Tagata Fertility Festival

March 15, 2008

This has to be one of my most interested experiences, yet. Tagata Honen (Fertility) Festival is a Japanese tradition and was a unique experience. Villagers offer a huge Owasegata (aka "Sacred Object", aka erect penis) to the Tagata Shrine, praying for world peace and growth of all living things including rice and other crops as well as the birth of children. In the Tagata shrine, deities are represented by 'sacred objects' of all shapes and sizes. Because the ancient Japanese belief that says Mother Earth must be impregnated by Father Heaven for all things to grow and develop.

The parade begins at the male shrine, Jinmeisya. Before the procession begins, barrels of Sake are opened and handed out to the crowd. The Shinto priest then leads the parade, followed by local musicians playing ritual music on bamboo flutes. Next comes the wooden 'sacred object.' It is 2.5 meters long and weighs 400kg. It is carried through the streets by sixty men, all aged 42, which is considered to be a vulnerable age in Shinto religion. Carrying the "sacred object" is suppose to bring them good fortune. The sixty men work in alternating shifts shouting 'hoh-sho hoh-sho,' while running, stopping abruptly and turning the shrine around in circles until they reach the Tagata Shrine, or female shrine.

When the 'sacred object' reaches Tagata Shrine, rice cakes, Mochi, are then thrown into the crowd. The mochi throwing should not be taking lightly. These things are big and hard, similar to a softball being thrown at you. I managed to stay in the crowd for over half the time. After I got elbowed in the face a second time by a man trying to catch mochi, I surrendered. Colby stayed in and managed to catch one. Our friend, Sarah, caught four!!!

I have to admit, this is the most unusual thing I have ever witnessed. But, I am sure glad we went. There is no experience that will ever come close to this!

Thailand

All I can say is, WOW!!! What an amazing vacation.

We left cold and dreary Japan on February 23, 2008 and headed for our week-long holiday in Thailand. After a few flight delays, we finally landed in Phuket very late Saturday night, or was it Sunday morning? We spend the day on Sunday getting to know our hotel and surrounding area, and, oh yeah, relaxing on the beach. Our hotel was located on Kamala Beach. It was a two minute walk from our hotel room to the lounge chairs on the white sand. Kamala Beach was hit hard by the tsunami but it's making a strong comeback. It was a 20 minute car ride from Patong, (the busy, tourist city) which made our location nice and quiet day and night. But it only took $10 to get a cab ride to the city.

Day 2: Phi Phi Island (pronounced Pee Pee)

We had heard numerous praises about Phi Phi Island from quite a few of our friends. So, we booked a tour, and off we went. We took a speed boat out to the island and had a great time. Phi Phi Island is famous for the movie, "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio. The water was turquoise blue and the beach was white, soft sand. Malay Beach is a small little cove surrounded by huge limestone cliffs. It real does have a fantasy feeling to it. I have never seen anything so beautiful. After swimming in the ocean for a little while, it was back on the boat to head to a snorkeling spot. The water was so clear you could see forever. We saw tons of Parrot Fish, Angel Fish and even a blue water snake. The boat took us to a few more picture worthy locations and even let us dive off the boat in some areas. It was such a great day. Even at the very end of the day we saw a big jellyfish in the marina.

Day 3: Ahhh, another relaxing day at the beach. We sat in our lounge chairs and the waters edge and drank Mai Tais, ate pineapple and severely sunburnt our legs!!!

Day 4: SCUBA! Right outside our of resort was a great little dive shop, Kamala Dive. We headed to a location just south of Phuket Island called, Rachi Yai. The wind was blowing pretty hard that day creating some rough water. The currents were a little strong, but not too bad. However, the wind did stir up the water, making it a little murky. Usually, the water is crystal clear. But, we didn't let that ruin our dives! On the second dive of the day, we saw a life-sized underwater elephant and an underwater temple. They were placed at the dive site a few years ago to attract more tourist. Even though they were man-made, they were still pretty cool!

Day 5: Off to the jungle!!! On Thursday morning, we packed our bags and said 'good-bye' to Phuket. We were heading north to spend the next three days in the jungle. We found the resort, Elephant Hill, in a newspaper article in December and just knew we had to go there. And we were defiantly not disappointed. Koh Sok jungle is an exceptionally beautiful place. It's a rain forest that has huge limestone mountains that shoot straight up into pointy, sharp peaks. Elephant Hills is right in the middle of it all. We stayed in a luxurious tent. (Yes, a tent). While it was a tent, we had a bed, and an attached bathroom with running water (hot and cold), shower, and a toilet. (Do you really think I would stay in a tent for three days without a shower?). Anyway, after our arrival we had an amazing lunch and then headed out for our afternoon adventures. First, we had a two hour long canoe ride through the jungle, stopping for tea along the way. We saw a few jungle creatures, including a tree frog and some snakes. Then, after the canoeing it was Elephant trekking time!! We met our elephant, Tam Tim (isn't she cute?)and her handler. Tam Tim is 35 years old and was handed down to current owner from his father. Elephants, because they live so long, are handed down from father to son. For only being 35 years old, she was already going a little grey. While humans get grey hair, elephants' faces turn white. We climbed on the back of Tam Tim and she took us for a 90 minute ride in the jungle. We even saw a few monkeys. It was such an incredible experience. After the ride, we thanked Tam Tim for an excellent ride with a basket of fruit. Bananas were her favorite. Then it was back to Elephant Hills for dinner.

Day 6: Another amazing day at Elephant Hills. We headed out to a huge, freshwater lake in the middle of the jungle. We went on a long tail boat ride and saw some more of the jungle wildlife. Mainly birds, including eagles and hornbills. We had a delicious lunch which included fresh fish from the lake. Then we relaxed and went swimming and kayaking the rest of the afternoon.

Day7: Our last day in Thailand. While the day was short (we had a plane to catch) we still managed to have a wonderful time. Our tour guide, Bamboo, took us for a few hours hike in the jungle. She taught us about the local vegetation and animals. We learned so much!

Sadly, our time in Thailand was over. We had such an amazing time! The people were extremely nice and helpful. Plus, everything is so incredibly cheap! We never paid more than $15 for a meal and clothing and souvenirs were quite a deal! We are already planning our next trip there!