Where: Kagoshima Prefecture waaaay down south (see map)
When: Last weekend (Halloween weekend)
How: By car, express train, shinkansen (bullet train), rental car, and ferry
Why: For DRAGON BOATING!
When the call for volunteers for dragon boating went out months ago, I signed up without really thinking about what I was agreeing to do. I knew the basic premise: join a team of Oita-ken folks and race a dragon-like boat against others from all over Japan and the world. What I didn’t know was that the journey to get to the race would be so epic and how (thanks to Lisa's organizational skills) the trip would be so fun.
Sakurajima, one of the most active volcanoes in Japan (and pit stop on the way to the race). We went by ferry from Kagoshima City to the fire mountain and spent some time driving around going, “Oooohhh, wow.”
Me looking awesome at a volcanic rock viewing park (and that's Randy on the left).
This is the Oita-ken team practicing 10 minutes before our race. None of us had ever seen a dragon boat up close until the day of the race and it was only right before we loaded up and competed that we decided our placements and how best to row. The Japanese people enjoyed watching us practice.
The Oita-ken team in all our glory. We came in 5th (out of eight) in our race and felt proud to have managed to stay afloat and finish the race.
3 comments:
Sweeeeeeeeeet!
A volcano and a dragon [boat] makes quite a weekend adventure!
Wish we could race a DRAGON boat, too. We once were in a canoe and raced a goose across Stone Mountain lake (just kidding), but we did do some serious canoeing!
Love - Mom & Dad
yoooo
i just posted about this! Yours is way better though. wasn't that an exhausting/amazing trip?!!
if i ever visit Georgia, let's have a canoe race with your parents!
Post a Comment