Hokkaido, Japan II (03/06/2013-03/12/2013)

We had a 'fire and ice' theme to our honeymoon. The previous posts were the 'fire' and this was the 'ice' - Hokkaido in winter. I've never seen so much snow in urban settings in my life. Apparently it was the heaviest snow fall in 10 years. 

We came to Hokkaido primarily to eat, and to soak. Hokkaido is famous for its fresh seafood, ramen, and milk (!). It also has a healthy amount of natural hot springs, and while I don't have the photos to show you (probably better this way), it's really nice to soak in a geothermal pool during a blizzard with your hair frozen solid from the -15C air, then rolling around in the snow. Rinse and repeat.  

We started our trip in Sapporo, where we feasted on crab and sushi, and visited the legendary ramen street, where I came across a shop owner who had been making ramen in that location for over 40 years, whom I met and had a chat with 6 years ago. He didn't remember me ~200,000 customer visits later, but that would asking a bit much.

Following Sapporo, we joined a Taiwanese tour group (because they had a bus and driving would be suicidal) and explored the interior and north of Hokkaido, stopping off to visit wineries, sake breweries, various hot springs, small towns, and then a ride on an ice breaker in Abashiri. We finished the trip in the romantic town of Otaru, which was a little less romantic in the winter. 

Maldives (02/28/2013-03/03/2013)

There aren't that many places I've been to lately that make me feel like I've really stepped into a different land - this is one of them.

The Maldives is consists of a number of atolls (and over 1000 islands) that lie no more than 1 or 2 meters above sea level. Each island is quite small, fitting either a city, village or a resort, if inhabited at all.  The capital, Male, is really a sight to behold - a bunch of colorful buildings and ~100,000 people crammed into 2 sq. km. Due to political instability at the time, we could only appreciate it from a distance.Given this was a honeymoon rather than just a vacation (or adventure), we opted to stay on a resort island, although we did have a chance to visit Himmafushi, another small village/island to get a sense of local life. 

Ethnically, Maldivians are originally Dravidians / Tamils (due to proximity to India and Sri Lanka), and was once Buddhist and is now Islamist. Interestingly, the importation of alcohol and pork is forbidden but consumption on resorts is not (recognizing that tourism is a main source of revenue - a hotly contested topic). 

The scenery is just incredible - and it feels like paradise. Wildlife (birds, fish and crustaceans) are plentiful, but there are very few insects (most notably mosquitoes) due to the distance from the mainland. Rays would often come up to you, curious (or perhaps wanting to be fed) and while sharks are abundant in the waters, there hasn't (to my knowledge) been any sort of attack because they're so well fed from the local reef fish (which were incredibly abundant). We even spotted a sea snake at night. 

The food however, wasn't all that impressive, and due to the combination of a captive audience and having to import everything, prices were seizure inducing. It was actually cheaper to go on a fishing boat, catch a bunch of fish, and get the resort chefs to cook those fish, than it was to have a vegetable curry. Needless to say, the locals eat a lot of fish. 

Definitely a place to visit once in your life, especially before rising sea levels claim it back to the ocean.