OK, so if you haven’t guessed from the clues I gave you earlier, I will now reveal the location of my latest trip:
TOKYO JAPAN!!
It all started one late January day with an e-mail from American about a super cheap airfare to Tokyo. Add to that the fact that Jonathan is there right now (OK, well in a different part of Japan, but close enough), and that we were able to secure a reasonably priced hotel was enough to convince Daniel and I to pony up the cash to go.
I am incredibly excited about the adventure that awaits in the Far East. I know it is going to be mega-culture shock – more so than when I was in Prague. Over the last six weeks, I have researched and explored the web in search of information of places to go and things to do. I think we have come up with a nice itinerary that is very flexible and with a Japan Rail Pass, very open in where we can go. The pass is only for seven days (probably Sat-Sat since we don’t arrive in Tokyo until Friday afternoon). So for reference here are some of the sights that we are going to try and see:
Nikko and the Temples
Asakusa Temple
Kamakura Buddha
Ginza
Shibuya and the famous dog statue of Hachiko
Akihabara
Locations used in the filming of the movie Ringu – Izu
The Gojira Statue
Tokyo Tower
Hanae and Mt. Fuji
Kyoto (via Bullet Train!!)
a little place called the TOKYO DISNEY RESORT!
If possible and if time allows, we might use our rail passes to go all the way to Hiroshima to see the Peace Clock, but it is awfully far. One thing we might try is Overnighting in Kyoto, then going to Hiroshima the next morning and then returning to Tokyo that night. That does seem a bit ambitious and depends on how much time we spend in Tokyo itself. So far the Intellicast for Tokyo shows rain for a few days, but overall nice and fair weather.
I will try and post some entries from Cyber Cafes while I am there, but as with all vacations no promises! I will return on Monday the 22nd, so I will be getting at least the Gorn photos on the site within a day or two of that. I now have 2GB of memory for my camera so look for LOTS of pictures. I am a bit nervous about not having the ability to back the photos up onto a laptop – this will be the first overseas trip with a digital camera and now laptop!
See you in Tokyo!