On my way back I decided to make a stop in Kiel. Why? Because this is were Elfi lives. We were welcomed by a typical German weather....rain! Oh well.... Elfi was really excited to meet back with her friends but I was just exhausted. I could feel both the jetlag and the culture lag (if I can say that). Six month on the go exhausted me. The other days I got lucky, the sun was out. So we could visit Kiel and the suroundings. We even went to the beach! It was really nice. We also visited a farmers market in an old restaured village. On my last evening, we had a saeurkrout, of course! Then it was time to fly back to Albi. Home! Sur le chemin du retour, j'ai fait un petit détour par ... read more

Geo: 35.67, 139.77Elfi arrived in my hostel this morning. We had breakfast before starting our day with some tea shopping nearby. We went to have a last look to Akihabara before walking to Ueno. On the way I stocked up on green tea flavoured biscuits (I took many different kind). In Ueno we decided we couldn't leave Japan without trying Pachinko. I always wanted to enter a pachinko parlour but never dared when I was alone. This time we entered and had a go. One of the assistant was quite amused to see two western girls in there so he tried to explain us how to play. Pachinko machine are like a vertical pinball machine (without the flippers). So you just have to feed little balls in the machine and they fall over a forest of ... read more

Geo: 35.67, 139.77In a corner of Ueno park, kind of hidden behind the zoo, you can find a shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyatsu and located on the ground of his residence. Despite its remarquable archictecture, this shrine won't be the main topic of this post. I thought I would write few words about a small monument that I stumbled upon on my way to the shrine. This memorial is a little bit hidden on the right hand side, off the path. On the plate next to it, we can read the story of the origin of the flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Ueno: "On August 6, 1945, US forces dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and another on Nagasaki on August 9 the same year, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of ... read more

Geo: 35.67, 139.77It's a sunny spring day in Tokyo. The temperature is very comfortable and I am on my way to Yanaka. From the Nippori train station, it is a very short walk up hill to the cemetery. I crabbed breakfast on my way: a bottle of milk tea and a sweet bread. I really like the neighbourhood north of Ueno: Yanaka. It is made of individual house and lots of temples. Well, they don't really look like temple but more like huge family home with cemetery attach to them. It's a very peaceful part of Tokyo, away from the noise and the madness. After a light lunch (sesame and pickled plum rice balls), I walked south to the Ueno park and across it to reach the busy shopping lane under the railway (rather popular). I ... read more

Kanazawa is just amazing! Have you ever seen a temple with 23 rooms and 29 staircases?!? Well, it exist. This place is called Myoryuji temple but is nicknamed Ninja-dera due to its deceptive architecture. From the outside, it looks like a regular 2-floor temple but it has 4 floors and 7 tiers. This place was built by the 3rd lord of Kaga, Maeda Toshitsume. At the end of the Edo period, the Shogun would impose very strict construction rules to weaken the regional Lords. This temple was designed to circumvent those rules and serve as an advance military outpost. It is possible to visit it, however you need to book in advance and it is only in Japanese (foreigner will get a very descriptive handbook in English). Once inside, you will be taken through a maze ... read more