Indonesia: The Long Lost Jackson Sibling Appears!

View from the Hotel



Katie Jackson



After a night in Kuala Lumpur, we boarded a plane to Yogyakarta, Indonesia.  As we were in flight, Tim leaned over to show me an article about Mount Merapi, a volcano within 30 kilometers of where we were staying that had just been declared on red alert.  Honestly, I didn't think much of it as it was early and not enough caffeine had quite entered my body yet.  We landed down in Yogyakarta and were greeted by a team from our hotel ready for us and all of our bags.  En route to the Amanjiwo Hotel, we passed not only the volcano but the famous Borobudur Monument, a large reason for this visit.  After a quick dip in the crystal clear pool, we all got changed for dinner.  I decided to stay in for the night, as I had a phenomenal book I just couldn't put down.  A little after six that night, I heard a bit of a rumble and didn't think much of it.  I opened the doors to head out and saw the ash raining down to cover everything and anything in sight with a blanket of ash! We were about 25 kilometers away from the volatile volcano, within 15 kilometers of the volcano had already been evacuated.  Within seconds the housekeeping staff tracked everyone in the hotel down to provide a complimentary pair of safety goggles and surgery mask to avoid intake of the ash.  The following morning I ventured down to the pool to go for an early morning dip and the water was completely black due to the abundance of ash! We tried laying out on our patio but the wind continued to blow ash everywhere.  Even dining proved difficult--as the hotel staff would not let us eat in the semi open restaurant, instead they escorted us to the protected library to dine.  I must say, I did become a fan of all the volcano gear.  As did Sam, as he continues to wear the goggles!

"Welcome to the Jungle, Part 2"

Canopy walk

Danum Valley Borneo Rainforest Lodge: We headed west to the Danum Valley, a 438 square kilometer of virgin forest, undisturbed from the logging and oil plantations destroying parts of Sabah.  As a result, it prides itself in its rich flora and fauna and it surely did not disappoint. We arrived just in time for a school session and lunch before we got decked out in our jungle trekking gear, leech socks included. The leeches continued to love Sam, but with each leech discovery the freak out became less and less.  By the end of our Danum Valley stay, most of us were able to flick the leech off of us without too much hysteria.  Within minutes of starting, Rafael, our guide, had led us straight to a wild orangutan to catch her building her bed of branches for the night.  It was quite the sight as we dodged unworthy branches falling to the ground.  After a yummy buffet, we finished the night in an open air truck for our night safari ride.  With a seriously powerful flash light we were able to see flying squirrels, bearded pigs, mouse deer (smallest deer in the world) and the slow loris.  The bearded pig was definitely a crowd favorite :) The following morning we hit the canopy walk to be at eye level with the red leaf monkeys and hornbills.  I never thought I would find myself loving a morning nature walk but it truly is a fabulous way to start the day, even before breakfast!  Our day continued with a tubing adventure in the late afternoon.  As I rounded the first corner, the current picked up and sent me into an enormous wooden tree in the water.  I thought I survived with just a wounded bottom but looked down and it had also popped my inner tube.  Luckily, our guide Rafael was happy to swim the river, so he passed his tube down my way. As we turned the next corner, we came upon fifteen monkeys enjoying a little beach party within feet of us.  They didn't seem to mind the party crashers as they didn't look up from the delicious fresh water.  Our tubing afternoon concluded with our guide leading us in a rendition of John Denver's "Country Road" song remixed for the Danum Valley--"Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong, Danum Valley, mountain daddy, take me home, country roads".  Nothing like a John Denver classic to finish off a beautiful day :) The night safari walk introduced us to even more new animals--the tree frog, cricket frog, Sandbar deer and the leopard cat!

Caving

Mulu National Park: We crossed the border into the Malay state of Sarawak to visit the Mulu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its incredible caves and mountainous rainforest setting.  We spent our first afternoon enjoying the pool, relaxation and traditional dance performances.  We woke up the following morning ready for an action filled day! We began the morning in a new form of transport for this trip, the longboat, which made our first stop at the Penan village.  One of the last nomadic tribes in the world, the Penan village welcomed us as we learned more about their culture and visited their craft market.  Sam made the only purchase of the day--choosing a traditional Penan wooden blowpipe with accompanying darts (fortunately not poisonous!).  In the morning we journeyed through the Wind Cave and the Clearwater Cave, topped off with a swim in the freezing cold clearwater lake outside the cave.  Feeling completely rejuvenated, we couldn't pass up the world's longest canopy walk! We had not filled our quota of stalagtites or stalagmites for the day, so continued on to Langs Cave and the Deer Cave.  The true excitement for the day came when we reached the Deer Cave, the largest cave passageway in the world.  I can only imagine the force of water that tumbled through these enormous boulder to form this movie set of a cave.  Home to over 3 million bats, the ceiling of the cave is entirely covered with  the smelly creatures and the floor covers itself in their guano. As you walk deeper into the cave and the smell gets even worse, you reach the "Garden of Eden", an area with deep green vegetation due to a slight hole in the roof of the cave.  As you turn around to head back to the opening, the profile of Abraham Lincoln has been identified in the cave wall, said to be guarding the back entrance.  We emerged from the cave just in time to see over one million bats depart the cave in a choreographed pattern in search of food.  The constant stream of bats from the cave lasted at least 20 minutes--truly an amazing spectacle!

Batang Ai Hilton Longhouse: After a nights stay and amazing seafood dinner in Kuching (the king prawns we ate had been taken out of the sea 30 minutes earlier), we started our journey to our first longhouse and encounter with the Iban tribe.  Formerly known as the sea dayaks, the Iban our famous for the practice of headhunting.  Our guide assured as that the practice of headhunting officially ended 100 years ago, although he could not confirm when it unoffically ended.  Although our accomodations were quite nice, we spent our first full day visiting the Iban village longhouse.  Built on stilts, this particular longhouse provided a home to 37 families.  Upon our arrival we were greeted with a traditional Iban dance and a generous portion of both rice wine and whiskey! The generosity continued as we were welcomed into the chief's home for lunch to dine on local delicacies--jungle greens, bamboo chicken and pineapple. Yum and yum! An Iban visit wouldn't be complete without a blowpipe demonstration.  I impressed the locals with both my deadly aim and force--even with two darts at once :)

"Welcome to the Jungle!"

I never would have thought after a childhood of covering my ears as my brother blared the GNR's "Welcome to the Jungle" song from his bedroom, that it would become a song I would sing as a 26 year old walking through the rainforest jungles of Borneo. With over 60% of the island still covered in dense rainforests, the biodiversity of this island is unparalleled across the world.  To this day they continue to find new species in the depths of the forest and thousands of plants and animals are endemic only to Borneo.  For the next ten days in the journey we emerged ourselves in the rainforest.  With so much to see, we were on an in and out schedule--spending two nights at a lodge and moving on.  Here is the rundown of our Borneo rainforest adventures...

Orangutan

Proboscis Monkey

Kinabatangan River Lodge: Once back on land from a fabulous morning boat ride from Turtle Island, we piled into the mini van towards Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center.  Many believe that only 20,000 orangutans remain in existence today, that of which they can only be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra (Indonesia).  Orangutan translates to "man of the forest" and with my first sighting you can see the resemblance to man as they have a  96.4% DNA match with humans. As one orangutan leaned back on the feeding ledge with one hand behind his back and one scratching his belly, it seemed like it could even be a higher match.  At 10 am on the dot the orangutans were waiting on the feeding platform for their first meal of the day consisting of bananas and payapa. Once the ranger dropped the fruit, the four orangutans went to town.  I'm talking one banana in each hand, a papaya slice in each food and one in the mouth.  Just when you thought they were full they took one more piece of fruit in each limb and cartwheeled themselves across the rope in search for a perfect branch for a midday siesta.   It was hard to pull ourselves away from the adorable manlike creature with the fiery orange hair and ear to ear grin, but we were promised by our guide Wan that this would not be our last siting of wildlife for the day and he was right.  We headed back to Sandakan and hopped on another boat towards the Kinabatangan River where would be staying the next two nights.  Surrounded by dense trees and stifling humidity we took an afternoon river cruise in search of wildlife.  We spotted crocodiles, silver langur monkeys, pig tailed macaques, enormous monitor lizards, colorful kingfishers, long tailed macaques and more--all of which were only feet away.  Although all of these animals were amazing, it was this first night on the Kinabatangan River that I was able to declare my new all time favorite animal--drum roll please..............the proboscis monkey. Found only on the island of Borneo, the distinctive trait of this adorable creature is the male's large protruding nose. The large size of the nose, up to 7 inches, is used not only to attract the ladies but also to regulate their body temperatures. Their large noses also allow their warning calls to amplify --this deep moan that carries hundreds and hundreds of feet.  Make sure you ask to hear my probosics monkey call when I get back--I promise to delight you with my newfound skill :) After further research, I have also learned that the nose enlarges and turns a bright red color once angry or excited.  The rainforest video we watched prior to our departure describes the fur on a proboscis male "as a male wearing a bomber jacket with ballet tights". In addition to their unique look, they are quite playful as they hop from branch to branch looking for food or a mating partner. Google the proboscis--I guarantee it will put a smile on your face :) We finished the animal filled day with a beautiful sunset cruise back to the lodge.

We hit the water bright and early in an attempt to see the Borneo Pygmy Elephant, a smaller subspecies of the Asian elephant.  Technology and luck were on our side as our guide's cousin texted him that morning that he had seen elephants crossing the river.  We headed to the crossing point, but no elephants :( Wan, our determined guide, hopped off the boat at the sight of fresh tracks.  We waited patiently and within minutes he was back with a direction to get out of the boat.  By the horrendous smell of the elephant poop and wet tracks, I knew they had to be close but never did I imagine I would turn the corner and be within 10 meters of the imposing animal! We caught a quick glimpse and the first elephant was out our sight.  After the group settled down from the excitement, we began to hear the plants rustling behind us.  Our guide emphatically motioned for us to back up and the girls took it as a cue to head straight for the boat.  The rest of us tested our luck a bit longer and within seconds saw three elephants (one adorable baby) emerge from the grass.  Our common sense finally kicked in and we left the animals at peace to finish breakfast.  It was truly an adrenaline rush to start our day--and quite an amazing sight! 

Strangler Fig Tree

The excitement continued as we finished up our morning coffee and biscuits in the boat and tied up our leech socks.  Yes, you read it correctly, leech socks! Our guide giggled as we asked question upon question about the tiny creature.."Where do they bite you? Do they carry diseases? Can they get through your socks? Why should we tuck in our shirts? How do you get them off?".  We jumped off the boat and set foot in the rainforest for our first jungle trek. No path, no signs, just us and nature baby. In an attempt to alleviate our worries, our guide quickly pointed out a leech--tiny little suckers that once detecting the warm body temperature latches on and moves to a warm spot by attaching on with the two suckers at each end of their body.  One feeding lasts them up to 6 months and enlarges them up to 8-10 times. Unfortunately, all of this information from our guide did not make them any less creepy.  Within minutes Sam let out a tiny yelp and one little sucker had somehow found its way into his armpit and latched on.  I think we all screamed more than Sam as he remained calm and our guide removed the pesky leech.  I ended up with 3 leech encounters throughout the 45 minute walk--all pretty harmless.  Although the one that got down my back was definitely an acrobatic workout to get off of me.  We all continued to provide "leech checks" to each other every few steps.  We made it back to the boat alive, minus a little blood, and headed back to the lodge for dry, clean clothes and an afternoon canopy walk.  The fabulous day was completed with Wan teaching me how to play the local game "Carrom", a combination of table shuffleboard and billiards.  One more night at this place and I would have been running the table on all of the locals :)

Turtle Power

On the morning of October 15th we woke up at 4:15 am to get to the aiport for an early flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan--the old capital of borneo desteroyed during WWII.  We arrived safely (although our luggage didn't) and immediately hopped on our first boat to Turtle Island- a turtle sanctuary working desparately to stop the exctinction of turtles.  There used to be over 30 species of turtles, however, due to poaching and other human actions only 7 remain.  Two of which lay their eggs on the beaches of this island--the green and hawskbill turtles.  We reached our deserted island, as only 50 people are allowed on the island at a time.  Luckily enough they we passed the test :) Although the afternoon was filled with swimming in the Sulu Sea and even snorkeling, the true excitement comes after sunset.  No one is allowed on the beach after sunset, as the rangers are patiently waiting for the female turtles to begin laying their eggs. During an intense game of Bananagrams, our guide yelled for group 1 to head to the beach.  As fast as I've ever seen the Kirley family move, we were sprinting out to the beach to catch the action.  We were able to witness an amazing sight as a female green turtle laid 120 eggs right in front of us.  The ranger safely removed the eggs from the predator ridden beach to the guarded sanctuary. The final stage of the night found us back on the beach releasing the one month old hatchlings into the water.  Only 2-3 inches long, we immediately fell in love with the cute bunch of baby turtles and cheered as they scurried into the water.  We hoped that with our praise and good wishes, more than the projected 1-4% baby hatchlings would survive their first night in the water. The entire sequence of events left me speechless as the night came to an end--truly a memorable experience!

Mt. Kinabalu: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"...But This One Was Pretty Damn Close!

Off to Borneo we go--the third largest island in the world divided into the countries of Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.  All of our time would be spent in the Malay states of Sabah and Sarawak.  As we got off the airplane at our first stop, I felt a personal welcome with the "I Heart KK" tshirts hanging from every shop.  With a little more thought (and humility) I turned the corner to find the Welcome to Kota Kinabalu sign which explained the tshirts a little more.  Our time in KK was broken up into two portions--beach resort and mountain climbing. 

Rasa Ria View from Room

A team of employees greeted us with a mai tai mocktail and a cold wash cloth as we entered the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Beach Resort late Friday night.  Paradise ensued for the next two days as my toughest decision came down to whether I should swim at the pool or in the sea :) I knew it was a place after my heart (and KTB's) as they delievered homemade chicken wings to your lounge chair beside the pool each hour.  Let's just say--I found myself at the more pool much more often.

 After a weekend of rest, relaxation, three books finished and some serious sunburn, we were picked up Monday morning for our journey to Mount Kinabalu, the largest mountain in SE Asia at 4,100 meters.  We spent the afternoon exploring the unique biodiversity of Kinabalu National Park.  With over 1500 varieties of orchards, 42 species of frogs and the world's largest stick insect, there was lots to see.  Many of you would be so proud and shocked to know, I'm finally at the age of 26 overcoming my fear of anything in the insect family.  After a good ol' fashioned camp lodge dinner buffet, we all crashed early in anticipation of climbing the big mountain the following morning. 

Ready for the Climb :)

Sam wiped out!

The alarm buzzed the following morning way too early and I put on all my hiking gear as if I'd been doing it all my life.  Caleb, my twin brother, had handpicked my hiking boots and they looked pretty damn good :) The six of us were joined by two guides, Petrus and Nail, who added this trek to their estimted total of 450 climbs of Mt. Kinabalu.  After some morning stretches, we took off and the first kilometer seemed a breeze.  The carb loading and healthy breakfast seemed to be doing their job.  After km 1, our group faced some setbacks as Tess became quite sick.  After several more sips of water and attempts to perservere, the decision was made that Tess and Tim would head back to the lodge. Down to four!  With Megan and Hannah's speedy hiking skills, they were well ahead of us; so it would be 6 year old Sam and I as hiking partners for the remaining 5 1/2 kilometers to our camp.  Not sure if it says something about my lack of hiking skills or the fact that Sam is the coolest and smartest 6 year old I have ever met, but we were the PERFECT partners. We posed for pictures at every half kilometer mark, played twenty questions until seemed to run out of people, sang our favorite Jackson 5 songs and became friends with people from all over the world sharing in this experience.  The weather seemed to change within minutes as we made our way up--I would go from dripping sweat to muscle clenching cold in just a matter of seconds.  We faced multiple terrains on our ascend as well--steep staircases to sheer rock to stone scrambling.  Sam and I managed to power through with pink sugar cookies and mint chewing gum as snacks.  The scenery on the way up was stunning--picturesque views, carniverous insect eating plants and hybrid squirrel rat creatures.  The hours and the distance passed and we finally reached our lodge after our 6.5 km trek.  We celebrated with the rest of our group with some rowdy games of Speed, hot water and stunning views of the journey we'd just made.  This would be the end of the climb for Sam and Hannah but Megan and I had a 2:30 am departure time to finish off the rest of the legendary mountain.  Between the anxiety about the rest of the climb, the pain in my knee or my first bunk bed in years--I didn't sleep at all.  In fact none of us did. After our entire three weeks in Borneo this night remainds one of my favorite memories -the four of us sleeping in the lodge on the mountain as we stayed up playing word association games and giggling while laying in our double bunk beds. What a night :)

Mount Kinabalu

Megan and I were already up for our 2:30 am departure.  We quickly rolled out of bed and put on all of our gear- including our headlamps this time--and hit the trail.  It was absolutely pitch black, making it possible to see stars I've never seen before.  We were able to look down on villages and cities as most sane people were sleeping.  The hardest part of the climb came when we got to a slick, sheer face of rock which could only be conquered with an attached climbing rope.  So hard in fact that I took one step, my knee gave out and I face planted on the hard surface.  During the painful fall I bet my lip in pain so hard that I would have a beautiful fat lip for a week to come :) Definitely worth it! Megan and I never reached the highest summit but made it up to a lower peak with incredible views.  We finished the climb in two hours and were back down at camp to pick up Hannah and Sam for the real trek downhill.  We made it down with Hannah's strict time goals for every 1/2 kilometer.  We were greeted at the bottom by our cheering section- Tess, Tim and our guide Danson.  After many celebratory pictures and a certificate, we hopped into the van and back to the Rasa Ria where I don't think I moved for the next 10 hours.  I celebrated that night with a large tepanyaki dinner, a glass of red wine and a bottle of tylenol.  Whew!





Top 5 Reasons I Loved Hong Kong

We woke up bright and early the following morning for our first flight in a month--bound for Hong Kong.  Although we had less than 48 hours in Hong Kong, I was easily able to compile my top 5 reasons on why I loved the world's largest vertical city.

1. The MC Hammer Pants seem to be the newest fashion trend for women.  Seriously, does it get any better than that? Of course, I was immediately ready to purchase until I actually saw myself in the mirror.  There is never, under any circumstance, a reason to add width to my hips or butt region. However, I am still a huge fan of the look and comfort of the trend.

2. Hong Hong hosts the largest laser light show in the world.  Our first night we walked to the harbor to witness the show--it combines the lights of the expansive and towering skyline with choreographed laser lights in rhythm with the Hong Kong Orchestra.  Truly a stunning spectacle!

3. First school field trip---to Hong Kong Disneyland! Hard to find the educational value in this journey, but truly a great time. I mean, we did ride Space Mountain six times. 6 is a composite number, so there you go.

4. Waking up in the morning to the Minnesota Twins playoff game with an extra special bonus of Carl Pavano's mustache.  You know life is good when you can lay in your pajamas, drink a cup of coffee, read the international paper and watch baseball in bed.

5. Shopping, shopping, shopping 24/7! Street vendors and many shops are open until the wee hours of the morning.  My watch tricked me at times, between the stores being open, the bright lights of buildings, street vendors hopping and thousands of people walking, it was hard to believe it was past midnight.

 

Korea: It's Getting Hot In Here (My Mouth!)

Korean boyfriend in Busan

Using a ferry, 3 trains, a longer ferry and a super taxi we finally arrived in Busan, Korea. I arrived in Korea not knowing much about the culture, food or history and left wanting to spend more time there.  We only had 5 full days in Korea so there was not a moment to waste.  The ignorant American in me was expecting a small port town in Busan, as I had never heard of this city.  However, Busan is the second largest city in South Korea with over 4 million people.  We arrived late in Busan that night, yet still managed to hit the main drag in search of a dinner spot.  Immediately the English translations humored me--instead of "you are here" on a map it shows you an arrow at "your present situation". A popular restaurant spot in Busan called The Twosome Place boasts "delicious love making at your table" as their motto.  Our group opted out on the love making and instead dined at V.I.P's (Very Important Person's).  We got a glimpse into Korean fashion as we walked along the main drag on a Friday night--I was even able to pose for a photo with my new Korean boyfriend.

After city life for a night, we were on our way to Gyeongju-the ancient capitol of Korea from as far back as 57 BC. The entire city is named a world cultural heritage site and is correctly named "The Museum Without Walls" for around every turn is an ancient tomb, temple or artifact.  Aesthetically, the temples are much different than Japan.  The vibrantly painted structures and balance of yin and yang in the architecture made the temples unique and quite magnificent.  We completed our day in Gyeongju seeing the famous Bulguksa Temple, Seokguram Grotto, National Museum, Ancient Folkcraft Village and the Daereungwon Tomb Park.  After a day of serious sightseeing, we were all ready to let loose in a family karaoke session.  With an endless book of songs, our own room, two microphones and a tambourine, we delighted many with our diverse musical selections and beautiful voices.  I introduced the kids to my rendition of "Proud Mary" with choreographed dance moves, although the entire family's Jackson 5 "ABC" earned the top score of the night.  The music theme continued that night as I sat in the bar enjoying a well deserved post performance glass (or two) of red wine.  I couldn't take my eyes or ears away from the Korean lounge singer sensations "DeAnn and Buddy" singing Mariah Carey, Ace of Base, Backstreet Boys and Eric Clapton (only to name a few!).

Kimchi

We were off the next morning en route to the capitol of Seoul! Although it was hard to tear myself away from the hip and happening lobby of the W Hotel where we were staying, we hit Myeong Dong, a major shopping district.  The lights, the vendors, the hoards of people, the skyscrapers AND THE FOOD! It wouldn't be a blog entry without me talking about food--so here goes. While in Korea, I don't think my mouth ever stopped burning from the massive amount of chili peppers or chili pepper oil in everything.  One of the signature dishes is the kimchi--a fermented chili vegetable dish (cabbage, cucumber, radish, etc.).  The bulgogi (thinly sliced and seasoned Korean beef) and dumplings were equally as spicy and delicious.  My true moment of insanity came while eating the haejangguk--directly translated as "soup to chase a hangover".  After every bite I had to place a cold lettuce leaf on my lips to cool down the fire, only to finish the entire bowl with momentarily lettuce to the lips breaks. Although my blog would make it seem that I ate for the entire time in Seoul, we also visited the ancient imperial palace and caught a breathtaking view of the city while atop the Seoul Tower.  For a history lesson for both the kids and myself, we spent the afternoon at the Korean War Memorial and Museum.  It was a particularly interesting time to visit as 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. 

Way too much to see and eat in just five days! Off to Hong Kong.

Last 3 Days in Japan!

Nara Deer



Virocana Buddha



We said goodbye to the Westin in Kyoto by ravaging their breakfast buffet--massive plates of Japanese grapes, visiting our friend the egg man, seaweed rolls and more.  After a action packed train ride full of reading, writing and arithmetic we arrived in Nara, the most ancient capital of Japan.  Short lived, it only remained the capitol from 710-784 (very short lived).  This is a big year in Nara as they are celebrating their 1300 year anniversary with a party of all parties in November! Woot woot! We hopped in a cab and got dropped off at Nara Park.  The midwest girl in me was a little shocked as I looked out my cab window to see multiple deer just chilling on the street or bravely walking up to groups of people. We got out of our protection mobile (A.k.a taxi) and the silly American side of us decided to buy food for the kind animals. The deer immediately flocked towards us and bowed their heads in an effort to get a bite.  However, one deer thought my butt looked much better and decided to attempt to take a nice little check out of that instead :) There was nothing I could do in return to the deer for Nara considers deer their sacred animal.  Legend says that a mythological god arrived to Nara on a white deer and therefore they are considered the messengers of god--and apparently hungry for a booty bite.  It was something I needed to get used to as there were over 1120 deer walking around the city.  It was a quick recovery as we caught a glimpse of the first gate of the Todaiji Temple. The gate alone was stunning as we stood there for minutes in awe of this original structure built 1300 years ago.  Once through the gates, we could see the actual Todaiji Temple- the largest wooden structure in the world.  The size of this temple is necessary as it houses the largests bronze statue in the world- the Virocana Buddha standing 50 feet tall.  Go big or go home seems to be the motto of Nara architecture! When I entered the temple I immediately knew that this was the most breathtaking sight I had seen in Japan. The city boasts a ton of history, but also a great sake brewery (priorities here people!)  Fortunately in Japan you can drink sake at any hour of the day, so the tastings began.  Dry sake, sparkling sake, partly fermented sake, sweet sake, you name it. I'm definitely a sweet sake girl, although I wouldn't turn down a glass of sparkling sake either. Our day in Nara wouldn't be complete without another ryokan stay--equipped with a luxurious hot bath (with sake barrels and cups while you bathe) and our first room where all 6 of us stayed together. LOL--definitely a fun night of family bonding :)



The Floating Shrine

Our farewell tour of Japan continued with another train ride and arrival in Hiroshima.  Although we were meant to quickly transfer trains, we felt we couldn't travel through the city without visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum at the site of the atomic bomb.  The museum did an incredible job of documenting the tragedy that leveled this city and killed so many people, while also aiming to eliminate nuclear weapons around the world.  After a somber walk through this museum and a handwritten note in the World Peace Book, we hopped on a train and our first ferry ride to Miyajima Island, our last spot in Japan.  Although most people visit for the allure of the famous"Floating Shrine", a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it also houses the world's largest rice spoon - an interesting fact for trivia :)  The Itsukushima Shrine (or floating shrine) appears to be floating at high tide, although you can walk up next to it during low tide. We decided to rent bikes for the day and took a fabulous ride around the quaint island.  We spent our last meal in Japan sharing our favorite memories, meals, laughs and sights of this great country.  Arrigato Japan!