Bemusing Batam Island

Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre

What can I tell you about the first three days of this Winter Sojourn? (keep in mind I live in Japan for now!) Well, they were spent on Batam Island, in a town called Nagoya. They were not full of site-seeing or anything, rather I had a long massage on the second day and went to the cinema to see The Hobbit - which was awesome but someone might have warned me they were splitting it into three parts!

It's Christmas in Indonesia

 I saw the movie at the very swish Nagoya Hills Mall, where they were very aware it was Christmas despite Indonesia being a Muslim country. Decorations abounded although not quite to the extent of Japan. To be honest, the hotels looked cheap and I thought Batam would be a good place to unwind for a couple of days,. There are no real touristy things to do in Batam. The supermarket was huge though and had a lot of things you can't get in Japan, and the prices on groceries were pretty cheap. Electronics though were more in line with Singapore. Batam is supposed to be some sort of special economic zone, attempting to rival Singapore. However, I think it has a long way to go yet!

 The mosque, built in the 1990s, is quite splendid with a minaret out the front. There are several mosques in Nagoya itself but the others are more hidden. The morning prayer call can be heard as can the others through Nagoya town. It's been a while since I heard it to be honest. There are some new areas that look very impressive and yet some places that reminded me of the poorer parts of the third world. It's a bit of a paradox. And the open sewers lead to an unpleasant smell, especially after any rain.

 I wandered the streets of Nagoya on the last day trying to get a handle on this place. Not so easy, I felt very detached. I didn't see any of the darker side of Nagoya though that was supposed to accompany the town. And then, as easily as we arrived, we left. Another boat out from Batam Centre, also boasting a mall and hotels, but 20 minutes taxi from Nagoya.

Nagoya street, bustling, moving.

 What can you make of a place over 2.2 days? Not much really. Can I recommend the place? Not really. As a stepping point to the rest of Indonesia? Maybe. It's a very busy place, so so many people in Nagoya especially. Indonesia is a very populous country though, it was to be expected. 20km across the waters from Singapore, Batam is a strange sort of enigma. We can travel for many reasons, one is always to discover new places.

Santa in Nagoya Shopping Mall.

A journey, a Christmas, Batam Island - Indonesia

So folks I am finally back on the road after it seems like ages, but actually just over a year. I blinked and it's Christmas too. Luckily, I have been saved from a Japanese Christmas this year. Yes, Christmas exists in Japan, and quite a big deal it is too. There are trees, decorations and on Sunday we went to a shopping centre in Kamiooka that was nearly as busy as some of the ones in Melbourne.

BUT there's no real understanding of Christmas. Christmas cake is white sponge with a lot of cream, and the most popular place for a Christmas meal is KFC. Well, they do have Santa's colours I guess.

As for understanding the religious significance of the day, which even your staunchest atheist understands, forget that!

Just before midnight we flew out of Haneda Airport on the 23rd. Haneda is Tokyo's second airport, much smaller and quieter than Narita. My Japan Post debit card didn't work in the ATMs there (and it doesn't work anywhere overseas) so I was a little miffed at that. To say the least. Seems they shut down ATM services at night even if the ATM you use is working. And over holiday weekends (which it was) it also shuts down - the network that is.

I slept better on the bus to Tokyo than the packed flight to Kuala Lumpur. It was a bit of a shocker - full plane complete with screaming kids, nine seated across so very little room. But for the price Air Asia can't be beaten and their service is easily the best I've experienced on a budget airline.

Transfer over five hours at the budget terminal in KL was fine - slept a couple of hours on some very dirty seats, then double checked details for this place - Batam Island.

We arrived in Singapore shortly after midday Monday and customs and baggage were so fast it was almost painless. Took the MRT to Habour Front where ferries for Batam Island left. Similar to Japan, everything is sort of centred around the shopping malls in Singapore. We entered one side, walked through a seriously busy mall to the ferry terminal, still inside the mall. Bought our ticket (boy were we tired by this point) and had to clear customs again to take the ferry.

Above is the inside of the ferry. It scooted across the bay between Singapore and Sentosa Island. Last year I took the cable car ride above the ferries. This time I was on the ferry looking up!

Looking up from the ferry.

I probably should have got up on the ferry roof for better photos, but bang! Out like a light. Woke five minutes from Batam Island. Customs - nice and easy, visa on arrival, nice and easy (if a poor exchange rate. 10 US dollars does not equal anywhere near 18 Singapore dollars) and I was in country number 68 - Indonesia.

It's poorer than Singapore and Malaysia, that much you see right away, but this place half operates on Singapore dollars. It's not nearly as poor as some places, and is a special economic zone, I understand. Hotel is very nice for the price, Christmas breakfast even included roast chicken but I presume that turkey won't happen today. Driving on the left - not what I expected but chalk another one up for the southpaw drivers! 

This place is supposed to be a bit seedy - it's called Nagoya and a far cry from its Japanese namesake. However everything I've seen so far has been well above board. It has a huge shopping mall too, where Christmas Day should include a chance to see 'The Hobbit'.

Wherever you are this Christmas Day, 2012, Happy Christmas!

View from the hotel room

hello folks! Well, I am counting down the hours now to my next plane flight from Tokyo to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur. Then there's 3 days in Batam Island, which should provide plenty to blog about, and then Singapore followed by eight days in Sri Lanka, very excited about that! Stay tuned to this blogs for news, views and pics!

Winter has really been setting in. I write from Yokohama, with maximums around 8-10 degrees. As an Australian I never thought I could consider such temperatures warm, but compared to the last few weeks, they certainly are!

Ichinoseki saw a bit of snow. Last Thursday I had to drive to Sumita, a small town, for training. The road was covered in snow in some places and the return was treacherous too, with many downhill hair-pin bends to negotiate. But I survived in my Kei-car - that's a type of small car I drive and many others in my English-teaching position do too.

Last Sunday, the 16th, saw the general election here. I took my wife to vote late in the day. It was a very quiet polling booth indeed. The general turnout has been reasonable and one of the highest I believe at around 59%, however I was being told it was something like 25%. I think now that must have been an estimate on the turnout in Iwate. Certainly at around 3pm there were no more than a dozen people going to vote at the booth we went to. 

The result saw the ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (who are the conservatives here) won with an increased majority. They are quite nationalistic, especially over some islands that are disputed with China, and pro-nuclear power which has left a few people here a little mystified. I was told there was a real chance for change before this election, and so not knowing much about Japanese politics I was a little surprised. It's been a year for elections! Georgia, USA, Egypt all with vital votes on their future.

That's the state of play here. In Ichinoseki the person who won had something like 6000-7000 votes, which demonstrates a very poor voter turn out for the city. I had a page with the results but can't find it now. The winner I believe was from the LDP. He is highlighted in red. With the exception of the woman running, all the candidates looked very similar to me. All employed the technique of cars with loud speakers driving around town shouting out some sort of message through loud speakers. Very unwelcome in my opinion! It's fair to say that Japan is very big of older men in glasses and suits, and not just in politics!

See you soon, from another country!

Earthquakes and Snow

Yesterday evening I had the experience that has threatened many times since I have been here in Japan, I experienced a big earthquake. The epicentre was off the north east coast of Honshu, perhaps 250km from the mainland. It measured 7.3. Let me tell you, dear readers, it was a scary few minutes. A day later and I still feel like the earth is moving. Things fell from shelves, and this ol' building made some serious noise. It shudders and rocks a little when someone in one of the flats shuts their door, so perhaps not surprising, but this was clearly more.

Across the rooves this morning lay snow.

 I had the iron and the gas stove going naturally, and my wife wasn't home as yet. I had to rush around and turn them off, open the front door and then cower like a craven in the bathroom, supposedly the safest place to be when inside. I considered running outside. Once you're outside in a car park you're safe but with all the movement I didn't feel safe running down stairs. It felt like three minutes of shaking, probably it was less. When it stopped I didn't really know what to do. I felt quite lost, and alone.

Snow across the rails here in Ichinoseki

 In perspective, of course, this was nothing compared to the earthquake on the 11th of March last year. Now we wait for aftershocks. We had one and maybe two small tremours but nothing significant. We wait nervously to see if there will be more. Is there a bigger one coming in the next few days? 7.3 is big enough for anyone, but last years was 9. The power didn't even go out yesteday. 2011 and Ichionoseki had no power for two weeks I am told. It seems strange that we haven't have 24 hours of aftershocks to me.

Snow is pretty - sometimes!

It was only a day or three after March 11th 2011 that snow fell. We woke this morning to a cover of snow most places. The night was pretty cold. A serious earthquake and below 0 conditions would not make for a pleasant combination. Yet this morning I couldn't help but notice how pretty everything looked. The first serious snow of the winter? Well, I have nothing to compare it too. Please enjoy the pics.

We leave in two weeks for Batam, Singapore and Sri Lanka. If it must shake so again, perhaps the underground gods would consider doing it whilst we are away?

A footnote - seeing no sign of disruptions or damage today. Lest we forget that 2011's earthquake and following tsunami took around 18,000 lives.

Malian Memories

Hi folks. A little reminiscing today if that's okay with you. Around this time of year, five years ago now I made it to Mali where I had a fantastic time in an amazing place.

I visited the Dogon Country and the mosque at Djenne. But I was recently sent a couple of articles from the Melbourne newspaper 'The Age'. It seems just five years after I left Mali is now a haven for Al-Quaeda and its affiliates!

Dogon Country

What can I say about something like that? I met some good people there and had the time of my life. I slept under the stars on rooftops and took a boat at the confluence of the Bani and Niger rivers. Two Irish gals I met traveled with me and my mate Paul until Mopti where they went up river to Timbuctou and we went downstream (lol - by BUS) to Segou and Bamako. Today, Timbuctou is off limits! It is no longer controlled by the Malian government and is a stronghold for the Al-Quaeda affiliate AQIM.

There is a strong chance this region may soon be a new front of the 'War on Terror'. From the sounds of the article, dated October 22nd 2012, the lives of those in Timbuctou and beyond are dire at the moment, in a land that experiences frequent drought and lack of food and water. Kidnappings are rife in this area of foreigners, over 50 million Euros has been collected in ransom over the last few years.

Bani river, Mopti

 I've been to places that people worried about. My parents asked me to strike Russia off my itinerary the first time I went solo-traveling the night I was leaving, despite the time money and effort put into getting a visa! I was told I was a lunatic for heading to Kazakhstan by a friend last year, half the countries I go to raise eyebrows.

Djenne, in the distance the mosque

However. I always check the situation before I go. I would not head to Mali today. I would not head to Pakistan today. There are so many places out there worth visiting, why go somewhere when things aren't right in the country? They'll improve. For all I know, even the south of Mali might be perfectly safe.
Challenge yourself when you travel, but don't be fill-hardy.

Having said all that .... I only say I wouldn't go there having already been there!


More on Mali in my book -
Chapter on Mali:
http://www.amazon.com/Dhaka-Dakar-Across-Chapter-ebook/dp/B009R1KVRA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1352633161&sr=8-7&keywords=dhaka+to+dakar

Across Africa:

http://www.amazon.com/Dhaka-Dakar-Book-Across-ebook/dp/B00A3S7UM0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1352633211&sr=8-7&keywords=dhaka+to+dakar+across+africa

Sri Lanka and Halloween

Howdy folks it's post time.
Last week I was suffering a cold that hasn't left me yet but I did manage to have a good week regardless. On Wednesday it was Halloween. I was asked to prepare a lesson asking me to explain Halloween and I realised I have no idea what the deal is there. But I followed through and basically it was one of the best days I've had teaching at a Japanese school. There was treat or treating (it's very hard to explain that trick or treat are two things you choose from) and I got to meet every student in Junior High School at my special needs school which was great.
There were games like bobbing apples and wrapping people to look like Mummies. What more could you ask for on a school day?
Had a good week of classes generally and then on Friday night I hit the karaoke place and before I knew it it was Saturday.

December is suddenly next month! What the?
Just before Christmas I am heading out to Singapore and Batam Island Indonesia for six days followed by eight days in Sri Lanka. Yes I am pretty stoked about that as by that time probably we will be surrounded by snow by then! A bit of warmth wouldn't go amiss at the moment! So lots to prepare for and some proper travel-related blogs to put up.
Meanwhile I will try and complete all the work on 'Dhaka to Dakar'. Already out on Kindle chapter by chapter, my next goal is to get the last two volumes up as entire pieces, and the first as individual chapters.

Speaking of chapters, I refer you all to the big one, the Burkina Faso chapter. Yeah this is where I detail my struggle with malaria. I was blogging by this time in 2006 but a lot of this stuff didn't make the blog. It's a rare insight into the mind of a man with a tropical disease. lol! See you next time punks!

http://www.amazon.com/Dhaka-Dakar-Chapter-Burkina-ebook/dp/B009QL4D66/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1352031037&sr=8-8&keywords=dhaka+to+dakar

The Streets of Ichinoseki - is Japan a Nanny State?

Time for a reflective piece of blogging I think. :)

I have nearly been in Japan working and living for seven months. It's been a hectic crazy time and I never feel there are enough hours in the day for what I want to do. Work is busy usually, with sudden short periods of quietness.
The Japanese workplace is not one that can be highly recommended. At my school most teachers have so many responsibilities for things outside class that one remarked to me the other day she had no time to prepare lessons. I see them working so very I hard I really could never complain about my workload!
Schools in Japan have a high importance placed on activities outside class. Not only do the teachers show the signs of being over-worked, over stressed and the rest, but so do the students. It's not uncommon to find students asleep when I arrive to class, especially in the afternoon. Coming to school on the weekends and staying until 7pm at night is also considered normal here for students.
I remember being very curious last year when in Japan as to why I saw so many children in school uniforms on Sundays. Now I know why, it's the norm here. One student told me he gets up at 4.30am to get to school on time as well. It's all a bit insane, but it's a cultural thing, the company, the employer is king. It's fair to say that Karl Marx isn't so well known in Japan.

Driving is interesting and frustrating at times. You have to be so careful around the place. I was told recently that in direct opposition to a place like India where might is right, Japanese law sticks up for the little guy. No matter how many rules a pedestrian or cyclist is breaking, if they are hit by a car then it's the car's fault. Bikes are everywhere here and mostly students ride them.
They go from footpath to road and back ad nauseum, they don't obey lights and signs, they never ever signal and naturally no-one wears helmets. In fact, they often ride on the right hand side of the road, into the traffic who drives on the left. The other day I nearly witnessed a collision between two cyclists as one was on the left and the on the right. As they were going in opposite directions they were on the same side of the road and were lucky not to end up on the ground cut and bruised!
Cyclists haven't cottoned on to being seen at night either. The few bikes that do have lights have lights so weak you can hardly see them. Very dangerous in my book, but from what I understand it seems Japanese law doesn't encourage people to take responsibility. I would call it a bit of a 'nanny state' to be fair.
For example earlier today there were vans going around with loud speakers telling people to be careful with their fires. It's common to see vans running around with warning messages to residents.They seem to feel the need to warn the public about things you'd think they know about.

Sorry - not meant to be a whinge, more an observation. When there is roadworks happening they deploy far more men than are needed. They get a couple if not more to wave people through with flags. They have flashing lights on the side of roads in places that are flood lit. And then other parts are complete darkness! It's all very confusing.
Anyways, enough of that! It's also a wonderful, beautiful country with amazing people! Don't be fool by my rantings!

As for the book - well I am please to announce it is now possible to follow me all the way from Bangladesh to Senegal! The final chapter, Senegal, is available for Kindle and Kindle devices such as the FREE Kindle for PC. The African chapters in particular are full of photographs. It's been an amazing ride getting it ready and up, and now all I have to do is compile the Europe and Africa chapters into complete books.

I present to you the chapter on Niger today. It's a truly wild and out there place, in the middle of the desert. It was difficult going, but in my mind a positive experience. I was taken in by a very kind guy who lives in Niamey, visited the Sahara and was faced with some of the most abject poverty I could imagine. One of the poorest countries on Earth, Niger presented challenges, hospitality and as always, adventure.

http://www.amazon.com/Dhaka-Dakar-Across-Chapter-ebook/dp/B009MZ911I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350738113&sr=8-1&keywords=dhaka+to+dakar+niger

Soup and Iwate's hidden gem.

When family is in town, it's a good chance to go somewhere and see something, and that has been my day. But last night we went out to a restaurant and had a very nice dinner indeed! Below is a picture of my soup - Hattozen, something of an Iwate favourite, simmering away. It is one of those places where your cook your own dinner.

Hattozen, bubbling away on the table.

In the soup is all manner of vegetables from cabbage to mushrooms, and a little meat as well. We threw in bits of dough, like the sort that makes noodles, and that boils along too. It was a meal enjoyed by all.

Today was an absolutely wonderful day weather-wise. The sun was shining and it was around twenty degrees. There are two famous gorges in these parts, and readers may recall I posted previously on 'Genbi Gorge'. Today we headed to the other gorge, down the picturesque route 19, Geibi Gorge. Yes the name IS very similar and causes quite a bit of confusion from time to time!

one of the boats

Geibi Gorge is a bigger tourist attraction. Ask you can see in the photos we all piled into a boat that took us on a tour of the gorge. It's about a 90-minute tour, and at one end of the ride we got out and walked five minutes to this special shot where I received a congratulatory card for managing to land a rock in a hole.

The ride was lovely and the gorge was, well, ummm, gorgeous. Sorry! We were in the shade most of the ride and although it wasn't very comfortable, it was enjoyable. Possibly the best thing to see around Ichnoseki, where I am living these days. All the way the water was never very deep (so I imagine it freezes in Winter) and when we looked into we could see so many fish of various sizes.

Fish at Geibi Gorge

Some of the girls on the boat got very surprised when the fish came along. Ducks were happy to come up to the boat too and one big fish kept it's mouth above the water and kept motioning to be fed! The fish must see a lot of tourists because there were many boats on the river today. The website said they left hourly but it seemed like there was a departure every fifteen minutes or so.

One rock looked a lot like a face, and our boat-master general, the man in charge of punting us along the river, talked the whole journey not doubt informing everyone on the boat who spoke Japanese of the most fascinating of facts. That was, by the way, everyone but me! On the way back he sang to us. It was some interesting and unique warbling indeed, not sure I could call it singing! And he kept singing for like 15 minutes without stopping. Somewhere between Austrian yodelling and Chine opera!

It seems there is a long proud tradition of being a boat punter. That is your job is punting the boat up and down the river. Right? For starters they not only pilot the boats but build them too! Wowsers? Yes indeed! Very impressed was I! Above is a photo of their photo viewed as you wait for the boat. In typical Japanese fashion most make sure they looked very serious for the photo. Proudly brought to you by.... these scary guys!

And thus was a great day retold to views of the blogsphere.

Work on the book is going very well, now I just need someone to buy it!
Actually I have sold a massive 3 chapters so far in October which equals a whole dollar in sales! Anyways Chapter 16 is now up - Togo and Benin. Please, if your interested - you will find it with the others on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Dhaka-Dakar-Across-Chapter-ebook/dp/B009MJXBO2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350210903&sr=8-1&keywords=dhaka+to+dakar+togo

and again, my author page!

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008BD3O56

thanks everyone! Til next time!

Car parks, Speeches and hair cuts.

I checked the date of my last post. September the 8th? Can that be right? I mean really, that is a LONG time ago!
Driving home from my holiday is where I left you good people. I took the famed route four nearly all the way home, I avoided paying to use expressways. I overnighted in a place called Utsonomiya. I stayed in the Toyoko Inn, well one of them. This is a chain of hotels found all over Japan. It's small and basic but clean and modern enough, and about as cheap as I could find in Utsonomiya.
They have these amazing parking... well 'machines' here in Japan, and at this hotel it was my first use of one. I drove the car into a tall but narrow building, onto a metal ledge. I got out as the ledge turns around 90 degrees and starts to rise with the car on it, going straight up and then to one side. This way they can stack many cars on top of each other. In the morning I swiped my keycard, waited a couple of minutes and the car was returned to me. It's like putting it in a safe deposit box I guess!
The drive home wasn't too bad except that I decided to bypass Sendai and got completely lost/ Probably cost an hour but before too long I was home in Ichinoseki, my road trip over and my schools days started again.

Early in September I got to judge a recitation contest. Many Junior High School students read a prepared passage and I was one of two judges in the room in charge of giving a mark. It was quite a serious event actually! There was an opening and closing ceremony in a lecture theatre and we were given treats. I got a day off school so I was pretty happy all-in-all! The students did very well as I can't imagine many of my High School students doing as well, or being as enthusiastic!

The weather changed two and a bit weeks ago. One day hot, the next day not!Today is nice weather though! Sunny and warm, but I believe that this area sees snow sometime in November so I am expecting more of a drop in the coming weeks.

My hair had gotten quite long too so I had to get a cut. luckily I have found a place in town where I can get it done for a mere 1000 yen, around $13.00. This place is curiously called '3Q'. They have three 'q' words that relate directly to their hairdressing. 1. Quality. Yes you do want quality. 2. Quick. not so important in my book but you don't want to be there all day. and 3. Quest.      Huh?
No I dd not make that up. What on Earth they mean by it is for them to know and for customers to muse about. The quest for the perfect hair cut? Who can say - but that is Japan for you. They frequently use English words on signs and in shops with little idea about what they mean. Here's a prime example!

As for other things I have been doing, I am now editing the final volume of my book, Dhaka to Dakar - Across Africa. I have been reliving the highlights, and indeed lowlights of my time in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. It's been a journey just reading through and editing them all. My time with malaria in Burkina Faso was especially confronting to read again.
For those who are interested, the first two chapters - Ghana / Togo and Benin   are now available on Amazon for less than a buck. That's chapters 15 and 16 over all. That means that indeed I have already uploaded the entire Europe Volume as well. I've had to do a front cover for each chapter which I admit is rather annoying and perhaps I should have chose a more professional font...
The chapters all include many photos, memories and experiences. Please support my travel writing!
Goodbye for now, below is a link for Chapter 15: Ghana.

Dhaka to Dakar: Volume 3 - Across Africa. Chapter 15, Ghana

Tokyo - where dreams come true!

Joined by my wife, I was in steamy Yokohama. Not as steamy as last August where the heat was unbearable. Not much different this time around, but those two or three degrees were noticeable. Suddenly I was catching trains and waiting for people at Yokohama station as I had less than twelve months ago. It was a very strange déjà vu.

Tokyo from the tower.

 Saturday the 11^th and it was into Tokyo for lunch and shenanigans with some of my wife’s friends. Tokyo, how crazy does it get in August? Anser: Pretty bloody crazy. So many people wherever I went, the familiar-ish area if Shibuya where the Haichi dog lives is where we met. Haichi is a dog who used to come to the Shibuya station every day to meet his owner. When his owner died for years the dogs used to come and wait on him regardless. They made a statue to the dog  which is now a very popular meeting place in the area.

Lunch went well. The next day I returned to Tokyo and visited Akihabara again where the street was cordoned off to traffic and people could walk where they liked. I also went to the Tokyo tower. It’s the tallest tower in Japan, a telecommunications type deal with a great observation deck. Hot though it was, the day was pretty clear for Tokyo standards and I could see well across most of the giant, sprawling city.

 On the last day my wife and I went to a place so many Japanese people believe is heaven on Earth – Tokyo Disneyland. We bought a ticket for around half the normal price which only allowed entry frim five pm to close (ten) and I thought that sounded extremely reasonable.

Yokohama at night. Not bad at all!

Welcome to Tokyo Disneyland!

 Not wanting to be overly critical I have to say that Tokyo Disneyland is just one big grab for your money. Don’t mind how much entry was, the car park alone was $25. Then you have to pay to take the train from the car park to the entrance. The queues were already banked up a long way. Japan sometimes is nothing more than a big wait! They open the gates at 5pm, not before, and everyone piles in. Slowly, because every ticket must be checked. Once we were in we headed to the famous splash mountain. Wait time for the ride? 160 minutes! What the?

In fairness I was warned the wait times would be very long. I just presumed that meant 45-60 minutes. I hadn’t envisaged 160 minutes! But we were lucky, there was a fast lane for those who didn’t have to go together, that was 30 minutes or so. We decided to take that lane, and the ride was the best one I took. The wait was indeed only about 30 minutes. The queue went up into the mountain and around inside it, but the end was outside. I couldn’t believe it was so long. Really, who would wait 3 hours for a ride? That’s what the wait was at Space Mountain, so I had to pass on hat one,

Tokyo Disneyland is pretty much what you’d expect a Japanese Disneyland to be. They have the castle and so forth. The food wasn’t too expensive which is a bonus. Must have been 200,000 people there or so, but I’m only guessing. I tried Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, a steam train ride and finally the Haunted House, which managed ti break down when we were on it.

We left at around 10.15pm. Train back to the car, then, as if the waiting hadn’t been long enough, we had to get out of the car park. This took nearly an hour. No-one around to direct traffic, just a non-moving free for all,. Ended up (following a woman’s lead) picking up a witches hat to allow cars to cross from the non-moving left lane to the right which was at least slowly moving.  We had gone 20 metres in 45 minutes. Well, they recaptured what it was like to be in Tokyo Disneyland in the carpark.

At lest they could have had a man directing traffic. The I had a three hour drive to Utsunomiya  Once we were clear of heavy traffic it was actually good going, and we were glad to be able to rest for the night....

Splash Mountain

Driving to Yokohama is not fun.

Gracious forgiveness is begged for the lateness of this blog post! I’m so sorry it’s been so long. It’s been three weeks since I arrived back in Ichinoseki and since then it’s been back to school and lesson planning and correcting like crazy.  Also, I lost the SD card with the photos from Tokyo and Yokohama on it and I didn’t want to post without them.

However, memory card found! Where? Ummm.... oh.... under some papers on my desk. Whoops! So here is the rest of the story of my August sojourn  - Part One.

If you recall I was in Hakuba. I left on the morning of the 10^th of August to drive, via Fuji-Yoshida, to Yokohama. Well, that was a task and a half of full cream dairy milk let me tell you! The first part, however, wasn’t too bad. Lots of tunnels as I headed eastward and downward where the air wasn’t so cool. The traffic was okay though, so that was good.

Fuji-Yoshida is in the shadows of Mount Fuji, the closest I have got to this mythical mountain. However, again clouds and mist prevented a great view, although I did get the best pictures of it thus far. After that the traffic slowed right down for an hour or so. I drive past a lake and many holidayers. It was the season.

Finally it sped up again and I was moving along one of the better routes that isn’t an expressway in Japan. Double-laned at times, I felt confident of getting to Yokohama by 6pm. Then, as I approached and was within 50km or less, things got slow again. I decided to hop onto the expressway, not too far too go shouldn’t make a huge dint in my pocket, and would move me very quickly to my destination.

Wrong. After five kilometres I suddenly was in non-moving traffic. Just sitting there. Every five minutes we moved 50 metres. Surely not! What’s the point of paying to go on an expressway if it’s just as slow, if not slower than the normal road. I was on for forty-five minutes before I got to the next exit. Off I hopped and back to the normal roads. Sure, I would get lost and not move fast but at least I wouldn’t be paying for the privilege.

Lost I got. But I wasn’t far from my destination when I got lost. I had to guess at points, got on to route one to find it was just as bad as the expressway. Got off and just tried to head in the right general direction. When I got near to the end, my google map became pretty pointless and I didn’t know what road I was on, their aren’t a lot of street names in the Yokohama suburbs such as Sugita. I had to meet my in-laws at the Shin Sugita station.

I went too far along one road and turned back. Maybe this way? That way? The map was useless and I was lost, stressed and over it. I had been driving for ten hours by this point. I tried to sense my way to the right place. I followed signs to suburbs marked on the map in the right direction. Somehow I made it. I found places I recognised and I was there. Driving in Japan can clearly be a nightmare. I have learnt my lesson. I won’t do that again.

Hakuba - a man's gots to know his limitations!

Well, sorry for the delay but I have spent a good portion of the last week behind the wheel of my Suzuki pushing up hills and waiting at traffic lights.

The drive from Tsuruoka took me along the west coast of Japan down to Nagano-ken. I was heading for a place called Hakuba, very popular in the Winter for skiing and snow sports, and a refreshingly cool place in Summer.

The drive wasn't too bad, but an all-day affair. I found myself on a very slow route at one point, and decided I'd swap over to the expressway for a time. They are not cheap, but the expressways will get you where you want to go probably three to four times faster than the normal roads. So I sped down the expressway and cut a couple of hours out of the day. By the time I was on a normal road again it was the last 40km to Hakuba, on a road winding through mountains and tunnels. Behind a long row of trucks, I rarely did more than 30km an hour. Such are the roads in Japan.

I arrived at around 7pm at my hostel. It was clean, with a good kitchen, I had a cheap single room with proper beds and ensuite. I didn't realise how much I was missing a real, comfortable bed!

Ski jumps, Hakuba

Hakuba is in Nagano-ken, which played host to the 1998 Winter Olympics. Whilst the Summer games were going on in London, I stepped back 14 years to see some of the old places used for the Olympics in Nagano-ken, such as these ski jumps. Mad sport really, every bone could quite easily be broken. And they don't get nearly as much stopping space as I expected!

 The second day at Hakuba was time for more hiking, and I chose the popular Karamatsu-dake (mountain). First I took this 'gondola lift' pictured above. It rattled and speak and jolted for 15 minutes and left me a little shaky, I must admit! After that two sets of ski lifts were easy going, mainly because my feet could touch the foliage!

The boarded track

 After that it was about a 45 minute walk (although they advised 65-80) to the first point of interest, Happo-ike, a big pond. The clouds rolled in and out all the time I was up there. The track was mostly boardwalked to the pond, and naturally basically straight up.

Happo-ike

 It was a nice view, but I was hoping for better things, like the full ascent to Katamatsu! I was feeling much better than the previous walks, so I didn't even stop, I pushed on! Up and up and up. Within 15 minutes it was getting really hard for me. I was at over 2000 metres but altitude shouldn't have affected me, so I put it down to the incredible decline in my fitness. I was feeling in and could barely move. It was all pretty much uphill, steeper than before, no board walks. I passed people and thought maybe I could make it to the intermediate peak, Maru-yama. I got to my limit though, stopped just about a section of snow. The temperature would have been around 16 degrees, but the snow hadn't completely melted.

A peak through the clouds, from the pond.

A man's got to know his limitations and I started back down. It had taken 45 minutes from the pond to that point, less than half of that to return to the pond where the clouds broke briefly and allowed me to see a few surrounding peaks. Beautiful area. I would naturally discover that I was possibly very close to that peak and if I'd persisted another ten or so minutes, maybe less, I would have made it. Such is life.
Hakuba was a very pleasant, cool, green place to visit. A great choice in the middle of August. But two days was not enough. The following day would see me drive all the way to Yokohama.
But that will be another blog post....

Temple, beach, mountain, mountain.

Hello friends, it's been a long two days but before I sleep I must blog, I guess. LOL. Today I drove a long long way to find myself in Nagano-ken, in a town called Hakuba. However today's blog is about yesterday's adventure, which left me tired with two of the sorest calves I could imagine. That's the sort that are part of my legs, not baby cows!

At Zenpo-ji.

 First, as the rain gently fell, I drove out to Zenpo-ji, a temple a few kilometres from Tsuruoka. It was a very nice temple, there was only one other person visiting, worth a look for sure. It had a five-storied pagoda like all good temples complexes must have in Japan! Lovely little garden (above). The temple dates from the 10th century. Opposite is an interesting long abandoned train station with an old engine inside, not going anywhere. Totally overgrown with so many trees, I expect it's been at least 20 years since it's been in use. After seeing so many temples, I must admit to finding that more interesting...

 I drove along the coast. Not a hot day, mid-twenties, a bit of rain about, I stopped at the beach to take a couple of photos, the first time I have seen the Sea of Japan and the West Coast. Quite a violent looking sea, but the opposite side to the Tohoku coast of just a couple of posts again.

 I also noticed these big concrete things. You can see them in the ocean they seem to form some sort of wave blocks. Not sure if they are meant as tsunami blocks - they would have little effect I think on a serious Tsunami, however, the waves seem to always be crashing heavily all the time so I presume they prove rather effective.

Torii Gate, Yudono-san.

 Then it was time to head back up to the mountains. I headed to the third of the three holy peaks, Mt Yudono. This one is the mountain of rebirth, and at around 1500 metres is the second biggest of the mountains. I took a wrong turn and went half-way up a different mountain. Yes, the lots of wrong turns on this journey, navigating Japan is not easy. However, eventually I found my way up this toll road for a few kilometres. Considering we pay to use it, they could occasionally repair the road...
I arrived at the Torii gate where it was bus or foot power from then on in up the mountain. I new I wasn't going to get to the peak, but I looked at the map and saw there is a section where people climb ladders attached to the rocks. I wanted to see that, about three quarters of the way up.

 Up! Yes up and up and up! I went up the road. Then up some steps, down some steps to a little temple where people were getting blessed. From there it was a small, rocky path. I kept on, I had been climbing for over an hour. I finally reached the waterfall above. Amazing. A damn up the mountain, letting the water pour through a gap in the middle. Amazing because the path was only good for one walking person, but this stone wall was two metres thick. How the hell had they made it?
From there the path got worse, it was basically a creek. I had sneakers on and was worried about coming down, too easy to re-injure my ankle. Not good footwear for serious hiking. The previous day I had been warned by the man at the information centre that there would be snow here. Well it seemed unlikely, it all seemed dry - apart from the rover and creek of course. When I returned to the bottom I looked at the map to find I must have only been a couple of hundred metres away from those ladders! But in fairness I was climbing over steep wet rocks. Probably the right choice. No-one else on that part of the trail if I did hurt myself.

 I picked up an American guy at the car park who had run out of money and needed a ride into Tsuruoka. He'd hiked across the three mountains. He said it was very difficult. We stopped at this nice lake on the drive down.

Gas-san.

 It was getting late, but I made a push for the second (and third for me) Mountain, Gas-san. At over 1900 metres it's the tallest if the three, and it represents Death. Maybe not the one to finish on. The drive up was hairy to say the least. Winding road for about 20 kilometres I was thinking about turning back. But finally I arrived at 'Station Eight' where there's toilets, a building and a few vending machines where drinks are three times the normal cost.
The hitchhiker I had picked up said there was a boardwalk circuit there that would take about an hour, so I decided to the do that. Plenty of vegetation, but only at waist height, and there was snow there much to my surprise. It felt about 18 degrees up there. It was the most pleasant of the three mountains, I wished I had the time to climb to the peak, but it was over two hours from Station Eight. The weather switched and changed about six times in the one hour I'd been there, and I was warned not to go by the lady at my Guesthouse as it would be raining,

Gate at Zenpo-ji

The drive down was much easier than up. Poor car sounded far more healthy too. Hardly any traffic on the road, none at all on the way down. Another day of adventure! Boy were my calves in pain! So that was that, a night of sleep would take me to... today....

road trip!

I sit here in my little Ryokan room in a town on the west coast of Japan called Tsuruoka. It's been a long, hot, tiring but rewarding day. 

Road trip! I left my little apartment in Ichinoseki just before 10am and was on the road navigating thanks to google maps -  not too bad but not great - my way through to Yamagata Prefecture. The mercury at one point in the mid to high thirties, my little car may struggle to get up hills but I was thankful for the quality air conditioning! The route across the country was simple enough, and after the first 30km or so the roads cleared up and despite only being one lane I was able to move at a decent, if not lightning-quick pace.

lake near where the car was parked.

I traveled on the smaller roads, but made good time. It was a pretty journey and interesting.The roads mostly sat in valleys next to rivers. The quality of the free roads here though is a bit poor to be honest. Lots of make-shift repair jobs and thus many roads were like patchwork quilts, and not so smooth. Naturally very windy, I could really appreciate that I was on one of the world's youngest countries. Extremely mountainous because everything had been pushed up from below without the time to flatten out. The roads had snow barriers alongside, far from needed in August, but essential in 6 months I'm sure. Every little bit of flat land is used for rice or corn. Or maybe wheat. I am still yet to see a farm animal like a cow or sheep in Japan. They are hiding somewhere.

Museum

It was time for a stop. One of the main plans for this trip was to see a couple (at least) of the three sacred peaks in Yamagata Prefecture known as 'Dewa Sanzan'. Today I thought I would get in the smallest - Harugo-san, at 414 metres. I came to a camping ground at its base, and then a sort of information centre. The signage was poor, but I followed a small sign at the rear of the camping ground (which I'd walked back to up and down a steep hill) and through the forest I went.

It's dense, almost jungle-like in these parts. Alive with insects of all types, the path was pretty average. I read about the path, there were supposed to be loads of people on it. Not a one. Oh Andrew, you did something wrong! Well, the sign said Mt Harugo.

And indeed I ended up in the right place. Seems I didn't START from the right place. I crossed a toll road and followed another path. I was hot and sweaty and it had been over an hour, but I was there. An interesting small museum, many temples, a functioning monastery,  souvenir shops and quite a few people. Very interesting place. Beautiful buildings. I found the correct path and decided to take it back down.

Shrines at Harugo-san

 It was darned steep, and still quite a few coming up. Well patronised, completely made out of stone - no good for the ol' legs. It went on and on and I soon realised - it must have gone down further than I hiked up! Near the end of the path was a beautiful bridge and a five-pillared pagoda - never go out of fashion those. I walked up a hill at the end, but it took a long time to get down, and I feared it was no where near I parked my car.

Main temple at Harugo-san

 I was right! Harugo village is where I found myself! That's where I should have started from. In fact I was told at the information centre I was now 10km from where I had parked my car! What? How was that possible? I thought I had walked 4-5km max. If I'd started there I could have got a decent map with English, but no I had to take the hard route!
Luckily, I was told by the very kind man at the information centre, there was a bus that went past the camping ground. I waited. The bus turned up but said 'end of the line'. Only in winter does it do that route in the afternoon! Woah! But instantly the INCREDIBLY kind man offered me a lift.

The path down (and up to) Harugo-san. 

 Wherever you go you will find kindness, that's one thing I've learnt from my travels. Back to the car, and onto Tsuruoka. This was a great day. Adventure, friendliness, a bit of exercise! Harugo is a bit of a pilgrimage. The three peaks each have their importance - Harugo represents birth, but most pilgrims only make it to Harugo, the other two are much harder to get to and can only be reached in the Summer months. Many pilgrims dress in white. It was a very interesting day. Tomorrow - well you can find out more about tomorrow, tomorrow!

another pagoda to the power of five