have some bizzare fascination with rush hour trains.  I would say that it is an interest in the daily lives of people in other countries.  Like in Mumbai, India, I made a special point to got to the Tokyo train station at rush hour.  Actually, I got up early to ride a packed train this morning just to see what it was like.

Once I got on, I was amazed at the absolute silence and how the volume of people meant that no one had to hold on. I was against the door and the girl next to me had her should in my back for the whole ride.  I only rode for two stops and felt good that I didn't have to be in the middle of all the people.  Here's a shot from inside that doesn't do it justice:

 These guys man some of the busiest stops on the line and they physically push people into the cars before the doors close. I didn't get to see it myself, unfortunately.

 And so, we're coming to a close of the Japan-based blogging, which is greatly enhanced by high speed internet connections in Japanese hotel rooms.  We're off to Bangkok in the morning and I imagine we'll write a little more about Japan before it's all over.

TwinF readers know that we're a bit cynical about the tourist experience and look for the authentic things that make a place unique or different.  It only takes a few seconds on the streets of Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto (or even in small towns) to feel that Japan is a very different place. Here are some of the things we've seen (or haven't seen):

Something that has bugged me is that there are very few trash cans in public places (compared to home). I sometimes carry trash around for 10 minutes looking for a proper receptical.  The Japanese are very particular about their trash and I think it's a good thing.  However, it does mean that some instruction is required.

 In every city there are buildings filled with tiny bars.  There are hundreds of them and one night we decided to check out a few.  Walking into one of these tiny bars is like walking into someone's living room and running one of their friends off the couch.  We were not welcome and it was obvious.  Signs like this display the bars by name:

 Another ubiquitous part of walking around is the prevalance of platic food.  The Japanese have mastered the art of creating plastic versions of the dishes served within a restaurant.  I rely on them and remain astonished at how good plastic food can look- and it never spoils!

 The Japanese have also made life easier for blind folks by providing a raised strip of sidewalk that leads to public transport, toilets, etc.  Not really remarkable, but truly ubiquitous.  They are everywhere.

 In Japan, you might see gas pumps that hang from the ceiling:

Or cantaloupes that cost  US$46.00.  This is an example of "omiyage", which is a present that someone brings back to friends after traveling.  Thanks to omiyage, the Japanese take gift shops to a whole new level.  It is the most perfect cantaloupe I've ever seen.

Or these contraptions, which must be some sort of bench.  I cannot find a comfortable way to sit in one.  Maybe I'm too big.

In Japan, you might even see hotels (often called Love Hotels) that display their rates as such.  Love Hotels are (supposed to be) used for couples who cannot get privacy at home, thanks to granny and the kids.

 My brother Randy went to Japan and one of his points was that every square inch of land is utililized for something productive.  He was right.  Outside of the cities you don't see yards beside houses.  Instead, you see rice paddies, which are much more productive than plain old grass.

The vending machines in Japan could be a whole other post.  Pocari Sweat is a bit like Gatorade and became one of my favorites.

 I heard about beer in vending machines so much, but we rarely saw any.  We figure a law must have changed.  Though, at one hotel we had vending machines for beer, whiskey and sake.  I like this quote from punk band The Ramones: "We came across a miracle, there was beer in the soda machine".  Some of the best and cheapest food comes from places where you pay a vending machine outside and take a ticket inside to be served.

In Japan, a constant source of hilarity is what some call "engrish", or English translated from Japanese that comes out a bit, um, off.  A perfect example.

 In Japan, you'll see heaps of young Japanese women struggling to walk with torturous high-heeled footwear.  I'm not sure if they don't know how to walk in heels or if their shoes are not meant for walking, but I truly feel sorry for them. Sometimes they fall down.

We're just hours from leaving at time of writing and I will miss Japan.  Quirky, beautiful, tasty, fun, Japan has it all.  I'll be back. 

With Osaka as our base we took a few days and went to two of the major cultural centers of Japan: Kyoto and Nara.

The first capital of Japan was in Nara and Kyoto was the home of the emperial family for much of its history. This all makes for too many sites to count.  That's why I feel sorry that our time in this area is going to have to be condensed in one post.  We are leaving Japan soon and while we have an Internet connection, we hoping to get a few posts up in the last day or two.

Kyoto is only about 30-40 minutes for Osaka by express train.  However, this fact is misleading because it doesn't account for getting to the main station in Osaka or to the desired station in Kyoto.  All said and done, it took about 1.5 hours each way, which was a bit of a grind.

Though it rained and rained, Kyoto was amazing.  We're not huge fans of shrines and temples, but the gardens that accompany them are incredible , once you get outside of the Kyoto concrete jungle.

Ginkaku-Ji, which is a stop on the philosopher's path, was my overall favorite.  Small, but intricate and very well kept.

Despite seeing many temples and shrines in Japan, this was the first  time I had seen the zen gardens with carefully and almost unbelievable constructed sand structures.

Next was Heian Temple in Kyoto, or more specifically, the gardens at Heian, which you might recognize from the movie Lost in Translation: 

One of the real highlights for me was seeing a couple of real geishas in the Gion district of Kyoto.  I deliberated for a while and finally asked this one for a picture (in Japanese no less!)

Nara is an easy day trip from Osaka and most of the sights are all in the same park. Nara has the largest wooden structure in the world: the Daibutsu Den Hall, rebuilt last in 1709.  The size of the building is quite deceptive. It's big freaking HUGE in every porportion. Awesome.

 Inside is a giant wooden buddha (nearly 500 tons of bronze) and two very cool (and scary looking) wooden statues.

The park in Nara is covered in friendly Deer, who are considered national treasures and sometimes terrify food-carrying kids.   

And this completes the whirlwind tour of the Kansai region.  Phew.

The area around Osaka, which includes Kobe, Nara and Kyoto, is the cultural center of Japan and where we based ourselves for 5 days. 

We used Osaka as a base and stayed at the Hotel Riva Nankai in the Minami area, which was an excellent location (like Osaka's Times Square), but priced a bit more than we wanted at about US$120 per night.  Luckily, there was a mix-up and we had to change rooms and they gave us a better room for about US$85.  Woo-hoo!

So we kicked around Osaka some.  The aquarium was pretty amazing as it has the largest single indoor tank in the world which contains a whale shark- the world's largest species of fish.

 I really dug the jellyfish.

 Osaka is a bit grungier than the other cities we visited.  The fashoin is a little more urban and people are generally more boisterous.  This made for the best people watching in Japan.  All the rage in Osaka were knee-high black stockings and brightly colored heels:

All the guys have bleached hair worn a bit like the "hair bands" in the 1980s.

 We also saw a baseball game: the Osaka Buffaloes against Yokohama.  First of all... buffaloes?  They couldn't find anything more Japanese than that?  The game on the field was just like any American baseball game, but the crowd was a different story.  Each team had live marching bands in the outfield bleachers that made the most noise as their team's batter was at the plate.  Everyone was seated, even during a homerun, when they beat inflatable bat-things together furiously.  At one point, everyone blew up balllons and let them go at once.  Apparently we didn't get the memo, but it made for a cool spectacle.

 Then of course, the Japanese have invented innovative ways to dispense beer (that is a small keg on her back and a tap  in her hand).  This photo also provides further proof that it is impossible for Japanese girls to be in front of a camera without a "peace sign".

To cap it all off, we had a roto (conveyer belt) sushi joint behind our hotel, where we went twice to enlarge our stomachs.  The sushi just keeps coming.

Lately it's been seeming like things are flying by so fast that if you don't stop and document them, they just fly away. With this post, the doucmentation is going to have to be mostly pictures, as it represents a few days.  Enjoy...

Kamikochi Japan is a tiny village in the Alps with expensive lodging ($200 per night) and some of the best scenery in Japan.  Despite rain, we really enjoyed the natural beauty.

 Mt. Yakedake:

 The Azusa River:

 From Kamikochi, we spent a couple of nights in Matsumoto, where it rained a little more.  This caption should read "Damn you rain!!!"

 Alas, Matsumoto has a stunning castle:

 We took a day trip to a town called Hotaka, where you can rent a bike...

 ...ride across picturesque rice patties...

To Japan's largest wasabi farm:

 To end this session, we went to Himeji Castle, one of Japan's most famous sites, and a UNSECO World Heritage site.  We happened to arrive on a beautiful day that also corresponded with the colorful Matsuri Yatai Festival.

 These guys were all wearing shoes "tabis" like this:

 But we really came for the castle:

 And it's original architecture.

 And views for miles...see the festival below?

 And then we went to Osaka, where we'll be for a while as we explore Kyoto, Nara, etc.

I never knew much about the mountainous areas of Japan other than the fact they are high enough and get enough snow to host a Winter Olympics, as they did in Nagano in 1998. 

Despite being hard to get to from the west coast (Kanazawa) and rain being the dominant condition, the Japan Alps have been a truly worthwhile experience.  We’ve spent the last three days in small city of Takayama and the tiny village of Kamakochi, both in the Japan Alps.

Takayama is famed for its charm, as it has been able to hold onto it’s historical past through the preservation of traditional family homes.  You can walk across the whole town in 20 minutes and most of the sites are within a 500 meters of one another.  Like so many towns, it has it’s special selections of foods and Takayama’s is Hida Beef and Hodo Miso, which is cooked on a magnolia leaf.  We enjoyed the street food as always.  This is Sachi with grilled mochi (rice) balls.

Like Tsuwano, Takayama has a too-good-to-be true feeling. I don't know how these places stay so impeccably clean and orderly.

We’ve been referring to the movie “The Truman Show” where Jim Carrey plays a character that discovers as an adult that his whole life has been staged for an elaborate TV show.  Walking around some of these towns feels like we must be walking through a movie set, where a director is whispering directions into the ears of the townspeople via tiny earphones.  “OK Ms. Fujimori, when they walk by, stop watering the bonsai tree and smile and wave”.  But, it’s all real- all of it, and that’s the charm for which places like Takayama are known.

Alas, we did get tired of the rain and went bowling for an hour.  Sachi beat me in points, but I beat her 2 games to 1 and declare final victory- though she's filing an appeal. The alley was exactly like any one in America, except it didn’t sell beer.  Everyone sells beer in Japan! It’s even in vending machines. No beer in the bowling alley?  That’s just plain un-Japanese!

We stayed in the mostly characterless Hotel Hana, which is close to both the train station and the sights. We paid about $93 for a western style room.  Many of the hotels we choose are called “business hotels” and are low on charm but have the amenities we prefer, like an attached bathroom and Internet access. 

I don't think I'm genetically inclined to remember all the names of these Japanese towns.  They all have four syllables and seems to all begin or end in yama (which makes sense as "yama" means mountains and we're in the Japanese Alps).  No matter though, what I will remember is the beauty of these places.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature has not been kind of late. In the past week we've seen the sun on one day.  Other than that, it has been rather dreary with occasional rain. On the other hand, it has been abour 65(f) degrees- which is simply luxurious compared to SE Asia.

 We talked about some of these places, but didn't get to provide many pictures, so here is a load of pictures from the last week or so...Oh, and a big thanks to TwinF member (and long-time friend) Kai for pointing us in the right direction.

My favorite small town so far has been Tsuwano, where we stayed in the ryokan. Here's the town from above:

 The view above is from a hike we did up the Tsuwano Castle ruins- from about 1500AD. 

 Here's Sachi on the ruins:

 I got to ride in this little bike thing called an Anttcycle.  It's pedal powered with a little extra juice from solar power.  Very cool, but I need an XL.

 Tsuwano has a ton of these types of scenes too.  I keep trying to find a picture that captures, to me at least, the essence of traditional Japanese style.

 We're on trains a lot and it's fun and quite entertaining.  Not once has a train been more than one minute late.

Some of the trains have been around a while.

Sachi's not sad, just tired.

Kanazawa was next.  We really liked Kanazawa- it was very kind to tourists with good maps everywhere and a great overall experience- you can tell they are trying to become a tourist destination. The city has the most amazing train station exterior I've seen. OK, maybe there were two days of sun.

 Kanazawa's main attraction is Kenrokuen Gardens.  It may have been that we don't "get" Japanese gardens. This one is nice and it may have been a bad time of year, but we were a little let down. The Kenrokuen Garden is rated as a top-3 garden in Japan.  Still nice, but not what we expected.

 Updated:  I wanted to say a little more about the Japanese gardens. I'd say that we do "get" most gardens, but the Kenrokuen was different than we expected.  It is known as the "Garden of Six Attributes", which are: seclusion, antiquity, spaciousness, human ingenuity, water and scenic views.  The one attribute that seems to get in the way for us is human ingenuity.  All over Kenrokuen, trees are being propped up by braces- so much so that you can't appreciate the trees for the braces in the way:

The bracing is an ancient practice and is particularly useful in Kanazawa where it snows heavily.  However, from my western and amateur perspective, the bracing is obtrusive and takes away too much of the natural beauty of the scenery and trees. But that's just me.

Mount Aso in the Southern island of Kyushu - your gateway to dramatic "figure-eight" summit views in the gentle breezes and refreshing mountain air!

The Mt Aso bus will whisk you right up to the summit so your energy can be spent on sightseeing with your family and friends.

Take a leisurely stroll through the fields of azaleas, blooming throughout the month of May.

Experience the animals at the ponds and a beautiful backdrop of the surrounding peaks.

Stop by the gift shop for unique memorabilia found only at Mount Aso.

And most of all, take in the spectacular views of the "figure-eight" summit and overlook of the entire caldera. 

This exciting 7-hour train/bus/gondola journey is a memorable trip for the whole family.

_________________________________________________

As luck would have it, the mountain peaks began to clear as we headed back to Kumamoto on the train... Mt. Aso is supposed to be a beautiful and interesting destination and our timing was simply poor on this account.