Tokyo is big, Mt. Fuji is bigger!

We've had a bit of down time this afternoon so as you can see I've put up a few photo's taken over the last few days. I'm sure we'll put the rest up on facebook at some point.

Since our last post we have been to the Tokyo fish market, visited the imperial palace and are now in Mt. Fuji.

We were up early to go and see the largest fish market in the world. Arriving at 8am, we found the market was still in full flow (despite having started at 5am!) and it was insane! The whole place was a sea of people and hundreds of little carts driving boxes of fish or ice to and fro, almost running us over in the process! The main hall is a large temperature controlled warehouse where fish that had just been landed is sold of to anyone who wants to buy them. They had every type of fish imaginable from tiger prawns to tiger sharks, it was the real business end of the fishing industry and there was no escaping getting a few splatters of guts on the way through. After our fishy experience we decided we needed some refreshment and so had some green tea in a traditional Japanese tea house.

After the fish market we took a trip up to the imperial palace via Ginza. Ginza is described as Tokyo's answer to 5th Avenue and they're not wrong. The whole area is littered with designer makes including Mont Blanc, Prada, Burberry, Cartier, Jimmy Choo and many more. We decided it was way out of our price range and pushed on to the imperial palace. The palace grounds were very impressive but unfortunately the palace itself was closed to the public so we headed back to the hostel.

On Sunday we began our journey to Mt. Fuji, specifically the town of Kawagutchiko which is in the foothills of Mt. Fuji. The journey was quite straight forward in the end and only took a couple of hours, although the main station in Tokyo was huge and full of people. Thankfully the station staff were very helpful and made sure we knew where we were going. Having arrived in Kawagutchiko we were promptly picked up and taken to our hostel. The room we have is incredible! Picture the most Japanese room you can and you're halfway there. We have paper walls, sleep on the floor, the works.

This morning (MY BIRTHDAY!) we got up at a reasonable time and climbed Mt. Tenjo to get a truly breathtaking view of Mt. Fuji. Having worn ourselves out from our climb we are having some down time and then off to the local bar tonight and then on to a traditional Japanese restaurant for birthday celebrations. As it says on the beer cans here, "Brewed for good times!"

- Phil

A few photos of Tokyo and Mt. Fuji

Big in Japan

Well... not quite. Everyone is taller than I expected, shame. Yeah it's quite tricky for Hana being a veggie here but I had some fish noodle soup which was pretty good, although a bit unnerving as we we're the only people in the restaurant and they were all watching me eat it. Plenty of slurping was involved but gochiso-sama deshita (it was a real feast).

It's a good job the city is laid out in a grid system, otherwise we would have no clue where were going as most of the signs are written using Japanese symbols rather than words and so very difficult to translate.

Everyone is very friendly and respectful here. Just getting the bus from the airport with Heisa (aka "the kind lady") we found that every time the bus stopped someone from the bus company would get on, bow and announce where we were before bowing again and jumping off.

From the temples I've seen so far I am very impressed, even lighting my own incense stick and "washing" the smoke over me. It's quite an odd sensation but very calming and serene. The city itself is a really interesting mix of old and new but many of the traditions are still very much in place.

Anyway, I've written a good essay here (the result of not being able to sleep!) so I'll round it up. Off to the fish market tomorrow, one of the largest in the world - they have 300kg tuna for sale, might bag me a fresh one! Hope everyone is well, please email or comment on here to stay in touch - mobile doesn't work.

- Phil x

Jet-lag and fishy noodles...

We have arrived in Japan!! After a very long 11.30 hour flight on Wednesday, we are now in Tokyo. The trip started well as I met a kind lady on the flight who gave us a lift from the airport to our hostel. Good start! We are staying in a backpackers hostel called K's house. It's fairly basic but clean and there are lots of other travellers here.
The first thing we did upon arrival was to walk around the area (Kuramae) and find our bearings. Tokyo is much quieter and cleaner than I expected. The roads are laid out like the American grid system, however the weird symbols remind you which country you are in! It also feels very safe and it is a great place to just walk around and take in the sights and smells. Yesterday we went to Senso-ji temple and the surrounding area of Asakusa which was cool. There were lots of incense sticks burning and people have to wash the smoke over their body as a symbol of good luck. On entering the temple, we struck a large bong and saw the Buddhist monks throwing beans to people beneath them. In our jet-lagged daze it was all a little surreal!
After a well deserved but unfortunately repeatedly disturbed (jet-lag) nap, we walked to Ueno today. There is a large park there with beautiful big ponds and lots of temples and shrines. We checked them out and then went to the National Museum of Japan, which was interesting. I think I know a little more about Buddhism now! We are now back at the hostel to get 40 winks before heading off to electric town tonight.
My first impression of Japan is that the people are extremely friendly and respectful, the streets are clean and the atmosphere is peaceful...but it is almost impossible to be a vegetarian here! I will let you know if and when I find a meal that does not consist of fish. Yuck!
That is all for now. We have tomorrow (Saturday) in Tokyo and then we are off to Mt.Fuji for 2 nights to celebrate Philip's birthday. I will update you upon arrival in Kyoto next week.
Lots of love to everyone. Keep in touch (although phone does not work so email etc) xxxxx

Itinerary and dates...

Wednesday 2^nd February – Depart Heathrow 

Thursday 3^rd February – Arrive Tokyo, Japan

Monday 14h February – Depart Tokyo 

Tuesday 15^th February – Arrive Perth, Australia 

Sunday 8^th May – Depart Sydney, Australia 

Sunday 8^th May – Arrive Auckland, New Zealand 

Thursday 11^th August – Depart Auckland 

Thursday 11^th August – Arrive Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tuesday 15^th November – Depart Rio De Janerio, Brazil  (TO BE CONFIRMED/CHANGED!)

Nearly there

Well I'm not quite as organised, getting there though! Insurance is now purchased and getting my last few jabs done soon. Just need to pay for the camper van in Australia...

Getting organised...

Well, it is the 11th January and there are just 3 weeks to go before we leave the country. Insurance has been bought, injections painfully suffered, anti-malarials ordered and routes reworked and revised. The blog is up and running, so I can tell you all about our adventures as soon as we hit the road. Watch this space....