Day 13: Fresh Sushi

12th July 2007

6:15 am: Urgh! I. Feel. Like. Shit. Mild headaches, extremely sore throat, dizziness. I'm no doctor, but I know I'm getting sick. My health bar very low. The reason for having to wake up so early was simple. We wanted to experience the Tokyo Fish Markets for what is was worth. The plan for today and the following day was to explore the inner suburbs of Tokyo. Our reliance on the JR Network had served us well but now we required Tokyo Subway access. We purchased a 2 day subway pass for ¥1000.

If almost as predicted we had problems getting from the JR line to the subway line. We managed to get Tsukiji markets, funnily enough we got there by following other tourists quite obviously also heading there. It should be noted that although the Markets do sell seafood they also cater for other fresh foods such as vegetables and spices. Narrow dank walkways led us through a grid shaped market. It was an entire ocean bed cut and presented en masse. Each store had slabs of tuna, fresh eels, crabs and various crayfish. Keeping shoes out of puddles of brine was one objective, the other was dodging merchant carts that sped around the market. The sights and experiences of one of the world's largest markets was fine and dandy but got boring, quickly.

This was all well and good but we were getting hungry and walking around looking at food is minor solace for two starved tourists. We walked about the market probably covering no more than 20% of the entire floor before we exited and found ourselves at a small sushi bar just on the outskirts of the area. The sushi was extraordinarily fresh (duh) but somewhat overpriced for what we got. At least we can say we had Sushi in Tokyo!

9:00 am: On schedule and on time, we proceeded to some Garden. The details, such as the name and features escape me. The defining thing was that it was sub par to the order gardens we had seen. Think Sydney's Hyde Park but lamer. I remember there being a water gate and some murky looking body of water. It was around this time (in the trip or in the day) that my accomplice's grip on reality finally slipped. What proceeded was a mild comic outburst as flies, heat and futility sunk in.

Couple of kms later and a handful of overpasses down we make it to Ginza by foot. There's a certain air of affluent snobbishness to the place. Despite all the shops being closed it had a distinct feeling of western influence. Large foyer boutiques on wide open pavements. More designer brands. Gucci, LV, Burberry, Prada. The shops were all closed and by the time we hit central Ginza it was only a little after 10 am. Nothing was open. We plonked ourselves outside the Sony Building and counted down the minutes till opening. Gathered on the steps of the building were other tourists who had also thought to come early only to find that Sony (along with majority of the other shops) opened at 11.

In the not so far distance Political Party Candidates were promoting their Party credentials and getting their face in the public for the upcoming elections. Vans mounted with large speakers were blaring policies throughout the quiet streets of Ginza.

10:30: Some shops fronts begin to open. We visit GAP once more and managed to do some shopping. The Sony building was more of a shop front rather than a museum. Definitely a popular tourist location and one of the highlights. The pride of Japanese technology, latest and swankiest gadgets and electronics. Kinda sad that we probably wont see half of this stuff in the Australian market.

Being very impressed with the range of technology we caught a train to Akihabara. It had started to rain so we ducked off under cover to grab some very tasty lunch. We explored the Anime Centre which contained some famous Japanese Cartoon Characters (Gundam, Astroboy, that blue cat thing etc). Other than some larger than life figurines and animation cells the place was somewhat of a disappointment. We sat down and began to watch an "Akihabara Video Tour" guide, halfway through we realised that it probably be best to explore the place ourselves.

Electric City, plenty of neon, large buildings, and people. Overall the place was quite overwhelming, the rain however made it not so enjoyable. Large shops that had everything electronic under the sun. Dedicated shops and stalls for the most specialised items. Camera shops, phone shops, LAN shops, resistor shops, LED shops. Specific stores for specific needs. Walking around we found that items were a little cheaper than back home. We ended up leaving empty handed. No big purchases. Exhausted!

Making use of our pass we made a small evening trip to Roppongi, supposedly the place with the most international influence. Plenty of multicultural food stores, from African, to Turkish to the staple Italian cuisine. We of course opted for the more Traditional Japanese Ramen store for dinner. I've taken quite the shining for Ramen, if only they had a Sydney equivalent. After dinner we just walked the streets. Again we were lost, seriously, could we be any more tourist? Passed Roppongi hills and popped into a local supermarket and bookstore. I Love this bookstore, peopl propped up against walls, perusing, chilling, hanging out. I could stay here all night long. Everybody was busily doing their own things, depsite this it has a nice feel, very trendy, culturally driven place. I picture it to be a place yuppies would reside. I get to sleep in tomorrow. Hallelujah!

Day 12: day trip out

11th July 2007

Starting to feel a little over done with Japan and its tourist sites. We've seen enough temples and shrines to be content for the rest of the trip. Nonetheless we still had Kamakura on our schedule of things to visit and see. One day into our Tokyo leg we had found the most ideal route from our hotel to Shinjuku JR Station. Kabuki Cho is a different place during the day time, restaurants, shops and plenty of people. A far cry from the red light district that it transforms into after sunset. That being said we had a daytime route and a night time route.



We caught a 2 hour train ride out of Tokyo to Kamakura. Up to date I think I've successfully managed to sleep on each and every bullet train. Today was no different. Gigabeat in the ears I drift off only to be awoken by the electronic charms of the train. First stop is the Kotokuin temple also famous for the large bronze Buddha. This is the second largest Buddha in Japan only to Nara. Again there were plenty of tourists, we snapped some photos and managed to bust out some Canto to get some Honkie tourists to snap us in a shot. For approximately 20 cents we were able to enter the large Buddha. Nothing much inside. We walked to the next Kamakura destination which was Tokeiji Temple, again I honestly don't remember too much of this, except the cave like shrine.

It was just before lunchtime and we were off to our next destination. Yokohama. I'm feeling very fatigued right now. Are we Japan-ed out? Again we were lost and neglected to pay attention to the bullet train announcements. We instinctively got off the train. Only to look at each other with blank looks "Are we at Yokohama?". Almost in unison we both took in a large breath. Looked back at each other and said "Smells like Chinatown". Don't ask me to describe what Chinatown smells like. I'm not talking about the trashy back alleys of dicey Chinese restaurants. I'm talking about the deep fried goodness coupled with the smell of used oil.

Walked about the city, quieter but had a nice feel. Eventually found the Chinatown. Didn't look that big... Decided it was time to eat so found the first restaurant we could find. Actually there was a young lady and an elderly man advertising. "All you can eat for ¥1400." As tempting as it sounded we kept on walking only to eventually came back. The eating area was upstairs and obviously the popular choice with locals. The food was Yum Cha style servings on a sushi train type setup. Food was good. Stuffed ourselves silly with dishes. everything from steam buns, to noodles, to chicken, curried prawns and jellies. Yum!

The afternoon was spent walking around Ueno looking for Americaya a denim store. We were walking around the wrong side of town among all the Jewellery stores. We had given up and started to walk back to Ueno station when we stumbled upon the store almost accidentally. Hip hip! I bought a pair of Evisus and contemplated a very stiff pair of Samurai jeans (I resisted). By the end of the ordeal we had given up on our daily activities for today. Asakusa would have to be left for another trip.

After a long day out, I always come back and change into my thongs after a nice hot shower. Getting back to Shinjuku we followed the Lonely planet for food advice. Up until then we had made an effort to try all the local specialities. Tokyo had us lined up for sushi and a nice dish called Shabu-Shabu. Initially we set out for the restaurant, but couldn't find it. Big hassle. Ended back at the hotel, this time we bring out the map and Lonely Planet. Still cant find it. Map says it should be here (phrase of Toyko). Eventually we find a nice little joint. Lady has great English and explains the workings of Shabu-Shabu.Kind of a Broth type setup with thinly sliced beef, mushrooms, tofu and stock, sugar we eventuates into a steaming broth. Most of the restaurants that have eaten at and had decent hospitality and/or service we've taken a photo with the host. This was no different. The food was nice, nothing outstanding, host was charming and a nice way to wind down.

9:20 pm: Since we finished dinner quite late, it had written off most of the evening activities. Instead we wandered around the streets of Shinjuku, very careful to avoid any strip bars and seedy looking areas. I entered a Chemist and asked the lady if they stocked Yuskin. She shows me to the location. I immediately without thinking grabbed all the boxes on the stand they had in stock. I have Yube! During our voyage around we stumbled upon some baseball batting cages, had a few sessions of hitting the ball. We chose a nice easy pace of 100 km/hour the balls were thrown, lobbed, flung at us and admittedly I only landed a couple of them. Still, it was a great stress reliever. Stress, from a holiday? You Betcha! Why am I always getting sick?

Day 11: Final Destination

10th July 2007

I don't think I have ever been more eager to leave a holiday destination. We arose early, grabbed some breakfast pastries and left B&B Pansion. The walk, that we had become so used to would be walked once more in my lifetime. After a couple of interconnecting trains we were soon at Hakone-Yumuto and eventually back at Odawara. We arrived in Tokyo shortly before lunchtime. Up until this point in time we had made one crucial assumption. That being, when you book something online you're pretty much guaranteed that booking. We haven't had Internet connection in just over 2 days and all we had was the name of our final hotel. The Kent Hotel, Shinjuku.

Immediately arriving at Shinjuku station the number of people that sustains a population of 12 million people (in Tokyo) was informally introduced to us. We were caught up in people moving in every direction, running for trains, moving like ants with a place to be. We were not up to par, stuck clueless we walked about dodging people and maneuvering our luggage through the station of Shinjuku. We decided to seek help from a place called Across Travellers Bureau. We emerged from the underground station and it couldn't have been more blatantly obvious that we were lost tourists in one of the largest cities in the world. Lugging luggage around with one hand, map in the other, camera around our necks. Could we have advertised being LOST anymore?

Due to our skillful acting and the confused looks a local ran to our aid. He took our Lonely Planet and proceeded to direct us to the Travellers Bureau. We spoke and tested his broken English. Turns out he was/is studying English and wanted to get some practise (uh huh! Motive!). After some walking through the busy streets he brought us to a major intersection. Looked up. Looked back at the map. Looked around. Looked back at the map. "Mmmm, it should be here". Clearly disappointed that he was unable to help us he directed us towards a Tourist Office on the other side of town. His instructions were surprisingly good and we found the place and spoke briefly with the information desk workers.

Kabuki Cho, is definitely a happening place. Plenty of large billboards, shops, people and restaurants. We struggled to find the Kent but after some searching we found it. It was tucked away in the cinema district. To our shock when we arrived to check in the concierge told us there was no booking under the name we had provided. We had just assumed we had received the reservation confirmation. We hopped into the first Internet cafe we could find. The guy at the desk was exuding confidence at the highest level. Unfortunately due to our circumstances it definitely wasn't the time and place for over exuberance.

Checking my email confirmed our fears. Bookings were full and we had missed out on the reservation. We prepared a new line of attack. First and foremost we would head back to the Kent and see if they had any rooms available. If not, then we had a thorough list of backup hotels and locations to approach for lodging. Fortunately we got back and to our luck booked two separate rooms.

We unpacked and grabbed some Ramen for lunch. What a terrible start to Tokyo. The rest of the day we spent exploring Shibuya. This was supposedly the trendy part of town, the place to be. It must have been the weather but we were quite disappointed. It was spent doing some light shopping, dodging umbrellas and avoiding the rain. One highlight of Shibuya was building 109. A building dedicated to fashion, in particular women's clothing and accessories. It was a senses overload, chicks screaming out shop sales, gorgeous Japanese women. My mind was at the point of shutdown. Wow! Grabbed some pasta for afternoon tea. There are some seriously hot chicks in Shibuya.



That evening we explored Shinjuku, the place is huge, we were constantly referring to our map and took numerous wrong turns. It's too easy to get lost here. What a bright city! Large signs advertising different products, even larger projectors displaying the latest J-pop single, Neon signs of every colour imagineable, reds, yellows, pinks, electric blue, the list is endless. Thankfully our hotel The Kent is situated close to the station. What we didn't realise it that Kabuki Cho is on the Red Light District side of town. We were approached by plenty of people. "Do you want to see Japanese girls?". For some reason only I was approached by these seedy pimps.

Used the net that night, the usual emailing, browsing. Found out that Yube is also known as Yuskin. Well i'll be...

Day 10: Ripped off

9th July 2007

My pillow has beans in it. I'll leave a couple of minutes for that to sink in. Beans. In a pillow. Why? Surely feathers cant be that expensive, even cloth! Heck something smaller and more pliable. Sand! Ok, maybe not sand. I have a crook neck time and slept with a sheet over my head only because there was a mosquito that bothered. Breakfast was simple but surprisingly decent. Bread. Plenty of baked items, croissants, snails, puffs, tarts. Carb me up for our day trip out at Hakone. Weather update, more overcast deary grayness, hopefully we'll be able to see Mount Fuji.

Ended up walking back down to Odewera station, the cabbie suggest we just catch a train (or bus) to the Owakudani Cable car depot. Nice view that the cable car, boy these things move at an incredibly slow pace. We travelled over the hot springs gushes of hot sulfuric air escaping from the earth. This place bites. Made our way to the hot springs, mmm sulfuric goodness. Smells like eggs, rotten eggs. For some reason there were a million Chinese tourist around. Took the customary photos and tried some 'special black eggs' the sign claims if you eat one of these eggs it will go far in extending your life span by 7 years! Get out of town! 7 years per egg! Of course they only sold the eggs in batches of 6, I see what's going on here, they're trying to breed a group of naive tourists with extended lifelines. That's the last thing we need, naive people living longer! We ate two eggs each and gave the remaining two to some tourists. Tasted like a normal overcooked egg. Oh the novelty...

Caught a couple more cable cars and explored about, found ourselves down at Ashino Ko, the famous lake of Hakone. Where "on a good day" Mount Fuji can be seen with opportunity to see the reflection off the lake. It wasn't a good day. No Fuji sightings. Apparently these "good days" frequent only a handful of times a year. Thanks Lonely Planet, for nothing! The boat trip set us back around 30 bucks, we didn't get off at any of the stops, each time they announced an upcoming stop we quickly referred to the Lonely planet to see if it was worth disembarking... Consequently, we found nothing worthwhile to get us off the boat. It's not even lunch time and Ive spent close to 90 AUD. ON what?! Some black eggs, a mediocre boat ride and all the cable cars a sane man can endure in one lifetime! Yea not a huge fan of Hakone, although we maintain to this day that it would have been excellent if we had seen Fuji.

Stopped by one of the local eating houses, the Gyzoa Center Gyzoa for lunch. Was a nice little establishment with friendly staff. Food was basic but quite tasty. After lunch headed back towards Odakyu the main station. This place absolutely sucks. And we still have another night here. Found a TIC and decided we might as well check out one of the Onsens. The TIC ladies giggled when they told us that you have to be naked for them. As per usual the queried our nationality. Australia!

We walked out and fried to find the bus stop for the Tanzen Onsen, apparently one of the more upper end Onsens. The guy at the bus stop pointed at the bridge. "Uh, ok"... we walked to the bridge, there wasn't a stop there. We consulted the map handed to us by the TIC ladies, she had put a dot in the middle of the bridge. How odd. Surely enough a bus stopped in the middle of the bridge, a couple of older Japanese men climbed aboard and soon we were speeding round the mountaneous roads.


Tanzen Onsen. We were handed a 'modesty' towel and proceeded to enjoy an outdoor bath. Being naked and all we opted for the bath that was the least populated. Turns out it wasn't populated for good reason. It was 50+ degrees. I sat there feeling every inch of my body slowly braise in the spring water. Mmmm, I couldn't hack it I jumped out into one of the onsens that was more moderately heated... I tried to obey the rules of onsen-ing and enter without disturbing the water. Yea disturb it like Sumo on a 10 metre board. Not very discreet, ah well. I sank into the pool in all nakedness and placed the towel on my head. Relaxation does have a price. Thing about hot water though is it be becomes irritable, stuff this! I'm going to find a cooler pool. Not just a cooler pool, the COLDEST one. So I jumped in! Almost immediately I felt my legs go weak, probably not the smartest idea, I tried to get out. I felt my head spin. Uh oh, what have I done? This is trouble. I left the onsen and showered myself. No towels, how am I going to dry myself. With an express blower that's how. Upstairs they had an meditation area where people lay down on tatami mats and listened to tranquil music. Ah, I wanna give that a go, too bad we have to catch a bus at 4. Missed the bus.



The day, not the most strenuous of our trip has still managed to exhaust me. Not feeling so well, I can feel myself getting sick. Tried a Thorpedo drink, mm diluted yakulty goodness.

Ended up finding out that there was an amusement park Yunessun right underneath our noses. Found a nice looking Japanese restaurant for dinner. Food wasn't terribly great although the photos don't agree with our thoughts. The host gave us a nice curtain. Right.

Jumped back into the local bath house, I couldn't hack another hot tub, I just sat and scrubbed myself, It's so therapeutic sitting and cleaning yourself, hosing water. Something so primitive yet so essential.

Mosquitoes! Huge, blood sucking mozzies, just perched all over the ceiling waiting for us to go to bed. I came back from the communal bathroom to find my companion on his bed with a tissue in one hand smacking at the mosquitoes. 10 minutes later we had rid our room of all visible pests.

Day 9: Running

8th July 2007

9 days in and last night was the best sleep of the trip so far. All this running about is finally taking its toll on me, oh well, least I got a good nights rest. Not too sure about how my roomie is going, wonder if my snoring has kept him up or not? It definitely paid off to get the larger room, especially coming from the smaller cubicle-esque 'hotel rooms' we stayed in Kyoto and Osaka. They're not wrong about being of a 'westernised' influence. We did our washing last night, which should hopefully suffice for the remainder of the trip. Especially seeing we plan to buy some extra items in Tokyo. The only thing that would have made the sleep better would have been if it WEREN'T AN INTERRUPTED SLEEP! As previously mentioned our washing hadn't dried after two shots in the drier. Seeing that, we split our wet load into two batches and fired them each up for 2 hours. So at 2 am our alarm clock goes off. Theoretically we could have woken up early and retrieved our laundry in the morning, but we didn't trust people and didn't want to inconvenience any late night patrons that may have wanted to use the facilities. Oh I hate foreign alarm clocks. Not foreign as in international, but foreign as in not being used to the alarm tone. Stark. Abrupt. Loud. We trudged downstairs. %#*&$!! The drier was still going! Set on the option "cd" which stood for cold dry. Why! So there we sat, at 2 am, half asleep, waiting for the perpetual droning of the drier to cease. 10 minutes later, highly irate it finished. Back up stairs we went and back into the deep slumber that was the best sleep of the trip...

7:00 am: Rise and shine! Oh I needed so much more sleep, I'm not a morning person. If you want grumpy, not interested in conversation, uninterested then well, that's me. Yet surprisingly I was feeling rejuvenated and we had fresh clothes! Minimal shrinkage (the clothes) and we were on our way to soak in some of the sights of Takayama. Packed our bags and left the hotel for Miyagawa Markets. Our plan was to be back at Takayama station to catch the 9:42 train to Nagoya.

Miyagawa was a short walk from where our hotel was located, the streets were very quiet at that hour. Takayama has a very ancient secluded feel to it, if you can put aside the tourists it's a nice enchanting little town. Morning markets weren't anything special, plenty of fresh food and little trinkets. We bought a couple of souvenirs and sampled some snacks. Beef on a stick, oh mouth watering succulent goodness and some traditional rice crackers.

We left the markets and strolled around the traditional houses, at 8:30 we start to head back to the hotel, at this point in time the TIC is open, we duck in to find something to do from now until 9:30 when we should check out of the hotel. Lady recommends the Hida Folk Village. Heck why not! Realising we were short on time we decide to not bother with the bus and catch a cab out there. Darn 10 minute cab ride, that means we should leave this place at no later than 9:15 to get a cab.


It was definitely worth it. AMAZING! Old Sydney Town but, Japan! We had gotten there so early that the place was practically empty. Winding forest trails, small houses, props, huge lake, waterfalls, water mills. Unfortunately our photos don't quite reflect the breathlessness of the whole place. Admittedly we were only halfway through it and it was already 9:05. We rushed around the rest of the village and emerged 10 minutes later at 9:15. Shit no cabs. We we're going to miss the train, although we we rent terribly fussed because it was definitely worth it.



"If it's a 10 minute ride, it's probably no more than 3 kms." We (or possibly I argued) Psssht We ran half marathons we 'were' (were being the operative word) doing at least 6 minute kilometres. We can run back. So we ran! We stripped off our shirts off and began running through the streets of Takayama at 9 in the morning. Undoubtedly we got curious looks from passing cars and pedestrians, but we didn't care, we needed to catch the train (else wait another 2 hours) , check out at 10. During this moment of madness I thought to myself "this is like the amazing race"... I managed to lead us astray and take a wrong turn (what's new?) delaying us by another 10 minutes. My bad. We got back to the hotel at 9:35. Stepped into the foyer half naked all sweaty. patrons looking at us. Grabbed our luggage and checked out of the hotel. Ran across the road. Thank goodness we were across the road from the station. and jumped on the train waiting at the platform. Nagoya! Here we come...

5:05. Currently on a Shinkansen from Nagyoa to our next destination Odewera. A lot has happened since my last update. We reached Nagoya at around lunch time. Apparently it's the 3rd largest city in Japan, the main station was packed! As we ventured closer toward Tokyo the population seemed to increase. Nagoya station, like most stations had a Shopping complex built into it, huge departmental stores with all the prestige international brands. LV, Gucci, Prada, Armani, the list goes on. In a train station! Was tempted to do some shopping (not at the fore mentioned shops) but I resisted the urge and left it for our final destination.

We had again picked the wrong time to have lunch, each restaurant was crowded, lines extending around corners again we settled for Vie De France and feasted on bread. We dumped out luggage into the locker at Nagoya, actually we had a problem trying to find two full sized lockers and we eventually stuffed the backpack into a medium sized locker. TIC again were very helpful, they gave us English maps and some recommendations for the Sumo tournament.

When we finally got to Nagoya Gymnasium we were initially quoted ¥10300 and we agreed until we realised that was 100 bucks per person for an event we were destined to stay no longer than 2 hours for. On second thoughts, maybe not. All the other tickets were sold out. We had managed to coincide our Nagoya sumo experience with the first day of the National Tournament. We came all this way.... what to do... suck it up? We asked around and eventually found a private booth selling tickets for a split box for ¥47,000.

We were escorted into the Gymnasium, it was still early so the under cards were fighting, the main event was scheduled to start at around 6 pm. We weren't planning on staying that long. One word. Cramped. The 'box' was approximately a 1.5 x 1.5 m square with four 50 cm mats one for each person. We had a delightful old couple next to us. Not delightfully old but old and delightful.The husband (I'm assuming) must have been the biggest die hard sumo fan while the wife (not as interested) sat behind him. They must have been spending a nice Sunday arvo noon out. We tried to communicate with them, they spoke Japanese we spoke English. Plenty of smiling and nervous laughing, our phrase book was of no use. Left the Gym grabbed a Bento Box (nothing special) from Nagoya station and now were off to find Hakone!

7:50 pm: Things haven't panned out so well. As I write this were currently on a train heading towards Shinjuku (Toyko!). We purchased tickets (not covered by JR pass) at Odawera station to Kowakidani. Again we missed our stop, we should really stop having so much faith in believing that one train will take us to our final destination. So we headed, involuntarily back to Odawera station. This is where things got a little hairy. It was getting late already, so we had no choice of querying a TIC so we had taken a photo of the Rakuten map for B&B Pansion. We were trying to figure out how close it was from Kowakidani Station. Lighten from the train back at Odawera. Uh oh! The camera was still on the train, which was now bound for Tokyo. Ran up to the ticketing booth to try to explain to them our situation, we were then directed to the 'Lost and Found' area. Dialogue that followed went something like this:

"Hi, I've lost my camera. I left it on the train just then"
"Camera, lost"
"Camera *does hand gesture* lost on train *does more hand gestures*"
"My Camera. On train. Me. No Camera"
"Camera, on train to Shinjuku"

There were more hand gestures and frantic hand waving. Oh it sucks not being able to speak the language. Our predicament could have been solved within seconds. Thankfully the situation was explained, he took the camera details, the train carriage and handled the situation very professionally. What a nice/helpful guy. Trains run on time and the staff are friendly, what a magical city. If this were Sydney we could have kissed that camera goodbye! We were told to come back at 7:34. Bingo! The camera was retrieved at a station and we were ordered to that station. The guy then wrote don't the station name 'Shimatsuba' turns out there is no station by that name but we got off at the stop that most closely resembled it. Our B&B check-in time of 8:00 has been missed.

The train ride to Kowakidani was a see-sawing affair. Train rocked backwards and forwards up the mountain. It was painful as we didn't know what was going on. Finally got to the station and it was pitch black. No shop fronts. No lights. No cabs. The station was situated in the middle of a hill. We had two options, go up the hill or go down it. If we wanted winging coming to Japan, this was it. The map on the camera we would soon find out would prove of no value. Using the logic that, if we go up the hill and it's the wrong direction the journey back won't be so bad going downhill. Up the hill we pushed. We we're lost. I ran up ahead to a well lit area to see if it was the hotel. No dice, a cemetery, strange. Lugging my blasted suitcase up a hill in the middle of the night with cars screaming around the bend was something of a character building exercise, yes, that's it, character building. We asked probably up to 5 people where the B&B Pansion was. 40 minutes later and after a terrible amount of backtracking we had arrived. Walked through parking lots, gone up stairs, walked through dark narrow pathways it was like finding a treasure. We had arrived! This place is the worst. It's a glorified hostel. Noisy, basic beds, beanbag pillows and a shared bathroom.We were definitely off to a bad start with Hakone.

We had arrived, we were down on energy and enthusiasm but definitely glad to have found this place. What a LONG day. I feel bashed and can't wait to sleep. We unpacked and began to wonder why we had taken two nights accommodation in this hole. The up side of the B&B was that it had a private bath house. Tonight would be my first public bath experience.

The main onsen etiquette are as follows:

• You must be naked
• You must not use any un-turnovered pails
• You must enter the water without making any disturbances to the water

The place reminded me of the Street Fighter Stage where you fight E Honda in Japan. The change area was wooden with bamboo crates to put your personal belongings. Inside the actual bath house was primarily made of white ceramic tiles, in the centre was a large shallow pool of steaming hot water. The high ceiling collected steam as precipitation soaked down the walls. There was a small water feature that muffled the deadly silence which would have driven me crazy. Awkwardness at first to strip down naked, but hey the place was filled with unabashed elderly men that had gotten into their baby suits with no hesitation. What was endured was one of the most thorough washes I've ever had in my life. I sat on the wooden stool and threw water over my shoulders and I scrubbed myself clean down to the bones. 20 minutes in the public baths and I was beyond relaxed and ready for sleep. I emerged from the water pruney and took another quick rinse. Be gone dirt!

11:41 pm: Watching the Federer verses Nadal 2007 Wimbledon final. Most probably not going to be able to stay up and watch the whole match. I feel so clean.

Day 8: Saw us coming...

7th July 2007

4:55 pm: Stranded, well not so much stranded but our travels have definitely halted. The Japan trip travels have taken a mild hiccup. I wrote this post whilst being stuck at Inotani Station. Up until now most of our impromptu traveling has gone quite smoothly. We should have known the minute we boarded the train. It wasn't technically even a train! More of a small 2 carriage transportation which actually in my opinion resembled more of a tram. So here we are. In the sticks. Whoop-Whoop. Nothingness. The station is literally in the middle of nowhere. Single platform station with a single track that goes back and forth. The train tracks run in between two constructs. The first is the train platform and the second is a poor excuse for a bus depot. When I say bus depot what I actually mean is an old shanty, doorless shelter that houses a couple of books, customary vending machines, old sun worn benches. Oh and I forgot to mention that there's Japan's Most wanted criminal posters plastered everywhere. Very unsettling. Currently waiting for an interconnecting bus to the next station where we're planning to board another train to Takayama. This better be worth it.

The day started with out final breakfast at New Osaka Hotel. Today we had scheduled a Kanazawa/Takayama day drip. The day hasn't gone to script. Catching the JR line to Kanazawa was quite simple. What we thought would be a simple trip from Kanazawa to Takayama wasn't the simple train journey we had fore casted. 5 hours of travel time. BIG SIGH.

The TIC lady gave us a thorough detail of things to to in Kanazawa. Unfortunately due to time constraints we needed to get to Takayama by nightfall. That left us with exactly 1 hour to explore Kanazawa. We called this part of the trip "rapid fire K" or Kanazawa in a nutshell. The main attraction was Kenronken Gardens supposedly one of the top 3 gardens in japan. Meh, nothing glamorous, top 3, really? This led to more inane photo commentary.




73 photos remaining, better transfer some over to the Gigabeat tonight. We were in and out of Kanazawa quite quickly and boarded the first train we could find at 1:00 pm. Proceeded to catch the first train we could find to Takayama. The train was PACKED! School kids everywhere. I felt like the biggest inconvenience to the other commuters. My luggage took up so much standing space and I was constantly having to shift and move my luggage for passengers. Train ride was through some beautiful Japanese backdrops. I alone only shared these sentiments as everybody else on the train probably passed these settings day in and day out. What we thought was a direct train to Takayama wasn't to be, a one of the train staff at Inotani station went through the carriages and informed us that this train was heading back to where we had just come from. So we got off. Here we are in Inotani waiting for the bus. 5:05, ten minutes left. I accidental left my umbrella back at Osaka, just hope it doesn't rain. Least my Gigabeat is charging.

Right before the bus was due to arrive a busload of European tourists got off. At least we were heading in the right direction, the tourists knew what they were doing. The bus arrived and we jumped on. I slept majority of the bus trip, but what i did see was amazing. Beautiful Japanese country side. I'm pretty sure we still had to catch another train before we got to Takayama. Arrived at Takayama just before sunset and proceeded to look for overnight accommodation. As usual we referred to the LP for advice. It recommended Richshaw Inn, a Ryokan nearby the station. Took a while to find the joint infuriatingly it was booked out. We had failed to take the advice of "book well in advance". Dammit! It looked so nice as well. Ended up resorting to Country Hotel which was very nice, we opted for the larger room for an extra 25 bucks a night. It was made even bigger because the room we were given was fitted with the emergency escape crane gizmo. After settling in we ducked downstairs for dinner and grabbed some Hide beef. Very delish!

11:35 pm: Finally in hotel. We're waiting for clothing to dry downstairs, second session of drying. Hotel has laundrette so we stuffed all our dirty clothes into the washer. Still damp after one drier run. Finally booked Tokyo accommodation (so we thought) staying at a place called the Kent. Takayama has been pretty disappointing so far. Although the train ride was awe inspiring! I'm over blogging for today...

Day 7: Himeji

6th July 2007

Yesterday was my second terrible sleep in this bed. Imagine that, two inaedquate sleeps, I blame one thing, the bed! There's something about this New Comfort Hotel that prevents me from getting a good night's sleep. It could be the inconsistent air conditioning that abruptly stops halfway through the evening throwing my body temperature out of whack. Or it could be that bar fridge next to the bed making all that noise. Or the perpetual noise of the toilet. Who knows, let's just blame it on bed bugs. Our next destination on our whirlwind tour of Japan was Himeji. So far the JR pass has served us very well, well worth the $470 investment.


9:00 am: Ko-en Gardens was our first stop, we purchased the Ko-en Garden and Himeji Castle admission combo. The gardens and castle were about a 20 minute walk from the Himeji JR station. Japanese gardens have been quite impressive and this one was no different. Simple water features and plenty of green. This was also the first time we brought out the notepad and permanent marker combo. It would provide running commentary for the photographs in the rest of the trip.

Walked over to Himeji Castle. "If you only see one castle in japan make it this one" sound advice from the Lonely Planet. We got there early and had already walked through the main gates when we were lucky enough to get a Volunteer tour guide. After 7 days we had our first tour! Her name was Yoshiko Nakamura. We would later find out that she had given the exact tour to some very distinguished guests. With the likes of Bill Clinton and Anita Keating being in former tour groups. She was quite simply an amazing lady with a passion for Japanese History, in Particular Himeji Castle. Enthusiasm and love for her job made it a very enjoyable and comprehensive tour. We bumped into other tourists from the States and (saw them overhearing some Himeji Castle history) we invited them to tag along in our group.

On the way back from Himeji we made an attempt to swing by Kobe for some Kobe beef. No Beef.

The evening was spent walking around Amerika Mura, plenty of people around, pretty mediocre actually. We got very lost around here and often joked about have a GPS tracking system plotting our routes. We passed Tokyu Hands a number of times and got officially lost, being unable to match up our walking with the map. As usual we were getting sick of walking and wanted to eat. We passed numerous dessert areas. Finally settled on a noodle joint, No pictures. No English. After a few chuckles we managed to order some ramen. Also did some shopping, bought some ipods from the Apple store. Still no Yube!

That night we hopped on the computers in the New Osaka and spent some time trying to find Hakone accommodation. The strayed from Asiarooms and booked through Rakuten. That would be our second mistake, our first mistake would be Hakone. Since we had no way of finding out where to get there we snapped a photo from the website of our reservation. B&B Pansion. We actually thought it was Passion.