C Hotl Shin-Yamaguchi

After getting off the stomach churningly fast shinkansen bullet train, we arrived in the small port town of shimonoseki, on the extreme western tip of Honshu. In the few days that we spent in Tokyo, we managed to spend a small fortune on very little so we were hoping for a more financially sustainable time here, unfortunately, things did not go to plan.....

Shimonoseki is a strange little place, with no foreigners, but ...

Yamaguchi est une courte etape sur la route de Fukuoka, histoire de passer une derniere nuit dans une "riokan" = auberge japonaise avec repas gastronomique...hmmm ! Cette ville n'est pas vraiment visitee par les etranger ducoup il n'y a pas beaucoup d'indication en anglais, qu'importe maintenant Pauline gere le japonais ;-) Il y a une grande eglise catholique moderne ...

... banks. Parts of the once river bed are now used for vehicle parking and a few tourist shops. On one side of the bridge rose a mountain, mostly green with trees and bushes and a few rows of homes, but a pagoda style building could be seen at the top. The narrow street and walkway lining each side of the river bank were lined with beautiful Japanese lanterns lights. The rest of the trip home seem to pass quickly. We said our goodbyes and thank yous to ...

... to know, about going to a "home stay" in North America. Lastly, we took some questions. The children were very shy, and questions did not come easily, but we fielded a few from the brave students. It was a lot of fun interacting with the kids. We presented the kids each with a small pin of the Canadian flag and a post card showing Canada and its provinces and territories. Ours was a short stay here as this session was to help continue to orientate the kids to ...

... before too long, causing embarrassment. Mrs. Kodama was very skilled! Well the pictures will show you have lovely both the Kimono and Eve looked. Here's an interesting note - Mrs. Kodama told us younger girls wear the longer kimono sleeves while the older or married ladies wear the shorter sleeves. The traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, meant as a time for peace, was next. Mrs. Kodama was gracious to provide us with a pamphlet ...

... watched some TV, and generally took it easy! In the morning, before everyone was up, I decided to take a little walk around the neighbourhood. In walking up the mountain from the house, I found a kind of sports area, with many baseball diamonds, and a tennis court facility. As well a park on the edge of the mountain. It also looks like a new roadway is being build up near the top, with a tunnel through the mountain, and many bridges. There is also a couple ...

... settled in for our short wait. Passengers can choose from a large variety of food options, restaurants and kiosks. We liked the assorted sandwiches, with 4 different flavour sections each. Its been interesting seeing the different sights as we've been waiting or traveling around - the various women's fashions, the very cute children, the assortment of retail shops selling "gifts", the architecture and of course, the variety of foods ...

... looked uncomfortable, the ferry had a legit cruise liner feel. It had a marble-covered reception area, a restaurant and a supermarket. My Dutch friends was hypothesizing that most of the Koreans on the ferry were illegal workers in Japan who were going back to renew their tourist visas. It's highly probable. Most of the passengers are lower-middle-income and unlike the Japanese, are quite loud.

... with three dolphins and a performing seal, we ushered up to touch one of the dolphins. These dolphins were much bigger than ones we had seen previously in Eilat. Afterwards, as a way of trying to conquer Jon`s fear of heights, we decided to go up another one of Japan`s many towers. This one was not the highest but it still towered over the small city of Shimonoseki and its port, from where ferries leave for China and South Korea. The views ...

... a light in the bowl. Why oh why oh why oh why oh why? I wouldn't like to be the one who has to change the bulb. The first day trip was to Akiyoshi-do which is thought to be the biggest cave in Asia - not the best place to lose your jet black camera case then - grrrr. It has some interesting features including a constant 17C temperature and water running inside when it isn't raining outside. Weird. The ...