Travelling Studies

People from all over the world, and not just the Japanese people themselves, have planned to climb Mount Fuji at least once during their lifetime. Millions more have traveled to Japan via Mount Fuji tour packages to experience the world famous mountain. Even though it is a dormant volcano, there are still risks involved in such an activity. What encourages normal, everyday people to throw caution to the wind and attempt to scale the mountain peak?

To first understand that, one must take into account the symbolism of Mount Fuji in both Japan and across the world. The mountain volcano is considered the tallest mountain in the country, with the highest point measuring over 12,000 feet in height. As with many other well known mountains across Japan, Mount Fuji has its own legends that tell of its rise and fall, and permeates the folk stories of the Japanese. This has cultivated both a love for and respect for the snowy peak in the people.

The extent of their admiration for Mount Fuji can be seen in the many other smaller Fuji-sans sprinkled all across Japan. These are all smaller hills or mountain peaks named after the original volcano. There have also been many origami books that have taught avid paper folders how to create a likeness of Mount Fuji using the art form.

The emblem of Japan even dominates the country’s landscape, with a large portion of the west of Tokyo taken up by its splendid view. Mount Fuji is known to be an extremely shy mountain, with its peak often smothered by clouds or haze. It is said that Mount Fuji’s peak can only been seen clearly and unblocked by weather for ten days out of the every calendar year. That rare occurrence perhaps adds to the mystic of the mountain.

A more negative aspect of the attraction that Mount Fuji holds for many individuals is the power and control it has over the immediate areas surrounding it. While the volcano has been dormant for centuries, geographical experts have predicted that Mount Fuji is due to stir with activity in time. Tokyo and many other cities could suffer a terrible fate if that were to happen, and it is perhaps why there are also Japanese legends which have led its people to worship gods and other deities that might be connected to Mount Fuji, praying for their safety and peace. However, Fuji-san is also an enabler of economic well-being, with numerous Mount Fuji hotels surrounding it, not to mention in Hakone and nearby resort towns.

Perhaps the final sign of how much the volcano mountain is revered in Japan is the sight of its peak shown on the country’s 1,000 yen note. It is also the most common denomination of the Japanese currency, and perhaps symbolic of the importance of Mount Fuji in the people’s psyche for it to be used in such a way. The life and death of millions of Japanese are held in the cradle of Mount Fuji’s existence, and it is therefore hard to ignore the allure and attraction the beautiful mountain peak has throughout history.

Most cities in the United States could be defined as melting pots. The mixture of cultures and backgrounds of the people that live in these cities is a wonder all in its own. Just sitting at a bus stop or in a restaurant can provide a great chance to take in the vast majority of cultures the cities have to offer.

Probably the individual that has the most interaction with the different types of people in a city is the driver of a Yellow Cab. Just imagine what it would be like as a cab driver in a city, and the vast types of people you would encounter on a daily basis. You could learn so much about different cultures just by striking up conversations with the people that take a ride in your Yellow Cab. It is amazing to see how many drivers of these cabs are more than willing to strike up conversations with the passengers of their vehicles, as if each new passenger is a fresh start and a new opportunity to learn something about someone. The fascination of the life of a cab driver is even so great that it has spurred television shows and movies to depict what it would be like.

The Yellow Cab stands as a symbol of sorts to life in a city. Movies and television shows depict city residents and visitors standing on street curbs hailing down the yellow vehicles. Therefore when people visit cities, they have come to expect the cabs that they see driving the streets of the city to be yellow and might be taken aback if the vehicles are any other colors.

In addition to the Yellow Cab being an icon of sorts of life in a city, these vehicles are also very much the support system of transportation in cities. Very few residents of cities own their own vehicles for many reasons. It is very expensive to park a vehicle close to your apartment in a city and it can also be a pain trying to drive in the traffic of a city. Additionally, living in a city can be very expensive, paying rent alone can be nearly impossible at times, so many residents opt to forgo the expensive of maintaining a vehicle and choose to utilize public transportation instead. Furthermore, visitors to cities rely a great deal on cab drivers to help them get to where they are going because it can be very confusing trying to navigate a city that you are unfamiliar with. Many of these visitors have taken a plane into the city and do not have many other options of getting around a city rather then renting a car for the duration of the trip or taking cabs. Many times, taking a cab is a much less expensive and more convenient option.

There are many things that define the fast paced style of life in a city, but few things are as definitive as the yellow cab. The depiction of this vehicle goes far back and has become quite the icon of life in the city.

Travel allows us to reinvent ourselves over and over again. We merely open our eyes and hearts and change happens. When you travel with your eyes and your mind open, you realize that you are not the same person you were when you left home. I realized some time ago that travel had changed me. The scenery, the adventures, the people I met, the places I stayed at all changed me; all for the better.

This idea of being changed by travel stuck with me and last year I decided to develop the idea further. I began writing down the funny things that happened while I traveled. As an ecotourism development specialist I get to visit some very cool places, often before they are discovered or ready for tourists. The results can be hilarious, like the time I stayed at a retirement home as the local hotel was not suitable for tourists! Or the time I had the chance to work on my perceptions of what is pleasant or constitutes a real tourism attraction, when I was given the chance to visit the Gomantong Cave in northeast Borneo with large numbers of birds and bats.

Caves like Gomantong are home to thousands of small birds known as swiftlets. Their nests are made from saliva mixed with feathers and other nest materials, and are highly prized as ingredients in birds-nest soup. A nest can be worth over $500US per kilogram so it is important to regulate collection so that over harvesting does not occur. The Gomantong Cave has been described by the World Wildlife Fund as one of the best managed edible birds-nest cave in the world.

The Gomantong Cave is also a popular tourist attraction. It is a unique chance to see how the bird’s nest industry works, and to observe the delicate ecosystem of the cavern. I have always enjoyed seeing new bird species and I like bats, so it was not hard to convince me to add a visit to Gomantong Cave to my itinerary.

A stop at the visitor centre explained the intricacies of nest harvesting and the risks people take in climbing the fragile-looking rattan ladders and ropes to the cave’s highest reaches. After a quick stop, we were off to see the Sumud Hitam, or the Black Nest Cave. It is a large cavern, 30 metres wide and 100 metres high, with raised boardwalks to make walking easier. I soon realized I underestimated the challenge in this adventure. The short walk to see the cave would turn out to be one of the longest walks of my life.

I entered the cave, gagging on the ammonia-fumes of bat guano permeating the stale air and feeling my feet sliding on the accumulated droppings of thousands of bats and birds. Wearing open-toe sport sandals may have been a good fashion choice in the morning, but made for precarious footing in the cave. In the corner of my eye, I caught the flash of red on the ground. Closer inspection with a flashlight showed the ground was alive with hundreds of cockroaches. I wished I had not looked.

Saat, our guide from Borneo EcoTours, pointed out there would be rats around who would eat the insects and snakes who would eat the rats. A very healthy ecosystem, but not exactly what I had anticipated when entering one of Borneo’s newest ecotourism attractions.  ”It is interesting, but slightly unpleasant,” Saat said as he tightened his shirt around his neck, “If you look up, keep your mouth closed.” Wise words I figured, knowing that the cave is home to hundreds of busy swiftlets who flew back and forth in their daily search for food.

When I entered the cave, I had not counted on almost falling on my rear end in bat droppings and enough cockroaches to keep me in therapy for years. Saat gallantly offered his hand to keep me upright; probably figuring, somewhat correctly, that the trip would be cut short if I fell down. We proceeded further into the cave to a sight that would have taken your breath away if you were not already holding it.

The cave’s walls sweep up over 100 metres (300 feet) with sunlight streaming in from openings at the top; it looked like a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Swiftlets darted back and forth from their nests to the forest in their ongoing search for food. Bats moved about in darkened corners of the cave. Ladders and ropes lying idle, waiting for the next nesting season when skilled collectors would risk their lives to gather their bounty. In all, it was a stunning sight and one I am glad I did not miss despite the perils of getting there.

I figured there was a life lesson in this experience. Like my trip to the Gomantong Cave, it may be necessary to endure a little unpleasantness, keep your mouth shut, risk falling on your rear and wade through some droppings. However, if you hold true to your vision, you will be rewarded.

So I kept to my vision and collected my best stories in a book which was published recently by Trafford Publishing of Victoria, B.C. I did not want to write lists of sights to see or restaurants to visit. Travel can transform people and the communities they live in. By sharing stories like the visit to Gomantong Cave, one can learn that if you travel with an open mind and an open heart, change is inevitable.

Many people feel they have left some of their dreams behind in their quest to manage work and family obligations. People seeking the impetus to dust off their childhood dreams and undertake a new direction can often create the spark they need though a travel adventure. I  found a new direction in life from travel and I think others can too!

For centuries, Granada, Spain has been a mecca for poets, playwrights, philosophers, artists and hopeless romantics. Such is its beauty that the entire city has been declared a national landmark by the Spanish government. There is a dreamlike, mystical quality to Granada, a medieval elegance that seeps into you and slowly seduces.

You’ll see these words written on ceramic tiles all over Granada: “Dale Limosna, mujer, que no hay en la vida nada como la pena de ser ciego en Granada.” Written by the Spanish poet Francisco de Icaza, the words describe an old gentleman and his wife who are walking down a street in the Zacatín marketplace. They stroll pleasantly along, taking in the sights and sounds of Granada in the early evening, and they come upon a blind beggar. The gentleman, clearly moved, turns to his wife and says, “Give him alms, my wife, for there is no pain in life greater than that of being a blind man in Granada.”

Everywhere you look, you’ll see the reflections of Granada’s glorious past where, for 800 years, Moorish sultans presided over a tiny but rich and powerful mountain kingdom. So powerful, in fact, that Granada became the last bastion of Islamic rule before its cataclysmic fall at the hands of King Ferdinand, Queen Isabel and the Catholic Reconquest in 1492. Still, the majestic Alhambra palace, perched high above the city on the Sabika hill, serves as a testament to the lyrical elegance and enduring influence of Moorish culture in Spain to this day.

The Alhambra is the largest, best preserved, and most beautiful medieval fortress on the European continent: an artistic and architectural wonder which stemmed directly from the greatest Moorish sultans, architects, artists and visionaries. The first wave of Moors who swept into Spain in 711 AD. had been nomadic tribes of the desert, and they looked upon Granada as their oasis. As the Alhambra was being built, water became the dominant theme, and everywhere you look there are still fountains, pools, and man-made water channels that follow you wherever you go. There’s a story for every tower and room in the palace, most of which will be offered by a bartender once you’ve stuck around for a while.

Beneath the Alhambra, in the city itself, there are the “secondary” monuments, the Cathedral and Royal Chapel (where the Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabel are buried), the Alcaicería (the old market place), and the Plaza Bib-Rambla. The soul of this city, however, is the Albaicín (the old Moorish quarter). Replete with private courtyards, hidden lookouts, immaculate gardens and tapas bars well off the beaten path, the Albaicín fills a day without ever moving a finger. Spend a week in the Albaicín and you’re bitten. You’ll move through the cobble-stoned walkways among the ghosts of Christians and Moors, magicians, princesses, soldiers and saints.

And you may get the sense that a part of you, too, will be left behind.