Checking In

Wow guys, I haven't posted to this blog since August, just before I left Japan. I promised that I'd get on here and post more stories and pics when I got home. I didn't. I'm sure that those of you who really know me will completely fail to be shocked by this. In fact, I'd be shocked if there's anyone who will actually end up reading this, but here it is... for posterity if nothing else.

It's actually nice to be typing here using my nice, familiar, North American-style keyboard. :) I'm now sporting a nice, new HP laptop, so the next time I'm out-and-about in the world I won't be running into the problem where I can't read my own website anymore. Also, starting in January I'm getting back into studying Japanese. I'm hoping that the next time I find myself in Japan that I'll be able to communicate a little more efficiently than I managed the first time around.

That brings up another interesting point. Yes, I will be returning. That much is certain. I'll call it almost 4 months since I returned to Canada and I'm still missing Japan. Of course, you always miss being on vacation when you have to return to work, but it's more than that. There are funny little aspects of life in Japan that I miss. I liked waking up, walking down to the Lawson Station variety store, and buying an onigiri (rice balls with various fillings) and a big plastic bottle of cold, sweetened coffee. A fantastic breakfast for about $2. It's a funny thing to miss, but I think about it every now and then... usually on a Sunday morning when I'm not particularly inclined to actually MAKE breakfast.

At this point, I think I'll throw up a few select pictures that some of you won't have seen before. I'll try to jump on every so often and post some more pics.



This is from Nara, on top of Wakakusayama which we climbed after visiting Todaiji Temple. It's actually four photos that I stitched together using MS Paint (hence the excellent quality of my stitching...)


The Shinkansen. Seriously, this is the only way to travel. I wish we had these in Canada, nobody would have to fly from Toronto to Vancouver.


There was a lot of talk about the Typhoon during my time in Nobeoka, and thought this photo really captured the effect nicely. Rain. LOTS.

Well guys, I'll stop there for the sake of keeping this post reasonable. I'll try to be back soon with a few more pictures. Next time I go away I'll do my best to get pictures up in real-time, not 4 months later... should be easier with my own computer in tow. That said, I'd like a little help with the planning phase of my next trip. Namely, where am I going? I WILL go back to Japan someday. Someday. For now, there's a lot more world to see out there, and I need suggestions, so let's here them. I want to see England and Scotland (my ancestral homelands), Machu Pichu (hope I spelled that right, it's in Peru anyway...), Australia, New Zealand... there's too many options. So, in the comments section for this post, let's here your thoughts.

For now, this is Colin, signing out.

Cleared For Departure

Hey guys, I've only got 8min, cuz I'm on one of this stupid computers that you have to keep feeding coins in order to operate.

Just wanted to let everyone know that we survived the experience in Aomori. Jay was eaten by hobos, but it's the kind of sacrifice you have to make...

Actually, things went very well. After the festival we managed to find a grubby little inn that had one free room. Gray and Jay were sleeping on the floor, but it was a better than an alley, and it was the sacrifice we were all willing to make to see the Nebuta Matsuri (WHICH WAS AWESOME!!!!)

We're in the city of Narita right now, we fly home tomorrow. *sniffle* :(

To my co-workers, I'll see you all Tuesday. To everyone else, I'll be sure to get in touch as soon as possible. I've returned my rental phone, so I'll be out of touch till I touch down on Canadian soil. I'll talk to you all soon!

4.5 min left, gotta run!

A Quick Status Update

Hi everyone! It's currently 9:45am in Tomakomai, and I'm checking out in 10min. From here we are going to Aomori for the Nebuta Festival. It's the biggest Matsuri in all of Japan, so we couldn't miss it... despite the fact that even with advance notice we were unable to secure a room in Aomori. So it was decided that, being the hardy adventurers that we are, we would attend the festival and worry about the consequences later. As such I will probably be sleeping in an alley somewhere tonight, and while even the alleys in Japan have pretty good internet access, I may not have a chance to make a post. We'll be in Narita tomorrow, spending the night there and then jumping on a plane at noon the next day. Hard to say if I'll get on before then.

My posts have been infrequent, and sometimes rushed, so keep your eyes peeled for some more detailed stories, even after I've returned home. Sayonara for now guys... wish us luck!

Fire and Water

Hey guys!

Thanks again to everyone who has been posting, it's great to see so many people keeping track of our progress here. To answer Dave's question, the cars here aren't too exciting I'm afriad. Actually had a hard time getting my Suzuki WagonR up some of the steeper areas around Mt Osore. Now that we're in Hokkaido Jay has rented a Nissan Cube (yes, it's actually called a cube... looks like it too...) and we've been bombing around in that.

We had a bit of a misadventure yesterday in our Cube, as it just so happens. Actually, it wasn't so much a 'misadventure' as it was a 'lack of adventure.' Something to realize about Japan is that their highway system is laughable (either that or the Canadian system is fantastic.) All roads that I have seen thus far have a posted limit of either 40 or 50 km/h. The ONLY exception to this is the toll roads which charge ridiculous rates. We went to Daisetsuzan National Park yesterday, which is 200 km away. To me that's about a 2 hour drive... that's just the way I'm used to thinking about that kind of distance. Well, we didn't feel like spending $50 just to go that far, so we took the regular 'highways' which are posted at 50 km/h and riddled with traffic lights. In the end we didn't make it to the park until about 5:30 in the afternoon, took a quick hike around the base of Asahi-dake (the highest mountain on Hokkaido) and then had to get going. In order to get home before dawn we just shelled out the $50. Bit of a let-down, but I guess it was a learning experience.

Today, however, turned out quite nice. Armed with the knowledge that any drive is a serious drive in this country, we decided for a much closer destination and made for the mountains around Toya-ko Onsen. The region is actively volcanic, and it made for some great scenery, and some nice hiking. The first stop was the area of Nishikawa, a crater near the base of Mt Usu. Our violent friend Usu has blown 4 times since 1910, and Nishikawa was the most recent, having blown out the side of Usu in 2000. The eruption, and resulting earthquakes, levelled everything in the area, and they have left what they could untouched, with just a roped-off walk way running through the remains of a small town. We were able to view the destruction left by the explosion in the form of downed power lines, broken roads, and collapsed buildings. The walk is lined with hissing vents firing steam into the air. VERY COOL!

We went from there to a newly formed peak that just popped up in 1941, Showashinzan. After a few months of near contant earthquakes a vegetable field near Mt Usu found itself 50 meters higher in the air than when it started. Over the course of the next two years the now VERY active volcano rose to a height of around 400 meters. Not bad for two year's work. Unfortunately the authorities find Showashinzan to be just active enough that they won't let me climb it. Damn. I've always been of the opinion that I can be the judge of whether or not something is dangerous based on my making down the mountain with both legs intact. However, I think that there are few places in the world where the local authorities will just let me take my life into my own hands. So much for personal accountability.

From the Showashinzan we took a quick cable car ride to a plateau very near the summit of Mt Usu. Cool ride, but once again I wish they'd drop the fences the prevent me from scrambling to the top and/or severe injury. During our wanderings up there the wind picked up... a lot. Gray saw on the news that we've got another typhoon on the way, and I think it may be starting effect the weather up here. By the time we got down to the bottom of the mountain it was POURING! It was a bummer because the nearby town of Toya apparently puts on a fireworks show every evening in the summer, and I wanted to see that. Fortunately though, we'd already put in a very full day in the area, so it wasn't too disappointing that we had to leave early.

On our way back we found a VERY interesting restaurant. The outside had been designed with a very nautical theme, looking very much like a sea-side shanty. The inside continued the look, but chose to accent that with American country-western 'music' being played. Throw in the fact that the food (which from the nautical theme we assumed would be seafood) was based largely on large ground beef patties stuffed with a variety of interesting things, and the whole combination was wildly clashing, and fantastically Japanese. It turned out to be a really excellent meal.

Well guys, that's all for now. One more day in Tomakomai, and then the next day we're back to Aomori where we'll hopefully catch the Nebuta Matsuri, assuming that it doesn't get rained-out. Wish us luck!

Tomakomai

Hello everyone!

Today I have found myself in Tomakomai. I'm sure this raises some questions for all of you... namely where in the world is Tomakomai? The intent was to spend the next few days in Sapporo, but I was unable to find a hotel that could accomodate all three of us in Sapporo (busy season for travel up here) and so I ended up in Tomakomai, a smaller city about 45min train ride from Sapporo. We figured that precise location wasn't really an issue, since we were just going to use Sapporo as a base of operations from which to explore Hokkaido. The plan currently is to do another car rental, as the trains up here are not quite as frequent or far-reaching as they are further to the south. With any luck we'll be able to get that taken care of quickly tomorrow and can make our way to Daisetsuzan National Park. Depending on how long/difficult that turns out to be, we may attempt Shiretoko Park the next day. I really want to see Shiretoko, but it's the eastern-most point of the island, and likely to be QUITE the drive. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Well, it was a bit of a 'travel day' today, so I don't really have much to report at this point. Fortunately I've got a couple of decent computers right in the lobby of the hotel, so I should be able to make regular updates for the next few days. I'll keep you all posted.

Sayonara.

The Great White North

Hey guys!

I'm writing from Aomori, in the very north of Honshu. We arrived yesterday and spent today in the area. Tomorrow we will be leaving for Hokkaido. What a terrific change of climate this has been! Tokyo has been hovering around 90-100% humidity, and you could REALLY feel it every time you left an air conditioned building. The Japanese aren't real big on AC in public areas either, so it tended to be a sweat-fest any time we weren't in our hotel rooms. We get to Aomori and it's a fantastic 20 degrees and sunny. It's been very nice.

Just to back-track a bit, I haven't checked-in in a few days so I should probably fill you all in on what's been happening. As I mentioned, Gray and Jay weren't too upset about the lack of Fuji climbing, so I did it on my own. I left Friday night on a bus that got me to the Mt. Fuji 5th Station (about half way up the mountain, still around 1200 meters below the summit) around 10:00 PM. From what I'd been reading I was expecting about a 5 hour climb up, and 3-4 down. It was already evening for me, but I was counting on a long night of climbing, a few hours of sleep at the top, and then the sunrise. Didn't quite work out that way. Anyone who has read about Fuji has undoubtedly come across references to the 'human traffic jams' that can occur in the tough areas. Yeah... by the tough areas they must mean THE WHOLE STINKING MOUNTAIN!!! My estimate of 5 hours wasn't bad... I really could have done it in that time. Instead, I was stuck on a narrow path matching the pace of the slowest person ahead of me. In the end it took me 8 hours to climb up, and I was still about 50-100 meters below the summit when the sun rose. I sort of forgot that it rises and sets early here - sunset tends to occur around 7:30 PM, and sunrise (as I was there to witness) starts at about 4am. Still, I was pretty high up, and it was a gorgeous view, but it still felt like I wasn't really climbing a mountain as much as I was standing in line to see the top. SO MANY PEOPLE!!! It was a complete zoo at the top. I'm sorry to anyone who was hoping for a postcard sent from the Mt. Fuji Summit Post Office, but I wasn't staying up there one minute more than I had to. By this point I was running on nearly 24 hours without sleep, it had taken me a solid 3 hours longer to climb than I though, and I was becoming worried that 6 hours wouldn't be enough to get back down (my bus home was at noon.) As it turns out, the estimates that I had read regarding the decent were also wildly inaccurate. I strolled leisurely down the mountain in a mere 2 hours. So I really could have spent more time enjoying the summit. Oh well, live and learn. Anyway, my advice to people attempting a Fuji climb - July and August are the official climbing season... climb September 1st. Apparently they'll still let you on the mountain, but there are a LOT less people on there. It's hard to enjoy the beauty of nature when surrounded by a quarter-million fat, sweaty Americans.

Well, upon returning to Tokyo Saturday afternoon, I promptly PASSED OUT! However, after a bit of sleep we did some casual city-wandering, and called it a night. The next day we made our way up to beautiful Aomori, and here we are.

Had a GREAT day today! We decided to rent a car, and that worked out beautifully. I drove us up to Mt. Osore, a beautiful mountain that just happens to have a barren patch of rock which hisses and steams with bubbling sulfer. Complete with hoards of croaking ravens, the whole scene is oddly grim when compared to the surrounding beauty of mountains and lakes. The Japanese traditionally believe that this place is the entrance to hell, and they come to stack rocks in great cairnes, to help the dead with their penance. Pretty cool place. It was great getting to drive there... it's nice not having to operate around a train/bus schedule. Driving on the left was neat too!!! :)

Anyway, the computer in the hotel here is a pay-per-10-minutes thing, and I'm out of coins, and almost out of time. Not sure what the facilities will be like in Hokkaido, but I'll try to get in touch again soon and let you know how wonderfully cool and comfortable we all are here. :) Hope you are all well, and I'll talk to you soon.

Back In Tokyo

Hey guys!

A big thanks to all of you who have been taking the time to read about my adventures and share your comments.

I missed posting yesterday just because I was dead tired. We started the day off with a trip to Fushimi-Inari, a mountain covered in shrines dedicated to a successful harvest. The slopes of the mountain are lined with hundreds of orange Torii gates, and it makes for quite the scene. Those of you who have seen the film 'Memoirs of a Geisha' have actually seen Fushimi-Inari in a scene in which a little girl runs through the orange Torii. A fantastic walk, but a reasonably tiring one. :)

We left Kyoto today and made our way to Tokyo. It was a relatively short trip, just 3 hours on the speedy Shinkansen and we were there. No changing trains. It was a nice change. :)

I had a bit of a disappointment on my arrival though. It turns out that the buses that I was counting on for my trip to Mt. Fuji are not as frequent as I had been led to believe. They don't start running until 8am, and the last one leaves Fuji-san at 4:00 in the afternoon. That makes a day-trip climb completely impossible. I was willing to spend a night on the mountain, but the guys didn't want to spend more than one of our (extremely precious) days on the mountain. I went alone to the bus stop to get tickets, and came back to the hotel feeling pretty down about the whole situation. However, on finding that Gray and Jay both seemed pretty up-beat about not having to climb a mountain, I made the decision to do it alone. We're changing hotels Saturday morning (couldn't find ANY hotel that would book us for 3 nights) but I won' t be there, and the guys will carry my luggage. I'll be leaving tomorrow night for Fuji, I'll climb in the evening, spend the night on the summit, and awake to the sunrise. I'll then climb down and re-join the guys Saturday afternoon (oh btw, it's about 10:30pm local time.)

Well, that's it for now. I'd post pics, but I'm a bit tired. We just had a fantastic (and HUGE) meal at a local Yakitori bar. For those not familiar Yakitori is skewered meats and vegetables cooked over charcoal. It's usually considered a snack to accompany beer, but we've done it as a meal a few times just because it's delicious and the atmosphere in Yakitori places tends to be great. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for pics. I might not be online tomorrow as I'll be preping for my climb. I'll try to get Fuji pics up afterwards though.

Sayonara for now!