Honshu and Okinawa

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I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
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Today was an exciting day. I seem to have a lot of those here. We flew up to Mt. Terror (12,000 feet) today. We tried to land three times... and it was time to go home. Mt. Terror is named after an early exploring ship. It was not named after any modern-day attribute. We remind ourselves of that fact frequently. My high altitude training comes into play in very practical ways. I learned a lot in that class and other classes in a short amount of time. Me and my co-workers often do the helo flight pre-briefs as a group discussion kind of thing now, each of us sharing and being moderated by the helo techs who really do the briefs. I took about 300 pictures today. I will post some close ups of Mt. Erebus since I got a bunch as we flew by.

I went to a great science lecture the other night by Allan Allsworth. He is a very experienced explorer whom I met early in the season. He has been out in the field fossil hunting and just returned to town. He brought the latest fossils from the dry valleys. It is very impressive. These fossils are all very exciting. Every single one of them.

This is a pic of blood falls near lake Bonney. It is red from the minerals (Iron). It is pretty from the air. I did not take this pic. I snagged it from our common drive here on station. I do have a pic or two in my collection but only from the air.

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Honshu and Okinawa

-
Image
I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
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