Marumine Kanko Hotel Aizuwakamatsu

... maze of walls and avenues to Tsuruga castle, which is a steep, reconstructed site of a long seige. Also filled to the brim with school children on a field trip, buying toy katanas and fans--don't they have classes...at all? Didn't actual visit inside the castle, as I'm pretty tired of them and it's not that interesting I think, despite it's historical value. Then another long march of tears for a few kilometers to the Higashiyama district, where there is a restored samurai ...

... You had to wash yourself completely before you got in the actual spa. You could not have any suds on you when you got in. There were separate spas, one for the girls and one for the boys. For brekky we had to have fish, seafood and rice. It was all yuck except for the rice. Mike: One of the things I'd most been looking forward to was the traditional ryokan experience and it certainly didn't let me down. To bathe ''au naturale ...

We did a longer road trip on Sunday, 10/7. We went north up the pacific coast to the end of the Joban expressway and then west, about ½ way across into the mountainous interior on the Ban-Etsu expressway. This is fairly far north, and very few non-Japanese tourists make it up here. Actually, it's still quite a ways north to the tip of Honshu (the main island of Japan), but much ...

... shame in the UK. This was a local train, but still quick and tilting. So the Japan adventure is over, I have loved this place...everyone should come..dont let the rubbish that its an expensive country put anyone of....OZ is more pricey than here!!! I have a slight problem now though, I need a new passport and apparently this takes 8 days...so considering wheither I should go to India or not!!!

Now we decided to head 3 hours east to visit the apline snow monkies of the japanaese alps. Probably not the most constructive use of our time but when I heard that the young monkies dive bomb their parents in a natural hot spring I was sold. We got there and it was so true, the monkies are helarious and complete unafraid of humans, they don't really care that you are there. You should ...

... here for a reasonable rate, during cherry blossoms in the spring (sakura), they are booked up and charge about twice as much as we paid. We checked in and were led to our room by a sweet man who gave us an old fashioned key with a GIANT wooden keychain which we had to carry around. We headed out right away to try to see one of the Temples before closing at 4. The entrance to the "complex" with all of the Temples was right near the Sacred ...

... Bowling Alley/Arcade!!!! I knew what we would be doing after the show!! We taxied to the theater, and I regaled our Stage Manager with one of my funny phrases in my book... It goes something like this: he-ru-met-to wa hi-tsu-yo des ka?? It asks, "Do I need a Helmet??" Used in the right context... VERY funny. Well, ask and you shall receive. Within 5 minutes of having said that, I was handed an awesome red plastic HERUMETO (Helmet). Well, you ...

So we get to one of our first relaxing places from the outside bandai-atami doesnt look that nice, probably due to its heyday being 15 years ago! The hotel we stayed at was called Kirakuya Inn not much from the outside but once inside it was really nice, it has 2 public onsens for men and women with many different baths and a sauna, and two private baths on the top floor observing the mountains surounding bandai. It was really nice, Michelle`s bag broke (also her hair drier blew up, we ...

... taken with the attempt. Everyone from school children to seniors got involved. This is truly the upside to small group travel and using local transit. Our ryokan was perfect, the Toshogu shrine absolutely breathtaking, the local hikes outstanding, and the onsen - well, a great way to end the day. An onsen is a Japanese bath - often shared - where you scrub very very thoroughly, rinse even more thoroughly and then climb into an onsen ...

... side of the bridge is the entrance to Nikko National Park. I wandered up the side of the mountain, ending up at Rinnoji Temple-Sanbutudo. Within the temple were beautiful golden buddhas - unfortunately, they didn't allow photographs inside. Next along the way was Toshogu Shrine, the final resting spot of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The surrounding complex was built in was only built ...