Kuwatakan Ueda

... showing artifacts and artwork in each of the floors. There were also some English signs which told us some facts about the castle. One of the interesting things were the really steep staircases. I think the steepest one was about 70 degrees! Some of the older tourists had some difficulty going up especially since the staircases were really narrow for two way traffic. I can't imagine samurai soldiers in full armor going up these ...

... y si no van dormidos (que es lo más probable) se dedican a escuchar música, ver videos o no se que más millones de cosas pueden hacer con ellos...

... some money on cab fare. Hopefully I can remember to ride on the left side of the street and the other vehicles remember to do the same. I'm also hoping that the rumors of English-speaking guides are true.

Adjusting my expectations... I had thought I'd zip through the castle and get to Kyoto early. Probably not. Everything takes longer than you think.

... angekommen, ein ziemlich v**lassenes Schloss - mit Horrorfilmpotential das ganze!!! Wied** niemand da - hauptsache ein klo gabs - klasse jetzt brauchte ich es auch nicht mehr (wobei da wär ich eh nicht reingegangen - nach d** letzten Bahnhofstoilette in d** Einöde - TIPP dafür - NIEMALS DEN BLICK NACH OBEN RICHTEN!!! - the spid**man is having me for dinn** tonight) Die Aussicht war natürlich echt nicht von schlechten Elt**n - blöd**weise ist d** akku ...

... br>lol...but i have also a lot of experiences in the other way...here examples...

hitchhiking...quite easy, even as japanese never do it...funny thing is they invite you to food or give you money...almost always... i refuse always three times, and then i take what they want to get rid of...funny behavior, theoretically it schould be possible to earn money that way.

Otherwise japan is nice, very clean, not as ultramodern as you might think, also it seems that ...

... There we spent the night in a ryoken- a traditional guest house with tatimi mats that you sleep on. The place was very old and our room was enveloped by cool paper sliding doors. The hostess poured us some green tea before she left and gave us kimonos to wear around the place. For dinner we went out and found ourselves in a Hawaiian restaurant- bit odd I know! Then we went back and slept on the floor.

... togeth 1000yen (7 quid) for dinner- 2 bowls of noodles, and then went to sleep broke and dreading that we would be stuck there forever. In the morning we arose early to try and get money but no-one could speak any english, nightmare! In the end there was one man from the bank who came and showed us where there was a 3rd atm, that we were unaware of, and sure enough it ejected those lovely yen notes for us :). We were very relieved, and went back to get our bags then left!

... and snow, but you have ropes either side to help you up onto the trail and also along the path. There is a sudden drop to one side which is covered in trees with lots of things to spot along the way. Naturally I didn't spot anything but i'm sure they're there!!

The monkeys come down into the pool every 2 hours or so when fed and are absolutely hilarious to watch. The actual area stinks of ammonia and you have to be careful not to tred in poo ...

... city officials. As we walked in, dozens of people lined our path, clapping and holding a welcome banner. Talk about being hospitable! After our meeting with the officials, we were interviewed by the local TV station. We felt like celebrities! After all that excitement, our new friend, Mr. Inoue was driving us to our hotel and asked if we had dinner plans. Of course we didn't, so he took us to a sushi place. It was a dining experience unlike any ...

We took the Shinkansen to Nagano using our rail pass and after arriving found out which bus to catch out to M-Wave, the ice skating rink used in the winter Olympics. We had never been ice skating so were willing to give it a try.

Took an old wooden floored bus out to M-Wave and walked past a sign in Japanese then paid for our ticket to the ...