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Dobbs Away IIDobbs Away II
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  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    1
    Day 584

    Merida

    December 11, 2018 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Took a comfortable bus from Tulum to Merida.
    Merida is a large, colonial city that’s home to around 900,000 people. It was once very wealthy and the center for agave twine that was exported around the world in the early 1900’s. The massive scale of the many crumbling (and some restored) mansions lining the main boulevard, hint at the former affluence. In the center of the city, many buildings have been restored to charming homes, cafes, and shops and it felt a safe and pleasant place to walk around. The people were friendly and the food was good, though we’re really looking forward to Mexico City for a more vibrant food scene.Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 579

    Tulum

    December 6, 2018 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    The ferry crossing from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen was very rough because of heavy winds that were strong enough to shut down the harbor for small boats. Luckily, we didn’t get seasick during the short trip. Once on the mainland, we took a public bus to Tulum, just a few hours down the coast.
    Tulum wasn’t what we expected and it’s one of the few places we wouldn’t go back to if we had it to do over again. While the beaches and Mayan ruins are beautiful, the main town isn’t and we were shocked to see huge, expensive resorts built near shantytowns that housed migrant workers. Exploitation like this is something you never get used to seeing and it’s infuriating that all the tourist money being brought in isn’t filtering down to those who need it most. Also, the city has grown way too fast and lacks any infrastructure - we read that only ~30% of residential properties are connected to sewage systems – most ends up in the ocean. You can smell it in some parts of the city. Greed is gross.
    I’m sure if we’d stayed on the beach in a high-end resort and not ventured into the town, we might not have noticed the other side of this place. We should have heeded JV’s advice and given Tulum a miss.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 575

    Cozumel

    December 2, 2018 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    What a culture shock! We love Cozumel and this was our 5th time visiting here to dive, but it’s been an adjustment.
    After getting into the water and seeing all the beautiful fish, coral and lots of turtles, our longing for Japan receded a bit.
    We’ve been lucky to dive many places around the world and Cozumel continues to be somewhere we will re-visit (hopefully with Marisa and Casey). It’s simply incredible under water (not so much above water – it’s truly about the diving here) because of the abundance and variety of critters and the beautiful seascapes of huge coral formations, caves and plunging drop-offs into the deep blue below.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    1
    Day 574

    Chicago

    December 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    We had a very tight connection from Japan to Mexico, and as expected, missed our flight. While we contemplated going downtown for the day, the cold, slushy weather and extreme tiredness led us to choose trying to rest in an airport hotel instead.Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 564

    Osaka

    November 21, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    A quick train ride carried us to Osaka, Japan’s 2nd largest city.
    We checked into our apartment then met our friend, Marisa, who visited us from NY.
    It’s always fun to share experiences with friends during our travels, especially because it was Marisa’s first time to Asia. We were impressed as she bravely took off solo for a quick trip to Tokyo and a few days in Kyoto. The rest of the time we hung out together in Osaka - eating, shopping and enjoying our final days in Japan.
    Visiting Japan has been one of the highlights of our trip. Japan has played a large part in our history - this is where we met and fell in love, so Japan will always be special for us. We have loved seeing places - new and old, enjoyed meeting and talking with the locals, reveled in the incredible hospitality, food, and beauty which are uniquely Japanese.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    1
    Day 557

    Nara

    November 14, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Nara was the country’s capital before Kyoto and Tokyo and has some very good UNESCO sites. The most impressive was the giant Buddha housed in the world’s largest wooden structure, the Todai-ji temple. While we’d been here before, we’d forgotten just how enormous it is. We also visited the Kofuku-ji temple and pagoda and the bright orange Kasuga shrine, famous for its lanterns. While we saw lots of deer, we opted not to pet them. They seemed a bit aggressive and mangy to our eyes.
    On one of our days, we took a daytrip to Ohara, a small town outside of Kyoto. We made the trip just so we could eat lunch at a restaurant run by a farmer and his wife. Delicious, simply-prepared vegetables were excellent. The town was also wonderful and had an excellent temple and garden, Sanzen-In, that would have been worth the trip alone.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    3
    Day 553

    Kyoto - more photos

    November 10, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    12
    Day 545

    Kyoto

    November 2, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The Shinkansen (bullet train) is such a fun way to travel. We picked up some excellent ekiben (station bento boxes) and some wine to enjoy on our trip and got lucky with clear weather so had good views of Mt. Fuji on our way to Kyoto.
    The fall leaves changed into full color during our time here, attracting hordes of Japanese and foreign tourists. The colors were beautiful, but the crowds were a bit overwhelming. However, we were able to find some time away from the crowds to enjoy some lesser-visited sites.
    Despite the busy time, we had a great visit - including some of our best meals (thanks to Rowena for recommending the best tempura ever!)
    Riding bikes, walking and taking occasional trains/buses enabled us to cover a lot of ground. Some highlights of our time here included visiting Arashiyama’s beautiful Zen garden (it was Japan’s first Zen temple), Fushimi Inari shrine with its 10,000 tori (gates) with cute fox mascots everywhere, Ginkaku-ji’s (Silver Pavilion) gardens, cycling along the Philosopher’s path and visiting many other temples and shrines to admire the changing leaves.
    An odd thing happened on one of our days out. We had bought lunch at a convenience store and were sitting on a bench eating in a park. Suddenly, a very large hawk swooped down between us and grabbed the cream puff John was starting to enjoy. It scratched John’s hands with its talons and brushed Christy’s face with its wings. A little creepy! John decided it was not a hawk, but some mystic, Japanese spirit-guide making sure he did not eat the cream puff he obviously did not need.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    3
    Day 519

    Ginza, Tokyo

    October 7, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Tokyo was fantastic! We absolutely love this city and it’s many, many hidden treasures. While some might see it as an overwhelming concrete jungle, we found it to be one of the most livable cities imaginable. It’s clean, safe and there are lots of parks and green spaces – plus - endless small shops and restaurants lend so much character to the many different neighborhoods. We were also surprised by just how quiet the city is when you get off the main streets.
    While here, we fell into a happy routine of walking or taking the subway out to a different neighborhood each morning to explore and find somewhere good for lunch. Usually back for an afternoon nap, out for some exercise along the nearby Sumida river, then back home to cook dinner and plan our next day.
    A few highlights were kayaking on the city’s canals, visiting a sumo stable to see some intense practice, doing a fancy cocktail tasting at a small bar, and enjoying seriously great food and sampling many delicious sweets (hence the need to eat salad most nights and get back into a running routine).
    It was hard to leave the city, but we are sure we’ll be back.    Read more

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