Next Gen Budget Travel

Inspired by our great Couchsurfing stay in Kumamoto, we signed up for another in Kagoshima with a lovely Japanese-Chilean couple, Yuji and Alejandra. They made us breakfast each morning and we tried a cobwebby bean dish that’s supposed to make you smarter but just left sticky strings on our chin as we ate (gross). On our last night they drove us to a nearby park for an authentic Japanese hanami, basically just a picnic under cherry blossom trees when they are in full bloom (the Japanese have very specific words for everything).

When we arrived, three of Yuji and Alejandra’s friends had already laid out a feast of everything from sushi platters to fried chicken. The 2-3 week hanami season is the only time in Japan when you can drink outside and as people switched between beer and tea, it was fun to watch how no one ever filled their own glasses. Instead, someone would subtly hint to the person next to them that they were ready for a refill by placing his hand around the glass, eyes askance. There was something beautifully ritualistic to it.

We’ve never felt more welcomed by a group of people, which is especially remarkable considering our limited Japanese and their limited English. They spent some of the night earnestly correcting Juan’s hiragana flash cards. I casually mentioned that I love mochi ice cream and the two girls disappeared, only to return with a package of it for me. An hour or so later, when they realized we’d never tried a specific type of local snack, they rushed off again and came back with BAGS of goodies, including salty wafers called Happy Time (Happy Town? Hippie Tight? Still not sure what they were saying…). So, basically, we are now Couchsurfing’s biggest fan. How much money have we been spending for less authentic Japanese experiences? And this is free? Best deal ever.

Also, we rode bikes on nearby Sakurajima, a still-active volcanic island that has spewed ash almost constantly since the 1970s. The trip was mostly uphill and I wanted to murder Juan more than a few times. Luckily for him, the seaside rotemburo (another word for hot springs) where we ended up made it all worthwhile.

11 bottles worth of sake lessons

We had grand plans to utilize Couchsurfing when we first started this trip but it always seemed that the time it took to find someone we thought we’d like and the value of privacy and independence far outweighed the $10-20 a night we’d save on accommodation. This calculation changes, however, when you’re looking at spending $100 for a night in a capsule hotel and all other costs are equally inflated ($100 each for a 1-hour train ride on a Shinkansen, $10 for a simple bowl of ramen). Given this, I was really proud when Juan went to the trouble of scouring through Couchsurfing profiles and arranged a couple of places to stay. Not only that, it turns out Juan has impeccable judgment!

Without a doubt, meeting Hiyo was one of the highlights of our whole trip. She kindly offered to pick us up at the Uto train station and after dropping our bags at her place promptly invited us to go digging for bamboo shoots with her. Bamboo digging season is apparently short, and if you don’t dig up the roots early on they turn into enormous bamboo trees that take over the surrounding areas within a short period of time. In addition, when cooked, the bamboo is supposedly delicious (we were leaving the next day so didn’t reap the fruits of our labors, but we’ll take Hiyo’s word for it). Luckily Juan redeemed himself for breaking her shovel by finding the biggest bamboo shoot of all.

After a quick shower, we hopped on some bikes for a 15 minute ride to a cute Japanese restaurant. It was a nice change for Hiyo to order in Japanese – we’ve been limited to ordering omakase (basically this means you let the chef choose what to serve you) which means we’ve been stuck eating things like chicken spine on occasion. Hiyo also decided to give us a lesson in sake styles. Eleven bottles later, we’d pretty much forgotten the lessons but discovered that Hiyo has the tolerance level of a linebacker.

Luckily we spent the previous afternoon at Kumamoto Castle where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and people dressed in authentic samurai gear were wandering the grounds. Not sure we could have handled a day of sight-seeing with those hangovers…

Juan is famous!

We hadn’t been in Caracas more than a few hours before a local news station decided to stop Juan (who wouldn’t want to talk to someone with a mustache like that!?) to interview him about Venezuelan politics.  What did he think of the city?  What about Chavez and the people?  Juan rose magnificently to the occasion –  discussing how progressive and modern the city is, how the people seem so involved, how pretty the town squares are.   All that college-level Spanish really paid off.  

Caracas was bustling when we arrived.  Partly this had to do with the droves of people that took to the streets to honor and mourn the loss of Willian Lara, a Venezuelan politician who died the day before we arrived, and partly to do with the fact that parliamentary elections are happening on September 26.  It was really quite impressive to see so many people out involved in the happenings of their country. 

The highlight of our stay in Caracas was the time we spent with Jean Carvaggio (aka Aldo Tercero), someone we met through couchsurfing (thanks Danielle!).  He picked us up near the Altamira metro station and gave us a proper tour of Caracas – the fancy malls where all the upper class hang out, the neighboring village of El Hatillo which has all but been absorbed by Caracas, and finally the 360^◦ roof bar on the top floor of the Hotel Altamira Suites.  He was generous with this time, his knowledge and even his wallet and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing Caracas through his eyes.    Needless to say, if we ever settle down somewhere, he has a standing invitation!