Nikko, Japan

Downtown Nikko

We wanted to take a day trip outside of Tokyo and Nikko was the perfect place to go. Nikko is a beautiful area, the land of the shoguns. Especially honored here is Tokgugawa Ieyasu, who the famous novel Shogun by James Clavell was based on. The Toshogu Shrine was built in Ieyasu’s honor in the 1700s and his remains are still in the mausoleum in Nikko. The name Nikko means sunlight and it warmed us well on our cold winter trip there.

We didn’t take the Tobu Spacia train from Asakusa, but instead took a JR shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo station with a change in Utsunomiya. It took about the same time as the Tobu but the price worked out well since we both had JR Passes. There’s nothing like riding a Japanese shinkansen train. Smooth and comfortable.

The first sight you see as you get near the shrines is the vermillion Sacred bridge over the Diyagwa River. It was built in 1636 and for over 300 years only the shogun and his nobles were allowed to cross it. Now you can, for ¥500.

Our explorations began with going through the Yomeimon Gate  leading to The Toshogu shrine. it's the burial place of the famous Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and the most extravagant building here. Ieyasu was buried here immediately after his death, but the present complex was built in 1634 on the order of his grandson Iemitsu. The shrine took 2 years to complete with the efforts of 15,000 workers.

After climbing two flights of steps we reached the Sacred Stable, housing a sacred white horse. The most famous symbol here is the carving of the three wise monkeys, who "hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil". Stables often kept and had monkeys since they were thought to protect horses from disease. These sculptural  monkeys are considered the protectors of the sacred horse.

The trip to Nikko was an interesting excursion from Tokyo on the shinkansen… a great day trip and well worth it. Highly recommended. 

Elephanta Island, Mumbai

Taj Palace Hotel and Tower, Gateway of India

Elephanta Island or Gharapuri (literally "the city of caves") has caves that are one of the two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mumbai city. It is a lovely experience that’s definitely a must do if you’re visiting Mumbai.

The best way to get there is to take an early boat from the Gateway of India jetty on the Apollo Bunder for a delightful 1-hour ride across the harbor. There are great views of the Taj Palace Hotel, the naval dockyards, nearby islands and colorful ferryboats.

Once there it’s a long steep climb to the caves up steps that are lined with stalls selling all the usual trinkets and snacks. At least stopping at the stalls can give you a break from the long climb up the stairs to the temples. It’s worth it though…

The Elephanta Caves are the home of Lord Shiva and a perfect example of Hindu cave culture in the Arabian Sea. It is situated about 10 km (6 mi) from Mumbai on the east side of the harbor.  It owes its name to an enormous stone elephant found there by Portuguese navigators that’s no longer there. The elephant was cut into pieces and removed to Mumbai and put together again. Today it's the the stone guardian of Jijamata Udyaan, a zoo and garden in Mumbai.

There are a lot of interesting sculptured panels there with Shiva as the main attraction in most of them. The only sculpture not damaged by the Portuguese soldiers, who used the panels for shooting practice, is the central Trimurti or the three headed Shiva.

While returning to Mumbai, the view of the Taj Palace and Gateway of India with the sunset in the background is an exceptionally beautiful way to end the day. The trip is perfect for people who want to be away from the noise and crowds of Mumbai and have a peaceful and natural experience. Highly recommended!

Haunted City of Bhangarh

A haunted city, lost in time is the city of Bhangarh in the Alwar district of Rajasthan. Bhangarh was once a flourishing town of 10,000 homes but that was nearly 400 years ago. It was a beautiful city with many temples and fine houses. History seems to indicate that the city was abandoned virtually overnight.

There are two legends that says how the city was abandoned and cursed… The first says that a local holy man was asked for permission to build a city on the his property and permission was granted. He warned though that the city must never grow so big or its buildings so tall that it cast a shadow that would touch the holy man while he prayed.

Sacred Cow

Of course, the city grew to match the wealth and desires of its rulers. One day, the city's shadow touched the holy man. At that very moment the sky grew dark, rumbling was heard and the ground began to shake. The citizens, realizing what was happening, grabbed what they could and fled for their lives, never to return… the end of Bhangarh!

The second legend tells of a battle waged between the queen, and a wicked Tantric sorcerer. He set a magical web in which to catch her but with her agility she escaped every time.

After the last battle the queen finally lost her temper and turned a glass bottle containing magic oil into a rock and flung it towards the hilltop temple, where the sorcerer sat. He tried summoning his power to deflect the missile but failed, though not before cursing the city.

The queen and her people, fearing the worst, spent the night hastily moving her treasures to a new palace in Ajabgarh. Their caution was judged sensible because in the morning a storm leveled the city… the end of Bhangarh!

The truth is that  after the Mughal empire weakened in the 1720’s, Bhangarh slowly diminished in population, and when the famine of 1783 occurred the town was abandoned and has remained in ruins ever since.


People who visit Bhangarh today say there is still a haunted feeling in the air that makes them uneasy, so it seems that the curse worked.  It may be scary but it’s a great place to see. We loved it

Maps Are Beautiful Stories

Maps are beautiful stories. When I look at a map, I imagine where I have been and the adventures I will have in the future.

When I lived in Cambodia, I had a map of the world on my dining room wall. It was the greatest way to get conversations going when my Cambodian friends visited. They would tell me about Cambodia and could point out the spots they knew as well as tell me about their travels and their dreams.

Most of my Cambodian friends had not been to the United States so having the big map on the wall to show them where I was from and even how far away it was always gave us many topics of conversation.

Stories evolve from maps. Imagination soars and it gives all of us a familiarity with the world which helps us understand each other better.

Whenever I meet someone and they tell me where they are from, I imagine a map of the world in my head and pinpoint where they came from. It gives us a common place to begin knowing and understanding each other.

While traveling we all have our GPS, Google print outs and talking car telling us where to turn but having a map to look at the long view gives me a sense of ownership of my travels. I can look ahead and study. Laying a big map out on a table and tracing the road with your finger is an adventure in itself.

A fun thing to do with the kids is create a giant map of the world in your back yard. Have them take trips to new places and have them tell you about them. It promotes an exciting reading opportunity too!

Raffles Singapore

The small island of Singapore is an assortment of contrasting cultures. It's easy to be overwhelmed by Orchard Road's wall-to-wall shopping malls, but you also can take a break at Chinatown's immense Buddha Tooth Temple or Hindu shrines draped with marigold garlands in little India.

Raffles Grill for Holiday Dinner

A great place to stay if one is lucky enough to be in Singapore is the Raffles Hotel. It’s a colonial-style hotel and is one of the world's most famous. Opened in 1899, it was named after Singapore's founder Sir Stamford Raffles. It is a hotel that is loaded with history and is more legend than hotel after having been immortalized in the novels of Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Kipling.

Long Bar

After going through hard times in world war II, Raffles was closed in 1989 and with careful repair, reopened in 1991. Raffles was restored to the grand style of its heyday and all rooms were converted to suites with teakwood floors, handmade carpets, and 14-foot ceilings. The storied Long Bar, where the Singapore Sling cocktail drink was invented was reopened at the same time. It was patronized over the decades by a host of VIP’s, including Ernest Hemingway and Jackie Kennedy among others.

Boat Quay

A great place to go is Boat Quay a historical quay that is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River. It once was the busiest part of the old Port of Singapore, handling three quarters of all shipping business during the 1860s. Though serving maritime trade is no longer Boat Quay's main role, the shophouses and go-downs have been carefully preserved and now house various bars, pubs and restaurants. It’s a good place to have some fun.

Singapore is one of the most enjoyable cities in Southeast Asia. It's a fascinating place that will draw you back time and again to experience the divergent cultures, a wonderful metro system, Sentosa Island, wonderful food- hawker’s stalls and so much more.

Romani Tinsmith in Rajasthan

The Rom people (Gypsies) originated in the Northwestern region of India and have since moved around the world. They were called "Gypsies" because they were mistakenly believed to have come from Egypt. Many Rom people traditionally work as craftsmen and are blacksmiths, cobblers, and tinsmiths. They are all over the world now but are genetically related to tribes in the Himalayas, Pakistan and India.

A Japanese Holiday

We were in Tokyo for the holidays and the experience was wonderful. The Japanese people totally grab onto the Christmas tradition. Santas, reindeer, sleighs, lights and happiness is everywhere. Look one way and it’s Italian social groups doing a wonderful job in lighting and designing thousands of colored bulbs. Look the other and it's the Ginza.

Swarming Crowd

Colored lights are everywhere with swarming groups of young people flooding the streets in wild holiday costumes. The costumed groups are looking for and finding fun and excitement on the Ginza.

As we surged with the crowds we were eagerly anticipating our Christmas Dinner that night at the New York Grill in Shinjuku. The restaurant is in the Park Hyatt Hotel that Lost in Translation with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson was filmed in a few years ago.

Australian Singers

Walking in the steps of Bill Murray, we arrived that night at the NY Grill all set for a special holiday feast. They had a five-course Christmas menu that started off with Seared Prime Ahi with Snow Crab and Ossetra Caviar. We proceeded to Goose Liver Confit, Steamed Rock Lobster, Yamagata Tenderloin and finally finished with Hazelnut Caramel Mousse with five spice Ice cream. That was one fine meal. A special treat afterward was a group of Australian singers that serenaded us with holiday greats well into the night. We made our way back to the Maronouchi hotel using a cab whose automatic doors opened for us to get in. We called it a night with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads.

The Great Tohoku Earthquake

Let’s help Japan with her Earthquake and Tsunami. Would ordinarily say let’s travel there and spend some of our tourist dollars to help the people but it seems like it will be quite a long time until Japan is receiving guests again. Thankfully, the world is coming to the aid of the resilient Japanese people.

 Click here to help: http://is.gd/Rbxn7X

In 1989 I experienced the 6.9 Loma Prieta quake in SF California. It was so powerful my Victorian wooden house swayed like a palm tree and I couldn’t stay on my feet. It was brutal, but compared to the 9.1 in Japan the Bay Area was relatively lucky. Even though we lost the Bay Bridge, the Cypress Structure, with 63 killed, 3,757 injured and 3,000 to 12,000 homeless, Loma Prieta was dwarfed by the Japanese quake. The Japanese quake was 30 times stronger with 100 times the ground motion and 900 times the energy release. The Japanese Prime Minister said that the quake catastrophe is second only to the damage done to the nation in World War Two.

I’ll end my post on a bittersweet note remembering some beautiful Japanese places we’ve seen. Serene Fuji San and Takayama calm my mind. Japanese people have the will and durability to bring their country back from the ravages of the tectonic plates. We must do all we can do to help them. It will take time but Japan will return to Serenity.

Mumbai, My City, My Family- Thanksgiving 2008

Gateway of India, Taj Palace and Tower

I had just returned from a three month volunteer position in Cambodia and I was on top of the world. I loved the work I had done and the people I met, I was looking forward to a big family gathering at my sister’s house for Thanksgiving and my experiences of the last year had been the ultimate natural high.

We drove from our home in the San Francisco Bay Area on Nov 26^th, 2008 to Los Angeles and checked in to a lovely hotel near Rodeo Drive. (We try to savor the Hollywood life occasionally!) Had a lovely Thanksgiving eve dinner and went to bed early on preparation for the festivities with our family the next day.

We awoke on Thanksgiving, ordered room service coffee and turned on CNN. The news of the attacks on Mumbai hit us like a block of concrete. We watched in horror as we saw video of the attack and burning of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the railway station covered in blood and heard other accounts of attacks around the city. On the happiest family day of the year, we watched this unbelievable juxtaposition.

Elephanta Island

We had been in Mumbai at the Taj Palace in the very rooms that were being attacked less than a year before. We were there for a close friends wedding. Mumbai welcomed us with open arms. We made friends and added many people to or extended family. The staff at the Taj hotel were warm and genuine. They gave us excellent site-seeing advice and were always ready to help us with our every need. When I asked for help dressing in a saree for the wedding a female staff member gladly came to our room and taught me the secret of wrapping the garment including quite a bit of flattery about how I looked beautiful and very Indian!

As I left the hotel for the wedding every staff member I met, including the doorman complemented me on my adopted dress with genuine delight and flattery.
  

Every day in Mumbai was an adventure and no matter where we were, we reveled in the culture, warmth and even the culture shock of many of the sights. We love Mumbai, so alive and so full of potential. So, when we woke that morning to the horrifying news I felt as if my own city and home were being attacked. I thought “How can they do that to my city and my family?”

Later that day we had a wonderful visit with our family for Thanksgiving, but the thoughts of Mumbai were always there. When we were toasting at dinner I added my own, “Let us remember and send love to the people of Mumbai.”

Mahatma Ghandi's House- Mani Bhavan

I know my family appreciated the toast but I sensed that the impact of the day had not affected them as it had my husband and me. I was thoughtful and realized that because I had traveled and explored Mumbai I had an attachment to the city that I could not expect of others.

All of this reinforced my strong belief that travel is so important. It is harder to think of people as “the other” once you have been part of there country and culture. This is my mission. I hope others will make it theirs too.

I want everyone to know what a wonderful country Cambodia is. The citizens are friendly, the history is fantastic and the culture is warm and mesmerizing.

I lived there in 2008 and 2009 and worked as a volunteer in Battamambang and could not have had a better experience as an ex-pat anywhere. The friends I made will be life long. I know that when I return, how many years it will be, I will be welcomed and loved as if it was yesterday.

I met a wonderful young man who works as a guide there. He invited me to his wedding and at one point when he was speaking to his guests on stage at the reception I was standing witin his sight of vision. He looked at me and in front of the entire crowd of Cambodians said, " I want to thank my Auntie Tami for being here, she has always supported me and told me to follow my heart, I am so happy today because she is here." Wow what a wonderful thing to say.

He later told me that he was nervous addressing the crowd but when he looked up and saw me standing there and smiling it gave him confidence to speak and he felt the love that I was sending to him and his new life.

Yes it all sounds corny but as Americans we are full of love. Let's spread it around the world. Let us show that we are excepting of all cultures, races and religions. We thrive on learning new things, changing ideas, and evolution of our society.

America is truly the melting pot and it is every Americans obligation to hold up this ideal!