Winter Holidays 2010

Okay, pictures of my Winter Holiday 2010.

Takayama, Gifu Prefecture

[I was searching for a village somewhere, but had to leave early to catch my coach back to Tokyo. The snow in Takayama fell to about 60cm, so no hiking, all buses to any hiking spots were cancelled. I made do with a solo dip in a hot spring in a cave in a hut surrounded by snow. I'd stayed in a temple, my room literally opened out into the worship hall. Loved it here, the facilities were great with most essentials provided, and I had an electric blanket!

I went to see the usual tourist sights i.e. the bridge and the old wooden houses, and stopped for half a day at the next town Hida Furukawa. This town is also famous for its old wooden houses, and I found a treasure of a shop! It sells the most delicious, the most scrumptious beef croquettes I have ever tasted! I scoffed down two at a sitting, then after exploring the town, I bought another before boarding the train back to Takayama. Returned to Tokyo in time for the New Year's Eve countdown at Zojoji Temple with a mate from back home ;)]

[Beef croquette at a shop called Hida Croquette in Hida Furukawa.]

Nagasaki (Kyūshū)

 [View of town from Spectacles Bridge (Meganebashi) in Nagasaki City.]

[Thousands and thousands of paper cranes hang in Nagasaki Peace Park. The city is full of memorials and museums to commemorate the time when hundreds of thousands of people died during the world's second - and to date, the last - nuclear attack in World Wall II. Having learned about the War from school in England, museums in Hong Kong, and now memorials in Japan, it's interesting to see how different countries regard the World Wars. Obviously, yes, opinions differ, but I felt it didn't matter where I was educated nor from what point of view I was observing, I didn't feel any less affected by what I have seen at this former atomic bombing site.

The city has shrines, temples and churches galore. Nagasaki Chinatown was a huge disappointment, other then the arch, the place might as well have called itself Japantown. Not a speck of Chinese anywhere to be seen, heard or tasted.]

[The views from up hill at Glover Gardens are fabulous. By the way, back at ground level, there's a supermarket near the entrance that has a bakery inside, the melon buns are absolutely recommended. I regret not having gone back to buy some more before leaving.]

[Beyond the photo, a bit further to the left, there's a nice viewpoint from the top of Mount Inasa. It has some great night views.]

Fukuoka (Kyūshū)

To be honest, there's not much to do in Fukuoka City, except shopping and eating. The udon and tempura at a restaurant called West (with other chains throughout the city) are recommended. Had Hakata ramen for dinner in a yatai (street stall) and udon at the restaurant of which my hostel was part of, not bad. The staff at the hostel were really helpful and were surprisingly fluent at English. By the way, forgot to mention Hakata bus station and Hakata JR station are sweet tooth killers, there were so many snacks and sweets to choose from and the smells coming from Beard Papa's... I'm proud to say that I kept myself under pretty good control.

[I spent a day in another town in Fukuoka Prefecture called Dazaifu. A festival was taking place in the evening, so I explored the area first before going. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a fabulous amount of green spaces enclosing shrines and remnants of history.]

[Taking place at Tenmangu Shrine, I went to the Usokae (Bullfinch Exchange), some sort of fire festival where men were running along the street leading to the temple carrying a large wooden torch. I didn't stay long, it was cold, and standing there for over an hour watching these guys running up and down the street dwindled any interest I'd had.]

Saga (Kyūshū)

[My coach back to Tokyo was in the evening, so I spent the day in Karatsu, a city in Saga. The prefecture is famous for it's pottery, beaches, and hikiyama (floats). After taking a look at those, I headed to Karatsu Castle. On the stone steps leading up to the castle, high school baseball boys were training, when I walked past they were doing two-men wheelbarrows up and down the steps. On leaving the castle, they were still wheelbarrowing, tough kids.]

[Karastu Castle, the views from the top were amazing.]

 

That's it! Sorry it took so long to post them up. Hope you like them anyway ;)