Yuho Takayama

We travelled from Tokyo on the super high speed clean shiny amazing shikansen trains run by japanese rail who, outside Japan, offer the JR Railpass- a discount pass only available to tourists abroad that offers unlimited travel on the shiansen and train network for 7, 14 or 21 days- invaluable if you want to see as much as possible in a short space of time.<br><br>After arriving at our ryokan in Takayama, Erin ran through the basic ettiquette of the onsens- red curtain ...

... 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.<br><br>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.

... je suis donc en terrain de connaissance.<br><br>Il pleuvait a boire debout a Tokyo a cause du typhon qui a passe au large de la cote est. J'ai donc pris une journee de conge de mes vacances et je n'ai pas fait grand chose. Je voulais aller visiter un temple mais le temps que je traverse la rue pour aller a la station de train, j'etais deja trempee et beaucoup moins motivee ! J'ai quand meme pris le metro pour aller au ...

... in the rain to find supper rather than pay Banyo for it. Baka, cuz supper was fantastic. We had this table-top sterno burner thing with a hot plate on top. On top of that was Hida beef, in Hoba miso. Hida beef is just as good as its cousin, Kobe, although less famous. Hoba miso is a style of cooking where the raw ingredients are grilled in a Japanese magnolia leaf with miso paste. The magnolia gives off a ...

... reminds me, last night i spend in a former ninja training vilage high in the mountains...<br>when i went to the next city, 3 kms sout, i met a nice family, wich sat down with me and eventually the maybe 50 year old woman invited me to stay in her house...and this more than once...after my experiences in china i said nothing binding, because they dont give a **** there about promises, concept of hounour unknown...they have the face-concept, something slightly different.<br>dont ...

So sorry that you havent received any news from us....from Mt.Fuji on, we didnt have any access....We stayed at the World Heritag Cultural Site in Gokayama, which was like staying at a camp.Basically, we have been in a mountainous area...the students have been writing a journal every day - One student writes about our day and at the end of the trip these pages will be copied by the leaders and a booklet will be made for ...

couldn't get to the computer last nite. only have a minute this morning. <br>took a train here yesterday. it's up in the "mountains", which are like big hills. it's really such a neat town. their specialty here is making sake and woodworking. i think i'll get a few real pretty bowls. <br>tim said yesterday on the train "show me the pictures of sedona", he was really missing her and he continues to narrate. as of ...

A Takayama on loge dans un temple, plutot sympa ! La ville est assez touristique et on comprend pourquoi : elle regorge de temples, vieilles batisses, distilleries de sake. Il y a beaucoup d'artisanat local : bois laque, sculptures, herbes sechees... Les sobas (nouille) au sarasin sont la specialite du coin et on approuve ;-) Toujours impossible d'aller a Kamikochi, meme de ce cote. On declare donc forfait et on part vers le sud...

... a feeling it was going to be a crowded train when we attempted to reserve tickets with the JR passes, and were told there was only Smoking seats left (on a 16 carriage Shinkansen!). We've never had problems reserving seats before, and when we have actually sat in them instead of finding a non-reserved seat, the carriages have never been more than ¾ full. So we tried our luck with the unreserved carriages, in order to ...

... but alas, to no avail did my spirits rise. I took the bus out to the Mahikari Main World Shrine, which was perhaps one of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen, and with the snow it was that much better. After visiting there, I realised the sun was starting to peak through the dense white sky. Before long rays of light were melting everything in sight and I found my spirits lifting. Then most ...