Hiroshima, Onomichi, Kyoto and Nara

I have been busy since my last entry and there have been ups and downs, mainly as a result of my travel fatigue. I have seen so many amazing places and things that I think that my brain has just stopped computing. I am definitely suffering from temple overload and  I have made a conscious decision to just not see any more. It's not fair to the temples. I have stopped appreciating them.I think that I'm ready to stop travelling for a bit and lets things sink in.I'm certainly not complaining because I have had a fabulous time this year and even when I feel a bit out of sorts i remind myself that I am not at work.
So first stop was Hiroshima and while i was waiting to check in to my  hotel I did a cheeky little trip down to Miyajima, a small island famous for its shrine gate, which is in the sea and the Itsukushima Shrine. There is nothing wrong with Miyajima at all and it is very very popular, as the number of tourists accompanying me proved but I could just not get enthusiastic. The gate is quite impressive and the ferry ride was fun but I didn't stay long. I hotfooted back to Hiroshima to see the Peace Park and the A Bomb Dome. This was an atmospheric place and there was a sense of silence and peace here, despite the fact that it is in the heart of modern Hiroshima. A decision was made not to redevelop the area after the bomb and the result is a reminder as well as a place of reflection.

Miyajima

The shrine gate at Miyajima

The A Bomb Dome Hiroshima

The A Bomb Dome from the bridge in the Peace Park

 My next stop was just a couple of hours away in Onomichi, a coastal town  on the Seto Inland Sea. It is famous for its Temple Walk and the fact that may writers and film makers have been born here. It is a nice place but when I arrived it was grey and pouring with rain and my temple overload was reaching breaking point so I didn't do the Temple Walk. This decision was actually very liberating. i wandered along the sea front and found nice little bar that served a new dish on me called Hitsumabishi. this was fried eel on a bed of rice that had to be eaten in 3 stages, with 3 different types of ingredients, very Japanese and it was beautifully presented. I really enjioyed this, no tourists and I had just stumbled upon it. I met 2 lovely women who are travelling to London next month and they bought me some oranges, which are apparently grown locally. I finished off my break from tempkes with a trip to the local art house cinema, where I was hoping to see a Japanese film but instead saw 'First Position' a documentary about ballet which was in English. I enjoyed this and it felt quite an apt choice because Sae, the daughter of the lovely family I met in Miyako was a very talented ballerina and she would have loved this film. I rounded off my day here with some delicious sashimi in a nice izakaya but it was a bit boring being on my own here.

Hitsumabishi

My oranges gift

Onomichi

I left Onomichi early yesterday and got to Kyoto quickly. I did a bit of sightseeing near the station, yet another temple and a small Japanese Garden but I was grumpy and unimpressed ( nothing to do with Kyoto but all to do with my overload) until I got on the train and popped to Tofukoji which despite being a temple, I loved. It was quiet and peaceful, the sun was shining and I got my mojo back.On a high a decided to go to Nara this morning, to see some of the really old shrines and temples they have there....too many people, it is beautiful but I just felt a bit jaded. I did sneak off the main path and saw some quieter area but I am officially 'templed out'. On the plus side I did find a Vietnamese restaurant which served Vietnamese Coffee and this perked me up no end. I also found some quite nice traditional Japanese cloth things. My plan for tomorrow is to go hang out quite close to my hotel where there are a couple of really old, well preserved areas and to find some good places to eat on the river. Forgot to say that last night there was an earth trermor, which was mildly exciting and possibly a bit scary but they happen so often here I was probably the only person who noticed it. 

Too laazy to caption photos below. There is one of Kyoto Statio as a contrast to all the old stuff...and lots of Schoolkids on trips-teachers with megaphones!!

Nagasaki

I have had a wonderful few days here in Nagasaki, it is a very interesting city and it's easy to get around.

Well before the events of 1945 Nagasaki was an important and historical place and lots of its early history reminded me of what happened in Malacca. It was one of the first places to have contact with the West, firstly through the Portuguese and then the Dutch. When Japan closed its borders during the Edo  period and entered a long spell of isolation, Nagasaki was the only place allowed to have contact with the outside world and the Dutch traded on a small  man made island called Dejima in what was then the harbour. When Japan came out of isolation in the 1850s Nagasaki flourished once again and a large foreign settlement grew up here, boosting the city's reputation in trade and business as well as enabling it to play a huge part in the modernisation of Japan. Despite extensive damage from the blast and subsequent fires much has been done to restore buildings and sites from these earlier times and I really enjoyed visiting Dejima, which has been reclaimed, excavated and restored, even though due to land reclamation it is now slightly inland. I also spent lots of time at the Glover Garden, named after a Scottish man who came to Nagasaki in 1859  and set up the Glover trading company. The Gardens are close to the former foreign settlement and many of the old colonial houses have been restored and moved here to recreate that era-although this might sound cheesy it wasn't, I learned loads and the house and views were stunning. It was interesting to learn that Puccini was a close friend of Glover and used to visit him in Nagasaki, using his time here as inspiration for his opera Madame Butterfly. Using my one day tram pass I also went to China Town and up to Mount Inasa for some spectacular night views ( you'll have to take my word for it because the photos I took are crap).

Today I pottered a little more and discovered various temples and shrines close to my hotel, including the Fukisajii Temple, which features a giant tortoise. I spent some time in the History and Culture Museum and wandered by the river to see the oldest bridge in the city.

There are memories of August 1945 everywhere, many important religious building were destroyed but have been reconstructed in the previous sites. The epicentre of the blast was a couple of miles inland in a residential area, close to a big Catholic cathedral and there is now a museum, memorial and peace park here. The museum was moving and I'm glad I went. It is a testament to the city that although this part of history is acknowledged it has not defined the place.

I was feeling a bit lonely when I got here, especially after having such a laugh with Cathal recently but I have met some nice people here: a couple from Tokyo who spoke no English but could speak Spanish, which made for a fun conversation and a lovely man who walked me back to my hotel this afternoon on his way to the library, he was born in 1939 and had recently returned to Nagasaki after years working away.

The food is interesting here because of all of the foreign influences. A local speciality is something called Turkish Rice, which seems to involve flavoured rice, spaghetti and meat in a rich sauce all on the same plate...

Moving on tomorrow to Hiroshima and I'm aware that my trip looks like some sort of disaster spot tourism but it will break up my journey to Kyoto and Osaka and I'm going to fit in a small coastal town called Onomichi to break from the theme.

The bomb hypocentre

The Peace Park

Dejima

Dejima

On the Wharf

Glover Garden

Glover Garden

Glover Garden

Glover Garden

Glover Garden

night time view ( I warned you )

Yes it is a tortoise

School kids with carp in the river

View from a bridge

Spectacles Bridge ( because of the reflection)

hot baths, Sumo and long train journey

Since my last entry I managed to fit in another fabulous hot spring bath, this time in the open air.

Find my way back to Cathal's house without getting lost. Drink beer and stay up too late. Watch live Sumo, get over excited and mangle some of the competitors names causing Cathal to weep for several minutes.

 As a surprise Cathal took me to visit the town I had earlier called 'arse-pervert' and judging by the number of sleazy looking bars adorned with pictures of scantily clad young women the second part of the name appears to be rather apt.

I said goodbye to Cathal this morning, after leaving him with a bag of my belongings to bring back to the UK this summer ( I now travel super light) and started on the journey to Nagasaki- it was long, long, long but 4 trains later here I am . I've struck lucky with accommodation again and I'm sitting on the tatami, drinking green tea planning what to see tomorrow...oh and about to catch up on today's Sumo action on line too.

Have Rail Pass will travel

I am now officially intrepid and completely in love with Japan.

I left Cathal's on Wednesday morning with a vague plan to get my rail pass, travel north to Tohuku province and stay a few days. I missed the first direct local train into Tokyo by seconds but undaunted I took another one, did a crafty change of lines and was in time to get the 10.46 bullet train to Morioka; all very straightforward and the bullet train was everything a bullet train should be, clean, roomy and very, very fast. I spent a couple of hours in Morioka, drinking tea and talking to a homelss man who had taken up residence in the poet .Takuboku's honey moon house. I then caught a tiny, tiny local train to my next destination, Miyako City. This was a complete joy of a journey, the nicest train ride I have taken this trip, wooded slopes, rivers and cherry blossom, what more could you expect from Japanese countryside? On arriving in Miyako I started to look for somewhere to stay and this is when the highlight of my whole trip began.

I  wandered around town a little hopelessly and came across a little bar that could have been a hotel. Here I met Yasuhiro who firstly put me right about the lack of accommodation at the bar, secondly informed that Miyako was full, no hotels had any room and thirdly that he loved backpackers, wanted to be one himself, that his wife, kids and mother would love me and that I would stay with them. Under normal circumstance this might have sounded like a dodgy offer but I had complete confidence in him and I was right. I spent a fantastic day and 2 lovely nights with them and I have made friends for life. His wife Urara was kind, funny and welcoming. his children were great and we spent lots of time practicing their English and looking at photos. Sae the daughter is 14 and a very good ballet dancer. Yasuhiro took me to his local bar where I met some great Japanese guys who all loved English punk and he also took me on a day of sightseeing along the coast, which was affected by the 2011 tsunami. I was so sad to leave but they had been so unbelievably hospitable I didn't want to outstay my welcome. They have plans to visit Europe and the UK and I would welcome them with open arms. It is moments like this that really touch me, it was and everything I wanted travelling to be...as I've said before it is the people you spend the time with that make the place.....

This is not to say that the Miyako area is not a good place to visit because it is I think one of Japan's best kept secrets. the Sanriku Coast is rugged, beautiful and largely undeveloped. There is evidence of the Tsunami everywhere and lots of rebuilding in progress ( hence the full hotels). the saddest place I saw was Taro  which was pretty much flattened by the tsunami, despite its massive sea wall and has not really recovered. The government has relocated most of the residents here to a hilltop a few kilometres away, in corrugated metal houses. The sea is crystal clear here and so the seafood is exceptional. I was spoiled with sashimi and sushi and many other local delicacies. In land is also lovely, full of pine covered hills, rivers and caves. 

Morioka

Miyako bad boys

Jodogohama Beach

Jodogohama Beach

Yasuhiro

Urara and Yoko

 Kousuke, Sae and Urara

Sad to leave

Urara took me to the station yesterday morning and I caught the train to Sendai, the nearest city to the 2011 earthquake. I found a nice hotel here and then used my rail pass again to visit Matushima another coastal town, this time famous for its pine covered islands. it is considered to be one of Japan's hree most scenic views. It was affected by the Tsunami but escaped major damage because the pine island protected the town. It was a nice place and well worth a visit although much more touristy and developed than the places I had seen further north.

This morning I was intrepid again and took the local train from Sendai to Yamagata, via Yamadera a scenic and atmospheric mountain temple town, which I actually preferred to Nikko. I then took a local bus from Yamagata to my current location Zao Onsen, a  hot spring town and ski resort at 880 metres above sea level. Unfortunately it is raining and has been all afternoon but fortunately being a hot spring town and all that then there are loads of baths. The hot springs run right under the town and there is a smell of sulphur and loads of steam everywhere. The water is very acidic and very hot but I love it...I've had 3 already and I'm planning to get up early and go in the big outdoor pool up the mountain tomorrow- weather permitting. the hotel is very traditional and I am sitting on tatami mats, drinking green tea and reading Japanese literature, wondering if  I can fit in another bath before bed.