Big Bend National Park, Texas - June 2023

At the end of June I made a quick trip to Texas to see friends and to pay a visit to Big Bend National Park.  This was perhaps not the best laid out plan for a trip that I have ever done - Big Bend is in Southern Texas along the border with Mexico and this year the temperatures at the end of June were exceedingly high.  

The drive from Houston to Big Bend was also a little longer than I had expected.  It is 600 miles and that is an extreme drive to try and do in a single day.  The countryside along the way is not so interesting either.  It is relatively flat and to be honest - boring.

Sanderson, Texas

I stopped to look around in the town of Sanderson.  It is advertised on a billboard outside the town as the Cactus Capital of Texas.  It doesn't look that prosperous of a town, maybe it was at one time.  Recent attempts to rebuild it do not look to be working either.  That being said it is an Amtrak stop and you can get a train to New Orleans, LA or Chicago.

My destination for the first night was Lajitas, just outside the park.  There's a golf course there and a resort of sorts but not much else.  After 600 miles of driving it was a welcome stop for a beer, food and a bed.

The Rio Grande outside Lajitas

The next morning after breakfast at the hotel I set off on the road through the Big Bend Ranch State Park (different to the National Park) on the road to Presidio.  Initially the road follows the Rio Grande valley.   I was quite surprised to find that the Rio Grande is not such a major river.  There are many places that you could walk across quite easily

Contrabando Movie Set

It passes by Contrabando, the old movie set that has been used for several movies like Lone Star and Lonesome Dove.  There is not much left of the sets buildings following a recent flood.

The road reaches the town of Presidio which is the small town across from the larger Mexican town of Ojinaga.  Presidio didn't seem to have much to offer.  It is pretty desolate.

Border Control Checkpoint

Heading north from Presidio towards Marfa there is a border control checkpoint on the road where all cars and trucks are stopped looking for illegal immigrants and possibly contraband.  Being a single white guy I was allowed through.

Marfa is an interesting little town.  It has become something of an arts center with several galleries, art installations and the like.  It has a history as a movie location - the James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor movie Giant, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood all being shot there.  

The Hotel Paisano, Marfa

The old hotel, the Paisano, which was once the headquarters for the filming of Giant, is a beautiful building and no doubt the place to stay.  The County Court House in the main square is also impressive.

Giant Billboards - Liz Taylor, James Dean

Outside town there are a series of billboards showing James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor in their Giant roles.  There's a solar powered music system that plays country music by Mike Nesmith (of the Monkees).

Tethered Aerostat Radar System

Further out along the highway there is an installation of a fairly large dirigible.  It is part of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System.  Presumably for detecting any unusual and illegal activity along the border.

Prada, Marfa

Further west just outside the exceptionally small and decrepit town of Valentine is another art installation.  A Prada shop sitting by the side of the road miles from anywhere in the desert landscape complete with fine shoes and handbags.  Sadly it looks like there was some vandalization.

Chisos Basin Lodge

From Marfa, the road went through Alpine and Marathon and down into the National Park.  Lodging that night was at the Chisos Basin Lodge, the only hotel in the park.  It was a basic room but it was in a great location, in the center of this basin surrounded by majestic hills.

The Mule Ears

In the late evening I drove south in the park towards the Rio Grande again along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Santa Elena Canyon.  Along the way there were stops at a viewpoint for the Mule Ears (a distinctive duo of peaks) and a historic ghost town called Castolon.  A significant part of Castolon burnt down a few years ago when the wind blew embers from a forest fire in Mexico over the river to the US side.

Santa Elena Canyon

Santa Elena Canyon was quite spectacular.  There was a little too much water for me to want to cross and go up the canyon.  I didn't have adequate water shoes.

I finished off the evening by driving to Terlingua for dinner and to fill up the tank with gas.

The next day there was only one part of the park left to see and that was the Boquillas area.  Boquillas is in the south east corner of the park.  There is a Visitor Center there (closed because we are out of season), a campsite, and a crossing of the Rio Grande where you can go into Mexico.

It is quite an informal border crossing.  Before 9/11 it was quite informal - no customs, no control, you just walked across or got a boat across.  After 9/11 they closed the border only to reopen it in 2018 or 2019 with some controls provided by the Parks Service.  All you need is a valid US passport.

Ferry to Boquillas del Carmen

I checked out at the border control station and walked down the trail to the river.  The river is quite shallow and you could wade across the 1 - 2 ft deep water.  However the Mexicans have a little tourist business going and they charge $5 to ferry you across in a row boat.

The trail to the Boquillas

On the other side it is a short dusty walk of around 0.75 miles up to the village of Boquillas del Carmen.  In the peak season there are a a few hundred tourists crossing each weekend day but June is not the peak season.  I believe there were 7 people who made the crossing on the day I was there.  There were donkeys and horses galore to carry you up the hill for a price but I felt like a walk.

Bars, Churches and Tourist Shops, Boquillas

The town itself is quite poor - dirt streets, decrepit housing.  The main and perhaps only industry is tourism.  There were lots of stalls selling crafts and wares for the tourists.  Sadly nothing I wanted to buy.  After a walk around town and a Coca Cola in a cafe I went back down to the river and was ferried back across.

In the border station the Park Ranger fed my passport information into a computer and passed the information on the the Customs people in El Paso who then gave me approval to come back to the US.

Boquillas Canyon Trail

It was now around midday and it was getting seriously hot.  At least 110 degrees with quite a bit of humidity.  There was one more thing I wanted to do and that was to hike into Boquillas Canyon.  It was a short hike - less than 2 miles each way.  However it was getting hotter all the time.  Where the trail ended I took to the river to cool off.  The water was a foot deep at the most and really it wasn't very cooling; it was warm water.  I had to walk across the river into Mexico again, just because I could and because there was no one around to stop me.

The Rio Grande in Boquillas Canyon

On the way back I was feeling quite affected by the heat.  I have run in the Sierras in the heat many times and thought I knew how to handle heat on a short hike but this was totally different.   The heat and the humidity were quite draining and it could be quite dangerous.  When I got back to the car it was 114 degrees - no country for old men.  The next day a 14 year old boy died on the trail from the extreme heat.  Apparently no country for young men either.

This was now the end of my visit to Big Bend.  Hiking was out of the question in the heat and all the drivable sites in the park had been visited.   Midland provided a better option for returning to California being only 3 hours away compared to Houston's 10 hours so I switched my travel plans and drove to Midland.  

West Texas is not particularly inspiring and it was a fairly boring drive to Midland.  The section of I-10 between Odessa and Midland was a little unsettling.  It was rush hour on a Friday evening, it was 112 degrees outside, the freeway was surrounded by industrial buildings for the entire distance, there were oil pumps everywhere, and a dust storm was brewing.  I am not sure I could live there.

The George Bush Childhood Home

The next morning before my flight I went to the George W. Bush childhood home which is now a museum.  He grew up in a very modest 1940's, 1950's home and it has been renovated to it's condition at the time he grew up there.  Quite interesting.  His father, George H. W, was the hard working entrepreneur - schlepping his family around the country while he built his oil business.

The Midland Petroleum Museum

On the way to the airport I stopped at the Petroleum Museum.  As an ex oil person I found it quite interesting.  Midland and the surrounding Permian Basin has been and still is a significant force in the petroleum business.  Interestingly there was mention of the recent developments in energy like nuclear, solar and geothermal but no mention of global warming, except for a book questioning the validity of it being sold in the book shop.

Japan - Part 2 - April 2023

In the morning of Wednesday 3 May, after a week with my friends Peter, Lisa and Kumiko in Japan, I set off on my own travels.  I headed to the main Kyoto railway station and caught the Shinkansen to Himeji.  

It was a fast and relatively short ride of around one hour.  I chose Himeji as my first stop because there is a fine castle there. It was a short walk from the station down the Main Street to the castle.  As it was Golden Week in Japan there were a lot of Japanese people visiting the castle.  There was a huge line to buy tickets and I almost considered abandoning the idea of going in.  After all the best view of the castle is from the outside.

Himeji Castle

I persevered however and the wait didn’t turn out to be so bad.  The castle was magnificent but shuffling through the castle in the crowds of people spoiled the experience a little.  I walked up the 5 or 6 floors to the top and then came back down again and left for the station.

The view from the top of Himeji Castle

I continued on with another short Shinkansen trip to Hiroshima.  At the station I got a taxi to my hotel - the Hotel Livemax.  I love the way the taxi doors open and close automatically and I appreciate that there is no need to figure out a tip - there’s no tipping in Japan.

I dropped my bag at the hotel and set off to find a spot of lunch.  There was a small onigiri restaurant around the corner from the hotel and I had a nice tuna onigiri for lunch.

The Atomic Bomb Site

Nearby my hotel was the Atomic Bomb Site.  The remains of the domed building (the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall) is one of the few remaining remnants of the nuclear blast.  Apparently the bomb exploded 600m above the building and so the main blast was downwards so the walls did not collapse.  I found the site quite moving and emotional.  To think what happened at that very site caused a lump in my throat.

Hiroshima Peace Park

Across the other side of the river from the ruins is the Peace Park with various memorials and museums.  I walked around taking in the atmosphere. There was an extremely long queue for the Atomic Bomb Museum so I didn’t go there.

I took the tram back to the station and then set off to walk to Hiroshima’s Castle. Travel is so easy with a quick swipe of the ICOCA card - it seems to work everywhere.

The castle in Hiroshima is smaller than the others and it is of course it has been rebuilt after being demolished by the nuclear explosion.  I walked to the top of the castle but there was little explained in English so I didn’t get a lot from it other than there was a nice view from the top floor.

Hiroshima Castle

On the way back to my hotel I took a diversion to the Prison or Police Detention Center where there was quite a nice mural of early Japanese life on the walls surrounding the center.

The Mural at the Detention Center

I dined at a restaurant nearby the hotel in the evening.  It was an interesting experience.  There was a machine inside the restaurant door with a screen showing dining options.  I flicked through the screens of food plates and selected one and then added a drink.  I inserted money, change was dispensed along with a ticket that I gave to the waitress.  It kind of makes it easy for me as a foreigner ordering food but I don’t understand why it is necessary for the locals. The meal was great and followed up with a 7-11 raisin bun it was all I needed.

The Hiroshima Peace Clock Tower

The next day, Thursday 4 May, I had breakfast from the 7-11 - an onigiri, a sweet roll and coffee.  I ate breakfast in the Peace Park underneath the Peace Clock Tower.  Every morning at 8:15, the time the bomb exploded, there is a commemorative chime on the clock.  That happened while I was sitting there.

The Floating Torii on Miyajima

I then took a boat out to Miyajima Island.  A small tourist boat that I had booked from the USA.  The boat ride was about 45 mins going out the estuary and into the sea over to the island.  I bought a ticket to the Itsukushima Shrine and the Floating Tori and followed all the other tourists.  The Floating Tori is not really floating, it is anchored out in the ground at low tide and then floats as the tide comes in.

Large Man, Small Woman, Uphill Climb

After walking around for a while - the temple, a pagoda, shops, rickshaws pulling tourists, etc, I caught the boat back to Hiroshima and went back to the hotel to get my bag and head to the station.

Ferry ride from Uno to Miyanoura

I caught the Shinkansen to Okayama where I stored my main bag in a luggage locker at the station and continued with a small daypack.  I caught a local train to the port town of Uno, about an hour away.  In Uno, the end of the line, I caught the ferry to Miyanoura on the island of Naoshima.  The ferry is a short ride, maybe 20 minutes. 

 

The David Hockney at Benesse Art Museum

In Miyanoura I took the bus over to the other side of the island to Hommura and Tsuumura and the Benesse Art Museum.  This is modern art gallery in a lovely concrete building partially buried in the side of the hill.  It is not a big gallery but the content is wonderful.  There’s a nice David Hockney, some nice sculptures and interesting pieces.  Outside the museum there are quite a few nice sculptures on the grounds overlooking the ocean.  

The Kusama Pumpkin

The most famous of the sculptures is the pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama.  This sits on a pier at the edge of the ocean and it is quite perfect.  

Near Hommura

After taking in all the sculptures I caught the bus back to Hommura where I had a hotel reservation. Hommura was extremely quiet.  It is just a small fishing town that has now taken on the role of an arts center. 

In the early evening there didn’t seem to be much going on at all.  With the help of a local lady I managed to find my hotel, the Art Hotel Shell.  It was a bit weird - a small house down a back street, the door was open but no one was there.  There was a post it note on one of the rooms with my name on it and a notice board with my name on it asking me to say when I would be in the building.  I wrote a time down in an hours time and went for another walk for an hour.  When I got back there was still no one there.  I went back to town and had a decent meal of pizza and beer in one of the only two restaurants in town.  After my meal the hotel manager did come back to the hotel.  I paid her cash for my room and retired for the night.  

It was a Japanese style room so it was tatami mats covering the floor and a roll out mattress with a duvet.  Quite comfortable but it is a bit of work getting up off the floor with this old body.

Hommura Harbor

The next morning I checked out of the hotel and set off to explore.  I did find a coffee shop that was about to open so at least I got a cup of coffee but everything else, including the art galleries, was closed until 10:00.

Narcissus Garden by Kusama

I walked over to the other side of the island up the road to the Benesse Art Valley.  It was the first thing to open.  It is a great museum area.  There was another Kusama exhibit here - a multitude of chrome silver balls arranged inside a building and outside on the grounds and in a pond - very cool. I liked the gentle sound they made when the wind disturbed them on the pond.

Lee Ufan Gallery

Next door was the Lee Ufan Museum.  This had several outdoor sculptures and inside a few minimalist art pieces.  Another concrete building embedded into the hillside.

Hommura Art House Project

Sadly the Chichu Art Gallery was sold out for the day. That was a shame because I believe it is quite good.  Never mind, I carried on and walked back into Hommura and went around all the Art House projects which were now open.  The beautiful interior of the old wooden house, the pools of water with miniature islands, the carefully placed flower petals, the flashing bulbs and the Statue of Liberty poking up through the floors and the roof.

Hommura Art House Project

I took the bus back to Miyamura where I waited for the next ferry to Uno.  There is another Kusama pumpkin, a red one, in the harbor there.

Pumpkin by Kusama

Back in Ono, I went to look at the fish sculptures in the harbor.  Quite interesting made of all manner of materials - umbrellas, helmets, plastic junk.

Fish Sculpture in Uno Harbor

I caught the train to Okayama and then had a couple of hours to kill before my train to Tokyo. 

Okayama Castle

This was a perfect opportunity to visit the Okayama Castle.  I didn’t go inside but just walked around the outside.  An impressive building but like many others it had been rebuilt after it was destroyed during the war. 

Back at the station I needed help to find my luggage locker.  I thought I knew exactly where it was but when I got back to the station I couldn’t locate it. I had to ask a JR attendant and she was relentless in finding my locker.  We visited nearly every bank of lockers in the station.  Mine was behind the entry barrier for the Shinkansen trains and she got me a pass to go in without a train ticket.  Another fine example of how helpful the Japanese are.

I caught the Shinkansen to Tokyo.  We passed by Mt Fuji in the dark so there was nothing to see.

Arriving Tokyo late in the evening, it was a nice 2k walk to my hotel, my capsule hotel.  This was a new experience for me.  I got a little bag of clothing, towels and slippers and a card to get into my locker.  There was a male and a female lift so you couldn’t get off on the wrong gender floor.  I had a lower level capsule so that was good and the capsule is quite roomy.  My 6ft frame fit in there and I could sit up. It was all so quiet.  There were a few people in their capsules but most were empty.  I went round the corner to a 7-11 for some food and ate it in my capsule - something I later found was not allowed - no food in the capsule.  

Capsule Hotel, Tokyo

I settled down and had a pretty decent night’s sleep.  Occasionally you heard someone snoring or someone moving around but it wasn’t too much of a disruption.

In the morning I got up relatively early, before everyone else, and caught a taxi to the main station.

I left my bag again at the station while I got ready for my couple of days in the Mt Fuji area.  

I had first to get to the Shinjuku station.  This required a relatively short local train from Tokyo to Shinjuku.  I was early in Shinjuku so I got the chance to walk around Shinjuku.  It was a little more dirty than the Japan I had seen until then - some litter and even a homeless guy.

I took the train to Otsaki, and then from there I changed to a non-JR train, and hence non-rail pass line, the Fujikyuku Line.  I took that line to Kawaguchiko where I had the first glimpse of Mt Fuji.  It is a spectacular mountain.  

Mt Fuji from Lake Kawaguchiko

I had lunch in the town and then I walked out along Lake Kawaguchi to my hotel, the Hotel Koryu.  

I checked in then caught the bus further around the lake to a good viewpoint for Mt Fuji.  There were nice lenticular clouds on top of the mountain.

I took the bus back to the hotel and took a dip in the Onsen.  It was my first time so I was very careful of the protocol.  I got changed into my yakata in the room, went down to the bath area, soaped myself up and rinsed off before getting into the bath in my birthday suit.  It was lovely hot open air pool and very relaxing.  I was the only one in the bath.

After recovering from the hot bath I walked into town.  It was 8:00 pm and nearly everything was closed.  The same restaurant that I lunched at was really the only thing open - tempura and sashimi - very good. I took a taxi back to the hotel and I indulged in another bath in the onsen.

The next day, Sunday 7th May, it was quite gloomy and cloudy.  There would be no views of the mountain today so I was grateful for seeing it the day before.

I checked out and walked into town and researched how to get to my next stop - Hakone.  It seemed to be quite complicated requiring multiple buses and trains.  I started with a bus to Gotemba which took about an hour.  During the bus ride the rain started and by Gotemba it was raining pretty solidly.  In Gotemba, I found that the onward bus towards Hakone had actually broken down somewhere and they had no idea when it was going to get repaired.  So it was a train ride to Kozu followed by a shorter train ride to Odawara.

Odawara Castle

In Odawara it was only drizzling and Odawara had a castle so I walked through the town to the castle.  Yet another fine structure.  Back at the station I caught a taxi to my hotel, the Yoshiike Ryokan.  

This onsen ryokan hotel was quite luxurious.  A resort hotel in an area full of resort hotels.  I did the onsen bath again - twice actually - they had two pools.  There were very few others in the baths.  

Hotel Gardens at Yoshiike Ryokan

In the morning I walked around the wonderful gardens at the hotel.  There were some majestic carp/koi.

I checked out and walked to the station to get the train to Odawara.  Where since it was now better weather and I had time to kill I again went up to the castle to take another look.  This time I paid my entry and walked up to the top.

Tokyo Station

The Shinkansen to Tokyo was quite a short trip.  As the train pulled into Tokyo station there was a cleaning crew waiting for all the passengers to depart and then they immediately jumped into action - cleaning the carriages and turning around the seats so that they all point in the right direction.  

My bag was still in the luggage storage facility at the station but since it was too early to check in to my hotel I left it there and walked around the city.

Edge of Imperial Palace Area

I walked over to the Imperial Palace area but it soon became apparent that there was not a lot to see there, or at least not a lot that you could gain access to. 

 

I walked over to the Nihombashi  Bridge.  The guidebook said it was worth looking it as it was old and made of granite and was ornamented with bronze lions and dragons and things.  It was once considered the center of the city and was the place from which all distances were measured,  

Mitsukoshi Department Store

I also went in the Mitsukoshi Department Store.  The exterior of this store was quite grand and the interior was equally spectacula.  In the open central ground floor area there was a Wurlitzer organ and a massive sculpture of sorts that was pretty amazing, at least for a department store.

Back at the railway station I retrieved my bag (not an easy thing as again I couldn’t quite remember the location of the left luggage and it is a vast station) and then checked into my hotel, the Metropolitan. The hotel lobby was on the 27th floor and my room was on the 32nd floor - no view however.

Ginza Area

In the late afternoon I walked over to the Ginza area.  This is where all the big name shops are - Versace, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Apple ……..  

The Steam Punk Clock

The guide book mentioned a large clock in the area, a steampunk clock, so I went over to look at it.  I arrived there at 6:00 pm just as it was to start its performance.  There was a lot of hissing and clanging and doors opened and things moving around.  Quite a spectacle and quite a contrast in this ultra modern part of the city.

Purchase your meal from the machine

As night set in the lights came on and it all started to look pretty spectacular.  I wandered around the streets for a  while marveling at the wonderful lights and buildings.  I found a place to eat on the small Suzuran Street.  Another place where you choose from a machine display, paid your money and got a ticket to exchange for the food.

The Daily Tuna Auction, Toyosu Market

The next morning I was up very early to go to the Toyosu Fish Market for the Tuna Auction.  I was out of the hotel by 5:00 and I got a taxi over to the market.  There is a viewing area open to the public above the floor of the auction hall and you get a nice view of the proceedings.  Frozen tuna were laid out all over the floor, each with a cross section of the tail laying on top of the carcass.  You must be able to tell something about the quality of the fish from this sample.  People were also checking the fish by hacking into the tail section with what looked like a metal pry bar.  

Tuna Auction

Every now and again they would ring a bell to indicate that an auction was going to take place and then mysteriously with very little fuss the individual fish were sold off.  A sale notice was then slapped on the fish and it was dragged away to the sold section.   At one end of the viewing area you could just see a little section of the fresh tuna auction.  These fish looked so magnificent and it was almost sad to see them in such a state.

After leaving the Toyosu Market I walked over to the Tsikiji Market.  This was the old fish market now replaced by the new Toyosu one.  It is no longer such an impressive market and it has a few vegetable, meat and fish vendors and a lot of food stores.  

Tuna in Tsikiji Market

I did manage to stumble on a fish vendor who had an entire unfrozen tuna sitting on a table and he was getting ready to carve it up.  The fish are quite magnificent.  The tail had been cut off (to provide the evaluation cross section seen at the market) and the tail was stuffed inside the gills.  The fishmonger made short work of the head of the fish with his saw and proceeded to slice the fish in two.  A big fish that will make a lot of tuna steaks.

I then decided to do a couple of walks outlined in the guide book.  One required a subway to Okichimachi where the walk started and wound its way through a park past the zoo and over to a large cemetery.  The walk was not that inspiring.

The next walk required a subway to Jingumai.  This walk followed a busy street of high end shops.  I stopped at a very plush Starbucks on top of one of the buildings.  Starbucks are everywhere in Tokyo.  It had an open air  seating area in a nice roof top garden.  Impressive trees for a rooftop garden.

Shibuyu Crossing

I continued to walk on towards Shibuyu.  This is where the famously busy street crossing is.  As with many crossings all traffic stops and pedestrians can cross diagonally as well perpendicularly and, for some reason, Shibuyu has a large number of people wanting to cross the street.  Since it is best viewed from above I went to the top of a department store and paid a small price for a drink that then allowed me to look down on the crossing below.

I took another subway (so easy with the ICOCA Card) to a fine porcelain shop (recommended by Google).  It was a very nice shop and I bought a couple of pieces.  They were of course wrapped perfectly by the shop owner - such precision in wrapping, such presentation.

I took the subway back to the station and got a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants in the station - great noodles.

In the evening I wandered around some more and bought a couple of things in a wonderful bookshop and stationary store.  Tokyo had a lot of large bookshops.  It was good to see that the bookshop was still thriving.

The Sumida River

The next morning, Wednesday 10 May, was my last one in Japan. I wandered around again and found myself in the Ginza area once more.  I saw that I was near St Luke’s Hospital, the birthplace of my friend Shelley.  I thought I might as well check it out.  The hospital was a beautiful building and it was nearby the Sumida River.  It provided a nice view of a part of Tokyo I hadn’t seen.

Denny's

I stumbled on a Denny’s and since I hadn’t had breakfast, I decided to give it a try.  You ordered your food on an tablet at the table but unlike most other places there were many options without pictures or an English translation.  Google translate and the iPhone camera allowed me to figure out an order of eggs, bacon and pancakes.  It wasn’t the best but it was an interesting view of how a US chain has adapted to the Japanese market.  The bacon and eggs came with a little salad.

Back at the hotel I checked out and caught a train to the Narita airport.  For some reason I did not get the express train and we stopped at every station and I also had to change trains.  After over an hour I finally arrived at the airport.  I had time to buy some Japanese chocolate and some banana flavored Kit Kats and enjoy the lounge before boarding the flight to the US.

An amazing trip, a wonderful country, and most of all the most polite and helpful people on the planet.

There are more photographs here.