Day 1 - Arrival in Beijing On Saturday morning, October 6th, USA time, I lifted off the ground in Columbia, SC en route to Washington Dulles, where I connected with my United Airlines 747 13 hour nonstop flight to Beijing. Everything went well. No delays, no problems, a smooth flight. I had stayed up all night to maximize my chances of sleeping on this flight. I was lucky to have no one in the middle seat next to me, which allowed me a little more room. With my head on a pillow, earplugs installed, visor in place, and a Benadryl in my system, I was able to sleep for over half the flight. We descended into Beijing on Sunday afternoon, October 7th, China time. Nothing eventful at the airport, going through customs/getting my bags and getting ... read more

We saw some beautiful sights today. We started the day by taking a train out to Kameoka, just outside Kyoto to the NW. The train rides through flat city, and then all of a sudden you go through a tunnel, and emerge on the other side to the sight of undeveloped rugged green mountains and rivers. We got on a boat for a 1 1/2 hour boat ride down the Hozu river. It was absolutely beautiful. We disembarked the boat at Arashiyama and had lunch. Yes, I found some more beef curry and rice. We visited the Tenryu-ji Temple, and sat for a while overlooking it's neat zen garden. Then, we visited what may have been my favorite stop on this Japan trip, the Okochi-Sanso garden. This was a nice spot nestled on hills on the ... read more

Kyoto is a beautiful area, surrounded by green mountains, with many cultural and historical things to see. It's full of parks, gardens, temples, and shrines. First stop was "The Golden Pavilion", a beautiful gold-colored temple with surrounding gardens. The place was full of school children dressed in their uniforms, some in kimonos. Then it was off to the Heian Shrine, a huge shrine complex painted with a red/orange color, believed to ward off evil spirits, with an accompanying huge Torii gate over a street. The complex includes a nice garden that we strolled through. We then visited the Sanjusangendo Temple's Hall of 1,001 statues of Buddha. No photography was allowed inside. After lunch, we cruised over to Nara and saw the Todai-ji temple. This was originally built in the 700's AD, was destroyed twice, and was ... read more

Today, we left Tokyo and drove out to Mt. Fuji. The first stop was a rest area near the base of the mountain, offering a good view of the mountain. The bus then drove us up the mountain to a point about halfway up, at an elevation around 7,000 ft. We then went to Lake Yamanaka, and had lunch there. I found some beef curry and rice again, which was becoming my favorite and most consumed dish in Japan. Then, we went to Lake Ashi. We took a gondola from Lake Ashi (elevation around 2,000 ft) up to Mt. Komagatake, elevation 1,327m/4,353ft. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse, with windy and cloudy conditions developing, obscuring what was supposed to have been a magnificent view of Mt. Fuji to the right, and the Pacific ... read more

"Ohayo Gozaimasu" (Good Morning). It started getting light about 4am. They don't have "daylight savings time" in Japan, and they must be just west of a time zone line, so it gets light early and dark early. We had a great breakfast at the hotel, a buffet with American and Japanese style dishes. Meiji Shrine, Imperial Palace, and Asakusa Kannon Temple Then, we headed out to Yoyogi Park/Meiji Shrine. The tour guide briefed us on the Shrine. This isn't just a historical exhibit, this is still a functioning house of worship. People work there, and go there and pray. We also checked out the Imperial Palace Park, the official residence of the Emperor. Then, we went to Asakusa Kannon Temple. On the grounds just outside of the temples and shrines, there is usually flowing water available ... read more