The Hell Valley in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido

*WS60 – the Hell Valley in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido*

Noboribetsu is a coastal town in south-west Hokkaido. 6 km inland from the town center is the hot spring suburb called Noboribetsu-onsen, said to be the largest hot spring area in Hokkaido. 

We spent an afternoon at the sub-town in 2018. The main attraction is the “Hell Valley”, a valley with hot steam vents, sulphurous streams, otherworldly landscape of yellow and orange volcanic rock, with the sulphurous eggy smell permeating the entire valley. There is a huge sulphurous pond with water temperature around 50 degrees Celsius. Water flows out of this pond into the woods. At a certain section of the river the water is hot enough as a natural foot spa. Tourists sit down to soak their feet, quite an unusual sight. 

Folklore says demons would thrive in this environment. There are many statues of demons in the sub-town, starting with an 18 m tall giant standing guard by the roadside at the entrance to the sub-town, 7th photo. If you have demons then you need a Hell Emperor for control, one with eyes that emit light and hands that move, 8th photo. Of course all made up for tourism.

The Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto, Japan

*WS59 – the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto, Japan*

Shintoism is the traditional religion of Japan that focuses on ritual practices first codified in the 8th century. Shinto today is the worship of a multitude of “kami” which may mean "spirit", "essence" or "god" in English. Rocks, trees, rivers, animals, objects, places, people all possess the nature of kami.     

Nearly 80% of the population in Japan participate in Shinto practices or rituals, but only a small number of these identify themselves as "Shintoists", not more than 5% of the population. The largest organised religion is Buddhism, with some 35% of the population, but many Buddhists do participate in Shinto rituals. Shinto has about 81,000 shrines in the country

“Inari” is the kami of rice, and often extended as the patron spirit of business. The shrine to “worship” Inari numbers some 32,000 in the country. 

On a sunny morning in 2018 we visited the “head” shrine of the “Inari”, known as the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Fushimi, Kyoto. The shrine was founded in 711, moved to the present location in 816. The main shrine building was completed in 1499, located at the foothill. Further up the path are the middle shrines and many other smaller structures. The paths are lined with toiji, the typical gate of Japanese shrines made of 2 uprights and 2 crossbars. 1st photo shows the main giant torji at the entrance to the shrine complex. 2nd photo shows the main temples. 

And it is this colourful toiji that make this place a popular tourist attraction. Each of the torii is donated by a Japanese business or individual. Details of the donor are given at the back of the pole, 6th photo. The fox is the messenger of Inari, and it holds the key to the rice barn. The last photo shows origami cranes, in batches of a thousand, presented as votive offerings.

The Jidai Matsuri festival in Kyoto, Japan

*WS21 - the Jidai Matsuri festival in Kyoto, Japan*

After witnessing the festival in the Czech Republic, let me introduce a similar festival in Japan. 

Kyoto, formerly known as "Heian", was the old Japanese capital from 794 to 1869. "Jidai Matsuri" or 时代祭,started about 120 years ago, is the yearly parade to celebrate the history of Kyoto. We were in Kyoto on 22nd October 2018 to witness the parade. 

The festival is a procession of people wearing historical costumes from over 1000 years ago to the mid-19th century, with about 2000 participants. 

People featured include samurais and their families, court officials, court ladies, famous historical figures, etc. 

First a photo with 2 locals dressed for the occasion, then the official announcers of the parade. The 7th photo features the 2 famous medieval female writers Lady Murasaki and Sei Hiragana. The 9th shows the black palanquin with a phoenix top, meaning the emperor is inside. The parade starts at the Imperial Palace and ends at the Heian Jingu Shrine, marked by the giant torji gate, last photo.

The Al Siq in Petra, Jordan

*WS58 – the Al Siq in Petra, Jordan*

There is a slot canyon in Jordan too. 

Petra was an historical city in southern Jordan, now in ruins. In the 4th century BC it was a major trading hub and the capital city of an Arabic kingdom. Its importance started to decline as sea trade routes emerged, and after a 363 earthquake which destroyed many structures it died a natural death. It was re-discovered by the Europeans only in the early 19th century. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a symbol of Jordan, their main tourist attraction.

We were here in 2009. The city is accessed through a 1.2 km road from the east. On the initial part of the access there is a section called Al Siq (meaning “the shaft”), about 160 m, which is a slot canyon similar to the  Antelope Canyon, The width of the corridor is about 3 to 10 m while the height of the cliff up to 80 m. 1st and 2nd photos. The 3rd and 4th photos show the clear stratification of the rock layers.

The slot canyon ends at a big square, 5th photo. Located here is the most impressive structure called the “Treasury”, the 6th photo. This structure is only a façade, no “body” at all. The 7th photo shows the rock wall nearer to the city center. There are many ancient graves and also cave dwellings on the rock faces. 

The 1.2 km one-way walk on a hot sunny day was quite energy sapping. Some older tourists chose to take a donkey ride on the way out. The aunty in the 8th photo commented after the ride, “this is the most horrifying 30 minute ride I ever have. The donkey is swaying so much and the ride so uneven like I am going to fall down any second”.

(2009 digital photo, blurry a bit)

The Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA

*WS57 – the Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA*

The Antelope Canyon is a kind of slot canyon, it is significantly deeper than it is wide. 

Antelope Canyon is located near the town of Page in the state of Arizona. It was formed by erosion of the sandstone, primarily due to flash flooding and wind. Storm water from the upper basin picks up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways. The power of erosion is tremendous. Over time the passageways gets eroded away, making the corridors deeper and smoothing hard edges in such a way as to form characteristic "flowing" shapes in the rock. Strong wind has a similar effect as rushing water. 

The Antelope Canyon is gated by the Navajo tribe and entry is restricted to guided tours led by authorized tour guides. Entrance fee is US$ 55. We were here in 2019. The corridor is about 410 m long. The walk on the canyon floor lasted slightly over an hour. The entry down to the canyon is through several flights of metal staircases shown in the 1st photo and the exit is via a narrow passage shown in the last photo.

The corridor varies in width. The narrowest sections could be just a metre wide. Thus different amount of sunlight comes into the canyon. The rock faces show spectacular shades of colour due to the difference in light intensity reflected onto the rock, as well as whimsical shape framed by the eroded rocks. And this is the scene tourists come to see. 

The place was crowded with too many tourists. We had to walk mostly single file and there was no time to really stop to admire the rock structure or compose a good photo. The guide was constantly uttering "go go" to coax his herd to move on faster. A great show of nature nonetheless.

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico

*WS56 – Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico*

Now back to Central America.

A few posting earlier we have noted that the Basilica of the Holy Family in Barcelona receives some 4 million visitors a year. The Vatican in Rome receives some 5+ million visitors a year. But the most visited church in Christendom is this Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City with 10 to 11 million visitors a year. It is worthy to be introduced in this series.

First a bit of history, according to the church account. 

On December 9th, 1531 a native farmer Juan Diego, a new convert to Christianity, met a special lady at the Hill of Tepeyac in the northern part of Mexico City. The lady told Juan to ask the local bishop to build a church at the place where she appeared. Juan reported the encounter to the local bishop who told Juan to ask the lady for a miraculous sign to prove her identity if she appeared to him again. She did appear again a few days later and told Juan to pack some flowers in his peasant cloak or tilma to bring them to the bishop. Juan did that and saw the bishop the second time, on December 12th. After taking out the flowers, they found that the image of the Virgin Mary imprinted on the inside of the tilma.

The image that appears on the tilma is called Our Lady of Guadalupe by the Catholic Church, 1st photo which is downloaded from the internet. The Virgin Mary looks more like an indigenous girl. The starburst and dragons at the bottom of the image were added later on, not part of the original miracle. 

The apparition of the Virgin Mary here is one of the very few recognized by the Catholic Church as "worthy of belief". There are many miracles and supernatural properties associated with the image. I am not going to list them to burden the readers, except on one point. The tilma was made of natural plant material, likely agave leaves. A normal one would last 15 years at the most. This one lasted 500+ years without any structural degradation, exposed to dust, heat and humidity. For the 1st 115 years, it was left open (not even covered by glass) for veneration, touched by pilgrims and soaking up candle fumes, sweats, etc. The continued existence is in itself a miracle.

After the miraculous appearance of the image, a chapel was built at the site where the Virgin Mary first appeared. The chapel building was later expanded and became a full church in 1709 and was called the Basilica since 1904. Then a new and bigger building or the New Basilica was built between 1974 and 1976. The New Basilica is round in shape, 100 m in diameter and can accommodate 10,000 people. 

The 2nd to 4th photos show the old Basilica. The 4th photo shows the relief above the main entrance depicting the scene of the revelation of the image on Juan’s tilma. The 5th to 7th photos show the New Basilica. The 7th photo shows the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe housed at the altar. The 8th photo shows the altar of another building in the complex, called the Pocito Chapel. An altar with a painted image of Our Lady of Guadalupe similar to the 8th photo could be found in most of the Catholic Churches in Malaysia, and in the World. 

We were here for a few hours on a Monday afternoon in 2013 and attended a mass in Spanish. My wife and I are Catholics.

Trekking in El Chalten, Argentina. ( re-post )

*WS 55 ( re-post ) – Trekking in El Chalten, Argentina*

Now to southern South America

El Chalten is a small village near the southern tip of Argentina. It is located within the Los Glaciars National Park, flanked by the Torre and Fitz Roy mountains. Because of the location it has gradually grown into a popular trekking center and marketed as the Trekking Capital of Argentina. Most tourists come here to trek or hike (more leisurely) and there are many established treks. 

We were here in 2019 on a small group tour. And we had a day of trekking based on our own choice of treks. In late morning the two of us went to trek the initial parts of the popular “Fitz Roy Track”, up to the Viewing Point of the Las Vueltas River and came back, for a total of about 4 to 5 km only. In the afternoon I went alone to trek the initial part of the “Torre Lake Track” up to the Viewing Point of the Torre, or about 6 km in total. Great vista through out. 

First 3 photos on the Fitz Roy Track. The 3rd photo shows the Las Vueltas River viewed from the track. The last 5 photos on the Lake Torre Track. The last photo shows the snow-capped peaks of Torre, Egger, etc, the reward of reaching the Viewing Point of Mt Torre on the track. 

The fittest few from our group trekked around 30 km.