Miami Beach Sunrise

2016 Caribbean Sailing

Photos of a sailing trip in the winter of 2016 through Antigua, Montserrat, Saint Barth and Saint Martin/Sint Maarten

Antigua: Falmouth Harbour

Antigua: Falmouth Harbour

Antigua: Falmouth Harbour

Antigua: Falmouth Harbour

Antigua: Caribbean sailing on sv Veronica

Antigua: Caribbean sailing on sv Veronica

Antigua sunset

Antigua: English Harbour

Approaching Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat: Mt. Pele Volcano

Montserrat: House destroyed by volcano eruption

Montserrat: House destroyed by volcano eruption

Montserrat

Caribbean sailing on sv Veronica

Saint Barthelemy

Sint Maarten: Entering the lagoon on board sv Veronica

Sint Maarten: A few of the megayachts in the lagoon

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten

Somewhere over the Caribbean Sea: Flying home

2016 Japan / Nara

2016: Japan / Kyoto: Women in Kimono

Kyoto in Spring is full of woman elegantly dressed in their beautiful spring kimonos. Below is just a small sample:

2016 Japan: Food

The food in Japan is delicious and expertly presented. In each dish or meal contain a variety of colors, textures and modes of preparation. I always looked forward to dining in Japan because I knew that it did not matter if it was a simple restaurant or haute cuisine, the food was well prepared and well presented, always a feast to the eyes and palate.

Here are some of the food I tasted in Japan that liked for taste and appearance.

2016 Japan: Kyoto Temples

Japaj/Kyoto: Higahi Hogan-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto: To-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Japan: Kyoto

Japan: Kyoto: Nanzen-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto:  Nanzen-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto:  Nanzen-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto:  Nanzen-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto: Ginkaku-ji Temple (Silver Pavillion)

Japan/Kyoto: Ginkaku-ji Temple (Silver Pavillion)

Japan/Kyoto: Ginkaku-ji Temple (Silver Pavillion)

Japan/Kyoto: Ginkaku-ji Temple (Silver Pavillion)

Japan/Kyoto: Ginkaku-ji Temple (Silver Pavillion)

Japan/Kyoto: Fushimmi Inari Shrine

Japan/Kyoto: Fushimmi Inari Shrine

Japan/Kyoto: Buddhist Temple

Japan/Kyoto/Arashiyama: Tenryu-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto/Arashiyama: Tenryu-ji Temple

Japan/Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Pavillion) Japan/Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Pavillion)

2016 Japan - Kyoto

Cherry Trees

Gion District

Gion District

Philosopher's Walk

Imperial Palace

Imperial Palace

Imperial Palace

Arashiyama Bamboo grove

Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market

Kamo River

Gion District

Gion District

Gion District

Gion District

Gion District

2016 Japan's Kumano Kodo Ancient Trail Hike - Day 7

Day 7

2016-04-18 Monday

Kii-Katsuura / Kyoto

Last night I learned that the city of Katsura has a small fish market where the local fishing fleet brings their catches to market. A colleague from our hiking group and I decided to go and we agreed to meet at 6:30 in the morning  to catch the ferry to the city.

The fish market is really small, a fraction of the size of Tokyo’s huge market, but since I was not able to watch the auction process there, I was glad I came to this one, even though I had no idea what was going on, for a while there was nothing happening, just people milling around and inspecting the fish, the fish seemed to be grouped by type and size/quality. Most of the fish were tuna. All of a sudden (to my untrained eye) the auctioneer started his spiel, I could not identify any kind of signals or response being given and a few minutes later it was all done and the buyers slapped stickers to the fish or started to cart them off. The auctioneer moved to the next group of fish and the process was repeated. The whole thing did not last half and hour.

View of the auction floor from the mezzanine area:

Inspecting before buying:

Waiting for auction:

Auction:

Packing purchased fish:

Tools of the trade:

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and took the ferry into town and walked to the train station, stopping on the way to buy box lunches for or trip to  Kyoto by train.We arrived back at our hotel in Kyoto by mid-afternoon.

TOnight our group had our farewell dinner, before the dinner some of us got together at the hotel bar for drinks. We went to a nice traditional Japanese food restaurant specializing in grilled food. We had a grand time, it was a great cap on our adventure together.

Some final thoughts on this Kumano Kodo hiking adventure. Am I glad I came? Absolutely yes! Would I recommend it to friends? Yes! Best surprise on the trip? I have to mention two: the evening at the Organic Hotel Kiri-no-sato and the view and arrival at the magnificent Nachi Grand Shrine after the strenuous hike to get there. It was quite different from the other hike I just completed, the 88 Temple Shikoku Pilgrimage. It does not have as many pilgrims as in Shikoku, the Shinto temples are quite ornate in contrast to the simplicity of most Buddhist temples, and I did not see any of the chanting of groups of pilgrims, that I saw in Shikoku. In terms of scenery of the surrounding area and beautifulness of the trail, they are equivalent, in my opinion.

2016 Japan's Kumano Kodo Ancient Trail Hike - Day 6

Day 6

2016-04-17 Sunday

Kii-Katsuura, Wakayama Prefecture

We awoke to encounter heavy rain and strong gusty winds. We met for breakfast at 8:00 and nobody wanted to go out on today's programmed walk along the coast. We agreed to meet at 1200 and go out for lunch at the village across the bay. The forecast calls for the rain to abate by then.

Most of us went to the onsen to relax as there is nothing else to do in this hotel. At noon we all met at the lobby and took the ferry to the village. Some of us wanted to go to a fish restaurant, others wanted to go to a cafe for sandwiches and Delio, a couple of others and I wanted to go to a meat restaurant. We all split out into three groups and went on our separate ways.

The meat restaurant was tiny, just a small square counter with the cook in the middle, preparing the food in front of you on a flat cooktop surface. The menu had several options for steaks, starting at $80USD, we all went with the hamburgers, at $24USD.

The burgers were excellent burgers, served with no buns, just the patty topped with a dab of butter and lots of sliced fried garlic on top, accompanied by  potatoes, onions, green beans and mushrooms, all grilled on the flattop. That was a great lunch, after several weeks in Japan we missed beef.

The rain stopped by the time we finished lunch, and later in the afternoon we went for a walk around the hotel's private island.

2016 Japan's Kumano Kodo Ancient Trail Hike - Day 5

Day 5

Kumano Kodo Hike

2016-04-16 Saturday

Yunomine Onsen /  Kii-Katsuura

Walk from Koguchi to Nachi Grand Shrine:

We had an early breakfast, at 6:45, since we needed an early start to face the steepest and toughest segment of the trail. We, again, had a typical Japanese breakfast. But this time skipped the usual grilled fish, as none of us could not face it this early in the morning. Two or our fellow hikers are skipping today's hike, they will take a combination of  public transportation, bus, train and bus to meet us at our destination, the Nachi Grand Shrine We’ll meet them there and take a bus together to our new hotel.

At 7:30 we boarded taxis that took us to the trailhead, packing lunch provided by the inn, and started walking at 8:20. We immediately started going up and up, straight up to cross a pass at a net elevation of 850m. It took us 2.5 hours to walk the 5 Km to the pass. The path had many stairways made with irregular stones forming uneven steps, some low, others quite high. Some of the stairs had  water trickling over them with the stones were covered in moss, making the path quite slippery and treacherous.

The staircase:

One of our many breaks:

At the pass there is a plaque with the comment of a famous Japanese poet, Fujiwara Teika, that was composed about this segment of the trail when he made the pilgrimage in 1201:

"This route is very rough and difficult; it's impossible to describe how tough it is. " My feelings exactly!

The next 10Km were up and down hills until the last 2 Km, when we had to descend about 800 meters  on another rough stone stairway. At one point we stopped for lunch at a shelter where the trail intersects a road. There we met a pilgrim who had just finished walking the entire Shikoku 88 Temple circuit in Shikoku and was now walking the entire length of the Kumano Kodo trail.

The ubiquitous Jizo statue, for the god that guides stillborns to heavens. He also helps travelers find their way.

View from one of the mountain peaks:

We finally reached the Grand Shrine complex, I could not hike a mile further. It is beautiful, located in a grove of tall and ancient trees and next to the second highest waterfall in Japan.

After touring the Grand Shrine we met up with our two colleagues and took a public bus to the coastal town Kii-Katsura where we took a ferry to the hotel on a private island, where we’ll spend tonight and tomorrow night.. The hotel is in a large modern building but it's a traditional Japanese hotel, catering to Japanese clients. We were the only westerners around.

Hotel:

Hotel ferry:

Our room:

As soon as we checked into our room, an ancient looking Japanese woman, barely 4 feet tall, came in to pour us hot green tea. She gave us a double take and returned with larger yukatas for me and Delio, who got the largest available.

Before dinner we hit the onsen for a hot bath.  Dinner was fantastic, one of the top five we had so far in Japan.