Places – Page 4 – Tanya's Travels

The End

So, it’s all finally coming to its end. The year and a half that I’ve spent in Asia has been reducing itself to its final months, weeks, days and soon hours, before I embark on a 24-hour plane ride back to New York City.

It’s difficult not to reflect or try to remember certain themes or occurrences, even when I am in states of not being attached to the fact that it’s really happening. I’ve been traveling throughout Southeast Asia for about six months, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s become my reality, and doesn’t even feel like a trip any more. Perhaps it will feel more like traveling when I’m not actually here.

Of course there are many things I’ve learned, about myself and the places I’ve seen. I’ve gained new perspective even on being American and the United States itself.

This has been the longest I’ve traveled at once. After a year of South Korea, the weather was headed towards fall, where I decided to skip the cold this time around. First stop was Taiwan, where we motor-tripped around the perimeter of the island, and that was followed by an island-hopping adventure in the Philippines.

From Manila, Philippines, we flew to Singapore, quite possibly the cleanest city I’ve seen. When I was younger, my impressions of Singapore were that you’d be arrested for chewing gum or littering. When I got there, however, I did not see one cop the whole time, and people were even jaywakling. I only spent two days there before heading to Malaysia and into the cities of Malacca and Kuala Lumpur, learning about the multi-racial aspects of what makes the country what it is.

Ten days of Sumatra, Indonesia, involved wonderful lake views, volcano trekking and hot springs. It was then we flew back to Malaysia to Penang island, then to the Cameron highlands, a low-temperature tourist spot full of green tea plantations and other assorted temperate agriculture.

A few weeks in Vietnam was a mixed experience. Then it was through Cambodia, stopping in its biggest city, Phnom Penh, then making it up to the provincial towns on the northern route. We then spent a week in Laos, starting from the south on the river island of Don Det, then the provincial city of Pakse and capital city, Vientiane. Vientiane was very laid-back and hardly a bustling metropolis, and it somewhat reminded me of Binghamton, New York, being full of empty buildings and pedestrian-less streets.

We ended up in Bangkok for a week, a wonderful city of canals, cats, markets and street food. I traveled on my first sleeper train before a brief excursion to Koh Lipe, an island in the sea in the south, before making it back to Malaysia.

Anyway, most people can acknowledge that it’s not about the biggest list of places you travel or how many sites you’ve seen versus how far you got away from the tourist trail, but what you get out of it, whether at the time or during a session of reflecting. Of course I’ll emphasize the good and the adventurous when I look at pictures and tell others stories, but there have certainly been periods of downs during my travels, whether it’s sketchy food, allergic reactions to bug bites, lies and rip-offs or air conditioners breaking on boat rides where all the people are packed in like sardines.

There are of course big things I will miss about Asia. For one, I’ll miss the casualness of everyday life. In America, I feel as if there is too much officialdom, that I’m always being watched and that I always have to consider the legal consequences of simple actions. Asian food will never be the same when I return, whether spiced incorrectly or just not being up to substantial quality. I’ve consumed many different versions of rice and tofu that I’ll certainly wish to eat again. I’ll miss riding a motor scooter without repetitive visits to the DMV, and checking into a place to sleep without having to give a form of valid identification and copy of a credit card before I even pay the enormous fees.

And, there are of course things I have missed about the US. It will be pleasant going back to where I can truly speak English the way it is on my mind, without modifications to people of other cultures. People, places and food are of course a big factor, but there is also the general feeling of truly belonging to a place and being part of it. There can of course be problems when you’re expected to keep up with the expectations of your society, but this is a standard that any local living in their own country has to acknowledge, whether or not they choose to follow these norms.

Perhaps I’ll return to Asia one day. Maybe I’ll make it to the places I’ve missed in the countries I’ve traveled, or go further on into new places like China, or Burma, or Nepal. But, for now, the time is coming to leave this travel experience as what it was. While it will likely affect me in the future in ways I may not even realize, it is an experience that is meant to have a designated start and finish.

I will make my return home this weekend. Though I’m full of anticipations, wonders and predictions, I’ll really only know what it holds after I arrive.

Brief Holiday in Cambodia

If you’ve heard about anyone’s trip in Cambodia, you’ve probably heard of the tuk-tuks, which are covered carriages attached to motorbikes. Unless you have your own method of transportation, you will more than likely end up on one of these at some point. They move very slowly, and since they are open-air, are a nice way to view a city. From my experience, these drivers are usually nice, but you will need to haggle with them for the price before you get on board.

We crossed this bamboo bridge in Kampong Cham, which was bumpy and made a lot of noise, but we got across the way there and back.

Climbing these stairs in the heat is quite a challenge, but at least it gives a pleasant view downwards.

It was too hot to do anything really, so we took a midday heat break by the outer entrance of a temple, and made friends with a cow.

This cow was very bored sitting next to this pond all day, and kept mooing. Its owner eventually acknowledged its restlessness, untied it and took it for a walk.

We didn’t actually make it to the temple after this break, we just enjoyed the scenery around it.

When it cooled down a bit in the evening, we journeyed to the site of a former US military airstrip.

It hosted some stone structures which were useful to climb up and get a view.

This spot seemed the best place in town to enjoy a fine sunset.

The red dust in Cambodia is very much present, particularly in more provincial locations. I would recommend taking sunglasses and a face mask around if you’re riding a bike or motorcycle. It is unavoidable, and will get all over your skin and clothes, particularly when a larger vehicle is coming towards you. There was a cat at my hotel that was supposed to be white, but because of this dust, was a kind of reddish color.

Vietnam Continued

Vietnam is definitely the land of “Things on Bikes”. Here is a man driving with over a dozen jackfruit attached to baskets on his scooter. These smelly but tasty fruits are incredibly dense and heavy.

Bananas are another common crop, hence their presence on scooters. The vast majority of people do not own cars, but scooters and/or bicycles. If you wander off of the main roads and into the alleys or deep into the countryside, you’ll find that many of the lanes are so narrow that a car couldn’t possibly fit on them.

Not only produce, but livestock, is carried around on scooters. Here is a man with a selection of chickens fastened to the back of his bike. I’ve also seen ducks, and even pigs, riding as passengers.

People even use their scooters as beds to nap during the hot hours of the day. I have no idea how they are able to maintain such balance.

This was taken from a pagoda in Dalat. Due to its mean facial expression, I think it is supposed to be a guard.

We also stopped by the Valley of Love in Dalat, a perfect place to take cheesy photos. For anyone who is interested, they host a fine selection of plastic big cats.

We traveled to Lak Lake one night to do a homestay in a longhouse. Upon arrival to the cafe that arranges these homestays, we discovered they had an elephant to the side. I think the elephants in this town are only used for tourists to ride into the lake.

In this small town, the animals definitely seem part of the community. Pigs, dogs and chickens graze around between the properties. While nice to look at during the day, they do make it hard to sleep at night, by constantly barking or crowing in the dark.

Many miles later, we made it down to the busy city of Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City. Being the biggest city of Vietnam, it consequently seemed to hold the highest concentration of traffic. It is normal to find people driving the opposite way down one-way streets, on sidewalks, right into busy traffic, or anywhere a bike may possibly fit. Though it seems chaotic, traffic does go on like it does anywhere else. One just cannot drive the way they do in their home country while riding around in Saigon.

After a few days in this busy, crowded city, we decided to take a nature break and go check out a mangrove forest. This part of the country is the Mekong Delta, so all of the land is separated by small rivers, which requires taking a ferry from one point to another.

Once we got there, we wished we had a boat to go around, rather than a scooter.

Off the long, flat, paved road, we found one of the muddy paths leading into the depths of the mangrove forest. If you head down one of these, make sure you wear some sturdy hiking or rubber boots, as a few inches of mud will stick to your shoes.

We walked down this path until it got too muddy and slippery, and admired the sturdy, intricate roots that these trees stand from.

The wet mud on the ground is full of little holes that tiny crabs crawl into and out of. If you look closely (in the picture or in nature), you can spot a mudskipper. I don’t know if these creatures need to hide from many predators, but they certainly do embody a good camouflage tone for such an environment.

Vietnam Agriculture Shots

Like most places in Asia, rice is a staple food in Vietnam. Here, I find myself eating it every day.

Therefore, like most rural regions in this continent, rice is grown all over the place. Especially in flat lands, one can find so many stretches of rice fields. Some are smaller and just look like they feed families, but others look like they grow it to sell.

In the hill country of the Central Highlands, coffee is a huge crop. I learned that most of the beans are Robusta, but some are Arabica. Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee exporter, after Brazil, and this rural drive certainly made it seem so.

In the driveways of this region, the farmers carry the coffee beans out to dry under the sun.

After we were out of the Central Highlands, the weather got hotter, and all of these green, dread-locked plants started appearing.

I was wondering what they were, until we got up close, and discovered they were dragon fruit cacti.

We’d been eating these our whole trip, but still had never seen one grow. Now, we were surrounded by them, and couldn’t escape if we tried.

Here is a shot of the finished product of coffee, and the finished fruit of dragon. Coffee in Vietnam is served very strong. It is given on the spot to drip right before you drink it. Often, people need to consume it with condensed milk, as the taste is too intense, but some can handle the thick bitterness and drink it black. Most of the time, Vietnamese coffee is accompanied by green tea, which helps neutralize the flavorful caffeine and sugar.

Monkeys are also fans of dragon fruit, for future notice, whenever you happen to run into a monkey and have a dragon fruit handy (and preferably a knife to cut one up). I was able to toss this piece to this monkey, in which it caught with its two hands!

This market is in the city of Dalat. Supermarkets are not common in most of Vietnam, but markets are. Even in towns that have a big supermarket, markets still dominate how produce is sold.

Apart from plants being grown to eat, there are also plants used for other factors. For example, rubber tree plantations are common in Vietnam.

Up close, it kind of looks like they are wearing visors around the tap. Sort of like the ones that older women in Korea wear, for anyone who has seen those.

Looking at them as a whole, though, they look extremely carefully planned, mathematically measured on all dimensions.

So, it’s been quite the educational experience driving around Vietnam, getting to learn about the different crops and other products I’ve been consuming here and elsewhere, where they come from and how they are processed from the earth. Even so, there are so many things I’ve eaten or seen and still not known the name of, let alone have any idea about the agricultural process it takes to create them.

Vietnam So Far

First starting out in Vietnam, we were trying to figure out what to do. We were in the central coast of the country, and as Vietnam is a long, coastal country, we could either make a move north or south. That gave us some time to check out the tourist sites around us.

This is from Marble Mountain. It was full of caves, Buddhas and candles.

We went to Hoi An for a couple days, which was probably the most touristy place so far. We drove out to My Son from there, to check out some Cham ruins.

The ride there and back was full of rice fields.

We rented a scooter went up to Hue from there, and on the cloudy ride, this was on the way there.

In Hue, we bought a scooter from another foreigner, so we had to return the first one to Hoi An. So, I got to learn how to drive semi-automatic for the first time, in a foreign country, in the rain!

Though a good skill to have in these parts, these types of bikes do not exist in the United States, so it is only a temporarily useful skill.

After returning the bike, we made a decision to head southward, as the weather was warmer.We ended up spending days riding for hours and hours at a time, observing the agricultural and natural scenery, stopping at night in small towns. Vietnam has so many visitors that even in the smallest, off-the-map villages, we ran into other westerners. During one of the rides, we noticed this foot bridge. We only took a picture of it from one side, as it looked a bit sketchy to cross.

Most of the area we passed was largely rural, hence the omnipresence of cows. In some towns, at any point, a cow, pig or dog can run out into the middle of the street while you are driving. This might be very dangerous in a car, but on bike, you have more opportunity to maneuver, plus you aren’t driving too fast anyway.

Through the hills, some of the driving can get quite windy, so you’ll be forewarned. Some signs even let you know that the area has a high cow population.

Many of the landscapes reminded me of parts of California or the Southwestern United States I’d been to. I realized how little I knew about Vietnam before I had actually come.

From the movies, I thought it was all jungle, but in reality, the natural surrounding is quite diverse.

Rubber tree plantations are quite fine places to stop for a picnic, with all of the symmetrical cleared space, plus the umbrella-effect from the top of the trees.

Apart from landscape, this is a very populated country, so lots of different types of houses and buildings line the road.

Sumatra Landscapes

This is from the ferry across Lake Toba to Samosir Island. The journey did not start here, however, as it was preceded by a five-hour bus ride and flight into Medan. However, things became quite relaxing at this instance, at the largest volcanic lake in the world.

We ventured out around the island one day. Rice fields are abundant as ever.

Some wetter than others.

In these parts, washing machines are uncommon and dryers barely used. Many wash their clothes right in the lake and dry them to the breeze. It creates the fresh touch from the lake-fresh wind and water, a result that detergent and fabric softener designers often attempt to replicate in their products.

Some goats roam around, but others remained tied to the traditional Batak houses.

Heading uphill to see some cows roam.

View of a hill, from up another hill.

Yet more rice fields on Samosir Island, seen from an aerial view.

Dense concentration of trees. Hiking through this area is not too pleasant, as it’s full of vines and roots and mud, but there are nonetheless trees to temporarily calm the trekker.

The next stop was Berastagi, and we embarked on the main activity of the area, climbing Mount Sibayak, an active volcano.

Towards the hike up to the crater lake, everything starts smelling like sulfur. One can even pick up little yellow clusters of pure sulfur.

Two fumaroles around the crater’s edge. One can hear them steaming from about a mile away, and they sound like old cars driving around bends. It’s rather foggy due to the gas, so the visual component of the crater lake is not so apparent.

Total visibility of the scenery is not common, but is pleasant regardless.

We got lost on the way down, but ended up in a valley of greenery and misty peaks. The right way down ended up being through former metal steps that were mostly torn apart by mudslides, not to mention countless trees that had been uprooted and twisted in every direction over the once-designated hiking path.

In a land full of natural disasters and geologic wonders, one just has to stick to his or her primal instincts to make it down through the jungle.

Philippines Photos

This is the beach behind where we stayed in Moalboal, Cebu. You can make out the next island, Negros, in the background. Most people travel to this city for scuba diving, but as I don’t practice that sport, I spent most of the time dazing away at beaches like this.

Here’s a lake up a volcano in Negros, the next island. It’s a refreshing break to go up in elevation and escape the intense heat and humidity.

The jungle road on the way back down to town. Half of it is paved, half is not, so it can be quite bumpy, then smooth, then bumpy, but full of tropical plants the whole ride!

These lazy bum cats lived on our porch in Boracay. They would meow on and off all day to be fed, and whenever we’d go outside or open the door, they’d run into our place like they owned it. If we ever went outside with food, they’d start jumping up and try to bite it out of our hands, before we’d brush them off. They were friendly company, nonetheless.

As the Philippines is a country of thousands of islands, a popular mode of transport is by ferry. Bridges are not very common, so travelers will usually end up on a boat at some point or another. Some are big, some are small, some are sweaty, some are air-conditioned. Some are built up well, but others make it so you get splashed with ample seawater during your ride.

Vigan sausages are not vegan. They are made of pork, like most of the food in this country.

The vans are known as Jeepneys. They are a common way to get around in a city. They are kind of like a collective open-air van taxi, bigger than a car, smaller than a bus. Many of the drivers paint their Jeepneys in their own fashion. Some are very colorful, and many have Christian sayings like “God-powered” or “Jesus is lord”.

Another popular mode of transport is the tricycle. It is a motorcycle attached to a cart that has a wheel underneath. These are cheap to ride, but you’ll usually have to talk down the initial price offer with the driver if you’re not a local.

This bell tower offered a delightful view of a cemetery and mountains off to the east. This window was about one story high, so it was fortunate to have such a window not be screened or barred off from the outside. One must be careful to sit there and not fall, naturally.

An old mansion with antique furniture, also the site of some Tom Cruise movie.

Taiwan Trip

So, the first place after the year in South Korea was Taiwan. After a two-hour flight, followed by a night in downtown Taipei, we decided to rent a scooter to go tour the island. Being a seemingly small place with fine weather, there is no reason not to venture out and try to see what there is. Some travelers decide to do this by bicycle, others by bus or train, and whichever way they choose to go, there is certainly a wide range of places to explore without seeing everything.

The first trip outside of Taipei was to Wulai, a quaint mountain village known for its hot springs. It was pleasant to leave the hot, heavy city traffic clusters and leisurely drive up into the hills and explore the tropical plants that covered them.

It was then out from Wulai, through some winding hills, and then to the East Coast of Taiwan. We drove up and down the mountains, past shrines and green tea plantations, until we got sight of the Pacific Ocean.

A little closer in, it became apparent that this coastal town was full of rice fields.

We drove on to Hualien, passing through some simple little towns. We’d have to stop at the traffic lights, as road laws are more enforced here than in Korea. It gave us a chance to pause and take in the scenery.

From Hualein it was to the Taroko Gorge, a beautiful site full of greenery and rock formations, but also full of tour buses.

We did not spend too long there, just got back onto the East Coast.

Though we hit the Tropic of Cancer, it was quite cloudy and windy at the time, so it did not feel different.

At night, we arrived in the city of Taitung, where we stayed at Cats Homestay. These were the two owners of this establishment, on their break-time.

It was then down to Kenting, towards the southern tip of Taiwan.

Down to the rocky coast in the southern end of the island, it got quite windy, but nonetheless scenic. Kenting was full of pineapple bushes and typical beach-town tourist features, such as reggae-themed bar carts and sandal shops.

The actual southernmost tip of Kenting was jam-packed with tour buses, so we decided to go here instead.

As that was the most south we could go, it was then up the West Coast. The first destination was Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second-biggest city.

Hundreds of tourists from mainland China were in Kaohsiung. Some Taiwan locals choose to go up to the tour groups and show them posters about the Chinese government and some things that they censor. It looked like an interesting way of communicating, but I cannot read Chinese, so I don’t particularly understand what they are trying to get across.

Kaohsiung is supposed to be one of the most bike-friendly cities of Asia.

Of course I made friends with one of the locals.

Up north through the west coast, we had one of those experiences of having people tell us something, and then it coming to a reality. This piece of information was that the west coast of Taiwan was more populated than the east, was full of more cities and was more industrial. The air was definitely different, and there were certainly more towns and assorted development. When we started driving inland, the landscape became more flat, and was full of rice fields, fish farms and duck farms.

One place we stopped on the west coast was Lugang, a small town full of temples and old alley ways.

Even some of the modern establishments had hints of an antique feel. Taipei is wonderful at being a modern city with all of the amenities and efficient factors one could ask for, but this town was better to see history.

Some of the sites exhibited fine symmetry that kept up through all the ages.

After a bit of sightseeing, it was back to the hills. This country area had an abundance of strawberry farms, and we drove into the dusk and dark, searching for a hillside hot spring town campground. Though we could not find this campground, we had the opportunity of driving up a hill way above town until the pavement ended. Some nice people at one of the resorts allowed us to set up a tent on a grass field for free. The sulfuric water was heavenly to the skin after being cramped up on a bike all day, but was not pleasant to the nose.

From there it was back to Taipei, which was at first full of rural roads, and then back through the typical scene of suburban to satellite city to urban planning. It was an experience of a map coming to life in reality, a graphic depiction unfolding into truth upon your senses.

Summer in Nikko

During my time in Tokyo, Japan, I made the decision to venture out somewhere. This decision was reached prior to knowing to where that was. So, I picked up the nearest Japan book I could find, and checked out a list of day trips from Tokyo. I read of a mountain town to the north, full of temples and shrines and hiking. It sounded like the right place to head.

From Asakusa Station in Tokyo, I boarded the Tobu train bound to Nikko. I set out on my solo adventure to a place I had only heard of the day before.

Once out of the seemingly endless urban sprawl, outskirts and suburbs of the world’s most populous metropolitan area, I finally entered the Japanese countryside.

It looked like endless greenery, with the foreground being full of rice fields, the background being dominated by tree-infested mountains . I remember always learning about Japan in school, how very little of the land was arable and much of it was covered by mountains that were impossible to be developed, and there I finally was, taking it in.

After the Tobu train finally arrived in Nikko, it resembled to me one of those unknown Oregon mountain towns, rather spread out and not very populated.

Later on, I made my way later to the shrine and temple area, uphill, in the sweltering heat and humidity. I could have crossed a sacred bridge for a fee, or taken a picture of it on a parallel bridge for free, and I chose the latter.

I trekked even farther uphill to enter the attractions, which were quite a series of eye candy.

The dark shades of the emerald moss on stone sculptures almost made me forget about the bothersome summer sultry.

Of course I had to take a picture of the highlight, the Three Wise Monkeys of the Tosho-gu shrine. For many years, I have been familiar with the proverb, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” This associated image has been portrayed as a cliche to me in various cartoons and t-shirt designs, perhaps with monkeys or other cute animals. But, throughout the years of life, I did not know the inspiration for this concept would have been in front of me in a random journey in Japan.

To escape from the heat later, I also decided to take the bus up into the hills, far from gravity pulling down the sunlight, into the region that was reaching to the clouds.

The first evening I went, and enjoyed pacing around the trails, in the slight rain, getting my boots muddy and damp, taking breaks to view the calmness of the lake.

The next day, I needed another uphill journey. I decided to hike farther into this forest. I followed the path of the stream, and ascended up into the hills to satiate my curiosity of what Japanese forests looked, sounded and felt like up close and personal.

Though I’m familiar with forest, it was a novelty to see new trees, smell new soil, and be greeted with “Konnichiwa!” by fellow hikers.

New woods and new views of water are always a treat. Unfortunately, I found out later that most people have been scared of from traveling to Nikko for fear of nuclear radiation. It is sad that the recent natural disaster and its consequences have hurt this country in so many levels.

For whatever had led to the make-up of my trip, in the end, I had gotten to Nikko alone, explored alone, and even slept in a hostel room all alone. It was an interesting trip by myself, making mix-ups and learning my own way about a small town in a distant land.

Being New

Never have I felt such a wave of personal attention before, until I entered the village of Bekasi, Indonesia. This particular town is about one hour outside of Jakarta, and able to be reached on a 35-cent bus through one of the craziest and smog-filled traffic clusters known to the driving world. Though the city limits of this place contain over 2 million people, it is not at all urban, and has a very provincial feel.

Entering Bekasi from Jakarta, it seems as a simple rural village. There are a handful of main streets with single-lanes on each side, each passing traffic side packed with hundreds of moving motorcycles and collective taxis. Single-story shack shops line these streets, selling instant coffees, chips and occasionally mobile phones.

What is more interesting in Bekasi is passing away from the main street, into the network of homes, alleys and rice fields. The main street connects this village to the outside world, but it is the interior of this village that makes it what it is.

As we walked down the dirt and concrete alleys that snake these residence buildings together, we realized that we were fascinating the locals with our foreign skin and style, and attracted a small crowd as a result.

People often executed the same English lines:

“Hello, Mister!”

“Hello Miss!”

“Where are you from?”

“What is your name?”

“How are you?”

While hearing these expressions over and over, it was an extremely hot day in the tropical weather, so rest was often called for. Everywhere we stopped for a few minutes, crowds would stop and stare, and their numbers would grow.

Once becoming the center of a crew, the people of this village would motion the inquiry to take a photograph of you, and you would sit in a single spot, while others took their turns standing next to you, posing, getting up, and letting the next contestant sit down for the same photography round.

Walking down by some establishments of this village, I was also asked to make announcements for the local community.

If you took your camera out, many people of this village would happily stand for a photo, and then possibly ask you to take more after you have captured an image.

Apart from the human population, the number of animals was quite abundant. Herders would walk up their crew of sheep every so often, the old ones looking suffocated in their dense fur, and the young lambs frolicking along.

Stray goat families also scattered throughout this village, on the main street and in the side fields, nibbling on whatever looked tasty, whether small flowers or wrappers or leftover pieces of rice dishes.

Of course, lots of little cats also roamed around Bekasi. They formed their own sort of social network, creeping under motorcycles, striding across the sides of alleys and jumping across the rooftops.

At one point we entered the back of a small schoolyard, which was an area of grass and dirt surrounded by rows of one-story buildings. Dozens of children began to come out and have a look at a new breed of humanoids unfamiliar to their previous visual experiences.

As some of them saw our presence, the word of newcomers spread, and more and more ran out.

This ongoing pattern of being a magnet continued consistently, until I was surrounded by a sea of over 500 children. It felt like being a celebrity without any special talent, yet being so entertaining and special to the spectators. Everything I did, whether shifted my weight, opened my mouth or turned my head 20 degrees, changed their facial expressions to any range of excitement or fascination.

We had to part ways with these children, as such a thing was quite overwhelming on a scorching day.

As Bekasi is partially a rice village, we also entered the muddy bog territory of a rice field.

I got to guest-star rice farm. This is certainly a job of hard work, having to be under the hot sun all day, using a load of manual strength to beat the stalks against the board for a little bit of yield, then having to repeat this process hundreds of times.

Sometimes we can find different sorts of universes within our own planet. You can be completely unfamiliar with it existing, and get treated like an alien upon arrival, and still be confused after departure.