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So we woke up this morning and alison suggested that rather than doing what we'd planned we'd go to Kyoto and check out an interesting temple... she wanted a bum bag we'd seen there earlier too but we didn't buy it in the end. But we got on the wrong bus (in Kyoto) and went to a different temple instead, one with a sacred waterfall in a glade and a huge gate and a Roman looking aquaduct. Gate was good as it was OK to climb it and look at the view, and it had a really nice painted room up top but no photos allowed! Aquaduct interesting, and the waterfall was really pretty. But I think it was the wrong waterfall as there was meant to be a torii up there and there wasn't. Saw a snake and a lizard. Went on to first planned temple to see 1001 Kannon statues with forty arms each and one HUGE one and... 28 or 33 guardian deities, many national treasures. really awesome (literal meaning) sight but again no photos. postcards on sale only in packs of six, two good, two pretty good, one average and one poor one. We'll post 'em to you. Despite stupid rule (not religious as postcards would then be banned too) this was one of the best temples / things I've seen here, well worth it.

Headed back to Osaka and went to the docks to ride the world's biggest ferris wheel which was actually pretty damn big and worried even me a little, but Alison showed great courage and rode it with me and even enjoyed bits of it. Ate junk food and headed back to the hotel, and almost came unstuck as encountered first all Kanji sign! but obviously We're back.

In summary: These are just a few of my real highlights. top of the list has to be climbing Mount Fuji, if only becasue I nearly failed. It was so worth the pain. Miyajima was great, standing under the O-Tori and scooping up piles of victory; Himeji-jo is an equally impressive sight as you can wander around the old castle streets and buildings to your hearts content. Nara's Daibutsu den is fantastic, that Buddha is massive and if I can squeeze through the pillar anyone can, the 1001 Kannon from todays trip make another great sight just for sheer numbers. Kinkaku-ji and the large pagoda at Koya-san Garran are my next two favourite temples, and the many torii at the Inari shrine in Kyoto are worth a look too. The rest... facing down a typhoon, riding the world's biggest big wheel, lifting the sinless stone, eating in a sushi bar in Tokyo, chatting to Hirioshi, plumb wine in Ino's place, Sapporo in Sapporo, Kyoto station, Tenjin Matsuri, the heron dance and Tsuwano, "Socialising in the nude" at the onsen, sleeping in temples, Hiroshima's contradictary atmosphere, purple shirt guy, plumb wine guy, helpful officials, ridiculous rules, hot nights and hotter days and aircon, and changes of plan with brilliant results. Alison really made this a great holiday too, as despite both of our grumps she's really helped me several times, been brave enough to ride several vertiginous rides for me, stopped people in the street for directions and looked after the rail passes.

Tips: Tsuwano has no internet access but a really helpful tourist office who will even organise that you can camp in the park if you ask nicely.

The Sea of Japan coast is poorly served by rail and journeys need careful planning or flexible itineries.

Miyajima is just as good at low tide, but stay the night for the full experience (it isn't cheap though).

Takayama has a really cheap temple with garden views... not Koya-san but three times cheaper.

Hokaido is really big and cannot be done in a week. The Ainu museum in Sapporo is located in the botanical garden, and in the massive government style building opposite too.

Japan is really, really big and cannot be done in a month.

Short distance rail journeys e.g. Osaka - Kyoto are cheap. Long distance is not.

Den-den town, Osaka, closes on wednesdays.

Mount Fuji is invisible.

This is my last blog, but I might post some pictures when I get home. See you soon.

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Firstly the basic - a bit like french loo's being a hole in the ground. However slightly different as they don't have the foot rests and have a hood. These take a little getting used to and you have to ensure you are correctly positioned otherwise you have a bit of clearing up to do. These are usually located in public places e.g. tourist spots, train stations and cheaper hotels but are also found on trains. However in this case (females) make sure you step up onto the raised platform before removing trousers as this makes it difficult to step up, and ensure that you hold on to the bar otherwise as the train goes round the corner you spray everywhere!

Standard - not much to say really, like western toilets although many come with an adapted cistern so as you flush and the tank refills you wash your hands in the water- very efficient and saves space.

Top of the range - where do i start, well they look like a western loo but have adaptions. When you step into the cubical there is a motion sensor that activates a tape recording of running water (don't know whether this is to help you go or to stop others from hearing you). Beside the (heated) seat there is a number of buttons (which took me nearly 2 weeks to gain the confidence to press) and a knob. The first button is a warm water bum hole washer, which you control the pressure using the knob, however you have to be aware that many toilets require you to press a reset button first, otherwise you get freezing cold water. The second button is one for the ladies, a bit like a bidet, to wash the front parts. These are mainly located in posh department stores and some hotels. The best i have seen however was in a department store in Ginza, Tokyo, where the water contained appricot wash (why???). The only problem with these toilets is drying afterwards, when you use toilet paper it shreds and sticks, perhaps they should included a bum dryer?!

footnote: urinals. pretty much the same as back home, but with a motion sensor so they flush straight away as you step away. i've never seen this in the UK.

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We went to Tenjin Matsuri, which had a really good parade with lion dancers and music and floats and monks and stuff. then everything got a bit disorganised when they hit the river, we think we saw the basics - many boats, including one that crashed into a bridge and ruined the toilet on the back! then we watched the fireworks, which were cunningly viewed from pretty much the only bridge on the river FROM WHICH THEY COULDN'T BE SEEN. barriers were six feet high, crowds mental. so we forced our way back to the temple and watched the final parade, bumped into a fella from the hostel - which was uncomfortably hot (the hostel. not the fella) - and a japanese guy who spoke good english and a yakusa who made a little girl cry.

left osaka for koya-san early, arrived and checked into a really great temple. one of the best accomodations so far, but i forget its name. cost double any other place weve been. from there we explored koya-san, first the huge graveyard with Kobo-daishi's sleeping body, and a stone that only those who are free from sin can lift. we both lifted it but it took two hands! got eaten by mosquitoes. graves includes some crazy monuments including one from nissan. then we saw the garan, sacred precinct, with a HUGE pagoda, really impressive inside and out but no photos allowed inside. also a massive gate, and general temple stuff. evening saw us eat a meal in a private dining anex of our bedroom, or rather i ate a plie of tofu and alison had to make do with rice and pickles and melon.

next day rose at five thirty for a buddhist service, then on to breakfast - a repeat of the previous night but with more tofu. went to the main temple of the complex which housed japans largest rock garden, which was worth a look, and some screens and the site of a famous suicide. from there we went to Nara, which is really good. we are stationed by a nice pond with terrapins, a 5 story pagoda (second biggest in japan) and the park - full of deer. we visited the shops, the pagoda, and a grand shinto shrine with thousands of lanterns. closed. on the way back we were attacked by deer and alison jumped but i defended her. then we saw a nice pond with a tea pavillion in the water, full of schoolkids. oh forgot, at the garan there were kids on like a ghost tour and they kept screaming and running around.

today weve seen the worlds largest wooden building and a huge bronze Buddha - photos allowed. its nostrils are about 1.5 feet wide. at the back is a pillar with a hole the size of a nostril. those who fit through are guaranteed enlightenment. i got some worried looks and crys of "try! try!" from the locals. alison squeezed through but hurt her boobs, then a little guy in purple just fit through with help from his pal. i followed. about a foot taller and twice as wide. got my arms in then alison grabbed my hand and pulled me in until i wedged! it was curved! purple guy grabbed arm number two and pulled, then two other guys joined in and out i popped! had to wait for alison to take my picture then slid out, enlightened.

now we are in a net cafe instead of visiting a tomb - closed.

thanks to all those whove contacted me, ive no time to write persoanl emails as im busy. i'll get back to you.

oh and my bad back... turns out its my right bum cheek has a trapped nerve and its kinda better after alison gave me a massage. on my bum.

mum? dad? nothing to say to me? ive been away a month and heard nothing! you can leave comments on the blog! or call alisons parents and they can email us or comment.

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i think our last blog was in yonago? afterwards, i tried to head to town to get some dinner, but alison grumped and insisted there were some nice looking restaurants near the bus stop... so we went that way, and sure enough there were no restaurants. but there were a wide selection of strip clubs and brothels. so we had dinner in a lawson station (its a shop) and ate it on the beach, which was nice. sea surprisingly chilly for an onsen. oh and it was the sea of japan, so ive stood in that now.

then we went south to okiyama, saw the u-jo crow castle and one of japans top three gardens, which was good, then with some time to kill we headed to himeji which was awsome, top three sights so far i think, but theres been so much... hotel was so posh that i felt uncomfortable in the lobby.

that left us with a free day. on the train to nagoya i erupted in anger and decided to go elsewhere instead. so we went to takayama which was nice, really impressive floats for festivals and some nice streets of oldness and good food. slept in a temple. next day checked out a folk village which was pretty, then trained it to osaka. here we checked into hotel, which is ok, and saw some of tenjin matsuri, one of the best festivals in japan. it gets better tommorow i hear. and we are going transformers shopping tomorrow. then its koyasan, nara, and osaka again. then home. boo.

oh also its sunny now, two days of it. crazy.

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Ok, i can get started now. Been to Hiroshima and seen memorial peace park and a- bomb dome, and also went in the museum but it was alot of writing so we skipped some of it and went straight to the exhibits e.g melted glass bottles and root tiles - however i found it quite upsetting so we didn't spend too long here. Then we took a day trip to Iwakuni to see a five span wooden bridge called kintai kyo, only one in world of its type. Also whilst there we sdaw the old Samuri quater, castle and treied to watch comarant fishing. - They tie the birds to the boats and collect the fish from them when they resurface. However we didn7t get to see loads of this as there was atv crew there so the started later than supposed to and we had to get back! From her we travelled to Miyajima to see a giant torri - looked great at night all lit up. However was difficult to get food as most tourists left by 6 so ther restaurants closed but we did get eel and oystars. Also climbed mountain and saw wild Monkeys which were cool, some even had cute little babbies! Hope fully got some good pics! Then went to Tswano via a long train journey - in the middle of nowhere- offered to let us camp for free in park but Joe was unsure of this due to the saftey of his transformer, so they then helped us to find a hotel, turned out to be Ryokan where we had Tea ceromony and a private japanees bath. Went to see ruined castle , a shrine with 1000 tori and then also saw a Heron festival but the weather meant that this took place in a sports hall. It was on TV, but we were just out of shot! Today have travelled along coast to Yonago and are staying in a hotel with an onsen complex. This time i can say that i got it right this time, but this one was better than the last (provided soap, towels, robes) as it had outside onsen. Now going to look for food as getting quite hungary then hopefully a nice stroll along beach.

P.S. Currently in one of these funny internet places where you can hire a booth for hours - even sleep here!

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anyway, eventually we slept on a really good sleeper seat train, with snoring man, seats went to the horizontal, and somehow made it to tokyo despite all the crazy changes. we beat the typhoon by about 9 hours, but the line to hiroshima was closed!

so, to make the most of things alison bought me a transformer from akihabara - dad, i've a fixing of transformers related job for you. we also got me a battery charger slightly smaller than the camera dock and got a typhoon update at the camera shop, it was sitting on hiroshima apparantly on its way!

station advice was as good as military intelligence, what they did know, they couldn't tell us. so we went to our trusty welcome inn reservation centre, who got us a night in tokyo and a free cancellation of the night we'd missed in Hiroshima. go welcome inn! so now we're crashing out, would be riding out the storm right now except...

... it heard i was in town, turned its course seawards, and fled with its cloudy tail between its legs. missed tokyo by about a hundred miles, we got gusts and showers is all! so i faced down the hurricane, and just when it looked to have beaten me, i ended up winning.

so we're safe.

oh,　and now that we've gone south its hot and humid again, still grey skys but unbelievably different climate to the north. its like if aberdeen - london was the difference between winter and tropics.

Joe and Alison

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Joe however had none of the above problems, he rinsed then sat in onsen for 30 mins - buy the time this women made me wash 3 times i only had 5 mins, so much for a relax!

Forgot to say, other day in Sapporo we went to fish market for breakfast - i had whole crab and Joe had Sea urchin!

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We have been wondering for a while if its possible to visit any of the other islands, but it turns out that Japan is to big to "do" in a month, even with the shinkansen. So, having checked out some of Kansai, and Hokaido, we eventually decided to just pootle down to western honshu, so alison could see miyajima tori. then, last night, we turned on the tv news... typhoon had hit kyushu and okinowa, the south islands we'd only just decided not to visit! and its on its way to tokyo.

this morning, we talked to tourist information (drunk) and rail info (who spoke very little english), and eventually we ascertained that the typhoon would probably bypass hiroshima, the trains were not cancelled, and that the sea was the likely place for the typhoon to　end up. or, don't go south, you'll end up in the sea. who knows. jp meteorological ascossiation map shows eta typhoon tokyo at 0600hours tomorrow. our train arrives at 7a.m. this tallys with our plan to hit the typhoon head on, get past it, before it messes up the infrastructure of the rail network too much, chill in hiroshima for three nights behind the typhoon, and then start again in the clear. is this the right move? no one here can venture any better than "typhoon? train? ticket?"

see you later, possibly in the sea.

joe

ps i am now a seperate author to alison and my camera is nearly out of batteries.

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a couple of days spent in hokkaido now, learning about the ainu, eating a sea urchin, chatting to various nationalities in an excellent hostel - Ino`s Place, Sapporo - and taking in the world famous views of hakodate by night. tommorw we catch a train at 3a.m to go to tourist mecca of hiroshima　(and i cant decide if this is sarcasm or truth. everyone seems to want to go there). Today, which alison goes into more detail about below, we also took high tea at the old british consulate, and are staying in a hotel so posh that it forbids "carrying items with a loathsome smell into the rooms", and the station opposite forbids storing dead bodies in the lockers. so i`ll just have to carry it then...

Joe

Ok, backtracking a little... Last day in Tokyo we did some last minute sight seeing - tried to visit the Imperial Palace but was closed on a Monday! Then in the afternoon had to do some quick shopping - as i had discovered when i got up that morning that the bottom of my shorts had worn through and i was being indecent - nice pair of shorts but i don't think much to them lasting a week (have taken photos so i can write and complain when i get home) so instead i ended up with a mans pair for 4 pounds.

Then we took the sleeper train to Sapporo, journey was ok, bunk beds with curtains around but there was a really wierd guy in the carriage. Got to Sapporo and planned to stay one night in Ino's but we ended up staying 3 as it was such a great atmosphere and really friendly owners. From here we took day trips to a farm at Forano - won lavender awards in France - smelled great and took loads of pics.Wednesday went to the living Ainu museum at Shiraoi which was disappointing but interesting then went back to Sapporo and visited the botanical garden and found another Ainu museum - better. Joe found the Gengis Khan had a special recipe named after him, so we visited the old Sapporo beer factory so he could try it - although it was a bit pants, didn't live up to the name! Today we have travelled to Hakodate (3hrs from Sapporo) and have visited many temples and churches and enjoyed walking through this interesting town - very different to other cities. Also found that festival of DEAD is currently in action, so streets are lined with flower stalls so give to graves. Tonight we went in a cxable car to Mt Hakodate so we could see a view, however once again the weather got the better of us and we were surrounded by mist- but it was an experience. Tomorro off to Hiroshima - hoping weather will improve.

Alison

Some of the things I have done in Japan remains copyright of the author alikatd, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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