TRAVEL SCHEDULE

[Timing is still not confirm, therefore, we will provide you an outline of the schedule!]

DAY 1: arrival at Hawaii and check in into hotel

DAY 2: visitation of the hot spot volcanoes

DAY 3: visitation of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

DAY 4: free schedule!

DAY 5: set off to Oregon in North America

DAY 6: arrival at Oregon and check in into hotel

DAY 7: set off to Crater Lake Park and check in into their hotel

DAY 8: exploration of Crater Lake

DAY 9: exploration of Crater Lake

DAY 10: set off back to Oregon and then to Africa

DAY 11: arrival in Ethiopia and check in into hotel

DAY 12: visitation of the East African Rift Valley

DAY 13: visitation of the wildlife in Africa

DAY 14: set off to Tibet, China

DAY 15: visitation of the Himalayas and know more about safety precautions

DAY 16: trekking on Mount Everest

DAY 17: trekking on Mount Everest

DAY 18: trekking on Mount Everest

DAY 19: trekking on Mount Everest

DAY 20: trekking on Mount Everest

DAY 21: trekking on Mount Everest

DAY 22: resting period and set off to Japan

DAY 23: arrival in Japan

DAY 24-29: mysterious sites in Japan!

DAY 30: HOME SWEET HOME~

JAPAN

Location: East Asia
Name: Japan

Shrines

Blossom Trees

Mount Fuji

JAPAN? TELL ME MORE! When you hear the word 'Japan", what  do you think of? Does your mind fill with images of ancient temples or futuristic cities? Do you see visions of mist-shrouded hills or lightning-fast bullet trains? Do you think of suit-clad businessmen or kimono-clad geisha? Whatever image you have of Japan. For example, many people believe that Japan is one of the world's most expensive countries. In fact, it's cheaper to travel in Japan than in much of North America, Western Europe and parts of Oceania. Others think that Japan is impenetrable or even downright difficult. The fact is, Japan is one of the easiest countries in which to travel.
If traditional culture is your thing, you can spend weeks in cities such as Kyoto and Nara, gorging yourself on temples, shrines, kabuki, tea ceremonies and museums packed with treasures from Japan's rich artistic heritage. If modern culture and technology is your thing, Japan's cities are an absolute wonderland- an easy peek into future of the human race, complete with trend-setting cafes and fabulous restaurants. Outside the cities, you'll find natural wonders the length and breadth of the archipelago. From the coral reefs of Okinawa to the ski-resort of Niseko, Japan has more than enough natural wonders to compete with its cultural treasures. Then there's the food: whether it's impossibly fresh sushi in Tokyo, perfectly battered tempura in Kyoto, or a hearty bowl of ramen in Osaka, if you like eating you're going to love Japan.
But for many visitors, the real highlight of their visit to Japan is the gracious hospitality of the Japanese themselves. Whatever your image of Japan, it no doubt exists somewhere on the archipelago-and it's just waiting for you to discover it!

BUT.... JAPAN IS AN EARTHQUAKE PRONE AREA! Indeed Japan is an earthquake prone area, which is why tourism starts to fall in Japan! Many tourists raised their safety concerns about coming to Japan. During past few years, Japan had been receiving huge amount of earthquakes ranging from 7.5 to 9.0 magnitude! Japan's economy led to a great downfall but the Japanese did not give up and instead, they gained hopes from despair and picked themselves up from beneath the ruins. Many people around the world admired the spirits of the Japanese and actually gained something from them. Just look at the photos from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365318/Japan-earthquake-tsunami-The-moment-mother-nature-engulfed-nation.html ! And visit this webpage to see some of the Japanese reactions! http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/pictures/chinese-netizens-admire-japanese-post-earthquake-behavior.html

Some ways the Japanese used to reduce impact:

• educating all Japanese especially children  
• providing drills
• strengthening of old infrastructure
• use advance technology to strengthen current infrastructure
• monitoring systems (to monitor the movements of sea etc)
• locating infrastructure on non-earthquake prone areas

So, our purpose of this trip is to explore old places that have gone through the destruction of earthquakes and tsunamis and to bring Japanese culture back to life! 

cherry blossoms

all time favorite... SUSHI!!

cultural delicacies

famous place: Suzenji Park

Famous place: Torii gate

Credits:

-www.google.com

-http://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan

-http://www.eeri.org/site/reconnaissance-activities/70-japan 

FOLD MOUNTAINS

Location: India to Tibet, China
Name: the Himalayas

Pakistan-India-Nepal-China-Bhutan

HISTORY: Geologically, the origin of the Himalayas is the imapct of the Indian tectonic plate travelling northward at 15 cm per year to impact the Eurasian continent, with first contact about 70 million years ago, and with movement continuing today. The formation of the Himalayan arc peaks eventually resulted from this, since the lighter rock of the seabeds of that time were easily uplifted into mountains. An often-cited fact used to illustrate this process is that the summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone.

CURRENTLY: The Himalaya is the world's largest range. Its peak is of 8,000 meters, which is approximately 26,000 feet. There are 14 such peaks of Himalayas and hundreds of summits, which are around 23,000 feet high. The mountain range stretches 1,700 miles across an area between Assam and Kashmir. The east is guarded Namche Barwa while the west is guarded by the splendid Nanga Parbat. There are travel tour guides in the Himalayas so that you can explore the amazing Himalayas close-up. There are tribes living near Himalayas and different wildlife can be found.

EXTRA INFO: The Himalayas are mainly young folded mountains. It extends from the west to the east for about 2,500 km in a curve from the Pamit Knot in the northwest to the valley of the Brahmaputra River in the east. The width of the Himalayas is of 100-400 km. The Himalayas range covers an area of 612,021 square km. The Himalaya passes through 5 nations: India, Pakistan, China, Bhutan and Nepal. In India it stretches across 5 states: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and in China it is Tibet. The Himalayas is also the origin or the source of world's two important river systems: the Indus Basin and the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin.

From south to north the Himalayas are divided into different parallel ranges:
-Lower Himalayas with an average height of 3,700 m
-Sub Himalayas with an average height of 900-1,200 m. It is the youngest of the three ranges. It is mainly made up of eroded matter from the rising Himalaya.
-The Great Himalayas, which is a single range and the oldest of the three ranges with a height above 6,000 m including Mount Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga and 9 of the 14 highest peaks in the world.
-Tibetan Himalayas, the Tibet Plateau is known as the Roof of the World with an average height of 4,000-45,900 m. Even the Karakorum Range in the northwest is also considered as a part of the Himalayan Range.

Credits:
-www.google.com
-http://www.himalaya2000.com/himalayan-facts/himalayan-travel-guide.html
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayas

RIFT VALLEY

Location: Africa
Name: East African Rift Valley

location

Beautiful scenery

top view!

HISTORY: The East African Rift Valley falls in Africa and it was formed through the diverging motion of the African plate and the Arabian plate. As these two plates diverge, the land in the middle falls, forming a rift valley.
CURRENTLY: The East African Rift System (EARS) is the one the geologic wonders of the worls, a place where the earth's tectonic forces are presently trying to create new plates by splitting apart old ones. In simple terms, a rift can be thought of as a fracture in the earth's surface that widens over time, or more technically, an an elongate basin bounded by opposed steeply dipping normal faults. Geologists are still debating exactly how rifting comes about, but the process is so well displayed in East Africa that geologists have attached a name to the new plate-to-be; the Nubian Plate makes up most of Africa, while the smaller plate that is pulling away has been named the Somalian Plate. These two plates are moving away from each other and also away from the Arabian plate from the north. The point where these three plates meet in the Afar region of Ethopia forms what is called a triple-junction. However, all the rifting in East Africa is not confined to the Horn of Africa; there is a lot of rifting activity further south as well, extending Kenya and Tanzania and Great Lakes region of Africa.

EXTRA INFO: East Africa Rift System is one of the most extensive rifts on the earth's surface, extending in Jordan in southwestern Asia southward through eastern Africa to Mozambique. The system is some 4000 miles (6,400 km) long and averages 30-40 miles (48-64 km) wide. The plateaus adjacent to the rift generally slope upward toward the valley and provide an average drop of from 2,000-3,000 feet (600-900 m) to the valley floor. In some places, such as Gikuyu and Mau escarpments, the drop averages more than 9,000 feet (2,700 m). The rift ha been forming for some 30,000,000 years (as Africa and Arabian Peninsula separated) and has been accompanied by extensive volcanism along parts of its length, producing such massifs as Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya.

Kivu, Lake

Tanzania, Kilimanjaro Crater
Crater Rim of Kilimanjaro at dawn

Credits:
-www.google.com
-http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/176462/East-African-Rift-System

-http://geology.com/articles/east-africa-rift.shtml

FYI: PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

location

The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. It is sometimes called the circum-Pacific belt or the circum-Pacific seismic belt. About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.

Countries that are affected:

-Andes

-Central America

-North America Cordillera

-Russia

-Japan

-Philippians

-Indonesia

-New Zealand

-Antartica


-www.wikipeadia.com

CRATER LAKE

Location: Oregon, USA
Name: Crater Lake

beautiful scenaries

sun set view

top view

HISTORY: Crater Lake was formed after the collapse of  Mount Mazama. This volcano violently erupted approximately 7700 years ago and was said to be 42 times more powerful than the eruption in 1980 of Mount St. Helens. The basin or caldera was formed after the top 5000 feet of the volcano collapsed. Subsequent lava flows sealed the bottom, allowing the caldera to fill with approximately 4.6 trillion gallons of water from rainfall and snow melt, to create the seventh deepest lake in the world at 1,932 feet.


CURRENTLY: Crater Lake is now known for its intense blue color and spectacular views. Crater Lake National Park attracts approximately 500,000 visitors per year, with the high seasons being July and August.


EXTRA INFO: The National Park was established in 1902 and encompasses 183,244 square miles. The 33-mile Rim Drive around Crater Lake is a two lane road that has more than 20 scenic overlooks. From mid-October until mid-June, the north entrance and Rim Drive are closed to the public due to deep snow and ice buildups along the road. Rim Drive around the east side of the lake can be closed earlier than mid-October and may not open until July. Deer and other wildlife crossing the road and icy conditions at any time of the year provide hazards to drivers.


Credits:
-http://www.google.com
-http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/CraterLake/Locale/framework.html

HOT SPOTS

Location: Hawaii, USA
Name: (from the oldest to the youngest) Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii

HOT SPOOOOOT!

names of the volcanoes

Hot spot volcanoes are formed differently compared to normal volcanoes

Formation of hot spots in hawaii!

Formation of a normal composite volcano

Credits:
-http://google.com
-contextual knowledge