Advertisement
John in Japan
Looking over a small farming village Hello all,
One of our latest hikes - we wound through a nice small farming town and made our way over a series of small peaks (fairly local mountains…). It was a great break from the city, as always, and aside from the initial set-out (the path was gated with barb wire - we were scouting out the possibility of clambering over when we noticed the gate wasn’t locked... now there is a small chance that gate was meant to preserve something inside the area and not keep us out... so we went with that mindset, and bolted past the surveillance area just inside the gate...) we had a comparatively uneventful hike and came across some neat little shrines and stunning views.
Of course, it’s nice to be able to find time for hikes like this, as my contract ends a month today! Time has flown, and the last month seems to be having an even more demanding pace! This weekend marked the beginning of my "going away" parties... bowling and drinking, lots of drinking... and of course, motsu nabe - there is a cruel sense of humour in Japanese people after all! The took me for what
John with traditional japanese roof tiles
yes - oddly, in the middle of the forest... I guess there used to be houses there! they called "white people’s garbage.... you know, the parts of the cow that white people don’t eat - the garbage..." then they motioned to all of their intestinal area, and off we went for stomach/intestines/innards stew! (They add fresh innards to boiling water at your table and you add cabbage and green onions to taste and let simmer... delicious! That, naturally, is accompanied with lots of beer (you wonder why they drink so much!) and raw cow stomach with hot sauce to chomp on while the stew boils...
Aside from that, the big news is that my route home is official... well, pending visas, that is! A few days after the end of our contracts, John and I will hop on a ferry to China and make our way to Beijing to board the Trans Siberian, routed through Mongolia to St Petersburg. Should take us around a month, his sister will join us on the train and has a deadline to fly back, so the train timing will be fairly set... then, once she’s off home, we’ll check out our bank accounts and hop around eastern Europe to our heart’s content...
So - the research begins... I have
The traditional japanese house
Of course, it's japan, stacked in the most orderly manner! my book on the trans Siberian and my passport is in the US (having had to go through a company that sells you sponsorship for a Russian visa, as Russia simply doesn’t give out tourist visas...) hopefully being processed so we can opt for the Chinese and Mongolian visas next...
Trish xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.214s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0911s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Alana
non-member comment
Have a safe trip home. I am so jealous that you are going to Russia.