Japan: Land of the Rising Sun June 13-23
Tokyo Drift
This time I went along with EF Tours (always go with them, they've been great to myself and my travelers from Paris to Beijing).Some of the sights were repeats of 2015 (the temples and shrines) but it was my first time in Akihabara. The difference was that this tour was more fast-paced. I felt like I had more time to really explore in the previous trip (like finding the erotic section at Don Quijote).
We did go to a fisherman's market. That Saturday was trying. First, a couple of kids from our group were late and held us up so the tour sponsor made them stick with me for the rest of the day. And because the streets were packed with tourists and vacationers, we traveled on foot or by metro. At dinner time, I told the kids that we were stopping at the first maid cafe or McDonald's we saw so I could sit and get off my feet for half an hour. We were in a strip of really high-end stores, but I'm not into that. Or I did want to go into Burrberry but I knew nothing would fit me. I just bought some knickknack souvenirs and some t-shirts with Japanese print...and an Aerosmith shirt.
Kyoto Drifter
I got lost in Kyoto. I love that city, but our group encountered a bit of trouble getting there. First, there was an earthquake so our bullet train was delayed. Trusty Noga the guide was able to get us to Kyoto that same night, though most of us had to ride in the smoking cars. We arrived and I ate okonomiyaki which is a pancake topped with noodles, cheese and tentacles.
I was separated on our second day in Kyoto. We had visited the Inari Shrine and were in a shopping arcade when I miscalculated my free time. I ordered a custom seal (stamp) and it took twenty minutes to carve. I was hesitant so I dawdled on the stamp and the clerk said it would be ready with five minutes to spare meeting the group. Then I met up with some kids from our tour, one of them wanted a shiba inu doll and I had to loan her cash since the store wouldn't take her card. When I went to get my $50 order from the stamp shop, the tour group was gone. I had to fight off a major panic attack. I've never been totally alone in a foreign country with no cell service to use a map to guide me back to the hotel.
I went to a Starbucks but was unable to get WiFi. I asked a clerk for a map and ended up going to the underground. But I couldn't make heads or tails on buying a ticket for the train and none of the maps on the wall had the Kyoto Tower on them. That's the landmark I used since my hotel was in that area. I spent about two hours wandering the damn subway until I realized it would be best to surface and get a cab or try to locate the tower and walk. I caught a cab. The driver dropped me off at the wrong hotel, but I found my way. I was really nervous and I knew he could tell.
After that I was riddled with so much anxiety that I didn't want to leave my hotel room. I sat in the tub for half an hour and crawled into bed. I was afraid to look for something to eat since I missed dinner with my group.
Mt. Fuji
Hakone was probably where I had the most fun. First, Noga took us to Mt. Fuji for a mini-hike.
It was different than the trails I've explored in Tx and Nm. The terrain was rocky..,or pebbly. Little fish aquarium granules on the trail.
The hotel was magnificent. I got to soak in an onsen and discovered the outdoor hot spring tub overlooking the pacific ocean. There's just something amazing about standing nude on the top floor with a slight seabreeze buffeting one's skin as they look out to the sea.
Dinner was a feast. Ten courses from rockfish, to mushrooms, to souffle, to watermelon. I ate my share, but felt bad because a lot of the kids had either filled up on chips and junk earlier or just refused to eat some (or even most) of their food. I'm not sure if I'm being too hard, but it plays into the whole wasteful Americans stereotype.
I ventured out by myself to walk on the cement embankment near the ocean where I leaned against a swing set, ignoring a couple of Japanese kids making out on the seesaw, while watching an older man fish. Just like standing naked in the rooftop pool, this was a special moment thinking about all of the neat things I've seen and participated in so far into this trip. I think with all the grief from seeing Mom die from cancer, I haven't had much to be happy about for a few years so that's why I enjoyed this vacation immensely. With the exception of getting lost in Kyoto, I was happy throughout the entire trip.
Hiroshima
We did go to the Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Park. Actually, this part does not count for the whole "happiness" bit, this was actually a very depressing aspect of the tour. I've read books on the 1945 attack, I've watched Barefoot Gen, and Rush's "Manhattan Project" is a very haunting song, but it's different to go to the place where this happened. Hiroshima is a picture of resilience. No one would ever know that the first nuclear bomb was dropped in the city. With the exception of the Atomic Bomb Dome still standing as a skeleton the city is thriving with people and buildings.
We had a second guide, Myoko, and she was almost crying inside the museum. I spoke to her a lot, asking questions. She said it was important for the world to see this museum and the park so they could understand the consequences of nuclear war. I agree. It's actually one of my worst fears: civil unrest and decay from a nuclear attack.
Our tour took a palate cleanser going to Itsukushima. It's an island off Hiroshima with a temple, market, and tame deer wandering around. After withdrawing more yen from an ATM, I ate grilled oysters from a stand, drank peach Coke, and ate 1/4 of a Hiroshima meat bun before perusing the shops. That's another thing. I was so eager to see and do things, I never ate a lot. That's also what I loved about this tour: I detoxed from a lot of bad habits I've committed in the States. Drinking Coke once a day. Overdoing it on meat-based dishes. No exercise. Getting sweets or ice cream nearly every day.
Osaka in Brief
A major Friday traffic tie-up cost us a lot of time in Osaka. We only had time for dinner and some shopping in an arcade. This time, Noga warned us to stay in the arcade and not to venture in the red light district since many men would be girl chasing or we might run into yakuza.
Noga and our tour sponsor made every adult take a group of students so I had a small pack follow me to a noodle house before going to a ufo catcher arcade before heading back to the hotel.
I've got traveler's postpartum. I really miss Japan. It might defeat the purpose of world travel, but I'm actually very comfortable over there. No culture shock at all. It might be that this trip was very emotionally stimulating after years of sadness and grief. I saved a couple thousand yen and I have no intention of exchanging them into U.S. currency. I want to go back a third time. Not in the next few years, maybe to celebrate turning forty or something. There's people asking why I don't just move out there if I like it so much.
This time I went along with EF Tours (always go with them, they've been great to myself and my travelers from Paris to Beijing).Some of the sights were repeats of 2015 (the temples and shrines) but it was my first time in Akihabara. The difference was that this tour was more fast-paced. I felt like I had more time to really explore in the previous trip (like finding the erotic section at Don Quijote).
We did go to a fisherman's market. That Saturday was trying. First, a couple of kids from our group were late and held us up so the tour sponsor made them stick with me for the rest of the day. And because the streets were packed with tourists and vacationers, we traveled on foot or by metro. At dinner time, I told the kids that we were stopping at the first maid cafe or McDonald's we saw so I could sit and get off my feet for half an hour. We were in a strip of really high-end stores, but I'm not into that. Or I did want to go into Burrberry but I knew nothing would fit me. I just bought some knickknack souvenirs and some t-shirts with Japanese print...and an Aerosmith shirt.
Kyoto Drifter
I got lost in Kyoto. I love that city, but our group encountered a bit of trouble getting there. First, there was an earthquake so our bullet train was delayed. Trusty Noga the guide was able to get us to Kyoto that same night, though most of us had to ride in the smoking cars. We arrived and I ate okonomiyaki which is a pancake topped with noodles, cheese and tentacles.
I was separated on our second day in Kyoto. We had visited the Inari Shrine and were in a shopping arcade when I miscalculated my free time. I ordered a custom seal (stamp) and it took twenty minutes to carve. I was hesitant so I dawdled on the stamp and the clerk said it would be ready with five minutes to spare meeting the group. Then I met up with some kids from our tour, one of them wanted a shiba inu doll and I had to loan her cash since the store wouldn't take her card. When I went to get my $50 order from the stamp shop, the tour group was gone. I had to fight off a major panic attack. I've never been totally alone in a foreign country with no cell service to use a map to guide me back to the hotel.
I went to a Starbucks but was unable to get WiFi. I asked a clerk for a map and ended up going to the underground. But I couldn't make heads or tails on buying a ticket for the train and none of the maps on the wall had the Kyoto Tower on them. That's the landmark I used since my hotel was in that area. I spent about two hours wandering the damn subway until I realized it would be best to surface and get a cab or try to locate the tower and walk. I caught a cab. The driver dropped me off at the wrong hotel, but I found my way. I was really nervous and I knew he could tell.
After that I was riddled with so much anxiety that I didn't want to leave my hotel room. I sat in the tub for half an hour and crawled into bed. I was afraid to look for something to eat since I missed dinner with my group.
Mt. Fuji
Hakone was probably where I had the most fun. First, Noga took us to Mt. Fuji for a mini-hike.
It was different than the trails I've explored in Tx and Nm. The terrain was rocky..,or pebbly. Little fish aquarium granules on the trail.
The hotel was magnificent. I got to soak in an onsen and discovered the outdoor hot spring tub overlooking the pacific ocean. There's just something amazing about standing nude on the top floor with a slight seabreeze buffeting one's skin as they look out to the sea.
Dinner was a feast. Ten courses from rockfish, to mushrooms, to souffle, to watermelon. I ate my share, but felt bad because a lot of the kids had either filled up on chips and junk earlier or just refused to eat some (or even most) of their food. I'm not sure if I'm being too hard, but it plays into the whole wasteful Americans stereotype.
I ventured out by myself to walk on the cement embankment near the ocean where I leaned against a swing set, ignoring a couple of Japanese kids making out on the seesaw, while watching an older man fish. Just like standing naked in the rooftop pool, this was a special moment thinking about all of the neat things I've seen and participated in so far into this trip. I think with all the grief from seeing Mom die from cancer, I haven't had much to be happy about for a few years so that's why I enjoyed this vacation immensely. With the exception of getting lost in Kyoto, I was happy throughout the entire trip.
Hiroshima
We did go to the Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Park. Actually, this part does not count for the whole "happiness" bit, this was actually a very depressing aspect of the tour. I've read books on the 1945 attack, I've watched Barefoot Gen, and Rush's "Manhattan Project" is a very haunting song, but it's different to go to the place where this happened. Hiroshima is a picture of resilience. No one would ever know that the first nuclear bomb was dropped in the city. With the exception of the Atomic Bomb Dome still standing as a skeleton the city is thriving with people and buildings.
We had a second guide, Myoko, and she was almost crying inside the museum. I spoke to her a lot, asking questions. She said it was important for the world to see this museum and the park so they could understand the consequences of nuclear war. I agree. It's actually one of my worst fears: civil unrest and decay from a nuclear attack.
Our tour took a palate cleanser going to Itsukushima. It's an island off Hiroshima with a temple, market, and tame deer wandering around. After withdrawing more yen from an ATM, I ate grilled oysters from a stand, drank peach Coke, and ate 1/4 of a Hiroshima meat bun before perusing the shops. That's another thing. I was so eager to see and do things, I never ate a lot. That's also what I loved about this tour: I detoxed from a lot of bad habits I've committed in the States. Drinking Coke once a day. Overdoing it on meat-based dishes. No exercise. Getting sweets or ice cream nearly every day.
Osaka in Brief
A major Friday traffic tie-up cost us a lot of time in Osaka. We only had time for dinner and some shopping in an arcade. This time, Noga warned us to stay in the arcade and not to venture in the red light district since many men would be girl chasing or we might run into yakuza.
Noga and our tour sponsor made every adult take a group of students so I had a small pack follow me to a noodle house before going to a ufo catcher arcade before heading back to the hotel.
I've got traveler's postpartum. I really miss Japan. It might defeat the purpose of world travel, but I'm actually very comfortable over there. No culture shock at all. It might be that this trip was very emotionally stimulating after years of sadness and grief. I saved a couple thousand yen and I have no intention of exchanging them into U.S. currency. I want to go back a third time. Not in the next few years, maybe to celebrate turning forty or something. There's people asking why I don't just move out there if I like it so much.