Meg Survived Japan!

First and foremost, I am alive!!!!!!!!! I seriously thought that Japan was going to kill me. I am deathly afraid of traveling alone in a country where I don’t know any of the language. I am rather comfortable in Korea because I can stumble through directions with the minimal Korean that I do know. But Japan… a completely different story, like Korea would be Green Eggs and Ham and Japan would be The Iliad in the original Greek text. Actually, once I got out of the smaller cities, communication eased up a bit. And, Japanese people are exceptionally friendly. I thought Koreans were really nice, but oh baby; every Japanese person I asked for help went really far out of their way to help a foreigner out. Maybe it was the huge sign I had on my forehead that said “I’m about to have an anxiety attack if I don’t make it to my train on time,” but I can recall about 14 situations where the rules were bent or someone went about 17 miles out of their way to help me. Color me the most appreciative shade of gratitude possible.

Mimicking my first blog post where I had anything and everything to write about, I’ll break this down into easy to find/read/browse sections.

1. Kyushu (the southern island that I explored with Kathy)

2. Hiroshima

3. Kyoto

4. Mt. Fuji

Interesting sidenote: I kept track of my different modes of transportation and I’m pretty sure the only one missing is a paddle boat. From start to finish (leaving my apartment and arriving back in my apartment) I took a total of:

5 taxis

7 trains

2 ferries

16 buses

4 cars

1 streetcar

1 bike

7 subways

2 scooter/moped/motorbike type dealios

Public transportation and cell phones are two things that Asia kicks our butts at.

1. Kyushu – is the southernmost 4 islands of Japan.

Moving on… So, I left my apartment last Saturday morning at the crack of 6:15 in order to catch the train down to Busan where I caught the ferry to Fukuoka in Japan. Everything went smoothly. I met up with Kathy that night in Kumamoto and we did what friends do. The next day we explored a little bit of Kumamoto, which is the small town where she lives and teaches English, charming little place. The first thing I noticed about the difference between Japan and Korea is that the buildings are shorter in Japan. Everywhere you go in Korea there are dozens upon dozens upon dozens of high-rise apartment buildings. Japan, I guess, is a little bit more spread out. Now, compared to America, everything is still miniature but Japan has just a little bit more elbow room.

Anyway, after that, we rented a car and took probably the most beautiful drive I’ve ever experienced around a small island named Amakusa. There is a small coastal highway that traces the edge of this island and we spent a good few hours following it. The land itself was full of lush green forests and outlined by steep tree-covered cliffs along the water. Breathtaking. The island was dotted with quaint little rural hamlets. We finally found a very small, very private beach where we enjoyed a dip in the water and watched the sunset over the water. Probably the coolest thing about the day was that on the drive home, we pulled over to the side of the road to stargaze for a good 15 minutes and the sheer number of stars we saw was staggering. It very much reminded me of clear nights in the Mile High city.

Also on the drive back, we stopped at a restaurant to grab some dinner. Neither of us is that picky so we just randomly chose a place where the lights were on. Looking at the menu, Kathy can read some Japanese and she keeps saying, “Fugu this, fugu that. What the hell is fugu? This is fugu something, that’s fugu something. It’s all fugu. What is this fugu?” So we ordered something that looked tame off the menu and Kathy looked up “fugu” in her iPhone. As luck would have it, fugu is blowfish… As in, the stuff you can die from if it’s not prepared carefully. Suffice it to say, we survived to tell the tale.

2. Hiroshima!

The next day I set off for Hiroshima.

I got into the Hiroshima train station and put my bag in a coin locker and went off around the city. There is a very large park along the river that runs through the city and there were zillions of memorials, statues, plaques and commemorations for/about the victims of the atomic bomb.

The Peace Memorial Park rendered me lost in an incredible mixture of inspiration, heartbreak, sadness and guilt. It would be a rare thing indeed if you saw a dry eye anywhere in the park. I am afraid to cheapen the experience with words of my own, but all I can say is that this beautiful city was once utterly devastated by the worst weapon that man has ever created. Instead of jumping to retaliation, the city has rebuilt, recovered and still stands as a modern beacon of survival. This city has become devoted to the pursuit of peace and the entire park is centered around the idea of dismantling these weapons. The Flame of Peace (couldn’t get a picture of it) burns around the clock and will only be extinguished when the last nuclear weapon is destroyed. To the right pictured here is the Children's Peace Monument. The top is a statue of Sadako Sasaki holding a folded crane in her hands. Sadako was a young girl who died of radiation from the bomb. She believed that if she folded 1,000 cranes, she would be saved. There was so much to see and I took too many pictures to post here, but track me down when I return to the States and I’ll be more than happy to share more.

After I wandered around the Peace Park for a few hours I headed back to the train station to meet up with my couchsurfing host. Now, some readers may need an explanation behind couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a social networking website for travelers seeking a night or two of cost-saving accommodations. It works on a “give and take” principle, meaning that if you travel and use couchsurfing.org then you should offer your couch to other travelers who may need it. Now, since this was my first time using it and I pretty much planned my entire week of Japan literally days before I went, I have yet to “give” my couch to any travelers. But, it’s a great way to get off the beaten path, mingle with city folks, get away from the touristy places and see a bit of the real Hiroshima, or wherever it is that you’re traveling to. Of course, one has to be extremely cautious about safety and there is a system on the website that allows travelers and hosts to leave comments, references and feedback about fellow couchsurfers. I was very careful about choosing who my hosts were and I can honestly say I have zero regrets about using it. I recommend it to any adventurous, money-conscious traveler. It was especially helpful for me because I was traveling alone and being able to “touch home base” with someone who spoke fluent English was immensely comforting.

Anyway, my host in Hiroshima was a kindergarten teacher from Indiana (I chose a fellow hoosier on purpose) and was extremely hospitable, nice, clean, generous and so on. We ate a few Japanese dishes that I had not been introduced to. One was fermented soybeans called natto (spelling to be confirmed, but that’s how it sounds.) I’m not in any rush to have these again. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely an acquired taste type thing, like coffee, beer and salt and vinegar chips. We also had some spicy fish egg, and this was my reaction. Again, I’m not in any hurry to have that again.

I slept fantastically that night and woke up early to catch my train to Kyoto!

3. Kyoto! Famously recognized as the cultural center of Japan, Kyoto is saturated with history, culture, temples, shrines, museums, old buildings and cobble-stoned streets. The people in this city are so friendly.

I arrived in Kyoto and again left my bags in a coin locker at the train station and set off exploring. The picture to the left is the Kyoto train station. It was humongous. The stairs I took a picture of go up 12 flights; there was a stage there at the bottom for some sort of concert; there was a department store to the left there; and then the actual train station. My first stop was the information desk where an extremely helpful and fluent English speaking lady pointed me in the right direction. Now, before arriving in Kyoto I knew that I wouldn’t have lots of time, but that I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with whatever I chose to see. I had received a tip from a friend about something called the Path of Philosophy that goes between two temples. Back to Meg-ucation 101, would Meg pass on something called the Path of Philosophy? Enough said. So the path started at Ginkakuji Temple and meandered down south a bit, past numerous shrines and smaller temples, and ended at Eikan-do Zenrin-ji Temple.

Ginkaku-ji Temple, at the start of the walk, was sadly under extensive renovation. However, the grounds around it were still open. The Zen Temple and surrounding gardens are built into the side of a mountain. This is one of the most famous landscaped Japanese gardens and it was just breathtaking. Its sand garden is famous, and huge. Here are two pictures of the garden, the one that looks like an upside down bowl is supposed to resemble Mt. Fuji. The other is a wishing pond, the bottom of which was glittering with coins. The rest of the wooded grounds were covered in different types of Japanese moss, carved with little streams and ponds and outlined with a small wooden-planked walkway. Beautiful.

After spending about an hour here, I began the Path of Philosophy. It sounds more epic than it was. It is named so because a famous Japanese professor of Philosophy would walk up and down this path and just get really smart. Or something. I felt slightly profound after my walk, so maybe it’s true. But the treasure that waited for me at the end of the walk was by far the best part of my lone exploration of Kyoto.

Eikan-do Zenrin-ji is a Buddhist temple and there was no one else there. No one. Not a single tourist. This was phenomenal. Amazing. Awesome. Lucky. I removed my shoes before entering the maze of wooden walkways connecting about a dozen buildings and the woman who was greeting people told me I could go watch the Buddhist monks perform a ceremony. I said, “Wow, are you sure it’s okay?” She said, “Hai, hai. Go go. No sound and no picture.” So, timidly, I stepped into a massive one-room wooden building with thick, tall wooden pillars, incense burning, candles winking, golden tapestries and ornamentation and about two dozen monks. Their ceremony was like a perfected, well-rehearsed dance of low, restful chants, light methodic taps on gongs and perfect movement around this huge room. I watched for a while and then continued to explore the grounds completely alone with the monks’ chants accompanying me in the background. By far, this definitely was the best part of Kyoto.

My couchsurfing host in Kyoto is absolutely the most hospitable, generous, and sharing man. His name is Tomonori (Tomo) and he runs an English kindergarten, speaks fluent Japanese, English, Spanish, Italian and he’s learning Chinese. He also owns a backpacker’s hostel in Kyoto. That night we commandeered some bikes from the hostel he owns and rode to Gion, the district that’s famous for its really old, small streets and buildings. This is where people come to try and spot geishas too. And guess what, I saw one! She was gorgeous and moved like a swift breeze through a forest. I wasn’t too quick with my camera, but I’ll never forget it. This picture is Kyoto at night.

Tomo’s friend owns an antiques shop and this is the second coolest thing that happened in Kyoto. His friend’s wife let me try on an old-fashioned style kimono! Of course she picks the hot pink one, which as you all know is totally like omg my favoritest color of like, all time. Anyway, she was so nice. Extremely nice. Like suffocatingly nice. She kept asking me if I wanted her to buy me coffee or if I wanted her to find me a boyfriend. You know, typical hospitable nonsense. I did manage to get some good pictures of me in a kimono. I attracted a small crowd of passersby who stopped to stare at the crazy foreigner in a hot pink old fashioned kimono.

After I tried on the kimono, we went to have sushi for dinner. The fact that it was delicious goes without saying. It was incredible.

I slept fantastically on Tomo’s floor with a few blankets and a crazy textured Japanese pillow. It seriously felt like someone was constantly tickling my face with a feather that night. The next day we visited one of the more famous temples in Kyoto, the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It’s one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Japan and in 2007 it was one of 21 finalists to be chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It was beautiful but Tomo and I only had about 45 minutes to explore it and there were hundreds of school kids there on field trips. I still got some great pictures though.

Aaaaannnnnddddddd for the grand finale we’ve all been waiting for… It wouldn’t be a complete Meg-venture if there wasn’t some sort of hike involved. Go big or go home right? I decided to as big as you possibly could in Japan – MOUNT FUJI!

4. Mount Fuji! After leaving Kyoto, it took a train and 2 buses to get to the base of the mountain. Well, technically it’s not a mountain; it’s a volcano. I met up with my college buddy Dan and his friend Amelia at Mishima and then from there we took a bus to the base and arrived around 8:30PM. Now, you can imagine the planning I did for this. All I had was hiking gear that I’ve used in Korea. Dan actually researched recommended timelines and whatnot. As it turns out, we were supposed to leave in the early afternoon and get halfway up, stop, sleep a few hours and finish the hike the next morning in time to see the sunrise. You can see where this is going; I don’t even have to say it. We hiked the entire night. To be quite honest, the hike going up wasn’t that bad. Since we had decided to forego sleeping at all, we took our time getting up the mountain. We took breaks, ate granola bars, chocolate; at one point Dan and I got some ramen at one of the stations. Before we knew it, the path was thoroughly congested with other hikers who had been smart enough to stop and rest and joined us in the wee hours of the morning to reach the peak.

Once everyone emerged to join the hike, it was pretty slow progress. I got a smidge frustrated, but slow and steady wins the race, right? At any rate, we reached the top with about a half hour to spare before sunrise. I took about a billion pictures of the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen. Mount Fuji is 3,776 meters, which is over 12,000 feet for those of us non-metric Americans. I think being up that high and seeing the sunrise over a horizon that’s so far below you was incredibly breathtaking. This was one of those moments when I was reduced to childlike awe of what I witnessed.

The way down zigzagged through dusty volcanic ash and was extremely harsh on the knees. I actually thought the way down was much more difficult than the way up and I was breathing in all of the ash that people were kicking up. Most unfavorable. But when all is said and done, I looked back at the peak I had just conquered and I simultaneously felt uninhibited pride and humility.

The way home was a blur. I had to take 2 trains back to Fukuoka. Even though I left the mountain at around noon that day, I got into Fukuoka around midnight. The hostel I had made a reservation at had a midnight curfew so I was locked out. Consulting my trusty dusty Lonely Planet Japan, I found a 24 hour internet café where I paid the 1500 yen (about 15 USD) for 8 hours of internet, free food and beverages, a shower and if I had wanted to do laundry, there were even laundry machines! Quite the bargain. So I paid for my cubicle with a small bed and computer, caught up on some correspondence, drank some tasty pineapple-mango juice and got a few hours of sleep. I woke up early to catch my ferry back to Busan and then it was a peaceful 2 and a half hour KTX ride back to Seoul.

I highly recommend Japan to any traveler. But my caveats follow here: don’t rely on credit cards. If you go, make sure you exchange all you need before you enter the country. Japan has a cash based economy and it doesn’t take an Einstein to get used to how the money works. Secondly, traveler beware, Japan is the most expensive place I’ve ever been. I tried not to take any taxis, but I had to take one from the internet café to the ferry and a 10 minute ride was about 25 USD. Thirdly, learn the basics of the language before you go. I’ve said this elsewhere in my blog about Korea, but locals are far more likely to help you if you attempt to “participate” in their language and culture instead of just assuming the “visitor” role that many tourists embrace. This is one aspect of living in a foreign country that I will never stop preaching. Even if you are just traveling, part of respecting a different culture is attempting to understand it. Even just learning how to say “thank you” and “where is….” goes so far when you need to ask someone for help. This is the difference between being a visitor and a participant. Many Koreans don’t understand why I want to learn Korean so badly because everyone in Seoul can speak enough English to get me by, but that’s not the point.

Officially stepping off the soapbox.

Once I was back in Seoul Station, I found a taxi driver who was willing to drive me all the way to Jamsil and we started haggling about the price. At the end of it, he told me that my Korean was “bery good!” It was then that I really felt relieved and like I was back home.