Eijanaika/ええじゃないか

Eijanaika (ええじゃないか) is a historical film with the setting right before the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The politics was in a turmoil, because of the changes in the social and economical structures. In this film, the protogonist was Genji and his wife Ine. Genji was a Japanese that had a ship wreck six years prior to the beginning of the film. He was rescued by American sailors, and lived in the United States for several years. He came back to Japan, have plans to take Ine, his wife, to the United States with him. Ina, originally thought Genji had died, was sold by her brother and father to a rich daimyo, Kinzo. Since then, she had lived as a prostitute and entertainer in Edo.

Genji believed that he could live a free farmer in the United States. He tried hard to persuade Ine to go to the United States with him, but Ine, believe that Japan was her homeland, was not willing to go to United States with Genji.

Genji had picked up some American values when he lived in the United States, such as equality between people (Japan was feudalism at that time, where commoners had to obey the samurais and daimyos). Because of political instability, the food price had surged, and many people were fed up on how rich some of the merchants had became. Genji and his brother-in-law led a group of protesters and started to destroy the houses of the merchants. They tried to hide in their old village but someone in the group betrayed them by telling the soldiers of their hiding place. Genji's brother-in-law was killed by the soldiers.

Some of the villagers started to dislike Genji, because they felt that he was an American, instead of a Japanese. Genji fought back on the village chief when the chief tried to talk to him. Because of that, Genji had a criminal record and was not able to go back to the United States. He was stuck in Japan, taking odd jobs from Kinzo, not realizing that Kinzo had other ideas in his mind.

Near the last scene when Genji organized the dance

Near the end of the film, Genji organized a group of jobless people, and formed a large group of protesters-dancers that wanted to march to the Imperial Palace in Edo. Ginzo was ordered to stop the crowd with a group of soldiers, but he did not fire. That was shown to the other daimyos as a sign of weakness. Because weakness was not tolerated in Japanese society, the other daimyos killed him with a firing squad, along with Genji.

The Kid (1999)

The Kid (流星語) is a film aired in 1999, directed by Jacob Cheung Chi-Leung (張之亮). It is a drama film that was rated as Category I (meaning the film is suitable for everyone), so it was not the genre that Hong Kong people liked. It was based the film from the same name that was directed by Charlie Champlin.

The film starred Wing (played by Leslie Cheung) and his illegally adopted son Ming (played by 葉靖嵐). Wing was a stock broker that cared only about money. The Asian stock market collapsed in 1997 and Wing went broke, because he lost millions of dollars for his clients. Kwan, played by the supermodel Qiqi (琦琦), had a depression and left her infant son Ming with a note inside Leslie's yacht. Leslie wanted to report to the police at first but he decided to keep Ming.

Wing became a father figure to Ming. No longer a stock broker. Wing worked as in odd jobs to support himself and Ming. Because of his lack of interest in material wealth, Ming's personality changed from a aggressive stock broker to a relax, carefree man. He began to think of his dream as a an astronomist and watching shooting stars was one of his hobby with Ming. Though both were happy and loved each other, they were poor and lived in the attic of an old house.

The poster and not much other info could be found

Kwan became very wealthy and went back to the pier. She met Ming while Wing brought Ming to work. Even thought Kwan was paedophobia, due to the fact that she abandoned her own son couple years prior, she felt that she and Ming had a special bond. Later she found out Ming was her own son, and she wanted to spend more time with Ming.

Wing's Dream was to become an astronomist and he was accepted by Royal Astronomical Society as a research in Greenwich, UK. There was one condition that he was not allowed to take any child. He to make a choice: to return Ming to Kwan, go to Greenwich, or to keep Ming and remained in Hong Kong. After struggles, he finally made up his mind. He stayed in Hong Kong, and returned Ming to Kwan. However, Wing and Kwan made an arrangement where Wing and Ming would meet each other once in a while.

The Kid was the only film produced by Creative League, a low budget group that was created to fund strengthen the film industry in Hong Kong, after the collapse of stock market in 1997. The goal of Creative League was to create low budget films using famous actors. Leslie Cheung became an ambassador as he volunteered himself to become the main star of the film. Qiqi, Ti Long, and Carrie Ng were the other big names.

The atmosphere was warm, although a little bit depressing. The neighbourhood cop, Lung Sir, had a crush with Ming's neighbour, Lan. Lan later died of unknown disease from overworking and Lung Sir was too depressed to stay in that neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, it was not well received in the box office, and Creative League was folded after The Kid was released to the screen. It could had been a good change in the film industry of Hong Kong but Hong Kong tends to treat films as a form of entertainment, rather than a form of art.

Europe Trip 2011 Brussels (Day 6 & 7)

     It took about and an hour and a half for the Thalys train to take us from Paris to Brussels. There was no border check because both France and Belgium belong to Schengen Nations. For those who do not already know, Brussels is not only the capital city of Brussels, it is also the de facto capital of the European Union, and people wearing suits could be seen walking around the east side of the inner city, where most of the EU buildings are located. The other thing that I thought would be interesting in Brussels is that even though it is within the Flanders region, but French is predominately spoken, because it is a status symbol for the nobles to speak French and the citizens of Brussels followed suit. Bilingual is also seen everywhere because there are more Flemish speakers than French speakers in Belgium and the Flemish probably wanted representation on the capital city. German is also an official language in Belgium but only a very small region is German native.

     The Thalys train stops at Bruxelle-Midi/Brussel-Zuid/South Station, unlike the last two trips, our hostel this time, Youth Hostel van Gogh (CHAB), is not close enough to the main station. Instead, it is located 3 minute walk from the Botanique/Kruidtuin station, named after the Botanical Garden of Brussels. Most of the locals I saw were brown and black skin people. Later I found out Belgium has many Congolese and Morocco immigrants and there are racial tensions among people from different races

     We dropped off our luggage at the Hostel. Our accommodation experience was improving, we now have an semi-attached room in the garden section of the hostel, and there was free Internet use by the guest. The staff were also very friendly, because they work in youth hostel. We got a map that depicts the subculture of Brussels and apparently comic is big thing in the city. The map also listed out the better fry stands (Belgium is well-known for their twice fried thick cuts).

     The first thing we were to do was to try out the fries at the fry stand for lunch near the Madou Station, it was closed enough to YH van Gogh so we walked there. I was greedy and ordered the large size and it was LOTS of fries. Also, mayonnaise is the way to go for the Flemish, according to the tourist guide so I had that on the side. Many fry stands now offer different kinds of sauces as well.

     We did not what was really interesting in Brussels. Even tourist books said people stop in Brussels because of its convenient intermediate location between Paris and Amsterdam/Cologne. We took the metro to the Atomium, a unique structure built for Expo 58 at an area north of the old city wall of Brussels. Atomium was one of the few structures left and since it been used as a tourist attraction. It was designed as a unit cell of an iron atom and hence it was called Atomium. The ticket for Atomium alone was 15 Euro, so we bought a bundled ticket that admits us to Atomium and the planetarium. It is also where the water park Oceano, Royal Palace and Garden, Mini-Europe, and the national stadium located.

Atomium, the unit cell of an iron element

The skyline of Brussels from the Atomium

Parabola shaped pavilion and it did not last very long after the Expo

   

The surreal escalator of the 'bond' part of the Atomium

     We took a nice view of the city at the top of Atomium via a very fast elevator, the diagonal 'bonds' had escalator inside that connects from one atom to another. We saw some exhibitions including the pavilions that were built for the Expos from various countries, as well as how people in Brussels are living in a mulicultural society. I really liked the decor of the 'bonding' parts between the atoms. It had a surreal feelings into it. I also looked at the King Baudouin Stadium and imagined the Heysel Stadium disasters that was caused by drunk Liverpool fans in the European Final 1985 between Juventus and Liverpool. England was banned for participating European competition for five years after that happened. What were ironic that the Juventus player Michel Platini who scored the only goal in the match had became the president of UEFA, and less than 4 years the similar incident happened in a match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
     After heading the Atomium, we took the Metro back to the closest station to Grand Place/Grote Markt and head to the Number One tourist attraction in Brussels. It is the old market square and has overpriced restaurants catering tourists. However, some administrative buildings, such as the City Hall, We took enough pictures and headed to the most cliche tourist attraction of Belgium - Manneken Pis (later I found out there is a female equivalent version called Jeanneke Pis) but it never achieve popularity of Manneken Pis and it is within the proximity of both attractions.

Dog unleashed on the street!

Grand Place/Grote Markt

The restored facade of structures in
Grand Place/Grote Markt

   
We were hungry and walked to the Chinatown part of  Brussels. There are several Chinese and

The breakfast at the hostel with cheeselike wax

Vietnamese restaurants on one single street nearby and we had zero interest in Asian food in Europe. We should have tried Belgian food but they were pricey so we ended up in a Doner Kabab place. It was the first time I went into one and I thought it was exotic (later I found out there are all over the place in Europe, especially in Germany). I ordered a falafel plate and it comes with fries (fries to Belgian is like rice to Southeast Asians). Then we headed back to hostel and discussed our plans.

     Jeffrey decided to venture on his own with his photography at the forested park on the following day, so Fred and I decided to explore Brussels on our own. After our breakfast, we took the Metro to Court of Justice, a magnificent building we saw from the Atomium the day before. It was a great spot for photographic as it situates on a small hill. Unfortunately, part of the facade is under renovation so we continued to walk a few blocks until we reached the Marolles Flea Market.

Le chat/een kat in the street

     Marolles Flea Market at Place du Jeu de Balle is a gem if one wants to find old treasures and
antique. It opens and closes early during the day so Fred and I spent some time to walk around to look at the old antique stuff. I bought some cool postcards and old dolls (unfortunately I lost them before I left the Netherlands). There were also a lot of old electronics but they are not anything interesting compared to handcrafted stuff.

The amazing fruity Lambic beer sampled during the brewery tour 

   
     After that we walked to Cantillon Brewery at 11. I have researched before the trip and there is a brewery near the old city and it is called Cantillon Brewery. Belgium is very well-known for their beer. All kinds of beer are available in Belgium and there are many fruity beer as well (They also have many corporate beer, as InBev is headquartered in Belgium). Unlike many other breweries which controls the condition during the brewing process, Cantillon claimed that the brewery process is spontaneous, so the flavour of the brew differs depends on the time, season, and conditions of the surrounding. Also, the fermentation process is much longer than the normal brewery so the taste of the beer was very rich.

     The tour was self guided with two samples at the end. Those who participated the tours are also offered to buy beer Cantillon beer at a discount price. I tried all three flavours and I thought the Geueze were the best. It had a slight beer palate but very rich taste and I never thought beer could be that good. The fruity beer were very good too but to me it was a cross between beer and wine. I bought the Geueze and I decided to bring it with me on my journey.
 

Morocco-style fast food at Anderlecht district

     I got slightly tipsy after the beer tour so it was time for food. We went to have lunch at another Moroccan place and headed to AutoWorld at Parc du Cinquantenaire. I personally do not like cars but I liked the history of it so it was a good museum for me to go to.

I really like the interior design of the Metro where different people can hold the different parts of the pole

The gate at Parc du Cinquantanaire/Jubelpark

     I liked the design and the arrangement of the museum. The cars were displayed chronologically, with major innovations noted on the signs. I am not going through the details here but I saw many manufacturers from different countries during the first thirty years of the twentieth century. After WWII, many automobile manufacturers were bought out by larger automobile companies.

     After the visit of the AutoWorld, it was the time for chocolate hunting. Chocolate is a big thing in Brussels so even though I have no interest to visit the Big 3 - Godiva, Neuhaus, and Leonidas, Fred and I went to the factory shop at Godiva. To be honest there was not anything special about the factory store so we walked out pretty quickly and took the picture of the palace. We took shots of the Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur à Koekelberg near by and it was a gorgeous shot.

By far my favourite shot of Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur à Koekelberg near the Godiva factory store

A nice walk at the Botanical Garden right before the evening

The beautiful street scene at sunset

     Fred had an appointment with a online-game friend from Shanghai and he invited me to have dinner with him. He picked us up from YH van Gogh and drove us to the the outside of Brussels to Flanders (which was short drive) where most people I saw around that neighbourhood. He worked at a Casino on the outskirt of Brussels. He explained in his opinion of how Brussels claim itself as a multi-cultural city in Europe but it is not successful and politicians that are taking the advantages of being 'multi-culture'. He also miss Shanghai but he did not trust the education system in China either but he said he would eventually live in China again someday. We ended up in a crowed tavern and since I could not drink any alcohol, I had a freshly squeezed orange juice in the tavern. I like how that tavern in takes their non-alcoholic drinks seriously.

     Jeffrey was also in the hostel by the time we got back, and there was the end of Brussels and the last three days of hanging out with my old high school friends. The next stop would be Amsterdam and it would be the last stop for Jeffrey and Fred before they return to Hong Kong.

Europe Trip 2011 Paris (Day 4 to Day 5)

      We were planning to get up earlier in case if we had problem with the custom. We booked the really early train so we could have discounts and maximize our time to spend in Paris. We prepacked our luggages on the previous night and got out of Belgrove Hotel by 5. The train we were going to take departed Kings Cross Station at 6AM, so we had more than half an hour to spare before we reached Kings Cross Station.

      I was checking out in the convenient store in the train station and saw some erotic magazines on the shelf. One things that I have noticed that in the UK (and in Europe) is that magazine covers are not censored. It is not like a sexually sanitized (hypocritical to some extent) countries like the USA and Hong Kong where the laws require the magazine publishers to censor the 18+ materials.

      It took us about 30 seconds to get through the custom, and the officer did not even bother to stamp the passport. I was excited to get onto the Eurostar, a high speed train that connects between London, Paris, Lille, and Brussels and reduce the cross channel travel by more than half of ferry transport. Unlike flying, the Eurostar also takes the travellers to the center city, and travellers do not have to travel to the airports which are usually far away from the city. Also, travelling by train is much more environmentally friend than flying

     The Eurostar was quite a wonderful experience as it was really quiet and fast. It went to the Channel Tunnel and passed through Calais. It made it to Gare du Nord in Paris in less than 3 hours.

     I found a budget hotel called Perfect Hotel Hostel at the 9th Arrondissement in Saint Georges District of Paris. It is surrounded by 8 Metropolitain stations (Paris has one of the highest densities in terms of metro). It took us about 15 minutes to walk from Gare du Nord to the hotel, which was not too bad.

The famous entrance pyramid designed by IM Pei.

     After we dropped our stuff and got everything ready, it was already near noon and we headed to the first stop - Louvre by taking the Metropolitain. The line was already there and we were expected to spend 45 minutes to get into the museum. As much as I would like to browse, we had to be selective because we wanted to get out by 5PM and both Jeffrey and Fred wanted to take nice sunset photographs. We walked from Louvre to Avenue des Champs-Elysees through Jardin de Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Petit, and Grand Palais. We bought some ice cream, battling some souvenir mongers, took some nice pictures about the former Expo sites.

The beautiful interior of the Louvre

A random small arch near the Seine

The memorial of Concorde, where Guillotine was once stood

The Seine

     We ended up at finding our dinner at one of the many brasseries on Avenue des Champs Elysees. We tried very hard not to go to the restaurants that are catered mostly to non-French speaking tourists. My other problem is that the French are not known to be vegetarians and I might be facing problems finding vegetarians cuisines. Luckily, I found a slightly overpriced salad (it cost me 12 Euros) and we went back to Perfect Hotel after the dinner.

     I liked Perfect Hotel & Hostel better than Hotel Belgrove, because it was located on the sixth floor (instead at the basement level), and we have a typical Parisian window where we can enjoy the breeze. It was also roomier as well. It was starting to rain at 11 at night but I managed to fall asleep anyway.

The big arch that Napoleon built

     We got up and got out for breakfast at about 6:30. The French breakfast is very different from its English counterparts. First there were some croissants, coffee/tea, and orange juice. The croissants were baked next door. We took the metro to Charles de Gaulle Etoile (where Arch of Triomphe was at) and took some pictures at the Arch. We could see the new arch at Le Defense but we did not bother to go there because it was not a touristic site. There was a memorial for World War I, and after taking enough pictures and the fact that the tourists were pouring in.

France took Alsace and Lorraine from Germany/Prussia

     The next stop was the Eiffel Tower and I wanted to walk from Arc de Triomphe to there, while Jeffrey and Fred took the metro to Trocadero station have a second breakfast while I slowly enjoyed the morning walk. Instead of taking the most direct route through Avenue Kleber, I took Avenue D'Iena. It was more curve and I passed through the South Korean Embassy and Iranian Embassy. I also noticed Velib bicycle sharing programs were there as well.

South Korean Embassy on Avenue D'Iena

Tons of steel that formed the Eiffel

     About 40 minutes of a nice mid-morning walk, I have reached the feet of Eiffel Tower, and already saw a considerable amount of crowd. I later met up with Jeffrey and Fred and decided how we should go in to the tower. The line for staircase climbing was much more shorter than the elevator (also cheaper!). There were two levels that we could reach with our ticket. We could view the Seine, Montmartre Hill, and other parts of Paris. Unfortunately, the elevator that was supposed to take us to the top of the Tower was out of order, so we were not able to climb to the top of the Eiffel.

Inside Notre Dame

French Parliament Building

Philosopher's gesture in Jardin du Luxembourg?

     We walked across the Seine to Jardin de Trocadero, chilled out a little bit and bought some snack at the same time. Then we took the metro to Cite, the closest station to Notre Dame Cathedral. There were many tourist there. It was free to enter the cathedral but I lost enthusiasm, perhaps owing to the amount of crowd there. We took some pictures. Jeff wanted to go shopping at Avenue while Fred and I roamed around the less tourisy part of Paris.

The best shot of Notre Dame tourist don't get to take

     We crossed Pont Saint-Michel to the Left Bank of Seine, and walked along Boulevard Saint-Michel. There were some discount shops, local people, part of the campus of the University of Paris (which scatters all over the city), and finally we reached Jardin du Luxembourg and the Parliament Building of France. People were relaxing around the fountain, parents playing swing with their kids, old men playing chess with the timer. I almost thought this would never happen in Arizona before people keep themselves indoor and French are known to cherish the free time when they do not have to work. After, we walked toward Pont de la Tournelle to get back to Seine. We found the perfect spot to take the picture of Notre Dame from the back side. There were no tourists there and the view was completely different. After taking enough pictures and enjoying the beautiful cathedral and near sunset time, we walked through Pont Sully Bastille station, which was converted into a roundabout.

Once this place was the starting Point of the French Revolution

     Then we took the Metro again, met with Jeffrey, and we walked toward the Sacred Heart Church on the Montmartre Hill. It was considered sketchy there at night but I think we would be safe because we were not alone. The view was beautiful so it was worth the extra hour to get there. After that, we said bye to Paris because we had to take the Thalys high speed train to Brussels.

Perfectly lite up church on Montmartre Hill

The night of Paris from the Hill. It was a good way to end the Paris segment as it is the City of Light

Europe Trip 2011 London (Day 1 to Day 3)

     I flew from Phoenix and arrived at London Heathrow Airport at eight o'clock in the morning with a jet lag. I took me about forty minutes to get out of the custom, and I could not go through the shorter EU line with my BN(O) (the (O) part automatically disqualifies me from getting into the EU line). Most of the people that were waiting at the non-EU lines were South Indians.

     After I met up with Jeffrey and Frederick, we took the Piccadilly Line to Belgrove Hotel near King's Cross Station and checked in our belongings. We were given a tiny room and we are okay as long as there was a place to hang clothes and sleep (one of the nice things of travelling with guys). Space is super precious in Inner London and Fred took a lot of effort to find the cheapest rooms that are at convenient locations. Belgrove is really closed to Easton/San Pancreas Kings Cross, and it is walkable to University to London in Bloomsbury.

Bee sits on a camera strap

     The first stop we went for was the British Museum and we have not planned on where to go in the evening but I suggested that Victoria and Albert Museum in the West End has an extended opening hour at night. It turned out to be a huge mistake and I think we should have chosen something more relaxing on the day after the long flights.

     The British Museum is located in the Bloomsbury area of Camden, not far away from King's Cross Station. We walked through some part of the main campus of University of London and Russell Square, then into the British Museum.

The Greek-style facade of British Museum

     London is easily one of the most expensive cities in the world. However, the city decides to showcase their cultural, historical, science, and art knowledge to the general public by not charging admission fees to the top museums, and the British Museum happens to be one of them. After six hours of visit, I felt that Britain had collected (or plundered) every corner of the world and brought their treasure collection in London. Ironically, many those anthropological treasures would have been destroyed if they were not plundered by the British Empires during the course of time.

One of the many chambers inside the British Museum

     We decided to take a double decker bus to Hyde Park after we got out of the British Museum, it was a very short distance but very congestive ride. We were frustrated and decided to walk to Hyde Park from Green Park stop. Jeffrey and Frederick were not very interesting in walking so we through the park quickly, and they wanted to grab some cheap bites from Prat a Manger but I had no interest in cold sandwiches and chain restaurants. We kept walking west to Knightsbridge and Brompton Road, passing by Harrods and entered the Victoria and Albert Museum. Victoria and Albert Museum (named after some queen and her husband) is next to Museum of Natural History, Science Museum, and Imperial College and has a fine collection on art and designs but we were already developed museum-fatigue so we wandered our way out half-consciously within an hour. We took the Tube back to Belgrove Hotel and called that a night.

     We got up and had a pretty decent breakfast at the hotel (the breakfast ladies were French). One

The Tower Bridge in the morning

 thing I like about hotels/hostels in Europe is that breakfasts are often included and they are in buffet style. After the breakfast, we took the Tube to see the Tower Bridge. We paid 8 pounds to get to see the views of The Thames, East Dockland, ahd City of London. Jeffrey and Frederick were too much into photography. After seeing the amazing machinery of the bridge and see how Norman Foster and Co. boast themselves with the various projects that they were involved in.

     We walked along the South Bank toward the London Eye crossing more bridges like a zig zag direction. I saw protesters (Occupy London), teenager skateboarders, and casual tourists on the Queen Walk (the pedestrian trail on the South Bank). It was a gorgeous afternoon and the weather condition was just perfect. We passed by Saint Paul Cathedral, the Monument of the Great Fire of London, The Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.

     For dinner, we went to tried a Mediterranean restaurant called Bistro1. It was the least expensive restaurant we found in London and unlike in the US, Europeans don't drink tap water and water ordered there are mostly spring water. It was a very decent meal and we walked around the Chinatown, several block away from Bistro1. Jeffrey and Frederick were commenting how bad these ducks looked, and I shook my head and said I don't eat that stuff. Chinatown was not that exciting for us so we walked to Leicester Square station and took the tube back to our hotel.

The most well-known clock tower in the world

The old facade of the Highbury Apartment

     The third day was the day that I got to watch ARSENAL!!! Frederick arranged to buy some grossly overpriced home game tickets against Stoke City two months before the trip. We got up early, hoping to get to visit the British Library nearby and found out that it would not open until 11AM. We took the Tube to the Arsenal stadium. It was still two hours before the game started so we walked toward the old Highbury Stadium, which was turned into an upscale apartment by the Arsenal Financial group. After that we walked to the Arsenal shop and I bought a polo shirt.

Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta, and Wojciech Szczesny on the pitch

     The game started at 1:30. The captain of Arsenal Robin van Persie was on the bench. Arsenal had the majority of the possession but they could not pull themselves past the fierce defense of Stoke City. Gervino over-dribbled the ball and lost many of possession (even though he scored the first goal of the game at 27th minute. Peter Crouch scored the equalizer at 33rd minute and the game was a dreadlock until van Persie came in for Chamakh. He changed the pace of the game as he was able to hold the ball up front, allowing attacks to be more fluid. He also contributed two goals and I was assured that Arsenal was going to win after the 80th minute as the players of Stoke City looked exhausted.

     After the game, we decided to go to the usually Sunday hangout - Covent Garden. It was very crowded on a Sunday afternoon there and I found it boring. We walked to the Parliament building and took more pictures of the Big Ben. They were entertaining themselves while we headed back to the Belgrove for our early train to Paris.
   

Lake Titicaca/Puno (Dec 15/16 2015)

     I have heard of Lake Titicaca from my friend Heather in a casual conversation at work. She had visited Peru from in summer 2015 in order to work for women who were abused in Cusco. She had done some travellings on the side and Lake Titicaca was a one of them. The pictures looked fascinating and it was not far away from Cusco and I still that naive thought of waiting for my friend so I did not want to leave Cusco too far.

     Lake Titicaca is known as the highest navigable lake (3812 m above sea level) in the world, and it has been inhabited by indigenous people for over 2000 years old. It is shared by Peru and Bolivia and it has been important resource for fish and navigation for both countries. I only visited the Peruvian side because Bolivia requires visa for American passport holders and I do not want any drama with the border issues.

     There were two islands (and other islands made of weed) that I visited. I spent a night in Island Amantani, and a short day-trip to Island Taquile. I had the privilege to experience the near-authentic islander experience by staying with the islanders in their guest rooms of their own home. There were no phone reception, no power outlet, and the islanders take turns to cater the tourists. The tours made a good balance by provide an extra source of income for the islanders, yet not destroying or altering the life styles. It is my favorite type of tourism as it gives the tourists near-authentic experience and it does drive up the costs for the islands and turn it into a pure tourist-oriented destination such as Venice. The tours were organized and managed by island elders too so each family who participate the home stay program will benefit from this kind of sustainable tourism.

The white cat who was awaiting us and it was a
good host for entertaining us while we were waiting

     I took a 30 Soles night bus from Cusco to Puno (the cheapest I could find) and it was a terrible experience. After 10 hours of overnight long haul bus ride, I arrived Puno at 7AM, where the driver picked us up and dropped us at the tourist office. After I got onto the sailboat on the dock, I was sent to the first part of the tour. The was a beautiful white car awaiting for us in the tourist office.
      The tourist guide picked us up at the dock and the first stop called Islas los Uros. This was my least favourite part of the two day Lake Titicaca tour. It was a little bit over commercialized. The villagers were quick on selling us souvenirs (this is a part of the tourism of Peru, you have countless chances of buying souvenirs, whether they are authentic or not). However, the guide told us that he was born in Uros and it took him 5 years training to become a licensed tour guide. The reason why Uros was interesting because the islands were made of weed. It has a long history and they are not shying away from promoting their culture.

Isla Uros with my tourist guide and other villagers.

     After we departed Isla Uros, the boat was sailing northeast toward Isla Amantani, where I would be staying a night. There were many water fowls along the way and I liked the breeze that was blowing toward my face. I had to watch for the risk of getting sunburn though, because I was at the highest altitude I had been in my life and I did not know what to expect, and I was not diligent enough to put any sunscreen on myself.

The calm and  breezy boat ride around the reeds

     The boat finally arrived at dock of Isla Amantani near noon, about 4 hours after we got onto boat from Puno. It was a really, really nice boat ride. I made friend with Sebastian and his family (who is an Ecuadorian from Cuenca), Juan and Isabel (a couple from Mexico City). I like how meeting it is easy to chat and make friends with South Americans (Juan and Isabel even invited me to go to visit them in Mexico City). Within 15 minute of arrival, the representatives of the host family came meet us at the dock, and I followed them to drop down my luggage. The host family made us a very simple and homey lunch composed of rice, potatoes, and soup. I saw a map for Amantani and it is divided into 10 administrative zones. The island has been inhabited for more than 2000 years and the elders from the island are practicing a form of sustainable tourism, which allows money to be brought to the island, without changing too much of the traditional life styles of the villagers.

Here is a very positive aspect of what tourism can bring to the locals, as water at this elevation could get very cold at night

     After lunch, we were gathered again and the guide told us that the island was inhabited for more than 2000 years and it has been relying on agriculture. The island is divided into ten administrative zones. Tourism is carefully managed by the elders, and each participating host family will take turn to host tourists so that all household can benefits from this kind of tourism. I walked up to Pachamama. There were some vendors along the way to make a little bit more income, and needless to say, the view was breathtaking and there were a few arches near the peak.

A very homey meal with rice, potatoes, and FRESH egg

     Pachatata was about half an hour hike from the top of Pachamama. I was a bit tired but I might as well go there before it gets dark. There was a snack bar at Pachamama, and a ceremonial site which opens only once every year. I eventually walked back to the home of my host family and had a dinner. There is an option where there would a 'community gathering' event for the tourists where the tourists were dressed up and there would be music and dances at the community center. I felt it was superficial but I went there anyway. There was a bit of dancing and I wonder if the locals would enjoy it because it became such a routine for them to hang out with strangers that they only meet once in their lifetime. Oh well. I put my pancho and enjoyed my night without thinking too much.

Music to entertain us from the Quechua musicians. There are also beverages for sale for those who wants sugar or alcohol.

     The next morning I got up early enough to see the sunrise. It was one of the most beautiful things I saw and I was able to see the sun right at the front yard. I went for a walk at Pachamama again, then packed my stuff before having the breakfast with the host. I had a simple breakfast with the host. After that, I said good bye to the host family and Amantani Island.

The gate behind Pachatata, the highest point of Amantani Island. It is only opened for ceremony during January.

The farm terrace on Amantani Island.

     The boat sailed south, and it reached Isla Taquile within an hour. Isla Taquile is the other inhabited island in the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. We walked to the highest Plaza de Armas as the tourist introduced us different kinds of plants that could be used medicine. We stayed there for about 45 minutes, took a few pictures, before we walked down to the area where we saw the sewing demonstration and had a lunch at on the cliff with a lake view.

The old gate on Isla Taquile

The main plaza at Isla Taquile. It claims to be the highest plaza in the world (3950 meters above the sea level)

    After lunch the ship took another three hours to sail back to Puno and it was the end of my trip to Lake Titicaca. I had about 4 hours to roam around in Puno so I decided to walk around the market. I had some juice and nothing was really exciting and I met Sebastian and his family at the bus stop. We exchanged contact information. This time, I bought a CIVA bus back to Cusco. It was much more comfortable than the 30 soles bus and I was able to sleep. I walked to House Namaste from the bus station once the bus arrived Cusco.