So, our story begins at a sickening hour in the town of Ubud at the Rumah Cinta. At the spike of 2 o’clock in the morning, a powerful voice bellowed towards a boy of the name Otto Sharples. The voice came from a man named Dad. “Wakey Pakey”, the voice spoke in a melodic fashion, the same tone you would use to shout “yodale heehoo”. Otto, laying in his bed, in a deep, deep slumber was all too annoyed when the blade of his father’s voice pierced into his sleep. He was especially flustered due to his lack of shuteye. He folded his thin layer of covers away from his legs and swung his weight over the edge of his bed, simultaneously letting out a low grunt. His face formed into a hefty scowl. He expanded the crack in his white mosquito net and walked out in a wobbly manner. He slowly stomped his way down the tiled staircase holding onto the wooden rail, still displaying an angry face. He saw Dad, Yve and Wescott waiting at the front door of the house already prepared with shoes and daypacks. Otto had his clothes on and his backpack pre-packed, anticipating his mood the day before. Slipping on his mud stained green and black sneakers without untying the laces, he hopped on one foot over to his string bag filled with snacks and tightened the opening at the top.

Otto and his family rushed out the door without conversing and walked through the oak entry gate of the villa onto the walking streets of Penestanan. They hustled down to the main street of Ubud, not surprised to see Juli, their driver, waiting with his car. They exchanged greetings and got in. Otto immediately continued his sleep with his head pressed up against the glass window. While Otto slept, the car stopped at David’s hotel. He was a friend visiting Project Equator and wanted in on the volcano climbing action.

“Otto we’re here!” Otto’s eyes opened to a blinking rhythm while they adjusted to the LED lit parking lot. He crawled out the car and spread his arms wide causing a gliding yawn. Some anxious tour guides quickly targeted Otto and his family, haggling with them to try and be their guide for climbing the volcano. One tour guide was selected and escorted the group of volcano-bound adventurists to a room with a small plastic table lit by a single bulb that attracted hundreds of bugs.  This is where they would pay for the tour and get the down-low on what type of hikes they could chose from. The hike that really caught their attention was the 5-hour hike. “The five hour hike is the longest. Your guide will take you up to the rim of the volcano and cook you breakfast. After you watch sunrise, you’ll hike around the rim for a little bit and then check out the volcano which erupted in 2000. You can still see bubbling lava and steam coming out”, the man lecturing in the room explained.

With visions of lava and steam, the group unanimously decided that they would take the 5-hour hike and they were on their way. As they all started to walk onto the trail a pleasant surprise excited them.  Juli, their driver was walking along with them. “Juli your coming!” they all exclaimed. They tried to convince Juli days before to come with them but he didn’t want to commit for fear of being too tired after the long drive.

Juli, David and the Sharples trekked uphill, up a steep rock slope panting hard and every once and a while, taking a swig of water to make up for the sweat they had lost. Otto’s thighs were burning, but the image of a beautiful sunrise and a scenic view of bubbling lava kept him going. Finally, they had made it to one checkpoint where 50 others were resting as well. The benches were all occupied but they still had time to catch their breath and take a few gulps of water. After 5 mins, they set off again to get to the place where they would watch sunrise.

The group arrived at the next checkpoint 20 mins later and luckily they were the only people resting at that checkpoint along with the tour guides. They cooled down quickly because of the crisp cool breeze that skimmed the rim of the volcano. Eventually, they got cold themselves and were in search of warmth. All prepared with coats, they bundled up as much as possible but still couldn’t get warm.  Fortunately, they were on a volcano, and there is nothing hotter on the surface of the earth. The tour guides pointed out some steam holes that they could sit by to warm up.  Otto sat there for so long that when he left, he was colder than before because his skin and hair was moist to the point that it was dripping with moisture from the steam.

Many pictures were snapped at the sight of the rising sun over the neighbor island Lombok.  A horizon of pink, orange and red colored strips of cloud, with a glowing orb of light slowly warming the air, memorized everyone.  The sky was beautiful.  A cresent moon sat over head as the sun painted the sky with warm colors and a lightning storm flashing miles away.  The scene started to get more and more crowded during sunrise, but Otto and Wescott sat closely by the warm steam vents to get away from the crowd.

While Otto and Wescott bathed in the aroma of warmth, a hairy human-shaped creature passed right in front of them, only a couple of feet away.  Second later, many others creatures followed.  It was a pack of monkeys in search of a quick bite.  The pack of juvenile monkeys walked into the crowded area of the checkpoint.  The funny thing about monkeys is that humans are more scared of them then they are of us, so they’ll use fear to their advantage and frighten their way to a banana in their hands, no problem. The tour guides and terrorized tourists fed the monkeys many bananas and one monkey even snagged a person’s plastic bag filled with food. It was clear that these monkeys do this every morning, because they were pros.

With the sun glowing upon their faces, it was time for the humans to hike along the rim of the caldera. With a smile of joy on everyone’s faces, they walked along the crumbly path surrounded by tall golden grass. Every footstep was a crunch of the loose gravel. They looked down the steep slope of the volcano at the black hardened lava flow.

I’m grateful that my dad was blessed with the gift of persuasiveness, because I would have missed out on a killer sunrise, a high quality work out, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And the fact that we saw monkeys even doubled the awesomeness factor.  If you didn’t notice Otto is actually me, the narrator. The goblin under the broccoli tree is another story

Our group at the top after sunrise! (left to right: David, our guide, Wescott, Juli, Yve, Dad, me)

Wescott and I enjoying some tea at the top.

Yve and David.

The monkeys taking off with some of the breakfast items.

The guides cooked the eggs in the steam vents.

Epic views in all directions!

We didn’t see bubbling lava but we did see a lot of steam holes which was super cool!

Crater rim hike….definitely worth doing the 5 hour version!

The four of us traveled away from the hustle and bustle of the city, out through the elaborate city gates and into the countryside of Yangshuo. For 40 minutes each day, we were part of the countryside scene, complete with roosters crowing, people putting out their laundry, farmers tending to their crops and commuters sporting their innovative umbrella contraptions atop of their motorbikes. We got to soak it all in…all with the backdrop of the jaw dropping karst peaks dotting the landscapes in every direction.

*****

One of the best things about traveling for a year, is I have been able to read a ton of books…books that I would have never found the time to read at home. I just finished rereading a favorite from my high school days…Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It is still an awesome book for those of you who haven’t read it for 30 years!  On page 4, I was struck by a passage that made me think about our bike riding in Yangshuo…

In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it, you don’t realize that through the car window, everything you see is just more TV. You are a passive observer and everything is just moving by you, boringly, in a frame. On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.

I realized that THIS is what I loved about biking in Yangshuo…even if it wasn’t on a motorcycle WE got to be part of this scene! This cool, crazy, foreign, sometimes-very-scary, awesome scene!

*****

Below is a video of our bike route. It is shaky, choppy and definitely not pro It was taken with the iPad tied on a string around my neck because we lost the GoPro power cord It is a horrible video but despite the quality, you can still see the awesome beauty of the Yangshuo countryside and you can understand why it is worth trekking half way around the globe to do it yourself…enjoy

Heading back to Sam’s after class through the tai chi school alleyway!

Wescott and I riding Philip in the Sahara

Awesome portrait of Cappuccino and me!

PARENTS NOTE:  We did go back and ride Cappuccino a 2nd time before leaving Essaouira

The town of Mytros

Gorges in Crete are a big deal… there are a lot of them. While Sarakina is not the largest, it’s rumored to be one of the most beautiful. With 500 foot cliffs of polished granite, black and white marble and verdant green palms, it did not disappoint. While technical climbing with ropes was not required, navigating some sections called for some bouldering and balancing, causing Lisa and Jones to settle into the sandy banks of a natural cistern as the path went straight up a polished boulder with chiseled handholds! Tuck proved to be quite a climber, dangling from ropes to get past some particularly tough sections (glad Mom stayed behind!!); Wescott and Otto almost always opted for the bouldering-up-a-cliff route, instead of the more well-worn path; Yve displayed a knack for finding the best path forward; and I tried to keep up :-).

Tuck navigating a crack with a pre-set rope

Lisa and I have a theory that sometimes going to a new country or far off destination is like a dress rehearsal for the next time you visit. Crete is for sure one of those places, with each experience leaving us craving for more. The diversity of culture, climates, topography, coastlines and atmospheres will undoubtedly harken us back again and again.

Here’s our hike in pictures:

Yve and Jones starting the hike on a deceptively serene staircase.

The entrance to Sarakina Gorge

Jones decided this was his stopping point as Yve ventures on.

The Kriopotamos river offers cool dips and some challenges as we ascend the gorge

Many points on the climb have chiseled hand and foot holds into the polished rock

Wescott taking a break from bouldering

Me wishing I had a harness on a particularly tricky swing across a bulging boulder over the creek

Yve should be a climbing instructor to kids :-)

Lisa and Jones going through a wedge in the rock wall

The light continuing to ply its magic in the depths of the gorge