Japan - Part 1

Last summer, Erin (Pete's sister) and I were feeling antsy because neither of us had a trip on the calendar, so we started scheming about a destination that was of interest to both of us (and Pete), was relatively easy to plan, and could be accomplished in ten or so days. We settled on Japan after a friend raved about his recent travels the previous winter. 

We landed in Tokyo on a Saturday afternoon in January and spent a bit of time in the airport getting our bearings and acquiring some handy travel accessories. Erin's friends had recently been to Japan and recommended that we get a personal wifi hotspot to help with navigation and translation when we were on the move. We were able to pick up a unit at the airport before venturing out into the wilds, which was very helpful. We also secured our Tokyo Metro pass and got help mapping our route across three subway lines to get to our hotel. With those things in hand, we managed to get from the airport to the hotel without getting lost. I expected us to get completely lost in the Tokyo subway, so this felt like a huge success! 

We spent our first two days in Tokyo exploring temples, parks, and various neighborhoods. My first impressions of the city were a bit contradictory to each other. There were SO many people everywhere we went, yet somehow it was incredibly clean and amazingly quiet. At one point we were in a park in the middle of Tokyo--a city of 18 million people--and we could not hear the city around us unless we were at the edges of the park. And even though we were nearly constantly surrounded by people, it was thankfully not the cacophonous mob it could have been. The other observation was that my bag full of gluten- and dairy-free snacks were going to come in quite handy. Japan has been the most challenging place for food I have encountered. I was prepared, but it was a bit sad to be so limited in my food choices. Thank goodness for the 7-11 and their salted-in-the-shell boiled eggs! And conveyor belt sushi. 

Conveyor belt sushi was a good alternative to crowded restaurants on a
Saturday evening. Based on the stack of plates, we did not go hungry. 

The new year is a much celebrated time in Japan. We happened to be traveling between the Gregorian calendar new year and lunar new year, so many of the shrines were busy with people offering prayers for a prosperous new year and gathering charms to ward off the bad spirits. This is the year of the rat, so that also featured prominently at many temples. 

Our first of many temples was the Shinto Meiji shrine. An impressive 40-foot high torii (gate marking the transition from the mundane to the scared) made from a 1500 year-old cypress tree marks the entrance that leads you from away from the crowded Metro station into a sprawling urban forest. 

massive cypress torii

barrels of sake

temple entrance

Pete admiring the woodwork (this was a pretty
typical photo on the trip - he loved the woodwork)

vending machines are very common, dispensing food and
beverages of all kinds, including tea and coffee (hot or cold),
beer, ice cream, cup of noodles, snack foods, and cigarettes

Tokyo from the Government Metropolitan building. That
big dark area is the park around Meiji Shrine (above)

Tokyo Government Metropolitan Building -
we were in the tower on the left

We used Google Translate a lot on our trip. Most important signs had
English on them, but menus were often in Japanese. The app usually 

worked good enough, but it certainly gave us some entertaining
translations, like this "chiz cracker" and "camembert glue roll."
We did not order any of those things, strangely. 

jazz bar in Shinjuku with over 1,000 beckoning cats

Another highlight of Tokyo was Ueno Park and the surrounding neighborhood. The park has multiple temples, pagodas, and museums set amongst wandering, tree-lined paths. 

 An example of a purification fountain found at all Shinto shrines 

lanterns at Toshogu Shrine

 a refreshing splash of color in January

The neighborhood around the park seemed to have a shrine
or temple on every block. Many of them had cemeteries on the
grounds. Most of the graves had these tall sticks, or tohba,
that are placed every year to help guide the spirit of the
deceased back to the grave. The tohba represent a
combination of Shinto and Buddhist traditions. 

This temple is dedicated to the god of strong legs,
Nichika-sama, making it a popular temple for runners. 

After a couple days in Tokyo, we headed south to Hakone, a geothermal area known for its hot springs and views of Mount Fuji. We stayed in traditional Japanese lodging, called a ryokan, that came with a private onsen (hot bath) overlooking the river. The traditional breakfast was an experience, and the onsen was delightful. Hakone was a bit colder than Tokyo, so a hot bath felt fabulous at the end of the day. We had great weather in Hakone, which meant great views of Mount Fuji as we traversed the sightseeing circuit by bus, boat, and ropeway.

Our room at the ryokan. The size of a room in Japan is measured
in tatami mats - so this was an eight tatami mat room. We
moved the table aside in the evening to set up our futons.

our private, outdoor onsen

Traditional breakfast on day 1 - google translate
was not much help in figuring out what we were eating.

Mount Fuji!

So happy to get a Fuji view

the ridiculously elaborate boat for the journey across Lake Ashi

ropeway from the lake to the geothermal area

susuki or silver grass, a native pampas grass

a closer view of Mount Fuji

Eating black eggs cooked in the geothermal pools 

in an attempt to add seven years to our lives. I ate three
all told, so maybe I will get an extra twenty one years? 

High above the steaming ground at Owakudani 

steep descent on the ropeway

The last stop on our Hakone circuit was the Open Air Museum. This outdoor sculpture park has over 120 pieces spread throughout the grounds. It also has an indoor Picasso museum, with over 300 pieces that were donated by Picasso's daughter. The park was laid out so you could not see all the sculptures from any one area. It was fun to wander through and find sculptures tucked into alcoves and hidden by the curves in the paths. 

Hakone was a nice change of pace from Tokyo, with considerably fewer people and far better air quality. It was also nice to see trees instead of skyscrapers. Our next stop was Kyoto, which I will pick up in the next blog.  

Starting the new year in Zion National Park

A couple days into the new year, we headed to southern Utah for a very short, but very lovely visit with good friends. Jen, Grant, and their kiddos were visiting family in the U.S. over the holidays. They moved to Australia from New Zealand just before we left NZ, so it had been quite a while since we had seen them. I could not pass up the opportunity to see them knowing they were going to be so close. We flew into Las Vegas on a Friday morning and made it to Hurricane, Utah, shortly after midday. From there, we headed to Zion National Park to catch the last of the light on Kolob Canyons, a quiet section of the park northwest of the more frequently visited Zion Canyon. There was some snow in Kolob Canyons, which made the kiddos happy and provided a nice contrast on the red canyon walls. 

On Saturday we headed back to Zion, this time into the main part of the park. In the winter the shuttle busses do not run, so parking is a dreaded activity at every major sight. We found a couple of spots along the road and headed up the West Rim trail towards Scout Lookout. The kiddos were champions and made it all the way to the lookout, which included nearly 1000 feet of climbing. Pete and I continued up from the lookout to the top of Angels Landing, which is still as scary as it was when I hiked it with my brother in 2007. Maybe more scary with the patches of snow and ice to contend with on the very narrow trail. 

Looking toward Angels Landing. The saddle we are on in this
photo is the narrowest (but least scary, actually) part of the trail.
There are chains along most sections of the very narrow path
to prevent you from plummeting to your death. 

Falling is a bad idea...

Looking down the canyon from Angels Landing

Pete is tasked with taking a few photos to document that I
was on our trips. Most of his photos of me look like this. 

The top of Angels Landing is pretty narrow too.

The view from the top was worth the climb and the sore legs.

It does not look so scary from the bottom

We explored a couple other areas of the park after Angels Landing, including a hike along the Virgin River and the tunnel to the canyon overlook. We even got to see a California condor, which is a rare sighting with only 70 birds in Arizona and southern Utah.

After a slow Sunday morning and exploring around St. George, we headed back to Las Vegas to catch our flight home. We took a short stroll down Fremont Street, put $20 into a slot machine, and walked away empty handed. By the time we got home, Pete had come down with the viral plague that had infected nearly everyone else in the house, but he was fully recovered by the time we left for Japan five days later.