Now on our way 'north to Alaska', so Japan is over.
We really enjoyed ourselves, with our stop in Yokohama being as good as Kagoshima.
Day one saw us visiting Tokyo, in the company of the craziest guide we have ever come across. Her english was not that good, and she made life harder by not holding the microphone to her mouth when speaking on the coach. She didi not stop talking, but afterwards noone had aclue as to what she was on about. She tried to tell jokes, and either forgot the joke, the punch line, or broke out laughing before she had finished. One weird lady.
As for Tokyo itself, it was beautiful. All the cherry blossom was out, and it was a lovely warm sunny day. We visited the outside of the Imperial Palace, and then a very important Shinto Temple, which gained from us seeing two wedding processions with the participants mainly in Japanese dress. Later, we moved on to a complex with a small Shinto temple, and a large Buddist one. It would seem that the Japanese are a little mixed up as to religion, as they regularly visit both! Apparently they see Shinto for the present, and Buddism for the future. Well, backing both horses in a race does seem like a good idea.
Outside the temple complex was a street of small stalls, selling just about everything. One thing they did not have was clothing big enough to fit large western bodies!. Having had a western style lunch as part of the tour, we had a plate of noodles at a wayside stall, so that we could say we had eaten Japanese in Japan. We knew they noodles were safe, as we saw them cooked in front of us. And very good they were too.
Daytwo started early, as we were off the ship and on our way before 7am local time. Our trip was into the countryside, the destination the Hakuna national park. On our way we passed Mount Fuji, and as it was another loverly day, if a little cooler, we had an excellent view. A good job, as later in the day it clouded over, and Fuji disappeared. The Hakuna Park is in the volcanic area, and we quickly became aware of this. After a cable car ride up into the caldera of a dormant volcano, we found ourselves eating black eggs. The outsides were black, because they had been cooked in ahot sulphurous spring. The insides were just like any other hard boiled egg. Anyway, according to our day two guide, each egg consumed that had been cooked this way, added seven years to our life expectancy. We both had two!
We saw a lot of this area, from the coach, from where we walked, the cableway and on a lake cruise. The day two guide was Akiko, and she was excellent. She spoke clearly and had an english sense of humour. She was for Japanese, quite tall. She had a humourous way of dealing with this, especially when she was alongside one of the other guides, who did not come up to her shoulder. Not only did she keep us informed, she also was entertaining. We were away from the ship for over nine hours, of which four were taken up with travelling.
Looking back, we both agree that overall Japan was our winner from the ports of call since we left Singapore. Maybe we will try to visit again sometime. Certainly the Japanese really made us welcome.
Eight day at sea to come, before we arrive in Kodiak, part of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska