Only a brief update because I am writing this on my phone connected to wifi.
While in Kyoto I took a day trip to Nara which is a smaller town about 45 minutes away by shinkansen (bullet train). Nara is famous for two things: temples and deer. At this point in the trip I had already seen a ton of temples. I was of the mindset if you have seen one temple you have seen them all. As far as deer go, I have seen plenty in America.
Despite this I was still persuaded by fellow travelers to make the trip. I am very happy I did.
Hamby wrote a blog post about the deer already, but I will explain again. The people of Nara believe deer are sacred messengers from the gods. As a result they have created a giant park where the deer are protected. Everyday thousands of tourists flock to the park to see the sights and to feed the deer. The deer have nothing to do with their American cousins. These are totally unafraid of people and have no natural predators. They can be seen chasing small children around to steal food and shitting everywhere. That is pretty much all they do. However, despite smelling like a zoo, the park was very pretty.
It turned out I was wrong about having seen one temple and the rest pretty much being the same. Two of the most incredible temples I have seen so far were in Nara. The first was the oldest known structure in Japan. The second was a giant structure housing a fifty foot statue of Buddha. Unfortunately the English signs did not explain very much about where it came from or when it was built, but it was definitely incredible.
All in all Nara was well worth the trip. When I get a chance I will post pictures of the Buddha statue.
Days three and four and the first half of day five were spent in Kyoto and Nara (a smaller town 45 minutes away). Kyoto is unique because it was bombed the least out of all the major metropolitan areas during the war. As a result something like 20% of the world heritage listed sites in Japan are in Kyoto and Nara.
On the train from Matsumoto to Kyoto I met an Aussie named Steve. He ended up being my “mate to get pissed with” as he would put it. He was a pretty cool guy. We were staying at the same hostel so we checked in and then went out to explore. We went on a mission to find and eat as much exotic food as we could find.
There are a bunch of pictures of everything we ate, but I’m not going to be able to upload them for a while. I tweeted a picture of one of the oysters (here), the picture doesn’t really show scale well, but they were about the size of my hand. We also had monster pieces of shrimp. Both of these were in a tiny little restaurant in a back alley in Kyoto where they prepared all of the food right in front of us. We could see one person bringing the coolers full of oyster and shrimp out to start to prepare, and it was obvious that these had been in the ocean mere hours beforehand.
We wandered through the streets a little longer until we found what we thought would be an authentic Japanese restaurant with some more seafood. No one at this place spoke any English which made ordering very difficult. Eventually we got them to bring out a bunch of different plates of foods we hadn’t tried yet. Some of the best were the raw octopus and the cuttle fish (basically a tiny squid). The octopus was served with wasabi which made it very spicy, but not too spicy. It was really chewy and slimy textured, but actually tasted pretty good. The cuttle fish was sliced up already, but uncooked at first. They brought out a tiny little stove for us to cook it ourselves. It was really different because you could feel the suction cups on your tongue.
We also attempted to try some sake. I say attempted because we had trouble explaining what we wanted. You would think that the word sake would be something our waitress understood, but she thought we were just wanting something to drink in general. We did our best and just pointed to something on the drink menu we thought was a rice wine. She brought us two beers instead. On our second attempt we ended up with two glasses of sake. I’ve had it before in the U.S. and I can definitely see how some people would enjoy it, but it isn’t really for me. It tastes a little like vodka and they drink it straight or with a little ice to water it down.
I also took a day trip to Nara, but I’ll have to save that for another post. I’m on my way out the door to tour the Asahi beer brewery with Hamby.
I took a train to the west of Tokyo to a small town called Matsumoto (small is relative, the population is about 225,000). The town contains a significant castle, often described as one of the best remaining in the world. Built in 1504, it is incredible that the castle is still standing. I will post some pictures when I get a chance.
I mentioned previously that I had been having difficulty navigating the country. For some reason I was under the assumption that everyone in Japan spoke at least a little English. I was sadly mistaken. Few know enough English to be helpful. Some major things are listed in English in addition to Japanese (road signs, train stops), but it is inconsistent at best. To further complicate things, road signs are not necessarily parallel with the streets, sometimes they are perpendicular, sometimes both. The final issue is that 90% of the time businesses are only identified with Japanese characters. All of this really adds to the confusion.
A positive outcome is that this has forced me to learn some phrases in Japanese. I am pretty sure I am butchering the language, but a little bit goes a long way. Between that and a lot of hand gestures I am getting much better at getting around in the country.
After Matsumoto I am on my way to Kyoto in the south.
(I wrote this post on my phone, cut me some slack on the grammer.)
This is what the previous post was supposed to say:
This is my first proper update from Japan. A few observations.
It is nearly impossible for me to type on my current keyboard. There is a button where the spacebar should be that turns everything I have written into Japanese characters. I cannot find undo button. I cannot find punctuation marks on the keyboard. You get the idea.
Example+ ???????my??P?
Tokyo is incredible. I went out last night with some people I met at the hostel. It is very difficult to navigate here (more on this in the future). We finally found a bar after a very long search. It was very small. The entire bar only had five seats. To quote one friend, “it izzz just another brick in zeee wall.” That made me laugh.
I am headed to the city of Matsumoto in the Japanese Alps today. I plan on seeing one of the 10 greatest castles in the world today.
My iPhone works with wifi at the hostels. Twitter is very easy to update compared to this.
This?is?my?first?proper?update?from?Japan. A?few observations.
It?is?nearly?impossible?for?me?to?type?on?my?current?keyboard. ?There?is?a?button?where?the?spacebar?should?be?that?turns?everything?Ive?written?into?Japanese?characters. ?I?cant?find?undo?button. ?I?cant?find?punctuation?marks?on?the?keyboard. ?You get the idea. Example+ ???????my??P?
Tokyo?is?incredible. ?I?went?out?last?night?with?some?people?I?met?at?the?hostel. ?It?is?very?difficult?to?navigate. ?We?finally?found?a?bar?after?a?very?long?search. ?It?was?very?small. ?The?entire?bar?only?had?five?seat. ?To?quote?one?friend,?”it?izzz?just?another?brick in zeee wall.”
I?am?headed?to?the?city?of?Matsumoto?in?the?Japanese?Alps?today. ?I?plan?on?seeing?one?of?the?10?greatest?castles?in?the world today.
My?iPhone?works?with?wifi?at?the?hostels. ?Twitter?is?very?easy?to?update compared to this.
I’m having some issues finding a hostel that fits my needs.
Example 1:
These are the directions regarding how to find the first hostel. As Mooney put it, it is probably a cat door in an alley somewhere.
1. Look for a Kaminari-mon (the big gate)
2. Enter the Nakamise-Dori (the souvenir shop street)
3. Turn at the 3rd passage to the left
4. Walk about 30 seconds
5. You will find a sign with ‘Hotel Kamogawa (former name)’ on your left.
Example 2:
These are the beds, or “capsules” as they call them.
Probably not staying in either of these places.
In a little less than a week I will be hopping on a plane to Japan. I’ll be trying to make updates which can be viewed here. Below is my (very) rough itinerary.
May 27: Land in Tokyo 1:15 p.m. stay night, explore
May 28: Matsumoto – Travel in the morning, see castle in Japanese Alps
May 29: Travel in morning to Kyoto
May 30: Explore Kyoto
May 31: Explore Kyoto
June 1: Arrive in morning to Nagoya to see Hamby, arrive around 12
June 2: Brewery, Night out w/ Hamby’s friends
June 3: Baseball game – Nagoya Dragons
June 4: Travel to Tokyo with Hamby
June 5: Tokyo w/ Guide
June 6: Tokyo w/ Guide
June 7: Begin climb of Mount Fuji after dinner
June 8: Reach summit of Mount Fuji, descend, head back to Nagoya
June 9: Wake up in Nagoya, head to Hiroshima
June 10: Spend day in Hiroshima
June 11: Wake up in Hiroshima, head to Tokyo on fastest bullet train possible
June 12: Spend day in Tokyo
June 13: Flight Home (5:00 p.m. out of Tokyo)
It should be awesome! I’m so excited, I can’t wait to leave!
