After travelling the world, I found a great job that returned me to the best city in America: Louisville! Still trying to get to Mongolia, but until then we can reminisce about the good times I had.
The trip's over but I'm not letting this blog go to waste. I've got a captive audience signed up for my blog updates! There won't be a whole lot from here on, but I will summarize my trip, best-of photos, and an occasional job hunt update.
I want this post to thank all my friends that made this trip what it was. How many people have ever seen as much as me in two months? Or in five months? It's a small crowd. But if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
So thanks to all of the following people. I try to get to you in chronological order. Your name is underlined if you hosted me overnight. Your name is bold if you're a new friend.
Prologue
Reagan (for daily Hangouts check-ups) Dave A. and Caitlin Adam, Jeff, Joel, Keelan, and Kent Gramma
Elyse and Mark Wilson Carp and Michelle B.
Livie, Miller, O'Shea, Moob, and Rob K.
Nik, Teagan, and Tenley
Southern US Danielle and Moob
Christine
Brendan, Jasmine, and Nina Butch and Courtney Sam G. and Tony (thanks, Zach!)
Hawley Bonnie and Chuck (thanks again, Zach!) Angela and Dawson Shelby Northern US & Canada Carp and Michelle B. (again) Kathy
Charlie, Joanne, and Patti Maggie
Brett Amanda, Brooke, Carol, John, and Michael Jordan Ben, Declan, Liz, and Will
Altan, Phil, Steve S., and Tom Bobby B. and Sam B. Lindsay and Nick
MMB and Todd
Tristan
John A.
Julia
Kate and Steve W.
Derek R. Sarah
Agler Carp and Michelle B. (one more time)
Alyssa and Korchan
Europe & Japan Phil! Alex, Emma, and Lara Sam M. and Shikha Billie, Chloe, Connor, and Morganne Gabrielle Amy Dave Miller and Moob! Ben
Derek S. Oliver and Maxine Juan and Valentine
Rob R. Chris and Chandni Kasia
Kyle and Michelle V. Paul
Ah yes, and continuous support from my mom, dad, and brother. Love you!
Amazingly, that's exactly 100 unique people (one of which is a toy fish). Can't believe it. Hope I caught everyone! Whether you gave me a place to sleep, treated me to a meal, or were simply a much-needed social interaction, you all helped make this trip possible and helped me keep my sanity. I should have bought all of you some chopsticks from Japan, but I didn't have enough foresight. Stay in touch however you can.
My high speed Shinkansen train from Tokyo got me three hundred miles to Kyoto in two hours. My walk from the train station to my Kyoto hostel was nothing special. The city seemed dull. But then I got to my hostel smack in middle of Kyoto on Shijo Street and saw the marvelous former capital of Japan. Let me tell you about my hostel: Centurion Cabin & Spa was my favorite place to stay on my whole trip. As the name would indicate, it's a spa, and you get all the spa amenities for $25 a night in the perfect location. It felt like magic to find such a cheap hostel right in the middle of Kyoto. I needed this after traveling for two months. If you're ever in Kyoto, I highly recommend that you stay here. Downside? Well some people might think sleeping in a capsule would be a downside, but I loved the comfort and seclusion. It's a traditional Japanese hostel in that sense. Like getting a hug from walls all night long.
Check out these capsules.
Facing backwards in my capsule with a TV behind me.
And then there's the sento. I discovered at night when I needed to shower that the only showers in the facility is a public bathhouse on the bottom floor. But this is a spa's sento. On top of showers, you get treats like hot tubs and ice baths. Clothes and towels are strictly forbidden in the sento. Surely a welcoming, friendly experience.
Kyoto City Hall
Downtown Kyoto is a decent size with elaborately decorated streets throughout. The Gion Festival is one of Japan's biggest and occurs in Kyoto throughout the entire month of July; the festival may have been partly responsible for all the decorations I saw, but I got the feeling most of the decorations were up year round. I happened to be in Kyoto for traditionally the second most important day of the festival, July 24. A smaller (as compared to the first most important day of the festival) Yamaboko Junko parade marches through the streets toward the Yasaka Shrine in the Gion District at the end of Shijo Street. I was out exploring at the time, not completely understanding until later what the festival had going on, but I caught the aftermath at the Yasaka Shrine.
Nishiki Market
Instead of sticking around for a parade, I ventured through Nishiki Market and tried to catch as many shrines as I could before the day was over. Nishiki was a very entertaining area to walk and shop; it was probably my favorite shopping district on my whole trip, not that I ever did any shopping. The legendary Nishikikoji Dori is a thin alleyway which opens up into a bright and vibrant outdoor mall.
Reminds me of scenes from The Wolverine
As I said in my last post, Japanese shrines on the whole lost novelty quickly, as opposed to European churches which never did. I don't really feel like it's due to my lack of experience with eastern religions or architecture, but who knows. Still I wanted to visit the shrines to give them a chance and say that I've been there. Certain shrines could occasionally give me pause.
Yasaka Shrine
The 80-ft tall Ryozen Kannon concrete statue is deceptively large, as it is sitting off in the distance behind closed gates.
Outside of the Yasaka Shrine, crowded after the Yamaboko Junko
Figuring out that the shrines would all be closed at this point in the night, I trotted back home through the aftermath of the festival. The humidity exhausted me quickly. I needed a full night of rest to be energized for my final complete day abroad. I took my shower and dozed off in my cubby.
A morning look at Kyoto from Arashiyama to the west
The smell of pork sausages and eggs for breakfast at the spa got my day rolling early enough to be at the opening of the Iwatayama Monkey Park on Mount Arashi (Arashiyama). I took a subway out to the park on the western edge of the city up against the mountains just so I could be the first non-employee up the mountain. Felt good to be up there before it got crowded. The park is a day-home to many Japanese macaques which habitually venture in from the mountain forests for easy food. This species of macaque is the only primate native to Japan and is the northernmost primate in the whole world, also known as snow monkeys. I had fun lingering among the monkeys, watching them play, groom, poop, and be fed.
You are allowed to feed them only through this cage.
This is the newest-born monkey that the park employees know about. Just a couple weeks old.
I saw one monkey jump in for a bath with the fish.
A contemplative monkey
Pictured in front of the forest in which most of them live.
Not as much as baboons', but these butts are pretty red.
When I had finally had enough monkeyin' around, I descended the mountain and walked along the Katsura River into the Kameyama-koen Park. I exited the park through the small but glorious bamboo grove where young men in conical hats still pull traditional rickshaws.
The monstrous Ninna-ji pagoda
The proceedings are not nearly as meaningful as the day before, but for today the Gion Festival spruces up the Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine and arranges a little market there.
Festival vendors set up outside of Kitano Tenman-gu
This trained macaque put on a show for me.
Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine
Shirt drenched in sweat by noon. Time winding down.
I kept moving east on foot. Up next was the Kyoto Imperial Palace. I wasn't sure how close I would be permitted to get, given that I couldn't go anywhere near to the palace in Tokyo.
Entrance to the Kyoto Imperial Palace grounds
There is a stark lack of parks in Japan. Any would-be grassy areas get filled in by shrines. The only significant park I found in all of Japan surrounds the Kyoto Imperial Palace. I didn't stop to rest in it like I had done a couple times in European parks, but I like knowing it exists. I found that free tours were available for the Sento Imperial Palace, which sits on the same park grounds. There's limited availability, as they require security to keep tight tabs on all of the entrants to the palace, but I was able to snag one of the last available slots for the last tour of the day. Great timing!
Wasn't prime season nor day for touring the Sento Palace grounds, but still had many pretty viewpoints.
Yatsuhashi Bridge across the south pond
Suhama Shore: fable says that anybody who brought a stone to complete the shoreline was gifted a half gallon of rice.
If you are in Japan in the spring, you'll see their famous cherry blossoms in full bloom.
The palace tour with mandatory guidance took up a fair chunk of time, but I felt it was worth it for something unique. The alternative was seeing... more shrines.
Fushimi Inari Taisha
With the day winding to a close, I scrambled to see as much as I could. Lots of shrines were already barred off. One shrine though never closes. The Fushimi Inari Taisha is famous for being at the foot of the sacred Mount Inari (Inariyama) and for its unending string of gates. Literally, the orange gates do not end, taking you all the way up one side of the mountain and then down the other side. Going up takes an average person two hours to walk all the steps. I have no idea of the expense it took to construct all of this, on a mountain no less. I estimated (to surprising accuracy I found out) that there are 10,000 gates.
Ready to go under 10,000 of these? Hurry before delirium sets in.
This mountain is normally well-traveled, but given bad weather and the impending sunset, there weren't that many visitors walking up the mountain by the time I got there. I was in this alone. I saw a group of people drop out of the hike part way up, afraid of the sun leaving them. With nobody around once I got to the top, I felt like Lara Croft invading cursed shrines.
One last little hike to fittingly conclude my vacation. Up we go!
A lesser known bamboo forest on Inariyama
A look down off the mountain.
The foxes visible here are a sacred symbol all over the mountain at "sub-shrines".
The shrine at the peak. Incredible what they assembled at the top of a mountain.
Bring plenty of water for any hike in Japan. Sweat drains out of you. Bring spare clothes for that matter, too. My shirt and shorts were equally drenched with sweat as if they had been doused in an ocean. For better and for worse, I had light rain showers for most of my hike. Better, because it kept me cool. Worse, because the pitter-patter drives you nuts. Combine the rain with not having enough water, the incessant eardrum-piercing chirp of the cicadas, fear of aggressive wild hogs, and the insanity-inducing repetition of bright orange gates, this hike is not for the faint of heart. Listen to my insane ramblings in my video. I love that I captured me at my finest hour.
I found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant at the bottom of the mountain which was a one-man operation cooking out of his kitchen. I was the only patron there for the majority of my meal. I got to listen to Japanese baseball over the radio with him. Among other things, I ordered chicken hearts because I felt like I deserved some more life force after the ordeal I went through on Inariyama. My imagination wanted to bite into a live chicken and suck its blood; that didn't happen. They tasted like... chicken... hearts.
Heated sake, edamame, a rice dish, and spicy skewered chicken hearts.
I had planned to return home on foot but I was much too tired to do anything else with my poor little feetsies, so I found a subway back to my spa. As quickly as I could, I grabbed a change of clothes out of my capsule with the aim to take full advantage of the sento. I stripped down, took a quick rinse in the shower, and then submerged myself into a hot bath until I got pruny. From the 40.5℃ bath, I plunged into the ice bath at 16℃ for one minute, just for the shock. Then I took an extended shower, leaning my body against the walls of the shower for most of it. I witness my heart whipping back and forth off the walls of my rib cage. I'm dehydrated from the mountain and the hot bath. I'm in shock from the hot-cold-hot temperature changes. My heart itself feels chilled. Those chicken hearts gave me magical powers. The shower is euphoric. I stumble out of the sento into the changing room and grip the sink counter, focusing on not fainting. Still nude, I laugh like a nutcase at the success of my trip. I'm sure people are staring. I marvel at my capabilities and the beating I've put my body through over five months. I feel no despair that my trip is over. I felt too much else to think about the downside of a twelve hour flight to Minneapolis in a middle seat the next day. This was the conclusion to the trip of my life.
These people aren't that small... but I could never fit in.
Guess where I am! Look at that, the majority of people who voted in my poll got their wish to see me in Japan (besting Korea and China). I do this for you guys! As I've said before here, I wanted to get to Mongolia, but that didn't work out. Best saved for my next big trip in five to ten years, when I can combo it with Russia.
A little Japanese humor for you.
A standard Japanese optometrist.
Go... Cincinatti? Carp?!
After almost a full day travelling by air, I landed at Tokyo Haneda airport. The trains to take me into the city were shutting down for the night, so it was a mad dash to navigate a city with minimal English translations, a kanji alphabet which might as well be from another galaxy, and very few people who could speak English, at least by European standards. And to top it all off, credit cards are infrequently accepted, so I had to find an ATM from which to debit tens of thousands of yen.
Which would you purchase?
After getting into the city, I still had to rush to my hostel before the reception closed for the night. But I was thirsty from dodging cars. I had totally forgotten that Japan drives on the left side of the road. And these peculiar vending machines kept popping up at every subway stop and street corner. What better way to try something Japanese than out of a vending machine? I picked what I thought to be the most foreign-looking product, the brown and yellow canister in the bottom row. It was a pineapple soda. Kinda weird. These vending machines are ubiquitous in Tokyo. They have become a part of their culture. You can use your subway card to make purchases from these machines. Each one has slightly different offerings. I bought five things out of these vending machines. The other outlandish flavor was a "milk and bean" ice cream from Seventeen Ice.
The premier sumo stadium, Ryogoku Kokugikan
The Tokyo Skytree
I had about twenty-five spots I wanted to visit marked on my gMaps, but no good plan of attack, given how the spots were spread all over the vast city. So I just started moving. A visit to the Ryogoku sumo stadium first was a no-brainer, since it was practically right next to my hostel. The sumo stadium has a free and informative museum comprised of a single room, but unless you're there for a sumo match, there is little else to see. I then made a long walk to the north edge of the city to see the Tokyo Skytree, the 2nd tallest structure in the world behind the Burj Khalifa which I had just seen briefly from my plane at my layover in Dubai. After the Skytree, I allowed myself west of the Sumida River into the main parts of the city.
Pagoda sculpture in the Happoen garden
The garden, "beautiful from all angles", was undergoing major upkeep.
The bonsai trees, some over 500 years old, were open for viewing.
This was my favorite.
The only thing you need to know about Tokyo is that it is very, very Japanese. There aren't that many tourists, especially white ones. Every stereotype we have about the Japanese you will come across in your first day there. The subways are very crowded - I completely avoided going underground during rush hours. Japanese businessmen run the streets in ironed white shirts and black pants during lunch breaks and off-hours. If they are feeling funky, they might dress in navy pants and tinge the shirt a slight off-white sky blue. Uniformed Japanese schoolgirls and boys take over after school. Dudes dress casually as if they were characters in a Final Fantasy and women lure you into their retail stores with their high-pitched voices and geisha outfits, while laughing daintily into their cupped hands. The women use parasols and personal fans to keep cool, but the men tough it out and wipe up their sweat with rags (humidity never dropped below 90%, every gust of wind was a godsend). You better be proficient in chop sticks because you are not getting a fork. They really do add an -u or -gu sound to the end of western words to make the words theirs. And I don't think this is a stereotype, but you should also know there are very, very few public trash cans - be ready to keep your trash with you.
Read on for all the other things you should know about Tokyo.
