Japan
Trip Start
Jan 17, 2006
1
21
26
Trip End
Jun 20, 2006
Kobe, Japan
Saturday, April 29, 2006
April 16, 2006
I arrived in Japan shortly after leaving China, two short days to be exact. With such a little turn around time between the two countries I felt the least prepared for Japan then anywhere else. All I knew was that mom was meeting me at midnight on that first night at a hotel, somewhere in Kobe. I had the first day to myself to ground myself in Japan before meeting up with mom. It was cold and rainy when we got off the ship and the weather forecast for the rest of the trip didn't seem to be anymore promising. Despite the weather Evan and Brian and I went out in search for monkeys in Kyoto.
To get to Kyoto we had to try and figure out the subway and train stations. We walked into town from the ship and went to Sannomiya the main station in the center of town. We took the train from Kobe to Kyoto, which was about an hour train ride. When we got to the Kyoto train station the three of us when in search of a monkey park. We started by walking out of the station and into the rainy streets, with just a direction on a map and a name. We didn't get to far before we knew we were lost and needed to ask for directions. I asked a group of local guys in my broken Japanese and their broken English we figured out that we just needed to go back to the station and start over. We were completely wrong in thinking that we could walk to the monkey park, a subway was needed. We took the subway to other side of town and found our way through the rain to the closed monkey park.
The weather was so bad that the park was closed but we decided to walk around regardless of the rain. We all bought umbrellas from street vendors and braved the weather. It was such a great little area along the river, it almost reminded me of Paris at times. The cherry blossoms where in full bloom and blew gently off the branches as the strong spring rains hit the branches. The streets were lined with pink blossoms from the trees, and even the heavy rains couldn't ruin the view. We walked along the river and watched the ducks in the water, and the local people zooming by on their bikes. We walked along the river for a while and ended up at a little Japanese garden. It was so beautiful and I felt as if I stepped back in time and was in Japan long ago. The garden was part of a little hotel along the river bend, it was traditional Japanese accommodations. We sat on the rocks at the rivers edge and enjoyed the view and I put my feet in the cold waters to check the temperature.
We decided to start up the side of the mountain in search of the monkeys. The area we started climbing was straight up the side of the mountain. The heavy rains didn't help the climb, and the unstable grounds we climbed made the attempts to get up a challenge. To be able to get up the mountain, I had to use the vines hanging off the trees above to pull myself up the rocks. Evan stayed at the bottom with the bags and met us at the bridge, while Brian and I climbed straight up the mountain side with no turning back because the path we had just made was washed away and we had to scale down a different path. We made it up and now had little options to get back down. The rain picked up and now covered in mud up and down we started down the mountain at an angle to slowly make it back down safely. We ended going through the monkey park to get back down and hurried along to get back to the bottom without being caught accidentally trespassing. After some struggles we made it back down and to the river path to meet Evan at the bridge.
Now that we were all covered from head to toe with mud, we were tired and hungry. So we set out to find a restaurant that wouldn't mind muddy tourists. We went into a few restaurants that didn't work out, since many were closed due to the rains. We went into one that we thought was open and only found out that it was closed when a little old man came and politely told us to get out. After a while we found a local restaurant with rice paper walls and on the floor seating. The lady that worked their spoke no English and communicating "no meat, no meat!" to her, was quite the challenge. We were the only ones at the restaurant and made a scene when we came in covered in mud and tried sitting on the floor with two tall guys that couldn't even sit cross legged. It was a traditional Japanese meal and the guys had raw fish and other unrecognizable foods to eat. I had great vegetable dish, and had a few good laughs over the whole situation. We took the subway and then the train back to Kobe, and I packed to met up with mom at her hotel at midnight.
To get to mom's hotel, I had to take the portliner, get off at the train station transfer to a train, then transfer to a subway. I finally made it there and got off the elevator not sure if I was even at the right place, to turn the corner and see mom at the counter checking in. It was perfect timing and perfect everything. It was great seeing her again it had been such a long time, it didn't seem real that she was there. I gave her her gifts and we talked for a while and then went to bed late. The next day we went back to the other side of Kyoto. I knew the train system a little better at this point and we got to Kyoto a little easier. In Kyoto we had to figure out the bus system and had troubles communicating. We got off at the wrong stop and had to get back on the bus. We finally ended up in Ginon, the geisha distract. We went on a walk through the cherry blossom park. There were street vendors selling exotic foods, and Japanese families and couples walking through the park. We passed a few Buddhist temples, and Japanese architecture, In the center of the park was a particularly beautiful cherry tree that was the most famous cherry tree in Japan.
Mom and I walked around and had ice cream, and mom bought me a beautiful vintage kimono. Then we had candied strawberries and went to a larger Buddhist temple. We climbed the stairs to the top and entered a square. There were temples of each corner and we went in a sat for a while in the temple listening to the monks chanting. We left the park area and went to the main geisha district. We walked through the streets and saw several geisha's walking around in full wears. They were so beautiful and the whole scene was like something out of a movie. We tried to go see a geisha cherry blossom play but it was all sold out. So we just walked around the area a little more. Mom spent a lot of time in the hair pin store, while I sat on the side of the street watching the busy people on the street. After getting lost for a while and spending a lot of time and effort we finally made it back to Kobe that night.
The next morning we to a cable car up to the herb gardens in the Shin-Kobe district. The view from the cable car was beautiful and you could see the city below. By the time we got up to the top the fog had rolled in and the view was lost. It was still incredible up at the top of the herb garden. We went into the shops, and had a great garden lunch at the top. We walked down to the greenhouse and through the lavender fields. Further down we went through the herb gardens and took the cable car back to the bottom. Mom had to catch her flight back so we went back to the train station and said our goodbye.
After mom left I went back to the ship and got ready to go out the girls that night. We took the subway to Kobe island area for dinner. We ate at a restaurant on the river and then we to the Farris wheel. The view from the Ferris wheel was great you could see the whole city down below. The Ferris wheel was in an amusement park, there was a ton of games and other fun things. We rode these giant electronic animals and took pictures in the photo booth. We spent the evening playing at the park and got back late that night.
The next day I walked around Kobe found an internet café, explored Kobe. That night we went out for dinner, and went to karaoke. Karaoke was the such an interesting experience, the 7 of us got a room and sang for an hour. It was so funny this place was huge had a ton of sound proof rooms that tons of people rent out and sing alone or with others in. One room had a group of old Japanese singing in, and another was a guy singing alone. We had a great time and sang some great old songs.
The next day we went shopping in town, and walked around Kobe for the afternoon. We ate at a little café and had to rush back to be on the ship in time. It was really sad to step off of Japanese soil and back onto the ship since it was the last port. I can't believe its over and Japan was the last port. It feels like my life has changed in so many ways and I feel as if home is a distant memory. Japan to San Diego. That will be a journey in itself.
