So the blogs are getting fewer and further between, but that doesn’t mean the action is dying down. Quite the opposite in fact! After our adventures in Tokyo we thought the country air might give us a pleasant change. Takayama was our destination. Situated 2 hours north of Nagoya, the country air was quite sweet – but also flippin’ freezing! Our hostel was inside of a converted temple (any cooler?) and was run by an old Japanese guy who spoke excellent english. Our room was so cool – a traditional Japanese style dwelling, complete with tatami mats and sliding rice paper doors. On our first night here we got so lost it wasn’t funny. We somehow managed to lose ourselves in the cold, black night of a town of 90,000 but can navigate our way around Tokyo no worries. I maintained that I was following Josh and he later told me we were just kind of exploring so neither of us we paying any attention to our path. But I forgive him now for getting us lost because he got us found again so we can still be friends. Love you Josh!

The town of Takayama contains whole neighbourhoods that have been completely restored with old Japanese houses and buildings forming representations of what the place might have looked like in the late 18th century. Takayama also has a rather famous walking trail that contains a hell of a lot of temples and shrines. I don’t know how many we actually saw on that walk – but I can tell you it got to the point where it was hard to impress me. Nonetheless, the quiet setting of this mountain town and the beautiful winter sun made the day a very pleasant experience. Our next stop – Kyoto.

Now can I just take a little break here to say that the Japanese transport system is incredible. The Shinkansen is the super fast train that takes only like 4 hours to travel the distance of the whole main island and it is just awesome. We blazed our way from Tokyo to Nagoya in under 2 hours. Amazing. In fact it’s so fast that on the 11th of December we are going back to Tokyo for just one night and then back to the other side of Honshu because it’s only a 4 hour trip!

Kyoto is one of those places that everyone comes to when they visit Japan. And it isn’t hard to see why. The day we rolled in the brilliant red maple trees were shedding their leaves, blanketing their surrounds in a carpet of red stars. The late afternoon sun that drenched the remaining leaves made them glow with an amazing intensity. Some trees even boasted an array of leaves that seemed to form a gradient effect from light orange to bright red. The amazing thing is that this is also the capital for the Sakura (cherry blossom) festivals. The skeletal blossom trees scattered around the main temples make me think it could be even more amazing here in April. In addition to the amazing natural scenery here, Kyoto is absolutely LOADED with temples and attractions. After reading various travel information brochures Josh and I decided it would be a great idea to go and check out a castle. We settled on Mimoyama Castle. After some misguided walking and random questioning of japanese people (none of whom spoke any english) we managed to find what we were looking for. For some bizarre  reason the castle had been positioned adjacent to a baseball pitch. A japanese rendition of Old Lang’s Eye floated eerily over the airwaves as we entered the deserted castle grounds. With the sun fading slowly over the back of the two main castle towers and the chilly wind  biting at our unprotected faces we walked around in awe at this strange place we had found. Large crows circled the ominous structures and the lack of tourists and inappropriate music all helped to add to the growing sense of surrealism. However, I would definitely put this castle discovery down as a win for Josh and Nathan. It was an excellent way to end an otherwise uneventful day.

So in between the visiting of bamboo forests, temples with aqueducts, Shinkansen travel and endless delicious meals we have had – there have been some mundane and funny moments. One that springs to mind was the ambush of Josh by a bunch of japanese school kids. We had climbed up to the rooftop garden in the Kyoto Station to have a look at the view and as we were looking through the large panes of tinted glass they set upon him. A chorus of “sumimasen” rang out as they stampeded towards him and demanded a photograph. I meant to take a photo of Josh getting photographed, but I was too busy laughing at how ridiculous it all was. I wonder what they are going to do with the photo.

So tomorrow it’s off to Osaka (I think) and then we will be meeting up with Peter and Zan on the 12th of December. We also have accommodation booked for the snow so we will be there for christmas this year. The weather here has been ridiculously cold at night but at least it will toughen us up for the -4 or so they are getting up in Sapporo. And maybe even Canada when I get there. Anyway, as always people – feel free to email me and let me know what is happening in your neck of the world. I love getting emails. Once again there are some photos up with this post. I am honestly trying my best to capture what I am seeing, but I admit that my photos aren’t doing most things any justice. In real life they are much more amazing. I have come to the realisation that the best things I have seen will just have to remain as memories because my camera can’t seem to catch them the way my eyes do. Either way – I hope you’re enjoying what I do manage to snap