Colombia 2012 Thoughts

First and foremost I need to mention this was among my favorite vacations. This was of course because of Daniela.

The fears about going to a South American country with a bad reputation in the US were pretty well unfounded. I never felt unsafe the entire time I was there. Colombia is a beautiful country and the people there were all very nice and very helpful.  Admittedly we were mostly in the touristy areas but I do not think that really meant that much. Sure there were obvious signs of poverty in many areas but every country has poverty hidden somewhere.

I really loved the coffee region. It was definitely what I enjoy to do a lot. I would say that was my favorite area of the trip.

The food was very good. I did get a little stomach sick. I blame myself for that but it was nothing really terrible to deal with comparatively to when I got sick in Lima.

I would definitely consider going back though of course I have so many more places to visit in the world.

Colombia 2012 Day 10

We woke up late since we had such a late night and decided to just relax and take it easy as this was the day we would both be heading to our own respective homes. She in Lima and me in North Andover.  It was hideously rainy all morning so we really didn't miss much there either. We checked out of the hotel at a bit past 1 and then had lunch and then played with the internet for a few minutes before getting our arranged ride back to the airport. Check-in was easy. Daniela had similar tickets to the one that got us to San Andres a few days before but this time she had no trouble getting her seats right away.

The first flight of the day was from San Andres to Bogota. We were basically on time. I think we both slept a lot through it.  The flight was a bit bumpy but it was one of the smoothest landings I have ever experienced. When we landed in Bogota we had to make a long trek from the national airport to the international side.  This meant a strange bus ride followed by entering the airport through what felt like a back door. Since Daniela was staying with Avianca to Lima she was already checked all the way through. Unfortunately I was switching to American which did not yet have a check-in booth ready until basically after Daniela had to go in and board.  We hung out together as long as we could then said our long good byes at the security gate.

When she was inside I went back and the gates were starting to open. I waited in until a man took me out and had me use self check-in. Unfortunately the machine didn't let me check bags that way and I had to go to baggage drop and check in anyway. It really didn't save me any time from just waiting in the line as normal.  In any event by the time I got through security her plane had already boarded and was closed.  So I basically found my gate and got some water and found an outlet to plug in the laptop and charged the laptop and my cell phone and wrote some of the blog up.

The plane boarded on time. It was a 757. The flight was uneventful. I slept through most of it.  They served a meal but I did not eat it.  We landed a bit early in Miami and I got to exercise my second usage of Global Entry. I was the first one through passport control due to it and I got to go through the crew line for customs after I got my bag. I was not inspected as I went through.  By the time I got to my gate for  my next flight including having to use the skyway tram I was more than hour early. I chose to find a seat and fall asleep there.

The flight to Boston was also on a 757 and was basically uneventful though I was surrounded by kids. I managed to get another hour or so of sleep then just waited out the rest of the flight. We landed at almost exactly 10am. After deboarding I got my bag quick and was on my way home using Flightline in short order. I got home at about 11:30am.

The solitary picture from 10 (which is technically days 10 and 11) is located here.

Colombia 2012 Day 9

I woke up before Daniela and made our reservations for lunch at the Sol Caribe Centro which is a sister hotel to the Campo we were staying in. Obviously the Centro is downtown.  I also made reservations for Dinner at the Laredo which is a barbeque restaurant. We wanted the Italian restaurant but it was not open that evening so we were stuck with barbeque not that it would be a bad thing.  After making the reservations I ate breakfast then attempted to book our tour for the afternoon. A swim with the manta rays.  While I was trying to handle that Daniela came into the lobby and we finished out getting that sorted and then she had breakfast while I watched. I had another cup of coffee anyway.  During breakfast there was an announcement by the international courts on the status of the island of San Andres.  Apparently the ownership has been in contention between Colombia and Nicaragua both claiming it should belong to them. Currently Colombia owns it. The judgement awarded the island to Colombia but a lot of the ocean around the island now is in the hands of Nicaragua. It looked odd but I guess it was a sort of compromise. Daniela said that the bad of it is that Nicaragua will open it up for drilling where Colombia wanted to keep it a natural preserve for the ocean.

After breakfast Daniela had arranged a tour of the grounds by the site management as she is a travel agency. The tour would give her more information to give potential customers.  So we spent about 45 minutes seeing what the Sol Caribe Campo has to offer. The tour took about 45 minutes or so and the manager could only speak Spanish so I just tagged along to see without really hearing much about it.  When the tour was over we took a taxi downtown and had lunch at the Sol Caribe Centro. This was at that location's main buffet restaurant. It was much nicer than the buffet restaurant at the Campo.  I am not sure why we needed reservations because no one checked. We just got in found a table and got our food and ate. I tried a beef stew that was pretty good. Since my stomach had been somewhat acting up I was staying away from foods that weren't cooked. I did that through the rest of the trip.

After lunch we walked a bit down the street and Daniela did some shopping for her mother and then it was over to our tour.  The tour was a boat ride that took us first into the Manglar which I guess the everglades is the closest approximation I can think of. It is salt water surrounded by forest.  After the Manglar we were brought back out to sea and came a reef location where we got into the water with life vests tied to us like floaties and snorkeled to see the reef.  This was my first ever attempt at snorkeling. It took a bit of getting used to but once I figured it out it was rather cool. I did suffer a bit of salt water up the nose but it could have been much worse.  We got to see a bunch of tropical fish and the guides pulled up some urchins and stuff like that. After the deeper section we were brought to where the rays are. I am not sure if they are really manta rays but they are definitely rays.This location of water is very shallow and we could be out of the boat without having to have on life preservers. We brought the snorkels and masks to be able to see underwater. I was actually fairly close to swimming here. I am not a strong swimmer, but with the snorkel I didn't so much have to worry about breathing (what I don't know about swimming).The guides caught ray and everyone on the boat got to hold it. We also saw tons of others as well as fish in the water. The ray had a very soft and sort of velvety feeling to it.  They caught a fairly big one. After everyone held it we all just hopped and swam around for a long time until they said it was time to go.  From there they  just basically headed back in and we disembarked. The most amazing thing about the tour is the guides were three kids that couldn't have been older that 23 at the highest (and I am sure that was only one of them).  They did a great job and honestly we saw a lot of other tours doing the exact same things and it looked very easily like we got the best one. The boat was nice and clean. They served beer and water and they were knowledgeable and organized.

After the tour we got ice creams. Me a mokka coffee and Daniela a mixture of caramel and pina colada ice creams.  After we finished eating them we also shopped for a USB drive for the pictures for Daniela. By the time we were done with that it was time to go tot the Barracuda park to get on a shuttle bus to the Campo. That ride took maybe 20 minutes and we had time to shower and get ready for our dinner reservations at 8:30pm.  We were probably a few minutes late at the Laredo but they weren't concerned. Our table was ready.  So we sat down. Daniela did the salad bar and I waited for the wine which we got and then the food order. She had a grilled chicken and I had grilled beef. It was very tasty if a touch overcooked for me. Still it wasn't burned so it was not so bad. It was accompanied by rice and potatoes and there was really a lot of food so I didn't end up finishing.

After dinner we headed out of the restaurant (we were last to leave).  We went back to the room and I changed because I was a touch dressed up to what everyone else was wearing and then we headed back down for dancing. Yes, I danced though of course not well and all of it at Daniela's teaching. She is a very good dancer. We did it off to the side rather than on the main floor. We stayed at the dancing bar until they closed that location an by then we were done for the night then headed back to the room and called it a night.

Today's pictures are located here.

Colombia 2012 Day 8

The day started a little bit rainy. Not sure if it is rainy season here or something but it appears we are getting a bit of it. We decided to take it easy in the morning and got breakfast a bit late. With the weather not being great and both of us still being a bit tired from the long travel day the day before we decided to go back to the room for a while and we ended up not coming back out until in the afternoon.  We decided to catch a taxi to the center of town and walked around for a while. The center has a stretch of public beach so we go to walk out onto the sand and felt the warm water. It was very pretty but it was also very crowded. Still it was nice out there. After walking the majority of the stretch of beach it started to rain a bit and we turned into the town originally with the intention of visiting the Sol Caribe Centro for its bar, however we didn't find it before it stopped raining and ended up just walking around shopping. Not all of the shops were open since it was Sunday but still most all of them were. Daniela was searching for some luggage. The suitcase she was using during the trip was borrowed from someone else. She had loaned hers to someone and it got destroyed. The one she was borrowing didn't have a top handle. So we found her some luggage in the form of a pink spinner and also a Hello Kitty carry-on (probably meant for children but she is almost short enough to use it as a roller.

After the center we took a cab back to the hotel and ate dinner in the buffet restaurant since we woke up too late to make reservations for the nice restaurants. I had a chicken breast (which was tiny) and some rice and salad. We tried their wines neither of which was much good. As we were finishing dinner a woman came in and said there would be a show upstairs in Showtime above the buffet restaurant at 9:30 and it almost was so we decided to head straight up. The show turned out to be 3 guys playing traditional songs. Two guys played guitar and one played clarinet. Two of them switched off to percussion style instruments for some songs. The two guitarists sang. Overall I liked it but I had difficulty identifying the difference between songs some times as I am not familiar with any of them and have listened to the style only a little. Not speaking Spanish well enough doesn't help either.After the show was over we tried to get to a bar to have some drinks. As soon as we did it started to rain.  We had our one drink then decided to head back to the room for the evening. My stomach was giving me a little bit of trouble during the day. Nothing epic, but enough to slow me down.

The pictures from today are found here.

Colombia 2012 Pictures

The connections I have had since leaving Mi Monaco have not been good enough to upload pictures so I will not be able to post anymore till I get home.  I will update the individual days with the appropriate links when I have them done.  Right now in Sol Caribe Campo we only have internet in the lobby.

Colombia 2012 Day 7

We had a late start for the day because we really didn't have anything planned except our transfer to San Andres.  The hotel was going to drive us to the airport at 2pm so we could get on our first flight at 4:45.  That meant we started late and went to the dining area and had breakfast late as well. They were obliging and served us anyway. The owners were there in the morning and we got to talk to them a bit. They had lived in America for a while. Some locations mentioned were Miami, New Jersey and upstate New York.  They were very nice people. For breakfast we had fried eggs with fresh cheese and their local bread called arequippa.  Instead of coffee they served us big mugs of hot chocolate with milk in it. It tasted like pure chocolate with sugar and milk added rather than like a cup of Swiss Miss. At breakfast we met Max who was their dog as well. Like most dogs, Max really liked me and we hung out together while I ate.  The food was good though I am still not really a fan of eggs.

After breakfast we took a small tour of the hotel grounds to see the pond, path, pool, Jacuzzi and general landscaping. The area was very pretty and even though they are not far from a fairly major city in the region you could not tell from there.  The owners said that around 90% of their guests are local (which I assume means Colombian) and the rest are foreigners. I am not sure fully what else there would be to do around the area besides the hot springs but if there are then it would be a nice place to stay a few days and just relax.  After we toured the grounds we decided to take a short nap until it was time to pack. When the alarm went off we got up and finished cleaning up and packing. The owner was waiting for us and we loaded up into her Kia SUV and it was of to the airport. it took us about 50 minutes to get there from the hotel.

At the airport checkin was not that difficult but they did search our luggage beforehand. It probably took us about 20 minutes or so with the ine. They told us our first flight was delayed due to traffic and we had more time.  So we used that time to get something to eat. Basically there were snack stalls and two fast food joints. We chose the one called Presto.  I had what were called Mini Chicks (which were chickent nuggets) and Daniela had a barbeque chicken salad. The drink I got was a Fanta apple soda. She had some sort of orangy soda.  After we ate we decided to go through security which is basically nothing like the US. You do not need to remove your laptop from your bag or take off your shoes. They still wand you with metal detectors after you go through the big one.  Once inside we had to figure out where our waiting area was which was a little confusing but we managed it. The flight left even later than they thought it was going to but all the same we would have plenty of time for our connection to San Andres.  We were on an Airbus A319 which I had never been on before. It had in seat entertainment but it was kind of pointless.  We were in the air for around half an hour and the flight was over.

When we landed and deplaned the minor adventure began. We didn't buy direct purchase flights together to get to San Andres but rather round trips from Bogota to Periera and back then round trips from Bogota to San Andres and back. Both were with Avianca so they were willing to check our luggage straight through though.  Daniela did not purchase her tickets normally but used a special method for travel industry travelers.  This meant she was on standby for the flight to San Andres and we weren't going to know if she could board until the very end.  I had a normal ticket and it wasn't an issue for me but obviously I wasn't going to go unless she could.  We had to pay a $26 per person tax to enter San Andres as a visitor too. while we waited the plane looked very full. She had to talk to a couple people to see if she could get her "Johnson" seat.  At basically the very last minute with us waiting just outside the plane we were told that she could board and we both would sit in the business class seats. In fact the very front two.  Ok, so that turned out to be nice.  We were on an Airbus A320 this time. The flight was about an hour and a small bit. They served us a snack which was meh, like an open faced ham and cheese sandwich and I had a coffee during the flight. There was a lightning storm outside so I had to keep her mind off of that by telling her some stories of my previous travels.  We landed without incident then couldn't get our free shuttle transfer to the hotel for some reason I didn't understand and had to take a taxi instead. They said we would be reimbursed for it though. They gave us a nice explanation of the grounds before taking us to our room. The room had a nice size to it but the faucet was a bit of a problem.  We had a balcony and could see the ocean from it but we were not on the beach itself. After getting settled in I was pretty much dead to the world and crashed then.  It was near midnight.  Daniela went to the lobby to find internet but was not successful. We didn't have internet in the room.

The pictures from today are located here.

Colombia 2012 Day 6

Today started later as we really didn't need to be anywhere early. Aurelio picked us up a bit after 10am. We had breakfast as eggs with tomato and onion, fresh cheese and passion fruit juice and a coffee. We also had to pack up because we were moving to a different hotel for the night. The first stop was to visit Salento which was a small town with a lot of colonial style buildings and very nice scenic look of the river valley below it. We walked down from the scenic look down the Camino Real (Royal Way) back to the center of town where we got back into the car and then rode on to the Valle de Cocora.

This was basically the river valley we had seen from above. When we got there we took a horse ride along the river and back. My horse was really intent on moving fast and Daniela's was not so keen on keeping up but the guide held things together fairly well. He took a bunch of pictures for us and even posed the horses to take some of the pictures. It was fun. That was only the second time I had been on a horse in my life, the first being when I was young in Bar Harbor with my family.  After the horse ride we had lunch at the restaurant Donde Juan B.  We ordered the local trout which was a multicourse meal. It started with a trout soup which was good. Then a salad which had pineapple in it.  Then the fish which was like salmon more than trout to me.  Anyway it was good and served on a gigantic plantain chip. I had a Club Colombia beer. Daniela had  fresh fruit juice then a warm drink that was flavored with cinnamon and lemon and had a local alcohol in it. After the valley we drove to the Hotel Matisses which is where we were going to stay for this night to drop off the bags and get read to go to the Termales Santa Rosa de Cabal, which is a hot springs.

After quickly getting settled we headed right back out the door and Aurelio drove us to the hot springs and we parted ways with him when he dropped us off.  It was a fair walk from the entrance to the actual springs along a river. It took us a few minutes to get situated and ready but once we did it was straight into the pool which was at 37.5C. It was very comfortable. We probably got there at about 6 and stayed till past 10pm.  Then we had to call for our ride back to the hotel where we settled in for the night.

The pictures from today can be found here.

Colombia 2012 Day 5

With our change of plans the day was to start with being picked up at 8:40 by Aurelio, our driver. That meant we tried to get down to breakfast in time and made it there by maybe 8:30.  Breakfast was eggs with ham and fresh cheese and a fruit juice that I couldn't identify along with a cup of coffee. Aurelio was a bit late so though we went down to breakfast late we didn't get rushed trying to eat.

Our first stop of the day was Panaca, which is an agricultural theme park which was loaded with animals. It had some zip lines that would run around the park but when we got there the weather was not so good and they wouldn't let us go then later in the day we didn't have the time. Realistically we should have had all day to visit Panaca except that we were going to the National Park of Coffee later.  There were two shows we could see for the time we had at Panaca.  So we tried to aimed to get both of them in during our visit and managed to. The park is loaded with all sorts of animals mainly agriculturally themed,such as cows, goats, sheep an horses. There were birds, mainly chickens. Rabbits. Guinea pigs.  Cats. Dogs. The list goes on. We didn't get to see all of them. We did get to meet Martina who was some weird sort of plant eating rodent that was very friendly and let us pet her and we took a few pictures of her. She made a strange whistling sound. It might have been like a purr it was making. She was definitely cool.  The first show was about livestock that could be milked. They ran a humor based show that also required audience participation. Daniela was selected to go out and milk a cow. I was unfortunately selected to milk a goat (which I failed at). The entire show was in Spanish by the way with very little English being used to help me when I was in front of the audience. I had to say things in Spanish and do a silly dance.  It was very embarrassing. They also had kids ride animals or carts drawn by animals and a tug of war with an oxen where of course the people lost.  It was a fun even being publicly mocked. I did get to drink the goat milk and Daniela got the fresh cows milk too.

After the first show was over we looked at the goats and cows and rabbits among other things then headed to the second show. This one was a comedy show about a country woman that was leaving the country to go to the city.  This also was obviously in Spanish and they spoke so fast I really couldn't understand even a couple words. I told Daniela not to bother translating because there was no real value to it. She wouldn't be able to enjoy it if she had to do that.  I still enjoyed watching it. They had a couple animals do tricks but overall it was about the comedy.  After that was over we walked down and saw the ostriches and then headed out to the gate to be picked up by our driver.

We were then taken to the National Park of Coffee which we were supposed to do the day before but didn't because especially we'd miss the dance show Daniela wanted to see. So we made it in time to get in line for entry to the dance show and only had to wait a few minutes to get in and the show started. It was fairly impressive in the sense the dances looked very difficult and it was very showy. There was a little bit of English to be had this time. The show might have lasted around 45 minutes and had a lot of different dances in it. We weren't allowed to take pictures of video of it. After the show we walked through the bamboo grotto to the restaurant area and ate at the only real restaurant in the place. We got a bottle of Argentinian wine, a red, Malbec, the brand being Trapiche.  It was reasonably good. I got a dish of pork cooked with a coffee based sauce and Daniela go beef tips with a wine sauce. Both were really good though perhaps the coffee based sauce was a bit sweet. In all honesty we were having a good time enjoying the wine and just talking that we really didn't do much else in the park except ride the cable car back to the entrance and then visit the Jeep Willys and then get a cup of coffee.  After that it was time for or ride to come pick us up.

After we got back to the hotel we got changed and hit the Jacuzzi again. This time the water heater was actually working and the water was warm.  After we finished with the pool it was dinner then in for the night.

The pictures from today can be found here.

Colombia 2012 Day 4

We had a tour scheduled at 9:30 so we woke up and started to get ready close to early enough to make that on time. Our shower head in the bathroom was broken so we talked to reception during breakfast about having our room changed but reception said they only had rooms surrounded by the tour of noisy school kids that were staying all the way through Saturday.  They said they would fix the shower head for us. For breakfast they prepared an omelet with tomato and onion along with a block of local fresh cheese and a fresh made juice that was probably pineapple.  We also had a cup of coffee each.  Our driver, Aurelio, showed up while we were still eating. We were a couple minutes late but the hotel staff said not to worry, the drivers around here would wait all day if they had to. We finished eating quickly and got our stuff to go on the tour for the day.

The first event in the day was a visit to the local coffee plantation Recuca.  It was not that far of a drive. Inside we were met by the staff and sent over to dress up in local traditional costume for a few pictures to be taken.The costume was explained to us and I was made to join in a mock fight with our guide Andres using the local custom. It was fun and I know Daniela was laughing. I had to yell something over and over again. Daniela has to ask what it was because both of us forgot it later in the day.  After we removed the costume we were taken out in to the plantation to see the plants and learn the history of coffee making in the region. Of course they say that Colombian coffee is the finest quality though there are several regions that produce coffee including Africa, and Viet Nam among the list. Viet Nam is apparently the largest producer. We got to see the stages of planting along with some of the blights and pests that affect the coffee plants. After that portion was over we were brought try on another costume to try to harvest some beans. The beans are harvested by hand in Colombia. They gave me a winter costume (thanks) and Daniela a summer costume and we each got buckets to collect. Andres showed us how to gather the yellow or red ones only.  When we had finished collecting we were shown the various stages of production after the coffee is harvested. First they have to separate the shell from the bean which is done by a machine. Then the beans are sorted and washed and then they are set out to dry by the sun or by a coal oven.  During the drying they are again sorted so the best quality beans are are kept apart from the lesser quality ones.  After they are dried they are roasted in a large oven that spins using centrifugal force to keep the moving so they don't burn. Once they are roasted they are done. Colombia ships out 98% of its best quality coffee and the lesser quality is more what the locals drink. The Colombians are the lowest consumers of coffee per person. Finland is the highest.

After were done with the historical and procedural lessons we were brought to a room and the process of making coffee properly was explained to us using some of their finest quality coffee. The serving size he gave us and suggested is much smaller than typical American coffee cups. Probably about half the size. The best quality coffee grinds into even but small grounds with very little dust particles.  He suggested the cup and the serving vessel should be kept warm and the water should not actually boil.  He poured the water through a small bag filter and let it brew through natural drip through the bag until it was finished. The coffee was really very good. We both drank it black to the best flavor. Andres gave us each a small sample of the coffee that could be used to make one small cup and then we were brought over for lunch.

Lunch was served at the plantation. We had a local style soup that had beans and pork in a broth that probably had some tomato in it. There was a salsa served with it to be stirred into the soup. The soup was very tasty but there were some very large chunks of pork fat that were a little too much to eat. We were also given some rice, a fried banana, shredded beef, a small piece of bread and a large hunk of pork that was cooked crisp and tasted a lot like bacon.  The food was quite good. They served us also a typical drink given to the workers who collect the beans a couple times of day. The drink is like a sugary syrup. We also tried it after we came in from collecting the beans. For dessert they served a milk and corn porridge that you were supposed to stir in some sugary crunchies and eat. It was good but the milk and corn part was not sweet at all. It all was a lot of food so we didn't finish everything.

After the lunch we had also bought a coffee tasting to go along. The coffee tasting segment was run by Manuel and taught us to properly taste coffee and about the properties of the various types of coffees. To start us off we first had to guess the scents of 8 liquids in bottles to see how good we were at aromas.  Then we learned to judge the 4 types of tastes: sweet, bitter, acid and neutral.  After that we learned how to judge coffee using 2 varieties. We learned to first judge the fragrance of the dried coffee. Then we learned how to judge the aroma in both the cup then in a spoon properly separated from the grounds. This is done by stirring  front to back 3 times then filling the spoon half full from the top and smelling that.  Each use you need to wash the spoon off. Then we learned to judge flavor after the foam that was made by the coffee was skimmed off. You should spit out the coffee after you taste it. After tasting the teaching coffees Manuel gave us 4 varieties to judge and we had to go through the process. He said they were all brand name coffees. Of the group I liked the 4th the best though I thought it was not so good tasting as it smelled. In the long run that was because it was not brewed properly so some of the characteristics were too over-pronounced. Number 4 was the local finest quality coffee.  Amusingly there was a Colombian woman also doing the tasting with us and she liked what turned out to be instant coffee the best (at least until the taste). I could already tell that one was instant coffee quickly.  After we finished our tastings we we shown the roasting process in a small antique machine that does what the large ones do on a small scale. Interestingly the coffee doesn't smell like coffee while it is roasting and not until after it has cooled down do you get the correct fragrance.  Manuel gave us a small packet each of beans that he just roasted to take with us.

After the tasting we were supposed to go to the national park of coffee for the rest of the afternoon (it was about 4pm). However when we got there the girl at the counter told us it was too late and we should not do it today because we would miss too many of the attractions. We decided she was right and we would head back to the hotel. So we called Aurelio and waited a few minutes for him to come back and he drove us back to the room where since it was quiet and the students were still out we decided to use the Jacuzzi at the pool. We were in for a while when we saw lightning in the distance. We decided to get out of the water then we used the sauna for a while after that. The storm really came upon us while were were in the sauna and we had to dash through it back to the room.  Daniela is not used to thunder storms as they do not get them in Lima.  We got changed and ate dinner while the storm fortunately slowed down.  The dinner was pork with rice and french fries along with fresh tomatoes and a fresh juice which I couldn't identify but Daniela thought was raspberry.  After Dinner we headed back to the room and watched a couple movies on the computer as it was still very early. During one movie the storms started back up and all the insects started trying to get into the room from under the front door. We had to block it off with a towel and kill as many of them as we could. It took a few minutes to get that done. We also turned on the bathroom light to hopefully attract them there instead of to us.  We finished watching the last movie then went to bed. The storms lasted through most of the night.

The pictures from day 4 can be found here.

Colombia 2012 Day 3

Even with the short night we had to get going fairly quickly because we had another tour scheduled before we were to fly to Armenia in the coffee triangle.  We got up and cleaned up and headed to breakfast and still managed to be a couple minutes late for our driver Marco Antonio because we had to complete packing.  Marco Antonio drove us out in a similar direction as we took to get to the salt mine.  In fact we were going to another salt mine,this one the Cathedral de Sal.  This salt mine produces industrial salt rather than table salt and is still active.  The main attraction in the mine is the cathedral which is the new cathedral of salt.  The old one survived for 40 years but collapsed due to a number of reasons including poor mining technique and too close a proximity to the surface where rain caused damage to the salt (surprise) and melted it. As salt mines go this one was less interesting than Nemocon. Our guide was very good and spoke English very well.  We went on an English language tour and had the two of us and a British couple who had a 5 month old boy.  Before the tour started we met an Austrian man who was motorcycling all over south America. He appeared to be in his 60s or so.  He was interesting but we didn't get to talk to him long because the tour started and he was not going on the one we took, having just finished. The mine has a 2 part tour. First you see the stations of the cross done in a more abstract method because the rock salt doesn't lend itself to detailed carving. Then you see the cathedral itself. I will admit it was reasonably impressive but I enjoyed the Nemocon mines better.  In all the tour took about 2 hours. Then Daniela did a little bit of shopping for an emerald.  After that tour we took a brief visit to the archeology museum not too far away from the cathedral, just down the hill.  This was quick and consisted of a lot of native artifacts that had been discovered in the region. Most all of them were made of pottery.

From the museum we were taken to the restaurant Funzipa where we had a typical soup meal that Marco Antonio said was one of the best typical dishes of the region.  We got a bowl of chicken and potato soup that was really very good and it was accompanied by a slice of grilled beef, salad, rice, potatoes and was followed by a  dessert that consisted of milk curds in a brown sugar sauce. The soup was definitely the highlight of the meal and we enjoyed it very much. There was a tour that was sort of finishing up when we got there and they had some live entertainment happening, which was Andean native music that Daniela said is not typical to the regions were were in. They also played music that was Bolivian after the performers left.  She thought that was very funny.

By the time we had finished eating it had started to rain. Marco Antonio took us towards the airport but Daniela wanted to see a typical local market before we got there. Fortunately the rain stopped and started a couple times but mostly it happened when we were in the car and was over by the time we stopped at the market (which was covered anyway).  In the market we walked around and looked at all the stuff people were selling. Since it wasn't really a tourist area I didn't flash the camera around too much until we got to the booth that was making shakes.  There wee all sorts of fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and well, practically anything you can think of in the market. It all looked very good. Every booth owner greeted us. It was probably very safe there and I could have taken more pictures but I figured discretion was probably better.  In any event, we made it to a booth that had a bowl of live crabs out front. Daniela being properly curious started talking to the people that worked there and it turns out they put them into their shakes to add nutrients. This of course meant we had to try it. So she ordered one and we watched it being made. The crab went in live and probably drowned in the goop before it was pulsed up by the blender. It also consisted of local fruits, some brandy, some wine, some powders of eggs and ginseng at the very least.  After it was blended, it was strained and we drank it. Daniela made me try mine first. I actually quite liked it. There were tiny fragments of shell in it but not anything you would really notice. The flavor was fruity, though I had not tasted a fruit like this exactly before.  We finished up and then pretty much headed out the door as it was time to get to the airport to fly to Periera.

The airport was very small and I think the average American would recognize the serious differences in security concepts from the US. This meant that check-in and security were fairly quick. The plane was an Airbus A18 (which I have never been on one before).  Daniela and I were on a 3 person row but no one took the last seat, which was nice. I think otherwise the flight was full.  The flight was short and we slept through most of it.  We had to wait a few minutes for our shuttle to the hotel in Armenia but we eventually found him and then had to ride about an hour and a half to the hotel. Since I had a headache the better part o fthe afternoon I again slept a good portion of the drive. We got to the hotel and had to immediately get dinner because they were closing the kitchen.  It was just about 9pm. The hotel is called Mi Monaco. I wasn't feeling terribly hungry and didn't finish but we had chicken and fried plantains accompanied by rice and salad.  They served us a Lulo juice which was better than the one we had tried previously as well.  After dinner I got cleaned up and immediately headed to bed while Daniela worked on the computer for a bit.

The pictures from day 3 are found here.

Colombia 2012 Day 2

I woke up fairly early this morning but Daniela proved a bit more difficult to get out of bed which was something I already understood going into this. The main thing was that we had a tour that was starting at 9am and we wanted to eat breakfast before we left. She ended up getting out of bed at about 8:10 or so and we made it to breakfast by maybe 8:45.  The tour showed up while we were still eating but since it was a private tour we really weren't holding anyone else up.  The guide only spoke Spanish so I picked up what I could along the way and Daniela translated a lot for me.

We started out with a drive across town towards the north where we stopped at a square that was supposed to be the original founding location of the city of Bogota. It turns out that the concept is in contention and there are at least 3 sites in the city that claim to be the founding location.  In any event it wasn't really much to look at but there was some interesting graffiti on one building.  After getting the history it was back into the car where we headed to a stop that took us in a roundabout method to the main square or Plaza de Armas.  I have to admit that the square was not really all that great. I liked Lima's much better as it was cleaner and the buildings around it were more impressive. We did get to see some of the preserved colonial architecture on the way there as well as a visit to the Museo de Botero. Botero is a Colombian painter that made all of his paintings of people look like they were very fat.  I particularly liked his version of the Mona Lisa.  In any event there was art from several other famous people besides Botero including a couple by Renoir and Picasso.  It was a nice little museum with the building itself being a traditional colonial style.  They also had a museum of the mint in the same complex. They handed out coins minted at the museum as a souvenir.

The main square was a lot of graffiti and wasn't particularly that clean. The guide said it was because there was a big celebration the night before that the city was a bit dirty. This was after all a holiday today, being the day they celebrate Cartagena's independence.  Ok, so maybe that is why it was a bit messy.  In any event as I said before it wasn't really all that impressive.  The main cathedral was large but we didn't go into it.  I am not sure if it was open.

After the city center we traveled far uphill to Monseratte which is a mountain that overlooks the city they have a church on top.  We rode up to the location on a cog railway. The church has a stations of the cross in statues leading up to it.  There were some very nice views of the city from various vantage points. The location is over 3000 meters in altitude. Also the start of Christmas decorations is upon Colombia right now as well so they had a very large nativity setup in front of the church that would be lit up at night.  Inside the church they were having mass. We kind of moved through it quickly then back outside and eventually down again to the car but this time by cable car. What would a vacation of mine be without a cable car involved these days. Wasn't really much of an issue though as the car was crowded and it was not really easy to see the straight downs if they existed.

After Monseratte they took us to an ATM so we could get out more Pesos as we had used up what we had from the night before already then we ran through a touristy shopping arcade where Daniela bought some earrings she liked. We then stopped to get a fresh juice each from a stand. I had a very sweet mandarin juice and she had one from a local fruit I do not know the name of. We then drove the main guide to a place where he could get home. The driver stayed on with us and drove us outside of Bogota to a city called Nemocon where we took a tour of a salt mine. On the way to the salt mine we stopped and got a couple of sandwiches for lunch.  We ate those in the car during the drive to save time. They were ham and turkey with cheese and were good. We also got fresh made juices. I got a mandarin juice that was quite good. The ride was at least an hour to Nemocon. At Nemocon it was straight into the mine and to tour that was just starting. The guide did speak English so he would tell me what he told everyone else in occasions where he had the chance. Daniela did translate some of it for me. It was really a neat tour. They basically harvest salt by water, which is how I expected they would do it. Particularly interesting were the salt pools that were so reflective that they made everything look much bigger. The water was very still which made the mirror effect even more convincing at times.  The salt formations were also very neat.  They had actually built a chapel into the mine as well though it is not truly active these days. It is however used for occasional ceremonies and even weddings. The mine is still active but the level we were on is only for tourists now. They said it was about 60 meters deep with the deepest level being 200 meters or so. I enjoyed it but something inside the mine completely stuffed up my nose and it got a little bit hard to breathe especially climbing back out. Bogota in general is about 2500 meters or so I think in altitude and I don't think the salt mine was any less. I am sure that didn't help me fully. I haven't had issues in altitude before but not being able to breath properly certainly can be an issue.

After the tour we stopped at a small pastry shop and Daniela bought a couple different things including a local bread roll (which I basically ate), dulce de leche, some sort of milk curd thing and a lemon dessert that also included milk I think. Everything was good though she saved some of it for later.  Then it was the hour plus drive back to the hotel. We got cleaned up and then headed back out for a night on the town.

We had a taxi take us to the Parque 93 and walked a loop around it before settling on Habana 93 for our first stop. They were going to have live music and that seemed like a good option. We didn't really eat there but did have some dumplings stuffed with shredded beef as a snack. I had 2 different dark beers (all they had was dark beers). The first was a Club Colombia Dark and the second was an Apostal. I liked the Club Colombia better but both were good. Daniela had a couple of very weak mojitos. The live music was a Cuban band of 3 members. one played guitar, one double bass and the last bongos. They all took turns singing. Obviously everything was in Spanish. They were quite good. Daniela said almost all the songs they sang were very sad.  I didn't recognize any of them.

When Habana 93 appeared to be closing early we moved on to the Bogota Beer Company which is a small local craft brew.  We started off with a beer sampler which had all 4 varieties. They pilsner style was a bit bland but the rest in general I liked. They had an amber, a porter, a honey kolsch and Belgian style as well. The Belgian was their limited run and it was good with a very fruity almost lemony feel to it. I however settled on the amber and had a couple of those. Daniela had a couple more mojitos. These were stronger than the first set.  The place was still crowded when we got there. We ordered an appetizer of German style sausages of which the chicken one was better than the pork but the rest of the stuff on the plate was average at best.  Either way we talked through the night and it came on to closing time. They actually took our unfinished drinks and put them in plastic cups and sent us out of the restaurant. I have never had that happen before. A cab was already by the place so we had him take us back to the hotel. He would not drive until we drank our drinks down to a level they wouldn't spill. So we had to sit there for a few minutes more while we tried to get to an acceptable level for him.  We then got back to the hotel and finished out the night.

The pictures from day 2 can be found here.

Colombia Day 1

Flightline picked me up at 1:45am which turned out to be a bit excessive as terminal B for American Airlines was not even open yet. Apparently they also had a power outage just before I got there and all the check-in stations were shut down. The power came on just a few minutes after I got there but it took them a while to get things running. When they did I checked in then had a short wait for the security check to open then went through security and got a coffee before waiting at the gate until 5:00am which was boarding time.

The plane boarded with little incident and the flight was basically easy with me nodding off for most of it. This plane was a 757. They had no food or snack, just drinks to serve.  It was less than 3 hours in the air to Miami.  We arrived early and I had enough to make a pit stop before getting to my gate. I had to use a tram though technically both gates were in the D terminal.  It was a very short wait for boarding to Bogota and that also was without incident.

The flight was at 10am and was 3:30 long so more than the flight to Miami. I nodded off through a lot of that one too. I believe this was the first 767 I have ever flown on.  They served a breakfast where I had a ham sandwich along with yogurt, a croissant and melon.  There were a few bumps on this flight, especially the closer I got to Colombia. Bogota was mostly cloud covered.  It took a fair amount of time to get off the plane. Immigration was fairly quick and painless if I got a few more questions than I expected.  From there it was get the bag which was only a couple minutes to wait for and on through customs who just took my slip then an xray scan of my bags before exiting.

Daniela was waiting and she looked very beautiful. She pinched me about 20 times or so to make sure I was real.  We got our livery to the hotel and I dropped off my stuff then quickly got cleaned up before we decided to go out walking the area around the hotel.  We are staying at Hotel los Heroes for our couple days in Bogota.  There was supposed to be a commercial center about 8 blocks away.  Unfortunately while we were walking and talking we went right past it and continued till we realized we had overshot our destination. So we turned back and headed towards where we should have turned in for it. By then we were getting hungry so we found a beef restaurant named Sagal that was actually open. It being Sunday we had only found fast food places open to this point. We decided we would eat there. We sat outside as it was fairly nice out.  We ordered a couple of glasses of red wine, some chorizo as an appetizer, a T-bone steak to share and Daniela got a salad.  The steak was really good although it was huge and even between us we left a bit of it behind. The steak also came with potatoes which I got mashed. They were ok. Overall if we held out a few more minutes we might have found a better place I think. I know that because we found Parque 93 which was surrounded by all sorts of restaurants. We walked around the park area and took a short visit to the swingsets before getting ice cream at a Waffles & Crepes shop. We split a small cup and got a combination of yogurt with chocolate crunchies in it and coffee coffee flavors. They were both good. The ice cream they served all had bolder versions of their flavors. We sampled a couple different types before deciding what to get.

After the ice cream we walked around a little bit longer before turning back towards the hotel where we found that we really had walked a lot further than we thought we did.  It took us quite a while to get back to the hotel. Neither of us had gotten any real sleep on the night before so we were tired and that was going to be it for the night.

The pictures from today are located here.

Departing for Colombia

I am currently at Logan Airport waiting for a 5:30am flight to Miami where I will transfer to a fflight to Bogota.

Colombia

I have purchased my flight to Colombia. It worked out best on American Airlines this time.  I am trying to learn more Spanish in the sense of speaking beyond just understanding when I hear it.

Birthday Trip Not On My Birthday

Due to specific circumstances my birthday trip will actually be two weeks later than my birthday.  At this point it seems apparent the location will be Colombia.  It should be warm there.

Japan 2012 Day 18

I guess it is good-bye Tokyo for this trip.  I woke up only a little bit later than I normally do, got cleaned up, checked all the packing to make sure it was right then headed downstairs to the breakfast room. I had my traditional toast and coffee then I walked out the door without a camera for the first time this trip. My intention was to tour the neighborhood for a few sundries to be picked up at any of the local convenience stores. I actually did quite a big double loop of the area and hit almost every store of the type I could find.  It started out cooler feeling outside but the humidity began to pick up the further along I got and it again became sweaty work, if not as bad as some other days. The sky was overcast so at least the sun wasn't creating a blazing heat at this point like it had been on most days. I can honestly say I do not envy a TSA person who might open my luggage because what is in there is fairly ripe by this point.  Even taking my time my tour was a little more than an hour long and I got back to the room still 2 hours before check-out time. The problem with needing to be packed of course is that it limits the ability to continue to get around as would be a normal vacation day and the time limit of check out time is also a block on any chance of doing something more involved. When I got back to the room I turned on the TV for only the second time in this trip and the channel was just beginning to broadcast an Olympics semi final soccer match between Mexico and Japan. I assume it was taped because the time of day in England was way off for a soccer match but I didn't know the result so I chose to watch it until it was time to get out of the room.  Surprisingly the Japanese scored first but the Mexicans did tie it up after a few minutes.  Mexico took the lead in the second half on a bad giveaway.  The Japanese just kept making too many mistakes on their attacks to really put more than a couple good chances together after that.  After the game it was time to check out and head to Tokyo Station where I figured I would get lunch and maybe shop a little bit more before heading to the airport via the Narita Express.

After leaving the hotel I took the long way around to Hamamatsucho station because I knew I would have to contend with less stairs. There are no escalators I can think of at that particular station. I boarded the Yamanote Line for the last time on this trip and rode to Tokyo Station. My flight being at 6:15pm and it only being 11:30am I was very early to head to the airport. The ride on the Narita express is something like a half an hour to 40 minutes long so I would be there far too early. I wandered to the Yaesu Central exit and went into the underground shopping area and just sort of strolled for a little while until I hit an area of restaurants and found a Yebisu Bar which was surprisingly kinyen (non-smoking). The idea of a Yebisu beer appealed to me and I decided that was where I would eat. They had a lunch menu after all.  I got in and ordered a Yebisu Hokaru (I think) and then a special hamburger meal. The beer was an amber slightly hoppy flavor with a good bitter to it.  The hamburger special consisted of a patty with a side of spaghetti and egg salad and a dish of rice. The burger had a brown sauce over it. I ate the mea l entirely with chopsticks as I had learned how to break a burger up with them recently.  It was actually quite good food although obviously not as good as the Kobe beef from the night before. Still I really enjoyed the beer and had a second before I was done.

After lunch I took another more detailed trip through the mall area until I was completely lost from where I started and eventually found my way back to the Yaesu South Entrance from outside.  I was even further south than the south Exit I think.  In any event this did a good job of killing more time so I wasn’t too concerned on it.  I found a JR ticket office and reserved a ticket using my rail pass on the 2:03 train to Narita Airport Terminal 2.  That gave me over an hour to find the platform and wait for the specific train. The platform was of course on the complete other side of the station from where I reserved my ticket so I am glad I didn’t pick a time where I had to rush. Probably I should have picked the 1:30pm train instead but all the same I was able to find one of the few benches in the train station and set up and write some portion of this before my train arrived.

The train arrived on time. It comes in two parts of 6 cars each and they connect together to make a 12 car train headed to the airport. I assume they come from different directions and then join up. It was a big event to watch for many of the passengers, seeing the trains join and the between car walkway deploy. I suppose it was pretty neat but at the same point it was more effort to get out the camera for the trick than I thought it was worth.  I didn’t realize but even the Narita Express trains have green cars so I was reserved a seat on that with  my rail pass which was nice. There was only a couple people in the car and it was quiet. I fell asleep for a bit. About 50 minutes later, it was longer than I thought and that without stops I arrived in the airport.  That made it about 3pm. I found my way upstairs to the check-in and there was literally no line at all so I just got to get checked in right away. It was strange that I got only one ticket but apparently my flight is a continuous flight number and I even have the same seat number somehow through both so I was only printed one ticket.  After checking in I walked around the pre-security mall area for a few minutes before heading into the security check which was quick and easy then on to immigration which was technically easy except for this mixed couple and their kid who held up one of 2 lines for a very long time for some reason.  After getting through immigration it was time for the shops on the other side and I did a little bit more digging around those before figuring out where my gate was. It was still more than an hour and 45 minutes to go before boarding time so I opted to hunt out some food before we took off. I knew I would not be eating the airplane food as historically it has grossed me out so I found The Asian Bowl and had a beef bowl and a large Kirin (mainly because that was what I could afford if I wanted the big beer.  I had finally spent down most all of my yen. No sense in saving it with the dollar so crappy right now.  From there I headed to the gate and had about an hour left until boarding time so I wrote a bit more of this and then relaxed to some music from my cell phone.

Boarding the flight they put me in group 4 which was basically very last to get on the plane. I figured I was going to get screwed for overhead room but apparently the flight was not full so I got lucky in that I didn’t have to stuff anything under my seat.  The plane was a 777 and as I said it was not full. Still it took longer to board than the domestic flights in Japan by far.  The movies on the plane were the exact same as on the way to Japan which of course was disappointing. At take off time I joined a showing of Thor already in progress and then followed that by another viewing of the Avengers already in progress which I slept through most of both. I again chose to not eat the hot portion of the meals not even bothering to take the packet though I took the rest of the tray and ate the sundries.  I probably slept for about two thirds of the flight and also watched The Pirates: Band of Misfits again for good measure when I woke up for  a spell. I think for the most part I had the GPS map going and would occasionally wake and see where we are and go back to sleep.  The flight wasn’t really bumpy and this time the captain did actually turn off the seatbelt sign. Overall it was an easy if long flight (though well over an hour shorter than the flight there).

Arriving in Chicago I was getting prepared for my least favorite airport. This was my first chance to use my new Global Entry access and I think if it wasn’t for that this would have been the typical miserable O’Hare experience.  The lines for passport control were incredibly long and it was clear a lot of international flights had all landed at relatively the same time. I however got to walk around the big line to use one of the completely unused row of kiosks to get into the country. The process is easy. Scan your passport bar code and let it take a picture of you. Scan your fingerprints.  Check a series of checkboxes and you are done. It prints you a receipt with your picture on it and you take that to customs.  No form to fill out or anything.  So I was the first person from my flight to the checked baggage area and also the first out. Only a couple other people were through by the time I got my bag and I am sure they had some reason for special access or Global Entry too.  So from there it was stuff some bottles into the suitcase as best I could and then hand the receipt to the customs officer who let me pass through no issue.

Of course this is where O’Hare becomes O’Hare.  The gate for my next flight was in terminal 3 and I was in 5 and I had to swap over by a tram. That wasn’t too bad but of course my flights are always out on the furthest point of any gate arm you can possibly get. I went to a security line and was told to use another because it was less crowded. The first security person said the single boarding pass I got was not going to work and I had to go back and get the appropriate one for Chicago. I knew that was going to bite me in the butt but the Japanese lady in Narita didn’t understand me well enough. So back out of that line which was really fortunately not a line at all (Thanks so much to the girl who sent me to the other) and on to the check-in counter where I fortunately only had a couple minutes wait before I got a boarding pass that would work then back on to the security line and through.  All in all it probably wasted me about 10 minutes. By the time I got to my gate boarding was going to happen in 15 minutes. I cannot see how I could have made it to my plane with the passport control lines being their size unless it was at the very final boarding call to be on time.  I know I saved a minimum of 20 minutes of line there even if I waited about 5 for my suitcase. The flight that was before us on our carousel was barely trickling through to get their bags which had all been taken off and put aside by the time the Narita bags were coming through. I am not sure how many people were trying to make the connection and if they made it to the plane or not.  Because I did have a few minutes to spare I walked back to a McDonald’s and got a quarter pounder with cheese meal and wolfed that down before they started to board.

Boarding I was again group 4 which was last to get on. This time it made no sense as I was in the very back of the plane. I would have expected to be near the front if I was going to board last. The line after ticket check was all the way up the ramp and it was a fair mess getting in. Still I was fortunate on 2 counts. The seat next to me was empty.  I had aisle as usual. And there was still enough overhead for my backpack when I got there though they were making people behind me check their roller luggage because of limited space.  Even if there wasn’t I could have used the empty seat’s foot space so I was good.  This plane was a 737 as I expected. I think it took longer for boarding than even the 777 from Narita did. I nodded off for the first bit of the flight till they came around for drinks then used the opportunity to dig out the laptop and write up a bit more of this.  The flight was mostly uneventful with a couple bumpy spots but nothing at all interesting.  We landed on time and being at the back of the plane it took forever to get off. My bag however was very early in the carousel and it was on to waiting for the Flightline van which they said was going to take about 20 minutes but really took 10.  I was the lucky one going in a different direction than all the rest and so was swapped over to a different van at Dascomb Road and then on to home. I made it there about 10:30 or so and was pretty much fully exhausted and ready for a night's sleep in my own bed.  The unpacking could wait until morning.

The pictures from today are located here.

Japan 2012 Day 17

I woke up early today with the intention of getting to the new Tokyo Skytree.  The Skytree is the new tower in Tokyo that is taller even than the Tokyo Tower by nearly double or something like that. The main observatory platform is 350 meters up which is higher than the the top platform of Tokyo Tower. The higher Tembu platform is 450 meters up. The reports were that the lines to get into the Skytree have been horrendous 6 hour waits whenever people have tried to do it. I was hedging my bets that it would not be that long at 8am when the tower opened for the day. I ate breakfast quickly then went to Daimon Station and bought a day pass for the subways as it was cheaper than the combined fares I needed. I then rode the Asakusa line to Oshiage (Skytree) Station and exited to the surface. It doesn't take long for the tower to come into view and you can really see how gigantic it is from below. I worked my way around to the entrance of the building and found that there was indeed a line forming but it didn't look that big yet and everyone appeared to be moving inside.  So I got in line and a little less than 20 minutes later I had bought my ticket to the lower platform and a couple minutes later I was in the elevator on the way up.  It takes about 50 seconds to get to the 350 meter level in one of their elevators. They have 4 and they each are set to a theme of the seasons. I rode up on the one for spring which was decorated in sakura.

At the first platform I walked around the loop and took pictures. It was very crowded inside and good window space was hard to come by. People weren't pushing but neither were they really moving around from their perches much either.  I think the crowds inside did detract from the overall experience a little bit.  Still I was able to wade my way through them and get a good look around. It is funny that all the other buildings are already below you.  After the loop I made my way to the line to buy a ticket for the higher platform and that took about 5 minutes.  Then it was a couple minutes until we were in the elevator up 100 more meters in just a few seconds.  At the upper platform they have a spiral walk around the tower. It is really obvious how high up you are at this point as even the buildings look tiny, let alone the cars.  Again this platform was just about as crowded as the lower one and it was a bit of mucking through the traffic to get a good look out the windows and all the way around the loop.  When I was done it was back onto another elevator ride to the 345 floor (345 meters, just below the main observatory platform). The walk around there produced a way too overcrowded gift shop then stairs down to the 340 floor which had the glass bottom floors to stand on. Everyone was on it. It was not like in Tokyo Tower where no one dared stand on it. I had to wait a couple moments to actually get on it.  I still saw people who were hesitating even with such a large crowd on top of it.  From there I found the elevator back down to the 5th floor which had a larger and less crowded gift shop then it was on out of the Skytree area and back on the Asakusa line to Asakusa itself to do one more visit to the temple and then run through the gifty area for a few minutes. I managed to get a cherry version of my deep fried favorites. It had some sort of leaves in it too. Not sure what they were but it was very tasty.  I also later on after quite a while of walking around had a rose flavored soft serve ice cream that was very good. Packed with stuff I bought I figured it was best to bring them to the hotel before heading to lunch so I rode the Asakusa line the rest of the way back to Daimon and dropped things off.

After a brief stop I had lunch at the Tokyo Tower. I had intended to go to the katsu restaurant but they were completely filled up so I ended up at the Tokyo Curry Lab which served a katsu curry. It was ok but the curry was a bit acidy and I liked the CoCoIchi curry better overall.  After lunch I headed back to the room and relaxed a little bit before deciding to take a trip out to Daiba. In order to get to Daiba I had to get on the Yamanote Line to Shimbashi and then switch over to the Yurikamome monorail type line out to Daiba. This isn't covered by my pass so I had to buy a round trip ticket there and back.  It isn't a very long ride but the cars were fairly full. The Shimbashi stop is the first station in the line and it was getting filled up right away.  In order to get to Daiba the train rides a big loop around before going over the rainbow bridge (after making a couple other stops first). While on the bridge I noticed it has sidewalks that means you can walk across it, and people were. I think I will put in on my list of things to do next time in Japan. Daiba is the second stop after the bridge. I have been there both other trips. The first obvious attraction from the stop is the Fuji TV building which has a very futuristic shape. Second is the reproduction of the Statue of Liberty given to the Japanese by the French a few years ago.  What was also obvious is the place was jam-packed full of people and there was a large carnival set up all around the area, perhaps a couple of them. That meant the place was overrun with kids.  The main reason I went to Daiba is they brought the giant Gundam robot back. It was up before my last trip but was taken down before we got there and now it is back again. I had to do a little searching to find it but it wasn't really all that bad. I did a full loop of it for pictures from all angles. I would say it is at least 40 or 50 feet tall.  I am a terrible judge of stuff like that but it did look like the size they are supposed to be in the cartoons.

After I was done with the Gundam I was pretty much done with Daiba and I just got back onto the monorail and headed back to Shimbashi. This train was even more crowded than the one on the way in but I found a comfy spot at the edge of the car. My stop was the last stop so I didn't have to worry about getting out through the crowds.  At Shimbashi I changed to the Yamanote Line again and headed back to Hamamatsucho.  There I sought out Kaji and some Kobe beer. I got there a bit early and he asked me to come back at 6pm so I wandered around the area exploring a bit until it was 6 and then headed back. I had his special Kobe beef set. Yes it is expensive. Yes it is worth it.  The meal started with a small glass of white zinfandel and a tray of starters which included a cold spiced beef, a cold shrimp with an herb sauce on it and a lychee nut (I think) with some sort of sauce on it as well. All were really good. When I finished  the wine I ordered a beer. Next followed the daikon radish cooked with salt, pepper and soy, followed by an onion slice, piece of squash and a small new potato.  These were all cooked together but finished individually.  I decided to hold onto them to changes tastes while eating this time. Next came the beef and I had it rare as usual. Nothing but salt and pepper and garlic were added.  It was incredibly tender and very tasty as it had been before. The garlic chips were also cooked up and served and added another flavor and a crunchy texture to go along with the others.  I was mostly done the beef when he made some bean sprouts with red and green peppers sliced very thin.  Those were followed by the beef fat cracklings.  He takes the fat from the steak and puts it under a press to render out all the oils. The bit cook up crunchy and tasty.  The fat is saved and then after he serves the cracklings he puts some minced garlic on the grill in the fat and browns that and then cooks the fried rice with that. He only adds salt and pepper otherwise. It is possibly my favorite part of the meal.  I am fairly certain I like it more than the beef even though that is probably heresy to say.  After the rice came a set of pickles (cucumber and radish) and a miso soup with brown beans and tofu.  Following the soup was a mango half. After that was a demitasse cup of coffee that was strong but good.  While I was there his reservations arrived in the form of a mother, her 2 sons and daughter. They ordered cuts of steak that were not Kobe but man were they huge. It looked like Texas steakhouse size.  In any event they were on to the cracklings with their steaks by the time I was leaving.  After dinner I went back to the hotel for a bit before heading out to meet Marina who had been teaching while I ate dinner.  It would be our last chance to say good-bye before I left.

I headed out to Ebisu Station on the Yamanote Line and met her at the gate.  We walked down to the Exselsior Coffee place which is about all that was open long enough by that point and sat and chatted for a while until the store closed and we were sent away. From there we walked back to the train station and on to the Yamanote Line to Hamamatsucho where she rode with me until my stop then after saying our good-byes she headed back to her home and I walked back to the hotel.  I got as much of the packing done as I could before heading to bed still uncertain how my day was going to go on Wednesday with such a late flight departure at 6:15pm.

The pictures from today are located here.

Japan 2012 Day 16

Today Marina and I had originally planned to go to Ishinomaki but the injury to her leg made the idea of too much walking a bad one so we instead the night before decided to go to onsen probably around Hakone.  When I got up we started to make our plans and we agreed to do some shopping I had to do before heading to the spa and to get some breakfast as well and decided we would meet in Shimbashi which is one stop away from Hamamatsucho on either the Yamanote or Keihin Tohoku line.  I got to the station before she did because she has a much further route to take and bought an iced coffee in the Exselsior at the station to wait for her. A few minutes later she got in and we checked out two breakfast buffets. The first was on a 25th floor of a hotel and had a nice view of the city but it was very crowded so we decided to go to the second which I believe was the Mitsui Garden Hotel which had its breakfast buffet on something like the 24th floor and also had a nice view. They were only a few minutes walk apart. I am not really a breakfast eater so honestly a buffet cost is a waste for me but it was what she wanted to do so we did it.  A little it after getting there it started to rain in Tokyo and it remained that way on and off until we eventually got out of town. My breakfast consisted of some fruit, bread, yogurt, bacon and juice. Marina took a bit better advantage of the buffet than I did but I just cannot eat heavy in the morning.  After we were done with that we did the bit of shopping I needed to do in Ginza which didn't take too long then it was off to the train station where we took the Tokaido Line to Odawara which is sort of a gateway city to the regions around Hakone.

If you recall we went to Hakone on the first trip to Japan I took but we did it by bus tour on the same day we visited the Fuji station.  We ended up directly in a hotel which provided lunch then were brought to the pirate ship on the lake.  This time we had to take a Hakone Tozan Railway train to Hakone Yumoto which brings you into the center of town basically.  When we got there we asked the information desk about the various onsen in town. Marina had been to one of them before and liked it but the woman said we should tray Kamon as it was a traditional style spa that is part of a ryokan which is a traditional Japanese style hotel.  We got outside for the bus that would take us to the spa and asked again the security guy that was directing passengers to their correct buses and he also said we should go to Kamon because the other one she had been to before was much more crowded and we would be better able to relax at Kamon.  So we got on the bus and a few minutes we were there and putting our shoes in lockers and getting upstairs to get checked in. I had to buy a towel for 300 yen to go along with my fee because I didn't have one with me.  Still I got to keep it as a souvenir so that is kind of cool. It is embroidered with their name and a couple sakura.  After getting checked in we got to our respective changing rooms and swapped to our provided kimonos and headed back down to the second floor for the spa. As with all onsen the male and female guests are kept separate and there are no swimsuits involved. This place was not busy at all. In fact when I got in there was only one other guest in the pools.  I went through the process of the appropriate scrub down you are supposed to perform before going into the water. I spent probably about 5-10 minutes on it which seemed reasonable to me.  This is part of the tradition of going to onsen and is always supposed to be done. Of course two Japanese patrons who came in after me didn't bother to do any scrubbing and just dropped into the pools bone dry. I am not sure if there are different rules if you are already staying at the ryokan part but Marina said some women did it on her side too.  Most of the pools were 42C which is probably a little bit higher than I wanted. It had rained but was not when we got to Hakone but the temperature was still high outside as well. The pools were partially outdoors and partially indoors and the indoors were just covered by a real roof more so than completely enclosed. I am basically not fully cut out for onsen because I don't know how to be idle long enough to enjoy it as some  other people do. This meant that I was constantly changing pools or getting out of the water and sitting on a bench to cool down a bit while I was there. I had only the one towel but it is traditional to bring one into the water with you and leave it on your head.  I could not do this as I needed my towel to dry off after I was done. I spent about an hour in and out of the pools and even tried the sauna which was so hot I could only stand less than two  minutes of it before I got out. It did feel nice back in the 29C weather outside once I escaped. When I was done I went back over to the washing area and rescrubbed to get the spa water off and then used my souvenir towel to dry off, put on my kimono and headed back upstairs to the waiting area where I had a cup of macha while waiting for Marina to come back up. I was sort of dozing off a bit when she returned and we both got changed back to our civvies and headed downstairs to wait for a free bus ride back to the train station area.  The bus came a few minutes later and the ride downhill was very quick.

At the town center most everything was already closed. I am not sure why so early at only 5pm but apparently the really touristy towns just shut down very early around here. However we were able to find a reasonably good restaurant where I had curry udon noodles which were good but even more messy than the noodles that I had in Nikko.  I also had an Asahi Super Dry to go along with the noodles. When we were done eating it was already getting late so though she made a couple suggestions of some other things we could do I was really ready to get back into Tokyo instead (I think this worked out best for her as well as she fell asleep on the Tokaido line). We basically backtracked our train rides from earlier in the day and went back to Shimbashi for a couple more minutes of shopping then had ice cream at a specialty store. I had a vanilla soft serve with brown sugar and soy bean powder on it. It looks terribly a lot like a hot fudge sundae with nuts on it in the picture but it tastes nothing like one (which is what I was hoping for). It was actually very good and I am glad it is what I ordered.  The ice cream also came with a complimentary cup of tea as well which was a nice surprise.  After the ice cream we walked back to the station and got on the slightly delayed Yamanote Line (apparently there was a man on the tracks for a couple minutes) and then I rode my one stop and she continued on to her home.  From there it was a quick walk back to the hotel.

There are very few pictures today as it was not really a sightseeing day at all. The onsen being what it is does not lend itself to pictures either.  What few there are are located here.

I just found out that Monday was the 67th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.  It would have been crazy mobbed out there, they say 50000 people filled the square.  Still, it is interesting to add that bit of history to this trip.

Japan 2012 Day 15

I wasn't totally sure what I was going to do today. I knew my original plans were mussed up with the change of timing for the Fuji climb and I was originally supposed to go to Yokohama today but I had already done that with Marina in the previous Tokyo stint.  I chose instead to go to Nikko because it had been mentioned a few times as a great visit. I woke up at 5:30am and just sort of messed around a bit at first then chatted with my brother for a few minutes before getting cleaned up and heading downstairs. The breakfast room was full out mobbed. I didn't even bother trying to get food but I was able to sneak in and get a quick cup of coffee.  It was 7:00am and the entire room was full of Japanese people.  I dare you to find an American hotel breakfast room filled with people at 7 on a Sunday.  After the cup of coffee I set out to the JR station and took the Keihen Tohoku line to Tokyo Station (it arrived just a minute before the Yamanote line and they share a stretch of stops and platforms.  At Tokyo station I booked a seat to Utsunomiya which was the first leg of the trip.  Unfortunately I didn't pay attention and the girl didn't give me a green car seat, but fortunately the car had few people in it and the ride was short anyway.  At Utsunomiya I had to switch to a JR local train to Nikko. The Nikko line is basically just one way to Nikko and back. There is no reserved seating.  That ride took about 50 minutes or so and there was a couple of Tourist Information guides in the car who were giving passengers information. The woman I spoke with gave me a map and explained what to do and how to do it. They were trying to sell bus tickets sort of but I suspect most tourists don't want to walk the distances. She said it was probably a 40 minute walk to the World Heritage park.  I figured that was my better option especially because the general rule is it does not take me near as long as their suggested times. Looking at the map it also seemed it couldn't really be that far. The distance seemed to be the same as the size of the grounds of the world heritage site.

When we got to the station I immediately started the trek to the park. It was uphill most of the way but the slope wasn't that bad. The first thing you see is a couple statues and a sacred bridge, the Shinkyo Bridge.  You can pay a fee to walk across the bridge and when I got there a bunch of people were doing so. I chose to just walk across the regular bridge this time and get to the park instead.  Once inside the park the first major item it seemed you should see is the Rinnoji Temple. However the temple is being restored right now so instead you see a picture of it on some corrugated aluminum siding. None of the temples in this region allowed pictures inside so for that reason Rinnoji was a disappointment.  Nonetheless I trudged on through the grounds and found the Togoshu Shrine and then clambered my way up the 200 steps to Ieyasu's graveyard.  A day after hiking Fuji my legs were tired but still it didn't seem like much in comparison at all.  Also at the Togoshu Shrine was a really nice five storied pagoda. That was basically on the way into the shrine and graveyard.  Next I worked my way over to the Futarasan Shrine then to the Iemitsu Taiyuin Temple and Iesmitsu's graveyard.

That was the majority of the world heritage park. When I got through that I worked my way down the hill and found a bunch of shops that had restaurants in them and decided I would eat lunch as it was past 12:30. By the way I got into Nikko before 10am though I am not completely sure of the timing. The place had the plastic mockups of their food outside but I was handed a menu with a few pictures and little English. I chose something that looked like a tomato based stew as a set menu. It had the stew, a side of some sort of sushi and a tiramisu for dessert. I also ordered a Kirin draft beer as well.  The sushi, as it was served with wasabi and I was told where the soy sauce was, was interesting. It was a thin almost papery product but all rolled up. It did have a faintly fish flavor but I really have no idea what it was.  The stew was basically a watery tomato based soup with some form of maybe leafy vegetable, asparagus small bits of chicken, onions, tomatoes and noodles. I was also instructed to add extra Tobasco for more spice (so I did). The stew was actually awesome. I was sort of disappointed when I was done because I wanted more. The noodles were cooked perfectly as were the vegetables and it just tasted really good. I am glad I ordered it. After the soup I had the tiramisu and it was also quite good though it was a small piece compared to what you would get in America. It is probably better that way.

After lunch I headed further down the road to the Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa.  This was a former Imperial vacation home that was constructed originally in the 1800s but was added to over time. One part of it was even moved from a different location and rebuilt into the villa.  The place was huge and sprawling. The only way you could get a full picture of it is from the air. Otherwise it is spread out too far and surrounded by trees and garden all over the place. Entry allows you inside and in the gardens as well. It was obviously restored over time in some areas but there was a lot of original stuff too. The varying architecture on the outside was obvious but inside a lot of the differences from section to section were more subtle.  It took a long time to get through all the rooms they allow you to go through. The let you up to the second floor of one area but not to the third unfortunately.  Still I think the visit was well worth the 500 yen I paid to get in.  The garden grounds are also very nice if only for the opportunity to get some pictures of the back side of the villa which looks a lot more interesting than the front entrance.  From there I headed back towards the main World Heritage site and picked up the last 2 temple and shrine, the Hongu Shrine and Kannon Do which also had a three storied pagoda.  There was absolutely no one in these sites when I went for some reason. They are off the beaten path of the area but are definitely on the maps.  After that it was back down the street I came up to the train station.  Being downhill it was a little easier.  I think the local line runs fairly often so I was able to get on a train back to Otsunomiya pretty much right as I got there and only had to wait a few minutes before it departed. From there I was able to book a green car seat on a nearly full train back to Tokyo station.  Then it was back onto the Keihen Tohoku line (it arrived first again) to Hamamatsucho where I got into the room to clean up from the sweat and all that.

Marina and I had been messaging during the day a little and we ended up meeting for dinner in Hamamatsucho. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was but it is a place that is supposed to specialize in sashimi which is the sushi that involves only the pieces of raw fish and no rice (for those that do not know).  It was a small place that I have passed a couple dozen times in my life already.  Apparently a lot of her friends recommended the restaurant to her but she had never tried it before. She did all the ordering. I had a couple Suntory Premium draft beers to go along. They served an appetizer of radish and cuttlefish which was pretty good though the heavy soaking of soy on the radish was a bit much for me.  Marina ordered some fried chicken bits because she thought that it would be something else. Still it was good. Then we also got a sashimi order for two which had tuna, fatty tuna, red snapper, mackerel, sardine (fresh), scallop and either squid or cuttlefish, we couldn't decide. Along with that she ordered a tofu dish that was in a broth of fish roe.  All of the food was very good and the fish was very fresh. I was surprised how much I liked the tofu thing too. During dinner we made our plans for the next day. She has an issue with her leg so we decided not to go to Ishinomaki as we orginally planned but instead will go to an onsen.  After dinner was over I headed back to the room for some well deserved rest.

The pictures from today can be found here.

Japan 2012 Day 13 Part 2 and Day 14

I followed Japan-Guide's advice on how to get to Fuji by rail and I was led a little bit astray but not so bad really that I couldn't recover. I left Hamamatsucho at maybe 2:15 and rode the Yamanote line to Shinjuku. In Shinjuku I booked a ride on the Chuo Line to Otsuki. It is a limited express and has only half a green car for some reason.  That unfortunately wasn't leaving until 3:30 so I had to sit for about 40 minutes or so before it came in and the passengers could board. This trains starts up at Shinjuki. The ride to Otsuki was just a bit over an hour and put me around the corner from the Fujikyu train line which goes to Kawagachiko.  This is where I was led astray.  Kawagachiko Station is not the direct point for getting into a Fuji 5th Station like the  guide said.  Instead Kawagachiko has a bus terminal and there was a bus that actually goes to the 5th station.  The train for the record was a local which meant it stopped at every stop along the way which took probably about 40 minutes.  It was a nice and clean train. I noticed a lot of people wave to the conductor so it must also be a friendly local line (it is considered a commuter railway for that region).

The bus was a bit more difficult to figure out but I was able to find the ticket office and purchase a round trip fair which was reasonably discounted versus a one way fair so that was at least good. Then I found the number 6 bus stand where my bus was supposed to arrive at 6pm.  Yes it was already getting late.  It actually showed up at 6:10. There were 4 other buses that came to the stand and told us it was the next bus that would take us to the 5th station.  At the stop were Akush and Martin who were also aiming to climb Fuji. While we waited and joked around a bit it became a reasonable idea that perhaps we could commit the journey together which is what happened. Martin is from Slovakia originally but now lives in Northern Ireland and apparently works for DHL where he has finally started to earn enough money to travel as he wishes. He said Japan was his second trip.  His first being a trip to Australia. Good for him.  Akush is Hungarian and had quit his job to travel the world for 6 months. Apparently it is not difficult for him to find a new job when he gets back though he has to be very tight with his money. Both were in Japan for around 3 weeks and just happened to choose the same day I did to climb Fuji by general accident.  The bus ride was about 45 minutes or so to the 5th Station. It was not really exciting except that between waiting for the bus and riding up, all the clouds peeled off the mountain for us before we got there. This is apparently a rare experience.

At the station we discussed what were were going to do. The basic plot for climbing Fuji is it takes typically between 4-7 hours depending on the trail you are going to use and your own physical condition. We were going to take the Oshida trail which is rated at 5-7 hours. The idea is to get to the top in time to see the sun rise on Japan from the mountain top.  It was around 7 when we got to the station and we decided we would wait until 8:30 to start the trek.  Martin and I both found food at the station in the form of a giant doughy bun filled with pork. I am sure I have seen them before but had never tried them. Basically it ended up tasting like a giant pork gyoza but with a soft and doughy outer shell. It wasn't bad really. I also had a can of hot black coffee. Apparently the machines in Fuji still serve hot this time of year where I haven't seen them anywhere else right now.  After that it was just general killing time and using the facilities and talking to each other until it was time to start.  Sunrise would be at 4:40 or so at Fuji and that was giving us a reasonably good amount of time to get to the top. Far beyond what we would need.  For the trek I had my new backpack with my cold weather running shirt, running gloves, a windbreaker some snacks in the form of nuts I bought at the train station and basically my cell phone and headlamp. I also was wearing my trekking pants which I had zipped off the legs before leaving Tokyo as it was incredibly hot so the legs were in that bag as well. I also brought a water bottle belt that had compartment that I could fit my camera in as well as the 2 water bottles which I filled with water from the vending machines at the station.

The three of us didn't really know tons about how the climb was going to go but we figured we would just find out as we did it. The initial walk to the trailhead for Oshida Trail was down and up hill. For a short while you are in the tree line but then it is back out of it as you hit the trailhead and then onward and upward. Almost as soon as we got into the trail the batteries on my headlamp died but both Martin and Akush had headlamps of their own and the first area was fairly easy so I didn't want to run back and get batteries knowing that there would be stations along the trail that had stuff for sale and I figured that more than one of them would have to have batteries.  The climb is sort of divided into stages between the stations. You start at 5 and by the end I think technically what might be considered a 9th station is the top of the mountain.  Though it is peak climbing season and the trail is by far the busiest of the 4 you can take at first the trail didn't seem too busy. I think a lot of people probably start at 10 because that should get them to the top closer to when the sun will rise in theory.  The initial climb to the 6th station was not really bad at all basically being a series of switchbacks on crushed lava and sand.  As we moved up we had to take some stops to rest. Neither Akush nor Martin are all that athletic as they proclaimed themselves so we made periodic rests in the early going to conserve energy and because it appeared we had a real lot of time. It was interesting to see the clouds over the city down below us which we believe was Kawagochiko and how the city lights started to pull out from underneath them as clouds down there also broke during the night.  It was also interesting that for the first couple hours because of this effect it appeared the city was getting bigger instead of smaller as we got higher away from it.

As the trek continued the trails did get increasingly more difficult. Fortunately just before the really rocky section that required a lot of pull chain use as well as some hand on rocks climbing to get up I found a station that had AAA batteries. I completely got taken on them paying 1000 yen which is almost $13 for the set of 4 of which I needed 3 but in the long run it was really worth it to have the batteries as my headlamp is the LED type where both Martin and Akush's were older incandescent bulb types and about 3 hours into the trek their batteries were dead and my headlamp was still blinding people until the sunrise.  Pretty much everyone wears a headlamp on the trail and that was another interesting thing to watch as you looked up or down the trail and could see the line of little lights bobbing around along the trail.  As the climbing got more difficult so the trail got more crowded. There were obviously a bunch of tours that were climbing the mountain as units and they often had very different ability levels in the tour. I will say that I saw young children right up to older retirees along the trail as well as more than a few gaijin.  There is a proverb that says that every Japanese person should climb Fuji once but only a fool climbs it twice.  The other one is He who doesn't climb Fuji is a fool.  He who does climb Fuji is an even bigger fool.  Basically each year the climbing season is thousands of people per day climbing the mountain. Worse yet for us it was a Friday so being the start of the weekend many more people were there as they didn't have to work than there would have been on say Tuesday.  Needless to say the tours and the varying ability climbers posed an extra challenge that became more and more evident the closer we got to the top.  During the difficult terrain they would often cause the entire line to stop for long stretches as they clambered their way slowly and hesitantly up and the tours would block off the entire trail so as not to get separated during the climb making things even worse.

Honestly the trail did get a lot easier the higher we got after those couple rocky sections but of course the climb also got steeper though made of stairs or gravelly path most of the time. The steeper definitely took a lot out of a very large number of the climbers and again we found ourselves taking a step, stopping, waiting thirty seconds, taking another step and repeating ad nauseum.  It was certainly not the way I had wanted to spend my climb. I had to put on the pant legs pretty much before started the climb because it was already getting cool out. The 5th station is at around 2900 meters or so I think so it is already a reasonably high altitude. With sun down and clear skies it dropped in temperature steadily and got windy at times along the trail,  most often when we were in the bad car accident type traffic where we weren't moving enough to keep warm.  I chose at hut past the 6th station to put on my warm weather running shirt but when we were moving I was fine so I didn't want to sweat a lot and never ended up putting on my jacket (I cannot recall seeing anyone else who didn't have a jacket on by the time I put on the shirt).  At various points they had thermometers and we saw temps like 8 and 6C.  It probably wouldn't have been bad at all but for the wind and the stopping. At times we were able to make our way around the slow people by cutting through unused areas of the trail but often the trail bottlenecked so we couldn't do anything but stop and wait. As this pattern continued we often forsook our own rest breaks just to try to get ahead of the people that were slowing us down. We kept checking the suggested amount of time we had left and for many stretches early on it looked very good but as the crowds of the trail affected us more and more it was sort of a worry that we would arrive late.

When we got to the 8.5th station Martin needed to change his shirts because the sweat inside was freezing him to death.  This turned out to be truly unfortunate because he took a long time to get back to us (he was able to use a hut to get out of the cold and dry off and change but said he had a Chinese woman sitting on his shoes and it took forever to find them (no shoes on in the huts). The problem with this is that the large number of tour groups we passed chose this 10 minute span to start up the last portion of the trail to the summit.  Akush and I were dismayed and rightly so because when we did finally start are own portion of this climb the very same thing we fought past started all over again.  I think if we had managed to get out before the tours it would have been a breeze but instead it was another span of longer than an hour of stopping and starting all over again.  We did manage to push past some of the people along the way but as we were wading through the sea of people we could see the beginning coloration of the sun getting ready to rise on the horizon below us and we were getting worried we weren't going to make it. Fortunately our perseverance paid off and we made it up to the tori gate that signifies the top of the mountain by about 4am.

As  I said sunrise officially happened at around 4:40 but we were able to perch in some reasonably good spots as all the other people filed up past us and took a lot of pictures and videos until the sun was fully up.  From there we climbed to the final station and had to push our way through crowds again. We took a few more pictures from this portion of the mountain and took a small breather before deciding to do the crater trail which basically circumnavigates the main eruption crater. Martin was not going to go all the way around as he was far too tired but in the long run he made it to the end of the trail. We did skip the summit station because the lines were not moving and many people long. Not sure if it was for restrooms or just to see some stuff up there. All the same none of us wanted to wait and see what the fuss was so we just continued on the trail until we got to the descent trail.

The Oshida Trail has different trails for ascent and descent and theoretically the descent trail is much easier. However the truth is that though it was faster it was the part of the whole experience I didn't like. It basically was a series of  switchbacks dug out by a bulldozer I am sure. The problem was the grades were steep and the whole path was made of very loose crushed lava and sand. It meant slipping and sliding and falling or almost falling most of the way down. I hated it. If they had just used a less steep grade the whole process would have gone much faster but the path they made was slower for trying not to fall. Also, the trails created so much reddish brown dust that got over everyone and everything during the descent. I could feel my hair felt like it had plaster in it and everything I owned that was visible was covered in a coating of the stuff. About a quarter of the way down Martin and I parted with Akush as he was going to do different things but we were both getting back on the bus and eventually getting to hotels hopefully as quickly as we could.  As we got further down the trail the weather started to catch up to Japan in August, meaning getting very hot.  The sweat and the dust made a most disgusting combination and I felt gross fairly early on. Also the dust got all in my eyes, nose and mouth as more and more people trying to get down fast kicked up even larger amounts of it.

By the time we got back to the 5th station all I could think about was washing my hands and face and I tried to use the mens room but a man wouldn't let me do it at first because I had a backpack (there are no trash bins on Fuji as is typical for Japan and I am sure he was trying to prevent people from dumping their trash in the restrooms. I dropped my gear next to him and went in and washed up as best I could with no soap and no towels.  When I was done  I waited for Martin who had gone to have a cigarette before we tried to figure out our bus.  During that time a nice old Japanese Tourist Information man came over and talked to me for a couple minutes. We talked about the climb and what I thought of it and he mentioned he had climbed Fuji 4 times (so I guess he isn't a fool) but had never seen the sunrise due to clouds covering the mountain. He said we were very lucky (I used my sun god powers as moon god powers for the full moon night on this climb) and that most people don't have that happen. We also talked about Boston for a couple of minutes because he had been there once before and wanted to go back. He gave me a couple postcards of Fuji for the conversation. Pretty cool I thought.

Martin was not coming to the restroom area like he said he would but I was sure I heard an announcement  for the bus wee needed to take so I searched that out and found it was going to be a couple minutes before it loaded and departed and hurriedly I searched until I found him and were able board the thing right away. Who knows when another bus would be there. It was so quick I never got to buy anything to drink. The ride down was about 45 minutes and I think I dozed off on it a bit.  When we got to the Kawagochiko Station we parted ways as he had a hotel locally and I had to get to Hamamatsucho.  I got right into the train station and of course the express back to Otsuki was already there and I had to get on before getting something to drink. As an express it did not stop at every stop but it still drove very slow which meant it took probably about 20-25 minutes to get to Otsuki. I think we had arrived at the 5th station at around 11:45am. By the time we got to Kawagochiko I think it must have been 12:15 or so. The train ride to Otsuki got me there at about 12:45.  I was able to book a green car seat to Shinjiku that departed at 1:04 and arrived at Shinjuku at 2:04. I then immediately jumped onto the Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho and was basically back at the room by about 2:45which was much earlier than I was expecting. I got cleaned up and cleaned my stuff as best I could before writing this then choosing to relax for a bit before dinner (recall I hadn't had lunch).

After a brief stop of less than an hour I headed out to find dinner. I think before I left I set it in my head I would get a pizza at the Dream Factory. You may recall I've been there on both previous trips. Hamamatsucho is dead on the weekend because it is mainly a business area and there was just no one around at all even though it was 6pm on a Saturday night. Not so amazingly I remembered exactly where the place was and entered to see a couple people there and some folks that were obviously family (if not all of them, probably all of them). I ordered a Sapporo draft and the pizza mezalone which is an eggplant and salami with basil leaves pizza. He does his pizzas in the very thin almost cracker like crust. It was honestly an excellent pizza if a bit messy to eat. The eggplant was sliced very thing but was across the whole pizza and slid off the top a bit too much. Nothing to bother me really. The taste was great.  I know I'm in Japan but I think pizza and beer was a good way to celebrate completing Fuji. Plus it really required little thought. The owner gave me a free dessert which was a couple of biscotti and some amoretto to dip the cookies in.  They were very good also. Meanwhile some of the other people started talking to me in halting English and were very nice. They were all older and were trying to figure out an iPad so I helped them with that a little bit and we talked about a couple other things in the best we could. They gave me a slice of their mushroom pizza which was also really good. I think it had about 5 different types of mushrooms on it at least, maybe more. I then ordered an espresso and finished that (as a sort of thank you for the biscotti). When I settled up I headed to the Lawson around the corner and picked up a can of Sapporo Classic and headed back to the room for the night. It was only 8pm but I was shot from the full 2 days.

The pictures from days 13 and 14 got mushed together due to the days being so and can be found here.