2011年11月

2011年11月30日08:30

カテゴリ: Ecuador（エクアドル）

【エクアドル】ティサレオ〜クエンカの旅

２０１１年１１月２９日（火）

走行距離：３００キロ

出発時間：９：３０

到着時間：１４：３０

天候：晴れのち曇り時々雨

気温：１１℃ー１５℃

昨夜は森田さん、アゴスティーナさんと同じ養護学校の施設内の空いている部屋に泊めてもらいました。

朝、別れ惜しいが子供達に見送られ出発。

時間があればもっと子供達とも遊びたかった。

森田さんにとても親切にしてもらったことと子供達の純真無垢な声を噛み締めると涙が浮かんできます。

皆の顔を思いながらティサレを離れます。

有難う、ティサレオの町、Manos Unidas養護施設の皆さん、森田さん！

「アンデスの廊下」と呼ばれるほど素晴らしい景観の高標高地帯を縫うように抜けていきます。

起きたばかりの落石に遭遇。

車だったら車体が痛むだけの岩でもバイクだと致命的になりかねない。

雲の中に突入するシーンが度々。

気が付くと、眼下にも雲が広がっていた。

雲の上で暮らす人々の村。

長いワインディングを抜け、クエンカに到着です！

エクアドルでは３番目の人口の町です。

カテドラル。

中へ入ります。

ここは新しくて広い、そして天井が高い！
受ける印象は、重厚。

中心地には教会が多く、コロニアル建築物が街中に残っています。

ゆっくりと時間が流れるムードもありながら、活気もところどころで感じることが出来ます。

そのあたりが多くの方が建造物以外にもこの街を賞賛するところなのでしょうか。

サン・ドミンゴ教会

オールドカテドラル（旧大聖堂）
内部はちょっとした展示会場に使用されていました。

サン・アルフォソ教会

夜の町。
写真 3

画像はありませんが、夕食にピザを頂きました。

気が付くと町中、ピザ屋が多く味も抜群☆

味覚でもスペイン植民地文化を感じられたことに嬉しさを感じるクエンカです。

2011年11月29日23:04

カテゴリ: Ecuador（エクアドル）

【エクアドル】キト〜ティサレオの旅／子供インタビュー【Ecuador】from Qito to Tisareo/kid's interviews

２０１１年１１月２８日（月）

Monday. November 28th, 2011

走行距離：１５０キロ

出発時間：９：１０

到着時間：１３：００

天候：晴れ

気温：１５℃

Distance: 150 km
Starting time: 9:10
Arrival time: 13:00
Weather: Fine
Temperature: 15℃

エクエアドルでの子供インタビューを成功させるために、ティサレオという小さな町を訪れます。
I visit small town called Tisareo to put over kid's interviews in Ecuador.

ティサレオの中心の広場。

実質、町に住んでいるのは１０００人ほどです。

It's a plaza which is center of Tisareo.
Actually just about 1000 people who live in this town.

ここを訪れた理由は、日本人の森田あきこさんが子供インタビューの協力をしてくれるということになったからです。
The reason why I visit here that Ms. Akiko Morita who cooperates for kid's interviews.

森田さんは、JICA（海外青年協力隊）エクアドルの隊員さんで、ここティサレオの養護学校にお勤めし音楽療法の教員として子供の成長を支えています。
JICA、でお判りになった方もいらっしゃるかもしれませんが、森田さんは私がコロンビアでお世話になった陶芸家、今泉卓さんのご紹介なのです。
素晴らしいご縁に驚きと感謝が一杯です！
She is a member of JICA (Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers) in Ecuador. And she is working at a school for a handicapped children and support children with music therapy.
Though some of you might notice when you see JICA, Mr. Taku Imaizumi who is a ceramic artist in Colombia introduced me about her.
I am so impress and grateful for this amazing encounter!

Manos Unidas養護施設。
Manos Unidas care house.

生徒数２５人という養護学校へ到着した時、ちょうど一日の授業が終わり、皆がお昼ご飯を食べているところでした。
There are 25 students in this school and they are having lunch when I arrived there.

でもそこに居る生徒は１０人ほど・・。

聞けば、家の仕事・・例えば農業などの手伝いをしないといけない日は、学校へ来る事が出来ません。

But there are just about 10 students...
Some kids cannot come because there are days that they need to help house work which is like helping farm.

ハンディを持った子供は成長期にきちんと学校へ行って成長、改善のための学習をさせたいところなのですが残念ながらそれが豊かでない国の実情なのでしょう。

Though we would like kids who especially has handicap to go to school and learn to improve in their growth period, unfortunately it is difficult and this is the actual condition in a needy country.

そんな中、１１歳のロランド君がインタビューに答えてくれました☆

ロランド君は軽度の知的障害の子供です。

でも彼が語る夢は、明確で、希望にあふれていたんです！
Well, I could give an interview to Rolando who is 11 years old boy!
He has light brain paralysis.
But his dream is clear and so hopeful!!

左が森田あきこさん、フラッグを持っているのがロランド君です。
Ms. Akiko Morita is at left side and the boy who has a flag is Roland.

私は彼の夢が必ず叶う日が来る事を信じたいと思います。
どんな内容を語ってくれたかは、映像にて＾＾！
近日中に公開いたします。
お楽しみに！
I would like to believe that his dream comes true one day.
I will introduce his dream at the video!
I will upload sometime soon.
Please looking forward for it!

子供インタビューが終わった所で、森田さんが昼食を用意しておいてくれました。
私が日本食が大好き！ということを知っていて出してくれたものはこちら！
After the kid's interview, Ms Morita has prepared lunch for me.
She knows that I love Japanese food, so she prepared this for me!

ビーフシチュー＆ライス！！
それから、ティサレオ特産のいちご☆
Beef stew and rice!!
And strawberries of a local specialty in Tisareo.

「ご飯がうまく炊けなかったのー！」と、あきこさん。
She said "I couldn't cook rice well!".

このティサレオは標高が３３００mあるため沸点が低く、お米を炊くのが難しいのです。
Because Tisareo is 3300 m in altitude, the boiling point is low, and it is difficult for cook rice.

といいつつも、全てが最高に美味しい！
She said so but everything is so delicious!

デザートまで！
And dessert!

きなこモチっ！！！
超和風で仕上げてくれました。
Rice cake powdered with sweetened soybean flour
She finished by VERY Japanese style.

いやー、日本でもきなこモチって食べることが少ないので感激です！
Well, since I have few opportunities to eat this kind of rice cakes even in Japan, I am impressed!

森田さんは、音楽家なので楽器をいくつもお持ちでした。
She has many musical instruments because she is a musician.

僕が持っているのはマンドリン。
でもこれ、普通のマンドリンではなくなんと１５弦もある！
エクアドルの民族音楽では欠かせないものなのです。
A mandolin that I have in the picture.
This mandolin is not normal one because it has 15 chords!
This is indispensable in the ethnic music of Ecuador.

この後、一緒に歌を唄ったりして楽しかった！
楽器を弾きながら歌を唄うなんていつぶりだろう！
After that, we sang songs and I enjoyed very much!
It's been a long time that I play musical instruments and sing songs!

昔、ソロでライブハウスで唄ったり、バンドを組んでヤマハのコンテストに出てプロのミュージシャンを目指していたことも話しをしちゃっていました。
I was talking to her that I had sung songs as solo in live houses or had constructed a band and appeared in the contest of YAMAHA and I had set a goal to be a professional musician long time ago.

あきこさんはフルートが専門なのですが、他の楽器も演奏してくれたり歌を唄ってくれました。
Although her specialty is a flute, she played other musical instruments and sang songs to me.

夕食は、一緒に住む同僚のアゴスティーナと。
We had dinner with her house mate, Agostina.

彼女はアメリカンでJICAのUSA版の団体から派遣されている方でした。
She is an American and is the person dispatched from the organization of the USA version of JICA.
うおーーーーっ！！
Wow!!

これは、ちらし寿司！！！
そして、麩のみそ汁！
This is Chirashi-sushi!!!
And Miso soup with Fu which is dried bread-like pieces of wheat gluten!

「頂きまーす！」・・をアゴスティーナに教えながら。
We taught Agostina about "Itadakimasu!" meaning...

ううっ、うっみゃー！！
Sooooooooo yummy!!

さらに！
And!

カレイのフライ！
Fried flatfish!

一杯、おかわりしてしまいました！！
I ate a lot!!

住人がまだ居ました。
There is another house mate.

彼女達が買っているクイ。
They have a Cuis for a pet.

「可愛いーっ！」

と言いつつ、この二人とも、クイを食べたことがあるんですってww
They say "So cute!" but they've eaten Cuis before. *laugh*

そんでもって、クイは美味しいって言うんです。。
And they say "it's so delicious" also...

<Mika Igisu for Tatsuya Yamada>

2011年11月27日21:38

カテゴリ: Ecuador（エクアドル）

【エクアドル】キト滞在【Ecuador】Stay in Quito.

２０１１年１１月２７日（日）
Sunday, November 27th, 2011

午後、首都キトの観光に出かけます。
いつも午後になると天気が悪くなるので、ホントは行くなら午前中のがいい。
いつも失敗してんなあ。
I go to sightseeing in capital, Quito.
It is not good weather for afternoon always, so it is better that I go for morning.
I always made wrong choice...

昨夜、ご一緒させて頂いたJICAの方々から教えてもらった観光スポットへ向います。
I go to the sightseeing spots that people from JICA who I met last night told me.

パネシージョの丘。
The hill of Panecillo.

キトの街のどこからでも見えるマリア像。
この丘に登ると３６０度、街が見渡せます。
そしてこの丘を中心に街が広がっていることが判ります。
The statue of Maria which is able to be seen from anywhere in Quito.
When we come up to this hill, we can see the town with a 360-degree field of vision.
And as for it, we can see that the town spreads out centering on this hill.

麓に世界遺産の旧市街地区、その向こうに新市街地が見えます。
The old city district of world heritage is visible to foot, and a new city district can be seen beyond.

旧市街地区（世界遺産）
The old city district of world heritage.

スパニッシュコロニアルの街並です。
They are rows of houses of a Spanish colonial.

新市街。
The new city district.

高層ビルが立ち並ぶマリスカル地区。
The Mariscal area where there are lots of highrising buildings.

マリア像の足元、丘の頂上には土産物屋、食事処が数件あります。
There are some souvenir shops and food shops on the top of the hill which is under food of the statue of Maria.

ここにも豚の丸焼きが居た。
他に食べたいものがなかったのでいっちゃいます。
このオバちゃん、このブタから手掴かみで肉をもいでお皿に盛ってくれる・・。
ジャガイモと、豚肉、サラダの付け合わせて２００円。
いや、これ、旨かった！
There is a pig roasted whole here too.
I don't have any other things that I want to eat, so I take it.
And this lady puts it on a plate with her hand...
This is 200 yen with some potato and salad.
Yes! It was so good!

丘を駆け下り、旧市街地の教会へ。
I come down to the hill and go to a church in old city district.

ラ・メルセー教会／修道院。
こちらは外観だけを見学。
It is the church / monastery of La Merced.
I went see only the appearance.

目当てのサン・フランシスコ教会／修道院へ。
To aimed San Francisco church / monastery.

スペイン征服後、最初に建てられた南米最古の教会として有名。
（１５３５年建立）
It is famous as the oldest and fist church in South America built after conquest of Spain.
(Built in 1535)

正門から。
From the front gate.

人影まばらなサン・フランシスコ広場。
The San Francisco plaza where only be almost empty.

内部へ入ります！
I go to the inside!

こ、これは・・
Wow...

荘厳、という言葉はここのためにあると思った。
I thought that the word of "solemnity" is for here.

贅に贅を尽くした内部の造りに固唾を呑む。
I hold my breath when I see the inside which indulged in every possible luxury.

ここに来たかった理由はジャイカ隊員の田中さんが、興味深い話しを教えてくれたから。
The reason why I wanted to come here is Ms Tanaka who is from JICA told me very interesting story.

「この教会は未完成なんですよ」
She said "this church is uncompleted."

え、南米最古の教会なんでしょ？
What? This is the oldest church in South America, isn't this?

こんな言い伝えがあるのだそう。
It is said that there is such a legend.

この教会の建築家は悪魔と契約を結んだ。
The architect of this church had contracted with the demon.

悪魔が建築家に言う。
The demon says to the architect.

「素晴らしい建物を完成するまで見守ろう。
　　ただし、完成したら、お主の魂をワシに捧げるのだ。」
"I will keep a close eye on you until completing this building.
However, when it's completed, you must give your soul to me."

建築家は一生懸命、教会を作った。
でも悪魔に魂を売るのは御免だ。
だから最後の一個のレンガを嵌めないでおこう。
He had done his best to build this church.
But he thought that he doesn't want to give his soul.
So let's not put a last brick in.

だから未完成なのだそうです。
That's why this is uncompleted.

そしてその一個だけレンガがはまっていない場所を同じくJICAの赤澤さんが教えてくれた。
And Ms. Akazawa from JICA told me that the spot where is lack of one brick.

「入って右前の方だそうですよ。」
"It's at right side when you come in."

探してみた。
I tried to look for it.

これかっ！！？？

微妙・・。
Is that it?!

でも、何があっても悪魔に魂を売らなかったこの建築家の話しには感動した。
But I was so impressed that the architect had not given his soul to the demon no matter what.

俺も一生そうありたい。
I want to be like that in rest of my life.

<Mika Igisu for Tatsuya Yamada>

2011年11月27日14:39

カテゴリ: Ecuador（エクアドル）

【エクアドル】オタバロ〜キトの旅 [Ecuador] Otavalo to Quito

２０１１年１１月２６日（土）
November 26th 2011, (Saturday)

走行距離：１６０キロ
出発時間：１１：００
到着時間：１７：００
天候：晴れのち雨
気温：１２℃ー２０℃
Distance：160km
Departure Time：１１：００am
Arrival time：１７：００pm
Weather： Blue skies with occasional showers
Temperature：１２℃ー２０℃

今日は長く、楽しい一日でした！
Today was along but nice day!

まず、南米最大と言われる市、毎週土曜日開催のオタバロ市です。
町のあちこちを拠点に動物市、食料市、ポンチョ（衣類他）市が開かれます。
First of all, I went to see Otavalo market, which takes place every Saturday, and is said to be South America's largest.
Spread across the time, there is an animal market, food market, and Poncho (and other clothing) market.

まずは午前１０時くらいまで、というのでアニマルマーケットへ。
First of all I went to see the animal market which takes place until about 10am in the morning.

高台で行われています。
It takes place on higher grounds.

豚の売り手。
子豚一頭６０ドル。
A pig vendor.
One piglet goes for about 60 US$

子アヒル。
大人の値段で、一匹２５ドル。・・聞き間違いかな。高い。
Ducklings.
One of the adults costs 25 US$ … Hmm, might I have misheard the price? Rather expensive!

アルパカじゃなくてリャマ。７０ドル／一頭。
This is not an Alpaca, but a Llama- 70 US$ a piece.

ペット用にしても良い位い真っ白で可愛いヤギ。２５ドル。
IThis beautiful, cute white goat would be nice even as pet. 25 US$

ニワトリの持ち方。
一匹４０セント。
Someone carrying a chicken.
40 pence a piece.

ニワトリの買い手は重さで判断します。
大きさに対して、重いのを好むか軽いのを好むのかは判りませんでした。
The buyer of the chicken judges it by its weight.
I didn't understand whether they prefer a lighter or heavier chicken relative to its size.

羊の買い手も重さで判断しています。
一頭２５ドル。
Buyers of sheep also judge them by weight.
25 US$ a piece.

モルモット＝クイ（天竺ネズミ）とウサギが一緒に売られています。
クイは５ドル。これも高い。
Guinea pigs (called 'Cui' in Ecuador) and hares and rabbits are sold together.
One Cui costs 5 US$. Them too are expensive.

食用でないことを願う。ww
子犬一匹、2ドル。
I hope that they're not be landing on someone's table …
Puppies: 2 US$ a piece.

さらに一段高台では牛市場。
And finally, on the highest level, the cattle market.

この立派な黒牛は６００ドル。
子牛は３００ドルでした。
This marvellous black cow costs 600 US$
The calve was 300US$.

朝が早いため食事処も軒を連ねます。
And because it's early in the morning, food stalls are lining up next to one another covered by a tarp.

しかし、こいつは頂けなかった。。
However, I didn't get any of this fellow here ...

ドナドナドーナ・・

What?

ドナドナドーナ・・

What?

ドナドナドーナ・・。
What?

有名なポンチョマーケットへ行きます。
Then I went to the famous Poncho market.

すごい人！
Amazing the amount of people there are!

カラフルで毛糸の帽子屋さんが多くあります。
There are a lot of stalls that sell colourful woollen hats.

エクアドル美人！でも中学生くらいかな？
An Ecuadorian beauty! But probably only about of middle school age?

このかわいい子は金のアクセサリーを何重にも首に巻いています。
伝統的な民族衣装です。
This cute little lady had a number of gold accessories on her neck.
This is the traditional national costume.

オタバロ民族の特徴的なハット。
And this is the typical hat worn by people from the Otavalo area.

鮮やかな色彩の生地が沢山！
A lot of fabrics in rainbow colours.

この人形もオタバロの伝統です。
多くのお店の壁や天井などの飾られています。
This is a typical doll from Otavalo.
They adorn the walls and ceilings of many a shop in the city.

マスクは３０ドルだと。
おそらく１０ドル近くまで値切れるでしょう。
The mask is 30 US$.
I probably could haggle it down to around 10 US$ I guess.

これは欲しいな！
I want that!

ハンモック的チェア。
２５ドル（言い値）。
Hammock chairs.
25 US$ is what they said.

フードマッケットの入り口。
Entrance to the food market.

もう、疲れるので見ません。
I'm already tired, hence I don't go to see it.

ということで楽しかったオタバロを離れます。
And with this decision I separate from Otavalo, having enjoyed my time there.

アンデスの山間を走りキトへ向かいます。
And I drive between mountains towards Quito.

有料道路の料金所で前にいたバイク。
三人乗りか、と思ったらライダーの前のタンクにもう一人子供が乗っていました。
The bike ahead of me when we reached the toll gate of a toll road.
Just when I thought that there were three people riding on it, I realised that there was a kid sitting in front on the tank.

キトに入る前に観光地へ寄ります。
Before entering Quito, I make a detour to a Tourist spot.

赤道博物館！
内部では赤道付近でしかみられない不思議現象の実験が行われているらしいです。
The Equator museum.
In the inside, one can see a number of strange experiments that only work in this way at the Equator.

EQUATOR＝赤道。
エクアドルの国名の由来はこれですね。
EQUATOR
Ecuador = Equator
This is the origin of this country's name.

引いてある線は赤くないけど。
The drawn line is not really read, is it.

赤道とされる線上にGPSを置いてみると
And when I set down my GPS on the Equator line

ずれとるやん！
It's not really 0'0'!

ということを事前に知っていたので、実はパンアメリカン国道上で本当の赤道を見つけておきました。
Well, actually I know that beforehand, as in reality I found the real Equator right on the Panamerican highway.

ここです！
Which would be here!

見事に「0」が並びます！
In a beautiful manner, all the '0' are lining up!

そして時間は偶然、正午！
And by chance, it's precisely noon!

真上を撮影すると、太陽はやや南に傾いています。
７月あたりだと真上にくるのでしょう。
Just as I was taking the photograph, the sun started to turn southwards.
If it were July, then the sun would be probably on top of the Equator.

赤道博物館から２０キロほど走り首都キトに入ります。
標高２８５０mの人口１８０万人の街です。
About 20 kilometres after the Equator museum, I enter the country's capital Quito.
Located at an altitude of 2850m over sea level, the city has a population of 1.8 million inhabitants.

げげげっ！
雪＝＝＝＝＝＝＝！！www
What????
Snow ….

雹（ひょう）に近いものでした。
滑り易くて怖い怖い！
It was very akin to hail, in fact.
It was rather slippers, and dangerous!

夜はJICA（海外青年協力隊）エクアドルの皆さんと食事をご一緒させて頂きました！
I have been invited by JICA's youth cooperation volunteering program to eat dinner with the whole group

左から赤澤さん、森田さん、かわいさん、高山ご夫妻、田中さん、私、北山さん。
皆さんのジャイカへの志望動機を聞かせて頂いたのですが、勿論、お一人お一人それぞれ違いますが、それはそれはとても感動的でした！！
もっとゆっくりお話を伺いたかった。。
From left to right: Akazawa-san, Morita-san, Kawai-san, the Kousan couple, Tanaka-san, me, and Kitayama-san.
All of them told be their reason of collaborating with JICA, each and every one of them different, but all of them moving.
I would love to talk with more time to them.

皆さんと一緒に夜の街を歩きます。
And then we all go and have a walk around 'Quito at night'.

世界遺産の旧市街地。
The old town, UNESCO world heritage site.

今日はキトの祭日ということで人、人、人！！ww
And today, it's a national holiday, so the city is full of people.

花火の打ち上げが最高にキレイでした！！
街はまだまだ盛り上がります！

The firework were really, really beautiful!!
The city can still only outbid itself!

2011年11月25日22:06

カテゴリ: Ecuador（エクアドル）

【エクアドル】オタバロ滞在【Ecuador 】Stay Otavalo

２０１１年１１月２５日（金）
Friday, November 25th, 2011

午前はしっかり身体を休めることにしたいが、ブログのアップや各所との連絡などの諸作業で気が付くと正午。
I wanted to rest my body well this morning, but by the time I updated my blog, contacted people, and other things related to my journey, it was already noon.

宿のゲートを開けてもらい、バイクでサン・パブロ湖に向かいます。
オタバロの町から４ー５キロくらい。
晴れ間が見えていて気持ちがいい。
I asked the hotel person to open the gate, so I could leave for San Pablo Lake with my bike. It’s about four to five kilometers away from the town of Otavalo. It felt good to see the sunny sky between the clouds.

不思議なことにオタバロは人口１０万人の町なのにグーグルには全く地図がない。
画面上では二本、道が通っているだけ。
Interestingly, I couldn’t find the map of Otavalo on Google, despite its population of 100,000. All I could find was two roads on the computer screen.

なので、とりあえず湖まで行き、湖畔を走る道を探します。
少し迷いながらもその道に出ることが出来、ゆっくりとバイクを走らせます。
標高２７００mほどでは空気は冷たく、日差しは強い。
寒さを考えて、ライディングウェアをちょっと厚着をするとすぐに汗ばみます。
Even though I couldn’t find the map, I decided to go the lake anyway. I tried to find the road on the lake side.
After I got lost a little, I was able to find the road. I drove along the side of the lake slowly. In altitude, I was about 2,700 meters high. The air on my face was cold, but the sun was strong. If I wore a layer of clothes, considering the cold air, my body would start to sweat quickly.

オタバロ側の対岸に小さな町がありました。
オタバロ族、と呼んで良いのでしょうか、特徴的な服装の方を多く見かけます。
There was a town on the lakeside of Otavalo. I would say that there were a few aborigines in the town. I often saw people who wore aboriginal clothing.

標高が高いため、帽子はかかせません。
そしてマントの羽織ものがトレードマークです。
Because of the high altitude, hats are a must-have for the people who live here. There trademark shawl is on their shoulders.

おばあちゃんが重い荷物を運んでいます。
私の真横まで来たところでにっこり笑ってくれました。
I saw an elderly woman who carrying some heavy stuff. When she came up to me, she gave me a big smile.

学校帰りの子供。
These are children who were on their way home from school.

サン・パブロ湖！！
後ろに見えるインバブラ山の標高は３５００mくらいありそうです。
This is San Pablo Lake! The mountain behind the lake is called Imbabura Volcano, and it looks like it is over 3,500 meters high.

雨季のエクアドルは山にかかる雲も大迫力！
The clouds over the mountain are dynamic in the rain season of Ecuador.

この撮影ポイントに土産物屋さんがいました。
There was an open gift shop under the sky where I decided to take pictures.

客が品定めをしている間、笛を吹いてくれます。(笑)
The person of the shop played the pipe for the customers while they were deciding what they wanted to buy. (lol)

隣のレストランで遅いランチをとります。
オススメを聞くと郷土料理はどう？というので注文。
I ate a late lunch at the restaurant next to this shop. Their recommendation was their local specialty meal, so I decided to order that.

来ました！
右下から反時計回りに、豚肉、芋、人参スープ、アボガド、焼きバナナ。
そして中央は、白トウモロコシ。
Here they come! Counter clockwise from the picture below: pork, potato, carrot soup, avocado, and fried banana. The center is white corn.

うーん、期待どおりの味のものはアボガドだけ。
どのように食べてよいか最後まで判らず、迷いながら食べる料理でした。
The flavors were all different than I expected, except avocado. I had a hard time figuring out how to eat them.

雨が降って来たので宿へ戻ります。
Since it started raining outside, I decided to go back to the hotel.

なにやら騒がしいので音の方へ行くとレストランでラテン音楽のライブが行われている！
I heard a loud noise from somewhere, so I walked towards the area where the sounds came from. There was a lively Latin music performance in the restaurant.

彼らはCDも出しているプロのミュージシャン達でかなり上手い！
やっぱりプロの仕事はいいね。
見ていて、聞いていて、学び、気付きが沢山ある。
Their performance was so good. I found out that they were professional musicians and that they’ve released CD’s! It is always nice to see professional work. I learn something by watching and listening to them.

まさかこのオタバロでこんなコンサートを楽しむことが出来るなんて、思いがけず嬉しい！
I was not expecting to see a live concert in Otavalo. Although it was a surprise, it made me very happy!

さあ今日は早く寝ます。
I decided to go to bed early tonight.

明朝、南米最大と言われている市がこのオタバロで開かれるのです。
There will be a market in Otavalo that’s supposed to be the biggest market in South America.

Translated by Maki & Angela Trolio

2011年11月25日12:03

カテゴリ: Ecuador（エクアドル）

パスト（コロンビア）〜オタバロ（エクアドル）の旅 Pasto(Colombia) to Otavalo(Ecuador)Trip

２０１１年１１月２４日（木）
Thursday, November 24th, 2011

走行距離：２２２キロ
出発時間：７：３０
到着時間：１７：３０
天候：曇り時々晴れのち雨
気温：１３℃ー３０℃
Distance: 222 kilometers
Departure: 07:30
Arrival: 17:30
Weather: Clouded, occasionally sunny, and rain later on.
Temperature: 13 °C – 30 °C

今日は早起き！

５：３０から準備開始です。

国境越えに加え、一カ所行きたい場所があるためです。

I woke up early today!
I started getting ready at 5:30 am.
There’s a place that I wanted to go after crossing the border

チェックアウトを済ませ、ホテル隣のガソリンスタンドで給油をしたらパストを離れます。
After checking out of the hotel, I stopped at the gas station and got gas for my bike. I was ready to leave Pasto.

と、思ったのですが、ガソリンスタンドに来ると、何やら様子がヘン。

入り口付近にはぐるーっとテープが貼られ、立ち入り禁止状態に。
However, there was something wrong at the gas station. There was police tape around the station, and it was off limits.

ガソリンスタンドへ入るのを待つ車が長蛇の列をなしている。
There was a long line of cars waiting to get into the gas station.

パストの町中ガソリンが売り切れで、ポパヤンまで戻らないとないと言う。

They said that all of the gas was sold out. I would need to go back to Popayan if I wanted gas.

いつガソリンが来るのか、聞くと、

I asked when I could get gas from there.

「１２月３日まで」と答える。

“The third of December.” they replied.

冗談でしょ。。

You’ve got to be kidding me.

答えた人の思い違いでガソリンスタンドの人が、あと二時間まてば給油が出来るという。

Thankfully, it was only a misunderstanding. One staff member said that I could get gas in two hours.

それにしても二時間か・・。

Ummm… two hours…

「エクアドルまで行けば大丈夫だよ」という人がいる。

“You should be okay until you get to Ecuador.” one person said to me.

エクアドル国境までは９０キロほど。

It was ninety kilometers from the gas station to Ecuador.

なんとか、行けそうだ。

I could probably make it…

こんな時はビッグタンクに改造しておいてよかったと思う。
I’m glad that I modified my gas tank into one large one. Especially because of this kind of situation.

集まってくれて仲良く話した方々と別れる。

I said good bye to all of the people I got along with at the gas station.

道中で見かけるガソリンスタンドには全て入場制限のテープが貼られているか、「ガソリンありません」と書かれたボードが置かれている。

On the way there, I saw some more gas stations. However, all of them either had tape around them or a sign saying “There’s no gas.”

標高２５００mのパスト町を抜け、エクアドルへ向かう道はさらに上りだ。

標高の高低によって比例して気温が変わるので寒くなったり、暑くなったり。
着衣の調整が忙しい。
After passing the town of Pasto, where the altitude was 2,500 meters high, the road to Ecuador began to go uphill. As the altitude changed from high to low, low to high, the temperature changed also. It was hard to adjust to the weather, clothing wise.

しかし景色は、もーーーーーーっ最高！！！
But the view was incredible!!

真後ろは崖なのでビビっています。。
I look scared in this picture, because behind me there was a sheer cliff.

国境の町、イピアレス近くまできたところのガソリンスタンドの中に給油中の車が見える。

As I came to the border of the town Ipiales, I saw a car getting gas at a gas station.

バイクを給油エリアに進めると店員が、

「どれくらい入れる？」と聞いてくるので、

「ガソリンあるのか？！」と聞くとあるという。

I entered to gas station with my bike.
The staff at the station said “How much do you want?”
I asked “Do you have gas?”
He told me yes.

ガソリンに困っていないエクアドルが近いのと、コロンビアに比べ、エクアドルはガソリンが安いそうなのでこの付近で入れる人は少ないのだろう。

I don’t think that there are many people who get gas in Columbia. Ecuador is right next to Columbia, and it is much cheaper there.

安全をみてここで入れることにした。

しかしここは、ガソリンに何の表示もなく一種類だけを売っていて少々不安になった。

大丈夫かな。途中で停まんなよ。。

To be cautious, I decided to get gas here.
I realized that there wasn’t a sign telling what kind of gas they sold. They were just selling only one type of gas. I got a little nervous and hoped that my bike would be okay.

観光をしたかった場所はここ！！
This is the kind of place I wanted to sightsee.

山峡を縫うように流れる川の上に存在する不思議な教会です。

それは不気味なほど美しい「ラス・ラッハス（Las Lagas）教会」です。

This is Las Lagas Chapel. It’s on the top of a river in a gorge. It seemed supernatural, and at the same time very beautiful.

教会上の駐車場にバイクを停めて１５分ほど坂を下って行きます。

その道の脇には土産物屋が点在します。

I parked my bike in the chapel parking lot and walked down the hill. There were many gift shops along the side of the road.

見えて来たのが壁一面に埋め込まれているプレート。

As you can see in the picture, there are plates buried into the wall.

個人、団体、法人名が書いてある。

日本でも寺院、神社の周囲に建造寄付者の名前が見られるのと同じかな。
There were names of individuals, groups, and nonprofit corporation on the plates.
It might’ve been the same thing as the things I see in a Japanese temple and shrine: the names of the donors for the building.

聖母マリアがこの山峡に舞い降りたという伝説の場所、ということで付近の土産物屋にはマリア様グッズが沢山あります！
There were many Virgin Mary goods in the gift shops around here, because there is a legend of Blessed Virgin Mary landed on the gorge.

コロンビア人が「死ぬまでに一度は訪れたい教会」なのだとか。
１９１６年から１９４９年にかけての建設。
This is the chapel that most Columbians want to visit before they die. It was built in 1916 and finished in 1949. The interior was very beautiful also.

内部も極めて美しい。
多くの先住民族が礼拝を捧げていました。
I saw many indigenous peoples praying inside.

駐車場にいたアルパカ。

観光客用ですが、こいつら・・
There were some alpaca in the parking lot.
They were for the tourists.

カワイ過ぎる！！！
They were so cute!!!

イピアレスの町に戻り、国境ゲート前で、ランチにします。

コロンビアペソが残り４００円分あったので丁度いい。

I went back the town Ipiales and had lunch in front of the border gate.
It was good idea to have lunch here since I had leftover Columbian Peso. It was worth about 400 yen.

フランスから自転車でツアーをしている３人組と出会った。

彼らは６ヶ月の旅程だという。
I met three bicyclers from France. They said that they planned for their journey to last six months.

「僕たちはスペインからだけど、最初の国はどこからだった？」と私に聞く。

「ケニアだよ」と答えた。

“We started our journey in Spain. Where did you start?” they asked.
“From Kenya,” I replied.

日本はどこの国とも接していない島国なのでそんなことに興味があるようだ。

あらためて、日本の立地の珍しさを確認する。

They were curious about this kind of thing because Japan, an island country, isn’t connected to any other countries. Their question made me re-realize that Japan is unique when it comes to geographical conditions.

しかし、彼ら三人は髪型とひげ面は全く同じだった。

何かのパフォーマンスか？

The three of them all had the exact hair style and facial beard. Was it some kind of performance?

ついに国境へ入ります。

コロンビア側のゲートで出国手続き。

１０分で終了。

余った２００円分のコロンビアペソを両替商に渡すと１ドルコインを二枚くれた。

ちなみにエクアドルの通貨はUSドル。

コインのみエクアドル専用です。

I finally entered the border.
I finished procedures for embarkation at the gate in Columbian.
I was able to finish the procedures in ten minutes.
When I gave the remaining Columbian Peso (now 200 yen) to the person at the change booth, he gave me two $1 coins.
By the way, the currency in Ecuador is US dollars.
Coins are the only special currency they use in Ecuador.

エクアドル側のイミグレーションで列に並び入国手続きをします。

自転車三人組のフランス人も先に並んでいます。

I stood in the immigration line so I could do entry formalities in Ecuador.
The group of French people I met earlier was also there.

その後、バイクの書類（ペルミソ）作成のためにオフィスの場所をエクアドルポリスが親切に教えてくれる。

直接担当者に引き合わせてくれたお陰で並ぶことなく手続きが始まります。

ただプリンターの故障があり、ペルミソを受け取るまでに少々時間がかかりました。

After the entry formalities, Ecuador police officer kindly showed me to the office where I needed to get permission for my bike.
He introduced me to the staff at the office directly. I was able to start all the paperwork right away without waiting in line.
However, the printing machine was broken so it took a little longer to finish everything.

無事、エクアドル入国！

Entered Ecuador safely!

「Good-bye, Colombia! Hello! Ecuador!!」

南米２カ国目、この旅、５８カ国目です！
Ecuador is the second country I’ve visited in South America and the 58th country since I started this journey.

先住民の古都オタバロへ向います。

I headed to the ancient city of the indigenous peoples, Otavalo.

この間も標高１５００～３０００m越えが続きますがエクアドルは道の状態がすこぶる良く、走っていてストレスがありません。

I continued driving over the high altitude areas. It was about 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Since the road condition in Ecuador was very good, I didn’t have any stressful experiences while driving.

絶叫ものの風景が延々と続きます！！

The amazing view continued. It made me want to shout!

マジで絶叫しすぎて疲れた。(笑)

Hahaha, I actually did scream and got tired.

オタバロの町が見えてきました。

I saw the town of Otavalo ahead.

交通量が少ない山間部の時から、きれいな三車線であることに驚きます。

I was surprised when I entered the well-paved, three-lane road. I was just coming out of the mountain road that had less traffic.

このオタバロも宿の予約をしていなかったので到着してから探します。

目処を付けていた一軒目が現地の人に聞くも中々見つけらず、やっと到着した場所は急斜面を登った山の中腹。

インターネットも使いにくいところだったので保留にして町へ戻ります。

I didn’t make any hotel reservations, so I had to find a hotel when I got there. I kind of had an idea on where I wanted to stay, so I asked some of the local people how to get there. However, I couldn’t find the hotel. I finally found a different one after I climbed the steep hill, but it was in the middle of the mountains. I decided to go back to the town since the hotel didn’t have internet access.

二軒目のホテルはすぐに見つかり、朝食付き、部屋でWi-FiがOK、さらに雰囲気がとても良いところだったのでここに入ります。

【LA POSADA DEL QUINDE】GPS:N0°14′0″　W78°15′51″　
＄44（3,400円）/一泊

I was able to find the second hotel easily. It had breakfast, Wi-Fi, and the atmosphere was great. It was called “La Posada Del Quinde”. Its GPS Locations was No. °14′0″ W 78°15′51”. It cost $44 (3,400 yen) for one night.

ここで二泊してから首都キトへ向かう予定です。
My plan was to stay there for two days and head to the capital, Quito.

しかし、腰が痛い。
My back has been hurting.

あと４ヶ月ちょっと持つのか。。

I need to wait a little bit over four months…

＜国境情報＞　イピアレス Ipiales（コロンビア）

【コロンビア側】（所用時間：１０分）

イミグレ：出国スタンプ

税関：ペルミソキャンセル

全て無料

<Border information> Ipiales (Columbia)
[Columbian side] (10 minutes to process)
Immigration: stamp for embarkation
Custom: cancel permission
Everything is free!

【エクアドル側】（所用時間：１時間）

イミグレ：ツーリストカード記入の上、窓口へ提出して入国スタンプ

税関：ペルミソ作成（パスポート／登録証／国際免許証コピー、各一部必要）

コピー屋はイミグレの隣にあります。３０セント。
[Ecuador side] (1 hour to process)
Immigration: after filling out tourist card, turn in the card to the window, and receive embarkation stamp
Custom: make permission (passport / registration / copy of international drivers license / need one each)
The copy booth is next to immigration office. Fee is 30 cents.

Translated by Maki & Angela Trolio

2011年11月23日21:26

カテゴリ: Colombia（コロンビア）

【コロンビア】ポパヤン〜パストの旅

２０１１年１１月２３日（水）
走行距離：２４４キロ
出発時間：９：００
到着時間：１５：３０
天候：晴れ時々曇りのち雨
気温：１２℃ー３５℃
最高標高：２７００m

寝ていると、大音量でラジオがなっている。
時間を見ると朝５時。
部屋に装備されているアラームラジオだ。
前に泊まった人がセットしたままだったらしい。

お陰で目が覚めてしまったが早起きはいいから、まいっか。

窓の外を見ると、珍しく青空！
南下するに当たって季節が変わってきているのな。

本日はコロンビア滞在最後の町、パストへ向います。

アンデス山脈を登ったり、下ったりしながらパンアメリカンハイウェイ２５号線を行きます。
ポヤパンからは道が悪い箇所が所々あります。

ここは気持ちいい！
左右にコーヒーの木が一杯のコーヒー街道です。

一番大きな橋の上から撮影。

雨の影響か、川の水はきれいではありませんが、その広大さに息を飲みます。

本日の行程の半分を過ぎたあたりの小さな町でランチ。

写真はありませんんが、残してしまうほどの量のチキンライス＆スープ、フレッシュジュースが二杯付いて２４０円。

バイクに近付いて来た子供。

こんな組み合わせの人種の存在がコロンビア／南米の特徴でもある。

コロンビア美人達？

標高１５００m付近

アンデスの山峡に川が流れ、地形を作り出しています。
家屋がぽつん、ぽつんと見えます。
人が住んでいるんだ。ちょっと驚き。

標高２０００m近く。

ここに道を開通されるのにどれだけの労力が必要だったか想像が出来ない。

ゲリラの活動があるせいか、こんな山奥でもひっきりなしに警官のバイクが行き来しています。
そういった意味では精神的に不安はありません。

胸がすく、一瞬。

白馬と出会う。
彼はかなりシャイでした。

おお！今日はカッパを一度も着ないで目的地に到着できそうだ！
と思ったら、ラスト３０分が豪雨。。

標高２７００mの雨は冷たい。

パストの町に入ってすぐの宿にバイクを滑りこませ、確認すると空き部屋あり。
無事、到着です。

明日は南米二カ国目、エクアドルに向います！

2011年11月22日22:07

カテゴリ: Colombia（コロンビア）

【コロンビア】カリ〜ポパヤンの旅【Colombia】From Cali to Popayan

２０１１年１１月２２日（火）
22nd of November 2011 (Tuesday)

走行距離：１４０キロ
出発時間：９：３０
到着時間：１２：３０
天候：曇り時々晴れ
気温：２０℃
Distance：１４０km
Departure time：９：３０am
Arrival time：１２：３０pm
Weather：Clouded with occasional blue skies
Temperature：２０℃

朝、起きると窓の外は強い雨。
When I awoke in the morning and looked out of the window, it what raining heavily.

あーあ、今日もカッパを着て出発か・・と思っていると、雨が上がり時折、晴れ間も見えてきた！
やっぱ、ツーリングはこうでなくっちゃね！
Oh dear! Today we'll have to head off in rain gear once again … or so I was thinking, when the rain lifted and a piece of blue sky became visible.
Of course! That's the way touring goes ...

荷台に積まれているウマも嬉しそう。
And even the horses on the truck seems to be happy.

難なくポパヤンの町に到着。
Without problems I arrive in Popayan

今日はパストまで行っちゃおうか、このポパヤンで一泊しようか決めていなかったので宿の予約がありません。
As I wasn't quite decided yet whether to continue to Pasto or to stay overnight here in Popayan, I didn't reserve any hotel ahead of time.

とりあえず町の中心地にあるホテルに入ってみます。
For now, I enter a hotel right in the town centre.

通された宿の窓から外を見ると、
And when I look out the hotel window ...

おおー「白い町」！
これがポパヤンの特徴ですね！
コロニアルにしても何とも奇麗で素敵じゃないですか。
モロッコのカサブランカ（「白い家」の意味）の街を思い出します。
Oooohhh, a white city!
This is what Popayan is known for!
And even though it's all colonial and dated, don't you think it looks pretty?
Morocco's Casablanca (which means translated 'white house') comes to mind.

真隣りのサン・フランシスコ教会と繋がっているホテルで広大な中庭はムーチョ
、素敵です。
一泊の料金は、１１５ドル（８８００円）。
こういう時は円高に感謝です。
And the ample courtyard of the hotel, which is connected to the neighbouring San Francisco church, is truly stunning!
The hotel costs 114 dollars (8800 Yen) a night.
In cases like this I appreciate the fact that the Yen is currently is a strong currency.

サン・フランシスコ教会。
Church of San Francisco.

玄関が開いてなく入れませんでした。
Unfortunately, the door wasn't open so I couldn't go inside.

旧市街地は全て白壁の建物が続きます。
In the whole of the old town all the buildings have white walls.

昼食のためにふらっと入った食堂は、ちょっと高級なレストランでした。
店内の客は、白人が多い。
The restaurant I casually entered to have lunch, turned out to be a rather high-end establishment.
Inside, Caucasians represent the majority

オススメというラビオリを注文。
味はまあまあ。
ドリンク込みで２５０００ペソ（１０００円）！
結構、高いっすね。
普通にクレジットカードを出すと現金のみだって。
この金額の店なのに珍しい。
コロンビアペソの手持ちが心細かったのでUSドルを出すと、それもNo.
結局、残り僅かなペソで払いました。
On recommendation, I order Ravioli.
They tasted soso – not really special.
Including the drink, it cost me 25'000 Peso (1000 Yen)!
Rather expensive!
And when I want to pay with credit card, they say it's only cash.
This is rare given how high the prices is this place are.
Then I want to pay in US$ since I don't have that many Columbian Pesos left. And again it's a 'No'.
In the end, I paid with whatever Peso I had left.

コロンビアに入って目につくのはどの町にもあちこちにある
「MINUTES」
And ever since I entered Colombia, no matter in which city: “Minutes”

これ、公衆電話屋なんです。
チェーンに繋がれた携帯電話や一般電話をお金を払って使うことが出来ます。
This here is a shop with public phone lines.
In this place, one pays to use either landlines phones are mobile phones that are tied up with a chain.

ポパヤンの夜。
Popayan at night.

ライトアップされ、幻想的なムードを醸し出しています。

壁伝いの一人歩きも悪くない。
It's all lit up, and creates a somewhat illusive mood.

夕食の為、小さな食堂に入ります。
薄暗い店内はほぼ満席で、客はメスティーソか先住民。
店員と店主は黒人だ。
全員が東洋人の私を一斉に注目する。
For dinner I enter a small eatery.
The light in the room is dim but nearly all seats are occupied. The customers are either mestizos or indigenous.
The shop owner and his assistant are black.
And every single person shifts their attention towards me, the only Asian in the room.

間違ってもここは夜のコロンビア。
一瞬、たじろぐ。
完全にアウェイの気分。
No matter what, this is Colombia at night par excellence.
For brief moment, I wince.
I feel as a total outsider.

ちなみにコロンビアは圧倒的にアジア人は希少なのでどこでも注目される。
あの、どこにでも居た中国人でさえもまったくと言ってよいほど見かけないのだ。
I probably need to say that in Colombia it's very rare to see an Asian person, so no matter where I go I attract people's attention.
Well, I can't even see a Chinese person who are said to be everywhere ...

ま、でも空いてる席を見つけてどっかり座って店員と話す。
まったく言葉が通じないので隣の席の女性グループが食べているものを指差して注文。
Anyway, I find an empty chair, sit demonstratively down, and speak to the owner.
As it was impossible to communicate with words, I point at what the group of women sitting next to me is eating and order in this way.

その席の人や、他の席の人とおしゃべりが始まった。
みんな、気さくで良い人達だ。
スペイン語を覚えたくなってきたなー！
Then I started to chat with the person on that seat and the remaining persons, too.
All of them were sociably and really good people.
I wish I could speak Spanish ….!

結局、店内の人皆と話しをしていると料理が出てきました。
Finally, I end up talking to everyone in the restaurant, and the food arrives soon enough.

チキンライスwith焼き＆揚げバナナ、スープに、オレンジジュースが付いて、３００円。
ここではUS ドルで払っておつりをペソで貰いました。
Chicken, rice, deep fried Banana, soup and orange juice, all together for 300 Yen.
Here I paid in US$ and received change in Colombian Peso.

こういう店のほうが性に合うんだよな。
This type of restaurant is indeed much nice than previous one!

Translation: Pamela Ravasio

2011年11月22日08:52

カテゴリ: 子どもの声; 日記

子供の声４６　コロンビア／ラキラ　撮影日２０１１年１１月１８日（金）　

編集協力：トンパテレビ様

関連記事：【コロンビア】ボゴタ〜ラキラの旅

ラキラの名前をキラキラと思い間違えるほど、小さいけど宝石のように輝く町。

陶芸家、今泉卓さんのご協力により子供インタビューが実現し、二名の子供の声をお届けすることが出来ました。

夢は？の質問に、男の子は、システムエンジニア。女の子は歯医者さん、と語ります。

実質人口、２０００人ほどの町の中にはそのような仕事はありません。多分テレビや他の町で知ったり学校で学んだ職業なのでしょう。

地場産業は陶芸。

「二人とも『ろくろ回し』になると、言わなかったね」

と、卓さん、パートナーのユンソンさんがしみじみ語ったことが私の心に残ります。

「職業」と「夢」が繋がっているものに子供はそれを追いかけるのでしょうか。

改めて、卓さんのように、陶芸の素晴らしさを伝承出来る人の存在の希少価値を感じます。

2011年11月21日20:22

カテゴリ: Colombia（コロンビア）

【コロンビア】カリ滞在【Colombia】Stay Cali

２０１１年１１月２１日（月）
Monday, November 21st, 2011

本日は急遽カリに滞在します。
I stay at Cali hurriedly today.

たまにはしっかり睡眠をとろうと敢えて目覚ましをかけずに寝たら、目が覚めたのが９：００。
おー、１０時間近く寝た！これはバンクーバー以来だ。
たまにはしっかりと休息を取る事も必要でしょう！
I thought that I try sleep firmly in rare cases, and when I went to sleep, without daring to set an alarm clock last night, I woke up to 9:00 this morning.
Wow! I've slept for about 10 hours! It's been since Vancouver.
Sometimes we need to take rest firmly!

ということで、マッサージも受けることに。これはソウル以来。
Then I went to have massage. It's been since Seoul.

昨日の長かったアンデスの山越えとバイクの振れの挙動がまだ残るので特に背中がパンパン。。
I got hard back especially because it was long way to go over Andes and still motorbike's action remains in my back.

全身オイルマッサージを何と、二人掛かりでしてくれて、最高でした！
このサービスで６０分、５０ドル（３８００円）は良かった。
I got oil massage for whole body and 2 persons gave it to to so it was the best time!
It was good price with this service that $50 (3800yen) per one hour.

あとは、エクアドルから先の子供インタビューの協力者の方との打ち合わせ、溜まっていたメールの返信等々、こなしますが追いつきません。(苦笑)
Other things that I've done is to have a meeting with a person who support for kid's interviews from Ecuador and to reply emails which I've not done yet but I cannot finish yet.

そして今日、とっても嬉しいことがありました！
And I got a happy news today!

ジャストギビングを通じての、セカンドハーベストジャパンへの寄付が目標額の５０％を越えました！！
拍手〜☆
The contribution to Second Harvest Japan exceeded 50% of target figures through JustGiving!!
Clap Clap!!

真に皆様のご協力の賜物です。
今後も、ニッポンの元気のため微力ながら、一生懸命頑張ります！
あらためて応援宜しくおねがいします。
It is the result of your cooperation.
We continue to do our best for energy of Japan!
Thank you very much for your cooperation in advance.

ジャストギビング山田達也チャレンジページ：http://justgiving.jp/c/799
セカンドハーベストジャパン：http://www.2hj.org/
JustGiving Tatsuya Yamada Challenge Page: http://justgiving.jp/c/799

Second Harvest Japan: http://www.2hj.org/

明日はポパヤンというこれまた変わった可愛い名前の町へ向かいます。

I will go to Popayan which is a town of unique and cute name tomorrow.

<Mika Igisu for Tatsuya Yamada>

2011年11月21日19:00

カテゴリ: 旅程

三大陸目【北(中)米大陸】走破図The map of making a journey at 3rd continent which is "North (Middle) America".

標題の件、アップがまだでしたので掲載いたします。
一大陸目のアフリカ、二大陸目のユーラシアは「旅程」欄に掲載しております。
I've not posted about this map yet, so I will do here.
Africa of the 1st one and Eurasia of 2nd one are posted at "itinerary".

2011年11月21日16:03

カテゴリ: Colombia（コロンビア）

【コロンビア】イバゲ〜カリの旅【Colombia】Cali trip from Ibague

２０１１年１１月２０日（日）
Sunday, November 20th, 2011

走行距離：２７７キロ
出発時間：９：４５
到着時間：２０：００
天候：雨時々曇り
気温：９℃ー２２℃
最高標高：３３００m
Distance: 277 km
Start: 9:45
Arrival: 20:00
Weather: Rain with occasional cloud
Temperature: 9℃～22℃
The highest altitude: 3300 m

今日は、イバゲからカリへ向かいます。
共にヘンな名前です。(笑)
I go to Cali from Ibagė today.
It's funny name. *laugh*

町を抜けて、４０号線に入り山道に差し掛かると昨日に引き続き遅いトラックが引き起こす長い列に追いつく。
I passed through a town and when I come to Rout 40 right before the mountain way, I caught up a long line same as yesterday that trucks cause.

トラックをどんどん追い越していくと検問が。
コロンビアに入り今まで一度も検問は停められたころがなかったので今回もスルーさせてもらえると思ったら、私を指差し制止させる。
When I get ahead of trucks, there is a checkpoint.
Since I have come into Colombia, I've never been stopped at a checkpoint, so I thought I can pass through there but they actually stopped me.

停車して挨拶すると道路脇の小屋に入るよう言う。
When I stop and greet them, then they said that come into a lodge which is side of the road.

なんだよ、せっかく、遅いトラックを頑張って抜いてきたのに、この間にまた彼らが前に行ってしまうじゃないかっ！
Oh no... I just tried to get ahead of trucks but while they are stopping me here, they will go ahead of me!

賄賂目的か？！コロンビアの印象が悪くなるじゃないかっ！と、少々不機嫌になりながら警官の話しを聞く。
が、言葉が通じないので、警官が自分の携帯を使って英語翻訳で私に見せる。
何かと思えば、
I was thinking that "Is their purpose a bribe?! If so, the impression of Colombia will be bad!". And I try to listen the police what they say with little my bad mood.
But we cannot communicate with English, so the police uses a cell phone to translate to English and shows it to me.
And....

「追い越し禁止区間でトラックを沢山抜いてきたでしょ」と。
it says "You have passed many trucks in the passing prohibition section, haven't you?"

なるほどー。(笑)
Oh I see... * laugh*

確かにバンバン抜いてきました。
でも、少し話しをしているともういいよと無事解放。
少し、チップを、という仕草をして来たが結局それも払うこともなく。
やっぱりコロンビア、いいトコです。
Surely I have done it.
But we talked little while then they released me.
Though they go through the motion of wanting tips, I didn't need to give it to them at last.
Colombia is good country.

その後、順調にトラックを抜き続け(笑)、先へ進む。
After that, steadily I pass trucks and go forward. ;p

トラックよりドッキリするものが目の前に
Some surprise caught my eyes.

荷ウマ。
Those are draft horses.

そして、
And

異常な長さの渋滞が始まる。
Traffic congestion of unusual length starts.

アンデスの山を駆け上がって行く道がずーーーーっと、渋滞。
The way which runs up the mountain of the Andes is traffic congestion all the time.

というか、途中から完全に全ての車両が停車している。
その区間、数十キロ。
All vehicles have stopped completely from the middle of the way.
The section is tens of km.

反対車線から車が一切来てないことも不気味だ。
この先で事故か何かあったに違いない。
It is also uncanny that cars are not coming at all from an opposite lane.
There must have been an accident or something down the way.

一応、対向車に気を付けながら、反対車線を通って長い渋滞を追い越し続ける。
その走行時間、実に一時間以上。
I continue passing long traffic congestion through an opposite lane with taking care about oncoming cars.
The running time was 1 hours or more.

東アンデス山脈の最高標高３３００m付近で、長かった渋滞の先頭にやっと到着した。
I arrived at the head of the long traffic congestion at last near the highest altitude of 3300 m of the east Andes.

何とそこには沢山の人が、車やバイクから降りてたむろしているではないか！
There are many people who got off cars or motorbikes and hang around!

ロープが張られ、警官が通行止めにしている。
そして多くの人が崖に立ち、下を見ている。
A rope is stretched and police is closing.
And many people stand in front of a cliff and see down there.

英語で話しかけてくれた女性、Beatriz（最後まで発音出来なかった・・）がこの先でバスが転落して今引き上げ作業を行っていることを教えてくれた。
Beatriz (I couldn't pronounce her name at last...) who talked to me in English told me that a bus had fallen over the cliff and it's being pulled it up now.

３日前に落ち、その作業が続いているそう。
多くの方が怪我をして一人の少女が死亡したと。
そんな会話をしている時、現場から一台の救急車が走り去った。
It had fallen over 3 days ago and the work for pulling-up has been continuing still.
And also she told me that many people were injured and one girl died.
When we talked about it, one ambulance go off from here.

通行止めになった後、１２時間ここで待っている人も居た。
After being closed, there were people also who are waiting here for 12 hours.

１００mほど先でバスが転落した現場が見える。
The spot where the bus fell at about 100 m beyond can be seen.

その向こう側も通行止めで数珠つなぎの長い車列がある。
The other side also has a long motorcade by the closure.

バイクさえ通過させてもらえず、多くの人がいらだって待っている。
Even a motorbikes are not passed, and many people are waiting with irritation.

気になるのは、通行止めが解除される時間だ。
My concerns is release time of the closure.

Beatrizが警官に確認した所、通行止めがいつ解除されるか、一切判らず、ひょっとするとここで夜を明かさねばならない可能性もあると。
When Beatriz checked with the police, and the police said that they are not sure when the closure would be released, and we might have to be spent night here.

そうなった場合、不安なのは食料と寝る時だ。
If that case, I worry about food and how to sleep.

車の人はいいが、バイク人たちはどうすんのかな。
アフリカで経験したように傘だけで野宿することになるのか。
People have cars are kind of safe but what about us like having motorbike?
As I experienced in Africa, does it bivouac only with an umbrella?

今日はイバゲに戻ったほうが良いかもしれないとも。
I better go back to Ibagė maybe....

ただ、この付近に集まっている人達は崖下をみたり、道端に座り込んだりしていて、道を戻ろうとする人は見ない。
But I've never seen people who go back the way even they go see the cliff or just sit down the road.

私も皆と同じように身を任せるしかない。
So I have to agree to go along with other people.

濃霧の中、時に雨脚が強くなる。
Rain sometimes get strong in a thick fog.

一時間。
Passed 1 hour.

二時間。
Passed 2 hours.

じっと待つ。
I just wait.

その間、昼時となり腹が減るが、付近に店などなにもない。
While I'm waiting, it became lunch time but there are no stores around here.

そこでスナック菓子を売りに来たおっちゃんに人が群がる。
The guy who came to sell snacks and people come to him.

私も二袋、３５００ペソ（１４０円）で買った。
I bought 2 bags which was 3500 peso (=140 yen).

大型のスズキのツアラーバイクがやって来た。
英語が出来るハリーだ。
話し相手が増えた。
The motorbike tourer of large-sized Suzuki came.
Hurry who can speak English.
People increased in number who I can talk to.

到着してから３時間たった頃、クレーン車の音が大きくなり歓声が聞こえる。
When 3 hour has passed since I arrived, the sound of a crane truck becomes large and a cheer can be heard.

おおっ！
バスが上がって来た！！
Wow!
The bus is pulling up!!

そしてここから小一時間。
And after 1 hour from this.

バスの全体が見えるまでに。
We can see whole body of the bus.

完全に引き上がった！
口笛を鳴らす人も。
The bus is completely pulled up!
Some people wolf-whistle.

そしてここからがまだ時間がかかる。
And it takes more time from this.

バイク乗り達がたまらず、警官の指示を待たずにバイクにまたがり、エンジンをかけ始めクラクションの大合唱を始める。

「早くしろ〜、あほんだら〜！！！」（と言っていると思う）
Motorbike riders cannot bear off, and they ride on motorbikes, without waiting for a police's directions, they started to be on engine and beep the horn.

そんな抗議に影響されたのが判るように、付近の警官含め関係者の動きが慌ただしくなり遂に通行止め解除！
We could see that police and people who are related to them start to move in a rushed way, and finally the closure can be released!

そして私がいる側から通行が始まりラッキー！
And passing begins from my side of lane, and so luck!

現場を通り過ぎて、反対側で待たされている車列の先頭のバイク集団の中には、BMWライダーグループが居て、挨拶をして通り過ぎる。
I passed the spot and I greet people who are in a BMW Rider group which have wait at the opposite side and go past them.

待たされた時間、実に４時間半。
I had to wait for 4 hours and half.

その後、峠を降りきりカリへ向かう道まで、ハリーが先導してくれた。
地元ライダーだけあって、崖崩れしている箇所などで私に注意を促してくれる。
After that, Hurry led me the way which get down the peak and go to Cali.
He is a local rider, so he called me attention to the spots which became mud and rock slide

山を下りきったカラルカの町で、一休みしようと誘ってくれコーヒーをゴチになる。
He invited me to have a break and treated me coffee in the town of Calarca where had got down from the mountain.

ワールドドリームツーリングのステッカーを渡すと、
When I give him the sticker of World Dream Touring,

すぐバイクに貼ってくれた。
カリの街までは道が良いので２時間で行くよ、と。
ハリーと連絡先の交換をして別れた。
then he put it on his motorbike right away.
And he said that the road to Cali is smooth so I can arrive by 2 hours.
I exchanged contact information with Hurry and said good-bye to him.

この時点で１６：３０。
It is 16:30 at this point.

カリへ向かう道の状態は確かに良いのだが、このバス転落事故のため、山へ上がる道が封鎖されていて、トラックが数十キロにわたり停車し片側車線を完全に塞いでいる。
首都ボゴタへ向かう道はここしかないようだ。
Actually the road condition which goes to Cali is good but the way gone up to a mountain is blocked, many trucks stopped over tens of km, and it has closed the single-sided lane completely because of that bus accident.
It seems like this is the only way to the capital, Bogota.

スピードを出せず、しばらく我慢の走行。
I cannot be speedy and have to be patient to drive slowly.

結局、カリに着いたのが１９：３０。
It was 19:30 that I arrived at Cali after all.

アメックスが手配してくれた宿に向かう。
私がグーグルで調べておいた場所に到着すると、そこにはまたしてもホテルらしきものが無い。
イバゲに続き、グーグルマップを頼り過ぎた。
I go to the hotel which AMEX arranged.
When I arrived at the place which I have searched by google, there is no hotel again.
I relied on google map too much again same as Ibagė.

その目的地に近付くにつれて感じ始めていたが、どうやらこの付近は現地人以外は来てはいけないエリアのようだ。
街並は荒廃し、路上で寝ている人が多い。
コロンビアのデインジャラスゾーンだ。
Though I have been feeling since I'm getting close to the destination, it seems like that visitors shouldn't come this area.
It is the dangerous zone in Colombia.

タクシーを捕まえて先導してもらい宿に到着したのが２０：００過ぎ。
I have caught a taxi and had him to lead me to the hotel and I arrived at around 20:00.

おー、今日はさすがに疲れた！
でも、良い出会いがあった。
Ahhh... I'm so tired today!
But I had good encounter.

大変な時ほど、人は寄り添い、協力しあう気がする。
I feel that people nestles up and cooperate each other when we have hard time.

<Mika Igisu for Tetsuya Yamada>

2011年11月20日09:25

カテゴリ: Colombia（コロンビア）

【コロンビア】ラキラ〜イバゲの旅【Colombia】Raquira to Ibagué

２０１１年１１月１９日（土）
19th November 2011 (Saturday)

Translation: Pamela Ravasio

走行距離：３６６キロ
出発時間：９：３０
到着時間：１８：００
天候：曇り時々雨
気温：１１℃ー３０℃
Distance：366kilometres
Departure time：9:30am
Arrival time：18:00pm
Weather：Clouded, occasional showers
Temperature：11℃ー30℃

ラキラを発つ朝、いいにおいがする。
The morning I leave Raquira, I smell something nice.

私のために卓さんが、朝食を作ってくれている。
Suguru-san has made breakfast especially for me!

和食か、洋食かどっちがいいですか？
What do you want – Japanese style or Continental breakfast?

迷わず、
「ごはんで＾＾！」
和食をお願いしました。
Without delay, I said 'With Rice', and ordered a Japanese style breakfast.

じゃーん！！
Hmmmmm....

こんな美味しい和食は、この旅だけでなく、日本に居ても食べれんぞ！(笑)
朝から、ご飯、二膳頂きました！
I never had such a tasty breakfast, not only during this journey, but even in all my years in Japan :D
And because it's the morning and breakfast, I got 2 serving !

さて、出発と思いきや、地元のジャーナリストがインタビューをしたいと。
And, as I finally think of heading off, a local journalist drops by and wants to interview me.

インタビューの内容に、
「このコロンビアは、治安が良くないと聞いていたと思いますが、実際、来てみてどうですか？」
と言う。
The topic of the interview: “The state of public order in Colombia is said to have problems. Now that you are actually here, what are your thoughts?”

あたかも、私の答えを知るように。
As if he knew my thoughts without asking.

私から「１８０°イメージが変わって素晴らしい国、そして人が最高です」
と答えると、とても満足そうな表情をされていた。
And when I then answered: “My impression have changed by a 180 degrees. It's a great country, and people behave first class!
” the expression on his faces changed to one of complete satisfaction.

もう、コロンビアは危険な国でなく、観光大国として二歩、三歩踏み出していることに地元の人も自信と誇りを持っているのだ。
It seems as if that in Columbia not really a dangerous country, but the locals are very aware of that with respect to being a prime tourist destination, the country still takes to steps ahead and
three back.

お二人から受けた至極のホスピタリティは永遠に忘れることが出来ないでしょう。
But there is absolutely no way I could ever forget the hospitality I was offered by 2 people.

あ、ちなみに、私と卓ちゃんとユンソンちゃんに完璧な共通点がありました。
それはTOTO製「携帯ウォシュレット」愛好家だった！(笑)
After all, me, Suguru and Yunson had many commonalities
In particular, the shared love for TOTO's carry-on washlet. :D

さよなら、そしてまた会う日まで！
I give both a hug, and then head off.

二人とハグをしてから、出発します。
I give both a hug, and then head off.

時折、工事中のダートが雨天で悪路に変わっている場所もあります。
Sometimes the dirt road that is under construction turns with the onset of rain into a really bad and difficult raod.

ボゴタ市内を通過する時は、出来るだけ中心から離れた幹線道を選びますが、超渋滞。
かつての東京環状８号線を彷彿させます。
Driving across Bogotà, I try to take larger roads away from the centre whenever possible, but there are traffic jams no matter what.
This strongly resembles Tokyo's former ring road number 8.

ボゴタ市内をやっと抜けて、イバゲへ向います。
Finally, leaving Bogotà behind me, I direct myself towards Ibagué.

４０号線は道の状態は良いのですが、片側一車線の処が多く、かなりのつづら折で信じられないほど長い渋滞をしています。
その先頭まで出ると、決まって年式の古いトレーラーが、牛歩のような速度で山道を登っています。
後ろには数百台の車を従えて。
The state of road number 40
is good, however, single lane sections are frequent , and road bends frequently, and as a consequence the traffic jam is nearly unimaginably long.
And when I managed to get to the front of the traffic jam, it turns out that a really old trailer is winding it's way up the mountain road at a snail's pace.
Followed and accompanied by several hundred cars.

慢性的な雨天で撮影もままならない。それがとてもストレス。
And with the chronically bad weather I can't even take pictures the way I would like to, and get progressively stressed out.

たまに、晴れ間が見える所で、美しい景色に出会える。
Sometimes the skies brighten up a bit and a beautiful landscape becomes visible.

有料道路のゲート。
Toll gate.

バイクは無料で右端の専用通路を使ってゲートを抜けます。
Motor bikes are free of charge. For that, I use the 'gate lane' at the far right of the gate.

想像以上に長くかかってイバゲの町に到着した途端、大雨。
一瞬、前が見えなくなるほど。
Finally, the moment I arrive in Ibagué after a much longer day then planned, the skies open and it starts to pour down.
Instantly I can't see anything at all any more.

事前に調べておいたホテルの所在地に到着すると、・・無い。
And when I arrive at the location of my hotel which I had previously looked up … there is none.

近くの商店に駆け込み聞くと、
「全然、違う場所だよ」と言って、地図を書いてくれた。
When I rush into a nearby shop to ask for the hotel, they say 'completely wrong location, it's somewhere completely else', and they draw me a map.

その方向へ向かって、バイク便？らしき男性に聞くと、
「案内するよ！ついて来て！」とバイクを走らせてくれる。
Asking directions to a guy on bike and who I thought was a bike courier, he says: I'll show you the way, follow me!, and accelerates.

迷わず行ける近くに着くと、私からのお礼の申し出を断り、拳と拳を突き合わせる挨拶だけして、笑顔で雨の中、走り去っていった。
Without much surprise I follow him. And then when I bid him good bye he doesn't want to be thanked for his help, and instead just joins his fists together, salutes me, and disappears with a smiling face into the falling rain.

疲れた身体と心に、彼らの親切さが染み渡ります。
Tired from inside out, the these people's kindness leaves a deep impression on me.

2011年11月20日01:22

カテゴリ: Colombia（コロンビア）

【コロンビア】ボゴタ〜ラキラの旅【 Columbian 】Bogota to Raquira

２０１１年１１月１８日（金）
Friday, November 18th, 2011

走行距離：１６０キロ
出発時間：９：４５
到着時間：１４：００
天候：曇り時々雨のち晴れ
気温：１７℃
Distance: 160 kilometers
Departure: 09:45
Arrival: 14:00
Weather: Clouded, occasionally rain, and sunny later
Temperature: 17 °C

今日は、友人ちえさんの学生時代の親友が、ボゴタの北北東１４０キロにあるラキラという町にいらっしゃるということで訪ねることになりました。
ここでコロンビアの子供インタビューが出来ることになっています☆☆☆
Today, I went to see my friend– Ms. Chie’s best friend from school. According to Ms. Chie, her best friend lives in a town named Raquira, 140 kilometers northeast from Bogota. I would be able to interview a Columbian child there!!

途中、道を確認するためハイウェイの降り口付近にバイクを停めると、すかさず、車が寄って来て停まる。
On my way, I wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction. I parked my bike at the highway exit area. As soon as I stopped, one of the cars came up to me and also stopped.

BMWのヒストリックカーを積載しているトラックだ。
It was a large truck and it was loaded with a BMW historic car.

「ヘーイ！俺たちはBMWオーナーズクラブのもんだけど、どうした？　何か困っているなら相談に乗るぜ！」
と言いながら車を降りて来た。
“Hey! We’re members of the BMW owners’ club. What happened? Do you need any help?” the man said while he was getting out of his truck.

と、その直後、後方からバイクの音が。
At the same time, I heard the sound of a bike behind me.

二台のバイクが停まり、声を掛けて来る。
There were two bikes that pulled over. They started talking to me.

「イェー！　君、昨日、ボゴタのBMWのディーラーにいたろ？見たよ。どうした
？　何か困っているなら、手伝おうか？　俺はそこのディーラーの関係者だよ。」
“Yeah! You were at the BMW dealer shop in Bogota yesterday, right? I saw you there. What’s wrong? If you need anything, I’ll be happy to help you. I have connections with the dealer shop.

私が道を知りたいことを言うと親切に教えてくれる。
I told them where I needed to go. They showed me kindly.

寄ってたかって私を親切にするコロンビア人！
Every Columbian person I’ve met had been so nice to me!

なんなんだよ、この人達の親切さ！(笑)
What’s going on? They are all so kind to me! (haha)

ヘルメットとその右の男性がライダー。
他の３人がトラックから降りて来た方々。
The person wearing the helmet and the person to the right are bike riders. The rest of them were people who got out of the truck.

それぞれのグループのリーダー？から名刺をもらって、
「困ったことがあったらすぐに連絡してくれ！」と。
I received business cards from the leaders from each group. (Well… I think they were the leaders anyway.) They said “Let me know if you need everything!”

もー、感謝感激っ！！
I was so grateful!!

道を教えてもらえたので、安心してラキラへ向かうことが出来ます。
I headed to Raquira without any worries, because of the kind people who showed me the right direction.

途中、激しく雨が降る箇所もあったり、事故があちこちで起きてたりでライディングには気を使う。
I had to pay extra caution. It was raining heavily and there had already been some accidents.
I paid extra caution because I had heavy rain and there were some accidents.

ラキラまで残り３０キロくらいになったあたりから急に天候が回復した！
Thirty kilometers to Raquira, the weather started to clear up.

おおっ、青い空の元でバイクを撮影するって久しぶりだな！
気持ちイイ＝！
It had been so long since I took a picture of my bike under the blue sky. I felt so good!

ついにラキラに到着。
私を待っててくれたのはこの方です☆
I arrived in Raquira at last. This is the person who was waiting for me.
4-1

アーティスト、今泉卓さん
He is an artist, Mr. Taku Imaizumi.

卓さんは実力派の陶芸家としてとても有名な方なのです。
卓さんのホームページ：http://shippokudo.com/

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=563323294&sk=wall

He is known to be a very famous and skilled ceramist. Here’s the web address of Mr. Taku. http://shippokudo.com/
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=563323294&sk=wall

現在、ジャイカ（青年協力隊）のシニアボランティアとしてこのラキラで日本の陶芸技術を教えています。
He is currently teaching Japanese pottering skill in Raquira as a senior volunteer of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).

ラキラはコロンビアでは「陶芸の里」と呼ばれる有名な所で観光地でもあります。
Raquira is called “Pottery Village” in Columbia, and one of the famous tourist spots.

ウチに泊まって下さい、とのお言葉に甘えて卓さんのお住まいへ行きます。
He offered me to stay at his house, so I accepted his kind offer.

卓さんはラキラ郊外に広大な敷地を持つ邸宅に住まわれています。
He lives in a fine house in the suburbs of Raquira.

バイクを敷地内に置かせてもらいました。
I parked my bike in his house.

犬のディンゴが珍しがっています。
Dingo, the dog, was curiously looking at my bike.

提供して頂いた部屋。
He let me use this room.

イタリア／トスカーナ風のお屋敷で、居心地、最高！
I was very comfortable staying at his fine residence. It was an Italian Toscana design.

遅めの昼食から始めましょう！とおっしゃって頂けていたのでお腹をすかせてきました☆
I came here with a hungry stomach. He offered me some late lunch.

まずは美味しいビールが出てきました！
こんなことは、この旅始まって以来です。
っていうか最初で最後だと思います。(笑)
The starter was tasty beer! This kind of treatment was the very first ever since I’ve started this journey. To tell the truth, I think that it would be the first and the last. (Haha XD)

「最高の和食を用意して待っています！」と前から言ってくださっていて、まずは特製「焼き野菜のカレー」です！
He mentioned to me when I arranged the date for today that he was going to prepare the best Japanese meal for me. The first meal was curry rice with fried vegetables!
8-1

超こだわりのスパイスをふんだんに使ってあり、この美味しさ、ミシュラン５つ星ですよ！
There were many original spices in this curry rice. I think the flavor was equal to five stars in the Michelin Guide!

最高の腕前なのは陶芸だけでなく料理もでした！
Mr. Taku was not only a skilled ceramist, but also a great cook.

そして、噺家（はなしか）としてもやっていけるんじゃないかと思うほど、一緒にいて最高に楽しいのです。
あ、FM横浜でよく出演なさっていらっしゃるんでしたね。
I had a great time talking to him. It was like I was talking to him like he was a professional storyteller? Oh, he often appears on FM Yokohama! (A radio station.)

卓さんの彼女のユンソンさんが日本から来ていました。
His girlfriend, Ms. Young Song, was here from Japan.

カレーを食べ終えると二重の虹が！
There was double rainbow on the sky after the meal.

ラキラの町に３人で繰り出します。
Three of us headed to the town of Raquira.

コロンビアでは、町外れに聖母マリア像がこのように電話ボックスのようなものに入っていたり、崖をくり抜いて石窟式になっていたりするものを見ることが出来ます。
I was able to see the statue of Blessed Virgin Mary in a phone booth, and also curved on cliff.

ラキラの郊外の山手から、もくもく煙が発っているのが見える。
We saw the smoke coming out of a mountain in the suburbs of Raquira.

陶器の焼き物の釜から出ているのだそうです。
I came to find out that the smoke was coming out of a pottery workshop.
ラキラの目抜き通り。
This is the view of Main Street of Raquira.

陶器の焼き物を中心とした土産物屋が並び、週末には多くの観光客が訪れる。
There is a line of pottery souvenir shops on the side of Main Street. They attract many tourists on the weekend.

焼き物屋のオーナーと話す卓さん。
Mr. Taku was having conversation with the owner of one of the pottery shops.

「この人は私の生徒なんですよ」
伝統あるラキラの町に、日本の陶芸技術を卓さんによって伝承される。
“She is one of my students.” Mr. Taku said. Japanese traditional pottering skills have been taught by Mr. Taku to many people in the long established traditional town of Raquira.

町の至るところで、声をかけられる卓さん。
この町の英雄であり、人気者なのです。
Mr. Taku was called out by many local people everywhere. He is well known in Raquira, and also their hero.

豚の貯金箱がラキラ名物だそう。
Piggy bank pottery is a local specialty product of this district.

店内に犬がいる陶器屋さん。
This pottery shop had a dog inside.

客に売れる数よりも、犬が壊す数のほうが多いんだって。
I was told that the dog broke more pottery items than the amount of pottery items they actually sold.

その後、卓さんの仕事場を見せてくれて、
After we came back from the town trip, Mr. Taku showed me his workshop.

なんと、実際にろくろを回し、茶碗作りの実演をして下さいました！
流石、ホンモノの陶芸家。
手の動きのひとつ、一つが感動で、ため息が出ます。
How lucky I was! Mr. Taku gave me a demonstration on how to make a bowl on a potter’s wheel! As might have been expected, each of his hand movements was just as incredible as of those of a professional potter. I was impressed and couldn’t help but sigh.

ホンモノっていうのは空気が違うんだよね。
A true professional has his own aura round him.

私もろくろ、初挑戦。
I tried making a bowl on a potter’s wheel for the very first time in my life.

さて、どっちが、僕で、どっちが先生が作ったか判る？
うん、微妙でしょ？
Can you tell which one is mine and which one is the teacher’s, Mr. Taku? I bet it’s hard to tell :P

「山手の飲み屋にいきましょう！女の子も一杯いるんですよ」と卓さん。
“Let’s go to the bar close to the mountain! There are many girls, too!” Mr. Taku said.

店に入ると、
I entered the bar.

職人が集まる飲み小屋でした。(笑)
It was a bar where workmen got together and drank.

皆、陶器業に従事している方々。
They are all in the pottery business.

ろくろ職人だったり、釜の係だったり、その種類は多岐にわたります。
Some of them are workmen of the potter’s wheels, and some f them are in charge of the potter’s heater. There are various work types.

多くの職人が酒を飲いんでいる中、薄暗い電灯の下で作業している職人がいる。
While many workmen were drinking, there was a man who was still working under the gloomy light.

収入は歩合制だそうで、
Their income is by the commission system.

「娘を大学にいかせるため」
“I’m doing this to have my daughter to college.” he said.

と夜遅くまでろくろを回す。
He continued turning his potter’s wheel.

後ろにずらりと並んだつぼが今日、一日で作ったもの。
これだけ作って、一日の手取りは３０００円くらい。
All of the pots behind him were the ones he had made in the same day. All of them together were only about 3,000 yen. And that’s in one day!

家族の為、集中力が落ち易くなる時間でも頑張って、一生懸命働いている。
It is easy to lose concentration in the night after long hard-working day, but he was working hard for his family.

卓さんのお陰で無事、コロンビアでも子供インタビューが出来ました！
I was able to interview children in Columbia with Mr. Taku’s help!

このラキラの町でどんな夢、幸せを語ってくれのかは映像のアップをお待ち下さい。
この収録後、通訳もして頂いた卓さんから感慨深いコメントを頂きました。
後日の報告とさせて頂きます。
Please look forward the video clip of children who talked about their dreams in Raquira. After filming with Mr. Taku’s help on translations, I receive very warm words from him. I will report that later.

卓さん宅に戻ると、敷地に生えている木の中を何か探している。
When we went back to Mr. Taku’s house, he started looking for something in a tree in his premises.

「翌朝用のレモンを取るんです」
何とも素晴らしい生活じゃないですか！
“I’m getting lemons for tomorrow morning.” he said. What a beautiful life!

夕食は、極めつけの和食を作って下さっています！
He cooked delicious Japanese food for dinner!

【直火焼き茄子】
Grilled eggplants! :D

まるで、超高級料亭にいるように錯覚するほど、素晴らしい懐石料理が次々と出てきます。
まさかこんなものをコロンビアでありつけるとは！！
I felt like I was in a first-class Japanese restaurant while I was served a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. I didn’t expect this kind of treat in Columbia!!

シャンパンとワインとおいしい食事と共に会話を楽しんているとあっと言う間に１時。
We had a great time with great food, great wine/champagne, and great conversation, and the next thing I knew, it was already one a.m.

芸術、陶芸に懸ける情熱や、アイデンティティを聞かせて頂くことが出来、深い感銘を受ける。
Mr. Taku shared his passions on art, pottery, and identity. I was deeply impressed.

そして涙が出るほどずっと笑っていた。
We were laughing so hard that tears even started coming out of our eyes while we were talking.

周りにいる人を常に笑わせ、幸せな気分にさせてくれる人って本当に素晴らしい。
What a great person he is! He was the kind of person who made people around him laugh and be happy all the time.

旅先でなければ一生出会えなかったかもしれないと思うと、つくづくこの旅に出て良かったと思う。
I really think that I made the right choice by starting this journey. If I had never done this, then I wouldn’t have met Mr. Taku like this.

Translated by Maki & Angela Trolio

2011年11月18日01:00

カテゴリ

【Columbia】Stay2 in Bogota

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Mr. Tsubota took his time for me in the early morning. We went to the insurance company together. I turned in the permission to make the paperwork, and received the shortest one. (Which is for 3 months.) It was fifteen dollars. I felt relieved.

There is a college on the way back to the hotel.

On the wall of the front entrance, there was a drawing of Che Guevara with some kind of protesting message against the school. I saw a gathering of students holding a protest rally at a campus. I thought that I saw the passion of students there.

A scene of a town in Bogota

To tell the truth, my expectation of Columbia has been changed 180 degrees.

Since the declaration of it being tourist country two years ago, the town has been making effort to make it beautiful. I could see the improvement of security. Many travel guide books have said that Columbia is not a dangerous country, but tourism.

On top of that, the recovery of their economy has been influenced by the change. “It’s just like the bubble economy in Japan.” Mr. Tsubota said. It is no exaggeration to say that this is like a Chinese aspect. For examples, the rates of car sales are rocketing. They are working on curbing inflation on the traffic, but car production lines can’t keep up. Therefore, there is terrible traffic on the highways

I was going to go sightseeing today, but instead I headed to the BMW dealer shop in Bogota. I was not sure about the location, but I was able to find it after asking a few people. On my way, there was one person who led me by bike to the location. I was impressed by the kindness of the Columbian people.

I was hoping that I could buy new gloves and boots at the dealer shop, since my current ones were beginning to tear.

As soon as I parked my bike in the parking lot, the English speaking staff came up to me.

“What happened? How can I help you?”

His name was Edgar. He was very gentleman-like and had a great smile.

I told him that I needed new gloves and boots. I also told him about the trouble I’ve been having with my shaking handle and that I could only stay in Bogota for about two more hours.

“All right! Let’s me see what I can do for you!” He replied.

asked him if they could actually ride my bike and feel the shake while they were working on it. Edgar was willing to agree with me, and started talking to the mechanic. While they were working on my bike, I went to check the gloves and boots I wanted. I was able to buy the gloves, but unfortunately, they didn’t have boots in stock.

IEdger led me to the cafeteria and provided me a Columbian noted product-- delicious coffee.

I had a conversation with Edgar while the mechanic was checking my bike. Edgar told me that I was the very first Japanese customer and he welcomed me happily.

I was offered a bottle of water. (It had a BMW logo mark on it.) They had great customer service.

I hope they didn’t include the coffee and the water in the maintenance fee… (Haha XD)

After about thirty minutes, I was asked to check my bike because they were able to fix it.

They fixed it?! Really??

I went for a test drive with mixed of feelings of skeptics and excitement.

Guess what?

It didn’t shake.

Oh my!!!

Yay!!!

It’s fixed!!!

Yahoo!!!

I continued riding, checking for any shake. At about sixty kilometers per hour, it started to shake again when I let my hands off the handle bars.

When I went back to the shop, Edgar and the mechanic were waiting for me and they were ready to listen to my impression of the test drive. It was like a pit stop at the race track.

I told them about the shake and my opinions.

Edgar’s reply was “I understand. I’m going to have them check it again. I’ll call you after the mechanics finish checking it and after a test drive. Please have more coffee.”

This time, I had cappuccino. It was so delicious!!

I had a good time while I was drinking my favorite drink, coffee. The bike shop was the most comfortable place for me in the entire world.
Edgar came to speak to me again after about a half hour. “Please check your bike again.”

I went for a test drive again.

Compared with last time, I could tell that it had improved. I couldn’t help the shake when I let my hands off the handle bars. However, considering the amount of load, decline of the rear suspension and front suspension, this was within a permissible level. The damping of the front fork was getting weak, so I just needed to change the oil to improve it.

I went back to the shop and told them, “Okay! It is a lot better now! Thank you!” ^_^

Edgar and the mechanic were very happy to hear that.

The cause of the trouble was that the spacer of the front wheel was placed backwards, and it was too tight on the bearing of the bottom part of the forks.

The bad condition of my bike started in Guatemala City, and finally ended after driving 2,000 kilometers in Columbia.

I was so happy!!

They really fixed it in two hours, just as they promised! Incredible!

I couldn’t believe what I heard when I asked them how much I owed them.

“It is free.”

What!!!???

I, the person traveling alone, came in to the shop without making an appointment. However, they treated me with respect and fixed all of my bike problems. On top of that, they checked and put some grease on chain and around rear. I even had two cup of coffees and a bottle of water.

I was at a lost for words.

Their words to me were “We did what we were supposed to do. Please continue your great journey.” *tears* :’D

With Edgar, it was very emotional.

He offered me to look at their work shop.

They were proud of their line of special tools.

He showed me a wall full of special tools. It was rare, even for a BMW dealer shop. He explained to me that his shop had top of the level mechanics, and they all had great skills. The mechanics from Central and South America all gathered there to be trained. I could definitely see that!

I remembered that I needed to buy some chain lube. Earlier, I had no chance to throw it away in Panama, because all spray items were prohibited on the airplane.

Edgar brought it to me as soon as I asked.

When I tried to pay... “Present for you!”

Oh my~~ ! *more tears*

We exchanged our addresses. I gave him a WDT sticker and promised each other to connect on Facebook. We also promised to see each other again, and I gave him a hug for good bye.

Mucho, Mucho gracias!!!! Thank you sooooooo much!

I was very impressed by Columbia.

I heard that there were many beautiful women in Columbia. However, I was knocked out by Edgar and other kind people, rather than beautiful women.

It was a very emotional day. I woke up full of happiness the next morning. I decided to visit at least one sightsee before I left Bogota, so I headed downtown.

Out of all of the famous places I wanted to visit, I chose the Gold Museum.

There were many displays of gold from the Pre-Columbian days, which prospered before Christ.

This is the famous golden raft.

I could see the history of Columbia that was known as El Dorado.

They displayed not only gold, but also many platinum and other precious metal items.

The most shocking display was this one.

This mummy was well preserved.

Excuse me, but I couldn’t help having this idea again. I would like to share some displays that look like my friends. Do you have any friends who look like these?

There was a sunset view in front of theSan Francisco chapel when I went outside.

Against my expectations, it didn’t rain today. But it was still a little chilly outside. Everybody was wearing long sleeved shirts or light jackets.

After I finished eating dinner at a restaurant, night fell outside. The town started to become lively with bright neon lights.

Ten years ago, I would be afraid to walk in this town. I couldn’t imagine this same view back then. But now, it’s safe to walk around the town.

It was completely dark outside when I left the parking lot at center downtown to head back to the hotel. On the highway, there was a terrible traffic jam, because a lot of people were going home from work.

The man next me started talking to me at the red light.

After a quick conversation–

Have a safe trip!” he said.

““Gracias!” I replied.

All of the sudden, I felt the impact of collusion behind me.

I turned around and found out that the public bus hit my bike.

Looking back at the driver, he was in panic. He repeatedly apologized to me.

What happened… happened.

I was in a really good mood today, so it didn’t make me upset. (Haha XD)

Viva, Columbia!!

Translated by Maki & Angela Trolio

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