Page 70 - Phonebox Magazine December 2007

After an 11 and a half hour flight, with the added bonuses of sore throats, noses, ears and heads, as well as a lack of sleep, we arrived very jetlagged in a busy Tokyo city. Determined not to waste our day we ventured out to explore the Asakusa region. As luck had it we strolled upon arguably the finest set of temples in Tokyo. Although fighting with the time zone, we carried on late into the night. Firstly we visited Tokyo Tower with spectacular panoramic views of Tokyo from 150m up and lastly (after getting lost) we finally found the bright lights of the Shibuya district. In this region, huge movie screens and electronic adverts can be seen on many of the tall standing buildings. Our night then came to an abrupt end when we realised the fascinating hustle and bustle of the crowd we'd been watching.
For all our efforts, the next day was spent recovering from our jetlag and travelling to Kyoto on a very impressive Shinkansen (bullet) train. Kyoto offers more of a traditional experience within a city that combines thenewandtheold.Travellingaroundthecitywas made easy with the underground and the option of hiring bicycles which you can ride of the pavements.
The bikes really heightened the experience and over the next view days we visited The Golden Pavilion (a Japanese temple coating in gold leaf set on a lake), Nijo Castle, The Imperial Palace, a monkey park and numerous other temples and scenic routes. The atmosphere of Kyoto was a lot more relaxed and offered more of an insight into traditional Japanese culture, for
example the Geisha (a Japanese woman trained to entertain men with conversation and singing and dancing) and also women dressed in the traditional Japanese robes. Our guest house, Uno House was a quirky, random, even bizarre place to stay. For example our room had a 4ft high door, which you had to climb to get into. The same can be said for one of the owners. One gentleman in particular was either a genius or slightly manic. There was no doubting his intelligence, speaking around 4 languages and demonstrating incredible talent in the art of Origami (which we currently have as souvenirs). This guy claimed he once lived in Chelsea with a Swiss bank account (before losing it to gambling), was a diplomat for the Middle East, and was now an interior decorator. Very interesting indeed!
Before leaving Kyoto we spent the first half of the day visiting Emma’s monkey park which Mark wasn't initially thrilled about. However this was an incredible experience and both of us are glad we got to view these fascinating creatures roaming free, both through the dense forest and also inches away from us. After a steep climb through the forest to the top, we reached 200m above sea level not only to interact with the monkeys but also to view Kyoto. In the afternoon we
left Kyoto, again catching the Shinkansen, this time bound for Yokohama. Our near perfect plan very nearly turned disastrous when it appeared as though we were going to miss the check-in time for our new hostel. Some very vague directions (which even a local taxi driver couldn't work out) meant that we finally checked in at 10:05pm (5mins after last check in). Not to worry, the staff were incredibly helpful, even lending us a laptop for free so we could download our photos and use the internet.
We spent around one and a half days in Yokohama, first visiting Sea Paradise; an aquamarine park that’s built into the sea with over 5000 species of fish/mammals, everything from a polar bear to 'Nemo', walruses to sharks and stingrays to whales. Sea Paradise is an impressive marina park that combines the viewing (huge underwater tanks), entertainment (dolphin show), interaction (we touched a whale!) of a huge variety of sealife species. The complex also includes an amusement park with plenty of rides including Blue Fall; a 150m high ride that drops you to the ground at a ridiculous pace. This proved too much for the nerves but we did brave a rollercoaster that stemmed out over the sea. At night time we visited the Marine 21 Harbour and treated ourselves to a nice meal before taking in the views of the harbour, which included the worlds largest Ferris wheel and huge buildings that make up the area, made even more impressive with their lights. The next day we visited Japans tallest building, the Yokohama Landmark Tower. Unlike Tokyo Tower, we viewed panoramic views of this city during the day. We took in the view on the 69th floor. We reached the top in around 30 seconds via the world fastest lift (only in Japan!), this actually made our ears pop.
Afterwards we took a series of trains towards the Fujigoko region. Our last train was a local mountain train, decorated with a Thomas the Tank Engine theme, even the conductors uniform fitted the part! We arrived in the dark at Kawaguchko and found our hostel opposite the station (hence the name Station Inn). We were excited about the hostel as we had booked a room with a view of Mount Fuji. Hungry, we went in search of food and to stroll around the town. It was a strange experience knowing that Mt Fuji loomed so close but the black sky only heightened the eeriness of this out of season little town. The next morning we eagerly woke up early to look out our window and see Mt Fuji against a clear sky background with only a little cloud covering the snow capped top. According to our guide book, Mt Fuji is hidden by a thick cloud and notoriously shy most of the year round so we were very lucky to see this amazing 3776m high mountain (dormant volcano) fill the sky. After breakfast we went on a cable car up a nearby mountain to view Lake Kawaguchiko from one side and Mt Fuji from the other. Unfortunately the cloud closed in at a rapid rate, meaning our view of Fuji was completely obscured
(you wouldn't have even known it was there). Disappointed, we continued our day with a boat trip of Lake Kawaguchiko followed by a hop on hop off bus trip around the areas of Kawaguchiko and Lake Saiko. This included a visit to a bat cave formed by lava from a Mt Fuji eruption. Donning our hard hats (seriously recommended!) we crawled our way through the low level caves but there were no bats to be seen. Our last stop of the day was a Japanese mountain village where cloud actually drifted through the valley between the mountains into the village.
As if we weren't lucky enough with our first sighting of Fuji, our view the next morning was even more amazing. Rising really early we saw Mt Fuji in full. With too good a photo opportunity to miss, we rushed around getting dressed before the cloud would inevitably cover the mountain again. We took a load of photos from outside, but Mark searching for a closer view (and Emma going back to bed) went running off (literally!) through gardens, down slopes and jumping fences like a true paparazzi to get closer to the mountain in search of a better shot. Within 40 minutes of waking to see Mt Fuji, this Japanese icon had once again disappeared. For the rest of the morning we visited a Japanese Onsen (hot spring baths) whereby the mineral-laden water is
heated naturally underground
and pumped into the different
baths. We both went our
separate naked ways (no mixed
baths and no clothes!) and
enjoyed relaxing in the baths.
Revitalised and refreshed we
took a few trains back to Tokyo
to spend the evening in the
Shinjuku region, visiting the more metropolitan side of Tokyo before having to fly to Hong Kong in the morning.
Our experience was made easy at times, with a lot of the transportation represented in English (although a few hairy moments when it wasn't!) but our biggest problem was when eating out. A lot of restaurants didn't have an English menu and whilst this might seem obvious and to some even ignorant, it is almost impossible to regognise any of the symbols to make a choice from - an educated Japanese person will know at least 4 - 5000 Japanese symbols as opposed to the majority of the worlds 26 letter alphabet.
Overall, Japan is an incredible country with depth and versatility.Their advanced transport system is an excellent representation of a society which is much more advanced than most, yet this country retains big areas of tradition and true Japanese roots. The people of Japan are sincere, courteous and were extremely helpful towards us. This underlines a nation where respect is prominent and never questioned amongst its people.
Emma and Mark are, in the words of pop group America
On the First Part of the Journey
Read on, future travellers ...
On the first part of the Journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry But the air was full of sound
70 Phonebox Magazine