Just some pictures before we're home

Yeah!
To be found on every streetcorner, with both hot and cold tea and coffee in cans.

Our favorite icecream, with layers of chocolate and vanille icecream inside. Jummie :) (good size as well)

The most beautiful walk, on the way back from Aso-san (the vulcano that I wrote about last time, after our camp-night).

(Look for yourself ;))

Hiking in the north of Honshu, near Towada.

The path to the top of the mountain is a bit overgrown... The last few hund

red meters we almost have to crawl through!

Especially for Thierry :)

Almost-group-picture near Tokyo Sea Life Park. Yesterday we made a very nice trip with a big part of Akiko's family and Sae, a friend. Missing here are Yoshiro (Akiko's brother) and Limpeh and Jota, the two kids of Akiko's sister. Here they are:

'German village', the place we went to after the aquarium. The whole place was decorated with lights. We heard there is several German villages in Japan; we wonder why! (There also is a place called 'Huis ten Bosch' near Nagasaki!)

See you soon!

Surprises

Unfortunately no cardreader this time, so pictures will come later, if we find a computer that does have one. Just a short update about the last week. I forgot what I wrote about plans (they changed quite often), so I'll just tell where we went.

A long train trip (more than 5 hours) brought us to Kyushu, the southernmost big island of Japan (there are many small ones even more southern). Some highlights from the last few days:

- An evening in a sake place, together with the two owners and a frequent guest. We had to try from a lot of bottles, one of them a 'secret bottle' of the frequent guest. Interesting! ;) We even got a present: handmade sake cups. Great :) We considered staying one day more in Fukuoka and eating there, but in the end we decided to move on to Ebino kogen, for hiking and camping.

- We ended up in Aso, since that was a place we could reach before dark. The camping that we found after a short walk turned out to be closed, but after some discussion, the owner permitted us to stay for one night. In the end, we were lucky to be the only ones, since it started raining in the middle of the night and water came from all sides. We moved our matrasses (and everything else) to the cooking- and washing up place, were we continued the night. The tent was also very much a seasonal tent... A night we will remember ;)

- In the morning we started off for mount Aso, to the rim of the vulcanic crater that is still alive. It was a pity that we had to take the street (hiking road was closed, end of the season...) , but it was really nice weather and after the top we could take a hiking path to another village, Takamoto. This was a beautiful walk! Mountains everywhere, really. The vulcano that we saw is located, together with 4 other mountains, in a very broad crater, in which we were still walking. It were the last hours of sun, only paths that you cannot find back after a year if they won't be maintained (cut grass). I hope for a cardreader in the next computer :) When we asked the way to a hostel in Takamoto, two women were so kind to walk us there. The owner was already in her pyjamas (it seemed), but she still let us in. People are so friendly and helpful here (maybe I said that before... ;))

And now we are in Nagasaki, in a very friendly hostel. We decided to stay here for some days. Both Akiko and Thierry have gone back to Utrecht. Guys, are you ok? How were your last days and the travel back home?

We heard Sinterklaas arrived last weekend! Hopefully he thought about you all (all who are living in the Netherlands, not that we don't want him to think about others... hmm, complicated)
Take care everybody!

Second week

As promised, pictures of a Japanese 'Western style' toilet. A small introduction. The reason that the part that you sit on (toiletbril, in Dutch) is so thick, is that there's some kind of heater in it. You can adjust the temperature! On the left you see what's hanging on the wall. Here you can choose the program. Until now, I didn't try all, but it's like different showers cleaning you (before flushing). Then, when you flush the toilet, water first comes out of the tap on top, so you can wash your hands with the same water. Very smart!

(Oke, I don't know how to arrange pictures in the right place, so just find out about which picture I'm talking).

Some other great Japanese inventions: all you can eat sushi. Thierry was definitely the winner! Signs in the train station to slow people down... And a capsule hotel (in Osaka)! I made a picture lying in my capsule (you can see my toes). It's like a big wall with holes in it for people :) Akiko next to me, someone else above... really handy! With a locker to put your stuff in and a sauna and onsen (hot bath) room.

After Osaka, we went to Kyoto, were we saw a lot of temples (but not even one-tenth of the amount that is there). From there, Magnus and Joop took the train back to Tokyo, since their flight back home was yesterday (guys, did you arrive well? and how was Shinjuku?). The rest of the group (Akiko, Thierry, Olaf and Marlies) went to Nara, to spend the night in an onsen. Olaf and me were a bit doubtful if that was really a normal thing to do, but as it turned out: YES. A big big room with a lot of soft seats that you can turn flat, and piles of blankets to pick from. There are so many options for sleeping in Japan!

And now we're back at Akiko's parent's place for one day, washing clothes, arranging new plans, enjoying good food and really nice company. :) :) :)

Tomorrow early morning, Olaf and Marlies will take the shinkansen (bullet train, very fast and luxuous, and 'for free' with the Japan Rail Pass) to the north. We just booked two nights in Yasumiya, near Towadako Lake in the north of Honshu (the biggest island of Japan, so coming from Tokyo, we don't have to cross any water). There, we will walk around the lake, try to climb a mountain and maybe play in the snow ;) Another place that we first tried to book, was closing to day because snow had started. After this trip, we will head south, were it's still really nice weather.

Akiko and Thierry are still discussing plans... Time is becoming shorter for them; Thierry is leaving on Thursdag and Akiko on Saturday next week. Ah, probably they'll to Yokohama and Hakone (I just hear! :)) In Yokohama there's a big China Town, and in Hakone there's Onsen.

Well, that's it for now. More interesting pictures are on Olaf's camera (and on those from Magnus and Joop), so maybe more later...

Take care everybody! Looking forward to hear from Joop and Magnus!