TravelStream™ news feed for member emmaireland on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/emmaireland en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Sat, 08 Dec 2007 09:59:07 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1165162080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1165162080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1165162080/tpod.html Sat, 08 Dec 2007 09:59:07 -0500 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Huancayo, Peru

This week as been so strange I feel as if I´m living in a soap opera as one of the full-time actors... The Truman Show has nothing on me! So where shall I start... finding out one emotional Sunday night that Lucho´s brother, Kikito, was pushed to his death off a tenth floor building that hadn´t been completed. And that it was extremely likely that a jealous classmate did it, the only other person with him at the time. Kiko was a genious, by normal standards, and had an amazing artistic ability - Macca, the Peruvian family, went and got a gift box that you imagine would normally contain expensive jewellry on Sunday evening. She had tied it with ribbon lengthways and bredthways. She carefully undid, and removed a layer of cotton wool to reveil... plasticine dinosaurs. ´Kiko was very clever with his hands, she explained, looking with reverence at the miniture animals. He made these while watching tv,´ she told me. Lucho was not to be outdone when it came to talking his genious brother - he disappeared to return to the room with a lego pirate boat, just as you see in the Lego adverts. ´He made this without looking at any picture or diagram.´ And he disappeared again, returning this time with a Norman ship made of matchboxes and pins, complete with a pivoting canon that used to work. I couldn´t get a word out, I just sat there crying. Strangely, neither of the other two did - I can´t imagine how painful it must have been to have lost such an important part of there lives.

Apparently, Kiko would play with Lucho and be the mastermind of the operation - he´d think of fun things to play while Lucho did his homework. Kiko was talented in playing the viola, the best player in Huancayo, while Lucho was, and still is, no. 1 Chellist. Kiko had an amazing ability to create new music and with all things artistic in general. His family keep his memory fresh by pretty much not touching anything he made since the day he died. The house is a shrine to his memory.

Lazza issued me dark warnings that people in Huancayo were out to get me, as a foreigner and that I shouldn´t go to a nightclub or bar on my own, as I had planned to, having nothing to do. I decided to compromise and go out to a restaurant mentioned in the Lonely Planet, La Cabaña, and met two Auzzies there who I´m looking forward to meeting on Wednesday for lunch. They have had similar dire experiences when it comes to volunteering and it was nice to catch up with people that share the same beliefs as me - paying equally when you go out, using the same slang words (they´d just come from London! They used the phrase ´cheap as chips´ and worked in the same building as one of my good friends back home, Cathy Gibson and one of them, Michael, knew her. I was well impressed.

I went food shopping for the week and spent S/108 or 16.62 GBP on the products featured in the photos. Its extremely cheap for a weekly shop, I think.

And on Sunday, I went to the local market, Feria Domingo, where a number of goods are sold. I bought most of my friends little tokens although I haven´t got around to posting them yet. I have a few more little trinkets to buy before I´m satisfied. There, I met a German couple, who despite knowing each other only two months had decided to go to South America together for an off-the-beaten-track holiday! You have to admire them, you really do. They were really sweet, Claudia and Thomas, and recommended that I spend time with one of the juice bar ladies that lived near there street, as she was genuine, friendly, and didn´t try to make them pay every time they went out.

Today, Monday, I had to go for a urine test at the doctors, which was fun. Instead of opening at 8am, like I thought, they opened at 8:30 by which time I was truly bursting, as they had insisted the sample be the freshest of the day, so to speak. I was given a jam jar with brown paper tied by string to form a recepticle. I didn´t envy the person who should accidently tip it over.

When I got back, I assumed, correctly, that Natalia had told Aldo about me. She had. When I hurried into the institute, about an hour late, I popped my head around the door and said I was just letting him know I was here. ´Who´s taking my class?´ I asked, feeling bad for being so late. ´Your class are waiting for you.´ Puzzled, thinking, surely not, I walked into the room.... about ten of them were sat around the video, having finished an English video. Noone had been taking the class. I apologised and explained I had had to see the doctor, and we started, me trying to make it as intense as possible, to make up for being an hour late. Once again, I had two, completely new students in mid-course who didn´t know as much as the others. I asked them questions, giving them a chance to whisper to other students for advice, and tried to include them this way. I think it would be unfair to go over ground that the majority have covered though, so might offer them separate revision classes if they last out the week, but otherwise we´re not going backwards. These days, noone even warns me there´s new students! I have to see the funny side, I never know who´s going to turn up.

Today I became a godmother for the first time - a student at the orphanage I help out at needed a godmother or ´madrino´ to be part of his graduation ceremony and pay for his gown and a ring, which is traditional here. Wouldn´t it be embarrassing if you were the only person in your class who had to pay for your own graduation gear, I thought. These sorts of things you take for granted, that someone from your family will be there to support you during big moments in your life. I was happy to oblige. I will have to rent a posh dress for the ceremony, as its in the evening and fairly high profile. I haven´t met my godson, Michel Pizarro Del Campo yet, but I have asked Aldo to introduce us ahead of time so we can go shopping together and find clothes that fit him and go for ring sizing as well. He is 16 years old.

While I was at the orphanage, La Rosario, today, I met a Canadian couple who are in the process of adopting one of the baby girls. Everyone at the orphanage calls the little girl Sophie, but we´re going to call her Cecilia, the new mother told me firmly. It makes you wonder - how such a fundamental thing can be swept away in seconds. But is it fundamental? A new name for a new start, perhaps. Apparently, they have some more paperwork to complete, but they can take her away on Wednesday. Its going to be the beginning of a completely new future for this child, I thought as I waved goodbye. Maybe, if I can´t have children after all, this would be a good second option.

This Friday, the 8th December is a national holiday in Perú - its in celebration of The Day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, when God gave Mary the grace of Christ. We have a day off teaching, but I´m planning on going to the orphanage to help out anyway, as they can´t just leave the babies. I think I can be of most help during mealtimes, so I´ll probably go for lunch.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1191079080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1191079080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1191079080/tpod.html Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:41:12 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Cousdon, United Kingdom

After a year on the road, here's a list of things that I found useful to have in the backpack. I have divided the list into South America, Australasia and Asia. All the lists are based on a 65 litre backpack/rucksack/whatever you want to call it.

South Amercia

* Backpack which has been tried out in the shop to ensure that it fits you correctly with metal shafts included in the bag to protect your back. It could save you years of discomfort and bills paid to chiropractors - not a good idea to skimp on this one.
* A sealed blood-transfusion and needle set (I bought mine in Boots chemist in the UK). Its good to have even if you don't know how to use it, as if you ever need to go to hospital you can insist medical staff use it. N.B. Make sure you tell your travelling companions you have this with you in case you are unconscious when admitted to the hospital.
* A compact first aid kit for day to day scrapes including plasters, antiseptic cream, a rolled bandage for sprains, scissors and clean antisceptic towelette wipes. (I bought this in Boots chemist, UK but you could also buy this seperately if you had some items already and wanted to save money).
* One money belt that you can wear underneath your clothes, that is big enough to hold passports, credit cards and emergency money. If possible, one that has a goretex area for the part that stays against your body, so its less uncomfortable. I'd not bother with the waterproof ones you can buy, they are just too bulky and would be easily spotted underneath clothes negating the need for them in the first place.
* Lightweight hiking trousers with a zip feature to allow you to zip the bottom half on and off to go from trousers to shorts and back. Invaluable in unpredictable climates!
* Two, or at most three hiking teeshirts with breathable material that takes sweat away from your body, stopping nasty smells and preventing you from getting cold.
* A compact hiking towl - really handy (and very nickable, unfortunately) as it has anti-bacterial qualities and dries very quickly. Its also very light.
* A silk or cotton bag to put inside potentially hired sleeping bags or hostel beds, to keep potential nasty bugs at bay.
* Immodium or other anti-diahorrea treatment - 3 packs.
* Anti-mosquito insect repellent containing DEET. Even if you're not planning on going to the jungle, the lure might be too much when you're there. Surprisingly useful as mossies don't realise they are meant to stay in the jungle and often come out at dusk in cities too.
* A small Spanish phrase book - most contain useful dictionaries in the back of them, and are much more handy than the dictionary alone. You probably won't have room for the dictionary and the phrase book.
* A waterproof jacket that actually works - test drive before you leave if at all possible!
* Hiking boots that are bought specifically to fit you. You could ruin your feet permanently if you skimp on these.
* Double-lined hiking socks, which stop rubbing and blisters when you hike for long distances - two pairs, three at most.
* Flip-flops, jandles, thongs, or whatever you want to call the very thin, plastic things you put on your feet at the beach. Invaluable!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186276080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186276080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186276080/tpod.html Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:39:55 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Hiroshima, Japan

Editor's Note: This entry is not 100% factually verified. Its a retelling of things I have seen and read, at museums, by A bomb survivor accounts and by net. Please don't take things written here as solid, 100% accurate 'truth'.

The 6th August 2007 is a day I will never forget. It seems to me now to be a day like a series of photo slides, startlingly raw, details sharply ingrained in words and pictures of others, emotionally alive. It was my priveledge to be in Hiroshima for the people's 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the worlds first ever atomic bomb. Its a day I think I will remember for the rest of my life.

The morning of 6th August 2007, I woke up late and ran to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshimas centre. It was just after 8am. I was glad I'd made the effort - the atomic bomb had been released from bomber Enora Gay and exploded at 8:15 Japanese time, 580 meters above land, 62 years earlier. I knew something special would happen at 8:15am and I didn't want to miss it.

US scientists had been working on this bomb for 3 years prior to its completion and after a successful test in April 1945, in which a small amount of uranium had been exploded, giving far stronger, more devastating results than expected, delighted scientists confirmed it was ready to use. The A bomb was never planned for Germany. Germany had folded at this point, with Hitler committing suicide on 30th April 1945, and Germany as a country admitting defeat around 8th May, 1945. The Japanese, though, guided by the what was then seen as divine power of the Emperor, and the strong military shogunates that effectively had the real control of the country themselves, were not giving in, no matter what the circumstances. No matter what the casualty, no matter how high the odds stacked against them. Citizens were told to fight, fight, fight to the death: it was better to die honourably for the Emperor and Japan than surrender. It was more honourable to die than be captured too. There were rumours (I don't know how true) that if the foreign devils caught them, they would do unspeakable things to their captives, especially women and children. In 1945 the Allies had occupied parts of Japan, but citizens were committing suicide rather than be captured. Mothers would jump off sea cliffs dragging their reluctant children with them to certain death. And in these people's defence, they thought that they were saving their children from a worse evil. Maybe they were - its said that history is written by the victors, that a unbiased account is non-existent.

Everyone in Japan was taught these lessons about the foreign devils, people who thought differently were effectively outcast from society, derided and often physically abused by their neighbours. If they opposed the war, they opposed the Emperor, and the Emperor was the God of Japan, so they were seen as traitors of the worst kind.

Men as young as 15 were taught to be kamakase pilots, if they refused, their families and loved ones would be taunted and bullied, possibly hurt, as well as the individual themselves likely ending up in jail and beaten.

Back to the scientists and the Allied troops. US President Harry S. Truman, who had taken over from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's sudden death and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sat down and discussed where and how to use this strategic new device. The scientists, having completed their goal, unfortunately weren't given much power any more. One of the main scientists, SkXXXXn who had written to Albert Einstein years earlier, asking him to write in person to the President of the US to convince him of the worth of spending more time researching nuclear power, now wrote to the President advising him that it would be unfair to drop the bomb without warning the town citizens it would be used against. Apparently, this letter was ignored.

Four potential bombsites had been narrowed down for the first dropping site, and finally Hiroshima was chosen. A number of factors influenced this: it didn't have any Allied Prisoner of War (POW) camps; the natural topography of the area would intensify the effects of the atomic bomb and it wouldn't cause as massive civilian devastation as a bomb dropped in Tokyo or Kyoto would.

In order to record how powerful the bomb was, planes were told to stop bombing Hiroshima in prior months. And to make sure things went smoothly and according to plan, pilots had been practising how to drop the dummy atomic bombs called `pumpkins` all over Japan, as the atomic bomb was a different weight and shape to what they had been used to carrying. The pilots were familiarising themselves with the short-listed cities, as at that time, the final two destinations had not been named.

I get confused at two conflicting pieces of information I've heard. I've heard that the Allies sent the Emperor correspondence warning him that they had a new bomb that would cause decimation on a new, unheard of level and that he had until a certain time to surrender. I think I read that in Hiroshima's A Bomb Musuem. Later, in Nagasaki, I think I remember reading the exact opposite - that there had been no warning. I need to do some research about this fact.

The day before the A bomb anniversary ceremony, on 5th August, I had been looking around the Peace Musuem exhibit and picked up a manga book about the atomic bomb. Surprised that a cartoon was in the official musuem, as in England, I was bought up to understand that comics are a funny medium to keep children amused, not an appropriate way to discuss such a serious event, I started reading.

Hiroshima local and A bomb survivor Kenji Nakazawa, traumatised about his experiences of the second world war wrote a series of manga books about life for the average Japanese citzen during the war, before, during and after the atomic bomb attack. There are currently 10 books, featuring a hero called Barefooted Gen. Gen is a little boy and it is based on the (male) authors own experiences. It is a fascinating, dark, raw insight into Japanese life and the different things that happened among the citizens themselves at this time period. I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in history to get a copy of at least one of these books, they are truly gripping reads.

Back to 2007 and the Peace Day memorial. At roughly 8:12am, an orchestra started playing a very moving, dark piece which featured a bell harshly clanging every couple of seconds, an apt piece as it was in effect a countdown to 8:15am. The music was compelling, painfully sad but strangely beautiful at the same time. It made my heart race and goosebumps appear all over my body. I couldn:t move my eyes from my watch. Several other people were staring, fixated at theirs too. Finally, it was 8:15. I felt tears in my eyes. The orchestra music swelled at 8:15 and 30 seconds. I couldn:t help looking at the sky, almost expecting another bomb. A VIP started talking and soon a flock of maybe 100 doves were released, beating their strong wings, flying together up into the sky. It was the start of a day I'll never forget.

When the world`s first ever atomic bomb exploded 580m above Hiroshima, it killed 200,000 people instantaneously. In the Peace Park Musuem there is a section of wall with a shadow on it. The person sitting here left only a shadow on the rock behind. There is no evidence left to identify who they were - what age, what sex, whose family they belonged to. A CBD was decimated in less than a second. Can you imagine that? When I'm relaxed, like at this very moment I am sitting here typing, it takes more than a second just to breathe in. So, in less than a full breathe, less than a whole inhalation, Hiroshima:s city centre just disappeared into rubble. Can you imagine anything so terrible? And there are literally hundreds, possibly thousands of this stuff around the word today, at this same instant? Armed and ready to go. Britains, if you are sitting here thinking, `oh, thank goodness Britain doesn:t do things like that,` like I used to think, did you know we have approximately 160 warheads in the UK at this moment in time? Can you imagine how many countries that could totally annihilate? With weapons that strong, what chance would any opposition have? This is really, really dangerous stuff we:re dealing with here. Its only when I saw photos of what a decimated city looks like, or when I listened to an atomic bomb survivor talking about people so hurt that you can't tell what sex they are, or clearly see who`s alive and who`s dead, that this message hits home.

So 200,000 is a huge figure. But it didn't stop there - countless thousands more people suffered from what was called A bomb plague. They began losing hair, blood spots appeared over their faces and they died. Or they developed luekemia or another form of cancer and died. Doctors at the time tried giving patients vitamin A shots - the skin around the holes where the needle had been inserted started rotting away and the patients died. The author of Barefoot Gen talked about how he went to collect the remains of his mother.... only to realise that there weren't any, radiation chemicals had eaten away her bones.

There were a series of VIPs at the Peace ceremony, including addresses from the Prime Minister of Japan, the Governor of Hiroshima and the Secretary General of the United Nations. At the time, I didn:t know who they were and as they mainly spoke in Japanese I couldn:t understand what they were saying. I think it was the Secretary General of the UN that ended up speaking in English, thanking us for visiting Hiroshima and explaining that the people of Hiroshima welcomed visitors so that they could learn about the atrociaties of atomic weapons and become dedicated, like them, to achieving world peace and nuclear disarmourment. There was free water, he explained, to remember the burning thirst that people had suffered on 6th August 1945. Many survivors recollect the constant begging for water. The cruelest thing is that if you give someone who is severely burnt a lot of water, their internal organs burst and they die - this is not a commonly known fact and many people died inadvertantly by not being aware of this, either trying to clench their thirst themselves or giving water to others in an effort to help them.

Many atomic bomb survivors developed keloids after being exposed to the atomic bomb, some as late as 15 years after the explosion. Keloids are abnormal skin growths that look like huge welds. Sometimes, keloids have rendered people unable to move properly, as they have joined necks to shoulders or formed a band between upper and lower arm, preventing full use of the limb. Keloids are unsightly and survivors with them were outcast from society in Japan, and unlikely to marry. Especially the women.

The day before, I had been deeply excited when I saw posters advertising an opportunity to hear an account of the dropping of the A bomb from an atomic bomb survivor. There was no way I'd miss it, it was a chance to see and hear a living piece of history. It was amazing that the individual was strong enough to speak out for a start - they would have seen things that would have chilled the blood and disturbed their sleep for years. I was impressed that people had decided to speak up and slightly alarmed that it would prove too much of an emotional strain and that they would have to stop, upset and disturbed. I worried for these people I didn't yet know. I hoped they were ready for this. After all, they were sharing their worst nightmares and they were doing it on the anniversary of the very day it had happened.

Meeting Keiko Ogura, an Atomic Bomb Survivor and Founder of Hiroshima Interpreter's for Peace (my recollection of the talk, it is not recorded fact and I am going to send this to Keiko for comment after I have finished).

Keiko Ogura is one of a now relatively few small number of hibakusha - the Japanese term for an atomic bomb survivor. She is petit, perhaps around the five foot mark, with jet black hair, low cheekbones and very deep, sparkling eyes. She has seen things that still haunt her today, but she has decided not to deny her experiences and hide from them: she has decided to speak out about what she saw and experienced that fateful day, dedicating her life to promoting world peace, tirelessly and purposefully. And she has travelled around the world to do it. On 6th August 2007 she is 70 years old, but when you look at her, you'd never know it.

She looked at her small audience - newcomers had been given a choice to listen to one of five atomic bomb survivors stories, so that each survivor had a small group and didn't have to use a microphone. This was to make the whole thing a much more intimate experience, Keiko explained. An American TV crew were there making a documentary and they filmed throughout the hour.

'People look at me and they expect me to have keloids, or some sort of scars,' Keiko began. Mentally, I agreed - I had been expecting to see some outward signs, or to see her in a wheelchair. 'But I don't. You see, when the A Bomb was dropped, I was at home in my parents house, two kilometers from the hypocentre. My dad had forbidden me from going to school that day. I remember being upset - all my friends were at school and I wanted to see them. He told me he had a funny feeling today - and that I was not allowed to go to school. I cried and sobbed, because I was only 8 years old, but he wouldn't let me go. So I went outside to play nearby the house.'

'I remember suddenly being thrown forwards onto the ground by several meters, and there was a big wind. My parents house was quite a way out of the city, so I ran back. People were coming away from the city and they came to our house for shelter. They were bleeding and you couldn't tell if they were men or women. They kept saying, 'water, water, please give me water.' We had tatami mats in our house and they were full of people lying on them. The mats were soaked in blood. The people were in pain and they kept calling to me, 'little girl, little girl, please give me water.' I went to the well in our garden and I got them water so that they could drink. But I didn't know until my dad told me that night not to give them water. You see, if you give people with lots of burns water it kills them,' she paused. 'For years I've carried this overwhelming sense of guilt, that I killed the people I was trying to save. I spoke to this expert once and he explained it to me - apparently, the water makes the insides swell up and burst. For years, even now, I get nightmares about these people.'

'When I walked past, people would grab hold of my ankles, it was very scary, remember, I was only a little girl. And they were always asking me for water. I remember looking at Hiroshima and seeing it in flames, bright red. The city was on fire and people were all leaving it.'

'People kept dying, at the house and Keiko's father would try to find wood and materials to burn the bodies with. But everyone else was doing the same and it was not easy. He would take away bodies every day to cremate them.'

'Are you angry with Westerners today?' someone asked from the audience. Keiko reflected on this. 'At the time, I was furious with the Allies for doing this to us. The doctors came and they couldn't cure the keloids. And we were like, 'you dropped this bomb on us without being able to cure the aftereffects?' But now, I am striving for peace.

One time I went to America to talk about my experiences, maybe twenty years ago when I was fifty. To my surprise, someone from the audience asked me if I was told that the Atomic Bomb was dropped on us to save all the Japanese from killing themselves? As a favour. I was speechless. I couldn't believe he was saying these things. And everyone else in the audience was agreeing with him. I got very angry, and I said to him, 'actually, the first atomic bomb was made of uranium. The second one was dropped four days later and made of plutonium. It was made of a different material and Japan was not given a chance to surrender before the second one was dropped so that the American scientists could carry out their experiment on us. If they had been doing Japan a favour why did they use different bombs and not give us any chance to surrender?' The audience didn't like that,' Keiko told us. 'They didn't say anything. I didn't get any thank yous at the end of that talk.'

I couldn't believe that people had the insensitivity to talk to an atomic bomb survivor like that. Hasn't she been through enough? I commented that it was brave of her to come forward and share such upsetting, personal memories with other people, especially Westerners. Keiko replied that many of the hibakusha don't talk to their children about the atomic bomb. There is an unspoken fear that many of the hibakusha share - have they been affected by the radiation somehow? In Japan, people from other cities are warned by their parents never to marry any second generation children from Hiroshima, in case they are diseased and have deformed children. Years pass, and people who think they have gotten away without scars suddenly develop cancer or keloids. There is such an large, unknown information vacuum where atomic bomb affects are concerned, and it understandably continues to frighten people. When Keiko was pregnant, she was worried during her pregnancy that her babies wouldn't be born properly. Fortunately, they are all fine. 'But I tell you things I don't tell my own children,' she said to me with sad pain in her eyes. 'Because I don't want to worry them.'

But to return to the present: Keiko is strong, and well, and is doing something positive to prevent future nuclear war in the future. Let us learn from her and others experiences.

Readings of A Bomb Acccounts

Tomo and I were so moved by Keiko's account, we decided to go to another event in the afternoon, where people read out translations of A bomb childrens poems for us. One of the ladies grandfather had been killed by the atomic bomb and this was her way of promoting peace, a way of honouring her grandfather.

We learned that Jikadon is the name the Hibakusha gave to the A Bomb. Jika = light and Don = roaring. Together, they describe what people experienced when the A Bomb dropped and the unknown word is quite common in firsthand accounts of the atomic bomb survivors.

Tomo told me that his grandmother, who is Japanese, was given a bamboo stick and told to fight the British and American devils to the death if they invaded. She'd tied a kitchen knife to the end of her pole - she must have been terrified. His grandfather was lined up to be a kamakazi pilot. But now Tomo lives in England? I asked. `Oh, after the war ended, no-one gave a damn about stuff like that.`
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186479420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186479420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186479420/tpod.html Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:36:27 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Nagasaki, Japan

Smoggy Nagasaki welcomed me with open arms - the night train from Hiroshima had been comfortable and I'd slept well, despite the fact it was a chair. It reclined, had legroom, what more could a girl ask?

Typically getting lost, I asked for help navigating from a kind young woman who worked at the local TV station. She called the hostel, then walked me there. Its another example of how kind the Japanese people are.

All I wanted was a shower. Well, check in was at four pm and the shower was available 4-11pm each day, the land lady said in a no-nonsense army voice. She rattled off a list of rules: you have to get out of the hostel at 10am each day so she could clean. You are allowed 15 minutes free internet per day and have to record the time you spend on it in a book. There are two female toilets, the left one is Eastern, the right one is Western. Curfew was at 11pm sharp. I was in bed A. She ran a tight, organised ship here and every other sentence had the proud words, 'my hostel' in. There was no doubt about who was boss around here! She was a kind person at heart, and she was a lot more lenient with the boys. One bloke I met was moaning about the fact he could only have one shower. She'd asked him when he'd like his shower, mornings or evenings? he moaned. 'I don't get a choice!' I whinged back. Well, it was her hostel.

Tomo had told me earlier that Asian women were dragons (his mother is Japanese). I was beginning to see what he meant! He was not allowed to watch TV until he was 16, it would distract him from his homework. He had to play an instrument, although now he says he's glad he's been bought up this way because he can read and appreciate music now.

Looking around the city, I visited the black cenataph that marks the spot where 62 years ago, the world's second, much larger plutonium atomic bomb had gone off, 500 meters above it. There were wreaths upon wreaths of paper cranes there.

I went to the musuem - this time, the commentary that accompanied the exhibits was a lot more angry than the one in Hiroshima had been. I found that the Hiroshima musuem had tried to keep a level of factual-based neutrality in its comments. It mentions that Japan declared war on other nations. It calmly related how the Allies had control of the communications network and prevented direly-needed relief at the time it was most dearly needed.

Nagasaki, however, was a city that in my opinion had a population percentage that was still actively smarting angrily from the past. The museum uses lots of adjectives like 'needlessly', 'mercilessly' and 'cruelly' when talking about the bomb and it has an effect as the reader is encouraged to be angry as well as sad when looking at the exhibits. The first part of the exhibition shows a short video excerpt of the second bomb going off in 1945. Its very effective and the mushroom cloud is terrifying.

The next stage is to see water towers with legs twisted as if in terror, and the ladder rungs blown off and distorted. There are photos of charred bodies that don't fail to shock and sadden. I don't doubt that there were similar photos taken in Hiroshima, but the museum curators there must have made a decision to leave them out. Seeing them the Nagasaki 'Peace Museum' was a very different experience from that of the Hiroshima Peace Museum. I'm glad I visited it, it felt like I had a fuller understanding of the horror of war, and it served to shock and horrify me afresh, even though I'd already seen and heard some very disturbing accounts in Hiroshima.

Nagasaki has a curious tourist exhibit - the ground level of the city is now different from the previous depth. By about 4-5 meters. There is a part of the memorial park where the ground is peeled away, and you can see layers of burnt ground and crockery rubble. Seeing this made me unwilling to drink the ground water there, although the memorial owners had thoughtfully added a free public water tap in memory of the thirst the victims had suffered after the bomb was dropped.

I was ignored when I was queuing up for an ice-cream, yet another different coloured foreigner was served immediately. Then I was ignored again. I reached over and put money down... I was determined to be noticed, and buy my ice-cream! I was given a very small one in comparison to the one the other foreigner got. It was an example of a left over angry sentiment. And looking at the musuem, that shows true, horrific artifacts and reminds its visitors that Japanese citizens weren't warned before this bomb went off, or given a chance to surrender after Hiroshima's bomb had exploded, who could blame people for harbouring resentment? Yet the anger has to stop somewhere, so peace can begin.

When tissues or tea samples were given away in the street, a lot of the people giving out the samples would turn around so their back was towards me, even if there was noone else there, and walk on, or ignore me when I asked for one in Japanese. Yet I was in a previously devastated area, at a very sensitive time, I reminded myself. Lots of people's family members would have died as a result of this bomb, and maybe they wanted some space to greieve their ancestors without a reminder of the people who dropped it in the first place. I tried to blend into the background as much as possible, although my skin kept giving me away.

On the day of the anniversary of the dropping of the A bomb, the 9th August, I met Tomo and we went to the Peace Memorial Park where the ceremony was taking part. A kind Japanese lady saw us looking around for a seat and welcomed us over to her part of the wall. We had a brief chat before the ceremony started, and she wanted a photo with us. Tomo had won her over by offering to take a photo of the main stage when she couldn't reach, and that seemed evidence to this kind lady that we were nice people too. Good work, Tomo!

The world's second atomic bomb had dropped at 11:02am, after its first target, Kokusha (I need to check this name) had cloud or smoke cover obscuring it from the air. Nagasaki had been excluded from the original four target sights as it had a prisoner of war camp, but was added back onto the shortlist two weeks beforehand with no explanation. I think the fact that Nagasaki had a booming shipping dockyard area made it an attractive site, despite the PoW camp.

Bock's Car, the B-29 bomber flown by American pilot Bock, was almost ready to fly back to base with its cargo. It was running out of fuel... when the clouds opened up briefly over Nagasaki. That decided the fate of poor Nagasaki. The bomb was dropped, quite a way from its pre-decided target and it landed directly above a large Catholic Church that had taken decades to build and had only been completed in the last 30 or so years. It was decimated. Only a tiny section remains standing - I have a photo of it I will upload shortly.

This bomb was nicknamed 'Fat Man'. Hiroshima's bomb had been called 'Little Boy,' but this 4.5 tonne sized bomb, much larger than its predecessor, contained a plutonium core. Barefoot Glen, the manga cartoon I mentioned in Hiroshima, mentions that the Allies gave Japan no opportunity to surrender after they dropped the first bomb, which is questionable. They only invited surrender after the second, different bomb had been dropped. You can understand why so many people were angry and accused the Allies of using Japan as a live experiment.

Saying Goodbye to Nagasaki

I'd persuaded Tomo to come into the girl's dorm and wake me up at half five so we would have time to get the half past six train to Shin-Osaka. We were planning a full-on day train marathon to Fuji-yoshida station, which'd take over 10 hours, so we could climb Mount Fuji the next day.

I was in the middle of a dream and turned over in my dream. I can't remember what it was about, but I knew I was enjoying it. I was shook awake and a huge shadow loomed above me. My time had come! I was going to die and I was so close to coming home! I let out a distressed scream and only stopped when I heard a very British, 'F*** me!' from Tomo. I'd forgotten I'd asked him to wake me up. I woke up the entire dorm and probably the one next door, too. I think I scared Tomo and I havn' t asked him to wake me up since.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186800600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186800600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1186800600/tpod.html Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:22:24 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Mount Fuji, Japan

At what point did climbing Mount Fuji in a day seem like a good idea? I wondered to myself grumpily, dragging my legs up the steep zig-zagging path, loose with volcanic rocks. 19 year old Tomo, who had intermittently apologised for his lack of fitness the days before, strode ahead easily in front of me, turning round every now and then politely to make sure I was ok, and not too far behind. Was Machu Picchu that far away now?

We had discussed the idea of going up and down for days before, planning what we'd need. Then changing our minds pretty much every day after we'd made the first decision. The Lonely Planet had issued dark warnings not to take it too lightly - this dormant volcano was the highest point in Japan and you can see it proudly rising up through the clouds when you arrive or leave Tokyo by plane (Its true! I've seen it!). The weather can change suddenly and its famous for being a tough and strenous climb.

We'd got up at six am that morning, having arrived quite late the night before, and had asked our landlady if we could leave our bags here while we hiked. 'We'll be back later tonight!' we'd said. She'd looked confused. 'Tomorrow?' 'Yes, maybe then,' we'd allowed, privately thinking, 'no, today!'

We'd stocked up on energy drinks, the sort that sports scientist friend Amanda would drink on marathons: gel-filled with sporty people printed on the front of some of them, claims in English that this pouch contained the same amount of protein as a rich ball, or three types of amino acids. We'd got small glass vials of what looked like pure caffeine. We'd counted the amount of food we'd need and got some snacks as well. I was taking no chances on being hungry, I knew I'd get snappy and if Tomo, who thought my wake up scream in Nagasaki had been scary, saw me hungry...! We had warm clothes and windbreakers and started off with a litre of water, planning to buy more on the way up. I'd heard from several people that you can do this, although they were expensive, all the way up.

Tomo and I started off at about 7am feeling perky and optimistic! We laughed at the idea of climbing from station five, saying there was no excuse for doing half of Mount Fuji at our age. We had no illnesses, I wasn't pregnant and neither of us were old. We started walking from the convenience store in Fujiyoshida township, found our way to the path and started walking. Soon, we had reached the base and the ground began to get steep. We climbed quickly and steadily, making good time. We saw a thin, multi-coloured snake about a meter long slither cross the road about a meter and a half in front of us at one point, early on, and we were very excited. It had a lot of diamonds on it and red, green and maybe blue. We never found out the name of that type of snake, or whether it was poisonous. I liked to think it was as it made it more exciting. I hoped we'd see some more.

Shortly after we saw the snake, Tomo's aunt rang up. They'd promised Tomo's mum that Tomo would call his aunt at least once a day. After two weeks, in which Tomo had faithfully called every day as promised, his aunt had told him, 'look Tomo, just give me a call once a week and we'll tell your mum its every day.' He'd been surprised and said ok. All the way up, from the base to the top, you can get mobile phone reception - children were on the phone quite a lot. Every so often an adults phone would ring too. Probably happy for an excuse to rest a while, they answered the phone.

Stations 1-4 have no water selling stops, probably because its not common for people to climb the whole mountain. I was beginning to get quite worried we'd run out and was down to my last 50ml when it turned midday, and we arrived at the second of many station fives. Let me explain. We had understood that there were only one of every rest station. This is a myth - there was probably originally only one of each resting station, but over the years, stations 1-4 fell into disrepair and are now not manned at all. You can tell their used to be lodgings there, but I'd say there was nothing that you'd use now. Camping on Fuji is prohibited, and believe me, its a cert you'd get caught and fined, the Japanese are just too careful. Perhaps more people would climb the whole thing if it was an option.

We stopped and had lunch from 12 to half past. We wanted to get to the top for sunset, and we knew the real challange had just begun: after station five, the incline was much more pronounced. The savy hut owners that very likely make a mint in the busy, official climbing season (two months of the year, July-August) were raking it in selling climbing poles, which to you are me are roughly hewn wooden poles with bells on (in case their are bears). There are black bears in Japan, and walkers in more remote areas are advised to carry walking sticks with bells on or to sing constantly if you haven't got a jingly pole.

To my relief, they also sold bottled water. It is 500 yen compared to the usual 100/120. We winced and passed over the money. We were just happy to get some more.

Shortly after leaving station 5, we came across two fully-dressed officials: they had the full-length navy trousers and crisply ironed shirts and weren't sweating. They asked us where we were going, and I stared at the one asking me (we were halfway up a mountain. Where else could we go? There was only one path) and pointing upward, replying 'Fuji'. Tomo told me that they were policemen and I let him do the rest of the talking. Did we have water? Yes. Were we going to stay in a hut? No. No? Did we have torches? Yes. Did we have waterprooves? Yes. And warm clothing? Yes, thanks. Convinced we weren't on a death mission, they let us by. I liked them for being so concerned.

At the time, we wondered if there were really walkers that foolish that they hadn't bought the basics. Then we came across an Australian walker on his way down, who told me that this morning, he'd seen two walkers, walking down without torchlight. Fuji is a sacred mountain in Japan. It doesn't have any lamps, only the official huts do. And its a long, pretty dangerous walk down in the dark. We gaped. Then we had to get climbing again.

Tomo guessed sunset to be at about 8:30pm, as it was summer, so we used that as a rough guide to plan how much time we could rest when we were tired. We decided to have many, smaller rests rather than a few long ones. It was better this way, it allowed us to acclimatise to the altitude layers better. Tomo and I had both felt the onset of altitude sickness when we passed station five - it came on us in literally minutes. Tomo told me he had a pain in his lungs and I felt dizzy. We stopped, then continued slowly, taking several rests. At first, Tomo suffered a lot but I was ok. Later, he got over his altitude sickness, or rather, decided to ignore it. (At station 8 height, he told me he had pains in his chest and in his lungs, but was carrying on regardless. If he hadn't told me, I'd have never guess, he looked so spritely.) And for me, at first I felt excited by the challenge and had to hold back so I didn't walk too fast for Tomo.

After a while, Tomo felt much better and visibly began to pick up. We started getting frustrated at the queues that had formed after station 6, and with Tomo's ok, I started using rock climbing techniques to overtake the queues. It was a straight forward surface, non-crumbly, and there was a chain to grab as well. There were no overhangs and it wasn't anywhere near verticle. It was incredibly tame, in my opinion. Still, I kept looking back at Tomo to see how he was coping. He was going as fast as I was and smiled everytime I looked back. I asked how he was at first, and if he wanted to continue overtaking people, and he always said yes. Soon, he was overtaking me and I was the one asking for a rest. Happily, we weren't getting in anyone else's way either - everyone else preferred the easier route on the right-hand side, and we chose the steeper climb two meters to the left.

After station 7, I began to struggle. My feet were on fire! I felt dizzy and exhausted. We had already put our warm clothes and windbreakers on. As I looked down at the valley below us, I knew that the shadows the trees were casting were too long if sunset was meant to be an hour and a half away. We had misguessed it - all our walking calculations were now completely thrown. We'd mentioned earlier on that we wanted to see the sunset at the top and Tomo wanted to see the crater by daylight. I watched Tomo and told him the news.

Tomo had been walking a few meters ahead of me effortlessly, looking fresh and springy as if he'd started walking only half an hour ago. He agreed with my observation and looking at me, asked if I wanted to stop and rest. I did, for possibly four hours! Maybe a night. But I knew that he wouldn't leave me and go on ahead, so if I stopped he'd miss out. It was time to give myself a tough talking to and on we went.

After station 8, the crowds thinned out. They'd had enough walking and its most common for people to get up at about 1pm and started queuing to go up the final segment to the top. In fact, for the most part, there was just Tomo and I. The ground was very, very loose and I was glad that there were chain grab rails at the edge. I'd eaten my dinner at station 8, although Tomo wanted to eat his at the top. I ground on determinedly. Suddenly I remembered something. I put a bright smile. 'Ain't no mountain high enough!' I sang. Tomo looked at me in disbelief and laughed. I'd been singing that at the bottom, along with some other suitable numbers: 'She'll be coming up the mountain when she comes,' and 'Uptown Girl'. He said I wouldn't be singing that by the time I got to the top and I'd disagreed. I started doing some funny, very tired shuffling dancing as I went up and he joined in! Then it was back to walking.

I kept looking down at the valley beneath us and trying to estimate how much time we had until sunset began. To my horror, it started. I racked my brains. In Sydney, when we'd waited for sunset taking a million photos at the botanical garden viewing spot, where you can see the harbour bridge and the opera house, it had taken 20 minutes to half an hour. I didn't think I could do it - I was really, really tired. But I had to try, for Tomo. On and on we strode. I refused to take a break this close to the top.

Tomo, slowing down to a comfortable pace to keep me company, suddenly had a great urge to talk and kept asking me questions to start a conversation. It was quite funny! There we were, him chatting away, excited to be near the top, and there was I, huffing and pufffing, wondering why an unfit 27 year old woman was walking with a very fit 19 year old man. What had I been thinking! I had to apologise and tell him that right now I could only walk or talk, but not both. He chirpily agreed and fairly soon we were walking through the final torii before the top side by side. It felt wonderful! A real achievement. Tomo told me that his chest and lungs were hurting. Did he want to rest? No way, he said, and we walked on. A few minutes more and we were at the top. And best of all, there was still a big red band across the sky. We'd made it! We hugged and I started dancing and singing.

We walked to the crater - there was another walk around it and in it! All the adrenalin had caught up with me - I was excited and felt full of beans! I was ready for the next adventure! I was sure Tomo would be as eager to get going as I was. To my surprise, Tomo turned around, realised I was serious and yelled, 'No way! We've got to get back down again!'

We spent about half an hour at the top in total. Tomo had his dinner, and we spent a while just watching the sunlight fade and the sky change colours. Within fifteen minutes of reaching the top, the colour had completely drained away, leaving inky blackness and hundreds of twinkling lights in the towns below us. I'd thought that we'd only be able to see Fuji-yoshida, but I was wrong. There were three, seperate townships nestling in Fuji's wake. And we'd been told that there are four routes up Fujisan, and four routes down. Suppose we went down the wrong one? I voiced my thoughts. Well, we'd have to come to that decision when we got to a crossroads, Tomo said. It seemed like climbing Fuji was like a kite string of neathly tied challenges. Just when you think you have cracked the last problem, up pops another. I looked down with measuring eyes. The official guide advises that the average person takes 10.5 hours up and 7 hours down. Hmmmm.

I remembered the cheerful hikers we'd seen between 5th-7th stations. Attached to their walking poles was a flag with a red sun on it, emitting vibrant red sunbeams. 'What a pretty flag!' I'd commented to Tomo. 'I wonder where it comes from.' 'Its the Japanese war flag,' he told me, to my surprise. I stared at him. 'I'm sure they don't mean they are going to war,' he explained quickly. 'They're students, and we're in Japan.' He had a point. 'I think its like taking on the challenge of Fuji and being proud to be Japanese.' I understood exactly what he meant, now. Being this high, enduring all your own discomforts and breaking through your own comfort barriers really did feel like we had conquered something.

It was now 7:30pm. It had taken us 12 hours to climb Fujisan from Fujiyoshida to the top, which we'd finally arrived at at 7pm. We'd had no more than half an hours rest at any point in the journey. Now it was time to go down. We flicked on our torches and started the descent.

It was much easier going on the way down. The volcanic, pumice-littered rubble was more compact, and didn't move much when we trod on it. The night was still and poignant, and it seemed like it was listening to us, as we slid down, quietly talking to one another.

The descent was so rapid compared to the ascent up. My legs felt like they'd been reborn, after the half an hours rest at the top. Tomo told me after fifteen minutes that his chest had stopped hurting. In twenty minutes, he said his lungs were ok again. In half an hour, he said he'd lost all the signs of altitude sickness. I didn't realise it had been bothering him so much, he'd looked so energetic. On we ploughed.

As we walked, using an ice climbing method on the rubbles that I'd learnt in New Zealand (sideways, so you don't break your ankles) we saw a line of sparkling, wavering lights zigzagging up the mountain. It was other walkers! We felt cheered to see other people, a silent mountain can be foreboding at night. We walked down, down, down. We rested every so often. My feet were killing me. Tomo was tired, but fortunately, not in much discomfort. We passed through tunnels built in to the side of the volcano face, to protect walkers from landslides. They echoed when you talked in them. Gradually, the lights in the towns got closer, and larger. Eventually, we passed through the statation 6. A sign on one toilet read, '50,000 yen fine for walkers who use this as a sheltering place in rain or for overnight accommodation.' They smelt ungodly! 'I'd pay more than that as a reward for them to put up with the smell,' Tomo commented.

The lights below us were still a long way away. On we walked. We were now at station five. You are meant to contribute 100 yen to use the toilet, but we'd spent all our money, so we just used them anyway. We had a twenty minute rest and finished off the last of our caffeiene drinks. It was now time to brave the forest track in its pitch obscurity.

By now I was used to the unpleasant sensation of sweat dribbling down my face, neck, between my breasts, and slithering down now established water channels in my back. It would pool briefly at the top of my trousers, and then continue to seep down my arms and legs. The insects thought it was great. I mean, lovely smells and a beautiful light that they could never quite reach... they bothered me and Tomo consistently for about 3 hours. Once, when we stopped for a break, turning off the torches to avoid an insect invasion, a large, many legged insect dropped on me, crawled over the top of my t-shirt, down into my sports bra and started having a party down there. I was so tired I just reached in, flicked it out and demanded we leave. Tomo said he was impressed I didn't scream, which I would normally do and loudly. This time, though I was just too tired. We plodded on, feet so hot and swollen my eyes felt tight.

Tomo was getting frustrated with the woodland track. We must have been very high on life and energy levels when we'd walked here the first time - the bloomin path was endless! And it was boring, which was worse. The path kept repeating a pattern of ditches and rock traps, which we assumed was for landslide prevention. I had been moaning on and off for about an hour before then, but felt glad to be in the forest and lower than station 4 so had stopped. Tomo, on the otherhand, felt really frustrated that we were walking in what felt like the same short stretch of woodland, that just kept repeating itself again, and again, and again. I think it was the first signs of really intense tiredness - we'd been walking for 21 odd hours at this point. I was hopping around needing the loo and not being able to face the insects, so carried on in a lot of noisy discomfort.

Eventually, we got out of the forest, to our relief, passing the fujiyoshida shrine we had paid no attention to on the way up. We had gone the right path after all! Now, we were on one of the two roads we'd walked up to get to the shrine. Tomo was worried that we had missed an intersection and kept asking me if I remembered going this way on the way up? I kept saying that I didn't remember seeing any intersection and I wasn't sure if we were going the right way, but that I could hear traffic in the distance and we would get a taxi back to the hostel if need be. Constantly getting lost, I have acquired a stress immunity about not knowing where I am, as long as I'm not meant to be somewhere by a specific time, now. Tomo is used to knowing exactly where he is, on the other hand and finds looking at maps reassuring. He was stressed and my feet felt as if they'd fall off any minutes. We sat down. Now, we'd been awake 24 hours. And had been walking at least 20. I took my boots off and massaged my feet, laughing in relief and feeling tears at the sides of my eyes. The sun came up and somehow, daylight made us feel so much better. I found some painkillers in my pack and we swallowed them, sighing in relief.

Then the hallucinations started. 'Is that a person, over there?' I asked Tomo, looking at the end of the road. We stood up, looking into the distance. I saw a man dressed totally in white walking up the mountain towards us. Just as I was about to mention it to Tomo, he said, 'There's a woman!' I looked at where he was, hand shielding my eyes from the sun. I couldn't see anyone. 'She's wearing a green skirt,' he continued. Had I missed something? I looked back. No one was there. I searched the road for my man dressed in white. He wasn't there either. 'Tomo, we're hallucinating,' I said in disappointment. 'There's noone there.' He blinked and looked at me. 'Oh,' he said. 'You're right.'

We carried on walking. We tried a few side roads and it felt like we were ridiculously lost. We saw places where we could ask directions from and then Tomo reminded me it was 6am on a Sunday morning. Who would be up at this time? We carried on walking. The sound of cars were getting louder. 'Hey Tomo, look, taxis!' There were a couple of cars about 50 meters away and I could see their round taxi signs. We walked towards them, happily talking. Then realised that I'd hallucinated and there weren't any round taxi signs on top of the cars after all. They were normal cars. It was bewildering - I was so sure of what I'd seen, it was so discouraging. As we looked on, a whole herd of walkers finished parking and started congregating with professional, sprung-mounted walking sticks. They waved merrily at us! They were off to climb Fuji.

At long, long last, with many breaks and rests, at one point, every ten meters, we struggled back into town. The road seemed endless. I couldn't help it - I was lying down just for two minutes at the side of the road...

A camper van pulled over near me. I was sorely tempted to pretend that I had injured myself and convince someone to drive us back, but resisted the urge. I glued on a fake cheery smile and pretended I was messing around. Tiredness does strange things to you. We found out the town wasn't that far away and hiked the final, leg-defying miles. Did we stop and rest at our hostel? Oh no. It was fully booked. We grabbed our backpacks, got in a taxi and got the first train back to Tokyo. Booking a cubicle hostel at the train station, which would let us check in at 2pm earliest, we took turns sleeping on the train so we wouldn't miss our stop. As the train chugged us back through scenic forests and mountainscapes, we waved goodbye to Fujisan. It deserved the 'san' ending.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1189349460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1189349460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1189349460/tpod.html Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:16:20 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Coulsdon, United Kingdom

Lessons Learned - Its Time to Share

Well, I've finally completed my trip around the world and I'd like to share some of the things I've learned with anyone else planning a trip abroad. The advice below is mainly aimed at single women travellers, like me, but I have tried to include things for men, couples and groups too.

Don't let travelling scare you, or stop you from fulfilling a dream, but do be as savvy as possible to lessen the chances of theft and harm.

Enjoy! And feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Advice For Travelling in 3rd World Countries or Areas of Intense Poverty

You're Gonna Stick Out!

If you were in a position where you had to struggle for every penny, could not adequately support your family or provide adequate clothes or healthcare for the ones you loved, would you have a problem with taking someone elses possessions who could afford to do without them? If it meant a better life for your loved ones? Food and money to go to the doctor?

If you are travelling from another country purely out of pleasure and have expensive things like cameras and iPods, its understandable to see why foreigners are likely to be seen as rich, and a good target, especially if you are on your own. Even when these things are not on display, maybe people have experience of other foreigners carrying them. So plan ahead and be aware of your surroundings. Can you organise a car from a reliable company to pick you up? Can you book your accommodation ahead? Do you see any other tourists from the plane/bus etc that might be going the same way or be willing to share a cab? It's better to be part of a group if possible.

Always Keep Some Money On Your Person

Its a good idea to always have some Plan B money on you: put notes inside each of your bra pockets. If you wear hiking boots, put it under your feet as you walk. Wear a money belt and wear it properly - above the knickers and underneath trousers or shorts. Do not get money out of your moneybelt in front of anyone else - check that you have enough money for the day before you leave your hostel. If you need more, go to the toilet and get it out when you are in a cubicle.

Have More Than One Credit Card and Don't Put All Your Money and Credit Cards In One Place

Its not a good idea to carry everything you most need in one place - whereever that place may be. Credit Cards are easy to hide as you can put them in between pages of books and leave them in your backpack or in a youth hostel safe.

Listen To Your Intuition - Its There For A Reason

If you are travelling in a dodgey area and feel on edge, don't dismiss your feelings. Have a coffee and stay awake, if its late, so you are ready for action. Decide who to trust, don't let anyone bully or emotionally blackmail you into trusting them. Decide if you think taxi drivers are safe. And when it comes to money, just keep it on you. Don't leave your purse with 'new friends' because a friend of mine came out of the sea one day to find that her fellow backpacker had left her only enough money to get into town, four miles away, on a bus. No credit cards, no money for food, nothing. Another friend realised £2000 had gone from her account... a 'friend' she was living with had gone to the cashpoint with her and watched her enter the PIN. When she was at work, the 'friend' would go out and empty as much money as the daily limit would allow from the card.

Wear Inexpensive Clothes And Think Twice About The Sexy Outfits

Don't wear expensive clothes, it draws yet more attention to the fact you are foreign and with it more vulnerable. If you were a desperate theif trying to feed a family dependent on you, would you steal from a humbly dressed traveller, or one dressed up in designer lables? Its a no-brainer. Ditch your ego! Save it for back home.

And think carefully about wearing sexy, figure flattering clothes. Do you really want attention? You are a foreigner, you'll have enough attention already. People do get raped abroad, and when they are with their boyfriends or in a group of female friends. So if you're on your own, my advice to you is downplay your sexuality, don't hype it up. Because you have no trusted, long-term friends to look after you when you travel alone.

Don't think just because you have a boyfriend with you, or if you are with a friend, that this means you are safe. In New Zealand, a newly-wed bride sleeping next to her husband in a car in the north island was raped and her boyfriend beaten by local maoris. In Cusco, some Peruvian locals followed two attractive Dutch girls to their hostel, then broke in and raped them. Two of my friends (a couple) were held up at gun-point by guerillas on the Amazon and all their stuff was stolen. Be aware that in some cultures, if you let someone by you a drink, and you accept, it is understood that you have agreed to sleep with them. And when you say no, trouble could happen and you might not have anyone to back you up.

Be Aware of Local Customs And Social Ettiquette

In Peru, it is disrespectful to wear a hat in church or a cathedral. It Italy, you should cover your upper arms and shoulders. Don't put the sole of your foot in the air in China, its the equivalent of putting your figure up or saying F*** Off. In Japan, its rude to blow your nose in front of other people. Do your research on local customs.

If Possible, Learn The Local Language Before You Go

If you are going somewhere where the locals speak a fairly common language, such as Spanish in Peru, then take the time to learn some basic phrases. It'll lessen the chances of getting ripped off and people will treat you much more warmly than a person who hasn't taken the trouble.

Talk To Other Travellers

Its something you'd do naturally, but in my experience talking about your difficulties to other travellers, be it about finding a cashpoint that accepts your type of credit card, or your inability to find a certain place of interest and a lot of the time the other people you talk to will be able to help you or introduce you to someone else who might. Also, its a good idea to talk about youth hostel recommendations, that way you can avoid the bad ones and get the better ones if you just bring it up to enough people.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1157840760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1157840760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1157840760/tpod.html Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:32:32 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Cusco, Peru

I've been away from home for about three weeks now. Weekends are awful because I miss my friends the most at these times. A Saturday that isn't spent on the couch at Captain Mond´s with a cup of tea in one hand, a choccie biscuit in the other, opposite a mate who's usually hungover as well... it just doesn´t feel like a Saturday at all. Happily, I have since found a source of DVD´s at Molino´s, a supermarket near the airport. A member of the family kindly took me when I needed to go shopping for a new digital camera. I found some seasons of Sex and the City, and some modern films as well.

Today I fancied visiting Sacsayhuaman, pronounced almost universally as 'sexy woman' by foreigners. I walked up to the ruins, which is only a ten minute uphill walk from the main Plaza de Armas, and a guide sold me a guided horse tour of four main places of interest, including Sacsayhuaman. Conveniently forgetting it was YEARS since I rode a horse, I happily agreed. There are photos of me at Sacsayhuaman, before the fun began.

I started feeling a little wary when I was asked to pay up front... however, when you are sat astride an unknown horse, in the middle of nowhere, you are at a little bit of a disadvantage. I paid up, and we set off. My first horse guide (they keep changing at different points in the trip) tried to tell me that I had paid for only three places of interest, and said it would cost an extra 10 soles if I wanted to go to four. I started arguing in Spanish, but realised it was no good as he kept talking over me. Angry that he was trying to take advantage of me, I switched to rapid English with the word ´NO´ repeated at appropriate times (every second word). He got the message. Then, he tried selling me other places of interest. The most annoying thing in Peru is that this sort of thing happens a lot. You start of politely refusing something, be it a postcard, finger puppet or massage, then say no bluntly, and then have to resort to ignoring people. Its rude, but its the only thing that works. And here I was, stuck on a deserted road with a whiner. Fantastic.

It got even better when we arrived in Saysayhuaman. He said in Spanish that I had five minutes to look round a site and he would wait with the horse. Would you believe him? Frustrated, I said, 'I don´t know here' in Spanish. He smiled and said he would come. Then he held my hand while we walked up hill to get to and from the site faster. 'Do you have a boyfriend?' he asked. 'Oh yes,' I had. Joe, did you know we´ve been seeing one another for 5 years now? (Joe is a friend from university that I've never dated in my life).

The site after Sacsayhuaman has massive rocks with naturally formed caves in it. We were in a big cavern underground when the guide put his arms round me and asked me, 'you like?' The site was deserted and we were underground. There was no-one to hear me yell. I was petrified and stood there, stock still, tense. Waiting. I couldn't manage a squeak, let alone a reply. In the claustrophobic darkness, I waited. Rape hovered in the air, and I could almost see him turn the idea around in his mind. Seconds felt like hours. He removed his arm and said it was time to go. I breathed in and decided never to go on a day trip alone with a local again.

At the next stop, we met up with two other foreigners, a Swede and an Australian. Best of all, we swapped guides! Deciding to enjoy the day, I put the experience behind me, as nothing had actually happened, and enjoyed the rest of the day with them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156813200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156813200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156813200/tpod.html Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:16:12 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Cusco, Peru

The first day at school was stressful - we had to be there at eight sharp to take a test to determine what set we´d be placed in. Its a good idea, but who likes tests? Especially if the last one you took was over three years ago. The school has since provided a good standard of teaching, with some unusual characters at times and a lot of after school activities including film nights, cookery nights and lectures on different aspects of Peruvian history.

I was placed in Initial 2, the set above complete beginners. My classmates were ok and by lunch my appetite had returned and I decided I needed a big meal to get my strength up for the upcoming week.

The mexican place I chose just off the plaza was small and the host who ushers you in turned out to be a highly bitter professor from Lima University, who had come to work in Cusco as he got more money this way. He said he spoke five languages fluently, but had no money. He offered to give me free Spanish lessons if I came to the restaurant.

Deciding to have a set menu, I looked up to see a blonde girl with a English copy of The Lonely Planet´s South America on a Shoestring by her side. We started talking and she invited me over to eat with her. English Amanda told me that she had just recovered from a nasty illness that had pretty much wiped her out in the mountains of Huaraz. The irony was, she taught people how to be fit at Leeds Metropolitan University and had worked with a number of famous atheletes! She has a masters in Sports Science and lectures part time. Her job had recently been cut due to lack of funding, so she had decided to take the opportunity to realise her dream of travelling.

After lunch, we had a walk around and I invited her out to my Spanish school's welcoming meal for new students (they had told us that non-students were welcome). We had a great time drinking Machu Picchu cocktails at Mystique Restaurant on Calle Suecia.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156611600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156611600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156611600/tpod.html Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:09:21 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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Cusco, Peru

I had run out of excuses... I didn´t have to get up at five for a morning hike in the rainforest (`selva` in Spanish), or pack my life belongings (I´d done this) or have anyone to call or any other burning reason not to go to the police station, where I´d been warned people were buratic and didn´t give a damn about rich tourists.

Sighing, I left and made my way to a policeman who asked me why I hadn´t reported my camera stolen to my guides. I told him that I had, and he told me that he couldn´t do anything because it was outside of his local durastriction. The crime should have been reported in Manu, because that´s where it happened. My face fell - it was just what I had thought would happen! And then he said kindly, that he would help. He would write the report and send it to Manu - all I had to do was go to a certain bank and pay a charge for a ticket of some sort. I needed to return to him with it the next day and then he would have finished the report. What a nice man - so don´t believe what all the guide books say, the police can be really helpful.

Two hours later, Edgar, the original travel agent I´d booked my holiday with came to my hotel to offer his commeriserations. I take it the police had spoken to him. It didn´t achieve much, but it showed that the police did their jobs properly, whatever might be said.

I rang my mum and my brother was there! He´d just come back from a month long holiday to Asia and had decided to stay with my mum for the weekend to recover from jet lag properly. His flat in Bristol that he rents with two others had flooded while he´d been away, what a homecoming. My stepdad had been involved in a car accident and was suffering whiplash. We had a long chat, and I felt much happier after speaking to them. Its amazing how quickly homesickness can creep up on you.

Later that night, I meet up with David G and Leo for a meal in La Retama, a wonderful restaurant in the Plaza De Armas. Out of sheer coincidence, there was live music, traditional dancers and a speciality buffet meal offer. We had a fantastic time - Leo said it was the best night of her holiday to date. At the end, one of the dancers asked me to dance and before I knew it, I was being whirled around the dancefloor in front of a restaurant full of people with a man dressed in a militarly uniform with golden buckles! I can't dance well and it was so funny.

Leo was exstatic because a man she´d seen stagger out of an Irish pub toilet after half an hour was there - she was waiting for him to come out as there was only one loo. He'd sucumbed to travellers stomach in a big way. She had dubbed him ´toilet man´ and made David G and I pretend to pose so she could take a picture of him. I think he could tell he was the butt of some joke because he kept looking over at us. Feeling guilty we stopped. Leo contracted a stomach bug the next day and was out of action for 2 days. She is convinced it is bad karma coming back at her for laughing at him.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156374000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156374000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmaireland/peru2006/1156374000/tpod.html Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:03:04 -0400 Living the dream - quitting work and travelling to Peru, Equador, The Galapagos, Bolivia, Oz and Japan... just because I can.

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London/Lima, Peru

Its strange how someone new can enter your life suddenly, and be a big part of it for a few weeks, then leave again. I met David Gilchrist at my Spanish teacher's house the Sunday before I left for Peru. She had thrown a dinner party for David and I (we're both her students) to celebrate our trip to her native country, which was great fun. I spent the evening trying to look composed (I don't drink that much and have a low alcohol tolerance) and David talked world politics with Flor's husband, Christopher. I nodded and tried to look deeply knowledgeable. I think I gave myself away when I asked what the shopping was like in Cusco.

My family and I went to Heathrow at some ungodly time, where everyone there looked like zombies. Having had only an hour's sleep, and wearing no makeup, I tried in vain to stop my mum and stepdad Alan taking pictures. They weren't having it! Joe, a great mate and a total star came with us, even though he was meant to be busy jobhunting. What an amazing mate. Leaving them at the airport to go through to departures was awful... I spent five minutes in passport control weeping into an over-used tissue. I looked up to see that I was around lots of other emotional people - its easy to see why films often use airports as climax points. People leaving their families, lovers parting for possibly the last time? And exuberant people meeting loved ones, clearly exstatic just to be with them once again.

The first plane from London to Madrid was uneventful, I just chatted to a girl going on a tour of South America with her mate. The second flight, from Madrid to Lima was spent chatting with David and his mates Nick, Matt and another David. They were really enthusiastic about their trip and it was pleasant spending time with them. They were going to meet a female friend called Leo who they described as ´scary but fun.´ Hmmmm!

In Lima, we went our different ways and decided to meet up when they arrived in Cusco a few days later, where I would be, as I was on my way there now. When I left them, I realised that I was facing a fear I'd dreamed about for months - being on the other side of the world, on one of the most dangerous continents, and I was completely alone. It was scary, but it was exciting too. Sticking a well-'ard expression on to my face, it wouldn't do to look worried, I walked.
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