Adventure

I've been thinking about adventure this evening, and what it looks like.
There is this idea that adventure must be something external; a place that we go like Singapore, or a thing that we do like sky diving. But the real meaning we get from these external circumstances, the reason we call these things adventures, is because of what goes on inside while we do it.
Traveling for me is a way to challenge the hell out of my internal world. The physical nature of how I tend to travel is the perfect example. There is a lot of exhaustion in the necessity of traveling cheap around the world. And I wouldn't have it any other way. When you don't have a choice but to keep walking or you'll miss that train (or you'll never get there), there is a choice you make inside. The physical toil is not the prize, it is the internal stamina you somehow find, that you didn't really think you had up until that moment. I know this is why a lot of people do extreme or excessive sports. Yet there are other things that come from travel that challenge that inner world. Culture being a huge one. The author Pico Iyer refers to travel as "a useful corrective to what I might otherwise assume to be real life..." For me this constitutes a questioning of the self about what I thought I knew. What are my assumptions about myself and the world around me and where do those assumptions hide?

Today I am realizing that there is opportunity for adventure in this moment, in every moment. I know, its a cliche, but its true. If the challenge of travel (or other such challenges to self) is an external way to illicit those internal voyages, then there is no reason they can not be accomplished here and now. Of course, this is easier said then done. When it comes down to it I travel because it pushes me over that edge, and it is harder to jump than to be pushed. It requires more dedication to remaining open; open to whatever may arise, including fear and joy (the things I think we in our daily lives avoid the most).
I had an adventure the other night and I didn't have to go far. I have been wandering the maze of my assumptions ever since and finding them surprisingly easy to challenge.
The simplest things in a day can push you to that edge, if you are open to seeing them and are willing to then jump off...

Kayo-San; part two-Joh

We had been told that there was a park up the road that we might be able to camp at. We had decided to wait till it was dark and set up our tent. We had gathered our bags from the temple and walked up to the fork in the road. I was sitting down with our bags while Peter when to get us something to drink from one of the many vending machines when this man walking down the street came up and asked me where I was from. We started up a conversation. His name was Joh (pronounced like "yo") and he lived in Kayo-San and worked as a gastrointestinal surgeon doing a 2 year stint at the local hospital (I never did figure out why a town with only 4000 people would need a gastrointestinal surgeon). He ended up inviting us to dinner and took us to this tiny little place in a back street. We would never have found it, or gone in there. No one spoke english. He ordered us a famous Japanese dish, I think it was called oma-rice, made of rice covered in cooked egg. It was really yummy and tons of food to eat. He bought our dinner and then offered to drive us to the camp site. We walked to his house (about 15 minute walk) and got in his car and started to drive...and drive...and drive. Warning for any travelers in Japan, we have discovered that tourist maps are not to scale!!! We finally ask Joh to take us back to the town so that we could see if the hostel had any space for us, as we needed to catch the early train because we were headed for Beppu the next day. He invited us to stay with him instead.
He had a spare room. He gave us drinks and we shared a look at a neurosurgery textbook of his (he is studying neurosurgery). Then he showed us his medical school year book, and then we watched some crazy Japanese ping-pong show!! We woke up in the morning, and he gave us breakfast and more drinks. Then we watched a "learn english" show with him that he watches every morning to improve his english (it was all about Japanese sweets). Then he drove us all the way to the train station (and gave us more drinks for the road).
A definite highlight of our trip, thanks Joh!!!

Kayo-San; part one

Kayo-San
We left Tokyo early in the morning to get to Kayo-San. We had to check in at 3pm to the temple, and I wasn't too sure how long it would take us to get there. We took a Shinkansen (bullet train) to Shin-Osaka, and then another train up into the mountains. I found out on the way back that we could have gotten much closer to Kayo-San with our JR rail passes and spent less money, but ah well. The train ride into the mountains was breath taking. You get to the end of the line and then have to take a cable car up the mountain for about 15 minutes and then a very harrowing bus ride to get into Kayo-San. We arrived and discovered we had left the tiny pineapples on the bus. We hadn't even tried any of the yet, let alone taken a picture of them. We were crushed.
We found our temple, which was right next to the beginning of the cemetery. It was such an amazingly calming place to be. Everything you would expect from a Buddhist temple. There was a formality to everything that felt very old Japan. We stayed in a fabulous tatami mat room, with futons and kimonos. Our balcony looked out over the small pond at the back of the temple. We took a little visit and discovered that it was full of frogs and salamanders and a few tiny koi.
Our dinner was stunning. We wore our kimonos to dinner and sat on the floor. It seemed as though there were a million tiny portions of different foods, all vegetarian and all fabulous tasting.
We were tired after a day of travel, but we decided to go out and walk around in the graveyard. It was empty and so amazingly peaceful. It has stood there for over 1000 years and people are still buried there today. We took some amazing night photo's of the stars. When we got back to the temple we decided we needed a bath. I think I can say that is the most amazing bath I have EVER had. I had the bathroom to myself (it was shared). I stepped into a deceptively deep cedar tub that was so big that I could float stretched out in it and when I sat down the water touched my chin. The water was the perfect level of hot. I stayed in the bath for a very long time. We fell asleep to the sound of the frogs outside in the pond....
We woke up early early early in the morning to go down to the main hall and participate in the morning prayers. The particular temple we stayed in is a temple where they pray for the deceased, and there were Japanese families there to offer prayers to their loved ones. We were asked to come up and I said a prayer for mom. She felt very close to me the entire time I was in Kayo-San. The monks chanted for more than an hour. Their voices were amazing, washing over me with long practiced tones.
We then went for breakfast, which was just as impressive, if a bit smaller, than dinner had been. We then went and took a little nap before we checked out. We left our bags with the monks and wandered up into the main area of the town of Kayo-San. Kayo-San is full of temples, and there is not really much else there, except all the things to support visitors and the temples themselves. There are monks EVERYWHERE!!! We knew that is was Kobo Daishi's birthday and so were pretty sure there would be some type of ritual or festivities. We heard there was a procession, so we picked a spot along the main road and waited.
It was amazing. It went on for more than 2 hours. All sorts of dancers, monks, children, music, floats, carried pagodas, etc...There was an amazing range of dancing and dancers, from very tiny kids tethered to a rope to keep them from straying off the road to very ancient of women doing the hand movements from wheelchairs. I took many many pictures and Peter filmed the entire thing. There were a few monks along the way who were throwing small pieces of decorated paper, which people would madly scrabble for all over the street, laughing and smiling the whole time. I assume there were blessings of some kind, for good fortune. I was given two by a kind man who was standing beside us (and kept moving people out of the way for Peter's camera) We also saw the head of Shingon Buddhism speak, even though we could not understand what he said. We felt pretty lucky to see the parade, as it seems such a mix of traditional and modern Japan.
We then decided to wander back towards graveyard. We spent hours in here. The whole place made me feel so calm that I had lots of emotion come up. When you stop and are silent you hear the things that are buried deeply within you. I had wanted to leave some of mom's ashes here, and I wandered up into an area that seemed impossibly old, with tiny gravestones with only the outline of faces. I spent some time here, liking the idea of mom hanging out with a bunch of ancient monks. As I was getting ready to leave I broke my prayer necklace. I have had this necklace for years and years, and I made it myself. I totally broke down and sobbed and sobbed. I managed to find all but one of the 108 beads, and I felt ok with leaving one of my beads with mom (I ended up getting a replacement bead at a shrine in Kyoto).
We walked until we reached Kobo Daishi's resting place. He does not have a tomb because he is believed to be still alive, meditating and waiting for the return of the Buddha. We poured water over the heads of the line of Buddha's (in honour of deceased loved ones). I tried to lift the stone that apparently is the weight of your sins. I couldn't lift it at all, Peter managed it (he's younger, less time to accumulate sins).
We walked back to the temple and picked up our bags and wandered off to find a place to camp.

Photo`s

Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo
the most famous intersection in Japan

Fresh catch at Tsukiji Fish Market

Hanazono-jinja Shrine in Shinjuku, Tokyo

Hebi-no-yu (Snake Bath) hidden wild onsen
In the mountains above Beppu

Oku-no-in Cemetery, Koya-San
A section of the endless path through the cedar forest of the cemetery

A dancer at the parade for Kobo-Daishis birthday celebrations

Shojoshin-in Temple
The small pond outside our window (full of frogs and salamanders)

Where we`ve been...

KayoSan
-stayed in a temple, with amazing meals, prayers in the morning, tatami mat room, and tiny perfect garden
-saw the fabulous parade for Kobo Dashi`s birthday
-spent lots of time in Okuno-in cemetery, crying among the cedar trees
-Met Joh (pronounced yo) late at night, who took us out to dinner, gave a room to sleep in when we couldn`t find the fabled campsite, fed us breakfast, and drove us to the train station in the morning!!!!

Beppu
-went to two hospitals, saw two doctors, many nurses, and was helped out by on of the hostel staff the whole time (who droves us all around, waited with us, and translated everywhere for us)
-went way up into the mountains behind Beppu and spend a few hours in a hidden wild onsen, in a big stream in the forest...fabulous. Followed by sushi dinner with everyone, of course.
-visited the Beppu Sex Museum...very interesting!!

Miyjima
-wandered around in the dark looking for a place to camp, set up the tent in the dark, and had a surprisingly good sleep at a very strange inclined angle
-was followed by a very cute small fox-like thing (that Scott and Justin saw when they were in Japan)
-woke up to a mother deer right outside our tent, who then ate her breakfast of berries while we packed up

Hiroshima
-saw the Atomic Dome, the Peace Memorial, and the museum. Very impactful. Nuclear war BAD!!!
-was asked by many school children, in halting English, what I thought of the memorial and how it made me feel

Kyoto
-went to a crazy busy temple, high on the hill
-wandered around in the old part of town, through little streets crowded with old wooden buildings.
-saw Geishas (again)
-hung out in Gion district, didn`t see Geisha here though, but ate a fabulous meal
-went to an amazing flea market (enormous!!!)
-spent the day with Peter`s friend Akari, who showed us the sights
-and visited the bamboo forest

There is much more, but I will spruce it up later, when I have more time....

Bamboo excursions...

So, I know it has been awhile since I put an update. We have been either crazy busy or no where near a computer (in other words, on a train, LOL).
I have a few days to myself right now, as Peter has gone to climb Mt. Fuji (YAY Pete!!!). I decided to stay in Kyoto. I am kinda bummed about this, as I really wanted to see Fuji and the sunrise at the top would have been awesome. However, I know my feet (and my energy levels) would not be able to handle it.
Today I saw Peter off on the train, had a nice sushi lunch at one of the fabulous circular sushi restaurants, and the decided to go and find the bamboo forest I had heard about. It was only a 20 minutes train ride out of Kyoto, and a little walk through the town. It was very beautiful. I started in a smaller forest, with bamboo that was not very old or tall. I then wandered into the temple that resides in the forest, which had beautiful gardens (apparently one of the oldest in Japan). I also encountered a tiny little shrine tucked away in the bamboo and moss. It has this funny little bridge made of bamboo. It was so tiny and it only went over moss. Yet it seemed important somehow, based on how everything was structured around it. I never found out what it meant??
It was SO hot in the forest that I had to take my glasses off because they were completely fogged up. I sweat so much that hours after I got back to the hostel the clothes I had hung to dry are still damp.
This post would have been longer, but Peter ended up stuck at the base of Mt. Fuji because no one will take him up to Station 5 tonight. I`ve been helping him figure out how to get up there and back tomorrow. It is not yet climbing season (which happens in July and August), and the transport up the mountain is very scant right now. He`ll miss his sunrise at the top, but hopefully he`ll get to climb it tomorrow starting really early.
I am going to post a list of things we have done so far, just so people can get an idea of where we have been.

The feet that won`t cooperate

Beppu Day#2
So here we are, in Beppu, the city of many onsen. We arrived last afternoon after a long train ride from Koyasan.
I have spent the entire morning at various hospitals having my feet looked at. A wonderful chap from the hostel drove us around and translated for us. I`m still unsure as to what is wrong with my feet. We are going to see a specialist tomorrow, to make sure I don`t have deep vein thrombosis. Just to assure everyone, we are pretty sure it is not DVT, because the swelling is in both my legs and the swelling comes and goes. I think that I just have edema, from a variety of reasons (sitting a lot on trains, dehydration, a reaction to the heat and humidity here, drinking caffeine, etc.). I am drinking lots of water (with electrolytes), resting, and walking. My feet don't hurt, unless they are really swollen and then the skin feels funny. Good thing I have medical insurance that will reimburse me when I get home (thanks so much Mandy!!).
To give my feet something to do we are going up to the mountains for a walk around to see some `hidden` natural onsens.
I will write more about Koyasan later (when I can use a computer key board that functions properly and is not such a pain in the ass to use). It was the best experience of the trip so far.