That weekend Justin and I woke up early enough to take a shower, a light breakfast and be on time at Takanohara station, it was around ten minutes before the hour when we were waiting for Chiho, she didn’t show up until five minutes after we agreed. We took the train and switch in Saidaiji station because we were going to Osaka to take the train. On the platform our dear guide started a long, long conversation with my roommate, result? We missed the train, she had to call our friends to go ahead and buy the tickets for us and wait for us at the platform, after that she made us change the train 4 stations before the last one just to find out that there was no faster train. We ran at Osaka station until we found Emanuel and Kazuko already flipping out. Chiho is a lot of fun.
At the train station of Kouyasan the fun doesn’t end, you still have to take a ride up hill in one of those carts that I don’t remember the name but that are on a rail (like a train but tilted). Once we were on top we found our hotel (which gave us the bad surprise of being highly expensive), it was also a temple and we chose that because you could pray with the monks in the morning. It was a Ryokan style inn, girls were in one room boys in the next (sorry is not one of those stories), we left our bags and started our journey through the temples.
Kouyasan is known for being some sort of school for monks, also a place for meditation and the prelude for pilgrims before going to Shikoku. A couple of weeks before, the girls decided to show us a little of the other side of Japan, the meditative and calm, this came as nice contrast after having spent a weekend in Tokyo and a few other days in Osaka. Despite the fact that a typhoon was coming we decided to take our chances and visit Kouyasan’s many temples, shrines and of course the style of living of the monks which included celibacy and a rigorous diet of no meat of any kind, including fish and chicken, needless to say Kouyasan is also famous for its Tofu.
The typhoon was over our heads when we entered the first temple, we went thru a mesh of alleys, tatami rooms and people dressed in traditional costumes until we found it. One of the biggest stone gardens in Japan is located in this temple, it describes two figures of dragons and is just breathtaking, the typhoon was still announcing its coming so the rain wasn’t really heavy so we could see the garden pretty decently, after the garden on our way back Kazuko and I found a monk on one of the alleys of course I didn’t waste my time and ask him for a picture, he made me put my hands together in sign of praying. I look ridiculous in that picture.
After that we found a big room that looked like design for a conference or a mass, we had tea and of course our company, we enjoyed a nice chat, took pictures and then the monk that I found on the alleys came forth and gave us a speech, Chiho and Kazuko did a great job of translating what the monk was trying to tell us, it was a very nice time although my bd memory forbids me from remembering the whole talk. Once again at the end we took pictures again with the monk, it was a lot of fun and he turned out to be younger than me and probably even younger than Justin who was 23.
The next set of buildings was very special too however the rain started to pour harder and harder, we had to enter the shrine and leave a few spots on the floor. However the view that was presented to us was fascinating 5 big statues of Buda were in front of us all of them carved in a metal that made them look like gold, Chiho again came to the rescue and explained to me what each statue meant, also the paintings on the pillars and frames on the walls had meaning and all of them was nicely narrated to me by my dear friend.
After that the guys got way ahead of us and visited another shrine, Chiho and I had a hard time trying to find them and unfortunately we were out when the typhoon started to give the best of its strength. My tiny little umbrella didn’t hold the pressure and broke two of its bones. The guys laughed at me either by how ridiculous I looked with my broken umbrella or because I was almost completely wet, thankfully Emanuel came to the rescue with an umbrella beach-size, that lasted for a couple of minutes until we felt akward of having to hug each other while walking.
One museum was to be visited before going for dinner (and of course we had lunch before starting our tour) and it was simply amazing. You could never bee prepared for the amount of beauty human hands can create, I have been to a good amount of museums in my life and this although it was very small it was also shocking in the quality of its pieces. The one I remember the most was a god that was to protect from evil spirits and therefore its image gave you an impression of fear and strength, Elephant fangs on its feet, skulls as necklace a fierce look and muscles all over its body, but the best part is when you turned to your right and you fell almost instantly hypnotic by the calm view of Buda, standing below a low light with its eyes closed its monk attire and its hands in symbol of prayer. Aside from the view of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul I have never been so surprised of mankind work. Another set of beautiful deities were in different rooms, gods and onis (demons) riding dragons or stepping on the heads of defeated lions, small but a museum worthy of anyone’s itinerary if you ever go to Japan.
Back at the Ryokan our meal was getting ready, but the guys and I decided to take a bath before and fortunately we had our own public mini-onsen in the temple, we took a quick bath and got back to our room, while getting dress we all fell asleep (remember we had a party the morning before and woke up pretty early). Our meal consisted of even stranger dishes made of Tofu and seaweed our friend saw our faces of disgust and felt bad that we couldn’t enjoy the meal, of course this wasn’t their fault and I actually did enjoy what I had, granted I ate mostly Gohan and Miso-soup (I miss that so much). Wine and beers completed the night and we all went to our beds.
The morning after Emanuel didn’t wake up and missed the praying of the monks, it was actually quite nice we get to see the actual place were the ritual is celebrated, a pile of wooden grave stones were there for those whose families never claimed and didn’t have a proper burial, for our luck we could see a famous Samurai’s stone, it was amazing.
One of the most famous attractions of Kouyasan is its graveyard it lead the way to another of its famous temples, in the alley you can see many graves from famous Samurais or rulers if you are lucky enough of being able to read Japanese or like us have great friends that will translate for you. At the end of the graveyard and before entering the temple there are a set of deities which people come and throw water at once again needless to say I did likewise this time I didnt feel without respect. Unfortunately the temple doesn’t allow cameras and I have no proof of its beauty and I will let to your mind what I found there.
The last shrine we visited (by the way don’t even think of asking me the difference between a temple and a shrine, not even Japanese could tell me what it was) was in a hill, we had to hike for a good 30 minutes before we could get there, oh! Disappointment the shrine was as small as any of those you can find on the street however once again it was fun. On the way back we found a row of red gates that would lead us to another shrine this too was a disappointment but the feeling of passing through the gates made it fun enough.
We picked up our bags at the temple and we paid the exorbitant price of 10,000 Yen which is pretty expensive considering you sleep on the floor. Our ride back home was uneventful however the whole trip was worthwhile, we went to Kazuko’s place and her mom prepared a meal for us which amazingly was our first home made food, again no need to say it was delicious. Kazuko, Chiho and Justin dressed in Yukata for the festival of fireworks we were going in Kizu-cho, but that’s another story and I will have to tell you another day.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Towards Memories of Death and Sorrow
The day before I was at one of those parties where I don’t remember whose birthday it was, but I had the resolution on traveling the next day, so I woke up at 7.00 am and I took my bag with clothes for one day and my camera, my lonely planet and enough money to keep me alive for one week, you know, in case I get lost.
One in Kyoto station I went right to the JR Line and bought my shinkansen ticket, the ride was bout 200 USD round trip but I bought only one way because I didn’t know how long would I stay, about an hour after my departure I got to my destiny, the first thing I did was to check my Lonely planet guide and see where should I head to. I arrived in front of the Peace Museum after a short ride by bus.
Hiroshima is known for being the first place of a hostile nuclear detonation, this happened in the 6 day of August in 1945 at 8.15 am during World War II (actually after Germany and Austria had already surrounded if I recall well), after that another bomb was detonated in the city of Nagasaki which is in the island of Kyushu which I visited a couple of weeks earlier. Destiny or luck or whatever you want to call it played a bad joke on me and I was born the same day of the same month thirty something years later, so much was my curiosity for such a city that I decided to go on the day of my birthday to visit all the memorials however well advised by my friends I forgot that idea and decided to go the week before.
It was around 10.00 am when I got to the museum, I was a little hungry I must say but I decided to go through the museum first and then head to a nice Okonomiyaki place, dish for which Hiroshima is also known. Once at the museum the first thing that I noticed was a piece of stone I would say white marble and some words by the Pope John Paul II were carved on it.
Walking down the halls you go though the whole history of Hiroshima, from Samurai times, to industrialized, to WWII to nowadays, an Image of the T bridge before the detonation and of course after, there is even a recreation in scale of how it used to look, and where the bomb was detonated. The T- bridge was the target for the bomb a few meters above the ground, it missed by a few blocks, not that it really mattered, 1.5 kilometers around the bomb there was no living thing left on its feet or roots.
As I left the museum I felt nauseated my hunger was gone and so my desire of more museums, though I had been to the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, still nothing can prepare you for wht you see.
I walk through the alleys of the peace park, till I found the Flame of Peace (I don’t recall its actual name), but its supposed to be burning until the last atomic bomb on earth is disarmed. Then there is the Statue of Sadako holding a paper crane, Sadako was a 12 years old girl who got leukemia due to the radiation, she had the idea that if she could fold 1,000 paper cranes she would be cured, unfortunately she died before she could finish her task, however ever since the paper cranes are a symbol of peace around the world, and people from all the countries send them to Hiroshima which always has thousands of them hanging behind Sadako’s statue.
After crossing the bridge I went towards the A-bomb Dome, which is a building that was almost destroyed by the explosion, however the government after the restoration of the city, decided to keep the dome as it is and ordered maintenance so it would always look the way it was after the bomb. A few blocks from the dome there is the actual spot where the bomb was detonated, nothing special but a plaque with the explanation about how the detonation was and where exactly (like I said it was a few meters above the ground).
After all that I shook my nausea and started to feel hungry, so I went to an Okonomiyaki place apparently it is very famous though I don’t recall its name, I had a Kirin beer and the famous dish. I must say it was delicious and sort of different from the one I tried in Nara. Once I was satisfied I took the tram towards the port which would take me to Miyajima the island that is known for its famous gate that looks like floating in the middle of the sea when the tide is high enough.
I got a Ryokan in the island which is a Japanese style guesthouse where you feel that you are living in somebody’s house rather than in a hotel. I walked towards the famous gate and on the way in addition of having the company of a handful of deer I saw a beautiful sunset just behind some hills, once at the gate I walked along the shore and until the actual site, the beautiful orange color that covers the gate and that symbolizes the color of the sun and that is believed to give protection against evil spirits is one of the things why it is so famous, and not to mention what the actual gate was for. A number of years ago (I don’t know the exact date), this was a sacred land and the Miyajima shrine was one of the most important in the area, the land was said to be so holy that no foot could be set on it, so pilgrims would have to come by boat to the entrance of the shrine, and the main entrance it was of course the Miyajima Gate.
After a set of many shots I had to cross to the main island and head to an Izacaya where I had a hearty dinner, unfortunately the last boat was to leave at 10.00 pm exactly and thereof I would miss all the fun the main island had to offer.
The morning after, I went again to the Miyajima gate since it was a couple of steps from my Ryokan and I took the next set of pictures where I can see the gate floating in the water, then I walked into the shrine that its guarding and for my surprise there was a wedding! Amazingly I could stay a couple of minutes and as respectfully as I could I took some pictures. Once done there I took the ferry back into the city, and towards the JR Line, my shinkansen left me in Kyoto early on Sunday.
The memory of what happened in Hiroshima almost 60 years ago is still painful and I don’t think it will ever pass. There is a museum in Washington DC remembering the holocaust that some Europeans went through in the World War II, they claim they stopped the war, and that they saved millions of lives, but at cost of what? Of committing the same crimes on the people of Japan?
Please visit Sadako’s website at http://www.sadako.com/
One in Kyoto station I went right to the JR Line and bought my shinkansen ticket, the ride was bout 200 USD round trip but I bought only one way because I didn’t know how long would I stay, about an hour after my departure I got to my destiny, the first thing I did was to check my Lonely planet guide and see where should I head to. I arrived in front of the Peace Museum after a short ride by bus.
Hiroshima is known for being the first place of a hostile nuclear detonation, this happened in the 6 day of August in 1945 at 8.15 am during World War II (actually after Germany and Austria had already surrounded if I recall well), after that another bomb was detonated in the city of Nagasaki which is in the island of Kyushu which I visited a couple of weeks earlier. Destiny or luck or whatever you want to call it played a bad joke on me and I was born the same day of the same month thirty something years later, so much was my curiosity for such a city that I decided to go on the day of my birthday to visit all the memorials however well advised by my friends I forgot that idea and decided to go the week before.
It was around 10.00 am when I got to the museum, I was a little hungry I must say but I decided to go through the museum first and then head to a nice Okonomiyaki place, dish for which Hiroshima is also known. Once at the museum the first thing that I noticed was a piece of stone I would say white marble and some words by the Pope John Paul II were carved on it.
Walking down the halls you go though the whole history of Hiroshima, from Samurai times, to industrialized, to WWII to nowadays, an Image of the T bridge before the detonation and of course after, there is even a recreation in scale of how it used to look, and where the bomb was detonated. The T- bridge was the target for the bomb a few meters above the ground, it missed by a few blocks, not that it really mattered, 1.5 kilometers around the bomb there was no living thing left on its feet or roots.
As I left the museum I felt nauseated my hunger was gone and so my desire of more museums, though I had been to the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, still nothing can prepare you for wht you see.
I walk through the alleys of the peace park, till I found the Flame of Peace (I don’t recall its actual name), but its supposed to be burning until the last atomic bomb on earth is disarmed. Then there is the Statue of Sadako holding a paper crane, Sadako was a 12 years old girl who got leukemia due to the radiation, she had the idea that if she could fold 1,000 paper cranes she would be cured, unfortunately she died before she could finish her task, however ever since the paper cranes are a symbol of peace around the world, and people from all the countries send them to Hiroshima which always has thousands of them hanging behind Sadako’s statue.
After crossing the bridge I went towards the A-bomb Dome, which is a building that was almost destroyed by the explosion, however the government after the restoration of the city, decided to keep the dome as it is and ordered maintenance so it would always look the way it was after the bomb. A few blocks from the dome there is the actual spot where the bomb was detonated, nothing special but a plaque with the explanation about how the detonation was and where exactly (like I said it was a few meters above the ground).
After all that I shook my nausea and started to feel hungry, so I went to an Okonomiyaki place apparently it is very famous though I don’t recall its name, I had a Kirin beer and the famous dish. I must say it was delicious and sort of different from the one I tried in Nara. Once I was satisfied I took the tram towards the port which would take me to Miyajima the island that is known for its famous gate that looks like floating in the middle of the sea when the tide is high enough.
I got a Ryokan in the island which is a Japanese style guesthouse where you feel that you are living in somebody’s house rather than in a hotel. I walked towards the famous gate and on the way in addition of having the company of a handful of deer I saw a beautiful sunset just behind some hills, once at the gate I walked along the shore and until the actual site, the beautiful orange color that covers the gate and that symbolizes the color of the sun and that is believed to give protection against evil spirits is one of the things why it is so famous, and not to mention what the actual gate was for. A number of years ago (I don’t know the exact date), this was a sacred land and the Miyajima shrine was one of the most important in the area, the land was said to be so holy that no foot could be set on it, so pilgrims would have to come by boat to the entrance of the shrine, and the main entrance it was of course the Miyajima Gate.
After a set of many shots I had to cross to the main island and head to an Izacaya where I had a hearty dinner, unfortunately the last boat was to leave at 10.00 pm exactly and thereof I would miss all the fun the main island had to offer.
The morning after, I went again to the Miyajima gate since it was a couple of steps from my Ryokan and I took the next set of pictures where I can see the gate floating in the water, then I walked into the shrine that its guarding and for my surprise there was a wedding! Amazingly I could stay a couple of minutes and as respectfully as I could I took some pictures. Once done there I took the ferry back into the city, and towards the JR Line, my shinkansen left me in Kyoto early on Sunday.
The memory of what happened in Hiroshima almost 60 years ago is still painful and I don’t think it will ever pass. There is a museum in Washington DC remembering the holocaust that some Europeans went through in the World War II, they claim they stopped the war, and that they saved millions of lives, but at cost of what? Of committing the same crimes on the people of Japan?
Please visit Sadako’s website at http://www.sadako.com/
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Amanohashidate
Yes, that’s its name, and its one of the three most beautiful views of Japan, being the other two the islands of Sendai and the Gate of Hiroshima.
The sand pit of Amanohashidate is known for its 1.5 kilometers length filled with pine trees and a beautiful blue sky. I didn’t have prepared going there but one day after one of those parties I remember that it was really close to where I was staying (around 2 hours) so I just woke up, but my cameras in my bag and headed towards north.
Taking the JR line from Kyoto station it took me like 1.40 minutes to realize that I pretty much didn’t know where my stop was or even if I was in the right train, so I asked one guy in the smoking area (not that I smoke, but it was on the way to the bathroom) so of course this guy didn’t speak any english nor spanish but the point is that he kind of gave me directions and for my comfort he was correct, so I got off at this station which I don’t remember its name and headed towards the tourist office.
The lady at the stand gave me some directions and told me that the best to do in Amanohashidate is to climb the two hills from where you’re supposed to see the sand pit. So I climbed the south hill, it was actually pretty close to the train station, in fact the whole town was quite small, anyway I had to hop in one of this chairs that carry you up (I don’t know its name), and the fun part is that there wasn’t any belt to protect you, you just had to hold up with your hands.
Once up there the idea is that you turn your back towards the sand pit then you open your legs and you bend and look between them (yeah I know, kinda kinky), and so of course I did that though I didn’t notice anything special, so I climbed down, took a ferry and went to the other side essentially another island just connected by this sand pit.
Again I climbed up this mountain but now by foot because it was not that far, again the view was nothing special. However things got more interesting on the way back, I decided to walk along the sand pit, go to a nice restaurant for a hearty lunch and then back to Kyoto.
While I was walking along the row of pine trees the clock hit 5.00 pm, it was a nice hour, you know the sun is striking from the side instead of from the top and hence you can get really nice pictures, but anyway I got to the bathing area and that was striking so much that I decided to spent a few minutes there (even though I was running out of time because the last train was around 7 and I havent had lunch yet). Anyway in the sand pit I took my shoes and socks off and went in the water, it was at a perfect temerature, it had barely any waves like if it was a lake, the sand was beautiful, I think added to the fact that I was all by my self (there was people around me but not with me), I was in the other side of the world with nice water on my feet, all that made the place be one of the best of my trip.
Uh! I forgot to mention, I like company when I travel, but I always enjoy travelling alone.
When I left the sand pit I said “I am alone it has been a beautiful day, I am going to have a nice meal in front of the sea in the best restaurant I see”, so I saw this beautiful place and went in for my surprise it was only a café and they didn’t have any food, so I was there starving with an over priced glass of cold red wine (still don’t know why they serve it cold). After “enjoying” my self in front of the sea I took off went right into the next convenient store, bought my self a bowl of cold udon and hop into the next train towards south.
The sand pit of Amanohashidate is known for its 1.5 kilometers length filled with pine trees and a beautiful blue sky. I didn’t have prepared going there but one day after one of those parties I remember that it was really close to where I was staying (around 2 hours) so I just woke up, but my cameras in my bag and headed towards north.
Taking the JR line from Kyoto station it took me like 1.40 minutes to realize that I pretty much didn’t know where my stop was or even if I was in the right train, so I asked one guy in the smoking area (not that I smoke, but it was on the way to the bathroom) so of course this guy didn’t speak any english nor spanish but the point is that he kind of gave me directions and for my comfort he was correct, so I got off at this station which I don’t remember its name and headed towards the tourist office.
The lady at the stand gave me some directions and told me that the best to do in Amanohashidate is to climb the two hills from where you’re supposed to see the sand pit. So I climbed the south hill, it was actually pretty close to the train station, in fact the whole town was quite small, anyway I had to hop in one of this chairs that carry you up (I don’t know its name), and the fun part is that there wasn’t any belt to protect you, you just had to hold up with your hands.
Once up there the idea is that you turn your back towards the sand pit then you open your legs and you bend and look between them (yeah I know, kinda kinky), and so of course I did that though I didn’t notice anything special, so I climbed down, took a ferry and went to the other side essentially another island just connected by this sand pit.
Again I climbed up this mountain but now by foot because it was not that far, again the view was nothing special. However things got more interesting on the way back, I decided to walk along the sand pit, go to a nice restaurant for a hearty lunch and then back to Kyoto.
While I was walking along the row of pine trees the clock hit 5.00 pm, it was a nice hour, you know the sun is striking from the side instead of from the top and hence you can get really nice pictures, but anyway I got to the bathing area and that was striking so much that I decided to spent a few minutes there (even though I was running out of time because the last train was around 7 and I havent had lunch yet). Anyway in the sand pit I took my shoes and socks off and went in the water, it was at a perfect temerature, it had barely any waves like if it was a lake, the sand was beautiful, I think added to the fact that I was all by my self (there was people around me but not with me), I was in the other side of the world with nice water on my feet, all that made the place be one of the best of my trip.
Uh! I forgot to mention, I like company when I travel, but I always enjoy travelling alone.
When I left the sand pit I said “I am alone it has been a beautiful day, I am going to have a nice meal in front of the sea in the best restaurant I see”, so I saw this beautiful place and went in for my surprise it was only a café and they didn’t have any food, so I was there starving with an over priced glass of cold red wine (still don’t know why they serve it cold). After “enjoying” my self in front of the sea I took off went right into the next convenient store, bought my self a bowl of cold udon and hop into the next train towards south.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Not men but women
Erick didn’t made his bag the day before so he had to go back home kinda early to prepare his clothes for the weekend trip to Kyushu, Justin picked him up an hour after and they both went to meet their friends to the train station, Erick loves trains, he likes the idea of travelling in them rather than cars, “they’re just nice” is his argument. They got to Osaka harbour an hour later in company of the french Charles, Mickael, Jean Michell and Florian, then Marc from Belgium, Emmanuel from Italy and the Japanese Yuki, Masumi and Satsuki.
The boat turned out bigger than our hero imagined, and hence a lot more fun, they arranged common rooms with around 30 people all sharing the same space, of course it was cheaper but the Futon was more uncomfortable than usual. The guys were having fun outside in the platform with a pretty nice wind some beers and above all their own company. The trip was uneventful except for the fact that they saw a bridge near Kobe and was a pretty amazing view that all of them stared as long as it lasted.
In the following morning after a bad 4 hours sleep the guys arrived at Beppu which is one of the main harbours of the island, before getting of they met a nice canadian guy called Tyler who specifically gave them the advice of “Get the hell out of Beppu as soon as you can”, which our friends of course did. They arrived at Yufuin a couple of hours later after a wavy drive in a local bus. The teams splitted for some odd reason, Erick, Charles, Mickael, Satsuki, Justin and Florian ended up having a nice lunch in a local restaurant and it was indeed delicious, though nothing special just Udon and green tea.
After lunch they all decided to go back to Beppu where they’re Ryokan –Japanese style hotel- was located, once there they got their rooms which turned out to be pretty nice, the Hostess prepared the boys some tea while them as good tourists took a thousand pictures of the event. At the end of the short break Erick decided to take a bath so he went downstairs to the onsen wearing his Yukata or summer Kimono, a couple other guys were relaxing there and it turned out to be again a good experience, though he had to go back quickly because the night was only starting. But since it was still a little early, they all went for a walk to see the Harbour in this part of Japan, while taking the tour many friendships grew bigger between laughter and walking and they all got to know each other a little more.
A couple of hours later they all got back to the hotel to prepare for dinner which was extremely special, some of the guys were wearing Yukatas some didn’t. The dinner again consisted of a parade of raw and rare meals, though our character is growing fond of such dishes and he enjoyed the meal like everybody else. Thru the course of dinner the hostess had to fix his Yukata because it was tied in the wrong direction, this is left side first then right which is the way people dress the deads before saying goodbye.
A few boys decided to go to a bar around the area, and again Japan proved to be a bad source for this kind of places, they all agreed that the only way to get a nice crowd is to go to a restaurant such as an Izacaya. They did find a bar but it was too empty and dead to enjoy it so they all decided to go back and enjoy the onsen before saying good night.
Erick was the only guy of the group that had been to the Onsen in this Ryokan before with the exception of Emmanuel but who was already inside the bath, so he lead the group of guys to the place where he went before, but by surprise there wer women washing their selves in the common area :
- This is the women side man, let’s get out of here. – Said Charles
- No I’ve been here before, I took a bath here in the afternoon. – replied our hero
- You’re crazy there is naked women in there, let’s go. – The american pointed out
- It’s got to be a mixed bathroom, I was here early today. – insisted Erick while walking towards the bath.
- We’re leaving you stay. – All said at one voice
A couple of seconds later he followed the guys still not convinced that it was the women bath until by asking a girl from staff it was confirmed, from now on he would be the joke of the whole trip.
After a couple of hours in the Onsen –the right side this time. They all went to sleep of course not before making fun of the Mexican for such a terrible mistake for several minutes. The morning after our friends splitted again, some went to a mountain called Asso, and Justin, Satsuki, Emanuel, Florian and our character decided to visit the many Onsens by which Beppu is famous.
A total of nine onsens were covered in about 4 hours by the group, from blue colored, red, yellow, gray and more. I should say that they found something interesting, and is that the locals put eggs in a basket and then immerse them in the hot water of the hot spring which gives them a different color and taste, of course they tried them just for the fun of something new rather than hunger. Floating Gates, Coffe Factories, Shrines, Dragons steaming from their mouths, a nice view at the beach, all of it was part of the journey and they all loved it. And of course lets not forget that they met a taxi driver that took them between a couple of onsens and the harbour for a reasonable price and on top of that gave them a nice talk.
The ferry on the way back was again uneventful though more relaxed until someone got the idea of buying an “Uno” card game which turned into a bloddy competition.
Friendships were made, fun was always on the table, experiences, smiles and all sort of artifacts that can be found in a 20 something soup of eclectic Gaijins were the ingredients of this terrific weekend. They all will have Kyushu in their hearts … until the next weekend.
The boat turned out bigger than our hero imagined, and hence a lot more fun, they arranged common rooms with around 30 people all sharing the same space, of course it was cheaper but the Futon was more uncomfortable than usual. The guys were having fun outside in the platform with a pretty nice wind some beers and above all their own company. The trip was uneventful except for the fact that they saw a bridge near Kobe and was a pretty amazing view that all of them stared as long as it lasted.
In the following morning after a bad 4 hours sleep the guys arrived at Beppu which is one of the main harbours of the island, before getting of they met a nice canadian guy called Tyler who specifically gave them the advice of “Get the hell out of Beppu as soon as you can”, which our friends of course did. They arrived at Yufuin a couple of hours later after a wavy drive in a local bus. The teams splitted for some odd reason, Erick, Charles, Mickael, Satsuki, Justin and Florian ended up having a nice lunch in a local restaurant and it was indeed delicious, though nothing special just Udon and green tea.
After lunch they all decided to go back to Beppu where they’re Ryokan –Japanese style hotel- was located, once there they got their rooms which turned out to be pretty nice, the Hostess prepared the boys some tea while them as good tourists took a thousand pictures of the event. At the end of the short break Erick decided to take a bath so he went downstairs to the onsen wearing his Yukata or summer Kimono, a couple other guys were relaxing there and it turned out to be again a good experience, though he had to go back quickly because the night was only starting. But since it was still a little early, they all went for a walk to see the Harbour in this part of Japan, while taking the tour many friendships grew bigger between laughter and walking and they all got to know each other a little more.
A couple of hours later they all got back to the hotel to prepare for dinner which was extremely special, some of the guys were wearing Yukatas some didn’t. The dinner again consisted of a parade of raw and rare meals, though our character is growing fond of such dishes and he enjoyed the meal like everybody else. Thru the course of dinner the hostess had to fix his Yukata because it was tied in the wrong direction, this is left side first then right which is the way people dress the deads before saying goodbye.
A few boys decided to go to a bar around the area, and again Japan proved to be a bad source for this kind of places, they all agreed that the only way to get a nice crowd is to go to a restaurant such as an Izacaya. They did find a bar but it was too empty and dead to enjoy it so they all decided to go back and enjoy the onsen before saying good night.
Erick was the only guy of the group that had been to the Onsen in this Ryokan before with the exception of Emmanuel but who was already inside the bath, so he lead the group of guys to the place where he went before, but by surprise there wer women washing their selves in the common area :
- This is the women side man, let’s get out of here. – Said Charles
- No I’ve been here before, I took a bath here in the afternoon. – replied our hero
- You’re crazy there is naked women in there, let’s go. – The american pointed out
- It’s got to be a mixed bathroom, I was here early today. – insisted Erick while walking towards the bath.
- We’re leaving you stay. – All said at one voice
A couple of seconds later he followed the guys still not convinced that it was the women bath until by asking a girl from staff it was confirmed, from now on he would be the joke of the whole trip.
After a couple of hours in the Onsen –the right side this time. They all went to sleep of course not before making fun of the Mexican for such a terrible mistake for several minutes. The morning after our friends splitted again, some went to a mountain called Asso, and Justin, Satsuki, Emanuel, Florian and our character decided to visit the many Onsens by which Beppu is famous.
A total of nine onsens were covered in about 4 hours by the group, from blue colored, red, yellow, gray and more. I should say that they found something interesting, and is that the locals put eggs in a basket and then immerse them in the hot water of the hot spring which gives them a different color and taste, of course they tried them just for the fun of something new rather than hunger. Floating Gates, Coffe Factories, Shrines, Dragons steaming from their mouths, a nice view at the beach, all of it was part of the journey and they all loved it. And of course lets not forget that they met a taxi driver that took them between a couple of onsens and the harbour for a reasonable price and on top of that gave them a nice talk.
The ferry on the way back was again uneventful though more relaxed until someone got the idea of buying an “Uno” card game which turned into a bloddy competition.
Friendships were made, fun was always on the table, experiences, smiles and all sort of artifacts that can be found in a 20 something soup of eclectic Gaijins were the ingredients of this terrific weekend. They all will have Kyushu in their hearts … until the next weekend.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
A Shinkansen to civilization
… and there were two Bullet Trains (Shinkansens), one in each side of the tracks, one of them had a pointy nose and the other a rather funny nose almost flat on the bottom, anyhow I took pictures of both of them that I’ll show you later, it is quite amazing to see that sort of technology in everyday life, yeah, yeah there is the TGV and the German train or whatever but still is an amazing piece of transportation.
We hoped in the one with the flat nose (apparently the fastest of the two) and we got to Tokyo in 2 hours (rather than in 8 like in the normal train or bus), so Tokyo like expected was chaos, we got to the hotel which was in Shinjuku – don’t know how to spell it, in the Kabuki-cho area, apparently the red ditrict of the city, hey! Don’t blame me, my boss sent me there, well the hotel wasn’t that bad, the good part is that it had a bed!!! Yes, finally a few centimeters away from the floor, and internet, oh! By the way the Electricity was a problem, it took us a good 20 minutes to figure out that you have to put the key on a small hole in the entrance for the electricity to work, of course when you leave you either leave your key locked in or you turn all your lights off :) nice trick if you think about it.
We went to this Mexican restaurant that I heard about near Harajuku named Fonda de la Madrugada, pretty nice although a little expensive then we went to Shibuya to check out the Shibuya girls, these weirdos that tan their skin everyday and use excesive makeup (you can actually check out some pics here in my log), the surprise was when we found Shibuya boys which were even more … exotic. UH! I got to see the big screens, you know those that can show a dinosaur or elephant in this huge size. Also in shibuya in the station there is the statue of this dog called Hatchiko or something like that, and is a dog who used to pick up his owner every day at the train station, but then one day the owner died but the dog kept coming to the station everyday for 11 years until his own death. Now that’s what I call loyalty.
The next day also in Harajuku we explored Meiji Shrine, amazing of course, though pretty young only 100 years old or so, in the temple I got to see the change of meals for the deity which is a whole ritual. Then there were some models for a wedding photo session, pretty amazing, but the best part was outside, where there were a lot of Goths teenagers just hangin out, of course everybody was taking pictures of them (this is when you know you’re ina big city), then we walked to a source of music and there were all these Elvis-wannabe Japanese guys just dancing in the middle of the street, that was awsome!
The tokyo tower is apparently bigger than the Eiffel tower although it didn’t seem to me, and of course is not as aesthetic as the later but well it’s a tower, we went to the middle floor which was not as expensive and there well just saw the city and I had a glass of cold green tea, I love that stuff.
On the following day we went to the main event which was the Tokyo University, yeah I know im a geek so what?, anyhow they showed us some pretty cool projects, I cant describe them because I know your not interested on this but I can tell you I saw an invisibility Jacket. Then we went to the Sony CS Labs where some other cool projects were shown to us, amazing stuff is going on over there too, the next day we went again to Tokyo university but just to Hongo campus (the main campus) for even more projects all of them again were cool, people in this country work really hard.
Uh! I forgot to tell you, we went to Asakusa were there is this temple with two demons on the sides, apparently they are the gods of thunder, but on the entrance there was a market for souvenirs which I couldn’t take advantage of so I had to come back the day after, inside the temple or in the entrance rather there was a vessel with some smoke apparently with healing properties which of course I tried (what the hell, cant hurt right?).
On the last day in the morning (I’m sorry for all the time line mess in this story) I went to check out the entrance of this temple called Hie Jinje or something similar which was really nice, uh! Side note, on the way there I left my Lonely Planet book in the metro station and I had to go back one station to pick it up, of course with no problem it was there ;) that only happens in Japan.
The Tokyo castle where the emperor lives was nice but not worthy of a detailed explanation, in fact I think Nijo-jo in Kyoto has better gardens, although what I can tell you is that I was carrying this bag with wheels with me and my backpack and of course my camera, my lonely planet guide and etc in a god only know how many degrees weather but was pretty hot and I was sweatting soooo much, incredible I can barely believe how much I wet my shirt, poor people in the metro, they all suffered my smell, specially in the rush hour of Shinjuku which is the so called biggest metro station in the world, and of course in Japan and Tokyo specially, the most crowded.
In Asakusa like I said I went shopping, some nice hand-crafts can be found there though not cheap, I got some sandals for my sister and some more souvenirs for the family, although I have no idea how to bring them back home, also some postcards and a nice little …
We hoped in the one with the flat nose (apparently the fastest of the two) and we got to Tokyo in 2 hours (rather than in 8 like in the normal train or bus), so Tokyo like expected was chaos, we got to the hotel which was in Shinjuku – don’t know how to spell it, in the Kabuki-cho area, apparently the red ditrict of the city, hey! Don’t blame me, my boss sent me there, well the hotel wasn’t that bad, the good part is that it had a bed!!! Yes, finally a few centimeters away from the floor, and internet, oh! By the way the Electricity was a problem, it took us a good 20 minutes to figure out that you have to put the key on a small hole in the entrance for the electricity to work, of course when you leave you either leave your key locked in or you turn all your lights off :) nice trick if you think about it.
We went to this Mexican restaurant that I heard about near Harajuku named Fonda de la Madrugada, pretty nice although a little expensive then we went to Shibuya to check out the Shibuya girls, these weirdos that tan their skin everyday and use excesive makeup (you can actually check out some pics here in my log), the surprise was when we found Shibuya boys which were even more … exotic. UH! I got to see the big screens, you know those that can show a dinosaur or elephant in this huge size. Also in shibuya in the station there is the statue of this dog called Hatchiko or something like that, and is a dog who used to pick up his owner every day at the train station, but then one day the owner died but the dog kept coming to the station everyday for 11 years until his own death. Now that’s what I call loyalty.
The next day also in Harajuku we explored Meiji Shrine, amazing of course, though pretty young only 100 years old or so, in the temple I got to see the change of meals for the deity which is a whole ritual. Then there were some models for a wedding photo session, pretty amazing, but the best part was outside, where there were a lot of Goths teenagers just hangin out, of course everybody was taking pictures of them (this is when you know you’re ina big city), then we walked to a source of music and there were all these Elvis-wannabe Japanese guys just dancing in the middle of the street, that was awsome!
The tokyo tower is apparently bigger than the Eiffel tower although it didn’t seem to me, and of course is not as aesthetic as the later but well it’s a tower, we went to the middle floor which was not as expensive and there well just saw the city and I had a glass of cold green tea, I love that stuff.
On the following day we went to the main event which was the Tokyo University, yeah I know im a geek so what?, anyhow they showed us some pretty cool projects, I cant describe them because I know your not interested on this but I can tell you I saw an invisibility Jacket. Then we went to the Sony CS Labs where some other cool projects were shown to us, amazing stuff is going on over there too, the next day we went again to Tokyo university but just to Hongo campus (the main campus) for even more projects all of them again were cool, people in this country work really hard.
Uh! I forgot to tell you, we went to Asakusa were there is this temple with two demons on the sides, apparently they are the gods of thunder, but on the entrance there was a market for souvenirs which I couldn’t take advantage of so I had to come back the day after, inside the temple or in the entrance rather there was a vessel with some smoke apparently with healing properties which of course I tried (what the hell, cant hurt right?).
On the last day in the morning (I’m sorry for all the time line mess in this story) I went to check out the entrance of this temple called Hie Jinje or something similar which was really nice, uh! Side note, on the way there I left my Lonely Planet book in the metro station and I had to go back one station to pick it up, of course with no problem it was there ;) that only happens in Japan.
The Tokyo castle where the emperor lives was nice but not worthy of a detailed explanation, in fact I think Nijo-jo in Kyoto has better gardens, although what I can tell you is that I was carrying this bag with wheels with me and my backpack and of course my camera, my lonely planet guide and etc in a god only know how many degrees weather but was pretty hot and I was sweatting soooo much, incredible I can barely believe how much I wet my shirt, poor people in the metro, they all suffered my smell, specially in the rush hour of Shinjuku which is the so called biggest metro station in the world, and of course in Japan and Tokyo specially, the most crowded.
In Asakusa like I said I went shopping, some nice hand-crafts can be found there though not cheap, I got some sandals for my sister and some more souvenirs for the family, although I have no idea how to bring them back home, also some postcards and a nice little …
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