Pole of Cold

Sometime ago, I remember watching this segment on 60 minutes and it was about the Pole of Cold. I have never heard of the Pole of Cold prior to watching this segment although I have heard of its location.

Wondering where the Pole of Cold is located?It is located in the Sakha republic better known as Yakutia in Eastern Siberia. The Sakha republic is about the size of India. Most of the residents in the Sakha republic are either Yakut or Russian. I will tell you some facts about the local Yakut people before going on any further. The Yakut people are likely to come from a mixture of Turkic tribes from the Altay mountains, people from Eastern Siberia and people from Lake Baikal. Traditionally, Northern Yakuts are well known for being reindeer breeders, fisherman and semi-nomadic hunters whereas Southern Yakuts are known for raising cattle and horses as well as engaging in animal husbandry. The traditional language of Yakuts is a Turkic language which belongs to the Altaic language family.

Back to the topic of the Pole of Cold. Not all areas of the Sakha republic are considered to be the Pole of Cold. It is mainly two villages which are Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk. These villages compete with one another for the title of the Northern Hemisphere's coldest place. According to the segment, if the temperature is above -55 degrees celcius, then the day will be good. If the temperature is -55 degrees or below, then it is considered too risky to leave the house as the risk of frostbites increase.

It would be an interesting experience to visit here someday but the journey sounds incredibly difficult. It takes about a couple of days drive on the Road of Bones to get to Oymyakon, one of the Pole of Cold villages. The Road of Bones was constructed by the gulags during the time of Stalin. Many slaves perished during the construction. The road goes from Yakutsk in the west to Magadan in the East. The cold would probably make the journey even more challenging and longer I'd imagine than it should be. However, I do not know much about the infrastructure of the road. If I ever go there, I'll find it out then.

I'd love to post some videos about Yakut culture and travel on here but it would be wiser if I had the video owner's permission before doing so. In the mean time, if you want to find out more about Yakut culture and travel then maybe these websites would be a good start.

http://yakutiatravel.com/en/the-pole-of-cold/pole-of-cold-expedition-oymyakon.html

http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/ethnoatlas/hmar/cult_dir/culture.7883

That is all for now. Hope you are all having a great day. Until next time.

Laura xx

Day trip to Camden

Today I decided to take a day trip to Camden as I have not been there for a while. Although I ended up near the vacinity on Thursday, I had missed the bus to go there and did not want to wait for the next one so I decided to go home instead. I didn't want to be hanging around the bus stop forever. However, I was more organised today and remembered the bus schedules so that was good.

Before going on any further, I will tell you a little bit about the place. Camden is located approximately 65km South West of Sydney and is located in the Macarthur region. It is the birthplace of wheat, wool and wine industries in Australia. Actually I noticed that on the sign that said "Welcome to Camden",lol.

When I arrived at Camden after a 20 minute bus ride, I decided to walk around the town centre for a bit. I had noticed that comparing to where I live, there are still a lot of old buildings there. Some of the buildings are used for restaurants and dentists. The scenery was nice and green but the majority of the Macarthur region has nice scenery.

I also had a look around the shops and the customer service here is great as I was outside one of the shops and the shopkeeper there automatically greeted me and told me about the specials that they were having. I do not experience too much great customer service these days so this was a change. They had some nice cardigans but not in my size. As it was getting cooler, I decided to grab a coffee as it warms me up.

I walked around the town centre for another hour or so before leaving to go back home. If it was a bit warmer, I would of have loved to have gone out of the town centre but it was sooooo cold for that today. Brrrrr!!!!!

Me waiting in the cold for the bus:

How to get there:

• If you are taking public transport, take the Airport and East Hills Line or the South Line and get off at either Campbelltown or Macarthur stations and catch either the 890 or 895 bus which takes you to Camden. You could also get off at Picton if you are coming from the Southern Highlands but the bus there does not come that often and it is also a 15-20 minute walk from Picton station to the town centre.

• If you are driving there, it depends where you are coming from. From the city take the M5 & Hume Highway and get off at the Appin Road exit and drive through Narellan Road until you see the Camden bypass, Turn left when you see the Camden bypass and that should get you to Camden. However, if you are coming from other parts of Western Sydney such as Penrith or Richmond, take the Northern Road until you approach the Camden bypass. As for those coming from Liverpool and surrounding areas, take the Camden Valley Way and then the Camden bypass.

What to see:

• The historic properties in Camden are worthwhile seeing. Unfortunately I didn't get this opportunity today but from the historic buildings I have seen, it is definately worth it.

• The town centre would be the first place that you will see for many of you. There are many shops there such as craft shops and a few clothes shops but for the fashionistas out there, it does not have a wide array of fashion shops that you would find in other places. Also there are a lot of cafes there as well. There are also a suitable range of food choices for everyone such as pub style, Chinese, Indian and Thai.

• Although this is not directly in Camden but in Mount Annan, the botanic gardens are worth seeing if you are into gardens.

Conclusively, Camden is a place that is worth seeing as it has many historic houses as well as beautiful scenery. Also as far as I know, not as many tourists visit there as the Blue Mountains so you will be seeing something unique and the best part of it is that it is still in Sydney but you do not feel like you are in Sydney.

Hope you are all having a great day (or night). Bye!!!

Laura xx

Tour Groups for those with Intellectual Disabilities

I was browsing the internet and I came across quite a few tour groups who specialise in tours for those with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. Many researchers have found that people with disabilities including those with intellectual disabilities have lower rates of participation of leisure activities and holidays than those in the general population. Some of the tour companies also cater for those with physical disabilities so that is good to hear as well. This is a step towards inclusion for those with disabilities in tourism as the industry is catering for their needs. I will provide a few links of those tour companies.

Platypus Leisure Tours
www.platypustours.com.au/

This tour company offers holidays for those with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities both domestic and international at a price that is reasonable. Their aim is to bring social interaction and independence for those with disabilities.

Holidays Explorer Inc.
http://www.holidayexplorers.com.au/

Holidays Explorer is more specific as they cater for those who are over 16, have an intellectual disability and live in South Australia. Similar to the first company, they offer tours both domestic and international. Their philosophy is to provide respite to their families.

Pipeline Holidays
http://www.pipelineholidays.com/about.html

Unlike the first two tour operators, Pipeline Holidays focuses on destinations within Australia. Their tours are fully escorted but are medium paced so it is not too slow but not too fast either. The tour company also looks after things like dietary requirements and medication needs.

Hope you are all having a great day! Ciao!!

Laura xx

Japan Trip Part 2

Ok everyone.....here is the second part of the trip.

The day started with an early morning Shinkansen ride to Tokyo but I didn't set off too early because of the peak hour rush. It gets crowded in Osaka in the morning but this was nothing comparing to what I was going to experience in Tokyo.

After arriving in Tokyo and dropping the suitcase and checking in at the hotel, it was time to head to Shibuya 109. I didn't really get to see this place in too much depth the first time I was here so this was my chance to have a look at it properly. Shibuya 109 is a fashion department store for women and it has around 12 floors although I only saw shops for the first 7 or so. Oh and for the guys.....there is a Shibuya 109 store around the corner so don't fret.

Second day in Tokyo was a change from shopping as I went to Yokohama and Kamakura. Kamakura is a town that is famous for its bamboo forest and Daibutsu(buddha statue) although it is not directly in Kamakura. I started off by visiting Daibutsu although I thought it was in the Kamakura township itself at first. Then I realised that I had to catch a train to get there. When I finally arrived where the Daibutsu was, it was a 5-10 minute walk to get there but it was worth it as the stature is quite beautiful. However, I didn't stay there long though as a) there was many tourists crowding around the statue including schoolchildren and b) I wanted to see the bamboo forest as well.

It was time to head back to Kamakura township before taking a bus to see the bamboo forest. I needed a matcha latte fix first though so I decided to grab one at Starbucks before going anywhere.

This bamboo forest was much nicer than the one in Arashiyama. I think this is where Cate Blanchett filmed the SK-II commercial. It was really green and beautiful. Drinking matcha tea inside the forest was a bonus. Incase you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a matcha and green tea addict.

There is no better way to end the day than a trip to Yokohama Chinatown. It was interesting as some aspects of it looked like a typical Chinatown but others were different. One example was selling food on the street at 3pm. They were selling a bun that had a chicken filling in it. The buns were also larger than the ones back here in Sydney. There were also soooo many restaurants as well but I think most places are like that.

I decided to spend the weekend in Tokyo. On Saturday, I went to the Tokyo fish market, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and back to Shibuya again! The Tokyo fish market was not what I expected. I saw mostly just restaurants specialising in sushi, nigiri and sashimi there. Nevertheless, the food was delicious there, especially the fish karaage. I also liked the nigiri. I don't really mind raw fish but not too much of it.

I headed to Ikebukuro afterwards but I didn't stay there long as I never found Sunshine City. I decided to go back to Shibuya instead as there was a top there I really liked. I also managed to find a pair of earrings there as well.

I really enjoyed meeting my friend and her family on Sunday. We started off by seeing Harajuku. I had always wanted to go there to see the fashion that some of the young girls wear there but I must of obviously come there on the wrong day as no-one was wearing those outfits. :(  We had a look at Takeshita street first as that is where the fashion is before heading to Meiji-Jingu shrine. Meiji-Jingu shrine is a Shinto shrine. The Shinto religion is the original relgion of Japan before Buddhism came along. Unlike other religions, the Shinto religion has no holy book or concept of religious conversion. We saw a Japanese wedding at the shrine before making a wish and placing it just outside the shrine.

Odaiba was the next stop of the day. We went to Diver City. It was unbelievable. The place had recently opened and it was soooo packed. There was hardly any space to walk as there were people always infront and behind us. It was a large shopping complex though and it seemed okay. Maybe it will be better when there are not as many people around. It was a slightly uncomfortable experience.

It was off to Nikko and Utsunomiya on Monday. Nikko was a lovely town but unfortunately it was raining so it was not a good day to see a lot of temples and explore the town. The visit had to be cut short. So I went to Utsunomiya for a bit before going to Saitama. I had arrived at Saitama at around 5pm so it was time to grab a bite to eat. I ended up having McDonalds in Japan. It was not bad. I had a Teriyaki Chicken burger. It is different to Australia, that is for sure. Before heading back to Tokyo, it was time to look around the shops.

The next day, it was off to Nagano and Ueda. Nagano was a really beautiful city and the cherry blossoms were still blooming as well at the time. I went to Zenkouji temple. Prior to visiting Nagano and having a look at their travel brochures, I have never heard of Zenkouji temple. It has been stated that the Zenkouji temple was found around 644 AD. It was one of the few temples that were open to women historically as well. I never knew that. I did go inside the temple. It looked similar to the one in Nara but smaller.

Wednesday, I went back to Kamakura and visited the temple there before going to Gifu and Nagoya. It took over 2 hours to get from Kamakura to Gifu but that is mainly because the Shinkansen stopped at every stop from Odawara to Nagoya. Gifu was interesting and I stayed there for around an hour before going back to Nagoya.

I found the next day to be one of the most interesting experiences in my time in Japan. I was woken up by an earthquake.This was the first time that I had experienced an earthquake or tremour in Japan. Anway, I visited Morioka in Tohoku region. As many of you know, the Tohoku region was struck by a 9.0 earthquake and a tsunami. I decided to visit Morioka anyway as I didn't know when I will next visit Japan.

Unfortunately when I arrived there, it was sooooo cold and I was not dressed for the weather. This was also in the middle of spring. It was too cold to do any sightseeing so I headed straight for Aeon Mall instead. This was probably about the fourth Aeon Mall I had visited in Japan. I had lunch at the food court before doing a bit of shopping. This Aeon Mall was fairly smaller than some of the other ones I have been to but it was still larger than many of the shopping centres in Sydney.

I had an interesting dish in Morioka. I'm not sure if this kimchi ramen is one of their specialities in Iwate prefecture but I do know there is a heavy use of kimchi there. I think this dish may be Morioka ramen but the place did not specify whether this was Morioka ramen or not. Oh and I took out the egg as I don't really like boiled eggs that much.

The Shinkansen on the way back to Tokyo was also interesting as there was a train waiting at Morioka station when I was arriving at the platform but the carriage I was suppose to sit in was not there. Then I realised that the other train was arriving and the trains were joining together. As the service is called the Hayate-Komachi, I think the Hayate shinkansen from Shin-Aomori joined on the Komachi shinkansen from Akita. I was almost going to visit Aomori that day by the way but was not dressed for the weather. Dang!

I didn't do much on the last two days before going back to Australia. I went to Chiba on the Friday and then stayed in Tokyo on the Saturday as I was meeting up with a couple of other people. I also had a look at Yodabashi camera shop in Shinjuku. The shop is great but the song can get annoying as the same song plays all day. I think the Yodabashi camera song is the official store song. I also had an experience of purikura. Purikura is a photo booth where you can decorate the photo and for some reason, in the photo my eyes looked bigger.  If I can find the photo, I'll try to upload it sometime.

Here is a random photo of me by the way in Chiba:

I don't wear glasses by the way, not yet anyway!

Unfortunately all good things come to an end and it was time to go back to Australia. But not before one last trip to Aeon Mall in Narita airport. I would like to visit Japan again sometime, maybe I will go to Hokkaido next time. I also want to go to Taiwan so it is time for me to starting brushing up on my Mandarin skills and improving my knowledge of Chinese characters.

Travel tips:

• Bowing is a sign of respect in Japan. You usually bow when you greet peers or are saying goodbye. The deeper the bow, the more sign of respect. Be careful with hugging as some people may be overwhelmed by it. In my opinion, it is best to let the person initiate the hug rather than you.

• Make sure that you have the correct change as it can be difficult to pay for things like the subway and the especially the bus if you do not. Bus drivers expect you to have the right change when you are paying them. Oh and by the way, you pay the bus driver when you get off the bus, not when you get on.

• Using the toilet can also be another problem for those who are not accustomed to the Japanese way. Every toilet has a different location for flushing and can get confusing. I made this mistake in Fukuoka as I pressed the emergency button instead of the flush button. In addition to this, there are still toilets that require you to squat as these are the traditional Japanese toilets. Make sure that you look for the Western toilet unless you do not mind squatting.

• If you are going to be travelling around the country as I have done, make sure that you purchase the JR rail pass. For example if you are going to stay around Kyushu, then you purchase the Kyushu rail pass but if you are going to visit the entire country, then it is best to purchase the JR rail pass. It costs around AUD$560 for 2 weeks. The pass lasts for around 13 days from the time you validate it so make sure that you only validate it when you are going to use it.

• This one is an obvious one but I think it is best that you learn some Japanese before going there as it can be quite difficult to get by if you have zero knowledge of the language. I had studied Japanese at uni for about a year and still found it difficult to get around. I found that even many tourist places do not speak English that well so it is better if you have a grasp of the language. Also many people will appreciate your attempts to speak the language. Almost everything is written in either kanji, hiragana, katakana or a mix of the three.

I think that is about it for now. Have a nice day everyone and see you soon!I promise the post will be shorter next time.

Laura xx

Japan Trip Part 1

A couple of months ago, I went on my second trip to Japan. However, unlike the first time I landed in Osaka Kansai airport rather than Narita. The travelling time was also shorter as the stopover was in Cairns this time instead of Singapore. After landing in Osaka, it was time to go straight to the hotel as it was a long day and I was tired.

The next day was planned already. It was a day trip to Hiroshima. After a two hour ride on the shinkansen, I had arrived in Hiroshima. The first and only sight of the day was Miyajima Island. Miyajima island is a 10 minute ferry ride from Miyajimaguchi. As it was a Saturday, the ferry can get fairly crowded.

When I had arrived in Miyajima, it was time to explore the island but not before having a bite to eat as I had not eaten breakfast. However, be careful eating in certain areas as the deer can become quite aggressive and try to take your food. Yes....there are deers running around in Miyajima Island.  

Exploring the island is quite interesting as there are a wide array of shops around the island selling souvenirs and more food! If you ever have the chance to go to Miyajima Island you must try the oysters. They are cooked infront of you and are really yummy. I wish I could go there right now and have some,lol.

Before leaving Miyajima Island, I got to see what I came there for, the floating Torii. It is the main gate in Miyajima Island and is the gate on the first photo.

There was no time for rest on Sunday as I went to Kusatsu and met my friend there. Kusatsu is 20 minutes by train on the JR line from Kyoto incase you were all wondering where it was.

As the restaurant was not open yet, we decided to go to the shopping centre instead of hanging around the restaurant. The bus stop was interesting as it had mini rice fields behind it. I have never seen that before.

I was surprised how big the shopping centre was. It was bigger than any shopping centre I have seen in Sydney. I needed a handbag, so I bought a Liz Lisa handbag. Unfortunately only later I had realised that I cannot put too many of my books in it as it may get damaged quite easily.

The food court at Aeon Mall was an interesting experience. You order the food, eat it and then you give the trays back to where you had purchased your food from. I had ordered takoyaki and yakisoba while my friend had ordered takoyaki and okonomiyaki.

After lunch, it was time for more shopping as there were still many shops to be discovered. I had bought more clothes including a high waisted elasticated jean.

Before heading back to Osaka, my friend took me to see the cherry blossoms near the station. The cherry blossoms were beautiful and was told that they were late blooming this year.

Monday was a nice and relaxing day as I had stayed in Osaka instead of deciding to go on a day trip outside. I started off the day by exploring Osaka castle. I got a bit lost getting there though as I walked towards the other side of the river instead of turning right.

Before going on any further, I will tell you a little bit of history about Osaka Castle. Although a temple was built around the castle in 1496 by the Holy Priest Rennyo, it was not until 1583 when the construction of Osaka castle began by Hideyoshi Toyotomi who wanted to unify the country. By 1585, the main tower of Osaka Castle was constructed.

Going inside Osaka castle was an interesting experience as I did not visit castles on my first trip to Japan. There were a lot of stairs and unless you have an impairment, they prefer you take the stairs as I had noticed that the elevators had disabled people only signs on them. There was a lot of history behind it but as I was not allowed to take photos, I cannot show you what it looks like.

It was nice to do a bit more shopping after seeing Osaka Castle so I went to Namba but took a detour at Kuramon first to see what it was like. I have never seen so many markets in my life. It was like walking through a long street full of markets. Unfortunately as nothing tempted me there, I went to the Namba subway shopping centre. I had lunch there and then had a look around at some shops. I did not buy as much items there as I decided to save for other places. However I did buy a pair of pants though as I thought it looked rather unusual.

The relaxed pace of the trip was shortlived as I decided to go to Kyushu Island the next day to see Fukuoka. I have always been curious to see what Fukuoka was like as I have heard a lot about it in articles as well as songs.

I had arrived in Fukuoka station and had a look around the department store before heading to Tochoji temple. I had not really heard of this temple but decided to go there anyway to see what it was like.

Tochoji temple was smaller than the ones I have been to in Kyoto and Nara but beautiful nevertheless. Unfortunately similar to Osaka castle, I was not allowed to take photos inside the temple.

The temple was founded in 806 and is a temple of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Tochoji temple was founded by Kukai upon his return from China during the Tang dynasty. Prior to its present location, the temple was first located by the seashore.

It was time to head to Canal City after seeing Tochoji temple. Before having a look around Canal City, it was time to eat so I had udon and tempura. Unlike in many Japanese restaurants in Australia, the tempura here was self serve so you could have as much or as little tempura as you like. I cannot eat too much tempura so I just had a couple of pieces.

I felt like I had not seen Hiroshima thoroughly so I decided to head back to Hiroshima after seeing Canal City. I took the tram to the memorial peace park. The memorial park had several memorials to the atomic bombing in 1945.

The last day of my stay in the Kansai region included visiting Himeji castle and Arashiyama bamboo forest. I first visited Himeji castle as I had wanted to see that the most. I had a look around the outside of the castle before having a look at the room of the princess in waiting. Unfortunately the castle was under construction at the time of the visit so I could not see the main area of the castle. For some strange reason, there was also a building right next to the main area of the castle as well.

To end my last day in the Kansai region, I visited the bamboo forest in Arashiyama. It was beautiful but it was a lot smaller than I had expected. It was also very crowded but it was worth seeing. Although I would not likely visit the forest again, I would like to visit Arashiyama again as the town was really beautiful and had a unique character to it.

Stay tuned for the next part of my trip and hope you enjoyed my first blog entry ever.

Laura xx