Hososhima, Japan Deep in a cave off the coast of Japan, a small shrine awaits those travelers who dare enter between rising tides. A Torii glows red in the dwindling sunlight, marking the gateway from the profane to the sacred. Venturing deeper towards the shrine, the cave swallows you whole in a cocoon of cool … More Day 279: The Gateway
Hososhima, Japan. Prayer cards for protection and prosperity tied by a shrine nestled in the depths of a cave.
Somewhere off the coast of Japan there was a boat. And on this boat there were a lot of Chinese people and few Americans. These Americans were exhausted from a long day in Tokyo and decided to relax in their cabin for a bit. Little did they know a spectacular sight awaited them just beyond … More Day 277: Somewhere in Between
Click here for Japan Cruise Part 1 and Part 2 Wednesday Since we were all wiped from yesterday’s excursion, were were happy to hear that the boat would not arrive in Yokohama till around 2pm. This meant we could sleep in, get in a good strength workout at the gym, and eat a big lunch … More Japan Cruise Part 3: Tokyo Tower
Tokyo. The city comes alive at night. Roads and highways intersect the city like veins and arteries, pulsing with the rhythm of 9 million people on the move. They are the heart and soul of this glowing metropolis, acting as a single organism. They are the light.
For Part I of the Japan Cruise, click here Tuesday After a full day at sea, unable to escape the constant rocking and rolling of the ground beneath my feet, I was ready to get off the boat and explore Japan! The first port of the cruise was Wakayama, a relatively small city in southern … More Japan Cruise Part 2: Wakayama
Prayer cards lined up inside a Buddhist temple in Wakayama, Japan Whether these cards pray for hope, love, healing, or loss, their uniformity brings a sense of calm and peace. Under the shelter of the spacious and elaborate temple, people pull and release a braided rope to ring the bell, cementing each prayer in a … More Day 275: All in a row
Traversing the East China Sea is probably not on everybody’s to-do list. Although it is probably on the list of the Chinese and Japanese so they can park themselves on the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands with signs of protest. Uninhabited islands are perfect for a good fight. But for us Americans on an Italian cruise … More Day 274: Traversing the East China Sea
We left the port in Shanghai around 4pm on Sunday evening and were due to dock in Wakayama, Japan early Tuesday morning. That meant an entire day at sea! Sunday First we cruised past the massive port of Shanghai, with the Financial District in the distance. The port is huge with hundreds of loading … More Japan Cruise Part I: I’m on a boat
You know vacation is over when… You wake up to the sound of firecrackers outside your window on a Monday morning. When this happens you can also be certain that you are indeed, back in China. But there are definitely things to celebrate on this Monday morning. Like for instance: 1. Post-vacation tan (a darker shade … More Day 273: Beautiful and Toxic
Kirsten Captures 