11 must-know Japan tips

Listen to Ultraman here: In Japan, these handy little gadgets are the best way to stay connected, allowing multiple devices unlimited, un-throttled data at the same time while allowing local calls via Internet calling apps.

The flat-rate, foreigner-only Japan Rail Pass can be used throughout the extensive JR train network and save a lot of money for travel by train. They must be reserved outside of Japan.

You too can become a whirlwind blur in a Japanese subway station. For short-distance trains, these pre-loaded transportation cards save a lot of time that would otherwise be spent buying individual tickets, and are especially handy for transfers.

Speaking of trains, this app is a godsend for foreign travelers navigating the complicated subway and train networks. It's accurate to the minute.

Thank you, price wars. Japan's major carriers are offering discounts for foreign travelers for air travel within Japan. Again, bookings must be made outside of Japan, before your trip.

Haneda Airport is much closer to Tokyo city center than Narita International Airport, meaning the train ride is considerably cheaper, too.

If you're flying into Narita, take the N'EX (Narita Express) into Tokyo -- it's more comfortable than alternative trains, with nicer seats and more luggage space, with no transfers.

It's not perfect, but whipping out the Google Translate app is a handy way for translating what you want to say on the spot.

In case the battery for your phone or wireless router dies, always carry a print-out of your address.

ATMs at Citibanks, post offices and 7-Elevens are the best bet for your foreign card. We know it may be obvious, but check to be sure it's activated for foreign withdrawals before you leave home.

Forgot your phone charger? Craving hot chicken? Need a change of underwear? How about concert tickets? When in doubt, head to a "konbini" -- Japanese convenience stores anticipate pretty much every need of people on the road.

• Practical tips include pre-booking a wireless router and a JR Rail Pass


• Many of the foreigner-only discounts and services can only be reserved outside of Japan


• Download recommended apps for smoother travel

(CNN) -- Japan isn't a country to which you just show up and wing it.

For foreigners, the language barrier can be intense, the technology overwhelming and the prices terrifying for just about everything other than instant ramen.

The key is preparation.

We've taken care a lot of that for you with the tips below, leaving you to puzzle out the fun stuff, like getting out of a karaoke bar with your dignity intact and figuring out how to ask them to hold the katsuobushi at breakfast.

1. Rent a wireless router

Getting a prepaid SIM card with local calling service is difficult in Japan.

It's better to rent a handy little wireless router, known as "pocket Wi-Fi" in Asia.

This will allow multiple gadgets -- smartphone, laptop, tablet, Kindle -- to connect at once with un-throttled, unlimited data.

Local calls are then possible via cheap Internet phone services like Skype.

You can rent and return one of these devices easily at the telecom company counters at most airports.

Booking online before the trip brings the price down even lower.

Global Advanced Communications, for example, offers a deal of ¥5,550 ($53) for a seven-day rental plan if you book before the trip.

They deliver the device to the airport/hotel/office for free the day before your arrival, and include a prepaid envelope for returns.

2. Book a Japan Rail Pass before arrival

Booking the flat-rate foreigner-only Japan Rail Pass, which can be used throughout the extensive JR train network on all four main islands, can save a lot of money for travel by train.

There are two types of Japan Rail Pass.

The Green Pass (¥38,880 or $374 for a seven-day pass) is for "superior class" green cars on trains.

The Ordinary Pass (¥29,110 or $280 for a seven-day pass) applies to economy class cars only.

As green cars are less likely to be full, the Green Pass makes it easier for couples or groups to sit together (or sit at all).

Important: the pass must be booked outside of Japan before the trip.

To procure one, visitors must do the following:

• Buy an exchange order from JR sales offices and agents in a foreign country (see the list here).• Make sure their passport is stamped with "Temporary Visitor" when they enter Japan.• Bring exchange order and stamped passport to a JR Station with a Japan Rail Pass exchange office (list of stations here).

READ: The cat that saved a Japanese train station

3. Buy a Pasmo card or a Suica card

For multiple trips on short-distance trains (including the subway and metro area JR trains), get a Pasmo card or a Suica card that can be charged in bulk.

These transportation cards save time otherwise spent buying individual tickets for each journey (it can be difficult to figure out how to select your destination on ticket machines).

They're especially handy when transferring trains, and are available for purchase at ticket vending machines in train stations, bus stations and subway stations.

Preloaded options range from ¥1,000 to ¥10,000, with a deposit of ¥500 included in the price.

While some trains don't accept Pasmo and some won't accept Suica, most will accept both and the two are pretty much interchangeable.

They can also be used to make purchases at stores and vending machines.

4. Download the Hyperdia app

Cabs are extremely expensive in Japan -- the price is hiked up even higher at night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. -- so it's good to have a firm handle on the public transport system.

This easy-to-use Japan train app is a godsend to foreign travelers and is free for the first 30 days.

Upon entering train departure and arrival stations, the app displays (in English) the exact journey time, distance, fare and transfer stations, as well as which track your train is departing from.

This includes long-distance shinkansen as well as subway trains.

Woe to those who are late by even a minute -- the schedule is incredibly accurate.

MORE: 5 Tokyo bars for train nerds

5. Take advantage of discount rates on domestic flights

Thanks to a fierce price war for domestic flights, Japan's major carriers offer discounts for foreign travelers for any air travel within Japan.

ANA's Star Alliance Japan Airpass allows international visitors to take up to five domestic flights for just ¥10,000 ($96) each.

Japan Airlines offers a Oneworld Yokoso/Visit Japan fare starting at ¥10,800 ($103).

Tickets must be booked outside of Japan on the airlines' global websites.

6. If there's a choice, fly into Haneda, not Narita

This applies mostly for domestic flights to Tokyo, but if all things are equal, Haneda Airport is a lot more convenient to fly into than Narita International Airport.

A train ride from Haneda to Tokyo Station takes approximately 28 minutes and costs around ¥580 ($6), while the train ride from Narita to Tokyo Station takes approximately 58 minutes and usually costs at least ¥2,600 ($25).

See below for more information.

7. Book N'EX from Narita

If you're flying into Narita, the N'EX (Narita Express) is the comfiest way to get into the city -- there are no transfers, the seats are nicer and there's more luggage space than the alternative train, Keisei Skyliner.

While ticket prices are usually higher than ordinary trains, N'EX is currently running a deal on one-way trips from Narita into the city for ¥1,500 ($14), half the usual price.

Tickets can be bought at the JR EAST Travel Service Center or one of the JR ticket offices in Narita Terminal 1 and 2.

The half-price deal doesn't apply from Tokyo to Narita, however.

READ: 50 reasons why Tokyo is the world's greatest city

8. Download Google Translate app

The extent of the language barrier may come as a surprise to first-timers to Japan.

We asked translators and a publisher of English study materials in Japan, and they agree that the Google Translate app is one of the handiest ways for translating what you want to say on the spot.

It has a camera input option and is available offline for Android 2.3 and above, and is free to download.

Many of the translations are hardly perfect, but your hosts and others you meet will at least get the gist of what you're trying to say.

9. Print out your hotel address in Japanese

This goes for travel to most foreign countries as well, but it's a particularly useful tip in Japan.

Just in case your phone battery runs out and you can't look up the address in a taxi, have a print-out to show the driver.

10. Know where to get cash

It can be surprisingly difficult to find an ATM that accepts foreign cards, even in Tokyo.

The ATMs that do can be found in 7-Elevens, post offices and Citibank ATMs.

Again, this sounds obvious, but you can save a lot of frustration by double checking before you arrive that your card is activated for withdrawals in a foreign country.

11. Know where to find refuge

When in doubt, head to a konbini -- a Japanese convenience store, including 7-Elevens.

They sell everything from phone chargers to underwear to concert tickets.

The hot food selection is also extensive -- varying from fried chicken to udon to yakisoba sandwiches.

READ: Irukaya: The fine art of a perfect cup of coffee

90-year-old to save turtles

The turtles of Dalyan are victims or their own popularity. More than 600 tour boats ply the waterways taking tourists to view them.

Rock tombs built by Lycians -- people who lived in the region 2,500 years ago -- loom over the the Dalyan waterways.

The Dalyan Delta is an almost-tropical maze of river channels, pools and reed beds. In 1951 it doubled for Africa in the Humphrey Bogart film "The African Queen."

June Haimoff originally moved into a stilted fisherman's hut on the beach at Iztuzu, but now stays in nearby Dalyan town with an extended family of cats and dogs.

Haimoff has dedicated her life to looking after Dalyan's loggerhead turtles. She continues to campaign on behalf of the beach and its inhabitants through the Kaptan June Sea Turtle Conservation Foundation.

Measuring up to one meter in length, mature females return to Ituzu to lay their own eggs. About 300 females still bury their eggs in the sand each May.

• Turkey's Dalyan Delta was used as the backdrop for the 1951 film "The African Queen"


• June Haimoff, who came to Dalyan in the 1970s, was instrumental in blocking plans to build a hotel complex


• Haimoff, known as Kaptan June among locals, has dedicated her life to saving the local loggerhead turtles

(CNN) -- "No turtle, no pay," says the boatman as we arrive at the Iztuzu jetty, where visitors are embarking on tours of the lagoon in search of loggerhead turtles.

Iztuzu lies on Turkey's Dalyan Delta, an almost-tropical maze of river channels, pools and reed beds that once doubled for east Africa in the 1951 film "The African Queen," starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.

Its beautiful stretches of unspoiled sand are as much a draw for tourists as, for the past 100,000 years, they have been for turtles.

That both tourists and turtles can still enjoy those beaches today is largely thanks the efforts of one remarkable woman: June Haimoff.

Royal backing

In the mid-1980s, plans were drawn up for an 1,800-bed hotel that would have wiped out the turtles.

But the developers hadn't reckoned on Haimoff.

MORE: 6 Turkish adventures beyond the beaches and bazaars

The English ballet dancer, painter and singer fell in love with Iztuzu during a sailing trip in 1975 and moved into a simple wooden hut here eight years later to live among fisherman, who nicknamed her "Kaptan June."

The ancient ruins of Kaunos lie within reach of the Dalyan river delta.

She also fell in love with the loggerheads, launching a campaign to save the beach that won global support -- including the backing of Prince Philip, the husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and then president of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The campaign led to the cancellation of the hotel project and what Haimoff praises as an "intelligent and courageous" decision by the Turkish government to make Iztuzu a specially protected area.

"I began it alone, but I didn't do it alone," she tells me.

Now 90, Haimoff no longer lives on the beach, but in nearby Dalyan town, with an extended family of cats and dogs.

She continues to campaign on behalf of the beach and its inhabitants through the Kaptan June Sea Turtle Conservation Foundation.

"The battle has not been won," she says.

Propeller threat

Today, Iztuzu's loggerheads are threatened by their own popularity.

June Haimoff no longer lives on the beach, but in nearby Dalyan town.

More than 600 motor boats now ply the river, ferrying visitors hoping to glimpse them or to view Kaunos, a ruined city built 2,500 years ago by the Lycians, who also built rock tombs in the cliffs overhead.

MORE: 5 of the world's best kebab joints

But unless the boats are fitted with propeller guards -- those that are carry the foundation's logo -- the turtles are at risk of injury.

Cafe owners often toss leftovers into the water to attract them, but the food scraps can do more harm than good, making the turtles ill or deterring them from heading out to sea where they're at less risk of injury from boats or from hypothermia in winter.

Conservationists want to see turtle feeding banned before this year's season starts.

"The Dalyan Delta is not a zoo," says Haimoff, who is also campaigning against the construction of a giant metal turtle sculpture within a protected nesting area.

A visit to the Sea Turtle Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, where injured turtles are cared for, is enough to convince most visitors.

Those hoping for a glimpse of the amphibians in the water are unlikely to be disappointed.

Turkey's Dalyan Delta is a maze of river channels, pools and reed beds.

Luring loggerheads

Turtles are easy enough to spot if you come to Iztuzu -- or other protected turtle beaches such as Patara or Cirali, on the surrounding coast -- in early summer.

About 300 females still bury their eggs in the sand here in May.

The female hatchlings that scramble into the Aegean Sea around 80 days later spend 20 years at sea before returning to Iztuzu as mature adults, each up to a meter in length and weighing 135 kilograms, to lay their own eggs.

MORE: Best restaurants in Istanbul

The turtles have become a nice little earner for Dalyan, a fact celebrated in the town's center by a life-size sculpture of a loggerhead.

Among those benefiting are the boatmen.

It takes about 45 minutes to chug down to Iztuzu from Dalyan aboard one of the boats operated by the Dalyan Boatmens' Cooperative and costs 10 Turkish lire ($4.50).

At the Iztuzu jetty, where boatmen offer turtle spotting trips for an extra five lire, we putter over to where a couple of local fishermen are casting lines baited with crabs, hoping to lure a loggerhead.

The crabs have vivid red and turquoise claws and are a Dalyan delicacy.

Loggerheads like them too, and after 10 minutes we (and five other boatloads of sightseers) are rewarded by a glimpse of a massive, big-eyed turtle taking the bait in its beak.

Smartphones flash, and everyone goes home happy -- especially the boatman, who pockets a 100 lire bonus.

It it Flight 370's data recorder?

• Are the pulses detected by a Chinese patrol ship MH370's pingers?


• The frequency and location are indications they might be


• There are also a number of reasons to doubt the latest lead

(CNN) -- After weeks of fruitless searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, it sounds like a promising sign.

When a Chinese patrol ship picked up two pulses in the southern Indian Ocean, the head of the Australian agency coordinating search efforts called it "an important and encouraging lead."

Investigators hope the audio signals are locator beacons from the plane's data recorders, but they're not sure yet.

Is it the discovery we've all been waiting for? Could those be Malaysia Airlines Flight 370's pingers?

Here are four reasons to believe and six reasons to doubt:

REASONS TO BELIEVE

1) The frequency doesn't occur in nature.

The Chinese Haixun 01 patrol ship detected pulses at a frequency of 37.5 kHz, the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported. That's the same frequency of black box pingers -- and that frequency is no accident. The pingers were designed to have that frequency because it does not occur in nature.

2) There were two separate events.

The Haixun 01 reported two pulses within 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) of each other. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, head of the Joint Agency Coordination Center, described them as "fleeting, fleeting acoustic events." One was described as being 90 seconds long; no time was given for the other, but it was evidently shorter.

"I think the fact that we have had two detections, two acoustic events, in that location provides some promise which requires a full investigation of the location," Houston said.

Australia cautions about false positives

Another 'acoustic event' detected

China: Pulse signals lasted over a minute

3) You usually know a ping when you hear one.

The pings are, under ideal conditions, easily recognizable. They "ping" like a metronome — with a steady pulse about once a second.

4) They're in the right spot.

According to the latest analysis of Inmarsat satellite data and aircraft performance, the Haixun 01 is in the right spot. In fact, search supervisors, citing the new analysis, are moving the focus of the search to an area that includes the location of the Haixun 01.

"The area of highest probability, we think is now probably in the southern part of the area, pretty close to where Haixun 01 is operating," Houston said.

REASONS TO DOUBT

1) The ocean is noisy.

In addition to the Haixun 01's two "acoustic events," ships detected two other events in a very short time, showing exactly how noisy the ocean is.

The British ship HMS Echo recorded one event that was determined to be unfounded. The Ocean Shield, an Australian naval vessel equipped with sophisticated listening equipment, has also detected "an acoustic noise" in another area of the ocean to the north. According to a CNN calculation, the Australian ship was about 350 miles (565 kilometers) away from the spot where the Chinese ship detected the pulses. It's also unclear whether the sound the Australian ship detected was related to Flight 370.

The search team is urging patience and restraint.

2) Only one pulse was detected at a time.

The Haixun 01 detected only one pulse at a time. Assuming both black box pingers are working, are close together, and are unobstructed by debris or terrain — and those are, admittedly, big assumptions — they should have heard two pingers, perhaps like a metronome with an echo.

Pinger locator: A shot in the dark?

What's inside of a black box?

Will MH370's black box ever be found?

3) These aren't ideal conditions.

While pingers are easily identifiable under ideal conditions, the current conditions are far from perfect. Video of the searchers show them listening to the hydrophone with earbuds, not headsets that would block out ambient noise.

So the steady "pings" -- which actually sound like the snap of fingers -- could be confused with or overwhelmed by other noise, such as the waves lapping against the boat.

The Chinese said they did not have time to record the pulses, precluding a scientific analysis of the sounds.

4) A spare pinger on the boat might have sent the signal.

In video of the Haixun 01, it appears the Chinese had a spare pinger in the boat.

Anish Patel, president of pinger manufacturer Dukane Seacom, says it is not recommended to have a pinger near the area where you are trying to listen.

If that pinger gets wet, it will start transmitting, potentially confusing search teams.

"I wouldn't put one where I'm measuring," Patel said. "It's just not good common practice."

5) The equipment was designed for shallow water.

The hydrophone the Chinese used to detect the pulse is "designed for shallow water applications," not for the deep water, said Thomas Altshuler of Teledyne Marine Systems, manufacturer of the hydrophone.

"They are using it in a scenario outside of our normal operation," he said.

Is it possible that it heard a ping from the depths of the Indian Ocean?

"It is possible, but it would be right at the edge of that detection (capability)," he said.

6) The underwater search of a vast area started only recently.

The search area is so large, and the underwater search has just begun. It almost defies belief that the pingers could be found so soon. But then again, almost everything about this case defies belief.

THE BOTTOM LINE

We'll give the final word to Angus Houston.

"This is an important encouraging lead, but one which I urge you to continue to treat carefully," he told reporters. "We are working in a very big ocean and within a very large search area, and so far, since the aircraft went missing, we have had very few leads which allow us to narrow the search area."

CNN's Aaron Cooper and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

11 things about world's biggest election

An Indian supporter Narendra Modi holds up masks of the prime ministerial candidate at an election rally.

• World's largest election has begun in India; lower house and next prime minister are at stake


• India's slowing economy is the key issue, authors say; 1 in 3 of world's poorest are in India


• BJP candidate Narendra Modi is considered to be the favorite for prime minister, they say


• Authors: Young voters and women may play a bigger role in this election than in the past

Editor's note: Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst, and Ana Swanson is an MA candidate at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Both are editors of the South Asia Channel on foreignpolicy.com.

(CNN) -- India's general election, the largest democratic exercise in history, begins Monday. Voters will elect 543 members to the lower house of parliament, which will then select the country's next prime minister. Here are 11 things you need to know about the world's biggest election:

1. Its massive scale. More than 814 million voters are expected to cast ballots over the next month to elect the lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha, up from 713 million voters in 2009. The Indian voting pool is larger than the total populations of the United States and Western Europe combined.

Given the infrastructure in India, an election of this scale can't be done in a day. Voting will take place in nine blocks over the next five weeks, to allow election authorities to tackle the daunting logistics of operating 930,000 polling stations. The vote counting will be carried out and concluded on May 16.

2. It's the economy, stupid. India's flagging economic performance is the election's central issue. After registering Chinese-style growth rates of 8% to 10% in the 2000s, India's economy slowed sharply in 2012. GDP growth now remains below 5%, coupled with persistently high inflation.

Indian politicians and academics remain divided over whether the country should focus its energy on first reigniting growth or on alleviating poverty. Even after a decade of rapid growth, India is still home to one in three of the world's poorest people. Unlike other countries, India's poor tend to vote in higher numbers than the rich.

3. The BJP and the "Modi wave." India's main opposition party, the strongly nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, is positioned to win the most seats in the lower house of parliament, though it is not likely to win the outright majority necessary to form a government without coalition partners. The BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has gathered momentum by positioning himself as an advocate for economic development and good governance. Many expect Modi's business-friendly campaign to lead his party to its biggest victory ever.

4. Modi's charisma and controversy. Modi has a strong record as chief minister of the state of Gujarat and a "strong man" reputation that many see as a welcome contrast to current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But Modi has also been criticized for his authoritarian bent and ties to right-wing Hindu organizations.

Although an investigation set up by India's Supreme Court cleared him of wrongdoing in 2012, some voters remain suspicious of Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, in which 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. The U.S. State Department denied Modi a visa in 2005 because of his alleged culpability, but it changed tack in March, saying it would welcome Modi to the United States if he wins the election.

5. The crisis of confidence in the Congress party. Anemic growth, persistent inflation and frequent corruption scandals have tried the public's patience with the Indian National Congress, the country's oldest party and the core of the ruling United Progressive Alliance over the past decade.

Rahul Gandhi, the heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and the party's choice for prime minister, has been portrayed as a reluctant leader, and some believe the Congress will be reduced to its lowest number of seats in history. For its part, the Congress criticizes the BJP's policies as exclusionary and emphasizes its social welfare programs, aimed at helping the poor.

6. Nepotism is here to stay. The competition between Gandhi and Modi has become something of a public referendum on India's entrenched political elite.

Rahul Gandhi, who is the son and grandson of previous prime ministers, is depicted by critics as cosseted and out-of-touch, while Modi's campaign emphasizes his humble origins working for his father's tea stall as a child. But despite Modi's popular appeal, research by Patrick French indicates nepotism remains alive and well in Indian politics. Nearly 30% of current members of parliament are from political families; for parliamentary members younger than 40, the figure rises to two-thirds.

7. Criminality among the Indian political class is endemic. An astonishing 30% of the current parliament faces criminal charges. Judging by the new crop of candidates, it isn't going to be much better in the new parliament. According to research published last week, almost a fifth of the candidates face criminal charges.

By contrast, none of the sitting members of the U.S. Congress is facing criminal charges; in 2013, only two members -- or less than half a percent -- were convicted of a crime.

Put another way -- and this may come as something of a surprise to those many American readers who hold the U.S. Congress in low regard -- Indian parliamentarians are on average 60 times more likely to be charged with a crime than their U.S. counterparts.

Corruption and criminality may prove hard to shake in Indian politics, since the rising cost of campaigns means they are dominated by the wealthy. The Centre for Media Studies estimates that Indian politicians may spend around $5 billion campaigning, triple the sum for the last national poll in 2009. The figure is second only to the $7 billion spent in the 2012 U.S. presidential race, the world's most expensive election.

8. The role of young voters and social media. First-time voters are expected to make up roughly 10% of those who will go to the polls this election. India's population is very young: More than 65%, or nearly 800 billion people, are younger than 35, according to the latest census. This youth bulge is lending weight to candidates who prioritize economic development, as well as increasing the importance of social media in campaigns.

Young voters grew up after reforms to liberalize the Indian economy began in 1991, and thus have high expectations for leaders to reignite India's growth. In large part because of the youth contingent, spending on social media advertising during the election may reach $83 million.

9. The rise of the Aam Aadmi Party. An offshoot of the anti-corruption protests in 2011-2012, the AAP galvanized support with its surprise showing in last year's local elections for the Delhi Assembly.. The AAP won 28 of the legislature's 70 seats and its leader, activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal, was appointed as Delhi's chief minister. But while the AAP has energized young voters and the middle class, it hasn't yet shown it can transition from a protest movement to a governing force.

After failing to deliver on key election promises, Kejriwal quit his post in Delhi after only 49 days in office. The AAP is expected to take votes from more established parties in the election and could be instrumental in forming a governing coalition.

10. Women are raising their voices. Long expected to vote in line with the male members of their families, Indian women are becoming an electoral force in their own right.

Women account for 48.5% of the electorate, but in some recent polls, they have voted in higher numbers than men. Inflation and safety are likely to be among their most pressing concerns as women control most household budgets and violence against women is an emergent political issue. The gang rape and subsequent death of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi in December 2012 and numerous other cases have sparked widespread protests and precipitated a reckoning of the position and treatment of Indian women.

11. The key role of regional parties. No party has won an outright majority in India since 1989. This year's results are likely to be the same, meaning India's regional parties will likely be instrumental in helping the BJP or Congress form a government. Regional parties control five of India's biggest states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, which together account for more than 200 Lok Sabha seats -- and their wide variety of agendas and proclivities make determining India's future policy direction difficult.

Whether elected officials can deliver the decisive governance that India needs will depend in large part on the character and strength of the governing coalition.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter.

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Rwanda not what I thought it would be

Rwanda is nicknamed the Land of a Thousands Hills for its countryside dotted with mountains, volcanoes and hillocks. "There are some places that touch you and touch you quickly. Rwanda was one of those places," says aid worker LeAnn Hager, who lived there between 2012 and 2014.

During the Rwanda genocide in 1994, Fidele Mparikubwimana killed 10 members of Esperance Mugemana's family. He later spent 10 years in prison. After Mparikubwimana asked her forgiveness and the pair participated in a reconciliation program, Mugemana found it within herself to forgive him. They now live as neighbors.

Many women lost their husbands and children in the genocide. Today, there are about 50,000 genocide widows in Rwanda who live in communities established specifically for them so they can support each other.

Through immense personal strength and forgiveness, many survivors and perpetrators of the genocide have found a way to live together in peace.

While many perpetrators and survivors have found peace, speaking to their children about what happened is still difficult for most people.

Leann Hager, Catholic Relief Services country representative in Rwanda until 2014, speaks with a local bishop about working together to reconcile communities after the genocide.

Historians have recorded only some of the names of the people lost in the 100 days of violence in 1994 that killed nearly 1 million people. This wall at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in the country's capital is an on-going project.

The Murambi Genocide Memorial in southern Rwanda includes graphic displays of the brutality of the genocide. People were killed after seeking refuge at this school under construction. At the memorial, victims bodies have been preserved to reflect the manner of their deaths.

A preserved mass grave at Murambi Genocide Memorial serves as a stark reminder of the atrocities of genocide and the oft-quoted pledge, "Never again."

• April 7 marks 20 years since the start of the Rwanda genocide


• LeAnn Hager, an aid worker, spent 2012-2014 in Rwanda


• When she heard Rwanda, she thought of genocide, until she got there


• Have a personal essay to share with the world? Submit at CNN iReport

Editor's note: Twenty years ago, Rwanda was nearly ripped apart by an inter-tribal genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 people, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group. LeAnn Hager works for Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. She was the organization's Country Representative in Rwanda between 2012 and 2014. She now heads a team in Central African Republic. Hager's story first appeared on CNN iReport. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- When I first arrived in Rwanda's capital in 2012, I deliberately did not visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did not want that experience to influence how I approached the country and its people.

In my mind, Rwanda was going to be this country that was still on the brink of economic disaster. It would be very poorly set up, with a bad road system and difficult telecommunications. Frankly, I despaired of working with the government, thinking it would be extremely challenging to work with.

I remember 1994 well. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa and the Rwandan genocide, right on the heels of Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa, was big news across the continent.

The child-run household I met after the genocide

When I was assigned to Rwanda 18 years later, my first thought was the genocide -- this is probably true for most people. But when I asked friends and colleagues who had lived there for advice, they spoke highly of the country and her people. I started seeing this as another adventure on this continent that I love, though I had visions of the film "Hotel Rwanda" resounding in my mind.

Those preconceptions were quickly dispelled once I got there.

When you get to Rwanda, you are hit by the incongruity that strikes so many: How could such a horrible thing have happened in such a beautiful country? The nickname Land of a Thousand Hills is not an exaggeration. Rwanda's countryside is dotted with what appear to be literally a thousand hills that are a mixture of mountains, volcanoes and hillocks. The beauty is reflected in the people: Rwandans are incredibly friendly and hospitable. But just as you cannot see the other side of a mountain, you cannot always tell what is going on behind those eyes.

Rwandans obey their country's many rules. I love that, to reduce pollution, plastic bags are forbidden and even taken from you when you arrive at the airport! For anyone who has spent time in Africa, it's incredible to see people actually wearing helmets on motorcycles, drivers and passengers alike, both in Kigali and in the countryside.

National pride and a commitment to the idea that Rwandans should lead the development of their country are strong. From them came the concept of Umuganda, or community service. During the last Saturday of each month, citizens do some type of community work in their neighborhood, like picking up garbage or cutting the grass. If they do not show up, they're fined an amount determined by the neighborhood leader. (These days the neighborhoods are like anywhere else: Some are made up of different tribes and ethnicities and others are homogenous.)

Amid the beautiful parks and tea plantations are the somber genocide memorials found in virtually every community. They serve as a daily reminder to never forget the atrocities. At the same time, they allow for personal reflection on mankind's capacity for both evil and resilience.

Rwandan's mission: Justice after genocide

Why 'eye for eye' couldn't work in Rwanda

20 years on, children of Rwanda's rape

Four months after my arrival, I was ready to see the Kigali Genocide Memorial. I was glad I had waited. You walk alongside slabs of cement: a mass grave where over 250,000 people killed in Kigali are buried. At the end of one of the cement tombs is a wall with names, an attempt to identify some of the souls lost during the tragic 100 days of the genocide. You almost weep when you realize they will never identify them all.

One room tells the tale of other genocides or "cleansing" events in history around the world, reminding us that the international community has not been diligent about the oft-quoted pledge, "Never again." And in the room dedicated to children who were killed -- you see their names, what they enjoyed doing and who was their best friend -- your heart starts to tear. I was never able to actually read all the remembrances to these children. Though I have always considered myself a pretty tough and realistic humanitarian worker, I had never seen anything like this.

A single visit ensures that the memorial realizes its purpose -- you will never forget.

It's an experience that makes you wonder how any society can come back together after something that tears so deeply. But I know from what I had seen, and from my organization's work, that it is possible. Many genocide survivors and perpetrators have since been able to seek and grant forgiveness and now live peacefully, side by side.

I watched a woman tear up and embrace a man who had killed her family.

Witnessing these scenes is almost surreal, but deeply moving and humbling. Could I ever forgive? Could I ever confess and ask for forgiveness?

Looking at Rwandans today with a certainty that such an atrocity can never happen again, you wonder "How did this ever happen in the first place?" When Rwandans say "never again," I believe them. But when I look at the international community, those words don't have the same meaning. Are we really a community in which most of us watched this suffering and death from the sidelines?

It will happen again somewhere else. We've seen it in history.

In March of this year, I was asked to head our program in the Central African Republic. The lessons from Rwanda still echoing in my head, I was compelled to say "yes" to a country being torn apart by intercommunal fighting, just as Rwanda had been. My time in Rwanda has shown me the limitations of what the international community will do in situations like this, but also taught me lessons and given me hope.

Just 20 years ago, Rwandans went through genocide, but they came back and they came back quickly. I attribute a lot of that to the strong will, the leadership and most importantly, to the resiliency of the Rwandan people.

Peace is possible. Reconciliation is possible. I pray that we can realize the same here in Central African Republic. And we can, with a little influence and a lot of political will.