here, there, everywhere

Showing posts with label beach. Show all posts

02 September 2011

Fort Cochin and Mattancherry

With not much to do my last day in Kerala, I just went for a wander around the neighborhood I was staying in - Fort Cochin - and the slightly busier neighboring Mattancherry. It was raining pretty torrentially, so I didn't get to take as many photos as I wanted, but you're probably grateful for that...

The same beach I was at earlier, in moodier weather.This area apparently had a small wave from the 2004 tsunami.

Doing laundry in ankle-deep rainwater...

Laundry 'drying' in the rain. Notice anything missing? (I didn't, and the guy in the corner there pointed out to me that there are no clothespins holding the clothes up - the line's made from a sticky fiber that holds the clothes up on it)

Do these windows look like eyes to anyone else?

Looking down on Mattancherry. I loved walking around in Mattancherry, but unfortunately that was also the rainiest time.

Blue ginger for ... candy, I think? This is what happens when you edit your photos months after the fact.

Books for sale.

The fishing nets by day.

So that's about it for chilled out, monsoon drenched Kerala; the next day I was off to Mysore with a backpack full of slightly damp clothes. In retrospect, I wish I'd planned a slightly more ambitious itinerary for my six days there, instead of just staying based in the same town - there's definitely so much more to see that I just didn't, but I think I was exhausted by the time I got to India in the first place, having been living out of an overstuffed backpack since leaving Japan in March. So, mostly I'm just happy I got to see any of India, albiet in a slightly lazy way, and hopefully I'll go back someday for longer, possibly during drier times.

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01 March 2011

sakura in february!

Iain has a friend visiting, so last weekend we went down to Shimoda. With only four weeks left in Numazu (!), it was quite likely our last visit for the time being, which made it both awesome and kind of sad.

There is much to love about Shimoda, like its' gorgeous beaches (which I think are even prettier in the winter off-season)...

... kaiten sushi...

...also, friendly, giant sea-turtles.

... and stray cats getting their hanami (flower-viewing) on.

Most of the hanami action was in nearby Kawazu, where the canal is already lined with an explosion of sakura.

Not pictured: a hoard of fellow camera-toting hanami enthusiasts.

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09 January 2011

senbon at sunset

Last week, my old roommate Kate and her friend Sari came to visit us in Numazu! We were so excited to see them both, and to get the chance to show off our favorite places - particularly Senbon beach, which graced us with some amazingly gorgeous clear weather.

There was a New Years tree sculpture of some sort down on the beach (above).

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12 August 2010

Teiko in Numazu!

Two weeks ago, my friend Teiko came to Numazu for a visit! I was so excited to show her around - our first stop was the Numazu Port (with the obligatory stop at the Byo-in typhoon gate, above) and then a long walk along my favorite place in Numazu, Senbon Beach:

One of the two rock-art Mt.Fujis had seen a little remodeling during the recent World Cup, and now includes a dragon flanked by "SAMURI BLUE!!" That's Teiko at the peak of the mountain, to give you a feel for the scale...

Above: Teiko still remembers Maggie's softball pitching lessons! Iain found an abandoned plastic baseball set on the beach which, once he picked up, he felt guilty chucking back on the shore and so carried dutifully with him for the next five hours or so, till we managed to find a trash can.

It was awesome to see Teiko and to get to show her around our home for the year. As luck would have it, she also happened to be visiting on the night of the Numazu festival, so, more photos to come ...

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19 July 2010

two beaches

Back from Shimoda! This was our first long weekend in a long time - since our last visit to Shimoda - and it felt so nice to have a vacation. Since early May, Shimoda has become punishingly hot, though this time around we were able to enjoy more of it thanks to our foldable bikes. Despite buying the bikes with the intention of taking them everywhere three months ago, this weekend was our bikes' maiden voyage out of Numazu by train. We bought bike bags (finally), and learned how to fold them up as small as they would go (finally) and learned, also, that Iain's bike rusted away some metal part of his handlebars, which makes reassembly rather time consuming ("please repair this," said the man selling us our bike bags). I also learned that I am not strong enough to fold or unfold my own bike, and am only barely strong enough to carry all 60 pounds of a still-unwieldy folded bike up and down the train platform steps (while incurring glares from half the other passengers - not cool, other passengers!) Still, it was really nice to have our bikes once we got to Shimoda, especially since one of my students had recently recommended two of his favorite beaches in town.

Our first stop was Shirahama, a 20 minute hilly ride out of town. Flat Numazu has us spoiled; I think it was somewhere along this ride that I learned that my bike desperately needs oil, or a massage, or ... something, because any time I hit the brakes, I'm pretty sure the resulting screeching can be heard all the way back in Tokyo. Sorry, Shimoda.

Shirahama is incredibly beautiful, as you can see from the white sand and turquoise waters. Unfortunately, it is also immensely popular and I'm not sure it's clear from these photos just how packed the shore was - it was probably the most crowded beach both of us had ever seen. The slim area roped off for swimming was so packed with beach goers that all you could do was wade. And while it was nice to be able to rent a parasol to stave off the sun, I could have done without the loudspeakers blaring advertisements and safety announcements at top volume every 10 minutes. So, while Shirahama was beautiful, we probably won't go back during peak season anytime soon.

It was also cool to get a glimpse of more tans and tattoos than I have ever seen elsewhere in Japan. (Above, a crowd of surfers patiently waiting for the next wave in calm waters).

Fortunately, the second beach, Tadadohama, was much different, though this may have been because we went at sunset instead of in the middle of the day. Still, it was much smaller than Shirahama, and nestled between cliffs, so it felt much more private - not to mention you could actually see the water and the sand.