After 6 months, 19 countries, 14 flights, 44 different hotels/hostels/guesthouses, 72 buses, 18 subways, 9 trains, 8 boats, and 37 taxis/rickshaws, our trip has come to an end. While we have each done a fair amount of traveling in the past, this has been the first time we have ever technically traveled around the world on a single trip. It all started in Iceland and we are now in Japan, our last stop. We've staying with Yoshimi's Grandma in a small fishing village.

In Japan they are very proud of their four seasons. And while they are certainly not the only place in the world to have four seasons, no where are they more distinct than in Japan. Each season has its own special foods, festivals, and activities. We usually visit in autumn, so this is the first time either of us has experienced a Japanese winter since we left 9 years ago. Electricity is expensive here and the houses are poorly insulated, so everyone gathers in the one room in each home that is heated, giving it a warm & cozy feeling. Seasonal fish & vegetables are eaten family style out of a hot pot while a heater under the table keeps everyone warm. Yoshimi's Grandma greeted us with her signature dish, mixed sushi, steamed rice combined with 14 different ingredients, mostly grown in her garden.

The Japanese take their baths seriously, and in winter, hot springs are especially popular. Yesterday we took her Grandma to a Japanese style hot springs resort. There were indoor & outdoor baths of varying temperatures, waterfalls, steam baths, salt saunas, and the infamous denki furo--electric bath. They seem to feel that its healthy to sit in a bath with an electric current running through it. To me it feels more like an attack from an electric eel. In a few days I will return Portland. Yoshimi will stay here for two more weeks. This will be the last posting on our blog.

There are many reasons for NOT traveling: a 30 year fixed rate mortage, an empty employer matched 401(k), a metallic gray Honda Civic Hybrid, a yellow lab puppy named Cooper, or a ticking clock of the biological sort. These are each options we've considered for ourselves at one time or another. However, you can't have everything in life and very few of us can afford all of these things and travel for extended periods of time. Choices need to be made. We've chosen to travel. Long term travel has always been a chance for us to take a step back from our lives and analyze it from a perspective that is not possible when you are a little too close. One of the things we've figured out while on the road is that this isn't a once in a lifetime trip. Its something we hope to continue doing again and again. Travel, for us, will remain a priority. Now its time to return to P-Town, go back to work, and start saving for & dreaming about the next big trip.

Shawn

I don't think we could ever truely be happy in a place that doesn't take its food seriously. And there are few places that are as passionate about food as Hong Kong. There is a good reason that you don't see many Icelandic or Bulgarian restaurants around, and that Cantonese food is know the world over. There must be more restaurants per capita in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. And they all seem to be busy from early in the morning(so I've heard)to late at night(so I've seen). While normally we'd be way into sampling all the international cuisines on offer, instead we decided to focus only on Cantonese cuisine. After a mostly vegetarian existance for two months in India it feel great, but also a bit strange and even primitive to be tearing pork off the bone and pulling the heads, fins, and tails off of sea creatures to get at all the protein inside. The food is cheap and the menus are huge, so it fun to do as the locals and order way too much food so as to sample more of the goodness.
Food, however, isn't the only reason we came. We also came because we are both big fans of Won Kar Wai's atmospheric movies that take place in 1960's Hong Kong. Unfortunately a lot of the old is gone here, replaced by the ultra modern. We're staying at the notorious Chungking Mansions, a 17 story apartment complex that has been divided into dozens of seedy guesthouses. The rooms are incredibly small, but cheap. The shower in our bathroom can clean both you and the toilet at the same time. The lobby is filled with legal and not so legal businesses run mostly run Indians and Africans. Wong Kar Wai filmed part of Chungking Express here in the lobby when one of the characters needed a fake passport.
Yesterday I took the tram up to the top of Victoria Peak. It was incredible to look down on one of the largest, most densely populated cities in the world. Imagine if there was a two thousand foot mountain right smack dab in the middle of Central Park in Manhattan. This is what what the view would be like. I can think of no where else in the world where a mountain rises up so steeply from such a large city.
Tomorrow morning we fly to Japan, our last stop, where we will visit Yo's family.
-Shawn

The other day we were in a bar/cafe here in Mumbai. A reporter came up to Yo and asked if she would like to be interviewed & photographed for an article on upmarket teas. We were lucky that the article came out today, our last day in India.
Here she is signing an autograph for a couple of fans at an ice cream shop.
Also today she was approached on the street and asked if she wanted to be an extra in a Bollywood movie. Sadly she had to turn down what could have been just the break she was looking for.
-Shawn

Between us Yo and I have spent almost two years of our lives here in India. And while her love of India is more unconditional, mine tends to be a bit more critical. There were times on this most recent visit when I questioned whether it was worth all the hassels. At one point I even wrote a letter to India in my journal, "Dear India, Why must you be so difficult?", it began. But it's difficulty is a big part of it's appeal(not unlike mountain climbing). Take away this challenge and it becomes a much less interesting place to travel. The other day a teacher we met at Ajanta asked Yo why she came to India. He probably expected her to say because of the beaches, or the mountains, or the animals, or the food, or the Taj Mahal(and these are all great reasons to come to India). He seemed surprised and also pleased when instead her response was that she loves India because of its people. Its the people anywhere that make a place and in India they are its greatest asset. Depending on your attitude, they will either crack you up or drive you absolutely crazy.
Just as there are Anglophiles and Francophiles, there are also Indophiles. On this trip we met a French women who has been here 13 times and a British guy who has been here 12 times. Upon hearing this I knew right away that they each had a great sense of humor. If you can't laugh at and with India, you will not be happy here. India has a lot of negatives: the pollution, the traffic, the beggers, the hassels, the ripoffs, the stares, the blackouts, the bureaucracy, and the poor service. In some places there is literally shit everywhere. These are the things you notice first and if you come here on a two week vacation, it will probably be all you notice. This place needs time. India can only be enjoyed if you take your time, travel slow, and like to laugh.
Despite its poverty, India has a confidence that is rarely seen in other countries. And while most Indians are curious about foreigners(almost to a fault), they are also indifferent to our trends and styles. Unfortunately a lot of the world looks to the west for its taste in movies, music, fashion, and sports. Its impossible to go anywhere these days and not see boys & young men wearing soccer jerseys of their favorite European teams or some variation on the Nike, Puma, Adidas sportsware theme. Indians have a style all their own. In the north its popular for young men to wear pastel colored synthetic angora-like vests tucked into acid washed jeans, a little too tight up top, flared down low, and with something nonsensical like "Mister A to Z Denim Dance Factory" embroidered down one leg. Not my style, but definitely unique. The majority of women still wear traditional clothes, especially the beautiful brightly colored saris. Most Indians would not be able to pick Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or Leonardo DiCaprio out of a lineup. Forget about Madonna, U2, or Brittney Spears. For them its Bollywood movies & music or nothing at all. Soccer may be the number one sport in the world, and baseball & basketball have large followings in many countries, but in India, cricket is where its at. There are several channels on TV devoted solely to showing & discussing cricket. The sports section in the newspaper should be renamed the cricket section. While the people of Cairo, Shanghai, and Rio are sadly all starting to dress, act, and think like those in New York and London, you can always count on India to be refreshingly different and uniquely Indian.
India is definitely an acquired taste. Its not for everyone, but because of its eclectic mix of languages, religions, history, cultures, and people, it remains for me the most interesting place in the world and my favorite place to travel.
-Shawn

Check out the last one--seems very ghetto!













yoshimi