Lost In Japan

Our day started at 6:30am with a wake up phone call from our reception guy, Tara not knowing that they usually say something like “good morning, this is your wake up call” hung the phone up straight away, it rang again. The morning is brisk and we take in the sights on our walk to Kinugawa station. The trains are pack with school kids, watching their pecking order is amusing. After our 2 trains to Tobu Nikko we needed to catch a bus to Lake Chūzenji, again the school kids were everywhere and I was not going to be standing up on public transport. The bus ride was great, a real eye opener. Clouds were covering the peaks and green leafy trees edged over the road. Tara noticed some monkeys on the side of the road, the camera and I however missed it.

The bus stopped at the top and dropped us off and we headed for the main street of the lake. To say it was cold was an understatement. We walked down the street, looking for a cafe to get something for breakfast and to warm up, but everything seemed to be shut, except for this little cafe on the edge of the lake. Tara had pizza toast and I had toast and jam. The coffee was poor, surprise surprise! We got a few engrish shots from the menu. I took some shots of the lake, as we headed back to the Kegon Falls. Tara finally got to see a few Cherry Blossoms, just a few.

I noticed on the map that there was an elevator to get to the falls, I thought it seemed a little odd, as every waterfall I’ve ever visited was a bit of a hike down a mountain. Turns out that someones capitalised on it, and is charging 530 yen to get down to see it. There were shops and cafes around the top and a gift shop at the bottom. Plenty of school kids out on an excursion, a few thought they’d try out their english skills with me.

After stopping at the gift shop we headed back towards the bus stop to catch out bus back to Nikko. I wish we could have explored a little more, but we had to get back to Tokyo. At the bus station I noticed a thermometer which read about 5-6 degrees. Inside the bus station was a kerro heater which we huddled around, as did some other Asian tourists. I was asked to be in a photo with some old guy as they thought it was amusing to see an Aussie. Bus back to Nikko, local train to Utsunomiya, and Shinkansen back to Tokyo where we called Jo and made plans to meet up, another train to Yokohama.

Lunch was funny, we decided on an Italian restaurant. We couldn’t order from the Japanese menu because we can’t read Japanese, so we order by taking the waitress outside and pointing at the plastic foods in the window.I chose the spaghetti with egg on top, and Tara had some kind of pasta with mushrooms, she complained how crap it was. Jo and her friend Kanko meet us shortly after and we sat in the restaurant talking for a while.

Next Kanko had to go home and cook dinner for her husband, so Tara, Jo and myself caught a train back to Hodogaya. We stopped to look in a little vintage shop called Herm. I think we were there for hours. The girls we’re going bonkers at all the cool clothing, trying on heaps of outfits. I too got stuck into the swing of things and ended up getting a cool black shirt and maroon jumper. Tired, hungry and in need of a drink, we visit the convenience store near buy to get a “roadie” and head back to Jo’s place to dump our bags and get ready to go out.

Another train back to Yokohama where we meet up with some of Jo’s work friends, Ash and Ben. We’re taken to a busy bar where we sit and dine on various dishes, while drinking plenty of kiwi sours. Ash has the orders coming in quick and fast, and I find myself getting rather pissed. The place is a buzz with young folk out to get a good feed and to have a few drinks. Tara is getting tired and Jo had work in the morning, it was time to leave. We catch the last train home, Jo and I stop in to the convenience store once again to pick up another roadie for the hill climb to get back to her place. We finish our drinks on the verandah while Tara finishes a blog for the day before.

End of day 8.

Highlights:

1. Tourists clapping at Ricky because he is from Australia.
2. Snow (well, we think so anyway)
3. Beautiful bus ride in the misty mountains.
4. Shinkansen ‘hooting’ by at Utsunomiya Station.
5. Yokohama nightlife (getting pissed with Jo and friends)
6. Herm vintage shop!
7. Watching TV on Jo’s phone.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 2:30 am and is filed under Japan.