Blogs from Shizuoka, Japan, Asia - page 3

Day Two: my five fluent basic Japanese greetings and phrases are being stretched to the limit. This morning we had breakfast at the bakery next to our hotel because it just smells so good. Pastry= breakfast. They also played awesome jazz music in there. We then walked down to Shinjuku station to take the first of two trains to Kawaguchico (Mt Fuji.) We could not go the whole way up the mountain because of snow, so we found other entertainment. We walked around the local area and found a very small shrine. On the way back into town we found a traditional Teppanyaki restaurant. James ate possibly one of the best meals of his life here. A small distance out of the town centre, was an Onsen (hot spring). We endeavoured to walk there. once at ... read more

Fujimi to Kawaguchiko 116km. 1200m climbing. Oh! What a difference a day makes, just 24 hours. Who would have dreamt that today would be wall to wall sunshine spending the first 50k going downhill with a tail wind, and to top it all having a magnificent view of Mt Fuji. The descent was through typical Japanese agricultural land with little tractors cultivating the little fields manned by men in straw hats. The towns had the usual beautifully manicured gardens and topiary and there were more grapes and fruit trees in monstrous greenhouses. After a bread and tuna salad lunch we started our compulsory climbing alongside a river which had two small hydro electric power stations at the roadside. At about 80km we had another brew stop, just before my legs gave out and my posterior lost ... read more

Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nemba, the healing village of Nemba on Lake Saiko, is a traditional village which was destroyed in an earthquake in 1966 and has been rebuilt as a folk village to display the crafts and way of life of the people who have lived here for hundreds of years. It is a charming village of about 20 bamboo-thatched cottages nestled under Mt Fuji. (Unfortunately it was hidden by cloud today but we can't complain. We had great views yesterday and it's common for visitors to this area not to see Fuji at all because it is often wrapped in cloud.) The cottages display different aspects of life in the village including ceramics, paper-making, silk-making, wasabi-cultivation and a water wheel mill. There is a little museum with a clock that stopped when the earthquake ... read more

Hello my fellow travellers! This morning started off very calmly, cuddling a bit with Vivian while looking after Anzu who was playing in the playground next to the house. Meanwhile Junko and Takae made breakfast, I can get used to this kind of life. After a while a neighbours child that Junko know also came up and chatted with us for a bit, it was a nice and relaxed morning, although in fairness, most my mornings here in Shizuoka has been quite calm and relaxed which is a nice change of pace from my regular travelling. Once we all felt properly awake and ready to go we loaded up in the car and set our sights on Fujinomiya, it's located at the foot of the iconic mountain Fujisan and our goal here was the waterfall Shiraito ... read more

Hello my fellow travellers! After a truly spectacular day yesterday in Atami it was now time to take another small trip, this time to Kakegawa where we stayed with Junko's husband Shōkichi in his beautiful traditional home. I was a bit tired on the drive up since I was woken up quite early by the neighbourhood morning exercise routine, which was quite fun to watch from the window even though I didn't participate. The Japanese surely are a healthy people and the exercise was quite well attended. Once we had all woken up and had some breakfast me, Junko, Takae and Anzu got in the car and drove to Kakegawa, or rather (I think), a small village outside of the city of Kakegawa. This is as rural as you get in Japan with only the occasional ... read more