Takayama, festival and all that.

So, I left Matsumoto and came to Takayama. At least this time there was a (mostly) direct route between the mountains. The alpine pass went about as high as I think I'll ever go and still be on land. When I first saw some snow next to the road I thought it was just some concrete painted a dirty white. But then more and more appeared. By the time the tempreture got to 6 degrees (there we tempreture and direction guides along the road,) I knew it was real. We stopped at a roadside place for a pit stop, and yes, it was very, very cold. Got some pictures of the ice, mainly of a huge chunk in the middle of a car park. Just so I can be sure it was real.

On the way down, I saw a small Grizzly Bear near the road having a wander, looking for food. Mr Ted was most impressed, and wanted to go and play with him, but I suggested it was not a good idea because I'd have to leave him behind. He didn't like that idea, be he was happy to see the Grizzly Bear.

Over here the traffic lights make a niose when it's time to cross. When I first heard it in Chiba, I thought it was like a bird or something. But in Matsumoto, near the train station they played music. A sort of atonal/minor weird piece, that made me think of a death march. Not the sort of thing you want to hear when you're about to cross the road.

At the Minshuku I'm staying at, I finally got a western style pillow to sleep on. It's not that I can't handle the bean filled ones, it's just that they are too small. Way too small. In the morning I usually have a sore neck, but not today. Also I had a really good scrub in the bathroom. Because it's so cold, and such a pain to have a bath, I don't have one every day. And I was starting to stink, so much that I'd notice. Which isn't a good thing because, well, I stank. So I had a scrub. Japanese bathrooms are quite different to Western ones. Usually there are a few shower heads at waist height, and some stools. You sit on the stool and scub yourself and wash your hair, and then when you've rinsed you can jump in the bath, And have a good long soak.

But enough about my personal habits.

Takayama is like a rural village, only a little larger. There are morning markets where the local producers bring their wares into town and sell them. I got some sweets, and biscuits, but I don't know if I can bring them into Australia. I'll just have to eat them and tell you how yummy they are. I also got this noodle flavouring, which the woman had a large wooden box infront of her with a generic mix, and she'd put the extra ones you wanted into that mix, and then stir them in just a little and put them into the container for you. So this generic mix over time would change flavour over time as different people requested different blends.

Have been meeting different Westerners. In Matsumoto there was Michael, and American who was teaching English (it's what everyone seems to do,) and he'd been here a week, of which he'd also been sick. He knew two words in Japanese, I'm sure he'll pick up more as he goes on.

Here in Takayama I met Simon, and Aussie from Newtown. He said I could crash at his place for a few nights so I could see the festival. That's pretty cool. It'll also help my budget recover.

This area, known as Hida is famous for it's beef and produce. Although still expensive, it's one of the few places you can see cows in pasture. Mmmm, Mountain Whale.

That's about all. As I get used to the place, things become less novel, so I probably won't post as often, expecially as I'll be in Takayama now for a few more days. Perhaps after the Matsuri I'll post some more. The next part of the trip will be to go north through Toyama to Kanazawa, down to Kyoto where my train passes kick in, and then further west, where hopefully the weather will get warmer, and I can send home some winter clothing and so on.

Matsumoto, the belly button of Japan

Well, there's a lot that's happened in the last two days.

To go from Nikko to Matsumoto, I had to catch a train to Tokyo's Asakusa station (took the slower, cheaper one this time, not the Spacia), then Subway to JR Asakusabashi, then a JR train to Shinjuku, and then a bus to Matsumoto. About 6 hours in total. It didn't seem that bad in the end. Glad I'm staying in each place for 2 days to get a feel for it. Tomorrow there is a bus service to Takayama thankfully, this is fairly direct. Woo hoo.

Anyway, what's happened. Quick summary: Minshuku, food, sleep, cold, film processing, Matsumoto castle, shopping, William Gibson's Neuromancer in Japanese, Internet cafe.

Okay, the long version.

Matsumoto is really nice. A mix of the old and the new. Wide streets (by Japanese standards) footpaths! and generally a great place, except for the cold. It seems this is a cultural center, art gallerys (with a new one opening soon,) music abd film festivals, etc.

Wanted to get some film developed, and as with Tokyo, it's a 24 hour turn around, which didn't work. But I had a lot of fun talking to the Kobini staff with lots of hand waving, and passing the Lonely Planet book between us. Anyway, found a place that could do it in about 2 hours. Ended up costing about 3 times as much as Sydney would be, and it was 5 rolls of film. Lets just say, I need to eat really cheap for a while to make up for it. Most of the shots are okay as well, which is good to see.

Ate dinner last night at an Indian resturant, run by a Turkish man. Go figure. Stupidly took expensive food option, and I got that salad with the mayonnaise with it. Oh well. For breakfast I had a Japanese brekkie because I couldn't pronounce the words for a Western Style properly. And the owner has about 3 words in her English vocabulary.

Getting the bus yesterday from Shinjuku (in Tokyo) to Matsumoto, I was running a little late from lunch. So there I was, running for the bus yelling "Sumiasen! Sumimasen!" I think I made the bus leave 30 seconds late. I don't think they were happy at that, but we got the Matsumoto 2 minutes early. We went throught about 5 toll gates it seemed.

So today.

Matsumoto castle was really good. After walking around in the rain this morning, discovering how much the photos cost, I was in a bad mood. Decided I'd go and see the castle anyway, and the weather got much better. As usual I got lost trying to find it, and turned a corner and there it was. It looked really good. I want one of those. Especially the moon viewing platform. That was cool. Bought the book for the place, the Japanese version was 1000 yen, the English version 1500 yen, go figure.

But I did score one major Japan trip goal, I got a copy of William Gibson's Neuromancer in Japanese. The next one will be Phillip K Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." or I think here it might be titled Blade Runner 1. Anyway, got to the book store and asked (and this was all in Japanese) if they had any William Gibson books. No. Okay, had alook around and thought, how about Lord of the Rings, it's usually in the same section. Oh, it's in a spearate section by itself. How about Star Trek? Star Wars? Okay, getting somewhere. Oh, film books. No I say, not film books. Science Fiction. No, not Popular Science. Sci-Fi? No. Eventually it dawned on them what I wanted, SF. Pronounced "esu-efu." I remember that now. D'uh. So I got my book, and I know what to ask for as well.

I keep banging my head on doors. Some are only 180cm tall. I'm about 184cm with my shoes, but most places I bang my head (Minshukus) I wear slippers. I still bang my head.

Okay, got to stop now. Must eat.

Nikko, now that's more like it

Got to see some of the real Japan today. Well, I did yesterday as well. I took a 2 hour train ride from Tokyo to Nikko. After much changing in Tokyo between JR and the subway, I got to Asakusa for the Tobu line train to Nikko. Little did I know I needed 2 tickets to complete the journey. Much discussion later with a helpful English speaking assistant I discovered what they hell I was meant to be doing. Anyway, the train trip was good. All I needed was a Phillip Glass sound track, and well, we've been there, done that.

Kids pushing a bike down a dirt track.

Crops wedged inbetween small 2 story houses.

Huge civil engineering feats.

Well, the Japanese habbit of not having a honk on their nose is really starting to get to me. Especially when when I'm stuck next to a guy with a runny nose for 2 hours.

I'm staying in a Minshuku, which is like a bed and breakfast Japanese style. The owners are very friendly, almost too much. It's really unnerving having them stand there while I put my shoes on. Did I mention the shoes? I have already posted some stuff back to Sydney, because I packed too much. One of the things I posted was my boots because they were too much of a pain. Well, I'm glad I sent them and not my shoes because in the last 24 hours I have taken them off and put them on again about 20 times. Such is life. The only thing about the futon was that the pillow was really small, so my neck is sore from using it.

Last night I went to this place called Milky House, which has some computers for Internet Access (well, am here now as well, but I'm trying to make sure I get my tense correct,) and had a Spaghetti with a kind of Meaty Sauce. Well, it had mince, tomato, onion and green chilli that I could identify. Then they showed me cheese and Tabasco Sauce as well. They have some odd images of Western food. The breakfast at the Minshuku is the same, Western style with salad, raw tomato, etc. Must remember to take vegemite down tomorrow morning.

Today I went to the Shrines (Shinto) and Temples (Buddhist) that make Nikko famous. The three wise monkeys, with their hands over their eyes, mouth and ears respectively is here, as are massive buildings, et. al. I can't explain it, you'll have to see the photos (and the book, which will probably look much better than my photos, maybe.) It's all part of a World Herritage Site with massive cryptomeria trees surrounding the buildings.

It's pretty easy to tell the two types of religious structures apart. Buddhist temples had massive Buddha's, Shinto Shrines didn't. Also, in a shrine, you chuck some coins in and bow twice, clap twice and say a prayer. You don't do that with the other. I was supprised that they were generally in the same area, think of having a large Church of England Cathedral in England, and having a Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints (a la Mormons) on the same property with the same people running the tours and all that.

Some of the religious symbols you could buy were good luch charms. Such as good luck for study, health, child birth and driving in traffic.

Anyway, it was pretty cool. And yes, it does look like the photos in the book. Perhaps the scale isn't that well represented, but the huge grandeur and majesty of it all. And considering most of it is over a 1000 years old, it isn't looking too bad (although my $20 of entrance fees probably helps with the maintenance costs.)

After much walking around and having a bad night on the futon, I decided I'd go to an Onsen (hot bath.) Yes, I was ready for the full male nudity. Yes, it was hot. No I didn't stay that long, but there'll be plenty more to go in as I go along. The only thing I can think is that Japanese men don't bath that often, maybe just when they go to the Onsen, because they all had a really good scrub before or after the water.

Dinner tonight, hopefully will be something other than Spag Bog, or Ramen. The Lonely Planet has been good, except when it's out of date. When I got on the bus after the Onsen, I sat next to a Japanese guy who I spoke to for a while. His English was okay, I should have got a quick Japanese lesson from him about some of the things I'm confused about. Anyway, there was backpacker getting off at when I got on. I asked her if she was going to the Onsen. I quickly realised she had less English then Japanese. She said Hot Bath, I pointed the way to go and said walk 15 minutes, under 2 bridges. I think I was right. Anyway, the guy on the bus said the girl also had the same book as me (Lonely Planet.) He hadn't heard of it before. I guess they don't have a Japanese market yet.

Tomorrow I go to Matsumoto. I've discovered something important about my map of Japan. Note to self: green lines are roads, not train lines. There isn't a direct route between Nikko and Matsumoto by train. There is no bus service either. Either I hitch-hike, which in Japan isn't that bad, but I don't feel like doing it yet or I go back to Tokyo, and then Matsumoto. Because it'll take so long (6 hours maybe?), I won't really get to do any more of Tokyo.