Terrific Tokyo

First things first, everyone should plan to visit this city. I was truly blown away by how much character this place has. I’ve spent the past 2 days wandering the city and thinking about how to write about it, and I still can’t decide how to illustrate it. It’s liveliness, color, excitement, modernization, and energy seems like an outward expression or revolution almost of the inward, polite, and respectful nature of its people.

The following which I’ve written about Tokyo only stems from my day trips around the city – unfortunately I have not been able to witness the night life as I’ve heard great things about because of a minor cold I caught in Mumbai – and because I believe I’m staying in what is essentially the financial district of Tokyo and I don’t want to get caught late at night when the trains stop running and having to take a $50 cab ride home! An important addition to this is I’m traveling the city alone as of now and, let’s face it, going out alone is a dismal level of Dante’s Inferno we all hope to never attain!

Spunk

I’ve lived in New York and been to Paris a few times in my life, but never have I seen fashion like I’ve seen in Tokyo. If I were a designer, the first place I would try to sell clothing is in this city. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re wearing – everything goes. In my two days of wandering the streets, plazas, neighborhoods, etc., I saw everything save a leprechaun outfit (and if I had 360 degree vision I probably would have seen that). You name it: wedding dresses, pajamas, overalls, lingerie, cowboy hats, 6 inch stilettos, kimonos, skater gear, pink hair, blond hair, cake make-up, Catholic school-girl, Queen Victoria – everything. I’ve never been in a city like this before where there was no “standard” or “trendy” way of dress. It was incredible to witness, simply walking around the city left me gawking at nondescript outfits and people.

Electronics

Electronics in Tokyo is man’s dream come true. I think people here would explode if there was a power outage. Everything is automated, and on top of that, electronics are used to make certain luxuries very commonplace.

For example, my toilet seat in my hotel has to be out of Star Wars. It has 7 different buttons on it – various temperature settings for the seat and various methods of “spraying” after you’ve made your lump sum deposit at the bank. When you sit down, it automatically turns the fan on!

On my first day out in the city I accidentally left my camera’s memory card at the hotel – if I was in many other countries this would be a problem – but not in Japan! As soon as I stepped off the subway, lining the streets, are glorious, multi-level electronics stores where all your dreams come true. Picked up a quick 2GB card for $15, and was on my way, no hassles. I won’t even get started on my visit to the Sony Building – in incredible array of new and soon-to-be-released electronics which were awesome to toy around with.

Shibuya

Efficiency, Cleanliness

The city and its people are very clean and orderly – almost overtly. I found myself carrying my own garbage in my pockets looking for a garbage can! I’m not sure what percentage of cars on the streets are electric or hybrid, but it seems that the pollution and noise levels in the city are barely noticeable (I do realize that \I have spent a month in India). There are even signs in the subway on the proper way of walking around someone while smoking a cigarette as to not blow smoke in their face. Let me explain that again - a diagrammed instruction placard in the subway on where to hold your cigarette and where to blow the smoke so it does not affect the person behind you. I was astounded!

Sign about dumping your cigarettes out of your trunk at night? I didn't quite get it, then again, I'm not a comic book enthusiast either.

Transportation

Tokyo is fairly large. I think the best way to explain it is that it’s almost star shaped, with key areas/plazas/business districts at the points of the star and the middle being the main Tokyo station and Imperial Palace. There are a plethora of transportation choices – a dozen combinations of subway lines, Japan Rail lines, and even private rail lines criss-crossing the city. I found it very easy and straightforward – by day 2 I was a subway pro putting in my fare, getting my ticket, sliding it through the futuristic machine where the doors open and you grab your ticket on the other side. Very cool.

When traveling outside the city to farther destinations, people take what is called the “shinkansen”, or in our terms, the bullet train. I’m currently typing this on my way to Kyoto on the ‘super-express’ – I can only estimate by the pace at which buildings, farms, and hills are flying by me that we are going in excess of 200km/h! (These things travel up to 300 km/hr!). It’s quite a joyride, in and out of tunnels, ears popping, etc. I’ve got a window seat and it’s dizzying – this has to be the fastest I’ve ever traveled on land.

Faster than a speeding bullet, it's - a train!!!

Though cabs are omnipresent, I’ve read they are a big no-no to the wallet. The trains are easy enough to use although I have not yet witnessed the night-life Tokyo has to offer. Worst comes to worst, there are “capsule” hotels scattered around the city for those salaried workmen who are out late imbibing and can’t make any of the trains home! I’d love to pop into one of those next week when I get back…

Manga

Anime, or comics, is huge in Japan. Graphics and animation regardless are prevalent on the streets and television, but comic books (as thick as catalogs) are read everywhere and can be found in any news kiosk or bookstore.

The City

I only got to visit 3 out of the 5 main “star” points of the city – but I like to compare Shibuya and Shinjuku immediate areas outside of the train station as a miniature, clean Times Square. There are decent sized plazas with Jumbo-Trons showing ads and God knows what in Japanese television, and plenty of vertical commercialization. Stores, shopping, advertisements, and other sensory overloads surround the station. Even during the day the signage colors and noises can only point to intensity at night.

The architecture is stunning. Around the city I’ve seen humungous corporate headquarters, government buildings, and shopping centers that are visually crisp, clean, and futuristic. When you backdrop these buildings behind a above-ground commuter rail train shaped like a bullet, it’s almost Jetsons-like. Now, I may be a little biased because I’ve been staying and visiting the cleaner, more commercial areas – but needless to say, it’s quite impressive.

I'm disgusted at my own stench. Not many times has this happened to me.

The People

Japanese people are very friendly and respectful, I’ve found myself to be super comfortable in this country thus far. It’s difficult to ask for directions in English to a regular person on the street but information booths and people behind travel counters are very well versed and help with anything. All signage in Tokyo at least doubles in English – phew.

I stopped into a noodle shop yesterday for lunch and it was a warming experience. There was an older gentlemen and 4 younger ladies behind the counter happily yelling “welcome!” in Japanese to patrons coming in and “goodbye!
to those leaving. I sat down at the counter, pointed to a decent looking ramen dish on the menu, and 5 minutes later had a steaming bowl of something delcious and a bigger bowl of noodles. Slurping is a must. I managed to eek out “It was a hearty feast” in Japanese much to the chagrin of the noodle shop owners.

In the evening I went to a sushi place where, once again, pointed at a delicious looking platter on the menu. The fish was superb – less “fishiness” to it and more taste which I would assume means fresher fish. Took down a hearty helping of sashimi and rolls – tuna, salmon, toro, roe, shrimp, yellowtail. The wasabi knocked me out! Even the smallest dollop was more than enough to clear my sinuses and make my eyes water.

Meet George Jetsoooooooonnnn...

Kyoto

Since writing the above I’ve managed to get off the shinkansen and take a city bus through Kyoto to a hotel where I’m meeting a few of Vans’ friends that are here for a conference. We’re going to spend the next 3 days in Kyoto / Nara which are the historic/cultural capitals of Japan – replete with temples, baths, shrines, food, Imperialism, etc. Nothing like free Wi-Fi in the lobby while you wait! I’m going to go ahead and post this for your guys’ Friday reading pleasure – but there is certainly more to come soon.

R

TKO from Tokyo!*

*Footnote Tejas

After resting in Mumbai for a weekend, catching up on sleep, Bollywood news, etc., started making moves for the next phase of the trip. On my travels I threw around the idea of making it out to Japan – seems like a great place to visit and should be safe and easy for me to travel alone. Well, started doing research and things certainly worked out - I’m now aboard an empty Air India flight to Tokyo!

I’m heading there for 8 days which hopefully will be full of sake, sushi, and sights. I’m pretty excited about this. Fortunately, Vans has some friends that are in Japan right now and so we’re banging out an e-plan (get it, a plan over email!) to meet up. Would love to get recommendations, thoughts from all of you on places to go, eat, etc.

My plan as of now is the spend a day in Tokyo, do a day trip out to Mt. Fuji and try to mount it, then head down to Kyoto/Nara for 3 days over the weekend before wrapping up a few more days in Tokyo. I’ve read that transportation is fairly easy and really can’t wait to take these bullet trains (300kmh+) and see how far technology has taken this country. It will be nice to tour a big city again after spending the past couple weeks in the wilderness at the mercy of Mother Nature.

List of things I want to get done:

1. Buy kick ass Japanese spunky shoes
2. Eat delicious sushi
3. Go to a concert
4. Watch a sumo wrestling match!
5. Climb Mt. Fuji
6. Take a picture of a geisha
7. Play with fresh, new, cool electronics

Delhi Frenzy

From Webster’s:

frenzy (noun, fren-zee): Delhi

Delhi is nutso!!! I took the early morning flight out of Leh through Delhi and, since Shoaib was in Delhi for business, took the $15 option to push my flight back a day and see major sites again, walk the city, and hang with Shoaib.

Firstly, I am very impressed with the Delhi metro system. It seems to be somewhat new and is very clean by Indian standards, efficient, and fun to ride. Delhi was humid and hot as usual and after I checked in at Shoaib’s hotel (a fun boutique hotel in the suburbs called “Shanti Home”), I took down a quick lunch and hopped on the subway to tour Old Delhi.

The metro system is rather similar to NYC – trains run above ground until they come near downtown and then go under. From last time I knew, the city really needed something like this because the traffic was atrocious.

It took about 30 minutes to get to Old Delhi where I took a stroll down Chandni Chawk, a main bazaar/road in Old Delhi. Lonely Planet coins it as a street with smells of frying food, flowers, exhaust, urine, etc. It was all that and more. And what a sensory overload! People everywhere, yelling, screaming; putting the New York minute to shame.

Chandhi Chowk.

Got to the famous Red Fort (Lal Qila) and decided to take a walk around it instead of heading inside. I was very impressed with the manicured lawns and government protection of a sacred site. After that I hung out on the steps of the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in Asia (or India?, I forget) that can hold up to 25,000 people. I couldn’t go inside because I had shorts on but was content with hanging out on the steps, taking snaps, plotting my next move.

Indian Flag over Lal Qila. A dream come true...

Hangin' on the steps of Jama Masjid.

Red Fort (Lal Qila) from steps of Jama Masjid.

I figured the Gandhi Memorial was close by – they’ve evidently made a nice memorial where he was assassinated and close by is the Raj Ghat where he was cremated. Figuring all I needed was a map, I set off on my journey. As many of you can attest (Vans), I’m not very good with directions. I got lost…

…But ended up walking around what I believe was the Muslim quarter of Delhi – which was incredible. It was really the first time in India I’ve seen butcher shops, mosques at every corner, bearded and non-bearded men, women with all skin covered and women with only faces showing, the whole shebang, all in one place. I must of stuck out like a sore thumb with my orange Tigers hat, sunglasses, and backpack, as I did not see one other tourist in the area. It was really quite awesome – as much as I would have loved to see Gandhi’s memorial this was quite a unique experience.

When I came out of the Muslim quarter I ran into a few Euros who were lost, we ended up banding together and finding the nearest subway station and spent the rest of the afternoon talking about Leh as they were heading up there and I had just come out. It’s really cool how friendly backpackers and tourists are in terms of making friends and swapping stories, etc.

It was hot and I was tired, so I headed back on the subway, reading essays from Cliff Asness that Rishi had sent me regarding health care in America. Really great reads, discusses methodically the notion of spiraling health care costs, difference between “universal” health care in European countries vs. that in the US. Definitely look it up if interested.

Indians in a uniform line?! Only in Delhi Metro...

Got back to the hotel, and now I realize why it’s called “Shanti Home”, it was so nice to get out of the Delhi frenzy and into a peaceful abode! Got ready, and Shoaib showed up after his long day of meetings and such. We got to catch up properly on the past 2 weeks, me being up in the mountains and him plowing forward with Admob’s plans in India. We tried to make the best of the night, although I’ve come to find out that I think the truest city in India to go out is Mumbai. We tried to hit a couple of spots but things were dying down, maybe it was because we weren’t in central Delhi but the suburbs. Regardless, it was a fun time and I’m glad I got to step out and see Delhi again.

As Good As Ti-Bets

Tried doing some word play on “As Good As It Gets” – I know, I know, it’s a reach.

Alas I’ve reached my final day (barring any flight delays!) in Leh. To sum it up – it’s a beautiful village full of wanted and unwanted tourists. Although the backpacker scene has brought respectful trekkers looking for a place to start off from when touring the Himalayas, there are ample I’m-A-Hippie-And-Want-To-Live-In-A-Village types which unfortunately bring a bad name to Western tourists. The Israeli backpacker / post-IDF scene here is huge – evidently Israel has began sending Rabbis to the area to talk to those who have found a home in Leh into coming back to Israel!

The sights and experiences in and around this place are awe-inspiring. Many snaps and videos I’ve taken can come only out of one’s imagination or a Planet Earth episode (which often are the same thing). I’ve gained great respect for those trekkers that manage 3-4+ week long treks in the fluctuating weather, food, and most of all, high altitude. It was frightening at times to run upstairs to my room or run around the bend to take a leak and having to wait for a few minutes to catch my breath. One doesn’t realize until the morning that even though it’s not hot per se, you still need proper hydration due to the altitude and very dry mountain air.

On Thursday, my buddies and I got to visit the Thiksey Monastery, a serene looking collection of dozens of dorms, temples, meditation halls, and schools where hundreds of Tibetan refugee monks, well, do their monk thing. It was nice to walk around and witness monks in their element, explore the prayer halls, marvel at the statues of Buddha, etc. It’s quite a beautiful setting, built into the side of a hill with vistas over the lush Indus River and valley.

I was quite perturbed, however, by both the lack of respect from other tourists and the amount of intrusion the monks had to tolerate. There were a few “photographers” that were climbing on walls to get 2 feet closer to a mountain that was miles away, trying to get monk children in training to line up for pictures, taking pictures and video of monks in daily activities, etc. It seems to be a double edged sword for these monks – they receive glorious funding from tourists for upkeep but also have to deal with the lack of respect many show towards their way of life.

The last few days in Leh were very relaxing. The 5 of us buddies that went to the lake a few days back got together to have dinners, hang out at the hippie spots, etc. Although traveling alone, I’ve been very lucky to have found really good–hearted and smart people that (whether they like it or not) can handle my idiocy. Mymy and Jason – can’t wait until we reunite in Albania at some point in life, and C.D., try making it out to the States soon enough. Karan, you are the funniest cynic I know, can’t wait to hang out on the east coast.

Been A While, Eh?

Hello, all. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life as much as I’ve been the past week…

I’m currently hanging out in the village/town of Leh, in the Kashmir region of Ladakh. Surrounding this backpacker joint / old Buddhist town are the great Himalayas, it’s quite surreal walking on the streets, having a chai, all the while staring at these glorious mountains. I’ve met a couple of buddies from the bus ride up and we’ve been walking around the town, hanging in café’s, taking in the sights, just got done with an awesome trip to a glacial lake deep in the Karakoram Range of the Himalaya (Google Image search Tso Pangong). Quite possibly the most visually stunning place I’ve ever visited in my life.

Stok Kangri. 6100+ meters.

There’s lots to update, worry not, as I’ve been keeping a blog offline. Below you’ll find stories from Manali, a great 3 days spent with Tejas and Vik before they departed for the States. You’ll also find an hour by hour update I wrote while on a 2-day bus ride from Manali to Leh, camping at 13,000 feet and going over terrifying 17,000 ft.+ mountain passes with breathtaking views all the while.

How's business, Pops?

I’ll be in Leh for the next couple of days – updates have been slow as the Internet at my hotel is perennially “broken” and there is little connection to the outside world aside from basic Internet cafés and Zack Morris cell phone service. Leh is visually spectacular and is a hop-off point for a lot of backpackers looking to take week long plus treks through the Himalayan valleys, climb mountains, etc. There is a very large backpacker/hippie culture here as well, leading to interesting people and stories.

Karan and C.D. in front of Jama Masjid in Leh. Leh Palace in background.

Me on roof of Leh Palace. Stok range in background. Beautiful.

YAK! Blue Steel?

Above pictures are from Tso Pangong. No photoshop necessary.

Will be back in Mumbai on Friday where I’ll plan my next trip. I canceled my trip to Indonesia due to the bombings but would love to open up the floor to any recommendations. Thinking Tokyo/Japan for 10 days? Thoughts? Anyone know anyone there I could get in touch with?

Lush Indus Valley.

Buddha.

The Crew: My-My, Jason, Karan, C.D.

Hope all of you are well,

R

Bus Ride to Leh

I wrote most of this while on the 2-day bus ride through the Himalayas. I wanted to add some color to it after rereading (actually re-typing since it was on my Berry), so where I’ve added color I’ve put it in [brackets].

Saturday, July 18^th, AM

8:30AM – 9:30AM

Climb out of Manali - zig-zagging up through the mountains passing tourists, goods carriers, and tankers.

9:30AM – 11AM

Continue to climb up through the mountains into the clouds and on muddy roads. [Been lucky with rain on the trip, however it did rain on Saturday morning causing mountain passes to get severely muddy]. Several long traffic jams due to stuck vehicles, rock slides, etc. No problem, take a look around and you’re in bliss. Hop out for a stretch and a chai from a hawker taking advantage of the traffic jam. Looking up and down the mountain there are about a dozen loops (backs and forths).

11AM

Rotung La. A mountain pass at 4,000 meters (x3.3 = 13,333 ft.). Driving through the clouds, looking over the side of the truck all you see is white. Traffic subsides due to tourist turning around. Wish they could see Michigan snow! [Indian tourists coming up to Manali usually take the 3 hour ride up to Rotung La to get their first sight, feel, and taste of snow.]

Yeah, so, ummm, I'm going to have to have you not fall off the scary, cloudy, cliff. Mkay?

12PM – 1PM

Green meadows surrounded by absolutely stunning mountains, glaciers, clouds, rivers. Have already taken dozens of pictures and movies buy they do not serve one percent of justice of how majestic and sublime this scenery is. Rain clouds have dissipated and driving into the bright valley.

Stunning.

1PM – 2:30PM

Passed out. Woke up in a dry, hot river valley surrounded by huge, rocky mountains with landslide trails. Picked up some more water and sugar candies at the passport check and we started climbing more. Reading about what lies ahead in terms of passes gets me a little nervous that my cargo shorts idea was a little too cocky. I can get aggressive with “cold” weather in Jackson and NYC, but versus the Himalaya? We’ll see…

Okay Horn Please.

2:30PM – 5PM

Combination of sleep, sights, dhaba stops, peeing, eating snacks, and pounding water. Starting to feel mild affects of AMS so popped an Ibuprofen – can’t wait until 5:30PM so I can take another Diomox. [AMS – Acute Mountain Sickness, is a sickness that affects those that do not acclimate property in high altitudes. With Dr. T’s (Tejas’s) help, I got all the right medicines and enough water to get me through the trip]. Drove up to and stopped on Baralach La, a mountain pass at 5,000 meters (16,500 ft.), most probably the highest I’ve ever been outside of an airplane. Passed a sign that says 29 kilometers until Sarchu. I find that it’s easiest to pass through the bumps and dull headache by sleeping straight up and not letting my head touch the headrest. Tick, tock.

The little engine that could...

6PM

Wake up at Sarchu, which is far from a village/town/civilization. Sarchu is basically a campground of campgrounds. There are 30 or so tents in a rectangle with a dining tent and cooking tent at our establishment. A worker asks me if I want a standard or deluxe tent. The deluxe has an attached toilet for 200 rupees more ($4US). Hmm. Move into my deluxe tent and I really like the digs. Very spacious, probably 10 x 10 x 10 ft. Check out the bathroom, it’s actually a toilet stuck into the ground! Change into warm layers, have a hot chai, take my Diomox, set my alarm for dinner and crash.

8PM

Did I just see a small Indo/Asian guy pop his head into my tent and yell “Dinner”!? Stunned, I threw my shoes on and headed to the dining hall. My fellow passengers were all eating and socializing. I sat down with my plate of roti, dal, and mixed vegetable and joined the conversation. It’s quite spectacular the cross section of people on my bus. Two French Canadiens from Montreal, a couple from France, 2 Indos my age from Dehli/Singapore, and Italian, another Indo traveling with the Italian. Awesome to hear the different languages that went across the table (sad to say I was the only one that could speak 1 useful language)!. Looked up and saw every star imaginable. It’s cold. Currently typing this under 3 blankets. Going to retire now, see you in the AM!

The digs.

Sunday, July 19^th, AM

11AM

Let me preface by saying it is now 11AM and I’m finally feeling better to get around to writing this. The things I do for you guys…

It must have been the dal. I’ve been trying to think of how to title this post, and was honing in on “The Day My Iron Stomach Failed Me*”, - asterisk for I think it was the altitude that caused my problems. Anyhow, I had so much gas during my sleep I don’t think I’ve ever farted that much in my life. Yes, I do realize this may be the boldest statement I’ve ever said, but it definitely ranks up there. I woke up with excruciating stomach pains (after careful research I found out that I wasn’t the only one). I did read somewhere about this happening. Someone called it HAFE – High Altitude Flatulence Emissions. I couldn’t believe it until this morning! It’s disconcerting that the staple food in this region is Rajma and Rice – or Rice and Beans. (Aside – how amazing is it that the staple food around the whole world is rice and beans)?

Anyways, I was scared to eat anything, just had my chai and took a couple pieces of jam and break into the bus. The rest of the morning was a combination of farts, burps, and sleep. I was awake where we climbed through the Gata Loops – an infamous series of 21 back and forths (loops) over a large mountain. The lanes were about 1.25 US lanes wide, half paved/half rocks. At some times we have to stop to let a line of goods carriers and gas tankers through sometimes we pass them and look over the edge of the cliffs and shit our pants.

The scenery on this part of the trip was very arid. Lonely Planet describes it as stone and scree which is a great description. Very dry valley/deserts, huge monolithic mountain ranges with rivers of rock coming off them instead of water. Dusty roads had the driver recommend to close the windows up – not a good situation taking into the account the heat and my farts.

Stopped at a dhaba, had some chai (the ultimate recuperator) and felt better immediately. We have one more pass to go over, the second highest one in the world at 17K+ ft.

I'll have a chai and an oxygen to go - thank you kindly, please.

I really miss these sunglasses. They were 35 rupees! (70 cents!) No wonder they broke.

3PM

Excitement is building! We’re a mere 60kms from Leh, perfect day, paved roads through glorious rocky mountains. As I look up the walls of these mammoths I pray that Sunday is the day off for rockslides.

Fitting, the song playing right now is “Mera Dil Be Kitna Pagal Hai” from Saajan – the same song that was playing when I got picked up a few days back. Full circle.

Lachung La, the last high pass we went through was gorgeous. We could see the Himalaya all around us – rocky peaks, dry valleys, snowy peaks, etc. After that, it was all downhill. Took a quick nap and woke up at a dhaba and nervously wolfed down some Maggi noodles and chai and we continued on our way.

Sign we just passed says “Know AIDS, No AIDS”. Hmm. Clever girl.

I see the Indus River! Woohoo! Now the blog title makes sense!

View from hotel in Leh. Now that's what I call a 'vista'...