JAPAN

It's 10pm and Abi and I are sitting in the reception of our Kyoto hotel trying to navigate the Japanese keyboard, and trying to make the internet appear in English. Poor Rachel has done something weird to her stomach (more on that later) and Japan is pretty quiet in the evening, so I thought I'd fill you in on our adventures so far, and exploit the free internet in our hotel.

We arrived in Tokyo, after about 20 hours of traveling - 03.45 British time, 12.45 Japanese time - and just about managed - relying heavily on the kindness of strangers (one middle-aged man in particular) to navigate the inscrutable Japanese train system to Asakusa where our hostel was. Our confusion must be absolutely obvious because people are always offering to help, or, failing that, literally pointing and laughing. Our rucksacks made things pretty difficult (I cannot get back up if I bend down - Rachel and Abi LOVE it). When we emerged from the subway station it was pouring down with rain - we hit a pretty low point as we wandered around getting more and more wet trying to find anyone who spoke English who could direct us to our hostel. Thank God for the 3 girls at the "Hello Kitty" stand who definitely couldn't speak English, but gave us a map.

After a quick nap in our hostel we headed out to explore Tokyo. As we were due to leave from "Tokyo Station" the next day, we thought it a good idea to head for Tokyo station, expecting to find bright lights and huge shops. Instead we ended up in a financial district, closed for the evening, and full of commuters rushing around. The station was cool though, we found a very tasty curry served with sesame rice, and marveled at the people.

THE NEXT DAY (I CAN'T TURN CAPS LOCK OFF LOL) WE GOT A BULLET TRAIN TO KYOTO. I WAS PRETTY NERVOUS ABOUT THIS, I THOUGHT IT WOULD STOP FOR LITERALLY A COUPLE OF SECONDS, AND I WAS PRETTY SURE WE'D MISS IT. BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A BREEZE! IT TOOK US ABOUT 2 AND A HALF HOURS TO TRAVEL 288 MILES。WE LOOKED OUT OF THE WINDOW THE ENTIRE TIME WATCHING THE LANDSCAPE BECOME MORE AND MORE MOUNTAINOUS... BESIDES WATCHING JAPAN GO BY WE ALSO WATCHED OUR FELLOW TRAVELLERS... LOADS OF THEM GOT OUT LITTLE WOODEN TRAYS FILLED WITH SUSHI - JUST LIKE WE'D EAT SANDWICHES - I WAS STARING. WE ALSO FOUND IT FUNNY THAT ALL OF THE TRAIN STAFF TURNED AROUND AND BOWED TO THE CARRIAGE BEFORE THEY LEFT. EVERYONE SEEMS TO BOW HERE - I EVEN FIND MYSELF BOWING AT PEOPLE;　AT LEAST ITS EASIER THAN TRYING TO SAY THANK YOU.



Once (caps lock off yesssss) we'd found our hotel in Kyoto we went off in search of food. We found an amazing all you can eat Japanese buffet, only spoilt by the fact that all three of use were spinning loads after the speed of the shinkansen. We didn't drink alcohol, but found it really funny that the all-you-can-drink menu had different prices for men and women (about 7 pounds for women and 10 for men - would never ever last at home). We spent the evening exploring Gion, an area renowned for geishas, and think we actually saw one.

Next day we went to the Imperial Park and applied for permission to enter the palace. It was really strange; only foreigners are allowed in, and you have to apply first. Luckily they let us straight on the next tour. The architecture and the gardens were amazing - not that I could understand the tour guide through her swine-flu mask.　What I gathered of the history was really interesting though, and I definitly took far too many photos.

Afterwards we got a bus to the Golden Pavillion - an absolutely stunning, and TOTALLY golden, villa on a lake. The real drama took place on the way home though. It was really crowded, and Rachel suddenly started to wretch, thank god she had a plastic bag to throw up in... which she then had to hold until the next stop. I felt so sorry for her. No one even flinched lol.

This morning we explored an awesome food market - laughing and pointing at the weird and wonderful fish. At lunchtime we got the shinkansen back to Tokyo (I'm spinning again lol), and this time I tried to copy the natives and bought sushi for the journey. I failed though, because I was only brave enough to touch the stuff that resembled Tesco sushi snacks; it was exciting nevertheless.

This afternoon we found the main shopping district in Tokyo. Just as big and bright as expected. The Sony store was incredible - I watched football on an 3d TV (Jamie, it was incredible, you:re going to want one).

We're flying to New Zealand and I've managed to draw the folling conclusions (sweeping generalisations) on the Japanese:
- They're extremely polite, and they LOVE ettiquette.
- There seem to be no poor people, immigrants, or poor people (this is slightly sinister)
- Everyone is petite, smart and stylish
Our bright clothes, loud voices, unladylike laughs, and vulgar habits made us extremely conspicuos. We saw hardly any other tourits. I mainly felt like a big milky giant lol.

If you've got this far you've done very well. I know I've written too much. And I know travel blogs are about as boring as when people recount a dream they just had as if your interested (although I did enjoy hearing about Abi's dream that was entirely in the style of Silent Witness).
ANYWAY, thanks for reading. I miss you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S. Kate, travelling is just like you said; on our first morning a FIT aussie wandered over - my mouth was full of toast - and asked if we were going to Kyoto and where we were staying. Couldn't believe it. O and I know that you and Rodge are laughing at this in the lib.