Awash and Addis Ababa -Ethiopia

My travels took me to Ethiopia this month.

The day I arrived was the day of a big race.  Too bad I could not participate in it.

I visited a little town of Awash - about 4 hours drive from Addis Ababa.

A damaged wind turbine blade was left on a road.

There were baboons.

These look like fruits, but they are not.  Strange plant.

A common house made of mud.

There were many camels.

Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Addis Ababa.

A dog was sitting on a street by our hotel.

Mules are still used for transporting goods.

New African Union building.

Rainy Morning Run in Kanazawa

Yesterday morning, I was in Kanazawa. I was determined to go for a run. Too bad it was raining and cold, but I did enjoy the streets of the beautiful city.

One of the buildings of the Castle.

Looking at the main entrance of the castle.

A trail along the fortress walls.

A swan statue.

A Catholic Church

The fish market was getting ready for a new business day.

Local Scenes

Here are some pictures from my recent local runs.

"Jugatsu Sakura" at Koganei Park.

Beautiful vases made by a pottery master. Photo shows him shaking a hand of Ichiro (then of ORIX Blue Wave).

Pink Knotweed close from Oizumigakuen Station

Beautyberry in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suginami,_Tokyo.

It is now getting cold in Tokyo - finally winter is here.

Izu-Nagaoka Onsen

I spent a night at Izu-Nagaoka Onsen this week.  It is an old Onsen town in Izunokuni.  This area is of historical significance for  Minamoto no Yoritomo who organized a rebelion against then ruling Heike Clan lived while he was exiled.  He later became Shogun in 1192 of Japan's first Samurai-ruled government.

The entrance to the Onsen area.

"Shichifukujin" or Seven Lucky Gods at my Ryokan.

A beautiful Japanese garden of the ryokan.  

I ran up to the top of the hill (Genjiyama) - many steps.

The observatory was unfortunately, under renovation.

The view from the top.

Genjiyama Park.

The view from Genjiyama.

A paved walking trail of Kano River.

The flood control channel of the river.

  Sunrise seen from the bridge by the flood control channel

It was a brief visit, but I thoroughly enjoyed the stay. The hot spring was amazing and food  of course was heavenly!