February in OMAN, April again Japan, August maybe Australia
To escape some of the snow, not too far away, but withour our own campingcar, we opted for a quick tour of the nicest parts of Oman, accompanied by a friend we got to know in Vietnam. So off we are, 1 scorpioman and 2 aquarius-women, oh boy, O- Man!
With only 0.5 pictures per kilometer it is not my top, yet a nice 'me-too' destination for tourists and expats alike. Not too expensive (but the world's most expensive perfume Amouage!), not too luxury (but we saw quite a few Porsche), not too much dirt, and not too TOP in nothing/anything. A nice, friendly (ex-tribal) population (assisted by a good number of Pakistani-Filipinos-Indy), not too crowded, not fundamentalist and guided by their (childless) Sultan since almost 43 years now who carefully invests the petrodollars in the future of tourism, education, and but a few extras to show off (mosk in Musqat). Good roads bring tourists to the 'grand canyon, Nizwa fort and colorful goat-market on Friday, the traditonal dhow makers of Oman-Indy, the seaturtle reserve, the sultans palace and luxury yacht, an occasional souq or wadi and parts of the immense deserts (till Yemen if you still dare).
End at a beach-hotel such as the Crown plaza with a nice siutation
overlooking the beach, and take your memories and maybe a bit of dates
or a local silver dagger/sword with you, and nourish the pictures for a
long time.
This winter-break leaves me still enough time to
prepare the return to Japan and SouthKorea, before our last main
'adventure' down under, probably starting July/August in Alice Spring,
going north, then via the kimberleys and desert-national parks to the
southwest along the Indian Ocean, to continue the coastlines via
Melbourne (and a 3week trip into Tasmania), then upnorth till Sydney
then Brisbane, concluding the trip in New Zealand. With or without my own old Toyota camper?? it depends on paperwork, car's permit etc..
We'll let you know mate! bye from Lou Castel, then Brussels till April
in Tokyo
lots of business suits and Bulgari or
Vuiton hyper next to anti-fashion,
and some very superb showrooms even Fifth Avenue could envy; dragons and lucky
charms, children’s namegiving/coming of age etc in good old-fashioned ways, and
a real Shinto traditional wedding
ceremony; just twice 1x really-angry-man-shouting (as if he were ready to
punishing a prisoner-of-war) when he found me parked on his private lot after I
could not understand his Japanese only sign; sophisticated culture /design /fashion
/architecture; delicate food and delicious European inspired desserts; bakeries
and patissiers, and quite some French
names for restaurants etc; ZEN and Shintoism on the same level as Buddhism-traditions
still alive; wonderful ceramics, show-dogs, as well as the last of the (look-alike)
geishas and a tea ceremony (even whencoffee and wine is overtaking tea), whiskeys and sake and beer, or fine
chocolates at goldprice, cigarettes in no-smoking zone and preferably at a
smoke-repellent machine in the street.
Emperor…
I did NOT
see the nuclear fallout effects cause I did not get north of Tokyo at all, nor
any game of Baseballnor Sumo match, nor Ginza’s geishas except for a few look-alike geishas on a touristic
visit of the Nikko Shrine; no Emperor
nor his Palaces, but the Number1 Shrine in Ise
with access almost exclusively to the (last?) Emperor (but then I bought 2 of
his 3 imperial attributes); no feudal castles nor shoguns or other heroes nor the famous ninjas; nor did I prefer to witness a typhoon (but a good storm on a carferry to avoid traffic-busy Nagoya), equally I did not witness seppuke nor any of the wars, but I saw its
devastating horrific nuclear bomb-effects at impressive Hiroshima Memorial Museum…
With the Emperor alive, respect and discipline
alive and kicking as well (what a difference from China where Mao is off and
out): how many years before these 2 elements to be fast-fading out?
Apparently
the expansive aggressors of then now turned
soft, with conquests worldwide by means of electronics, cars, high-tech… Will they however manage to be keeping those
rocky (Chinese-Japanese-Taiwanese) islands for all the petrol down there?? Or
will they as in the past conquests of South Korea, China, even parts of Russia
have to withdraw??
+250m high
over Tokyo I saw quite some
skyscrapers, but again Shangai’s skyline
was more impressive …still Japan has still lots of room for more and higher
skyscrapers, tollroads and other expressways and soon, in Spring the
cherry-blossom …time then to return and continue this fascinating country’s
discovery rich in harmony. And maybe in time to witness the start of the 12-
yearly destruction of the Ise Temples
as requested by Shinto in order to inaugurate
the new freshly built-one.
6 months
Eur-Asia along the SilkRoad and more… and now…
Now, days
before the Mayan doomday of 21.12.2012 at the end of their current cycle
of 5.125 years; a few days before the death of the Architect of the
Brandt-family, my Mother, and of Brazils’ Architect Niemeyer; and 90 years
after Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamon’s
3.330 year old tomb in Thebes/Luxor, Korean Air brought me back to Brussels
with the best service ever. Loaded withpics taken during 6 months over 35.000km all along the SilkRoad and
beyond till The Rising Sun, and with a lot of memories of superfriendly Russian
and Asian people and sites accompanying me for ever.
I was
surprised by the superkind people who smiled at the look of my old car and spontaneously
gave me a hand when necessary, the small presents I got in each and every
country, the still intact nature in lots of areas in Russia and especially
Siberia, China, Japan, South Korea, the neatness and active Buddhist-Taoist-Zen-influenced
approach to live in those 2 latteras
opposed to the 2 former countries, the lack of aggressiveness or insecurity in
the former.
The days I
drove in Usa and Obama, 2 smaller villages in Japan, Mr Obama and Mr. Xi Jinping
resp. were elected as heads of their respective giant states.
Soon there
will be elections in South Korea as this WE in Japan, before the return to my
Toyota.
Will by
then the world have changed for the better, the economic Euro-crisis even more
pronounced, no new wars started, … and, the road from Vladivostok to Moscow
finally be finished Mr Putin?
Wait and
see…till April 2013.
Meanwhile
wishing you and your family all the very best in a fantastic 2013, full of
happiness and joy, and in great shape!
Hasta luego,
Inch’Allah,
And KAMPAI, with a lot of bubbles, Kampai
to a GREAT2013 despite the Mayas
I
saw some superb (zen)gardens, scenic nature at the Izu Peninsula with vistas of Mt
Fuji and lava-cliffs against the blue Pacific Ocean; the tallest wooden
construction, the tallest wooden Buddha in 1 piece, a few of the more important
Shinto and Buddhism temples (nothing as colourful as in China nor South Korea,
but sometimes more imposing for their austerity) (e.g. World Heritage Shodi in Nikko), and impressive pagodas and shrines such as the Torii in the sea 1hr from Hiroshima; bonsai sculptured disciplined
trees/gardens even at private houses; fortune-prescriptions also in English at
200Yen only: traditional fields, rice, huge apples or white radish; not 1
person crossing at red light, no-one overtaking where it was not allowed; very
few police on roads but some radar control (and 1 thorough control by a few
eager policemen who never saw before a no-Nippon licence plate); Holy Mount Fuji (the iconic 3776m and
snow-capped) from all its sides; white mouth strings and superwhite gloves, and
incredibly colourful autumn foliage( in the Alps just before the superfine snow
hits the ski stations, no wonder 4WD is well established even on the smallest
Daihatsu …);
Traffic is
very prudent, with polite drivers, respecting almost all signals at all times,
hence no chaos as in China, disciplined but o so slow at 50 else 70 else 30/hr
and yet no congestions (apart from smaller (mountain) roads), but even then
everybody remains cool-zen.
Great
signalisation, in 80% of touristic areas even in English as well, but at the very
end just before reaching your goal it is uni-Japanese. Most of these sites come
at a price (well worth it), without discounts.
elections in Japan, then South Korea...if we survive 21.12
Konichiwa Nippon, and yet not sayonara cause I return soon to N3436.623’ E13548.274’ Elevation
52m
Not as
crowded/hectic as I imagined, not even in Tokyo at the famous Shibuya crossing where some 3 million
commuters pass daily to/from business/shopping-showing off; and not even when I
tried to see on rush hours how the crowds accede their train by the thousands.
It is simply too well organised/ well-disciplined without any pushing or
overtaking or … no single word (but emailing and/or other I-Phone use is
equally common whilst patiently attending to cross/take the train etc).
In 3 weeks
and almost 3.000km I passed both in the villagesUsa,
Omama + Obama, in the towns of NIKKO
and Tokyo, in impressive Hiroshima, Kyoto and Nara and a few
more; I saw Japanese campers but no campings (but toilets on almost all
parkings), +100 Hot airballoons in the same bluish sky at Saga Balloon Festival, +100 festival chariots; 1 of the 1.000’s of
slotmachine parks/amusement halls/casinos; 1 full nature open onsen next to the riverbed, and 1 modest
town onsen-spa equally clean and
naturally hot: Japan must be 1 big volcano!
Konichiwa Nippon, and yet not sayonara cause I return soon to N34 36.623’ E135 48.274’ Elev 52m
Konichiwa Nippon, and yet not sayonara cause I return soon to N3436.623’ E13548.274’ Elev 52m
Not as
crowded/hectic as I imagined, not even Tokyo, even not at the famous Shibuya crossing where some 3 million
commuters pass daily to/from business/shopping-showing off; and not even when I
tried to see on rush hours how the crowds accede their train by the thousands.
It is simply too well organised well-disciplined without any pushing or
overtaking or … no single word (but emailing and/or other I-Phone use is
equally common).
What will the December elections
bring, with Moon versus his opponents Ahn or Mrs Parker?
Can they keep the right balance
between growth and traditions, between culture and economy, between young
unemployed and older-growing retired population…?
And is the same not true for my next
destination -the Land of the rising Sun - for a few days/weeks …till I get myself
a decently priced return ticket to Brussels, and a parking for the Toyota…till
next Spring to return and drive back 35.000km to Europe, or –who knows-
continue to Australia??
