Si vous êtes ici, c’est que vous aimez les voyages.

 

Donc, comme vous aimez les voyages, je vous invite à découvrir ce site :

 

Guide Evasion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vous y trouverez plein de conseils pour voyager, mais aussi des interviews, ou des reportages, sur d’autres voyageurs, comme moi.

 

Enjoy

 

Guide Evasion :

http://www.guide-evasion.fr/

 

 

Technorati Tags: tour du monde, Guide, Evasion, Voyage, conseils

Mon premier livre, en français pour le moment, est enfin en vente.

Edition de luxe, reliée, 132 pages en couleurs, 33X28cm, imprimé sur papier premium mat.

Plein de photos et de conseils aux voyageurs.

Vous pouvez le commander en ligne, ici :

http://fr.blurb.com/my/book/detail/3035048

Il retrace mon voyage depuis la France j’usqu’aux portes de l’Inde.

J’espère que vous prendrez plaisir à le lire.

The night is not really finished, and the days is not really began when my bus cross the Hernando Desoto bridge upon the Mississippi river, very early in the morning.

Entering Memphis by the Interstate 40, from the West on the city, is probably the best way to be in touch with Memphis.

You will first see the majestic and mythic Mississippi river, and have a wonderful view on the Memphis skyline.

The Hernando Desoto bridge on the Mississippi river.

 

Downtown Memphis, at the first sight, doesn’t look that big, but Memphis, with a population of almost 650.000, is the most populated city of the state of Tennessee.

What is nice when you travel by Greyhound in the US, is that the bus stations, for all the ones I saw, are always downtown, right in the city center. So, you don’t need like when you travel by plane, to pay for an expensive airport shuttle service.

At this time, streets in downtown Memphis are empty.

I wrote down some notes to find my hotel. I need to take a bus, but it doesn’t look that far.

I wait more than an hour for a bus.

Memphis will be the only one city, during my journey across US, where I didn’t find a couchsurfing host.

I sent some couch request, to the few members who can host, but they were not in town, or just didn’t answer.

First, I planned to go to New Orleans. For a jazz lover like me, to visit New Orleans would be a dream, and they have a very active couchsurfing community.

But, this is the time of fat Tuesday, the city is invaded by festival-goers, as the Noew-Orleans’s carnival is one of the most famous in the country, and all the couchsurfers were already booked.

So I ended up in Memphis, where I booked a room, for 2 nights, in the cheapest hotel I found, the Motel 6-Memphis Downtown. $40 a night, it’s cheap, but really out of my budget.

The view from my motel… nothing exciting.

In every hotel room of the United State, you will find a Bible. It’s really not my fav book, so i won’t open it…

I will not do much in Memphis, except walking downtown and along the Mississippi river side, and take some photos. It’s free, and for me, hanging around randomly in a city for some hours is the best way to soak up into the atmosphere of a city.

Beale street.

Daisy theatre.

A blues pub.

And another one…

And another one…

Memphis tram.

The Peabody hotel, pay a visit to the ducks

 

It’s cold, and drizzling constantly, but I can stay long minutes to contemplate this river full of history.

The Mississippi river.

This land, for the past 2 centuries, known mainly sufferance. Memphis was created in 1819, and was named after the ancient capital of Egypt n the Nile river.

During the second half of the 19^th century, Memphis became one of the largest slave market, at a time where the cotton economy was preponderant in the country.

In the 1870s, Memphis was devastated by a series of yellow fever epidemics, and the worst outbreak, in 1878, killed nearly 75% of the population.

Maybe because of all this rich history, the city is now more known for its contributions to the identity of the American South. Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash, are just some examples of renowned musicians who grew up in Memphis.

The kid of Memphis, the King, Elvis.

The blues and the Rock’n’Roll were born here.

And nowadays, tourist come to Memphis for the “Beale” street, where you will find tons of blues bars, and to visit Graceland, the house of Elvis Presley, which is now a museum about the singer.

Graceland will not be for me, paying $40 to visit a house, a garden, and see a grave, is not for me.

That is all i’ve seen from Graceland.

 

But I cannot be there without spending an evening in a blues bar enjoying some live music.

All the pubs on Beale street have their band, and everywhere, you can listen to the most popular blues music.

Tonight, I meet Yacov, a couchsurfer from Chicago. He is ending is stay in Memphis, and must take his bus back to home tonight. But before, we will meet and enjoy some music.

Yacov works in IT, and is from Ukrainia. He answered to my message on the Memphis Couchsurfing city group, and we decided to meet up. I’m happy to meet another member of our great community, couchsurfing.

In Tennesse, if you are 21, you can carry a firearm in the street, but not in pubs

We choose a small club, where the music looks good, and the dinks cheap.

But Yakov must leave to get his bus.

I walk alone for some time in Beale street, enjoying the ambiance and the music, before to come back to my hotel. Tomorrow, I leave this city, and go far North, a long journey to Chicago.

 

 

You can see more photos of Memphis on my Flickr :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarkapac/sets/72157626111597953/with/5514295489/

 

No need to introduce Dallas, as it’s a so much well-known city in the world. One will know it for the famous TV show, the Dallas Cowboys, the famous football team, John Fitzerald Kennedy, or even, the oil industry.

The road to Dallas was long, very long. 2 days of bus, from the North-West of the country, the Montana.

I thought I could enjoy some beautiful landscapes from the bus, especially in Colorado, but I was quite disappointed…

The roads across Wyoming, Colorado and Texas look desperately the same, all along the 2500km of the journey, farmlands, one after another…

I reached Dallas really early in the morning, and need to reach my host’s place.

In Dallas, I will stay with Ramano, a very active member of the local Couchsurfing community.

Ramano, my CS host in Dallas.

 

Romano is a Medical Doctor, he works in an Emergency Room.

We exchange some words to introduce each other.

Then, I take advantage to have some time, to have a shower, and a nap; I really need both after 2 days on the bus.

Later in the morning, we gonna meet some other local couchsurfers for a brunch.

I was warned but the portions, at restaurants, in Texas, are really huge.

Then, Romano was nice enough to drop me at the Cowboy stadium, outside of Dallas.

I’m still a football fan, and Dallas is one of my favorite team, so I couldn’t be in Dallas without paying a visit to their home, the Cowboy Stadium. The ticket is expensive,  $17,50, but I go.

 

 

Being there, standing on this famous gridiron was really so exciting.

All around, kids are playing football. There are quite a lot of visitors. The stadium is a popular destination for a father, to bring his young soon, fan of football. But fathers really enjoy too. Big kids.

 

The Elm Street, downtown, is another place to don’t miss if you stay in Dallas. In this street, on the 22^nd of November 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed.

Kennedy died here.

JFK’s memorial

An official tour will explain to you that Lee Harvey Oswald killed the President, but if you look around by yourself, you gonna find interesting notes, left by visitors, explaining “their” truth, about what really happened this day.

 

 

Downtown Dallas is quiet, there is not too much traffic, and it’s quite easy to move around by foot or public transportations.  Buy a day pass, for $4; it cost the price of 2 single tickets, a good deal.

More photos about Dallas on my Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarkapac/sets/72157626220993254/

Welcome to Philipsburg

I’m sure you are wondering why I’m going to this small town with a population of less than 1000 in the middle of Montana…

Philipsburg, in the Granite County, is kind of a paradise for fly-fishers from all over US.

The numerous lakes and rivers around, full of fish, attract many rich guys, amateurs of fly fishing.

Rock Creek is the paradise for fly-fishing. Being here is like being in the real wild, in the middle of nowhere, far from any civilization. The place is wonderful. A small river, in a small valley, it’s very bucolic. The forests around are rich of a wonderful wildlife: mooses, bears, Bighorn sheep, mountain lions, …

Ducks and geese choose this quiet place to raise their kids. And if you look a bit upper, in the sky, you can even see Bald eagles and hawks.

And if you carefully search into the river, maybe you’ll have the luck to find one of the famous Rock Creek sapphires.

This place is definitely a place for those who love nature and outdoors activities, hiking trails, sapphire mining, many ghost towns to visit, scenic bike trails, boating, wildlife viewing, horse back riding, camping, water skiing, and hunting, just at the doors of the Yellowstone and Glacier Parks.

Philipsburg is also a small town with a long history. In the late 1800s it became a booming mining town, due to its rich soil.

The lure of gold brought many settlers in Montana in the early 1860s. First, around Bannack or Virginia City, they rapidly spread out to find new gold fields. Even if they could find gems (sapphires), Philipsburg was predominantly silver and manganese.

But it’s not for all these stuff that I braved the road to Philipsburg, on the mountains, in snowstorms.

I want to visit a CouchSurfing friend, from the CS chat, Jim.

Jim, with his old Chevy truck.

After the death of the CS chat, a few years ago, Jim began to do some lobbying to the CS management to get the CS back. All the “CS chat addicted”, which I’m belonging too, followed him.

We chat together for years, and it’s gonna be the first time I meet him.

Jim lives in a small house in Philipsburg. He is an electrician, and a good one. Besides loving his “CS chat friends”, which is calls his family; he also loves natures and outdoor activities, and knows his mountains very well.

I’ll spend 3 days at Jim’s place. Very friendly, and very hospitable, he also shows me the area.

Especially Rock Creek, which is a wonderful place. The ride, in his old Chevy truck, on the narrow road running along Rock Creek’s meandering waters, was memorable. We could see some wild animals from far, kind of Bighorn sheep’s, but no gooses, even if we looked for them quite a long time. The sceneries, with the snow, are wonderful.

 

Watching at the big house, build buy rich guys from the cities, whose come here only for week ends or holidays, we had some laughs when he explained to me how locals make fun of them.

There are also some “dream” ranches, just on the riverside, with nice and wild lands around. Life here must be wonderful…

The day after, Jim is at work. I go by myself to the city center, which is only 10 minutes walking.

The main road is amazing. It looks like the small town we can see in western movies.

The last day, i went with Jim at his work, in Anaconda. I could see his work, as electrician…

Anaconda.

Jim at work.

… then he drove me to Butte, another mining town, but specialized in cobber, where I have to catch my bus to Dallas, a long road of more than 2 days…

More photos of Philipsburg and Montana on my Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarkapac/collections/72157625908155791/

 

 

 

I never really pay attention to this city before. Seattle never had been for me a destination in US. This city, for me, vaguely meant Boeing or Microsoft, because these two big companies have their head office over there.

The Seattle Space Needle.

A long time ago, when I was still a teenager, it was in 1987 actually, I went for a month in San Diego, in Southern California, for a kind of student exchange. A family hosted me.

They had a house in the suburb of San Diego, near the Miramar Air Force base, famous because of its USAF pilot school. Maybe you know this military base by its nickname: Top Gun, famous because of the movie.

They were 3 in the family, I mean living in the house. The father, “Kai”, an architect, who was there because he was in charge of the building of the San Diego Zoo, actually the biggest zoo in the world, originally from Japan, the mother, Kris, who was working in a computer company, and could speak French quiet well, as she liked France, and its wines, and their last son, Josh, a student, like me. They had also 2 other kids, a girl and another son, but they were not living here. And a dog, a German Sheppard, who enjoyed a lot having bathes in the swimming pool.

I really enjoyed my stay over there, at this time. All the family members were wonderful, and I kept wonderful memories about this month in San Diego.

So today, almost 25 years after, I’m going to Seattle to visit Josh. I haven’t seen him since I was in San Diego, in 1987.

I’m very happy to be able to meet him, and get reacquainted. It’ s so nice to be able to exchange our life since this old time.

My bus should reach Seattle in the middle of the afternoon. But one of the Greyhound I should take in Sacramento broke down at the end of the afternoon. It will take almost all the night to Greyhound to find us another bus. So I will finally reach Seattle late at night, around 11pm.

Josh is at the bus station, waiting for me. He welcomes me with a big hug. He becomes a big guy. I mean, I’m big, but I feel small beside him.

Josh.

He is very friendly.

On the way back home, we stop to have a cheeseburger in one of the most famous burger drive-inn of Seattle, Dick’s. It’s cheap and delicious, the burgers, and the fries too.

In the early 1950′s, a burger, shake and fries was already an American classic, but people who hungered for this classic meal usually had to sit down and wait. America was on the move, and almost everyone was using a car to get from place to place. For most people, there simply wasn’t time to stop and eat at a roadside diner. Besides, it was too expensive. What was needed was a place where you could park easily, get good food in a hurry, and pay a lot less.

What was needed was Dick’s, but try selling the idea to a local banker in the summer of 1953. When 29-year old Dick Spady and his partners went to the local banks seeking a loan to build their first restaurant, the bankers politely showed them the door. But Dick and his partners never gave up, and on the morning of January 28, 1954, the first Dick’s Drive-In opened for business on N.E. 45th Street in the Wallingford District of Seattle.

Since 1954, Dick’s is still here, and is one of the famous places in Seattle.

We eat our burger and fries in the car, on the car park of the place, “a l’ancienne”. Welcome to America.

We talk a lot, and laugh a lot.

And we come back home, a bucolic house, in wood, in a residential area, very quiet, where he lives with Liza, his girlfriend, a very friendly woman, smart, funny, and very open minded.

The day after, Josh will drive me in the city, showing me, in half a day, all the famous places of Seattle.

And I’m quite amazed. Seattle is really a beautiful city. I would never imagine it like that.

As soon as you leave downtown, which is not that big, the city is mainly made of small bungalows and houses. We fill everything except being in a big city, a state capital.

Now, I have seen Seattle, and, as a photographer, I really would love to have more time to discover more deeply this city.

Especially all the industrial part, its port, train railways, old industrial buildings, all these metallic bridges a bit everywhere in the city, … and the seven hills.

The Fremont Troll.

But I could already saw a lot, because of Josh, who knows his hometown very well.

He showed me so much beautiful things.

Josh his also has also a passion, fishing, especially with flies, and he makes them by himself. I remember, 25 years ago, he was already doing that, and he still does. And with more than 25 years old of experience, he became a really good “fly maker”. He showed me how to make some flies, impressive.

This is my last day in Seattle, with Josh and Liza. my bus is at 9pm.

Josh and Liza.

Josh has to work this night, so he will drop me at the bus station before to go to work for the night.

It’s very sad to leave him. As it was 25 years ago, again, today, I spent very good time with him.

The destiny wants me to stay a bit more in Seattle. My night bus to Montana is cancelled because of the weather condition. There are 2 bad passes in the mountains to go to Montana, and they have snowstorm. The next bus is tomorrow morning, at 11am. Another night in a Greyhound station …. Sleepless in Seattle for me tonight.

You can see more photos of Seattle on my Flickr account :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarkapac/sets/72157626037234303/

I arrived in San Francisco late in the afternoon, and it was raining.

The bus dropped me at the Ambarcadero, near the ferry building. I have the address of my host, Emmanuel, and the number of the bus to take.

Emmanuel is a Couchsurfer from France, he lives in US for about 20 years now, and in San Francisco for about 4 years. He is a very active host, as he already hosted almost 1500 people.

Emmanuel.

At the first, Downtown San Francisco looks nice and animated, the street are quite crowded.

The bus I have to take starts in Chinatown. So I have to cross this area, and I remember Asia. The streets are full of Chinese shops, and people speak Chinese in the street, at least for Chinese people.

They have some celebrations today in the streets, for the Chinese New Year. Chinatown is full of people who came to see the parades, and different shows offered by the Chinese community.

The streets are closed for the vehicles, which is not good for me, as my bus cannot come.

So I decided to walk to Emmanuel’s place… I forgot that San Francisco is made of hills, and I will have to hike 2 of them to reach is place; it took me about an hour, carrying all my bags.

But, during this walk, I could enjoy the lovely Victorian houses in the streets of San Francisco.

The city has a long history, which began in 1776, when the Spanish established a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis of Assisi on the site. The California Gold Rush in 1848 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth, increasing the population in one year from 1,000 to 25,000, and thus transforming it into the largest city on the West Coast at the time. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. During World War II, San Francisco was the port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, massive immigration, liberalizing attitudes, and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States.

The city is a major touristic destination, and has several world known landmarks, like the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz jail, Its Cable Car or the Transamerica building.

San Francisco is also a green city, and we can really notice that its inhabitants care for a better environment.

The amount of people using bicycle in the city is really important. I could see a lot of Hybrid cars amount those who still drive, the recycling of the waste is a regular practice, and people usually to consume only what they need. All of these make San Francisco a special city in the US.

I will stay with Emmanuel for 3 nights. He lives in the Cow Hollow district, on a hill. It’s a very quiet residential area, and from his roof top you can enjoy a wonderful view on the San Francisco bay, from the Golden Gate bridge to Alcatraz.

The view from Emmanuel’s rooftop.

It’s nice to meet Emmanuel. He is a very active member and volunteer for Couchsurfing, and one of the “moderators” of the CA Ambassadors groups.  He was quite busy these few days, between his work, and 4 other surfers, but it was nice to speak again French for a while.

My second host in San Francisco is Guri. Guri is from India, he is a sikh. I met him in Penang, some months ago, while he was traveling in Asia.  It’s also a great pleasure to meet him again.

Guri, the flying Sikh.

During my stay the city, I will also have the chance to meet Casey Fenton, the founder of the couchsurfing website. He agreed to meet me for a dinner, despite his very tight schedule. I will spend 4 hours chatting with him. We went in a Thai restaurant, and then he drove me around to show me some interesting places in San Francisco, and drove me back home. Casey in a really nice guy, open minded, simple, and ready to talk about anything. It was a great moment.

With Casey Fenton, founder of the Couchsurfing website.

What I like in San Francisco, are its different neighborhoods, all very different from each other.

During these few days I will try to visit some.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden gate is probably the best icon of San Francisco. The bridge was completed in 1937, and was, at this time, the longest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge has also a sad reputation has the most popular place in the world to commit suicide.

The Silicon Valley.

The Silicon valley is situated on the Southern part of the San Francisco bay area, and is the home of some of the world’s largest technology corporations. The name of Silicon valley referred to the large amount of innovators and manufacturers of silicon chips, and also refer to all the high-tech business in the area.

Ruwan.

This area is large. To reach there, you need to take a train, the Caltrain. The Silicon Valley is constituted of several cities, like San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Cupertino, …

Sun Microsystems.

Google.

Facebook.

Intel.

Ruwan, an ex colleague of Day Yann, will help me to discover the Silicon Valley. We meet at a train station, and he will drive me around. Ruwan is very nice to do that for me. He will be very friendly all the time. Ruwan is originally from Sri Lanka, but came in US a long time ago. He is now a renowned electronic engineer, graduated from the glorious Harvard University in Boston.

Mountain View city.

Google is so big, that is has its own street.

Google provides this kind of bicycle to its employee to commute between the different buildings.

He will show me some of the headquarters of the biggest electronic or web companies, and we will finish the day by a walk in the beautiful campus of the Stanford University in San Jose.

Stanford University.

Stanford University.

Stanford University.

Stanford University.

Thanks again Ruwan for this wonderful day.

The Castro.

The Castro district, in San Francisco, is probably, nowadays, the place in the city, which received the most of media coverage.

It is widely considered America’s first, currently largest, and best-known gay neighborhood. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro remains a symbol and source of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activism and events.

One of the most notable features of the neighborhood is the Castro theatre, a movie place, built in 1922, and one of the San Francisco’s premier movie house.

The Castro came of age as a gay center following the Summer of Love in the neighboring Haight-Ashbury district in 1967. The gathering brought tens of thousands of middle-class youth from all over the United States. The neighborhood, previously known as Eureka Valley, became known as the Castro, after the landmark theatre by that name near the corner of Castro and Market Streets. Many San Francisco gays also moved there after about 1970 from what had been the formerly most prominent gay neighborhood, Polk Gulch, because large Victorian houses were available at low rents or available for purchase for low down payments when their former middle-class owners had fled to the suburbs.

By 1973, Harvey Milk, who would become the most famous resident of the neighborhood, opened a camera store, Castro Camera, and began political involvement as a gay activist, further contributing to the notion of the Castro as a gay destination.

The Mission District.

During the 1980s and into the 1990s, the neighborhood received a higher influx of immigrants and refugees from Central and South America fleeing civil wars and political instability at the time. These immigrants brought in many Central American banks and companies which would set up branches, offices, and regional headquarters on Mission Street.

The Latino, Chicano, and Central American immigrants also brought with them gang violence. During the 1980s and into the 1990s, branches of the Sureño and Norteño gangs settled into the area and engaged in open violence throughout the neighborhood. The notorious Central American gang MS-13 also became active in the neighborhood as well. Although gentrification and a nationwide crackdown during the late 1990s and into the 2000s have reduced activities from these gangs, they still continue to be a persistent problem for the neighborhood.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Valencia Street corridor had a lively punk night life with several clubs including The Offensive, The Deaf Club and Valencia Tool & Die and the former fire station on 16th Street, called the Compound, sported what was commonly referred to as “the punk mall” an establishment that catered to punk style and culture.

During the late 1990s and into the 2000s, and especially during the dot-com boom, young urban professionals, to twentysomethings and thirtysomethings living the hipster lifestyle moved into the area initiating gentrification, and raising rent and housing prices, forcing many Latino middle class families as well as artists to the Outer Mission area, or out of the city entirely to the suburbs of East Bay and South Bay area. This phase of gentrification led to class conflict and resistance, both in the form of property destruction associated with the ‘Mission Yuppie Eradication Project’ as well as the work-within-the-system approach of the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, founded by, among others, future Supervisor Chris Daly.

Despite rising rent and housing prices, many Mexican and Central American immigrants continue to migrate into the Mission. Although, the neighborhood’s high rents and home prices have meant they move further south into the Outer Mission.

The Mission is also a place to enjoy street arts in tiny streets.

Haight-Ashbury.

The neighborhood became the center of the San Francisco Renaissance and with it, the rise of a drug culture and rock-and-roll lifestyle by the mid ’60s. College and high-school students began streaming into the Haight during the spring break of 1967. San Francisco’s government leaders, determined to stop the influx of young people once schools let out for the summer, unwittingly brought additional attention to the scene, and an ongoing series of articles in local papers alerted the national media to the hippies’ growing numbers. By spring, Haight community leaders responded by forming the Council of the Summer of Love, giving the word-of-mouth event an official-sounding name.

The mainstream media’s coverage of hippie life in the Haight-Ashbury drew the attention of youth from all over America. Hunter S. Thompson labeled the district “Hashbury” in The New York Times Magazine, and the activities in the area were reported almost daily. During that year, the neighborhood’s fame reached its peak as it became the haven for a number of the top psychedelic rock performers and groups of the time. Acts like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin all lived a short distance from the intersection. They not only immortalized the scene in song, but also knew many within the community as friends and family. Another well-known neighborhood presence was The Diggers, a local “community anarchist” group known for its street theatre who also provided free food to residents every day.

The Sausalito Houseboat community.

The Sausalito city is located opposite of San Francisco, on the North side of the San Francisco bay.

The city has the particularity to host an interesting houseboat community.

The community consists of more than 400 houseboats of various shapes, sizes, and values, along the north end of town, approximately two miles from downtown.

The roots of the Houseboat Community lie in the re-use of abandoned boats and material after the de-commissioning of the Marinship shipyards at the end of World War II. Many anchor-outs came to the area, which created problems with sanitation and other issues. After a series of tense confrontations in the 1970s and 1980s additional regulations were applied to the area and the great majority of boats were relocated to approved docks. Several are architect-designed pieces that have been featured in major magazines.

You can watch more photos of San Francisco on my Flickr account :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarkapac/collections/72157625908155791

I arrived in LA airport very late at night. It was around 1am.

I was so surprised to see that in a so big airport, in a so big city, everything is closed… Restaurants, shops, bars, everything close at night, except the McDonald’s.

I needed to find some wifi, to contact Jordan, my first host here. Impossible to find free wifi at the Los Angeles International airport. I’m voiceless.

After having asked to several people, a nice policeman offered me to use his smartphone to check my emails.

There was an email from Jordan, saying that his mother is on her way to pick me up, and he wrote me her phone number.

The policeman called her. Actually I was a bit worried of her reaction when the guy began saying “Hello mam, this is the Los Angeles Police, …”. Usually, when the police call you, it’s because something bad happened.

He explained to her where I was.

It’s so nice from Jordan’s mother to pick me up here at 2AM, knowing that they live in Santa Clarita, which is more than 1 hour drive from Los Angeles airport.

It’s a bit unreal to be here for me. I was in California, in San Diego, but something like 20 years ago.

After a long ride, we pick up Jordan in Santa Clarita, where he had a farewell party, because he lives for about a year in Thailand in two days, to be an English teacher over there.

I met Jordan some years ago, while he was studying in my hometown, Aix en Provence. They were a group of American students there; all couchsurfers, and we had a lot of fun with them.  There were also Christa, Jules, Saquib, or Jenae, but they are not in California right now.

I will spend 3 days in Santa Clarita, with Jordan’s family. They are all very nice. I really enjoy this place which looks like a lot to my hometown, Aix en Provence. The landscapes, the weather, the vegetation,… almost everything except that it’s almost on the other side of the planet.

Jordan and his family.

A panorama of where i stayed in Santa Clarita.

I really enjoyed my stay in Santa Clarita. I had a lot of interesting chats with Jordan’s mother, she is a singing teacher, but can talk about a lot of different interesting topics. I will meet Allison, Jordan’s girlfriend, his brother, sister, and father. We gonna have a nice hike to the top of a little mountain in a park, and the last day, with his father, who is also a teacher, have a visit of Chinatown, in downtown LA, with his students.

Seeing a Chinatown in US, after having spent 2 years in Malaysia, looked interesting to me, to see the differences. I could saw them when we visited the Thien Hau temple. The biggest one, in South-East Asia, you will never see a Chinese enter in a temple with his shoes, in Los Angeles, nobody, even the Chinese who come for praying, remove his shoes. I also saw 2 Chinese guys smoking in the temple… something you will never see in South-East Asia.

After theses 3 days, I moved to meet another couchsurfer, Peter. Peter worked for different movies or TV shows, and he is also a DJ for a local radio in LA, KXLU. He lives near downtown LA, in a Mexican neighborhood, in a tiny house, with his two cats.

Peter, working at the radio.

I will stay 3 nights there. Peter is a very interesting guy too. Very interested by politic and social issues, so we could have nice chats about these topics. On morning, I could go with him to his radio, and talk … he also asked me to choose some music, French rock, so I was quite happy to let the Los Angeles People listen to Noir Desir or Les Beruriers Noirs. They will not hear that everyday.

Day Yann, listened to us via Internet, and I could say hi to her. Peter also interviewed me about my travels.

I really enjoyed staying with peter. Before I come, probably afraid, he wrote me that his house is very little, but, even if he has a little house, he has a big heart.

Hi place is surrounded by several very good and very cheap Mexican restaurants, where you can eat the best and the biggest Burritos.

Then I moved to my last host in Los Angeles, Jon, a student, in music, who lives just 1 block away from Hollywood boulevard, where I spent 2 nights.

Jon.

We had a nice hike to the top of a hill which dominates Hollywood bouleward, and from where we could also see almost the whole Los Angeles, especially the skyscrapers of downtown LA.

Downtown LA from a hill behind Hollywood.

I could take some photos from here.

I had some walk on Hollywood boulevard, trying to look for the “stars” of my favorite musician or artist, like everybody does here.

And it was the time for me to leave Los Angeles.

My train is early in the morning. Actually, it’s not really a train, at least on all the way. There is an Amtrak (the US train company) bus to Bakersfield, then a train to Emmeryville, then another bus to San Francisco.

Actually, I’m quite surprised that a “so called” super-modern country like the USA, has NO direct train between 2 huge cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The “train” ticket cost me $56.

The journey is nice, with some nice sceneries to see from the train. Amtrak trains are quite comfortable too.

In the train I had some interesting chats with a woman originally from Egypt. She loves to travel, and, of course, spoke about travels, what else?

Actually, I loved to see Los Angeles since my childhood, but to tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed by this city.

Not by the hosts I had, they were all wonderful, and I like to meet people like that, but by the city itself.

There is not too much things to see or to do in Los Angeles, especially if you don’t have too much money like me.

The only good thing is that the Mexican food is really good over there.

But for a traveler like me, who likes to meet people, being lost in a big city like this where people are really individualist, I didn’t have much to do.

Here is a little video of my train trip between LA and SF :

I will not write that my stay in Japan was interesting or good here! Just because it was very short, and i spent most of my time in the two different Tokyo’s airport, nd the rest, in a bus between them.

So i quite don’t know anything about Japan.

What i could notice is that Japan is very clean, at least, the airports, and it’s also quite expensive.

I arrived from Kuala Lumpur at Haneda Airport, it was around 11pm. Custom clearance wasn’t a real problem, but they take your fingerprints.

Then i just slept on the airport, after the customs.

Sleeping in this airport is quiet, we were just a few, and a large amount of policemen are watching us.

They also have free wifi connection, and some power plug (same as in USA).

The toilets are amazing, electronic, and the seat is heated. They are also very clean, and you have room to wash yourself and put your bags.

In the morning, i took my bus to the other airport, where i have my flight to USA.

The bus cost 3000 yens (about 27 Euros) and it’s a hour drive.

The sceneries you will see are not really interesting, as you will mainly cross industrial areas.

Today, it’s snowing here. It’s freezing, 3C.

The bus driver wear white glove to drive, as in Korea, and at each station, an employe of the bus company come in the bus to bow to the passengers.

This type of salute is also a way of expressing thanks and great respect.

The bow especially is an important gesture for tourists to be aware of when traveling to Japan.

I arrived in Narita around 9AM, but the American Airlines counter only open at 10AM.

About Narita, i want to say first that it’s a bummer that a so huge airport doesn’t offer free wifi. They have wifi, but it’s from a private operator, and you must pay 700 Yens to get a 24 hours connection.

It’s not that expensive, i was ready to pay, but you can only do it by credit card, and as i don’t have any, no internet for me.

I first should fly direct to Los Angeles, but A&A had a flight to US cancelled today, so they have to dispatch all the passengers to some other flights to US, so everything is full. And, as i’m on waiting list, i cannot go.

But, the A&A personnel in Narita was so nice, they did all they can to put me on a plane that day.

On the evening, when i thought that i gonna sleep another night at the airport, they found me a seat in Business class to New york city, then another one from NY to Los Angeles.

I should be in LA tomorrow night around 1AM.

The food is not that cheap in the airport, but i could find a set of different such for 700 Yens, the cheapest food i found. It was quite could, and the rice fill well the stomach.

As you read untill here, you can see a little video of my Airport surfing

I’m sure you all know Gandhi, this little Indian man who scared the whole British Empire during the last century and drove India to its independence.

Gandhi.

Gandhi, more recently, is also the name given to a group of schools in Korea. The Gandhi schools were created in March 1997, by a man, Dr Hee-Q Yang, because he was against the scholarship system in Korea.

In Korea, students don’t really have time for them in the government schools; they have exams one after another, and spend the most of their time studying. So it’s difficult for them to have time to develop some other skills.

The idea of Gandhi school is to give time to students, with a scholarship program less busy, and encourage the kids to perform in some different artistic activities, or other activities they like.

Gandhi school is a non-sectarian, independent and progressive school

The school, also, gives them another kind of education; by making them a part of a community.

What I also noticed is the strong friendship between teachers and students.

Gandhi created ashram (communities) in India. Where he lived for the most of his life. In this community, everybody was equal, and had to share the tasks to maintain the community. For example, everybody, even Gandhi, or his wife, had, when it was their turn, to clean the toilets.

This is exactly what the students in Gandhi school have to do. Each of them has to take care of the toilets, clean the school, or, after eating, each of them has to clean their own dishes.

Students cleaning their dishes.

School cleaning by students.

Lunch time.

The dining area.

That’s how they try to educate the kids.

So you are probably wondering why I’m writing about this school… It’s because we stayed in one them, the one in Deoksan, for a week, during our stay in Korea, and I really loved this school and its philosophy.

After her first stay, Day Yann made a little slideshow about Gandhi school, here is it (the song was sung by the students of the school) :

Day Yann volunteered for 6 months in this school, about 3 years ago. And she really enjoyed her stay there. And, for 2 years I know here, she often spoke about the good time she had in Gandhi school, and all the good friends she has over there, the students and the teachers.

Students.

So we managed to contact them, to pay them a visit. I really wanted to see what was so good there.

The school is situated about 5 km far from the village of Deoksan, in the center of Korea. The place is really in the middle of nowhere, between some mountains, and there are maybe not more than 200 inhabitants at this place, if we exclude the students and teachers, and inhabitants are mainly farmers.

Around the school.

So, you can imagine that there is nothing much to do there, no distraction, only one little shop, and a bus for Deoksan only every hour.

We arrived in Deoksan by the bus, at night. But the Principal of the school, mr Yang (he is the brother of the founder) was here, waiting for us, and gave both of us, a very warm welcome.

Having a tea with Mr Yang, the Principal, in his office.

He drove us back to his home, where we had a dinner with him and his wife, who is also teacher at the school.

We had a very nice evening, chatting very late, then he showed us the house where we gonna stay for the week.

The house is a little house, which belongs to the parents of one of the students. They usually rent it, but as the Gandhi school is a very close community, and also a big family, they just invited us to stay there.

The little house where we stayed.

This house was in the middle of some fields, so, the place was very quiet. It had the particularity to have an ondol. A ondol is a traditional Korean way to heat the houses. By the ground. So every end of afternoon, we had to do the fire, under the house, with wood, and the fire warms the bedroom by the ground.

The fire place under the house.

My travel buddy, Florantino, enjoying the fire.

The weather was very cold at this time, but we could have, every night, a warm bedroom, and sleep well. As in Korea, people traditionally sleep on the ground, there is no bed,  it was a pleasure to enter the warm blanket, just put on the warm ground.

This kind of heating doesn’t need any electricity, gas or petrol, just some wood, and some work to do the fire, everyday.

It’s a very green way to heat your house, and Koreans use it for hundreds years, but I couldn’t imagine nowadays, every people on the planet using such a kind of thing…. There are too much people on the Earth nowadays, and it would be the act of death for all the forest… But, if you like a green way to warm your house, and don’t want to pay any bills to the electricity company, this is a good way.

We spent a wonderful week there. Everybody, teachers or students, were so nice with us, and the place is like a paradise as it’s so beautiful.

This bus, in the front of the school, was painted by students.

Some manual activities.

They even learn how to make their own soaps…

… and coffee.

The library, a nice place to chill out.

I really had a cruch on this school, and would like to have one like this, when I was a kid, in France.

I met so wonderful people too, and I really would love to meet them again.

Day Yann giving a conference about her travels.

All the Gandhi school’s teachers.

Day Yann with two of her friends, teacher, HeeSuk and EunMi.

A dinner we had we some teachers, eating Ampong, it’s only pork internal organs (liver, lung, intestine, heart,…), and a lot of Soju.

For our leaving, Mr Yang, the Principal sang a little Korean song he likes for us…

All the information’s about the school are in Korean, but Young Me Youn, one of the Day Yann students, when she was volunteering there, some years ago, and who is now studying in the US, agreed to translate information’s about the school for me.

I really thank her for the time she spent to translate this for me, and for you.

Today’s school education, as many people point out, is failing in fulfilling the most basic principle of education. In several basic principles,

First, the education should be happened only in a loving relationship. The principle of “love” is that there should be friendship and love between teachers and students. Love indicates faith, pure prayer, and blessing for each other’s happiness and joy, and the effort to do them.

Second, all teaching and learning is valuable only when they include the spontaneity. Forced teaching or learning could never bear happiness but misery and suffer. True-born spontaneity is an expression of true self.

However, “love” and “spontaneity” are relative to each other. Education based on love could never be forced or injected but will be made with spontaneity only. Education based on spontaneity is only possible in trusting and loving relationship.

The “real education” could be accomplished when there is a loving relationship between teachers and students, and when teaching and learning are voluntary. A school and an education that don’t follow this principle are not a school and not an education.

Educational Goals:

1) Holistic Education: educating be mature and balanced in body, mind, and spirit

2) Community Education: love and cooperate with neighbors

3) Nature-friendly Education: cherish the nature and live as a part of nature.

Our educational goals could be accomplished when we start living revolutionary lives instead of seeking theory.

A brief history:

Dec., 1994 Opened the <Gandhi Farm> at 122, Woesong-ri, Shinan-myon, Sancheong-gun, Kyongsang-namdo, South Korea

Feb., 1995 Set up the <Gandhi College>, a short-term farm forum for adults

Nov., 1995 Invited teachers through the article “Education based on Love and Spontaneity” carried in the November/December, 1995, issue of the environmental bimonthly <Noksaek Pyongnon>

Feb., 1996 10 teachers gathered for the first time

Mar. 11, 1996 Started one-year internship training program for teachers

Aug., 1996 Held the <Summer School> for primary pupils

Aug. 21, 1996 Inaugurated <The Preparatory Committee for Small School Establishment>

Nov., 1996 Accepted applications for entry to <Gandhi Youth School>

(middle school course)

Dec. 7-8, 1996 Held the first parents’ meeting

Jan. 13-19, 1997 Opened the <Mock Standing School> with participation of 26 students

Feb. 1, 1997 The <Education Corporate of Gandhi Youth School> was inaugurated by parents

Mar. 9, 1997 Officially opened <Gandhi Youth School> for middle school course with participation of 27 students.

Oct. 1, 1997 The Education Corporate of Gandhi School was established, and Yang Young-Mo took over the first chief Directorship of the Corporate

Dec. 30, 1997 <Gandhi School> was officially approved as <Specialized High School> by the Ministry of Education

Feb. 2-6, 1998 Held the <Preliminary School for Entrance of Gandhi School>

Mar. 7, 1998 Dedicated the two-story brick dormitory for male students

Mar. 8, 1998 Entered 19 students for middle school course

Mar. 9, 1998 Entered 20 students for high school course

June 16, 1998 Dedicated a traditional Korean-style construction for the use of auditorium and restaurant.

Nov. 25, 1988 Selected as an operation model of self-regulating schools by the Ministry of Education

Dec., 1998 Opened the library <Maengmo-kwan>

Mar. 1, 1999 Dr. Yang Hee-Q was recognized as the first principal of Gandhi School by the Ministry of Education

June, 1999 Ground-breaking held for construction of new two dormitories and a library

July, 1999 Launched the first five-week overseas culture and language training program in Brisbane, Australia

Aug., 1999 Opened the dormitory for female students <Ahn Sun-hee Hall>

Dec.. 1999 Dedicated two dormitories and one library building

June, 2000 Yang Hee-chang became the 2nd principal of Gandhi School

June. 2, 2001 Dr. Yang Hee-Q was elected the 2nd chief director of the Gandhi School’s Education Corporate <Noksaek Hakwon>

July 15, 2002 Kim Song-Hyeon was elected the 3rd chief Director of the Education Corporate of Gandhi School <Noksaek Hakwon>, and Dr. Yang Hee-Q was installed as the 3rd Principal of the Gandhi School

Aug., 2002 The Gandhi Youth School (the middle school course) was moved to Jecheon, Chungcheong-bukdo

March 2, 2004 The number of freshmen increased to 40, two classes, under the approval of the Board of Education, Kyongsang-namdo.

Oct. 1, 2005: Park Jong-Ha was installed as an acting principal, as Dr. Yang Hee-Q resigned from the post

March 2, 2006 Park Ki-won became the 4th principal of the Gandhi School

Dr. Hee-Q Yang, the founder, studied philosophy at Gyeomyeong University and Seoul National University; he earned his Ph.D. at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Dr Hee-Q Yang, the founder.

Dr. Yang established the Gandhi Farm in 1994 where he introduced a communal living program for teenagers who had difficulty coping within the public educational system. This led him to establish the “Small school in a Forest Village” for young people and the Gandhi University for adults. The “Gandhi School”, established in March 1997 under the motto of “love and voluntarism” has developed into the country’s representative alternative school with its four campuses. The Gandhi School aims to deliver well-rounded education where freedom, respect for each other and love are valued. This system enables students to take part in self driven learning. Courses are also designed to fully enable active participation by students through the use of presentation, discussions and experimentation rather than lectures. The schools encourage students and their parents to discuss and suggest opinions about the schools educational courses. Through these innovative efforts, the school has settled into its place as a model of well-rounded education.

With a creative and challenging spirit, Dr. Yang is a true educator suggesting alternative solutions to the educational problems of modern times. He is an educational leader who has brought about positive changes to the educational system by adding diversity to Korea’s educational methods and broadening its horizons.

You can see more photos of Deoksan, and Gandhi school, on my Flickr account :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarkapac/sets/72157625469993050/

and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscarkapac/sets/72157625469963766/