Day 7 - Mt Fuji, here we come!

Posted on May 22, 2008
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Stupidity and randomness, Japan, Holidays, A "How-to" tutorial of insanity, Photography - All about the photos Baby! | 1 Comment

Today was the day of travel. Once again, we packed up all of our belongings into our suitcases and lugged them over gravel, sand, cobblestone and side walks to the train station. Carrying them upstairs was a particular joy that is better left forgotten.

The two and a half hour train ride to Mishima Station passed rather uneventfully as we read and listened to music. Our luggage was safely stowed away leaving us plenty of room in the mostly empty compartment.

On arrival at Mishima, we were meant to catch a bus to Kawaguchiko Station. After asking for a help (a few times) we were directed to the ticketing agent who advised us that it is, in fact, 2 buses. The first of which was TINY. I can’t emphasise how small this bus was! Picture a regular city bus. Now cut it in half lengthwise. Now cut a third off the back.

To top it all off, there was nowhere to stow our bags, so they sat in the aisle and people were forced to climb over them to exit the bus.

*Sidenote* you enter Japanese buses from the back door and exit through the front door, paying as you get off.

After about an hour and a half on this bus, we started to worry. I got up to ask the bus driver if we had missed our stop and he informed me that it was the LAST stop. Joy.

Upon exiting the bus, we found that both of our suitcases couldn’t fit between the driver and the seats. Because neither Sandy, nor I, know the meaning of “packing light” we couldn’t lift them over the coin machine. Thankfully, the bus driver was very kind and not only helped us lift them over; he also carried them to our connecting bus for us. Thank you nameless, Japanese bus driver!!

Another hour of travel up and up the mountainous region had us exhausted and COLD. We hadn’t realized how very cold Fuji would be. Sandy, having just come from Montreal in winter was barely phased but my now Australian blood (I have definitely acclimatized) froze.

Finally arriving at Kawaguchicko Station we called for the pick up service (Thank you K’s!) and made it safely to the next hostel where we found our room to be on the third floor, no lift. Buh…

One herniated disc later, we went in search of food. We asked a bloke in the common room where to go for dinner and he gave us directions to the main strip where we found the best Indian restaurant. The food was abundant, delicious and the nan was the size of my head! We had to have pictures…

 

Monster Nan

Retuning to the hostel with full bellies and shattered from a full day of travel we collapsed in the common room to have a chat with the bloke responsible for feeding us that night.

Harrry.

Harry is from Jersey (U.K.) and was on the last leg of a 6 month holiday around the world. Japan was his last stop after Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand among other places. He was full of great travel stories and we chatted away. Eventually, Gideon joined us.

 

Gideon

Gideon is originally from the UK but has lived in Japan nigh on ten years or so and teaches English north of Tokyo. A freelance photographer as well, he travels whenever he has the opportunity. His knowledge of Japan and his ability to read a little kanji made him a superhero in our book!

We agreed for the four of us to meet the next day for cave tours around Fuji-san.

Sleep came fast and hard that night.

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Day 6 - North Kyoto

Posted on May 16, 2008
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Japan, Holidays | Leave a Comment

After a very peaceful night falling asleep to the rain in our temple accommodation, (which by the way I highly recommend) we woke early to call Mum and wish her Happy Birthday. We regaled her with our experiences so far and tales of our “rock pillows” for a while and then headed off to enjoy a morning tea service, a personal tour of Shukoin Temple and a Zen meditation session led by our gracious host, Rev. Taka.

His family had been  running the temple for generations and he was very knowledgable about the temple itself and the influence of Christianity on the area.

He informed us that in the 1500’s it was illegal to practice Christianity and that it was punishable by death! His family, had incorporated Christianity into their practices and there were several unbelievable elements in the temple and garden that reflected this “secret religion”

One of these items was a beautiful wall painting with hidden references to Jesus, Mary and the holy trinity. I didn’t take any pictures here out of respect for the age of the paintings and the temple itself, so you’ll just have to visit and see it yourself!

Refreshed from our meditation, we headed off towards northern Kyoto and paid a visit to Ninna-ji Temple and Rengi Temple first. It was not nearly as long a walk as the ones in Southern Kyoto so our feet were spared!

From there, we caught a bus to Ryoan-ji Temple. It is one of the most famous places in Japan as it houses a very unique rock garden. I must admit, I struggled to see what was so amazing about 15 rocks strategically placed around raked gravel. It looked quite sparse to me but then, perhaps the beauty lies in its simplicity.  As lovely as that was, I much preferred the garden behind it. With the plum blossoms blooming and the cherry blossom on the way, it made a much prettier picture.

Rocks…

In the garden

Next, the Golden Pavilion! We walked a good long way to get there and we stopped a few times for photos. (See how I always had the camera and made Sandy pose?)On the way to the Pavillion

Along the way, I received a phone call from Austalia! Not the one I wanted however. Someone called to tell me that they had Tomi. My puppy had gotten out and run away while I was gone! I gave the person Brian’s number (after explaining that I was out of the country…lol) and hoped that they got through.

Also known as Kikaku-ji Temple, the Golden Pavilion is indeed golden and we took quite a few pictures of the temple itself, the many wishing “wells” – see below pics and the koi in the pond. We also bought a few trinkets here. We selected some good luck medallions and pouches containing slabs of wood with good luck symbols on them. I got one for good health, for a friend, who had been recovering from some heart problems and a golden pendent for myself.

Another bus ride and we were off to Nijojo Castle for the evening and dinner at Immedegawa. (Sandy was forever grateful for Mos Burger!) As much as I love Japanese cuisine, we tended to go to restaurants that also had alternatives for Sandy. After days of noodles, miso soup and chicken cooked so raw I feared salmonella etc… I was ready for another burger LOL

We headed back to the temple for some peace and quite. It’s quite odd walking through temple grounds late at night. Everything is eerily still and we felt like interlopers.

Imagine this at night!

 

 

  

   

 

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Day 5 -Shunkoin Temple

Posted on May 9, 2008
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Japan, Holidays | 4 Comments

Five days in, it was time to do the laundry, which was free due to the new annex of K’s House being complete next door. Unfortunately, free isn’t always good. We killed our clothes. Something in the brand new machine turned all of our light coloured clothing purple!!

Sandy was gutted as she had a few rather expensive new tops in the wash while I had some old t-shirts that weren’t that affected.

After a brunch of waffles at the UCC cafe, we lugged our baggage all the way back to Kyoto Station and boarded the train headed for Shunkoin. On a side-note, I will never, ever again take luggage on a trip where I move location more than once. A back-pack, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 t-shirts and a jumper. THAT’S IT!! Dragging unwieldy baggage over sidewalks, gravel and cobblestones to get to the temple where we were staying (in the centre of huge temple grounds housing about 10 other temples (none of which you could stay in) was a task I prefer not to repeat.

Shunkoin

Our room at Shunkoin Temple

We met our host Rev. Taka, who spent some time in America studying and therefore spoke rather good english, who showed us to one of the two rooms available for hire in the temple. It was beautiful. Georgeous hardwood floors, heated carpet under the futons, private ensuite and rock pillows. Yes, I said rock. Ok, I lie. Not rock but plastic pellets meant to simulate small river stones. A bit like a bean-bag but harder…lol.

That might have taken some getting used to but we were only there 2 nights so I never did get the hang of NOT bunching it up under my head while I slept.

We took a small tour of the Myosin-ji Temple grounds before it got dark and returned to our room to figure out where to get dinner.

Temple on the grounds

At this point, I turned to Sandy and said “Where’s your pen?” Sandy replied “Yay! We’re in Japan!”

“Huh?”

Didn’t you just say “We’re in Japan?”

“No, I said W h e r e’ s  y o u r  p e n?”

Laughter ensued….

From this point forward, anytime Sandy didn’t hear me and said “What?” I would reply “We’re in Japan!”

We wound up having dinner at a place called Raku Raku as recommended by Rev. Taka and it was a great experience. The host cooked us up a feast and him and his daughter were fascinated by us. We taught them some english and they taught us some Japanese. They took pictures and so did we!

The gang at Raku Raku

I’m pretty sure that our picture is on thier website (it was the last time I looked) but it’s VERY unflattering so… no link for you!

Sandy won a notepad on a scratch card that we got with some sort of alcohol - the name escapes me now, but the guys at Raku Raku were pretty excited about it. The evening ended with us lying on our heated futons, listening to the rain beat on the roof of the temple and chatting away trying to stay awake until Mum woke up so we could call her to wishe her happy birthday. Our girly giggling, led to the French guy in the next room, (the only other accommodation in the temple) holler “Lights out!”

Guess he was grouchy from all his walking!

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Day 4 - Osaka & Himegi

Posted on May 2, 2008
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Japan, Holidays | Leave a Comment

Himegi castle was one of the sites that was on the top of both Sandy’s and my list to see while in Japan. It is the oldest authentic (not restored) castle in Japan and is certainly a sight to behold.

It was well and truly worth the 2+ hours on the train to get there and Sandy and I thoroughly enjoyed climbing up and up through the keep and towers, looking at all of the family crests and tombs in the walls of the castle. At about the halfway point, you come to a landing where this is the view.

We continued to climb all the way to the top of the castle where we received a stamp to prove we’d done it. You’d be surprised how many places offer you a stamp! We of course, got them all!

View from the top

On our return to Osaka, we decided to pay a visit to Osaka Imperial Palace & Museum.

The bridge to Osaka


The Palace/Museum

It was getting a bit dark when we left and we got this shot of the palace.

After spending some time sitting at the fountain in the Palace park,
 

We tried mostly unsuccessfully to get some night shots and headed home for dinner and to send some flowers home for our Mother. It was her birthday the following day and we wanted it to be special seeing as both her daughters were halfway around the world.

On getting back to the hostel we met Fred and Lisa. Two Americal girls who were on virtually the same path through Japan that we were.

Lisa (Portland, Oregon)

Fred (Pheonix, Arizona)

In fact, we had actually booked the temple that they had wanted to stay in and were the reason they got turned down. We recommended Himegi as a great place to visit and marvelled over the fact that though we met in Kyoto, our paths would cross again in Mt Fuji-san and Tokyo!

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Day 3 - Kyoto Imperial Palace

Posted on April 26, 2008
Filed Under Australia - The land down under, Japan, Holidays | Leave a Comment

Heading off fairly early again on foot, we decided to find the Nishiki Markets on our way to the Imperial Palace.

Ever notice that distances on a map never look quite as far as they really are? Even with your ratio [————-] = 1 kilometre. It still seems closer than what it really is.

W popped into quite a few little shrines along the way (that we never would have seen had we bussed everywhere) and finally reached Daihatsu where we did a little girly shopping - hey, what’s a vacation without shopping? Some make-up and hair accessories later, and a browse through the Nishiki Markets, we took our time wandering through the Imperial Gardens, taking photos and searching endlessly for a bathroom with a western style toilet.

The true test of how badly you need to pee lies in deciding whether you have to use a Japanese toilet..LOL

Thankfully Mos Burger (Japan’s answer to Hungry Jacks) is fully equiped for western tourists both facility-wise and food-wise. Filled with burgers and melon soda (Yum!) we continued our walking tour of all the little local shrines before heading back to the hostel for a wee rest before dinner.

Stupidly thinking we’d dress up a bit, Sandy and I donned our heels and headed off by metro to Ponto-Cho, the night-life spot in Kyoto. Little did we know that Ponto-Cho is mostly cobblestone (Arg!) AGONY of the feet after another day of 15+ km of walking.

Did I mention that I had Plantar Fascia in BOTH feet? For those of you out there who are not podiatrists, that is a torn tendon in the feet. It feels like you are standing on bruised heels all the time and it particularly excruciating early morning, late at night and after lots of walking…I digress.

We were looking for a restaurant with an english menu and saw one that had pizza on it not far down the alley. Sandy is allergic to fish so that limited our choices. Pizza sounded good so we headed inside the Italian restaurant with a french name ( I forget what the name was but remember it was french) in Japan.

Inside was tiny …and empty except for 1 guy in jeans and a T-shirt smoking a fag.  A little concerned, Sandy and I breifly discussed how to leave politely but woulnd up sitting down for fear of hurting the guys feelings. We braced ourselves with fuzzy navels and proceeded to order.

“We’ll share a pizza.” I said confidantly. He started walking away. * Second thoughts* “Wait!” I called, “What’s on it?”  I had realized there was no listing of ingredients on the menu.

In stilted english he replied “Onions, capsicum, mushrooms, olives, cheese…” and with a flourish worthy of a french waiter in a 5 star restaurant, he wisks what looks to be a dish towel off of a leg of ham on a wooden chopping block, complete with big bite mark out of it as he says “and raw ham!”

Sandy and I control the urge to flee quite impressively and I change my order to steak. At least if that’s not cooked through, I can eat it! (I like my steak rare.)

Then, the waiter’s face lit up. “Vegetarian?” he suggests. “Yes,thank you!!” we both agree.

And thus begins one of the best dinning experiences we had in Japan.

Food…great! ( We wound up with both steak and pizza, both delicious.)
Atmosphere…cozy and friendly
Company…superb
After hobbling home, wincing and complaining laughingly the whole way we played cards in the common room with some fellow aussie travellers (Andrew & Brandon) to the wee hours of the night and then slept like logs in our bunks. This was the night we discovered the heating in the room…lol

 

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