Japan (February to March)
Mount Fuji
Part 14 - Honshu
Geisha, Fuji, snow monkeys, temples; Japan is a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and colour. It is the exotic cultural experience we have been waiting for and we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our short stay here. Our Japanese adventure began with Mount Fuji, the most mountainy of mountains I have ever seen and by far my favourite mountain to date. With its perfect mountain shape and its cloak of snow it exudes serenity; not a bad attribute for an old volcano. We stayed in a hostel in a traditional little Japanese town by the lake. A drive around the lake to get a twilight view of the mountain also led to a little detour into a very old and beautiful shrine. We were the only folk there and enjoyed a real peace whilst strolling around. In a bid to get closer to the base of the mountain and get up out of the morning mist, we headed for the 4th base station the next morning. A bit of confusion with the directions led to a spot of off road driving up the walking trail which afforded us a spectacular view. We eventually found the correct road and travelled that too. As we drove up that approach road, the car suddenly started playing us the Japanese national anthem. The road has a series of bevels in it at varying intervals, so that when your vehicle tyres roll over the bevels they play you the anthem, very cool!
Geisha, Fuji, snow monkeys, temples; Japan is a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and colour. It is the exotic cultural experience we have been waiting for and we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our short stay here. Our Japanese adventure began with Mount Fuji, the most mountainy of mountains I have ever seen and by far my favourite mountain to date. With its perfect mountain shape and its cloak of snow it exudes serenity; not a bad attribute for an old volcano. We stayed in a hostel in a traditional little Japanese town by the lake. A drive around the lake to get a twilight view of the mountain also led to a little detour into a very old and beautiful shrine. We were the only folk there and enjoyed a real peace whilst strolling around. In a bid to get closer to the base of the mountain and get up out of the morning mist, we headed for the 4th base station the next morning. A bit of confusion with the directions led to a spot of off road driving up the walking trail which afforded us a spectacular view. We eventually found the correct road and travelled that too. As we drove up that approach road, the car suddenly started playing us the Japanese national anthem. The road has a series of bevels in it at varying intervals, so that when your vehicle tyres roll over the bevels they play you the anthem, very cool!
Geisha
After Fuji, we spent a few days in Kyoto, the heart of traditional Japan. We spent our first morning sightseeing, visiting the Rokuonji Temple and Neijo Castle before heading to another temple where we’d been told the local Maiko would be in attendance performing a tea ceremony. Rather than paying the entrance fee and waiting in line for an hour to be served tea, we papped the Geisha from over the fence! After a wonderful stroll through the cherry blossom, we headed back through the market to find our car. We’d not left it in the most ideal parking spot; rather abandoned it to escape the trauma of navigating Kyoto’s streets any longer. It is difficult to see the many traffic lights in Kyoto among the spaghetti mess of electrical cables and street lamps and bare knobbly trees, so you have to keep your wits about you. That, coupled with the kamikaze scooter and bike jockeys, and fractious children squabbling over something in the backseat and it can be quite a challenge to stay on the road, let alone negotiate the old narrow side streets and try and find parking near a very busy temple. After a circuit or two we found ourselves down a very old narrow side street not far from the temple and an empty parking spot. Seeing no ‘don’t stop here’ signs (we have a print out of Japanese road signs so we would recognise one if we saw one), we squeezed the car against the wall, between two white trucks and left it feeling quite pleased at managing to park so near, admiring the lovely little tea houses as we strolled to the end of the street, through the market and to the temple.
As we ambled slowly through the crowded market back to the car it dawned on us that the one-way street on which we had left the car opened out into the crowded market place. That is to say, we were stuck. Having just acquired lunch from the market (which involves choosing the most appetising looking mystery food that can only be identified when savoured – Andy’s had tentacles), and being anxious to eat it before it got cold, we sat in the car and ate whilst contemplating our predicament. To proceed forwards would mean driving straight through the market, not ideal what with possible law breaking and pedestrian maiming. Reversing backwards down the one-way street was not a popular option. A reccie on foot revealed our only escape route involved several very tight corners and a slalom of lampposts, flower pots and doddery old Japanese people … essentially driving through residential narrow alleyways that were not intended to be driven through. With wing mirrors safely tucked in, Andy got us back out into the mayhem of the main street, while I mumbled encouragement through clenched teeth. But the irresponsible car abandonment was worth it. It’s not so easy to observe Geisha and so we felt very satisfied with our day.
As we ambled slowly through the crowded market back to the car it dawned on us that the one-way street on which we had left the car opened out into the crowded market place. That is to say, we were stuck. Having just acquired lunch from the market (which involves choosing the most appetising looking mystery food that can only be identified when savoured – Andy’s had tentacles), and being anxious to eat it before it got cold, we sat in the car and ate whilst contemplating our predicament. To proceed forwards would mean driving straight through the market, not ideal what with possible law breaking and pedestrian maiming. Reversing backwards down the one-way street was not a popular option. A reccie on foot revealed our only escape route involved several very tight corners and a slalom of lampposts, flower pots and doddery old Japanese people … essentially driving through residential narrow alleyways that were not intended to be driven through. With wing mirrors safely tucked in, Andy got us back out into the mayhem of the main street, while I mumbled encouragement through clenched teeth. But the irresponsible car abandonment was worth it. It’s not so easy to observe Geisha and so we felt very satisfied with our day.
Snow Monkey
Leaving Kyoto behind, we headed into the snowy Japanese Alps in search of the famed snow monkeys. A detour off the freeway took us up through the mountains along a very narrow, very winding alpine road as the snow fell down. It was so pretty, travelling through traditional Japanese villages and past snow trimmed lakes. We tackled a 30 minute walk along a very slippery track threatening a sure tumble through the forest should concentration be lost; tricky when wrangling a small feral child. Our efforts were duly rewarded with the company of tens of Japanese macaques playing in the snow and bathing in the natural hot pools, looking incredibly chilled out. When it gets this cold and snowy in the winter, they seek out the hot pools and sit in them to keep warm. By far the best monkey encounter we’ve had and despite the treacherous approach, a whole heap less stressful than the baboon encounter!
Our taste of Japan culminated with a couple of days in Tokyo. It’s an exciting, curiosity rousing, sensory firework of a place to visit. The people are wonderful. They are the most courteous people I have come across and almost literally fall over themselves to help you as they scurry to do their jobs as efficiently as possible. Outside the capitals, the towns and cities are very industrialised and quite ugly for the most part, bombed to buggery as they were by the Americans (their own silly fault for siding with the Gerries) - but in amongst all the concrete, beauty remains; in the temples, shrines and palaces, and the few old districts that do still stand. The culture, the scenery and the iconic images of Fuji, Geisha, paper lanterns and serene shrines are enchanting and it is a country that has captured our imagination. We did of course download Memoirs of a Geisha and watch it one night in our ryokan. And the garden cabin is destined for a Japanese makeover when we get home!
If it hadn’t been for ‘Suki’ Satnav, I think our travels through Japan might have been more stressful. With her expert guidance we have negotiated the freeways and the alleyways almost without a hitch. She guided us in Japanese so we relied on the map. Despite having heard it a thousand times, however, I still have no idea what ‘mini hokodai’ means.
Our time in Japan has passed far too quickly but to stay here much longer would bankrupt us. And now that we’ve had a jolly nice spot of winter it’s time to move on, for springtime in Cali beckons. We are about to cross the International Date Line. We shall arrive in Los Angeles before we leave Tokyo! As we’ve travelled east around the world, we have increasing lost time as we found ourselves further and further ahead of GMT, losing 13 hours at the most in New Zealand. We then gained 4 hours back in Japan and soon we will regain our lost day, and then some! When we land at LAX it will feel like 4.30am on Thursday (Japan time) but will actually be 11.30am on Wednesday (US time). We will arrive before you get this email and we haven’t even left yet. We will have effectively lost 7 hours, but really will have gained 17 hours. Maths never was my forte but I think that will put us an hour ahead of our lives. I wonder, by the time we get back to the UK, will we have lost or gained hours of our lives in total? We’ll let you know how we get on with the time warp next time, but for now I shall continue to try and get my head around it. Mind blown!
Our taste of Japan culminated with a couple of days in Tokyo. It’s an exciting, curiosity rousing, sensory firework of a place to visit. The people are wonderful. They are the most courteous people I have come across and almost literally fall over themselves to help you as they scurry to do their jobs as efficiently as possible. Outside the capitals, the towns and cities are very industrialised and quite ugly for the most part, bombed to buggery as they were by the Americans (their own silly fault for siding with the Gerries) - but in amongst all the concrete, beauty remains; in the temples, shrines and palaces, and the few old districts that do still stand. The culture, the scenery and the iconic images of Fuji, Geisha, paper lanterns and serene shrines are enchanting and it is a country that has captured our imagination. We did of course download Memoirs of a Geisha and watch it one night in our ryokan. And the garden cabin is destined for a Japanese makeover when we get home!
If it hadn’t been for ‘Suki’ Satnav, I think our travels through Japan might have been more stressful. With her expert guidance we have negotiated the freeways and the alleyways almost without a hitch. She guided us in Japanese so we relied on the map. Despite having heard it a thousand times, however, I still have no idea what ‘mini hokodai’ means.
Our time in Japan has passed far too quickly but to stay here much longer would bankrupt us. And now that we’ve had a jolly nice spot of winter it’s time to move on, for springtime in Cali beckons. We are about to cross the International Date Line. We shall arrive in Los Angeles before we leave Tokyo! As we’ve travelled east around the world, we have increasing lost time as we found ourselves further and further ahead of GMT, losing 13 hours at the most in New Zealand. We then gained 4 hours back in Japan and soon we will regain our lost day, and then some! When we land at LAX it will feel like 4.30am on Thursday (Japan time) but will actually be 11.30am on Wednesday (US time). We will arrive before you get this email and we haven’t even left yet. We will have effectively lost 7 hours, but really will have gained 17 hours. Maths never was my forte but I think that will put us an hour ahead of our lives. I wonder, by the time we get back to the UK, will we have lost or gained hours of our lives in total? We’ll let you know how we get on with the time warp next time, but for now I shall continue to try and get my head around it. Mind blown!
