The end of Japan and with that, the trip!

Kyoto is raved about in every book, with lonely planet online saying it ranks alongside Paris, Rome and London as one of those cities everyone should see once in their lifetime. I feel this is a gross overstatement, though that’s not to say the city wasn't a fantastic place to visit. Travel fatigue had again caught up with us, but this time it returned with a vengeance. We really had a paltry desire to see the temples, pagodas and shrines that elevate this city to  the realms of cultural greatness.

To try and remedy this, we took the first day really slow, heading over to the raved about Manga museum, in this popular home of print cartoons.

Based in an old school, the museum was three floors of magna books with sections dedicated to european language publications. Unfortunately there wasn't much else

there, with very limited explanation of the art form, its origins and its purpose. After gandering around for a while, we read some of the english publications

(famous ones are dragonballz, pokemon and beyblade) before walking thirty minutes to the main station and booking our tickets out to Tokyo. Heading back we grabbed

some good food, pork dishes with rice and Japanese dumplings washed down with the famous national drink, Sake(a 15% rice wine drank in shots which had a fruity apple like aftertaste).

We finally succummed to seeing some sights over the next two days. Despite our initial slumber, we were incredibly imressed by what we saw. The second day in town took us to the cities finest site, the Golden Pavillion(covered in real gold leaf). This was originally built way back in 1398(though the current is a 1950's remake after a mentally ill monk burnt down the original). Following this we took a bus south to Nijo-jo, the

cities castle built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1601 it was the home of the Tokygawa Shogunate till it was disbanded in the 19th century. Unfortunately its central

keep was destroyed in a fire in the 18th century, and so inside the walls there is a palace with a fantastic traditional Japanese interior and some other wooden structures

which weren’t so impressive.

The third day involved an early start, eating rice and beef doused in soy sauce and pink pickled yam for just Y250 (£2) at a national chain which we have lived off since being in Japan (food is generally quite a bit). The day ahead was hectic as we marched around the temples starting south at Kyomizudera and working our way north stopping at Kodai Ji and the impressive xxx in which monks were noisily praying. As we headed back on ourselves we traversed along traditional streets lined with Japanese houses, deliberately narrow at the front (due to an old tax which taxed one for the width of ones house) and  passed colourfully dressed Geishas(traditionally dressed woman who for centuries have entertained men with dancing, songs and poems and often mistaken by westerners to be high class crostituites). The mercury hit 35 degreees with no cloud cover, and so it was a relief when our route took us back on ourselves for another round of 250 yen food. The afternoon was much the same as the morning, only the traditional streets gave way to modern paced alleys as we strolled north. We again saw some excellent sites and gardens including a Zen garden which was actually a collection of stones. That evening we had to move hostel due to ours being full (we should have booked an extra night earlier). It was a bit of a blessing in disguise as many people there had been kindly social to us, though being at the end of this trip, neither of us felt in the mood to make the effort with others. That evening we ate some rich and pretty spicy Ajisen noodles at a joint in one of the towns covered shopping streets before taking an eight hour coach to Tokyo the next day.   

The world’s largest city was electric, filled with people. We stayed in the centre in a capsule hotel- essentially you sleep in a container like structure instead of a bed. Tokyo’s Oxford Street, Ginza was our first port of call. It was quiet when we went, full of all the high end brands such as burberry, dolche and havannah etc. We spent a few hours wondering around, looking in some of the shops and went inside the sony centre, a skyscraper with several floors of 3D exhibitions and tvs alongside other gizmos such as the latest cameras and touch screen computers. Following a subway for lunch, we headed over to Shibuya, where we wandered around the alleyways looking at the slightly more down to earth shops. Whilst there we took the opportunity to photograph the famous crossing, filled with people against a backdrop of lights and sounds from the nearby shopping streets, skyscrapers and giant TV screens.

 

The trips penultimate full day was another soiree of sensory overload, as we headed a few stops on the Giza Line to Akihabara, known as electric city and the hub of Tokyo’s manga scene. The multistory buildings were filled high with everything from futuristic arcade machines (for some you brought along your own pokemon like cards and did battle with the machines, or created formations out of football stickers you collected-see below) being used by respectable businessmen on their lunch break, to shops filled with anime comics (with some very disturbing anime) and collectors items as  well as heaps of electrical stores where you could purchase almost anything. At street level, there were young girls dressed up as maids promoting maid cafes. The bizarre Japanese concept is mainly for the Geeks and anime fans (there are anime cafes too),in such places one is served by waitresses dressed up as maids who call you master, stir your coffee and even feed you your cake!- In the late afternoon, we grabbed a subway to Sinjuku where  we walked round central park and headed up to the 45^th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building for some spectacular sunset, then nighttime, views of the vast city.

Akihabra

Maid Cafe

The final day of the final country of the trip was fairly laid back. Rising at 8am we headed to the docks under clear skies, arriving at the fish market at around  9 oclock. After walking around the under cover market looing at some of the strange creatures on sale (which strangely didn’t smell that bad), we headed to a restaurant by the docks for the real reason we were here- fresh Sushi! The market is very popular with tourists because it is here that tokyos restaurants are provided with their stock, including sushi restaurants in which the product can cost many hundreds of pounds per piece. However ,restaurants at the docks get some of the lesser cuts of the fresh fish allowing tourists to get a real taste of Japan at a fraction of the cost.. For around £8 each we watched as the chef prepared each of us a sushi board, slicing the various fish and craftily rolling the sushi in seaweed paper . You could defiantly taste the difference compared to the stuff served at conventional restaurants, incredible. Following our rather exotic breakfast we headed back via a brief trip to Panasonic world which showcased lifestyle products (including heated toilets with automatically opening lids and autoflush).

In the afternoon, we strolled from our hostel through some backstreets via the canal to the base of the soaring Tokyo Sky Tree, the world’s second tallest building at 634 meters, due to open later in 2011.  Our final outing of the trip typically and perhaps fittingly took us to a nearby temple.

A 5:45am start meant we reached Tokyo Narita Airport, 60km away from the city centre with plenty of time for our 10:55 flight time home. We both picked up some Sake in the airport to bring home, spending the last of our Yen on a McDonald’s breakfast.  

So this is the trip concluded. But first a quick analysis. 

Rating countries is so difficult; ultimately it’s the experience you had there which is the biggest factor. Attempting to take into account of this my ratings are as follows:

1. New Zealand and China

The surprise package of the trip, Aeotora provided the best natural beauty anywhere I have seen, anywhere from the Glaciers and Lakes of the Southern Alps to the Volcanoes and Geysers of the North Island. This incredible beauty and charm of its small cities, combined with the phenomenal experience of the Kiwi bus, the nights out , the incredible activities and of course the people met meant the tag as favourite has never once been in serious doubt. However, despite the lacking the Kiwi bus and all that comes with it, I have to put china in a tie. The sights were incredible, the temples, the masses, the mountains poking through the clouds of Huang Shan, the beauty of calligraphy and classical art at West Lake, the best skyline of the trip in Hong Kong and the icing on the cake the great wall. In addition the people were among the most genuine and kind met traveling, the people were so warm and welcoming to us. In both countries the food was exceptional, in New Zealand for its freshness, in China for its variety of flavour. 

2. Japan with Australia

Japan’s people are surely the most polite in the world, if a little shy. The temples were possibly the best for a country in Asia and the castles with their tales of Samurais unique for this trip. The electric cities with their lghts and  The mountainous landscape, only seen from bus windows on this trip showed potential for what else could be hidden there.

Australia’s beaches were unquestionably the best ever, the natural beauty of Fraser Island and the Coral of Whitsunday’s stunning. Plus the people met whilst living and working propel this country to the top of the pile. Unfortunatly the unfriendly people and lack of decent food or beer drag it down from the highest peaks.

5. South Korea

The ten days spent with Chris and his lodgers were great fun. The country offered some decent temples and sights, but it was  the food was exceptional, some of my favourite cuisine of the trip including the much coveted barbeque. 

6. Malaysia with Singapore (included as its too small to judge separately)

Malaysia provided some cool temples, great food in Penang and amazing underwater scenery in the fantastic Perenthian Islands.

7. Vietnam

Great sites with the war museum in HCMC and the bike ride in Hue standing out

8. Cambodia

Angkor Wat was one of the best sights seen all trip though the long bus journeys and uninspiring Phnom Penh lets this down

9. Laos

Long bus journeys, good sights but nothing special

10. Thailand

Full of scheming bastards always trying to scam you, not much to see- the new Marbella

Konnichiwa from Japan! Hiroshima and Osaka

With only twelve days in Japan, we had to be very careful on our timing to ensure we saw the best of the country. A result of this meant after arriving into Hiroshima at 2000 on Sunday night, we left ourselves just one day to see the city before taking a salubrious coach to Osaka the next evening. However, we made shrewd use of our limited time, waking up early and walking ten minutes through the incredibly neat, spotless streets across Peace Boulevard to Hiroshima’s A-bomb museum, and infamous Dome, located in the Peace Memorial Park. The informative museum explained the events of August 6^th 1945 in phenomenal detail as well as the aftermath of the explosion of the bomb and health effects on the victims. The museum’s main purpose, and indeed that of the city is, however, to promote the worldwide abolition of all Nuclear weapons, including the halting of all nuclear tests (the mayor of Hiroshima writes a letter to the relevant nation every time a nuclear bomb is tested). The park, near to the original epicenter has an unaesthetic memorial to the victims as well as memorials to the 20000 youths who on the day worked outside, demolishing houses for firebreaks and who were hence, horrifically exposed to the bomb. There was a memorial to Korean labourers forced into working for the Japanese. The Dome, built in 1914 is the main symbol of Hiroshima, and despite opposition, it is still preserved as it was just after the explosion.

Model of Hiroshima with the bombs explostion represented by the red ball

A watch frozen at 0815

One of many letters of protest sent every time a bomb test takes place

The memorial

A bomb dome

 

Our free map and brand new guide book which we very handily found in the hostels book exchange guided us through the central Hondori shopping arcade to a mall where there were several storeys of restaurants specializing in the local dish, Okonomiyaki. This pancake, cooked in front of you was filled with cabbage, been sprouts egg and bacon topped with a brown sauce which tasted similar to what we have in England. It was rapidly time to head off, we had no problem catching the neat traditional city trams to the train station. From there we took a flashy coach to Osaka through the scenic hilly countryside, itself dotted with the admirable architecture of the low rise traditional Japanese houses. 

 

After a bowel of hot Udon noodles and a retro subway, we arrived at our basic Japanese style accommodation, consisting of mats and duvets on the floor of the 9^th floor of a cheap hotel in the southern Part of Osaka, and hit the hay.

The first full day in Osaka was spent an hour outside the city, as we took a JR train (ie normal non bullet train) to Himiji. This small city, contains what is widely agreed to be Japans finest castle, the main body of which was built in the 17th century. However a five year renovation plan taking place up to 2015 meant the castle was sadly not on display, being covered by a large temporary tower block in which renovations were taking place. Having traveled such distance (and paid nearly £30 return on the train) we threw good money after bad and paid to walk round the grounds and few relatively minor parts which were open. This allowed us to go inside the tower block in which there was an exhibition explaining how the keep was going to be repaired(there was also a window which showed workers repairing the castle itself). Unfortunately, none of this did anything to lift the disappointment. That evening things improved, as we put the castle behind us and headed to the heart of the city, seeing some decent skyline in Kita, before riding the subway a few stops to Minami. Minami was an overload of neon with giant shop signs and adverts dominating the lanes and alleys around the Lantern lit Dotombori Canal. In the area we briefly strolled to the European street which was quiet(though  it was only dusk) with its Italian restaurants, French cafes and Irish pubs then took some pictures and ate noodles in a restaurant just off the buzzing main neon lit street.     

Castle covered by the tower block

Never lost it!

Skyline in Osaka

Minimi

To satisfy our castle hunger we spent the next day at Osaka Castle, Japan’s most visited tourist attraction. Osaka Jo, again a 17^th century creation in its current form. It was incredible. Surrounded by two moats and thick castle walls whilst looked over by sturdy watchtowers, the main bailey had the luxury of being designed more like a palace than a final line of defence.  Inside the walls there was also a barracks built at the turn of the 20^th century to look like a European palace. After wandering round the grounds we headed into the interior, which is now an eight storey museum complete with an elevator shaft where we learned about the interesting history and structure of the castle and its founders.  That evening we ate at a local restaurant before trying Osaka’s specialty of Octopus battered into balls- a tasty if not remarkable dish washed down with veritable Asahi. 

Octopus battered into balls with Asahi

The final day in Osaka actually took us out of the city to Nara, Japan’s ancient capital for seventy years till 784AD(the city’s monks became too involved with politics so it was moved to Kyoto) . An early start, followed by grabbing some take out coffee and cakes at one of the many bakeries at Namba prepared us for the busy day ahead. A full day was spent sightseeing, looking at some of the seven world heritage sights the city boasts, the highlight of which was Todaiji, a Buddhist temple housing a giant bronze buddha which is actually the worlds largest wooden building.The grand shrine of Kasuga Taisha, with its elegant gates and hanging lanterns, was also very photogenic.

 

 

All around the various temples, lanterns and graves there are wild deer which happily let tourists pet them whilst looking to extract food (there were some funny scenes of terrified children and old ladies trying to shoo them away with their umbrellas whilst clinging desperately to their murray mints, or equivalents).

On the forty minute train back to Osaka an old man talked to us about England, both as a country and a place to visit(which he intends to do in October 2011) whilst asking what we like about Japan(and also asked us for help with some pronunciation). It was a good chance for us to reflect on Japan. The people are indeed very quiet and shy but so polite, the politest people I have met after us Brits (I really mean that) always nodding and bowing at any small act. The culture here has been so unique, everywhere else we have been there has been a hunger to be like the west, a feeling that the west is superior culturally, economically and people wise,  aesthetically(evidenced by south Koreans getting eye widening procedures). Yet here I feel its far more that they have their own way and are happy with it, yes they respect the west, but its not the be all and end all, their cultures no worse(a big example of this is the lack of western brands here compared even to china- I haven’t seen one iphone or blackberry, and western clothing is such a rare site despite the purchasing power of these historically isolationist people. We said goodbye to him at Osaka Station and headed back to the hotel.

The next day I took a bullet train to Kyoto and met Rob, who took (a slow train), outside Kyoto station (it wasn’t much different from China though had Wifi and was a smoother ride).   

The Heart and Seoul of South Korea

The evening flight to Korea was deceptively short, though the hour delay meant Chris was waiting for us on our arrival. A half hour subway line later, and we were at his family’s apartment in the up market district of Yongsan. He introduced us to Jason and Dustin, two Korean-American friends he met here, currently on a summer program. They lodge at his apartment, describing their student accommodation as crappy- Chris doesn’t seem to mind. Throughout our ten days there, random people just seemed to come and go and treat his place as theirs. Chris was all very relaxed about this. 

After a first night in which the four of us went for a few drinks, the second night was the night of one of Chris’s mates birthdays. Tom Emerton, a friend for home who is out here teaching for a year joined us. The birthday was in one of Seoul’s best (and therefore most expensive) nightclubs. His friend Catherine, also Korean American had reserved a table and bought several bottles of spirit, which people didn’t seem to drink and so we took full advantage. An hour long power outage allowed everyone to hit an off license and purchase Soju with poweraid (Chris and I actually got some beers). This national drink, made using rice wine, tastes exactly like watered down vodka, drunk in shots and at only $3 a bottle, the Koreans guzzle nearly two bottles a week per person.  Eventually the power resumed and the night turned messy and ended with Tom and I escorting a well oiled Robert home.

The first few days were spent in Chris apartment just relaxing, playing endless games of call of duty and FIFA whilst devouring pizzas from the nearby takeaway. It was great to get away from staying in hostels and endlessly seeing sights, after all this has been life for 6 months. Paradoxically, doing normal things was actually different.

Playstation with Rob- Dustin is in the background

On the 24^th July, our third full day we decided to head out and see some sights, heading to the historical district of Insadong. The area was a warren of small alleys containing historical buildings alongside the usual tourist shops (though it is known for its antique dealers and art galleries). After ambling around we headed off to Changdeokgung Palace. The palace was interesting, with vast gardens which one annoyingly had to take a tour round. The usual symbols of Confucian Asia were present, different doors for the Emperor as well as symbols for the Earth and Heaven(see picture). Following this we were starving so headed to a restaurant for our first Korean dish, Bibimbap, one of the many incredible meals we ate here. The dish consisted of raw beef with an egg and a variety of vegetables. As is typical in Korea all was served with rice and Kimchi- pickled and spiced Chinese cabbage.

The square outer lake represents heaven and the circular part represents earth

That evening we relaxed watching Harry Potter whilst eating Chris’ chicken soup, a taste of home. On the 25^th, we left the house around 2(we only left before 12 once), heading over to Myeongdong, Seoul’s main shopping district. Here we wondered about for a bit, eating some amazing dumplings (which were similar to the Chinese ones but with less meat) and noodle soup, before heading to a dog café, one of the strangest places I have ever been. It wasn’t a place where you could eat dog (that will come later) but a café where for a fiver you were given a coffee and allowed to interact with the many animals running around the place. The café had a whiff of antiseptic wash in the air and the dogs whilst nice weren’t particularly cute. It was incredibly strange, and as the picture below shows the staff were erm, dedicated. 

Myeongdong

Dumplings!

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In the afternoon we headed over to Bukchon Hanok, a reconstruction of a traditional Korean village. Where you could play traditional Korean games (one was where you had to throw a rod through hoops and another was a form of backgammon) and get a glimpse of how a traditional community lived.

On our middle day we visited the Korean War museum which was excellent explaining the horrors of a conflict which hasn’t technically ended (the north and south have been in a 60 year ceasefire). The rain that had been drenching the city for days continued here, forcing us to hide inside an APC- this is the first country where we have had it so unlucky with the weather, it rained constantly for several days. For dinner we experienced an all you can eat Korean Barbeque, which was my favourite meal of my time here. The best bits were the bulgogi and soy red bean sauce and blood sausage, all washed down with Soju- it was amazing, the best meal in Korea, possibly better than anything in China as well. 

Rain Escape-hiding in an APC

After stuffing ourselves, we met up with some more of Chris’ Korean-American friends, drinking in a few bars(in a shisha bar there were some really annoying Canadians) before heading for that other Korean tradition- Karaoke. They love Karaoke in Korea, though its not quite the same as at home. In Korea, a group of friends will hire a private room for a few dollars and sing the night away. It isn’t viewed with the sense of skepticism and hint of embarrassment as it is at home. It’s just another way to hang out with your mates.

 One dish I didn’t like was the ice cold noodle soup, Chris Rob, Dustin, Jason and I ate to cure our hangovers the next day. It was very different, though served with an excellent hot broth served in a mug, but not to my taste (the rest of the day was spent playing playstation 3).

The Cold Noodle Soup with a side of dumplings

On our final few days we took a trip to Seoul’s most popular attraction, Gyeongbokgung Palace (built in 1395), which was similar to Changdeokgung. In addition we went on our only trip outside of the city, to the heavily fortified DMZ.

Chris, Tom, Rob and I ended up on a coach full of Chinese people which left the border town of Imjinkak and took us into the 2km wide DMZ. Things were very strict here, Soldiers wouldn’t let you take photos, especially not of the North which was annoying(apparently the north Koreans take pictures of you with your camera and use it for propaganda). In the DMZ we went several hundred meters down to the site of a North Korean infiltration tunnel as well as visiting a museum and freedom bridge to which messages for piece are attached. Interestingly the South Koreans have built a brand new train station in the DMZ for when reunification occurs.  Once we returned to Seoul, Chris cousin met us and took us all for dinner (tradition means the eldest pays). Dinner was dog. Robert seemed a bit apprehensive about it, due to emotional attachments to his family pet Coco, however I didn’t have any qualms. Once it arrived we all tucked in. It had the colour of beef though was fatty like pork, not a particularly nice meat, though in S Korea it is a delicacy.

No Photos!

At the station by the border

Looking over the border, the flag pole is North Koreas and one of the largest in the world

Freedom Bridge

Dog

Enjoying dog whilst sitting on the floor as is tradition(whats also tradition is Chris'' cousin Alex generously paid for the whole meal as the eldest!)

The penultimate day was light, after a heavy night before, Chris, Rob, Dustin and I headed to the hill on which lies the Seoul Tower, a modest structure. From here we were able to get good views over this massive city.

Seoul Tower

A farewell night out following another Korean BBQ at the same place as before symbolized the end to Korea as we took a flight to Japan.  

Chris was extremely generous to us during our time in Korea, being a fantastic host. It was great to be in a truly advanced country again, having come from the second world and just relaxing was a great tonic from the intense few months. Now home doesn’t feel far away, I defiantly feel mixed emotions at this point.