Nikko: surreal town

I woke up to a light drizzle next morning, checked my backpack and camera and headed to Tokyo central station. I proceeded to make my reservation; shinkansen upto Utsunomiya and from there a JR line to Nikko. Nikko welcomed me with a cold rain and warm hospitality. Nikko fairy-tale town Nikko station JR  I was told that I would have just enough time to go upto Chuzengi lake and Kegon waterfall. Boarded the bus  and as we headed...

Read More

Osaka

Saturday, October 20, 2012 I arrived late night at Kansai airport, Osaka and had a hotel reservation on the mainland The airport is constructed on an artificial island in Osaka bay. The hotel bus was a little hard to find although I got directions from the airport lobby. Waited half-an-hour in the light drizzle and hopped on to the bus. Jet-lag cost me a few more yen at the hotel and I took a couple of trains to central Osaka where my stay had been...

Read More

High on radiation fear

Sunday, October 21, 2012  My hosts at Fukushima were at the station to receive us. They took us to a traditional Japanese house where we were treated to hot  soup and some oddities that I hadn't tasted before. I tried the chopsticks and was successful to pick up single grain of rice with it. After lunch, we were invited into the ancient house to witness and share the cultural experience of a traditional Tea ceremony. Tea ceremony the...

Read More

To hell and back...but did meet the angels in hell

Monday, October 22, 2012  A couple of days later I got the opportunity to visit Minamisoma and the city’s generalhospital. We drove through the ghost towns and villages with remnants of thedamage caused by the devastating east japan quake. Braving the threat ofradiation we went as far as the checkpoints beyond which civilian traffic wasprohibited. We could see special vehicles with shaded windows heading towardsthe Fukushima-Daichii nuclear...

Read More

Fukushima to Tokyo

Saturday, October 27, 2012  Half waythrough my stay at Fukushima, I got the news that my travel companion for mytravel through Japan had cancelled his trip. I then mentally prepared toundertake the journey alone.I hadanalysed the terrain, the trains and the schedule of my travel well in advance.Although I had a written dictionary of Japanese words in my rucksack, Ipreferred not to use it. I left forFukushima railway station at noon 27th October...

Read More

Nikko: Fairy-tale town

Sunday, October 28, 2012  I woke up toa light drizzle next morning, checked my backpack and camera and headed toTokyo central station. I proceeded to make my reservation; shinkansen uptoUtsunomiya and from there a JR line to Nikko. Nikko welcomed me with a coldrain and warm hospitality. Nikko fairy-tale town Nikko station JR  I was told that I would have just enough time to goupto Chuzengi lake and Kegon waterfall. Boarded the bus ...

Read More