(Day 184 on the road)Hiroshima greeted me with a slight but constant drizzle, which seemed somehow to be the perfect setting for this city with its tragic history. From Mt. Fuji, I had taken a bus to Tokyo, where I spent a night in one of the famous Japanese capsule hotels. I had wanted to do this for a long time, and it was quite an experience. The space inside my capsule was considerably smaller than in my tent, and I felt like being in a sarcophagus - definitely not for the claustrophobic! On the bright side, it had a TV and was much warmer, so I am not complaining. The next day, I took an overnight bus to Hiroshima, my last stop in Japan as it turned out. Hiroshima (with the pronunciation on the second ... read more

(Day 174 on the road)So I am back from traversing the Northern Japan Alps, from Kamikochi at the southern end to Murodo in the north. It took me six full days of hiking, and unfortunately the weather was not really on my side this time - it was raining and windy most of the time. Also, it was extremely cold at night, which was particularly unpleasant as I freeze very easily. Having said that however, the hike was perfect, and I would do it again in an instance! There were very few other hikers, and the further I went from Kamikochi (which is the base for climbing the very popular Mount Yarigatake), the more I was on my own and enjoyed the solitude. My route took me from Kamikochi to Yarisawa on day one, Yarisawa to ... read more

(Day 160 on the road)I finally had the hiking experience I had been looking for for such a long time - the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse, from Asahi-dake onsen to Shirogane onsen. Up north in Japan on Hokkaido island, in the remote national park of Daisetsuzan, I spent five full days hiking of and camping in almost complete solitude. The trek is challenging and long, and temperatures dropped to below zero at night. But the biggest problem actually was access to clean water - at this time of the year (early September), water was extremely scarce up there, and it did actually cut my hike short by one day. If you are contemplating doing this hike, read on for some tips or email me for more information. I found the only hiking book there is about Japan ... read more

(Day 154 on the road)From Kyoto, Ann and I took the famous Shinkansen train to Tokyo. The ride was smooth as expected and felt very fast. Once we were walking around Tokyo, the images that I had in my mind of this city were soon confirmed: The city is very much neon and high-tech. One example: The Internet cafes we saw were full-blown amusement and recreation centres, with free drinks available, DVDs and comics for rent, private cubicles with fully reclining chairs to sleep in, and showers. Apparently quite a few people use them as "hotels" if they missed the last subway home; guess I need to spend a night there one day to experience that. Also, you might have read or already experienced about the high-tech toilets in Japan that sprinkle water onto you from ... read more

(Day 144 on the road)After two and a half wonderful months spent in China and zig-zagging almost the entire country in that time, the two days spent on the ferry to Japan gave me a good chance to reflect. I am fascinated by this beautiful country, so I have compiled a short list about what makes this country special for me. Also, on one of my last days in China I had received a few nasty and threatening comments on my blog from Chinese people who had read my blog and apparently were not happy about some of the entries I had made. I was careful all the while to not turn my blog into a political journal. Of course there are quite a few quarrels one must have with China - things like the totalitarian ... read more