Japan Recap

I did not have time to post while I was in a Japan, but wanted to share a few of the highlights. I spent most of my first two days walking the city and seeing gardens, museums, temples, shrines, etc. I woke up at 4 am one morning and wandered the fish market and had a fantastic sushi breakfast with a guy from Taiwan. I guess one of the most interesting experiences my first few days was that I slept in a capsule 2 nights. A capsule is basically a human sized hole in the wall that is your space for the evening… there were probably about 2 dozen of them on the floor that I was on. Check mine out:


Just as I was starting to adjust to the time zone I completely threw myself off again and accomplished what I thought was quite a feat: I climbed Mt. Fuji (approx 12,000 ft summit)! I started hiking with a Japanese saleswomen, a Japanese guy who has been riding his bike around the country for the last 150 days and sleeping in parks, and a Korean businessman from Pusan at about 8 pm. We hiked up all through the night and made it to the summit (that still had patches of snow on the ground) just after sunrise about 5 am. Then after breakfast on the summit, we got to hike back down slopes of thick volcanic ash. The hike was one of the most difficult physical tasks I have ever done. There is a saying in Japanese that says that everyone should climb Fuji once, but you’re a fool to do it twice, I’ve done it my one time. If I never do it again, I’ll be happy. But the views around sunrise were amazing! I really felt like I was on the top of the world!


Near the end of the trip I was able to meet up with people I knew/knew of. I met up with a Swedish friend I met traveling in Thailand, Martin, and my Korean coworker Emily’s friend, Davia. It was nice to have familiar contacts. I went to Kamakura with Davia and saw a massive Buddha. Martin showed me around the Shinjuku area. I appreciated their hospitality.


Overall, it was a good trip. A nice intro to Tokyo area.

More pics on my facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2116073&l=665b6&id=4702163