…Continued from…
Day 4:
We are up by 5:30, out of the tent by 6, and still are some of the latest sleepers in tent city.  Breakfast is warm muesli with extra raisins.  Tea gets me where I need to be.  We pack up and out and are rewarded with another beautiful day, climbing up and down peaks; I think we stood on top of five total mountains that day.   At 1pm, we reach a junction where we have three choices: stop for the day (X), continue …

Day 1:
Ellie & I depart Shimokita at approximately 7pm on Friday night, after work.  We spend most of the evening winding our way down to the Tohoku Expressway which starts in Hachinohe.   The road is new and relatively empty, and we are quickly out of Aomori and into Iwate prefecture.  We drive until around midnight and pull into a rest stop, where we discover a relatively clean bathroom and an entire room full of vending machines, which not only offer cold & hot beverages, …

Playing outside is one of my necessities  in life.  I enjoy it for all the physical aspects – the knowledge that yes, my body is capable and strong; for the appreciation of nature – cicada songs and wildflowers; for the distance it can put between me and the rest of civilization; and occasionally for the adrenaline rush of ascent, descent, or finding myself in a dicey situation.  But what has been one of the most enjoyable aspects about navigating the outdoors here in Japan is, well, just the Japanesy-ness of …

One of the unique aspects about living in the inaka (rural Japan) is the emphasis on collecting and eating wild edibles, both from the sea and the mountainside.  It was explained to me recently that Japan, as a whole, has a culture of sansai, which literally means ‘mountain side dish.’  But while city folk have a harder time accessing these plants and fungi, the practice is still carried on by those in the country.  When asked if this is a dying custom, I was told that gathering wild edibles is …

I was just passed on the news this morning of Aubrey Sacco, a 23-year old from Boulder, Colorado, who went missing in early May after setting off on a solo hike through Langtang National Park in the Nepal Himalayas. Aubrey had been backpacking through Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal teaching English and yoga for the past several months.  But I’m not here to offer a news story.  I don’t know Aubrey, I don’t know her family, and everything I’ve learned about her is from recent articles on the internet.  But …

By Lillie
Catch more of her adventures at http://aroundtheworldl.com
For the second half of the second day on the road, Lulu and I wove slowly up, up, up and through the lush green mountains of Vietnam’s Central Highlands.
To clarify, I cannot drive a car, and I sure as heck cannot drive a motorcycle. I was on the back of Lulu’s machine, letting the expert of nine years (and over 150 such journeys) do the put-putting for both of us. Meanwhile, I tried to keep my mouth from being too widely agape at the …

By Lillie
Catch more of her adventures at http://aroundtheworldl.com

Holy sweet heaven and earth. After four days on motorcycle and foot through the Central Highlands of Vietnam, I am ridiculously thankful for the experience and the newunderstandings gained, and ridiculously happy to now be in Nha Trang, showered, reuniting with old-new friends, and chilling the heck out.
After the initial day of test-driving the motorcycle through Dalat’s immediate surroundings, Lulu and I strapped our packs onto the back of a shiny blue Easy Riders motorcycle. “W-w-what?” you stutter– “I thought you were terrified …

While spring has surely arrived in other parts of the world, in northern Japan it is puttering along in fits and starts.  The first signs were the pale green cabbage-flowers cropping up along the roads.  These homely weeds were soon joined by lily-looking plants, lurking in the dark marshes in the woods.  The trees are just now budding, so cherry blossom season (which has already hit and run Tokyo) is a couple weeks away.  Patches of snow still dot the mountains, but not enough for skiing.  Just enough for getting …

By Lillie
Catch more of her adventures at http://www.aroundtheworldl.com

Worms, silk. Silk, worms. You don’t realize how weird a combination this is until you see the dirty, bug-filled process it takes to birth the regal material!

Dalat, Vietnam has a number of silk factories, and it is absolutely worth it to tour one. The moment Lulu and I walked through the dusty doors of the building, I started gasping.
Come along on the amazing tour of captions for each photo!

Top Left: A sort of bookshelf to make silk worms comfortable enough to create their cocoons. Silk worm …

By Lillie
Catch more of her adventures at http://www.aroundtheworldl.com

What can you get for ten dollars and seven hours in Dalat, Vietnam? Sheesh– what CAN’T you get? Check out all the amazing and bizarre sights…

1. Linh Phuoc Pagoda: There’s a massive roaring dragon sculpture and two golden beasties making googly eyes at you! What’s not to love? Walk around the back and see that Mr. Dragon’s tail undulates up and down through the pools of water. Then up the stairs, a jolly fat Buddha smiles and invites you to rub-a-dub his creamy belly. Nice!
2. Strawberry …