London the third

Museum visiting and sustainable tourism places discovering third time in London went pretty well.
I missed the conference because of the plane delay, but I witnessed so many wonderful things:

Natural history museum: the colonial power of Great Britain accumulated this vast treasure from all the corners of the world. The Natural History Museum is a beautiful enormous place and worth the visit:



This is it from the outside, from the inside, it unravels beauties like dinasours' skeletons, stuffed animals, evolution proofs, etc.



When on the inside, you pass through the simulated core of the earth to the volcano and earthquake exhibition. Beautiful and scary.



There is a whole collection of all existing hummingbirds and with a lovely display:


And, of course the dinosaur waving goodbye at the exit:



The science museum is just next door drom the Natural history museum:

and the beautiful Da Vinci exhibition:



The cosmonaut exhibition  where the first rockets that went to space are displayed:



and guess what this is:

The Lajka pod:



It was short, but sweet unexpected visit to London.

:)

kisses

London calling for the second time

This time it was a semi/business trip. But still nice

We visited the markets, explored some spots for work, learned quite a bit. AAAAAAAnd went to Tate modern museum, which kind of a became our tradition in London. AAAAAnd ate a lot of good Indian food.

At Photogramma, pictures speak the most, so

These are some from the Growing Communities Farmers Market

That's all! :)

Hong Kong living

I want to move here.  I don't know if that's just because I have still a couple of days left before coming back to stress, studies, refugee crisis in Europe, late night writing, and I want to avoid it, or it's just the spirit of this eventful city, full of surprises. I am sitting here, on the beach of the island of lunnan, eating my corn and pineapple on a stick, I am wet from swimming in the ocean, and wishing that I could live like this for the rest of my life, but it doesn't work that way. I will have to endure a lot of stress to get places like I planned. But, then again, nothing did happen the way I always planned, so I might just go ahead and stay here. Why not? Close to all the interesting countries I have never been to, with budget airoplane companies, I am closer to Australia for visiting my cousin and friends, so why not? I never planned on living in one place till the rest of my life, anyhow. But, I already payed for my semester, my work is waiting for me, and people, too. And my family is going to go crazy if I move to another country, again. So, guess I am going to go. I still have a couple of days to enjoy and then take a long flight home. 

I could tell you how the people are here on this careless island. That is true, just 49 minutes ferry ride away from smoky Hong Kong, there is this paradise where cars are forbidden. You have bikes, your legs and a boat to get around and it is beautiful. The walking paths are clearly marked and the sights are easy to get to. Every now and then, you will see a map with the distance to the next important sight and lots of restaurants, food trucks with meats on a stick, beaches, trees and people. The Hong Kong living is fast, but here you can get away from it all. 

The most amazing thing is that people come practicing Tai Chi on the beach, so you can stand behind them and copy. That would seem a bit weird, so I skipped that, but I was seriously thinking about it. 


live long and prosper, I am off to Europe.

Sad Hiroshima

The building above which the first atomic bomb exploded nearly 70 years ago is preserved to remind future generations of the horrors of the nuclear weapon. It is devastating to read all of those stories and testimonies. It has quite an impact on ones emotional state. I couldn't sleep for a week, but I am glad I've visited Hiroshima. It is necessary to constantly remind ourselves that there is good and bad in the world and therefore try to make the world a better place as an individual. That is how I saw it, even though it was a tough experience. The memorial centre is filled with items from the explosion which can provide the unbearable feeling of sorrow and worry for the future. I was glad to have a reminder that I have to constantly revalue everything I hear and then decide what the truth is. Media don't do it well enough, individual has to decide what to really see and believe. We are all responsible for all the truths in the world and we have to oblige ourselves to constantly ask questions, and speaking out the unspoken truths.

 Ok, I lied. I can't let you without at least an explanation. They are all the photos of the building above which the bomb exploded. The models are before and after the explosion. 

The photos from the Memorial centre with real artifacts and recreations of people and their skin melting off:

The mushroom cloud seen 12 minutes after from an island 25 kilometers away.

The statue has been damaged by the heat.

The saddest part is childrens' photos of lying bodies or destroyed houses. Let's just hope something like that doesn't happen again. 

With a sadness in my heart, I moved on, as it was time to fly back to Hong Kong. All night long I was thinking about the stories of the victims and the testimonies of the survivors, and must say I didn't come to any conclusion which would be a rational one for the disaster.

Crazy lady in Kyoto

No, I did not meet anyone crazy, everybody is super relaxed and polite, not to mention organized. It was me. I am crazy about Kyoto. I always wanted to come here and see the beautiful temples and learn a bit more about the history of the Empiriqal Japan and its ways. Discovering Asia, especially the ancient times is an amazing thing. 

I saw in Tokyo, formerly known as Edo, the difference in climate from the Chinese one. I am not talking politics. ;) The humidity is lessened than in mainland China and it is not so very hot. 

I was still getting used to Asian custom of people constantly thanking you and bowing. And then instinctively I bow, and then they bow again, and it goes on and on. I would really like to learn the rules of it, as it seemed I got something wrong. it's probably the matter of who bows last, how many times, or the occasion. Well, good thing I came to a country that everybody was willing to explain you all of the rules, any time. And even written rules-they are everywhere. Flashing down from buildings, sidewalks, streets.

Sometimes funnily spelled, but I complied, when in Rome.....

Afterwards, the road took us to the famous temple. Well, us and hundrets of tourists with selfie sticks. The street leading up to it offered geisha makeovers, and lots of women did it, walking tiny steps up the hill to the temple. 

And there it was, raising high in the back, the red temple. I saw a lot of groups dressed the same, and a lot of students, as well, dressed in school uniforms, which was funny, because it was Saturday.

The most memorable thing about Kyoto was the bamboo forest. The next day we got to it, it was raining and still, ethereal were a lot of tourists. The sight took my breath away.

It threw me back eons and eons, until I saw the selfy people. I knew that people took a lot of pictures of themselves, but it is starting to get ridiculous. I mean, we all take selfies, but the quantity... It is ridiculous. It's better just asking someone to take the picture for us. 

Kyoto was beautiful with its temples, parks and lovely people. The time was passing by, so we hurried on to Osaka to catch the plane back to Hong Kong. I started wishing to stay here a little bit longer, but that is always like that.

Kisses

Steamy Gora

It would be a pity not to see the volcanoes, so we went to Gora to bathe in hot springs and climb a volcano. Sadly, the volcano of Hakone was shooting ash, so they decided to close the rope way, and no one could see it. I was really looking forward to it, even though I was sad to leave never sleeping Tokyo. Just the thought of having my body soaked in a water gushing from a volcano got me super relaxed. 

Once we got off of the super train (all of the trains in Japan are so fast, clean, organized, that they have my love), we got to a little mountain train that zig-zagged to Gora in Hakone region. You could really smell the ashes in the air once we got off of it. The volcano was waking up. We wanted to see it, but sadly, they closed the rope way because of the risk and offered us the lake visit instead. The boat was pirate like and very fast. The clouds were hiding the Mount Fuji, considered the home by the Japaneese. Nevertheless, the experience was a blast. We went for a quick hike once we got across and entered this bakery that I had to suggest for #thefairtraveller, you can see it on www.thefairtraveller.org. The restaurant on the third floor with that view was accompanied with great dishes (the kings of sandwiches). I think the original Lord of SANDWICH would be proud and stopped that poker game of his (see: Wikipedia). 

Pancake at Bakery and Table Hakona.

Going home to Gora from Moto-Hakone-ko.

By now, I got very well adjusted to the Japaneese ethiquete and respectfulness. Just about when you feel yourself wondering around and looking confused, somebody is there to help you to find your way. Or if you have a question about the rules and how one should behave, you can just look around and find them written all over. So, the sightseeing magazin we were given at the train station with the extravagant places to be visited, also contained different set of rules one is advised to follow while at the hot springs site. It is amazing how everything is detailed in explanation and you can picture everything working perfectly in an almost theatrical, respectful manner. Also, we were given yukatas to be worn around comfortably at the hotel (I ignorantly thought it was kimono at first), also to go downstairs to enjoy hot springs and when using our terrace bathtub (the best part). 

Downstairs, the water was steaming. It was 56 degrees Celsius and I could just enjoy it for 10 minutes, but a perfect experience. Everyone is naked in the joint bath, and I was a bit surprised, but soon enough got over it. What to say, it was a perfect end for a perfect day. I fell asleep at 9 PM, and got up early enough to have the famous Japaneese breakfast including soup, fish, rice, boiled tofu, and more at exactly 8 o'clock in the morning. Ready for yet another fast train, this time to Kyoto favorite. I will make a short YouTube film there, for my dearest friend.

Dreamy Sanya

Taking an 18 hours bus ride to the famous Chinese vacation site was bearable only because I had the picture in my head of the beautiful sandy beaches and clear blue ocean. Luckily, the bus was a sleeping one, the first one I ever saw. The laying beds were tiny, so a tall person would have to crouch their legs, but I think that is better than sitting for 18 hours. The most interesting were the people and we to them as well, it is amazing how many friends one can make and as well how much one can learn from simply taking the local bus or train, instead of "high security" tourist buses and transportations. I wrote about the experience of the bus drive and its sustainable manner on thefairtraveller.org, if you want to read more about it. 

The Island of Hainan, which was our I final destination had two cities which we were planning on visiting: Haikou in the north and Sanya in the south. Haikou being the more eventful one, and Sanya as a tourist resort with beautiful beaches and a rainforest. Having only three days, we decided to take a long break in the sun and go for Sanya. The north offers a lot of beautiful biking sites, but after Gui Lin we needed a beach rest and the sun. If I had a couple more days on my own, I would bike through the rainforest close by, but the 35 degrees Celsius temperatures discouraged me and I spent most of the day's laying on the hot sand.

The history of this place is what intrigued me,with my latest found interest in the Far East cultures and the development. Although very much controlling, the government of China lets whole of the island of Hainan have a little bit more of the independency in decision making for the accomplishments in the WW2. Also, in language, there is a difference, while mandarin is standard and official as a language, most of people either don't know it or decide to communicate solely in their dialect. The people are very kind and responsive, but there is little possibility I conversations. We didn't stay in a to orient resort, where there is a possibility of people knowing how to speak English, but decided to go where the local life is, and experience their daily life.

 We arrived and the buses air conditioning gave us a false impression of a moderate temperature. It was 35 degrees with a sensation of 42 because the humidity. But the sun was so nice on my skin. In Hong Kong and Guilin it was raining all of the time and we hardly ever saw the sun, but here it was so nice and warm, it was amazing. We used the Airbnb service for the first time and struggle to find the apartment. The coordinates were wrong, we couldnt explain the directions to the taxi driver as he didn't speak any English. Roaming around in the heat, I was wondering whether this was a good idea, but suddenly, the host called us and he found us in the city. Word of advice: whenever in China, print out everything in Mandarin, so you can show it to the bus or the taxi driver.

I wonder how long it will take me to learn it, well, at least I have the pictures and stories of my class. It was in Sanya that I communicated the most my three and a half sentences of basic survival mandarin, and I realized I don't know how to say: " I would like it spicy, please.", such a shame. 

Sanya has the best sunsets, all three evening we spent walking along the beach and admiring the colors sun threw at its last moments. Take a look by yourselves:

Saying goodbye to this beautiful, relaxing place that gave us good food, relaxation and an escape from the Internet we very much needed. The very warm ocean gave us memorable swimming times and wonderful fish for our dinner. The people here gave us all of the smiles in the world, and understanding for our lack of talking. I thought of it as an uninteresting tourist resort, but in fact it is so much more.

Packing our bags, we are going to Tokyo next. Not with bus, nor train this time we are not going to be nature friendly, we are flying.