Author Archives: Dan Perry

About Dan Perry

Dan created this blog to document his South America trip, which covered every country on the continent and lasted over two years. He currently lives in Madison, WI.

A Pilgrimage Around Shikoku

Picture of Dan and Philippe on our pilgrimage.

Philippe and I make a pilgrimage to Shanghai.

I met Philippe Hanin on a ferry from Osaka, Japan to Shanghai, China. He recently finished a nearly two-month pilgrimage, during which he walked to all 88 of Shikoku's temples that are associated with the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi.

Also, my next book, 1000 Days Between, Part 2 will be available on December 8. Get ready!

And now, for this week's show:

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Show Notes:

Here's a listing of all 88 temples along the Shikoku Pilgrimage. And here you can find a map of the pilgrimage and the temples.
The population of Hangzhou, that “city near Shanghai” where the American basketball players were recently arrested for shoplifting, is 9.2 million (21.5 million in the metro area). New York has a population of 8.5 million (23.7 million metro).
This ia a bit dated but keep an eye on it. At some point, US citizens could need a visa to travel to Europe because we are not honoring our agreement to allow visa-free travel to the US for all EU citizens.
I think this one is more likely to happen. If you are from one of the nine states that doesn't comply with the Real ID act, you'll need a passport to fly domestically, starting on January 22, 2018.

Bicycling Around Japan

On this episode, my wife Katie and I talk about our journey thus far bicycling around Japan. We give you all of the highs and lows of our trip.

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Here's the broken part on Katie's bike, welded together.

For more photos of the abandoned building and the process of fixing the bike, click here.

Here's the new hanger that arrived in the mail two days later.

This kind man put us up in his spare home for two days while waiting for the new part to arrive.

A drink to celebrate!

For more photos from Zentsuji, where we were “stuck” for two days, click here.

Around the World #63: Ross and Theresa

My guests today are Ross and Theresa. They met several years ago in Beijing, China. They fell in love, traveled the world for two and a half years, got married, and had two kids. Pretty much in that order. During the show we discussed all of this, as well as their love of yoga, and the "Yoganda" project, which teaches widowed women in Uganda to make yoga mat bags.

Theresa is the founder of Taozi Tree Yoga. If you are interested in attending one of her yoga classes in Beijing, there is a link to her Wechat account at the bottom of her website.

Theresa also has set up a fundraiser for The Yoganda Project. Thanks for checking it out!

And now for this week's show:

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Welcome to China

I met up with Brittany Dunn at a French bakery in Beijing, China. She told me the craziest "welcome to China" story I've ever heard, and it was coordinated to some soothing, serendipitous music.

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Show notes:

Brittany mentioned a book called Ape House. Here is some more info.

And here is a video of chimpanzees doing a superhuman mind trick:

Around the World #61: Alice Chen (陈希)

Alice and I recorded this podcast from a Beijing bookstore's rooftop.

Greetings from Beijing! Katie and I have spent a whirlwind week visiting our old stomping grounds. We caught up with many old friends and met a few new ones. Case in point: Alice Chen ( 陈希). She's originally from Weifang in Shandong province. Recently she traveled to the US, including visits to Hawaii, Colorado and Washington DC. We talked extensively about her trip; it was great to hear about my own country from an outsider's perspective.

Alice also specializes in cross-cultural communication. She shared many tips to improve your communication skills. And on that note, let's listen to my talk with Alice:

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Strolling Through the Gobi Desert

Gobi: Picture of Ruby Tsai and Dan Perry.

Ruby and Dan at the White Stupa, part of the Gobi desert.

I spent the last week touring the Gobi desert with three other backpackers, my wife Katie and a driver named Balgay. One of those three other backpackers was Ruby Tsai, from Taiwan. We climbed to the top of a sand dune, watching the sun go down over this marvelous land, and recorded a podcast. She's currently on her way to England, via the Trans-Siberian railroad. We talked about her trip, and she gave me some great tips for visiting Myanmar, as well as her native Taiwan.

Thanks for checking out the show and be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to see some pictures from the Gobi desert. It's a beautiful destination that I can't recommend enough.

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Show Notes:

We talked briefly about the Naadam Festival in Mongolia. Here is some more information about Naadam.
And for even more info about Naadam, you can listen to my podcast with Tamara Gil.
If you want to learn about the reindeer herders, as well as the other nomadic people in Mongolia, you can listen to my podcast with Davaa.
Here is some info about the Myanmar trek Ruby mentioned.
The tallest mountain in Taiwan is Yushan (玉山), at 3952 meters.
And the largest lake in Taiwan is Sun Moon Lake. Maybe we'll end up there soon.

Ruby shared the following pictures from her visit to Bagan, Myanmar (Burma). I can't wait to see it for myself!

And, as promised, here are some of my photos from our trip to the Gobi desert:

Day 1: walking up the rocks of Baga Gazriin.

Ruby enjoys the open landscape.

Campsite on our first night.

There was a bit of grass in the desert. The animals love it like hamburgers.

The open road.

Camel ride!

Check out those choppers.

Post-camel group shot from inside a ger. We're eating goat cheese and hard bread. We're drinking yak milk tea.

Baby's first sand dune.

Gobi: Picture of Ruby walking on a sand dune.

Walking on the dunes.

Tammy reaches the top of the 300-meter sand dune.

Ruby crawls to the top.

Gobi desert landscape.

The creamy desert.

Camels crossing the desert.

A footbridge to the dunes.

Gobi: Picture of Katie on the Flaming Cliffs.

Katie walks along the Flaming Cliffs.

Gobi: Picture of Katie looking at the Flaming Cliffs.

Checking out the Flaming Cliffs.

We spent one night in a ger.

We got to watch a guy take down his ger. He was moving for the winter months.

The White Stupa.

Sitting in the middle of this vast landscape.

The other side of the White Stupa.

Day 7: Back in the Ulaanbaatar

A quick stop at the monastery before ending our trip.

For more of my photos from the Gobi desert, click here.

Nomadic Life in Mongolia

A ger is essential to nomadic life in Mongolia.

My guest this week is Tsenddavaa Nasanjargal, AKA Davaa. She and her husband own an amazing guesthouse called the Mongol Ujin Tourist Camp in the village of Khatgal, Mongolia. Davaa is passionate about the nomadic lifestyle that is still so prevalent in Mongolia, and she was generous enough to talk about it with me on the show.

You can find more info about the Mongol Ujin Tourist Camp on TripAdvisor, Facebook, and AirBnB.

And now, please enjoy this special podcast:

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Show notes:

In Thailand it's the year 2560 BE. In Israel it's the year 5777. In North Korea it's Juche year 106. In Mongolia it's the year 2017.
Ulaanbaatar has a storied history dating back to 1639. For more info click here.
Here's an interesting article about Mongolia's reindeer hunters, and their threatened way of life.
Once again, you can find the Mongol Ujin Tourist Camp at the following locations:

And here are a few photos from this episode:

This is the ger we stayed in.

Inside our ger.

Looking out the window from the lodge.

The yellow forest.

Katie and Lane Changer.

Day 1: Our campsite.

Day 2: Snow!

Our first view of the Lake Khuvsgul from the pass.

Camping next to an abandoned cabin.

Inside the warm and cozy cabin.

Me and our guide.

Our colorful campsite on our last night.

The lake's water is incredibly blue, yet also totally clear.

Before heading back to the big city: Time to build a September snowman!

For more of my photos from this corner of Mongolia, click here.

Russia in Review

On the train from Irkutsk to Ulan-Ude, Russia

Here it is, my last podcast about Russia! I talk about our final week in the country, then Katie joins me to discuss the good, bad and simply interesting facets of our journey.

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To see my photos from Russia, click here.

Ulan-Ude: A Journey Through the Buryat Capital

Me and Maria in Ulan-Ude, capital of Buryatia.

I met Maria on the train to Ulan-Ude, Russia. She is an amazing leader in the Buryat community. As you'll learn in the podcast, her organization is developing an Android app that allows you to mark places in nature that have problems, such as trash on the ground. Hopefully, this app will help to make the environment a little cleaner. Here is the link to download the app (only in Russian for now, but English is coming):

Байкальский патруль (Baikal patrol)

And now, please enjoy this podcast!

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Show Notes:

Here is a brief history of the buryat people.
The shortest driving route from New York City to Los Angeles is 4500 KM. The distance from Moscow to Ulan-Ude by train is 5600 KM. And there's still quite a long distance to reach Vladivostok.
Maria is a member of the Global Shapers community.
We talked briefly about kibbutzing in Israel. Here is a history of the kibbutz organization.
We also talked about WWOOFing. Here is a website where you can find a WWOOF host.

We recorded this podcast behind this Lenin head. It is, in fact, the world's largest.

A few years ago, I visited a school in New Orleans that was destroyed by hurricane Katrina. This photo is of a newspaper that was sitting on the principal's desk. It badly predicts the storm's path. Click here for more photos from the school, and from New Orleans.

Finally, this is a clip of the time the Simpsons went to Bronson, Missouri.

Lake Baikal Dreams

Katie and I (especially Katie) have been dreaming of coming to Lake Baikal for quite some time. Now we are here! How did we arrive? Listen to this week's episode to find out.

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