Shirakawa-go and Takayama

April 4, 2015, 3:37 am

'If you wanttounderstandtoday, youhavetosearchyesterday', soSydentrickerPearlBuck, novelistonce said. This sentencebringsYudasmoroMinasianito Shirakawa-goandTakayamain the north ofNagoya. Here hefindsthe valuesthat broughtJapanintoone of themostmodernnations.

Temperature outside begins to drop to 7 degrees Celsius. The cold weather outside the window seemed to touch the bus I was riding. The trip to Shirakawa-go is less than an hour because I enjoyed overlooking the beautiful hills PerfectureGifu, central Japan region. Soon I will arrive in Shirakawa-go, a traditional village is designated as world heritageby Uneso. In contrast to the visited villages in Indonesia, visited Shirakawa-go can be done very easily because there is a smooth access roads reach this region. Many public transportation through this place with the bus schedule that I see plastered on a public bus station. Although many groups of tourists who come by bus tourism, there is also the use of public transport to come here.

When getting off the bus, immediately drizzle greeted me along with the air temperature gets colder. Kyoko the guide immediately took me to the view point where visitors can see first hand view of Shirakawa-go from the top. I was immediately amazed by the panorama of a village with houses form a nearly equilateral triangle. The village is situated on a half-foot mountain was shrouded in fog as it was before the winter. Around it I can still see patches of rice fields and the cold air smothering of whom had seen the trees began to fall leaves. "The shape of the roof of the house means that the shape of praying hands," explained Kyoko. Distinctive style of house building is known as gassho-zukuri. In addition to symbolize praying hands, a triangular shape is also intended to avoid a pile of snow in the winter arrives. "(With a shape like this) that there is snow on the roof can be directly downward," said Kyoko again.

After being looked at from a distance with Kyoko village I walked towards the village of Shirakawa. Downhill for about 15 minutes, we welcome the calm atmosphere of this route because the vehicles are not allowed to pass. All the visitors and residents either have to walk here. This was contradictory to the prohibition of the Japanese title as one of the country's largest automobile manufacturers in the world. Around the countryside I saw a stretch of fertile land and a small river with crystal clear water flowing Ryohaku mountain backdrop, this beautiful rural surrounds. What an amazing harmony of nature! With the typical atmosphere of the highlands, complete with a natural forest that grows on the slopes, do not be surprised if some people dub this place as its Japanese Alps.

Located onthe borderbetweenGifu prefecturesandToyamaI,Shirakawa-go is presentingamagnificentpanorama. Ifeellike being inanancientJapanesevillage, just asI have ever seeninthe movieThe LastSamurai, starring TomCruiseandKenWatanabe. That dayIdidnotseethe warriorsamuraiorJapanese womenwearingkimonoscomplete withaccessories, butyou'll enjoythe traditionalatmospherethroughgasshohousesmade meseeanothersideofJapanthatis nowfamous for itsmodernization.

Yes, Shirakawavillageatmosphereandpresents aview ofJapan'spast. In this villagethere are about160 houses, mostly hundreds of years oldandin excellent condition. Somehaveconvertedtosupport thetourismindustrywhich is onemajor source of incomeof this village. It's used assouvenirshopsand inns, some areused as amuseum.

OnehouseI visited was theWadaHouse. Toget inside,visitorsare requiredto openfootwear, awisdomthatJapanis stillpracticedby mostpeople.Instead, housekeepers providethe typicalJapanesewoodensandalstowalkin the house.This househasan important rolein the18th and 19th centuriesbecauseonce occupied bythe villagechiefShirakawaandsomelocalofficials. They saythis housewas also aweaponsfactory. WadaHousenowserves as amuseumthat showsthe design, structureandsome of theoriginalhousehold itemsfromthe Edo period.Here Ican still seethesilkwormfarmsthatindicatethat thefirstShirakawaalso famous forsilkweavingbusiness. Be somefurnitureandkitchenappliancessuch as stoves, pots, steamerupthe oldfireplacesframedbyneatlyshowsthe typicalatmosphere ofthe past. Kyokoagainprovide an explanation ofthe buildingthatwashundreds of years old. Hetold methat theframeworkWadaHousedoes not useanynails. Everything isunitedbya knottiedwithropemade fromthe roots. Roofis alsomade withwoodanddrygrass. Withsuchnatural materials, traditional houseswould last forhundreds ofyears. This indicatesa hightechnicalcapabilityandexpertiseto recognize the powerof nature, two thingsinthismoderncenturycontinue to be developedbythe Japanesecommunity.

One of the uniqueness of Shirakawa-go is a different beauty in every season. In the summer of this traditional village looks green with flowers blooming in the house gassho. When autumn comes, the mountains around Shirakawa-go turns into a colorful as many trees leaf color changes to red and yellow. The atmosphere and color of the hills surrounding the village was changed as a colorful carpet. In winter, the white color that dominates the Shirakawa-go, making this area is so beautiful. At nightfall, the lights in this rural light reflecting on the white snow.

Finishing completeto enjoythe beauty ofthe village ofShirakawa, thenwecontinuethe triptoTakayama, asmalltownfamous foritsoldstreet. In the16 th century, founded thefamilyKanimoriTakayamaCastlewhichmarked the beginning ofthe era ofthiscity's culturaldevelopment. The isolatedpositionamongthe mountainstoTakayamadevelopedintoacolonyby itself. Advancesocietydominated bythe carpenterswhoworkedinKyototobuilda houseof worship. Now, as acharacteristic ofTakayama's old town wherecraftsmenstillvisible.

In the afternoonentered theTakayamaI can still seethe groupof tourists, bothlocaland foreignwhoenjoystrollingpastJapan. Althoughthe streetsin the old townisas wide as theroadtollbutthere is hardlya passing car.Uniqueas wellasforcrossingthe road, Ihave to queueto wait forthe crossinglightturns green.And thennone of thepassing vehicles. The spirit ofdisciplinethat is appliedineveryday lifeof Japanese peopleisexemplary.

Kyokothen ledmedown theoldstreet, astreetor ratheran alleythat is stillpacked withold buildingsofwood. On either side ofthe roadIcouldseethesouvenirmerchantsandsake (a Japanese alcoholbeverage) whopeddletheir wares.Almost all thebuildingson thestreetis stillusing theoldwood andoldJapanese style. Some storesalsosellmanysouvenirsofwoodraw material. Do not besurprised ifhere, asinother citiesinGifuPerfecture, manysouvenirssoldin the form ofcutemonkeyfigurewith noface. CalledSarubobo, localpeoplebelievedthe dollsas agood luckcharm.

This roadalsoprovides avariety oftypical foodTakayamaissayingto miss.Culinary tourism inthe city isnot completewithout samplinga typicalsnackTakayama, Goheimochi, that looks likeicecreamwith astick. Actually,ricecakesarebakedand thencompactedandcovered withsweetandsaltyflavor, sprinkled witha littlepeanutandusually enjoyedwith a bowl ofmiso. Not to forget, I amalsowaiting in linefor a taste ofmiso(Japanese soup) for free. In the midst ofthe cold weatheris the mostdeliciousdisheswhile tastinghotsoup. Takayamahas becomeone of thetouriststoa vacationdestination, especiallydue tothe activity ofskiingin thewinter.

'This season seemsto snowmore quickly, "said Kyoko. AlthoughIhave not feltthat nightthe snow, butI understandwhat is meantKyoko. The air temperaturewas nearzerodegreesandI could not walkleisurelyformore frequentcoldaircovered! Butcold weatherdoes not seem todetertouristsandlocals tocontinue tomove, seenfrom the numberof people wanderingaround theoldstreet. Ispendthe time leftto get arounddowntownthat seems tohave startedquiet. Unlikebig citieslikeTokyo, Takayamaisbest suitedtoserveresort town. In addition tothe atmosphere is calm, the city alsooncenight fallsinstantlysilent. There is nonightlife inthiscity. Even soon the main road, Istillseeshopsbrightly liteven thoughthere was no buyer.

The next day, Kyoko invited me to visit the morning marketin downtown. Much like the market was surprised that often held in a residential area in Jakarta, morning market in Takayama also sell a variety of vegetables, fruits and a variety of basic needs. Some traders also held suvernir typical local area, including various types of dolls Sarubobo. Cultures of people who give priority to visible cleanliness of the market that looks neat and no one of them flies. That morning was a lot of tourists joined local residents to shop or just look around and take pictures. Location of market morning right in front of government house is really strategic. Apart from enjoying the atmosphere of a traditional market, I can take pictures in front of government house or Takayama djinnthat form the building as a traditional Japanese house.

TakayamaJinyaexistencebegan in1692whenthe Takayama ruled byTokugawaShogunate. In the pastthis buildingserves as agovernment officeinthe Edo period.In 1969officiallyjust startedbeing used as amuseum. Thisbuildingis oneofdozens ofancient buildingsarestillpreserved. It'sjustwhenJapangrewinto a great nationbecausethey areproven toreally appreciatethe history.

In addition toa variety ofnatural and culturalattractions, Takayamais alsofamous for itsfestivals. TakayamaMatsurifestivalis believed to bethe local communityhas existed sincethe 16th century, including thethreebiggest festivalsinJapan. Held twicea yeareverysummerandautumn, thefestivalfeaturedprocessionscomplete withdecorativekarakuriningyo ormechanicaldollsareveryinterestingto watch.

Shirakawa-go andTakayama, presentingbothsides ofthe differenttraditional Japanese. Each has itsnoble valuesandhistoricidentitythat showthe Japanese peoplethe truth.Small townsaremakingmefeel at home forlongerwith the feelof the display ofcalmandI'm sure you too willfeel the samewhen visitingtheseinteresting places.

How To GetThere

Shirakawa-go andTakayamaare locatedclose together incentral Japan. Both canbe reachedfromNagoyaandTokyo. FromJakarta, thecitycan be reacheddirectlyby using theairlines, among others: GarudaIndonesia(www.garudaindonesiaairways.com): Jakarta-Nagoya/Tokyo; JapanAirlines: New York-Tokyo; air asia(www.airasia.com): Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur-Tokyo.

Howto Explore

There areseveralwaystoreach out toShirakawa-go andTakayama. FromTokyoyoucanuse theJRTokaidoShinkansentoNagoya(100-120 minutes, a fewtrainsperhour) and then move totrain JRHildaeskprestoTakayama(140minutes, one traineveryhour), thenconnectedwithNohiBus(50minutes, 8-9busesperday). Reached bypublicbusfromNagoyaorTokyo, whileTakaynamacan be reached bytrainfromNagoyaJRHidaExpress. FromNagoyaGifubusthereonce a daytoShirakawa-go withthe old3-hour trip. Takayamaalsocan be reachedfromTokyoby bus. There are5-7busesfromKeioHighwayBusTerminalinTokyotoTakayamaoperatedbyKeioandNohilongbustripwith5.5 hours. ArrivinginShirakawa-go andTakayamayoucanget aroundby foot.

JR tokaido shinkansen

Where to Stay

In order to explore the Shirakawa-go and Takayama with more flexibility, we encourage you to spend the night. Do not forget to look at sites like http://www.agoda.comto see the special offers that can save your expenditure, you know the Japanese are bleak tourist destination that requires an excessive expenditure or budget, because it was so high price of goods or services that are carved on the list price of goods or services they offer.

ToyotaShirakawa-go EcoInstitute

ToyotaShirakawa-go EcoInstitute,. With a locationdirectly at the footof MountHakusan, this house canbe themost appropriatelocationtolearn about thetraditions ofJapanas well asthe latesttechnologicalknow-based environment. 'Hotel-School'providesafreshnaturalenvironmentforyou tolearn more aboutthe environment.323Magari, Shirakwa-mura, Ono-gun, Shirakawa-go, JapanT.5015620056769-6-1187website:www.toyota.eco-inst.j

Oyado Koto No Yume Japanese Ryokan

Oyado Koto No Yume Japanese Ryokan or traditional hotel is one of the best in Takayama. Enjoy the atmosphere of the past with modern facilities, complete with a variety of trinkets local artisans works. Especially for women provided a wide selection of Japanese Yukata or Kimono that can be used submarines to stay here. 6-11, Hanasato-cho, Takayama, Gifu 506-0026 T. 0577-32-0427 website: http://www.kotoyume.com

super hotel hida

SuperHotelHidaTakayama-Forselection ofhotel deals, networksarealreadyreachingthe SuperHotelTakayamacanbealternative. Locatedclose toJRTakayamastation, fromthishotelyoucan accessvarious parts ofthe cityincluding theShirakawa-go with ease. 4-76, Tenmacho, Takayama-shi, Gifu. T.0577-32-9000; http://www.superhoteljapan.com

↧

Kodiak Island, Alaska

April 5, 2015, 12:51 am

≫ Next: Kitzbühel, Austria

≪ Previous: Shirakawa-go and Takayama

Executive summary by darmansjah

Alaska’s Emerald Island is the nation’s second largest after Hawaii, but its landscape—a Last Frontier in microcosm—and accessible location (about an hour from Anchorage by air) make it a manageable destination for wading boot-first into the state’s natural and cultural wonders.

The city of Kodiak—the first capital of Russian America—serves as the staging point for seaplane and boat trips throughout the nearly 5,000-square-mile (12,949 square-kilometer) Kodiak Island Archipelago. Though steeped in Russian Orthodox and native Alutiiq history, the area is best known for the estimated 3,500 massive Kodiak brown bears (above) roaming the archipelago, primarily in the 1.9-million-acre (769,000-hectare) Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.

The months of July, August, and September are prime bear-viewing times, so plan ahead to join a guided backcountry tour. Trained biologist Harry Dodge and his wife, Brigid, lead small group treks from their Uyak Bay wilderness lodge via Kodiak Treks, an Adventure Green Alaska (AGA) gold-level sustainable tourism-certified outfitter.

Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world, with an area of 9,311.24 km2 (3,595.09 sq mi).[2] It is 160 km (100 miles) long and in width ranges from 16 to 96 km (10 to 60 miles). Kodiak Island is the namesake for Kodiak Seamount, which lies off the coast at the Aleutian Trench. The largest community on the island is the city of Kodiak, Alaska.

Kodiak Island is mountainous and heavily forested in the north and east, but fairly treeless on the south. The island has many deep, ice-free bays that provide sheltered anchorages for boats. The southwestern two-thirds of the island, like much of the Kodiak Archipelago, is part of Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.

Kodiak Island is part of the Kodiak Island Borough and Kodiak Archipelago of Alaska. The town of Kodiak is one of seven communities on Kodiak Island and is the island's main city. All commercial transportation between the island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline. Other settlements include the villages of Akhiok, Old Harbor, Karluk, Larsen Bay, Port Lions, and an unorganized community near Cape Chiniak. The village of Ouzinkie on nearby Spruce Island is also part of the island community. Kodiak is also home to the largest U.S. Coast Guard base, which includes Integrated Support Command Kodiak, Air Station Kodiak, Communications Station Kodiak, and Aids to Navigation Station Kodiak.

The Kodiak Bear and the king crab are native to the island. The fishing industry is the most important economic activity on the island; fisheries include Pacific salmon, Pacific halibut, and crab. The Karluk River is famous for its salmon run. Logging, ranching, numerous canneries, and some copper mining are also prevalent.

An antenna farm at the summit of Pillar Mountain above the city of Kodiak provides primary communications to and from the island.

↧

Kitzbühel, Austria

April 6, 2015, 11:23 pm

≫ Next: Kings Peak, Utah

≪ Previous: Kodiak Island, Alaska

Best For: Intermediate skiing couples with a taste for the cosmopolitan

Executive summary by darmansjah

A classic medieval village turned internationally famous ski destination, the glitzy town of Kitzbühelin Austria’sTyrol region looks more like a chocolate-box illustration than an actual place. Not only is it real, it hosts some of the most scenic and extensive skiing in the Alps—particularly for the non-extreme set. The romantic town center features narrow cobbled streets and horse-drawn sleighs, but things turn decidedly more spirited by evening, when the many chic bars and clubs turn up the volume.

A gondola for the main mountain leaves directly from town, and a sprawling network of lifts, gondolas, and runs thread up the mountains in all directions, offering the ability to drop into neighboring villages and areas without taking off your skis or board. The posh personality of the town extends onto the slopes as well, where tasty restaurants in mountain huts pepper the slopes. Though Kitzbühel is famed for its Hahnenkamm racecourse, the most spectacular and perilous on the World Cup circuit, this is no Chamonix. Intermediates looking for long cruisers will be most satisfied. Just check conditions before you go—the area’s low elevation makes lower slopes increasingly susceptible to poor coverage in lean snow years.

Kitzbühel is a small medieval town in Tyrol, Austria and the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (Bezirk). It has a population of 8,204 (as of 1 January 2010).

The town is situated in the Kitzbühel Alps about 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the state capital of Innsbruck. It is a ski resort of international renown.

Kitzbühel is one of Austria's best-known and fanciest winter sports resorts, situated between the mountains Hahnenkamm (5616 ft, 1712 m) and Kitzbühler Horn (6548 ft, 1996 m). The Hahnenkamm is home of the annual World Cup ski races, including the circuit's most important event, the downhill race on the famous Streif slope. This downhill is counted as one of the toughest downhill competitions in the World Cup.

Each summer Kitzbühel also hosts an ATP tennis tournament on clay, the Austrian Open.

From 2007 to 2011, ITU Triathlon World Cup races took place at the local Schwarzsee lake.

The Kitzbüheler Alpenrallye is an annual festival of historic automobiles. It was first held in 1988. The first trip of the United Buddy Bears was 2004 to Kitzbühel, following by the first trip into the "big wide world"– when they went to Hong Kong and many other metropolises on all five continents.

Tourism

Together with the pistes and ski lifts in neighbouring Kirchberg in Tirol, Jochberg and by the Thurn Pass Kitzbühel is one of the largest ski regions in Austria. With around 10,000 hotel and guest house beds, Kitzbühel and its neighbours have an unusually high density of guest accommodation.

Holidaymakers in Kitzbühel have 56 cableway and lift facilities and 168 kilometres of slopes available to them, as well as 40 kilometres of groomed cross-country skiing tracks. Of note is the relatively new 3S Cable Car, the cable car with the highest above-ground span in the world.

In summer there are 120 km (75 mi) of mountain bike paths and 500 km (311 mi) of hiking trails.

Other attractions include six tennis courts and four golf courses, the Kitzbühel swimming pool, Austria's only curling hall and the bathing lake of Schwarzsee.

Kitzbühel also caters for the high end of the tourist market, as many celebrities and the jet set come here for the international races on the Hahnenkamm.

Transportation:

Kitzbüheler Horn seen from the cable car to the Hahnenkamm

Road: The Brixental Road, the B170, from Wörgl intersects in Kitzbühel with the Thurn Pass Road, the B161, from Mittersill to St. Johann in Tirol. Kitzbühel station is a major bus stop for buses to Lienz and Worgl.

Rail: Kitzbühel Hauptbahnhof, Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm and Kitzbühel Schwarzsee are stops on the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway. Whilst Hahnenkamm and Schwarzsee stations are served by local trains only, long-distance services from Innsbruck and Graz stop at Kitzbühel station. Kitzbühel station has just been rebuilt (2010) and been equipped with new barrier-less platforms with underpasses and a lift. From 2011 there will be no stationmaster at Kitzbühel and it will no longer be possible to buy tickets at the counter.

Places of interest

Liebfrauenkirche church with its 48 m bell tower

St. Catherine's Church: built 1360–1365, High Gothic church in the heart of the town with a coppersmith altar; the high tower with its spire is a striking landmark in the town centre. Its carillon sounds at 11 am and 5 pm.

Protestant Christ's Church in Kitzbühel: built in 1962 by Clemens Holzmeister

Reisch Dance Cafe: built in 1928 by Lois Welzenbacher (architect of the Tiroler Moderne); the Plahl Medical Practice (Arzthaus) was also designed by him

Berghaus Holzmeister, a guesthouse on Kitzbühel's local mountain, the Hahnenkamm; built in 1930 by Clemens Holzmeister

Berghaus by Alfons Walde, 100m away

Fresco by Max Weiler (1951) in Kitzbühel Primary School (Volksschule)

Newly built tri-cable system by the firm of Doppelmayr, the cable car with the highest elevation above the ground (400 metres (1,300 ft)) in the world.

Museum Kitzbühel - Collection Alfons Walde: the new renovated museum presents the history of the town, from 1000 years ago to the winter sports era; it also includes a larger permanent exhibition of the Tyrolean painter Alfons Walde

Schwarzsee lake and Wilder Kaiser mountains as the backdrop

Ask a Local

Pepi Treichl, a ski instructor and hiking guide, is a lifelong resident of Kitzbühel. Here are her recommendations.

Best Digs

Budget: Hof Unterleiten is a farm with traditional accommodations.

Swank: Grand Tirolia Kitzbühel is a luxury hotel with a huge spa.

Best Eats

Cheap: Huber Bräu Stüberl offers home cooking with large portions of Austrian classics.

Swank: Schwarzer Adler in Jochberg, with celebrated chef Andreas Wahrstätter’s refined farm-to-table sensibility, makes for delicious fare in a historic guesthouse setting.

Best After-Ski Party Spot

The Hahnenkamm Pavillon

Best Rest-Day Activity

Visit the local museum and explore the city center.

Kitbühel’s Classic Run

The Streif on the Hahnenkamm, where one of the World Cup races is held every January

↧

Kings Peak, Utah

April 7, 2015, 11:01 pm

≫ Next: Yangtze River, China

≪ Previous: Kitzbühel, Austria

Executive summary by darmansjah

Kings Peak is the highest peak in the U.S. state of Utah, with an elevation of 13,528 feet (4,123 m). It lies just south of the spine of the central Uinta Mountains, in the Ashley National Forest in northeastern Utah, in north-central Duchesne County. It lies within the bounds of the High Uintas Wilderness. The peak is approximately 79 miles (127 km) due east of central Salt Lake City, and 45 miles (72 km) due north of the town of Duchesne.

There are three popular routes to the summit; a scramble up the east slope, a hike up the northern ridge, and a long but relatively easy hike up the southern slope. The peak was named for Clarence King, a surveyor in the area and the first director of the United States Geological Survey. Kings Peak is generally regarded as the hardest state highpoint which can be climbed without specialist rock climbing skills and/or guiding. The easiest route requires a 32 plus mile hike, much of it over boulder fields.

Hard to say if it is the best trail I have ever hiked, but it's certainly a classic that I enjoy doing every few years—Kings Peak via Henrys Fork to Gunsight Pass to Anderson Pass with a scramble along the ridge to the summit. The country is sublime, big, and quintessentially western. It is a large, ascending open valley that is littered with lakes and ponds. The landscape couldn't be more beautiful, with stands of isolated timber, alpine meadows, and an array of Nirvana-like camp spots to be enjoyed far from the proximity of others. There is flowing water all the way to Anderson Pass, less than 1,000 feet below the spectacular, airy summit, and the view of the High Uintas Wilderness with its peaks, ridges, and valleys goes on as far as the eye can see. The trail that takes you just about to the summit of Utah’s highest peak is just two hours from Black Diamond’s front doors in Salt Lake City, yet it feels as if you are in the Flathead wilderness of northern Montana. The trip will be a biannual part of my life ... until my knees seize up. —Peter Metcalf

Length: 28.8 miles

The Details: Utah’s red rock canyonlands and powder-filled Wasatch Range get all the attention, while the quiet Uintas in the northeast corner of the state are where the locals slip away to play in the heat of summer. Made up mostly of sedimentary rocks, the 100-mile-long range runs east to west rather than north to south, like most ranges in the Rockies. It’s also home to the state’s highest peaks, formed when colliding tectonic plates pushed up primordial ocean bottom and basins filled with wildflowers and blue alpine lakes.

The tallest mountain in Utah, 13,528-foot Kings Peak is a fairly easy state high point to attain. The hardest part of the climb is the long approach from the Henrys Fork Campground, which includes 5,252 feet of elevation gain. Most hikers spend a night or two camped on the trail; Dollar Lake is the most popular spot to pitch a tent. It’s not a technical route, however, with a short, short steep scramble up a 1,000-foot chute at Gunsight Pass standing out as the only difficult bit and a long scramble to the summit offering wide-open views of the high peaks.

When to Go: September is best, when snows have melted and the weather has stabilized.

About Metcalf: Black Diamond equipment was founded in 1989 when Peter Metcalf, along with friends, customers, and other employees, bought Chouinard Equipment from Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard. Metcalf has kept the brand successful and dynamic: BD has remained at the top of the technical climbing gear game, turned into an award-winning freeski manufacturer, opened divisions in Switzerland and China, and acquired Gregory Mountain Products and POC. It went public in 2010, and acquired avalanche-safety manufacturer PIEPS last fall. But that success hasn’t watered down Black Diamond’s core climber credibility. Metcalf himself is an accomplished climber and former oil-field wildcatter who also has had the guts to take on the government in BD’s Utah home base when he disagrees with how the state wants to manage public lands where climbers roam.

↧

Yangtze River, China

April 8, 2015, 7:50 am

≫ Next: LOBSTER ROLL, MAINE

≪ Previous: Kings Peak, Utah

Executive summary by darmansjah

The Yangtze Riveror Chang Jiangis the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. It flows for 6,418 kilometers (3,988 mi) from the glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the biggest rivers by discharge volume in the world. The Yangtze drains one-fifth of the land area of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its river basin is home to one-third of the PRC's population.

Along with the Yellow River, the Yangtze is the most important river in the history, culture and economy of China. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of the PRC's GDP. The Yangtze River flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is itself habitat to several endemic and endangered species including the Chinese alligator and the Yangtze sturgeon. For thousands of years, people have used the river for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking and war. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world.

In recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, agricultural run-off, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves. A stretch of the Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

↧

LOBSTER ROLL, MAINE

April 9, 2015, 9:03 pm

≫ Next: MASALA DOSA, INDIA

≪ Previous: Yangtze River, China

Executive summary By darmansjah

A SUMMER staple of the New England yacht set, the lobster roll combines both high-end and humble ingredients – lobster meat (around half a kilo), mixed with mayonnaise or butter, stuffed into an absurdly small hot dog bun.

ORIGIN Once so plentiful it was considered a poor man’s food, lobster got a makeover in the 19^thcentury when New England society women began to enjoy it in salad form, rather than doing the work of cracking the shell themselves. In the early 20^th century, someone came up with the bright idea of pilling the lobster salad into a bun for easy eating, and the lobster roll was born. By the mid-20^th century, it was established as an essential part of a summer drive up Maine’s coastal highway.

TASTING A lobster roll is best enjoyed after a morning spent strolling and swimming at one of Maine’s pebbly beaches. Some lobster shacks are located on the outskirts of historic fishing villages or perched on top of pedestrian bridges. A good shack will always have a queue at lunchtime, but don’t be deterred. Order at the window, then stake out a picnic table as you wait for your number or name to be called. The overflowing lobster roll will arrive parked inside a tiny paper basket. Depending on the shack, your first bite may be warm and buttery, or cool and slick with mayo. Next comes the silkiness of the meat, the softness of the bun and the crunch of celery-together, they’re local taste of the summer.

FINDING IT Try the lobster at Red’s Eats in the town of Wiscasset in Maine, which has been in business since 1938 (around US$16 ; 00 1 207 882 6128).

↧

MASALA DOSA, INDIA

April 10, 2015, 9:08 pm

≫ Next: THAT OLD BALI MAGIC

≪ Previous: LOBSTER ROLL, MAINE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By darmansjah

THE CLASSIC masala dosa is a paper-thin rice flour pancaks stuffed with a zesty curry of potatoes, onions and dried red chillies. Dosas can be had rolled, unrolled, stuffed, unstuffed, thick, thin, fermented, unfermented and even stacked in towers like American pancakes. All are served with a side order of coconut chutney and sambar – a fragrant dipping sauce flavoured with lentil dhal, tamarind and mustard seeds.

ORIGIN First mentioned in sixth-century Indian poems, dosas have been linked to the town of Udupi on the coast of Karnataka, which is famed for the rich vegetarian cuisine cooked in its Hindu monasteries. Legend has it that stuffing the dosa with spiced vegetables was a trick to hide the onions, which were said to inflame the passions and lead the faithful away from the path to enlightenment.

TASTING Dosas are eaten by hand, ripped into pieces and dipped into fiery crucibles of sambar and chutney. Start at the crispy extremities and eat your way to the yielding centre, where the sabji (vegetable curry) has soaked into the shell. The setting for your meal is often as vibrant a the spices found within it – street stalls, roadhouses and station platforms, all surrounded by vast crowds of people on the move. This is a dish to consume on the hoof – but do take a moment to observe the skill of the vendor, who swirls batter across the ghee-covered hotplate with the bottom of a steel bowl, like a potter preparing his wheel.

FINDING IT Every city south of Mumbai claims to offer the 'best dosas in India’-start your search at train station canteens and branches of restaurant chain Indian Coffee House (around US$0.50; indiancoffeehouse.com).

↧

THAT OLD BALI MAGIC

April 11, 2015, 1:14 am

≫ Next: Kungsleden, Sweden

≪ Previous: MASALA DOSA, INDIA

Word by JAMIE JAMES (is author of several books, among them The Snake Charmer, and is at work on another abut expatriate artists and writers ; Executive summary by darmansjah

The Indonesian island’s true heart beats in mysterious ways.

The joyous, hectic clangor of a gamelan, the traditional percussion ensemble of Indonesia, startles me awake just after dawn. Outside my bedroom window in Seminyak, one of Bali’s booming beach resorts, a dozen men wearing batik sarongs and headdresses sit cross-legged in the parking lot of the new nightclub across the street, banging on gongs and xylophones. I jump into my jeans and run downstairs. The morning din turns out to be a melaspas, a ceremony unique to Bali that is held to bless the opening of a new building. The gamelan’s brassy notes are intended to drive away any evil influences. Inside, the owner, a Balinese man in his 30s with a lurid crimson-and-cobalt tattoo on his right arm and a real Rolex on his left, gives me a neighborly greeting. “I spent $4,000 on this ceremony,” Gede Wira Apsika says, grinning confidently. “I am Balinese. I know that investing in a good melaspas will bring my club success.”

Towers of star fruit and oranges and frangipani blossoms-offerings to the gods-crowd the dance floor, along with curlicued sculptures made from carved pork rinds. Incense smokes in front of a state-of-the-art sound system.

The pedanda, the high priest, arrives in a vintage black Mercedes sedan with tinted windows. Wearing a long white robe and a black velvet crown embroidered in gold, he ascends the canopied platform erected for him in the parking lot and begins chanting. An acolyteties a duck and a chicken to a post; their flapping and squawking will end at sundown, when the pedandaslits their throats at the climax of the ritual.

Passing tourists pause to gawk as masked dancers enact ancient legends of princes, and dragons, alternating with a pair of beef drag artists and their bawdy version of a stately dance usually performed by young girls. The visitors may not realize it, but serendipity has brought the ma glimpse into the true heart of Bali: the pervasive magic rituals and beliefs of this intensely colorful Balinese Hindu civilization. Some of the visitors will join tours promising to transport them to the “real Bali,” with performances of classical Balinese dance or excursions into the forest by 4WD vehicles. Yet they will never get closer to Bali’s innermost soul than here in the parking lot of a new honky-tonk in Seminyak.

I moved here 14 years ago, following my Indonesian partner, who wanted to open a restaurant. In those days, the area was still largely agricultural, with outposts of budget tourism amid the coconut groves. My bedroom window looked out on rice fields; on a clear day I could see the island’s volcanoes smolder in the distance. but plot by plot, farmland here gave way to high-rise hotels, swanky restaurants, and chic little shops, built by entrepreneurs who proclaimed their intend to create an Ibiza, a South Beach, in rural Indonesia.

Yet this worldly modernity is just a veneer; Under the skin, Bali’s magical belief system is as muscular as ever. After this sacred yet profane dance show with full gamelan appears at my doorstep, I decide it’s time to dive as deeply as I can into the numinous core of this island of some three million people.

I BEGIN BY TRAVELING ABOUT AS FAR FROM Seminyak as I can go in both space and time, to the pristine forest of the West Bali National Park. Apart from a two-lane blacktop that cuts through the park and a low-impact resort on the northern seashore, the land is completely undeveloped. It remains just as it was when the island’s distinctive culture emerged thousands of years ago. Comprising 73 square miles rhinos or orangutans as other nature preserves in Indonesia do; the Bali tiger was hunted to extinction by the 1940s. yet herds of docile mouse deer wander the park, and southeast Asian porcrupines and marbled cats abound.

On an early morning horseback ride through the mangroves, accompanied by stocky, stone-faced ketut Sulastra, a park ranger who grew up near here, I see a pair of Bali starlings flutter up fro ma stand of bamboo. This elegant white mynah, beloved emblem of the island, is one of the most critically endangered species on Earth. In the 1990s there wer only about 16 of the birds left, but thanks to captive breeding programs the population now numbers at least 127. When India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, visited Bali in 1954, he called it the “morning of the world”; traversing what seems like a primordial landscape, I can now feel what he meant.

LIKE MOST INDIGENOUS BELIEFS, Bali’s religion of magic began an animism. At the top of the food chain here is the reticulated pyton, which has been known to gobble up children. When I ask Ketut if we might see a phyton, his cool ranger’s face melts away and he exclaims boyishly, “Oh my god! A few weeks ago I saw a big one, over ten feet long, that had just eaten a monitor lizard almost as big as he was.”

The lizard, in death’s throes, writhed in the python’s belly, ripping first one foreleg and then the other through the snake’s skin. “It was a python with legs-a dragon!” Ketut says. The bizarre chimera collapsed: the monitor lizard dead fro masphyxiation, the python from blood loss-about as primordial as it gets. The story reminds me of the magical transformations common in traditional Indonesian shadow-puppet theater. In the old plays, gods often masquerade as ferocious beasts, only to reveal their true identity at the end of the story.

The only sign of civilization in the park lies a couple of miles inland, at Makam Jayaprana (Jayaprana Mosoleum). Ketut leads the way through a dry streambed rustling with the scoot of small lizards, u a steep, densely wooded trail that winds past a small cave with the image of a python carved into the rock around its mouth. Macaques crash overhead, swinging on vines through the canopy. We emerge at the crest of the hill in a small paved plaza flanked by rustic sheds clad in chicken wire, huble shrines that shelter mossy, weathered monoliths. We buy sport drinks and peanuts from a jolly, toothless woman who runs a refreshment stand for visitors and sit down to catch our breath.

According to Ketut, believers built these shrines after two graves were discovered here and identified as relics of the legendary Prince Jayaprana. Jayaprana was the adopted son of a powerful village ruler who conceived a mad lust for Jayaprana’s bethrothed and ordered his heir to be killed, so he could take her as his own bride. “Jayaprana was murdered in this very place,” Ketut says, aching his eyebrows dramatically. When the young princes died, a heavenly fragrance wafted through the forest and all the animals wept-all but one, a white tiger that leaped on the assassin and killed him. When word of Jayaprana’s death reached his beloved, she killed herself rather than surrender to the wicked king, and she was buried here with her slain lover.

Ketut concludes with the usual caveat of the Indonesian story teller: “I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s what people say.” Some folks obviously believe: inside the largest shrine, its low frame entrance shaded by marigold yellow silk parasols, two women straight from the fields, still wearing soiled work sarongs, purchase incense from the shrine’s wizened pedanda. the women light the sticks, hold them high in clasped fingertips as they chant a mantra, and plant the smoking incense in a pot of sand in front of Jayaprana’s grave.

I ask Ketut to explain. Jayaprana was a mortal man who died centuries ago: Why do people pray at his grave today? The ranger shrugs, as though the answer is obvious, and says, “Bali people pray to him because of his power.” The mojo of the martyred prince is undiminished by the passage of a thousand years, its magic power transmitted directly from an era of courtly legend to the age of social networks and sport drinks.

BALINESE MAGIC REMAINED rooted in the land until the mid-14^th century, when a kingdom based in Java, the Majapahit, conquered the island and enforced Hindu orthodoxy and the strict caste system that came with it. A few isolated villages refused to accept the new regime and continued living in the old ways. They are called the Bali Aga, meaning ‘original Balinese’. From the jungles of West Bali I drive down a wide, shady highway, deliciously deserted compared with the jammed roads in Seminyak, to the island’s cool central highlands. My destination is a Bali Aga village called Trunyan. Continuously inhabited for over a millennium, Trunyan is a living connection to the world of Prince Jayaprana.

The village occupies the eastern shore of a deep, placid crescent lake that curves around the base of Mount Batur, an active volcano with several craters. When I surmount the western ridge and catch my first glimpse of Batur, it looks too perfect to be real, like a prize winning science fair volcano, with its gentle southern slope gashed by a flow of black basaltic rock from an eruption in 1968. Driving down the switchback that leads to Trunyan, I pass cows dozing beneath soaring banyan trees, old women in straw hats tending gardens of tomatoes and chilies, and bunches of purple shallots hanging fro mthe eaves of barns. When I reach Trunyan, I meet a shy, plump man in his 40s named Nyoman, who abandons a chess game to show me around.

Trunyan is famous throughout Bali for a monolithic idol, likely more than 1,100 years old, of the village’s guardian deity, known by several names, including Ratu Ged Pancering Jagat. Outsiders aren’t permitted to see the sculpture, but I know someone who did (or claimed to). I intend to try my luck, and ask Nyoman to take me there. We wander through narrow alleys, and busy family compounds where men squat in the shadows repairing fishnets. An elaborately carved basalt gateway admits us to the temple enclosure. A few thatch-roofed pavilions dot the grassy compound, surrounding a tall temple with a seven-tiered roof, the home of Ratu Gede Pancering Jagat.

The temple is padlocked. I blandly ask Nyoman who has the key. His silence is my answer: The Balinese hate to disappoint guests, but I can see in a moment that this is a line not to be crossed. Although I’m disappointed, I realized close contact with the great stone deity might have been even more of a letdown. Magic requires mystery to exert its power. I ask him to describe the statue. He hesitates nervously and finally mumbles, “It is man and woman in one.” That’s all he will say, except that the statue rises 13 feet tall, almost to the roof of the temple. A huge boulder guards the temple’s hobbit-size door. Nyoman says that the rock has a name, but he isn’t allowed to tell me what it is. It turns out that access to the temple is even more restricted than I though. Nyoman says that no one is permitted to enter the temple except adolescent boys who perform a ritual dance as part of a full-moon festival. The coming-of-age rite for the boys doubles as preventive magic for the village.

At dusk Nyoman rows me in his perahu (canoe) to see the local cemetery, a mile along the lakeshore. No rows of stone grave markers here. In Trunyan, rather than being buried or cremated, the dead are exposed to the elements. I spot two corpses laid out under bamboo fencing beneath a fragrant sandalwood tree said to be as old as the village itself. At the tree’s base, cleaned bones and skulls form a neat pile-the community bound in death as closely as it was in life. I find my visit to the land of the dead not gruesome at all. In fact, I feel oddly tranquil. As Nyoman skims his canoe back to the village in the crimson-streaked twilight, I envy Trunyan its stack of bones, its cultural integrity, its cosmic security.

THE FINAL DESTINATIONS ON MY JOURNEY takes me south to Ubud, where my friend Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa, head of the ancient court of Ubud, has invited me to attend the cremation of an elderly cousin of his. Ubud has been Bali’s most famous village since the island was ‘discovered’ in the 1930s by the glamorous first wave of world travelers that included Charlie Chaplin, Noel Coward, Cole Porter, Margaret Mead (who shot a documentary film here), and the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias, who wrote an illustrated 1937 book called Island of Bali, which is still a reliable guide to Balinese culture.

Here, the royal court of Ubud-with its reputation for dazzling pomp and ceremony-has never lost its sway, despite the abolishment of the island’s feudal nobility when Indonesia proclaimed itself a republic in 1945. If Trunyan is Balinese magic at its most primeval, Ubud is the religion’s high baroque, its most elaborate expression. No ritual here is more spectacular than the funeral rites of the royal family; when a multiple royal creamtion was performed five years ago, it made front-page news worldwide.

The mood at the temple grounds is festive, as spirited as a New Orleans jazz funeral. Why not? The deceased lived a long life, blessed with a great progeny. I sit with Tjok Raka, eating fried noodles fro ma buffet. In addition to his aristocratic status in Ubud, Tjok Raka is also a member of Indonesia’s national parliament; no one knows more about the challenges the island face now. Yet he remains serene. “Bali survives,” he says. “We’re performing our rituals, praying and meditating, trying to find wisdom, the balance between the real world and the intangible. Anyone can experience that balance, Westerners the same as Balinese,” He looks me in the eye and adds, “Now you are on the earth of Bali. Even if you leave, Bali will be under your skin.”

Tjok Raka hurries off to supervise the impending ceremony. I ask his son, sitting on my other side, what to expect. Tjok Gde, an accredited homeopathic practitioner, says that today’s event will be modest by comparison with other recent royal cremations-a development he very much approves of. “Every culture reaches a tipping point as it approaches decadence,” he says, “and Bali has reached that point. Prosperity from tourism has accelerated the trend toward bigger and more lavish spectacles, pushing rituals beyond what they were originally intended to be.”

Hundreds of people have gathered in the street around two large constructions. First is an eight-foot-tall black bull made of wood, with gilded horns and harness twinkling with fake gems, which will hold the coffin when it is burned; next is a nine-tiered tower, twice as tall as the bull, painted in scarlet and forest green, flapping with pennants inscribed with magic charms written in classical Ballinese script. The white coffin is loaded into the base of the tower, a marching gamelan begins its bright clatter, and the procession lurches to life. The bull, with Tjok Gde sitting astride it, goes first, followed by the tower, carried by perhaps a hundred men. Tjok Raka stands at the base of the tower, wearing the red sash of mourning and banging a brass gong on his hip to encourage the carriers. The procession hurtles at a headlong pace toward the cremation grounds, nearly trampling tourist who are trying to get good photos.

Living in Bali, you become accustomed to the islanders’ clear-eyed, unsentimental acceptance of death. In Trunyan they do it by keeping thousand-year-old secrets, in Ubud they put on a fabulous public show; both are expression of the indestructible core of magic that keeps the island whole.

As I drive back to Seminyak, descending once more into the coastal heat and heavy traffic, I feel hopeful. My friends in Bali worry about the impact of the tourist boom on the island’s social fabrics and environmental resources, but I’ve seen now how the mystical thread that connects the modern island with its legendary past, delicate yet resilient as the filament of a spider’s web, is spinning into the future.

As for me, I have Bali under my skin.

↧

Kungsleden, Sweden

April 12, 2015, 1:42 am

≫ Next: O’AHU, Pacific Food Paradise

≪ Previous: THAT OLD BALI MAGIC

Abisko Mountain Station to the Saami Village of Nikkaluokta

Executive summary by darmansjah

Round-Trip: 65 miles, 3 to 5 days

When to Go: The Europeans do it in August, when they get holiday time, so be bold and go in early September for authentic solitude and no bugs.

A hundred miles inside the Arctic Circle, Sweden’s legendary 275-mile Kungsleden (the “The King's Trail”) begins its traverse of the last great wilderness in western Europe. This mind-blowing northernmost section penetrates the vast Arctic landscape of Sweden through birch forests, open tundra, and big glaciers before crossing the shoulder of Sweden’s highest peak, 6,926-foot Mount Kebnekaise. Using the comfortable huts placed about a day apart assures you have refuge in bad weather. Sturdy suspension bridges take the danger out of the big rivers. The vibe here is “far north,” with palpable emptiness and low-angled light that stirs the soul.

Insider Tip: The route can be done in either direction, but do it north to south, as that keeps the sun on your face—no small consideration in the Arctic.

Kungsleden ("The King's Trail") is a hiking trail in northern Sweden, approximately 440-kilometre (270 mi) long, between Abisko in the north and Hemavan in the south.It passes through one of Europe's largest remaining wilderness areas. In the winter Kungsleden is a ski trail with approximately the same route.

The trail

Kungsleden was created by Svenska Turistföreningen (STF) at the end of the 19th century, in order to allow more people to experience the beauty of Lapland. It runs for about 440 kilometres (270 mi) between Abisko in the north and Hemavan in the south. The trail is well marked and many sections are well equipped and maintained by STF, with plank walkways covering swampy or rocky ground, but other sections further from the trailheads are eroded and rocky, increasing the difficulty of hiking some parts of the trail. There are bridges across non-fordable streams and during the summer season lakes and rivers could be crossed either with rowing boats provided by STF or by taking a local charter boat.

The trail is separated in four portions which each represent approximately one week of hiking. The most practiced part is by far the northernmost, between Abisko and Kebnekaise. The season, when the huts are open and rowing boats available, usually runs between mid-June and the end of September, but the weather can be very treacherous, including late or early snow. The winter season runs from mid February to the end of April.

Huts have been constructed along the trail, separated by a distance that a walker could expect to cover during the day, about 9-22 kilometres (6-14 mi). The huts are primarily operated by STF. For a small fee, it is possible to pitch a tent outside and use the facilities. Some unguarded shelters can also be found between these huts. Supplies can be bought in some of them (Alesjaure and Kebnekaise Fjällstation for example).

The huts along Kungsleden are:

Abisko, Abiskojaure, Alesjaure, Tjäktja, Sälka, Singi, Kaitumjaure, Teusajaure, Vakkotavare, Saltoluokta, Sitojaure, Aktse, Pårte, Kvikkjokk, Ammarnäs, Aigert, Serve, Tärnasjö, Syter, Viterskalet, Hemavan.

There are no huts between Kvikkjokk and Ammarnäs. This leaves a distance of about 130 kilometres (81 mi) with no huts.

Sights

The trail seen from its highest point, Tjäkta pass

Highlights along the way, sometimes a small detour is needed, are:

Abisko: Great hostel/mountain station, botanical multitude during summer, great back-country skiing during winter. From here, it's possible to get to Nikkaluokta via dog-sledging tours during the winter.

Kebnekaise: Sweden's highest mountain, 2,111 metres (6,926 ft), and centre of Swedish alpinism. The lodge (Kebnekaise Fjällstation) offers very complete services.

Sarek National Park: part of Lappland world heritage. No roads, tracks or bridges makes this a place only for the experienced hiker

Kvikkjokk: Old mountain farming village and nice hostel

Hemavan and Tärnaby: Small towns/villages with nice hiking in the summer, and excellent back-country skiing in the winter. Native village of alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark.

Getting there

You can go to Abisko by direct train from Göteborg, Stockholm or Narvik. Abisko could also be reached by bus either from Kiruna or from Narvik. Which in turn could both be reached by regular airtrafic. You can go to Hemavan by bus from Umeå or Mo i Rana in Norway. There are also regular, but not daily, flights between Hemavan and Stockholm.

A few places along the trail could be reached by road or public transportation (a few others could also be reached by boat charter service). To some destinations buses only runs during the summer season.

Nikkaluokta, about 33 kilometres (21 mi) of the trail and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Kebnekaise could be reached by bus or car from Kiruna.

Suorva and Kebnats could be reached by bus or car from Gällivare.

Kvikkjokk could be reached by bus or car from Jokkmokk.

Jäckvik (Jäkkvik) could be reached by bus or car from Umeå, Arvidsjaur or Fauske in Norway.

Adolfström could be reached by bus or car from Arjeplog.

Ammarnäs could be reached by bus or car from Sorsele.

During the summer Jokkmokk, Arvidsjaur and Sorsele are reachable by The Inland Line turist railway.

↧

O’AHU, Pacific Food Paradise

April 13, 2015, 5:47 am

≫ Next: MacLehose Trail, New Territories, Hong Kong

≪ Previous: Kungsleden, Sweden

Executive summary by darmansjah

Eat with aloha on O’ahu, the epicenter of Pacific creative culinary cool. Discover chefs, farmers, ranchers, and food artisans committed to farm to table cuisine, a world-class food festival, and an exciting food truck scene.

East, Drink, Celebrate – The 3^rd annual Hawai’iFood & Wine Festival September 1-8, 2015 features over 50 internationally acclaimed chefs, food personalities, and wine and spirits producers celebrating the natural bounty of Hawai’I farms and seas. Enjoy galas, dinners, tastings, demonstration, and excursions.

Down on the Farm – Savor delicious treasures from Hawai’I’s farms, seas, and food artisans at weekly farmers’ markets : KCC Farmers’ MarketSat 7:30-11 am; Ala Moana Farmers’ Market Sat. 8-12 noon, Tues 4-7 pm; and Hale’iwaFarmers’ Market Thurs 3-7 pm. O’ahu Agri-Tours

Mobile Edibles – The monthly Eat the Street Food Truck & Street Food Rally in Honolulu’s Kaka’ako area is a gathering of mobile cooks inspired by monthly themes. Check the website for pop up rallies and special event.

↧

MacLehose Trail, New Territories, Hong Kong

April 14, 2015, 1:33 am

≫ Next: Laugavegurinn, Iceland

≪ Previous: O’AHU, Pacific Food Paradise

Hiker: M. John Fayhee, writer and editor

executive summary by darmansjah

I heard about this trail as a youngster from my Uncle Jack, a retired sergeant major in the British Army. The mountain footpaths that were eventually spliced together to make a continuously marked proper trail had been used forever for fitness competitions between the various national components of the British Army. Uncle Jack, as macho a person as has ever been bred, actually graciously deferred to the Gurkhas of Nepal when he described the MacLehose. He stated that, tough as he and "his lads" were, they could not hold a candle to the famed Gurkhas. I hiked this trail in 1987 over the course of a week and it kicked my ass. —M. John Fayhee

Length: 62 miles

The Details: While Hong Kong may be one of the most densely populated places on the planet, the surrounding New Territories are rural and quiet—and they are tough country to hike. The MacLehose Trail makes constant, grueling 1,000-plus-foot descents followed immediately by ascents along the fingers of ridgetops, making it more challenging than its mileage suggests.

The trail is broken down into ten sections, starting at the stunning eastern beaches before climbing up into tropical mountains, where monkeys chatter from the branches—watch out for cobras—and winding past 3,140-foot Tai Mo Shan, the highest peak in the area. It usually takes five to six days to complete the trail, which has been made a bit easier since the days of the Gurkhas with stone steps and paths and first-come-first-serve free campgrounds. Occasional food vendors offer more comfort along the way. When you are done, take a cab back to a hotel in the metropolis.

When to Go: Winter (November-March) is best since summer is very humid.

About Fayhee: Besides being an expert on the fine arts of smoking cigars and occupying a barstool, author M. John Fayhee has spent a lot of time walking across the planet and observing nature and the humans who visit it. The former contributing editor at Backpacker and author of Smoke Signals: Wayward Journeys Through the Old Heart of the New West (Raven's Eye Press, 2012) was also the longtime editor of the Mountain Gazette, where he built up a faithful tribe of mountain-town followers who eagerly awaited his monthly columns. An unassuming heir to Henry Thoreau, Edward Abbey, and Hunter S. Thompson, Fayhee has found inspiration on trails from Mexico's Copper Canyon to the Rockies’ Continental Divide, but his bucket list trail is in one of the world's largest cities.

↧

Laugavegurinn, Iceland

April 14, 2015, 7:56 pm

≫ Next: Tour de dessert

≪ Previous: MacLehose Trail, New Territories, Hong Kong

Fimmvörðuháls Pass, Iceland

Hiker: Jennifer Pharr Davis, long-distance hiker and author

Executive summary by darmansjah

the area between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull in southern Iceland. The route between Skógar and Thórsmörk goes through this pass and is one of the most popular walking routes in Iceland, despite being 22 km long and involving 1,000 m of climbing. At Fimmvörðuháls, there is a comfortable, modern mountain hut owned by Útivist, one of the Icelandic hiking associations. Also nearby is an older, less well-equipped hut called Baldvinsskáli. The route from Skógar is particularly beautiful, as numerous waterfalls are passed along the way. The route is only accessible between mid-June and late-August. On the night of 16 May 1970, three travellers died in the mountain pass in a snowstorm.

It is also possible to combine the Fimmvörðuháls route with the Laugavegur trek between Landmannalaugar and Thórsmörk to make a trip of 4–6 days in length.

I am trying not to daydream too much about un-hiked trails with a six-month-old at home. But the one trail I have done that I put at the top of my list is Laugavegurinn in Iceland. This 50-mile trail is stunning in every respect and packs in more variety in 50 miles than most trails offer in 500. By starting at Skógar and hiking north, you pass 20 cascading waterfalls in the first seven miles. After reaching a barren mountain pass between two glaciers—one of which sits on top of the notorious Eyjafjallajökull volcano that stopped flights between the U.S. and Europe in 2010—you will descend into the valley of Thórsmörk. Translated as "the woods of Thor," this breathtaking valley was visited by J.R.R. Tolkien before he penned The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The landscape is believed to have inspired many of Tolkien's descriptions of Middle Earth. —Jennifer Pharr Davis

Length: 34 miles (50 miles with Skógar extension)

The Details: This four-day hike runs between the Landmannalaugar hut in the north and Thórsmörk park in the south, with an option to start or end at the stunning 200-foot-high Skógafoss waterfall (this 15-mile add-on is well worth it).

Few hikes offer the pure wilderness experience of Laugavegurinn, which wanders through otherworldly volcanic landscapes, paired with stays at comfy huts each night. In between, there are steaming fumaroles, expanses of lichen-covered volcanic rocks, and stunning views of copper-colored rhyolite peaks.

Be sure to book bunks ahead of time though, because they fill up fast, though you can still tent camp outside the huts. Before you head to the trail, whether from Reykjavik or other locations, pay close attention to the bus schedule as the buses only run once or twice a day to/from Skógar and Landmannalaugar.

When to Go: Summer. The hut system opens in late June and closes in early September.

About Pharr Davis: Asheville, North Carolina-based Jennifer Pharr Davis covers a lot of ground in a hurry. The long-distance hiking champ walked all 2,181 miles of the Appalachian Trail in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes, setting a record for the fastest supported time for anyone to ever complete the famed trail. A 2012 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, she also holds speed records on Vermont’s Long Trail and Australia’s Bibbulmun Track. Pharr Davis has thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, the Colorado Trail, Corsica’s GR20, and Scotland’s West Highland Way, among others. She is the author of the hiking memoirs Becoming Odyssa (Beaufort Books, 2011) and Called Again (Beaufort Books, 2013), which tells the story of her record-setting AT hike. She has slowed down just a bit this year to look after her new baby girl.

↧

Tour de dessert

April 15, 2015, 6:12 am

≫ Next: Kurdistan, Iraq

≪ Previous: Laugavegurinn, Iceland

Europe’s most delicious pastries, cakes and tarts.

Executive summary by darmansjah

American cafe culture has come a long way in the last two decades: corporate coffee has spawned near two generations of independent cafes that offer more than the old standby of roadside diner joe and pie. But in Europe, grand salons with wrap-around pastry cases have more in common with jewellery stores than store-front bakeries. How do you decide what to order with your caffeinated afternoon pick-me-up? Here are a few ideas. Consider it a starter list for your carb- and sugar-fuelled tour of Europe rather than a definitive guide. And don’t feel compelled to stick strictly to the list – should a neighbouring confection in the pastry case call your name, get that instead. Better yet, get them both.

Eccles cake in London

Don’t be fooled by the ‘dead-fly pie’ nickname, bestowed on this dense buttery pastry because of the currants that are wrapped inside. Skip the common supermarket versions and head for St John Bakery (www.stjohngroup.uk.com/bakery/pastries) in London, where Eccles cake is served with Lancashire cheese.

Croissant Ispahan in Paris

Yes, eating croissants is required. And, yes, they should fall apart on the first bite, covering your shirt, your plate, and your useless napkin in a sea of paper-thin crumbs. There are hundreds of croissant options, but the heavenly Ispahan variation at Pierre Hermes (www.pierreherme.com) in Paris combines the essential flaky pastry with regionally harvested raspberries, rosewater, marzipan and possibly the tears of angels.

Medovnik in Prague

Layers and more layers of honey cake alternating with a filling that sits somewhere between whipped cream and condensed milk. The Russians have an origin story about this cake, as do the Ukrainians, but you’ll find it at most corner bakeries in Prague. Head for the Cukrarna Hajek (www.cukrarna-hajek-hajkova.cz) or, for a more classical vibe, the Café Savoy.

It’s unlikely, but the time may come when you tire of gelato. The solution is clear – switch to cannoli. It’s a crispy (when super fresh) fried dough tube filled with sweet ricotta. Sometimes the cookie-like pastry is dipped in chocolate and there are variations in filling flavour. The best places will fill your cannoli after you order it. If you’re in the Sicilian pastry’s homeland, try the Laboratorio Pasticceria Roberto in Taormina.

Fächertorte in Vienna

The Sachertorte gets all the love in Austria and, sure, having a slice in the cafe at Vienna’s Hotel Sacher is a fun touristy experience. But that’s not all the Austrians, those under-recognised masters of European baking, have on offer. Highly recommended is the Fächertorte: it’s three layers – yellow cake, poppy seeds and apples – wrapped in brioche like pie crust. Get it at the Gerstner Bakery (www.gerstner.at) on the Kärntner Straße in the heart of Vienna’s fancy shopping district.

Prinsesstårta in Sweden

History suggests that the ‘Princess Cake’ got its name because it was a favourite of three turn-of-the-century Swedish princesses. Certainly it’s very pretty with its bright green marzipan concealing alternating layers of sponge cake, jam, vanilla custard and whipping cream. Get a slice of royalty-approved Prinsesstårta at Taxinge Slott Café (www.taxingeslott.se) in Nykvarn. It’s an hour outside of Stockholm and is absolutely worth the trip.

↧

Kurdistan, Iraq

April 16, 2015, 3:28 pm

≫ Next: Long Range Traverse, Newfoundland, Canada

≪ Previous: Tour de dessert

Executive summary by darmansjah

Zakho Zip Code Zakho -42002 is a district and a town in Iraqi Kurdistan located a few kilometers from the Iraqi-Turkish border in the Dohuk Governorate. The city has 200,000 inhabitants. It may have originally begun on a small island in the Little Khabur which currently flows through the city. The Khabur River flows west of Zakho to form the border between Iraq and Turkey and flows into the Tigris. The most important rivers in the district of Zakho are: the Zeriza river, the Seerkotik river and the Little Khabur river.

Considered an oasis of peace and stability in a historically volatile region, the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northeastern Iraq is drawing a growing stream of curious Western visitors to its ancient cities, snowcapped mountains, and bustling bazaars. The 2010 expansion of Erbil International Airport—located in the provincial capital and main commercial center—has improved access to the region and helped fuel tourist infrastructure development. Recent advances include construction of several new luxury and business hotels and additional escorted small group tours focused on Kurdish ethnic heritage and historic sites.

Experienced guides such as Hinterland Travel and Kurdistan Adventures lead 8- to 16-day cultural tours. Highlights include Erbil’s historic citadel and Grand Mosque, the ruins of Salahaddin’s Fortress in Shaqlawa, and the Jarmo Neolithic village archaeological site (7,000 B.C.) located in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. Some itineraries include excursions into Kurdish ethnic regions in eastern Turkey and northwestern Iraq.

↧

Long Range Traverse, Newfoundland, Canada

April 17, 2015, 8:33 pm

≫ Next: Laos

≪ Previous: Kurdistan, Iraq

Western Brook Pond to Gros Morne Mountain

Executive summary by darmansjah

Locals simply call this Montana-size island of serrated granite 20 miles off the coast of Quebec "The Rock." And with more than 10,000 miles of craggy coastline and only 12 people per square mile, The Rock, Canada's easternmost point, is a backpacker's dream. The best route is the five-day Long Range Traverse in 446,080-acre Gros Morne National Park (GMNP), where you'll encounter edge-of-the-world views of coastal fjords sparkling between 1,000-foot granite cliffs at every bend.

After a mandatory park orientation, drive 12 miles to the trailhead at Western Brook Pond. Load up and walk the easy two-mile trail to the shore of a freshwater fjord. Come with solid map-and-compass skills, because there isn't a single trail marker along this 20-mile route, which is packed with side trips and navigational puzzles. The meandering footpaths of caribou draw you away from the proper course. Fog cloaks the highlands in June and July. Five designated wilderness campsites, each a day's hike apart, line the traverse in spruce groves tucked between knolls of heather and bare-bone granite. For ocean views, side-hike to the cliffy edges of Ten Mile Pond and Baker Brook Pond; for views of everything else, summit the 2,644-foot crumbling granite dome of Gros Morne Mountain on your final day. Top out, then wind downhill southwest to sea level and the park visitor center.

Permits

Reserve up to three months in advance ($25CDN/group, plus an additional $85CDN/person for backcountry permits). (709) 458-2417; pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/grosmorne

Map

National Topographic Series 12-H/12, ($12CDN, fedpubs.com)

Season

Gros Morne Adventures offers a six-day traverse for $1,295CDN per person. grosmorneadventures.com

Round-Trip: 23 miles, 3 to 5 days

When to Go: Relatively low elevation means this route opens in June and can be hiked until late September. But come prepared: The Long Range Mountains are on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and take the brunt of some of the worst weather in the world. Go with a guide service if you’re not an expert navigator.

This off-trail traverse takes you from inland fjords lined with 2,000-foot-high granite cliffs draped with wispy waterfalls deep into Gros Morne National Park. The rugged seaside plateau is just one reason Newfoundland is the new mecca for adventure. The landscape here is as dramatic as it is remote: It was carved by glaciers from massive, uplifted blocks of granite that form the expansive plateau, a wild place still loaded with moose and caribou. Good skills with map, compass, and GPS are required here, as no marked or maintained trails penetrate this unique wilderness. So wild is this trek that the park wardens won’t give you a permit unless you carry a locator beacon (they call it a caribou collar). This ensures they won’t have to search the whole park if you fail to emerge on time.

Insider Tip: The impenetrable alpine krummholz vegetation (called tuckamore on Newfoundland) in Gros Morne is so dense it seriously complicates navigation. One useful technique is to follow “caribou leads,” trails carved through the tuck over centuries by moose and caribou. Then take a GPS waypoint and adjust your vector as required when you pop out the other side.

↧

Laos

April 18, 2015, 3:46 pm

≫ Next: Yosemite Grand Traverse, California, United States

≪ Previous: Long Range Traverse, Newfoundland, Canada

Executive summary by darmansjah

Laosis the only landlocked Southeast Asian country, yet water—more than 50 inches (130 centimeters) of rain falls annually in the northern provinces and the Mekong River flows through nearly 1,140 miles (1,835 kilometers) of Lao territory—shapes the borders, crops, culture, and daily life in this emerging ecotourism destination.

The dry season (November to April) is the best time to embark on a guided hiking tour of the rugged terrain (about 70 percent of the country is mountainous) to view the exotic, endemic wildlife, including leopard cats, Javan mongooses, goat antelopes, and Malayan sun bears. Sign on with Gibbon Experience for low-impact, high-flying travel deep into the remote, northern Bokeo Nature Reserve, home of the rare black-cheeked crested gibbons. Treks begin in neighboring Thailand and cross the Mekong into Laos by boat. Guests lodge in five canopy-level tree houses linked by an intricate network of zip lines and stewarded by a local guide representing one of Bokeo Province’s 400 villages.

↧

Yosemite Grand Traverse, California, United States

April 19, 2015, 8:45 pm

≫ Next: Tonquin Valley, Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada

≪ Previous: Laos

Post Peak Pass to Tuolumne Meadows

By Peter Potterfield, executive summary by darmansjah

Round-Trip: 60 miles, 6 to 7 days

When to Go: Reaching as high as 12,000 feet, this trans-Sierra route is open only from mid-July to mid-September.

It’s hard to say “Sierra in summer” without thinking of granite towers rising above sparkling high-country lakes into deep blue skies. This traverse is a cheat sheet of Yosemite backcountry, touching more than a few of the real high points of the Sierra in just a week, including an ascent of Half Dome via the Cable Route.

Starting on obscure trails in the Ansel Adams Wilderness with unexpected views of the Minarets and other landmark Sierra Nevada peaks, this hike soon enters Yosemite National Park to follow the unique drainage of the Merced River. The traverse then joins the iconic John Muir Trail for a spectacular finish among the spires of the Cathedral Range. An unexpected highlight is the jaunt through the extensive drainage of the Merced River, the lifeblood of Yosemite Valley, where the route traces the headwaters through waterfalls, granite basins, and channels, interspersed with sprawling, sublime sub-alpine meadows.

Insider Tip: The trailhead logistics for this trip can be challenging, so make things easy by doing this trip with Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides, who pioneered the route and have mastered the journey from start to finish.

↧

Tonquin Valley, Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada

April 20, 2015, 8:46 pm

≫ Next: Croagh Patrick, Ireland

≪ Previous: Yosemite Grand Traverse, California, United States

Portal Creek to McCarib Pass to Tonquin Valley and Out via the Astoria River

By Peter Potterfield, executive summary by darmansjah

Round-Trip: 27 miles, 3 to 5 days

When to Go: July to September; it can snow any day of the year.

Watching the sunrise light up the enormous broadside of the Ramparts, throwing golden reflections into the waters of Amethyst Lake, is an experience worthy of any effort expended to get into this wild valley. First photographed in 1915, the unrelenting beauty of the Tonquin Valley, nestled deep in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, has drawn pilgrims ever since—including Ansel Adams, whose very first trip as a Sierra Club photographer was right here. This big hiking loop takes you in over high, scenic McCarib Pass and out via the lovely Astoria River, laying the whole mind-blowing landscape before you in a backcountry journey to rival any.

Insider Tip: If all those grizzly bears wandering around make you uneasy, consider booking accommodations at two wilderness lodges hidden at the edges of the valley. Founded as horsepacking operations, both the Amethyst Lake Lodge and Tonquin Valley Lodge increasingly cater to hikers looking for a bit of comfort and home-cooked meals in this wild place.

↧

Croagh Patrick, Ireland

April 21, 2015, 8:58 pm

≫ Next: Fitz Roy Trek, Patagonia, Argentina

≪ Previous: Tonquin Valley, Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada

Summit Climb, Westport, County Mayo

By Peter Potterfield, executive summary by darmansjah

Round-Trip: 8 miles, 1 day

When to Go: Spring through fall is best for weather, but the climb can be done year round when the summit isn’t covered with snow and ice. Expect fog, wind, rain, and hail rolling in off the Atlantic at any time.

A climb of this gnarly, holy peak provides ample beauty, challenge, and spiritual power to really experience this long-settled country. Croagh is the Gaelic word for "sharp mountain," an apt term for this steep ascent of the 2,507-foot mountain where St. Patrick is said to have spent 40 days and nights in prayer at its summit. More than half the people who come to climb the rocky, exposed, and lung-churning trail to the top are not hikers of any stripe, but pilgrims paying homage to St. Patrick, who, with his Celtic cross design, symbolically brought Christians and pagans together. Stunning views of Clew Bay and all of verdant County Mayo are the payoff for making it to the top, with its tiny white chapel. A Guinness in the centuries-old Campbell’s Pub at the base is the mandatory finish. There, the most oft heard phrase is, “Wow, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Insider Tip: Myth says that if you climb Croagh Patrick seven times, your entry into heaven is assured despite previous bad behavior.

↧

Fitz Roy Trek, Patagonia, Argentina

April 22, 2015, 9:02 pm

≫ Next: Chilkoot Trail, Alaska and Yukon Territory, U.S. and Canada

≪ Previous: Croagh Patrick, Ireland

El Chaltén to Laguna Torre to Poincenot Camp to Laguna Eléctrico

executive summary by darmansjah

Round-Trip: 36 miles, 4 to 7 days

When to Go: February to March to avoid the crowds of midsummer and enjoy stable fall weather when the infamous Patagonian winds abate

Hike among Argentina’s fabled Fitz Roy Massif, the iconic ridge where the peaks of Poincenot, St. Exupery, and 11,073-foot Fitz Roy itself rise out of the steppes of Patagonia like a vision. This grand tour gives you three views of Fitz at sunrise, with Cerro Torre and Marconi Pass thrown in for good measure. This ramble through Delaware-size Los Glaciares National Park takes you from gnarled, spooky beech forests and open plains to glaciers, roaring waterfalls, and granite monoliths afire with orange dawn light.

Insider Tip: From Camp Poincenot, hike up in the predawn hours to Laguna de los Tres by headlamp for the full impact of sunrise on the Fitz Roy Massif.

↧