One Week Left

I can't believe it.

Time is really slipping away from me. I have no idea where the seconds, minutes, hours, days and weeks are disappearing to. I'm trying to ignore it and concentrate on where I am now, but there's always that nagging countdown in the back of my mind.

I know that 7 days from now I'll be on the plane somewhere over Russia. I can't believe it.

This last week will be extremely busy, and I have loads to do. Lots of people are asking me to go to places with them, or meet up for a final drink, but I can't do it all!

I have to think about packing, and leaving Sakura House, and closing my bank account, and everything else.

Unfortunately, because I have so much to do, I don't have time to write up everything in my blog now. I will do the most important things as they happen, but when I get back to Britain I will finish writing about my friend's visit, and my trip around Japan, because there aren't enough hours in the day to do it now!

I am sorry about the unorganised look that will give my blog, but the posts will appear in the right order. If you have time, please look back at the blog as new posts slot into place. I will definitely fill in the blanks!

Where does seven months go?

My Trip: Nara

On Saturday 19th it was Nara!

Nara (奈良) is a small city south of Kyoto, and it's full of temples and shrines. It's a former capital of Japan and I think it's perfect to do as a daytrip from Kyoto.

It has a grand total of eight World Heritage Sites, and the largest concentration of these is in Nara Park (奈良公園), which is just 15 minutes walk from Kintetsu Nara station (近鉄奈良駅), but a bit further from JR Nara station (ＪＲ奈良駅).

The other sites are further away and more spread out. If you want to visit these too, it's probably better to stay overnight in Nara rather than just do a daytrip, otherwise you'll end up exhausting yourself.

But Nara Park was sufficient for me. It's a really nice place to wander around, finding old temples and getting harrassed by deer.

I got up quite early, which meant that I was a bit tired for the whole day, and it was hot too, around 35C, which didn't help my energy levels!

I walked to Kyoto station and took the Kintetsu Nara line (近鉄奈良線) . I bought a Limited Express (特急) train ticket for Y1,100. Those tickets are reserved automatically so you're guaranteed a seat if the train isn't already full.

I was in this double-decker car. I've seen lots of these around but never been inside one. I was on the top level so I like to think that I had a good view.



The train was very direct, making only one stop at Yamato-Saidaiji station, and arriving within 35 minutes. I got to Nara at 11.05, just in time for the heat of the day! I walked up the road from the station and it was obvious where the Park was. I found some shade and put some sun cream on (yes, it was that hot) and then made my way to the first sight on my list.

On the way, I passed this woman who made the mistake of feeding the deer being attacked by hordes of hungry animals. You can buy deer food at numerous stalls all over the place.

Heralded as the star attraction of Nara, my first stop was Todai-ji (東大寺). This ancient Buddhist temple boasts the largest wooden building in the world, and the largest Buddha statue in Japan.

The first thing you see as you approach is the impressive wooden Nandai-mon (南大門).

Inside the gate, on either side, are fearsome carvings of Nio guardians, protecting the temple from evil spirits.

Through the gate, you then see this great building. This is the largest wooden building in the world, but it's only two-thirds of its original size.

This is the home of Japan's largest Great Buddha (大仏, dai butsu). The Kamakura Buddha is the second biggest.

This Buddha's head is a slightly different colour to its body, as a result of many fires and earthquakes in the past decapitating it on numerous occassions.

The route round the hall takes you behind the Buddha. There is a hole in the bottom of a pillar here, which, if you can squeeze through, guarantees you enlightenment.




Looking at the size of the hole, I'm happy to stay in this world thanks.

After the cool interior of Todai-ji's main hall, the sun was a bit of a shock. I started walking up the hill, but midday was a little too intense so I stopped for lunch in a restaurant.

Having recovered a bit, I made my way to Nigatsu-do (二月堂) and Sangatsu-do (三月堂), which are both a walk up the hill from Todai-ji. From them, there's a nice view of Nara Park and the city behind.

There was an artist painting a lovely view of the temples and the Park. If I'd had time, I'd have loved to sit and watch him finish it.

I followed the recommended route in the Lonely Planet Japan guide down the hill, pass lots of deer, to Kasuga Taisha (春日大社).

Kasuga Taisha is famous for the hundreds of lanterns that line it's pathways and halls.

This tree was huge! You can see the sign that accompanied it below the photo.

As you leave the Shrine, you can see loads and loads of lanterns along the road that leads through the cool shady wood.



After that, I headed out to the slightly far-away temple of Shin-Yakushi-ji (新薬師寺). It took a while to find it, following the path through the forest and out of the main city area, but it gave me time to think about things and reflect on what I'd seen so far.

After the temple, I looked at a map and found the right road back to Todai-ji. Admittedly, I did get a little lost and had to ask for directions, but it's all part of it!

Back in the Todai-ji area, I searched for Isui-en Garden (依水園), which was recommended in the guidebook. But when I say 'searched', I mean searched. It took me absolutely ages to find it, and I asked about five different people. And maybe it was because of that, or the heat, or my tired legs, but when I finally got there, it wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. It was a nice Japanese garden, but no different from others I'd visited.

That's the art museum, Neiraku Bijutsukan (寧楽美術館), which is within the garden grounds. I didn't go in though because I was getting too tired!

After Isui-en, I walked back towards Nara Station and made my last stop of the trip to Nara, Kofuku-ji (興福寺). It's meant to have two famous pagodas, but try as I might, I could only see one.

There was also an interesting building past the pagoda, which is worth a look if you have time. But, if you're on a tight schedule, don't bother with Kofuku-ji, go to the more impressive sights.

I caught the 16.30 train back to Kyoto, so it was one of the earliest finishes to a day I'd had on my trip. I arrived back at Kyoto station after listening to the Gwen Stefani album (I'd forgotten about all the Japan references that made a lot more sense after living there!)

I took a couple of photos and videos of Kyoto station and Kyoto Tower opposite the main entrance.

I went back to my hotel and then headed out again to find dinner at about 5.30. I found an okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) restaurant and decided to try Kansai-style savoury pancakes. After I ordered, they lit a fire under my table and brought the ingredients to the metal section in front of me. They cooked it all there, so I could watch it brown and sizzle away.

The finished pancake!

The meal was delicious, but the icing on the ... pancake, was the waitress' laugh. I'm not exaggerating at all, she actually laughed exactly like Patty and Selma from The Simpsons. It even ended with a throaty cough and spluttering.

On the way back to the hotel, I passed a restaurant called Iimura where my family and I ate dinner one night in April, and also a random giant teddy bear that was sitting on a chair outside a chair, that my brother couldn't help hugging.

Later on, after a bath in the ryokan, I took advantage of the free internet in the hotel's annex. I checked my emails and Facebook, and updated my friends and family of my movements.

As you can imagine, it was as hot and humid as ever outside, but with the help of air con, I slept very well.

My Trip: Peace Museum & Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

Because I didn't sleep very well on Thursday night, it was a struggle to get up for my 8.30am breakfast on Friday morning. The World Friendship Centre give you two choices for breakfast time, 7.45 or 8.30, so you can imagine which I immediately chose!

I said goodbye to the Hawaiian girl I had met several times over the previous two days, and we exhanged contact details. I also gave my email address to the Canadian family I met twice by chance the day before. They even invited me to stay with them if I ever go to Canada!

I checked out, after paying and thanking Kent and Sarah very much for being such good hosts. It really was a great place to stay, and I told them that.

To be honest, I was a little nervous about going to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, because I'd heard so many stories about it being overwhelmingly sad. But I knew I had to go.

It's extremely good value for money, entrance is a mere Y50 (25p) and there are free lockers for luggage. The Museum is very central, located in the Peace Park.

I won't describe everything in detail like I normally would for two reasons.
The first is that most people know the events that led up to the bombing, and the results of the bomb very well. If you don't, this website seems full of information.
And the second is that I don't want to spoil it if you do visit. And I hope you can.

I did take some photographs throughout the museum.




This is a famous exhibit. A watch frozen at the precise second the bomb exploded over the city.

The last area, in the Main Building, was the most moving. The photos and videos below are of things that touched me most in the entire exhibition.

I don't think this photos is very clear, but the dark patch on the steps is somebody's shadow, etched into the stone.

Further away from the blast, dark patches on clothes or paper were burned away, while the lighter colours remained intact.

There's a photograph of this in my old A-level Geography textbook. It's called Black Rain (黒雨, kuroame). This toxic rain fell after the attack for several hours, staining walls like the one below.

There were lots of graphic photographs of burn victims, and vivid explanations of what radiation poisoning does to the body. This is one of the more tame pictures.

I spent a total of 3 and a half hours inside the museum. There were so many different things there, and I made a conscious effort to read everything and see each exhibit in detail. I could have done it in 90 minutes if I hadn't gone so carefully.

There was so much variety inside the Museum. There were drawings by hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) of skeletons stripped of their flesh, still standing up where they died; touchable artifacts recovered from the destruction; graphic photographs; lots of videos; and even real sections of buildings or walls taken from their original positions around the city.

I was very pleased that I went. In the end, it wasn't as overwhelming as I expected, so don't worry about going there. Some people might want to skip some sections though, I know I did. It was very sad, and very thought-provoking. It will certainly change your outlook on what happened.

I left Hiroshima at 14.30 on a Nozomi Shinkansen for Kyoto. It was very easy to buy the ticket, as I had the basic fare ticket I described in a previous post.

A few hours, and a few hours of sleep later, I was in Kyoto station. It was extremely humid, as I knew it would be, because Kyoto is infamous for being hot in summer. It's built inside a basin, so heat and humidity settles inside, and no wind can reach it to clear the air.

I was quite comfortable there though, as I'd been there once before with my family. I recognised a lot of things and knew my general way around. Before going to my ryokan (旅館, traditional Japanese hotel), I wanted to see one of the top sights of Kyoto that I didn't manage to get to last time.

I took a bus from the huge terminal outside Kyoto station and arrived there within 20 minutes. On the way up the hill, I spotted two maiko (young geisha) inside a building. I couldn't get too close but I managed to take a photo. I saw one geisha last time I went to Kyoto, but I didn't have time to take a picture, so I'm pleased I could this time.

And here it is! The entrance to one of the most famous temples in Kyoto, if not, Japan.

It's Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺), the sacred water temple. It's famous for its view over Kyoto, and the way the structure is built on struts overhanging the hill. Apparently it's spectacular in autumn when the maple trees burn with oranges, reds and browns all over the hill.




Here's the place where people catch water falling from the waterfall above and drink it to cleanse themselves.

There is a Shrine within the temple's grounds with a famous attraction. There are two stones placed about 18m apart from each other. You have to touch one, close your eyes, and walk to the other without peeking. If you manage to touch the other stone, your wish for love will come true. It's just my luck then that it was closed at 5.30pm!

I left the temple at its 6pm closing time, and I was waiting for the bus back to Kyoto station when it started to rain! It was very heavy, hot rain, and it meant that all the buses were completely full of people. I had to let three go because it was impossible to push myself in.

I did find one that was slightly more empty but it was still very crowded, and of course my huge bags didn't help!

But I got back eventually and then followed the map I'd drawn to my hotel. It's testament to my map-drawing skills that it took over an hour and three people's directions to get there.

It was a nice place, called Ryokan Hiraiwa (旅館平岩). It was another cheap one, only Y14,000 (£70) for three nights, but it was very good quality.

This was my comfortable room inside the ryokan.

I went out to find myself some dinner, taking careful note of where the hotel was, and was shocked to see mist in the headlights of passing cars, even though it was over 30C! So humid!

I passed lots of places I'd seen or been to with my family. A yakitori (焼鳥, grilled meat) bar I went to before was full, and that was disappointing because it was nice there, but I found a different one and ate there.

And in the end, I was pleased that I found it because, halfway through my meal, an Australian guy came and sat next to me. I decided that I should make the first move, as when I meet people, they always start, and I need to be less shy! I pointed out that the English translation of some of the dishes like 'Heart' and 'Gizzard' didn't sound very appetising.

We got to chatting and I found out that he's here for a two-week holiday with his family. In just six days, he said he'd really gotten into J-pop, a topic I love to talk about. He said his favourite singer was Yui, who I like too, so I recommended some songs to him. Of course, I endorsed my favourite band, Perfume, and wrote some of their song titles down for him.

He told me that he stayed in the Tokyo Park Hyatt, which I've wanted to go to for ages! We talked until 10pm, and then swapped email addresses before heading back to our hotels, where I had a lovely hot bath.

It was so nice that I could make new friends on the trip, as I thought that I'd be alone for all of it except the first couple of days in Kyushu. What a great experience!