Japan part one (E)

I haven't had much time for writing blog entries lately - Japan is keeping me busy!

The flight from Beijing to Tokyo was fine and Japan Airlines still flying despite being almost bankrupt. Customs & Quarantine at Tokyo Narita Airport gave me a hard time and did not let me into the country without interrogating me for quite a while (maybe because I was honest and declared I was only carrying USD 20 on me). After taking several photos, copying all my tickets and seeing the credit cards they agreed that I can be trusted to enter the country :-)

Getting into Tokyo by train, I realised just how huge this city is. Suburb after suburb, in the end grown together to one megacity, the population of the Greater Tokyo Area being more than 35 million people. I decided to spend only one day in Tokyo before activating my two-week Japan Rail Pass and hitting the countryside. I would have more time to enjoy the city after these two weeks.

The sweet thing about having a rail pass was that it includes most of the otherwise ridiculously expensive Shinkansen Bullet trains, thereby cutting down on travel time, giving me more time to explore the sights. The trains look quite impressive, they are aerodynamically shaped with long "noses" and rather tiny windows, they are running with up to 300 Km/h on their own tracks mostly on viaducts or in tunnels. This certainly has its disadvantages if one wants to enjoy the landscape but it's still a nice experience and worth trying out even without rail pass.

My first destination was Hima-Takayama, a nice old town surrounded by hills and mountains. In order to get there I boarded a Shinkansen and soon found out that it was my lucky day. The route passes Mount Fuji which is usually covered in thick clouds at this time of the year. There were some clouds when we were passing but most of it was clearly visible - a truly amazing sight which will rank high in the most memorable sights of my trip.


Takayama turned out to be a good choice as cherry blossom was in full swing. People were gathering under the trees with friends and family to enjoy a picnic and the pleasant spring temperatures. I stayed for two days seeing the town and hiking the surrounding hills before taking a local train to Kanazawa. There the old samurai houses and the geisha district were very nice to see with a traditional wedding ceremony being held just as I passed by. I also enjoyed the first fresh Sushi in Japan which was certainly the best I've ever had.