Kobe, beautiful Japan

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We have arrived in beautiful Japan early morning to the sounds of a welcoming brass band and young children singing a Japanese welcome. The Japanese customs however were not so welcoming!

They wanted everyone ashore, off the ship whether they were going on a shore excursion or not so that took ages, lucky we had a trip ashore planned and got through a little quicker, but they were most precise in their examination of all passengers and crew.

The locals however are very friendly and welcoming, we took a trip to palace to see magnificent gardens, Fiona you would have been in raptures! They have double blossomed (if there is such a word) cherry trees, magnificent however our guide told us it has been an early season and most trees are shedding their blooms. hump! But we are still seeing plenty as we moved around Kobe, the history is mind blowing buildings and statues built centuries ago still survive and are in remarkable condition. The architecture is a mix of ancient Japanese to modern 60 meter towers, but like all the countries we have visited thus far the pollution is terrible. I have had nose bleeds for the last 5 days I am putting it down to the pollution and what I am breathing.

There are many young girls walking around in kimonos and for that matter young men, but our guide tells us they are tourists who have hired the outfits, the locals dont usually wander the streets in them, but nonetheless they are very colourful and striking as are the Japanese girls.

The Japanese people while shy and retiring are a proud race of people. The girls are stunning and everywhere we go there are hoards of school kids on excursions, all immaculately dressed and oh so polite.

We visited a huge colourful temple that a shogun built centuries ago to protect his people, a magnificent structure that has stood the test of time and being crawled over by millions of tourists. It is the tourist season, I have never seen so many buses in one place.

Everything from a bottle of coke to high end fashion is so expensive, whilst the average wage for a college education person is around US$1000 a week I wonder how they can afford to live.

The vegetarian food in Japan is amazing and I am enjoying the food off the ship, they do know how to cook veggies!

Off to Mount Fuji tomorrow, though rough seas are predicted for tonight, all balcony doors are to be secured and sick bags have been placed on the stairwells, never a good sign!!

love

Me xx

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Photos

Cherry blossoms Shanghai
Downtown Shanghai

Shanghai beauty
Downtown near the Bund