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Japan

March - May 2024
  • Uncle Woully
And off the beaten track first time exploration of a completely new to me culture. Read more
  • Uncle Woully

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  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    Sakura are prime

    April 2, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Tosi my host confirms that there is a track up the 1300 meter mountain. So it's easy to get motivated on such a sunny day to get out and go conquer a peak eventhough I had promised myself to take a rest day.

    At the base of the mountain is a set of cherry trees in the woods and they're absolutely prime and radiating. They emanate a fantastic aroma as I walk along them by myself, nobody here once again.

    On the way back in the evening I find another place to soak and I'm getting used to this excellent way of exercising and relaxing.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    Onsen rest day

    April 2, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Ah, finally that rest day. Overcast, mellow, some time on my tablet while lounging on the tatami.

    I found a remote outside Onsen that transported me back a hundred years or so, it was in a woodsy setting overlooking a hillside filled with blooming cherries. Sulphuric smelly hot and perfect. I came out fully relaxed.

    One of the local delicacies is food smoked in the sulphur vapors. I had an egg and it's taste is smokey in a special way. I'll have to have the sweet potato and other vegetables as well. The Yunohana are the old thatched huts used to harness the medicinal qualities fe sulphuric vapors.

    I haven't seen but a few western tourists, even in Beppu which is kind off on the tourist track. When I see a Westerner it feels strange.

    I haven't figured out where I'm sleeping yet tomorrow. I might have to have a look and pick a direction. I wonder if it matters, go left, go right, go back or up ahead?

    Tosi tells me that tonight they are going to burn the big grassy hillside that looks like a giant scar. Then in a few weeks it turns green with new grass.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    Mt. Ogi Fire Festival

    April 2, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    The Mt. Ogi Fire Festival was started in 1976 and signals the arrival of spring by offering to the hot spring gods, who are said to rest on Mt. Ogi during winter, the grass and flowers that will bloom after the mountain is set on fire. “Yamayaki” or mountain burning is actually a Japanese tradition that has been practiced since ancient times and, by getting rid of dead grass, it helps the flora to thrive. 

    Firewood were also set off and from the scale you can see how big that great area is. There is a big festival this weekend.

    It's going to rain all day tomorrow so I'll say in a city. Japan's fifth largest. Fukuoka.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    To Fukuoka

    April 3, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    I failed to make a reservation for the 9:47 highway bus, but I got lucky that I was able to go on the 12:45. So I had some extra time in Beppu and figured I would get in another Onsen. I picked a very local tiny one. Just 100 yen voluntary donation in the box. Just as I enter there is another young man who also comes in. We end up having a 2-hour long conversation in broken English on very deep subjects of family life and meditation and we really reach a very constructive point for him as he is dealing with some family trouble and he went searching for answers. He lives in Fukuoka and invited me for dinner on Friday. This will be a treat and I will have to research how to prepare for a Japanese family visit. Tosi also showed up for a quick wash. All the people I know in Beppu in one room. So what is it with me missing the bus or the train I was supposed to be on? It's a theme!

    Fukuoka station is The epitome of luxury as it is surrounded by stores the likes of Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Chopard van Cleef & Arpels etc etc etc. It's a shock to the system to see this lavish wealth when you come from the simplicity of the countryside. I had a nice dinner if dumplings in a restaurant with fish tanks where squid were freshly caught and sliced up into shashimi.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan
    11

    Fukuoka meander

    April 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Did a nice tablet work session in the morning while the weather wasn't all that great outside. Then I went meandering through the city which is highly industrious, cosmopolitan, very rich and incredibly well organized and clean, but it doesn't exactly inspire any kind of special vibe. Every big brand that you know from the west is represented in this city with a storefront.

    They do have a radio station that operates on the corner of a building just like they do in Tucson.

    In some backstreets I found a variety of small food shops where the locals were hanging out. Around a corner one has a huge line, it's a hole in the wall and it has to be really good if the young crowd is willing to wait at least 20 minutes out on the windy street. In no time there were an additional 10 youngsters behind me. It must be famous. I think I'll have a double order. I'm the only old person and the only westerner in line. The explanation is that it has become famous on Instagram. Voila, their marketing is all online and the old people have no idea. Well, we don't anyway now do we?

    I find out in my first bite why these dumplings merit such reknown. There is a delicious soup inside the dumpling. The technique is to bite off a small corner and drink/suck the soup out before eating the dumpling. It's insanely good!

    I'm not going to miss a beat in this city, tonight I'm attending a blues duo performance. Oh well. My friends play much better than these two. Lol. I'm still having fun though.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    Fukuoka Sakura Festival

    April 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Got in a great conversation with a young Frenchman named Damien who has been traveling for a year and a half now after he worked as an engineer in Dubai for 5 years. He has amazing stories from all the places he has been all over the world and I shared some of mine.

    I take a walk through the city and figured that I will go to the park because that would be a nice nature walk for a sunny afternoon and it would allow me to find a spot to eat my cheesy bread. As I walk I see a lot of people walking in the same direction so I follow them and I find out that there is a huge festival going on with at least 100 food vendors. It's all about the cherry blossoms.

    When it got dark I walk back into the city by the canal area and hang out there. It's not too busy but not quite either so it's a really nice vibe with warm weather and it's just pleasant to be outside and there is some music playing in a variety of places so I just walk around and enjoy.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    Shinkansen

    April 6, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    The Shinkansen to Hiroshima was fast. I got there in just about an hour. It left me a lot of time to hang by the river on a park bench and later in the middle of a very enjoyable crowd full of laughter under the cherry blossoms. It's their Saturday and one of the most important days. Sakura! This is a city full of lively people, they have a new stadium and their foot ball team plays tomorrow afternoon.

    The hostel has a locals bar under it and it is full of boisterous families. Great place to hang out and observe their lives.

    Three younger women sit down at my table I overhear a French accent and it turns out the third one is Dutch so we have a great conversation going in three languages of course. That's the hostile life at its finest. I'm definitely in tourist land now.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    To Onomichi

    April 7, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    On the way to the bus station I come by the football stadium and the fans are already lining up early to get into the stadium for a 2:00 afternoon game I guess they spend the whole day inside the stadium.

    I spend the morning in Hiroshima waiting for the bus, the Google directions for the bus stations were wrong and I missed the 9:45 so I take the 10:50 instead and sent information to Google so they can fix it.

    I've got a splendid cup of coffee and I'm sitting on an intercity bus to Onomichi. That's a smaller town and it's off the Shinkansen track where all the tourists hang out. It's a resort town minus the resort. a lot of people are out on a Sunday. There are a ton of little restaurants, a little bit touristy but in a Japanese sort of way.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    Bike ride to Imabari

    April 8, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    I meet Ainwright from Melbourne, Australia while walking to the bike rental place. We set a good place and decide to ride together until I have to double back to retrieve my phone that I left on the counter at Lawson's.

    From there I returned to my default setting of getting lost. Intentionally or not I manage to do it again and find a superb temple for locals and an end of the valley village that is so typically Japanese. The weather is holding up.

    The bike riding is great but I never met up with the Aussie again. The rain starts and it's mild. I see a fun chair indicating a burger place and that would sure hit the spot. Great folks. We talk about formula 1 and they offer a mochi filled with a whole Mandarin. Tastes great. I'll have to come by there again tomorrow.

    By the last 5km I'm I get pretty wet and cold and I hang on to reach the hostel. This one is on Shikoku on the Henro track and Stine is there. Together with Patrick also from Melbourne we have an interesting conversation about Denmark and Greenland.    Read more

  • Uncle WoullyTravelerJapan

    Return bike to Onomichi

    April 9, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    I knock out the first 6K before 9:00 but it's still raining and it's supposed to rain for a bit more so I immediately stopped for a cup of coffee and regroup. It takes an hour for the rain to stop and there is no point in getting wet this early in the day. I'm getting some trip planning done.

    On the first bridge I run into a Brazilian couple, they were on their third trip to Japan, they really like it here. Then I took the road less traveled again and found this super nice little coastal trail. I love the process of discovery.

    The definition of a national park in Japan and in the US is quite different. In Japan that means that regular life and industrial development still happens within the confines of the park.

    Great ride, by 3 pm I was going to go by the burger place again but they were closed. Onwards, today is a long day again, well over 100 km just what I wanted. With the rain delay I actually realize that I won't make it back before 7pm and indeed I don't get back until 8:45pm just before the last ferry cut off. Good thing I pack my head lamp often. Great day in the saddle. Really pumped out some strong effort.    Read more

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