JONGO!

AP Photo

In an article on CANOEtravel.com, called "Jongo Makes a Comeback," written by Peter Muello, he tells the story of Jongo, an old ritual dance, of which Samba was originally derived, is coming back in style. Jongo is especially popular in Valenca, Brazil.

Muello writes, "In the old slave quarters of a colonial coffee plantation, conga drums echo in the night air. A couple in white whirl and glide across an earthen clearing as villagers sing of sharecroppers, coffee planters and slaves long dead.

The dancers pause, and applause thunders through the village. Lights from a TV camera crew illuminate hundreds of Brazilians gathered at the Sao Jose plantation for a colonial-era celebration that once seemed all but extinct.

It's jongo (pronounced ZHON-go) -- part dance and part spirit religion ritual, a legacy of the African slaves who worked in the coffee fields near this city 135 kilometres northwest of Rio de Janeiro.

"It's an oral art, with melodies and words passed on from generation to generation, with practically no written record," says samba singer Luciane Menezes. "It's surprising that it survived."

It nearly didn't. Jongo faded after slavery was abolished in 1888 and coffee declined in Valenca. Many plantation workers moved to the cities, where jongo music evolved into samba, Brazil's signature rhythm.

But jongo endured in Valenca's tiny Sao Jose "quilombo," or slave-era community. Families here live in mud-and-thatch huts, cook on wood-burning stoves, grow the corn, beans and manioc they eat, and dance jongo as they have for generations.

"Jongueiros" still make their drums from hollowed-out tree trunks, with tanned cowhide nailed on and laid by the fire to tighten. At each gathering, a village elder asks slave spirits for their blessing.

The dance hasn't changed..."

Shiraishi Island, Japan

Credit: Japan National Tourist Organization

This palace located on Shiraishi Island, Japan is believed to house the ashes of Buddha.

Jill Schensul, travel editor for the Bergen Record Newspaper in NJ, wrote an article on May 22 called "Paradise Plus," about numerous islands that are like paradise. She included Shiraishi Island in Japan in her list.

Schensul wrote, "Shiraishi (population 800) is in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, which separates two of the country's four main islands, Honshu and Shikoku. You reach the island from a half-hour ferry ride from the port town of Kasaoka, near Okayama. On this one unspoiled chip of the Far East, you can hike to the top of a forested mountain and gaze upon a sea dotted with islands; you can walk the sandy beaches or wander the village streets and admire the magical bonsai trees.

And this remarkable experience is also one of the best bargains in otherwise pricey Japan. Thanks to an innovative program designed to attract foreign visitors to this little-known corner of the Japanese countryside, you can spend a night on Shiraishi for about what you'd spend on sushi for two in Tokyo.

In the early 1990s, six villas were built as part of a government/business effort to promote tourism around rural Okayama Prefecture, to which Shiraishi belongs. Billed as "Japan's only country-style inns for international exchange," the villas are reserved for the exclusive use of non-Japanese. The management supplies twice-a-week maid service, linens, kitchen equipment, a washer-dryer and other basics. The price: about $30 per person per night, or $25 if you purchase a $4.75 two-year "membership" in the villa network.

The island is mercifully uncrowded; the peak of peak season (summer) comes during the Shiraishi Odori festival, a colorful nighttime folk dance event that attracts large numbers of visitors Aug. 14-16. Those are the days of obon, Japan's annual pilgrimage of urbanites to the rural homes of their ancestors.

If you're not enjoying the beach, you can sidle up to the Moooo! Bar, a rustic establishment operated during the summer months by Ohioan Amy Chavez, or rent a kayak from one of several laid-back proprietors along the beach and paddle out to a tiny islet with a Shinto shrine. For about $70 per person, a local sailboat operator will take you on a two-hour trip to natural hot springs on nearby Sensui Island.

Well-marked hiking trails lead you all the way around the island in a couple of hours - longer if you stop for a picnic. Don't forget to say ohayo gozai masu ("good morning") or konichiwa ("good afternoon") to the folks you meet along the many paths. As in America, country ways are more friendly and polite than those of the big city.

Shiraishi's population is mostly elderly, and many of them practice the art of bonsai, the uniquely Japanese way of growing miniature potted versions of pines and other large trees. The road into the village is lined with gorgeous gardens. Also popular here is the ancient martial art of kendo, or "the way of the sword." A stylized form of samurai sword fighting, it is practiced with bamboo poles by combatants in scary face masks and elaborate black body armor. But no one gets hurt. You can watch all day.

And no one will rush you in laid-back Shiraishi."

Visit the Okayama International Villa Group, or 011-81-86-256-2535 for more info.

Flying Through Check-in Lines

In an article on CANOE Travel, Doug English, of Sun Media, explains that you do not have to be extremely technologically saavy to take advantage of things like kiosk or online flight check-in.

He writes, "Programming the VCR is about the extent of my technological know-how. Even then I don't always get it right. So for years I stoutly resisted using airport kiosks to check in for a flight unless someone from the airline was right beside me to help.

Most of my flights are to or through the U.S. and involve one or two plane changes. Lately I've been flying Northwest, through Detroit. Now that they've installed check-in machines at even small airports, like London's, it's all but impossible to avoid them.

But I've come to learn it's fairly straightforward, even for a klutz. Swipe a credit card or passport and your name pops up on the screen. Follow the prompts, enter a bit of information, confirm some itinerary and identity details and, presto, the machine whirs and spits out your boarding passes.

Checking yourself in lets you bypass long lines at checkin counters. But sometimes so many travellers are using the machine it creates another line. So airlines are now enabling passengers to check in from home, via computer, before they even leave for the airport.

Air Canada customers, for example, can go to aircanada .com, click on "web checkin" and perform a number of time-saving functions. Boarding passes can be printed out for flights departing from Canada to anywhere in world as early as 12 hours before departure and as late as one to two hours, depending on your destination. You can also select your seat, check baggage, and go on standby for an earlier flight or for an upgrade, if applicable... "

It doesn't end with airport check-in either, you can now check-in to hotels online or at self-serve kiosks, and even search for and reserve airport parking before getting to the airport. Technology sure does save us time.

I'M BACK!

Hi Everyone...
I took a little vacation, but Travel Reader is back. So keep an eye out for new posts.
Thanks,
Jessica Taryn
GoNOMAD.com