Japan (part II) - Nara, Shimanami Kaido, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Osaka

Did I mention that Japan is a great country...? Ok, so maybe I did already, but we really loved our time there and I just can’t say enough good things about it. So, here goes part two of our amazing three weeks in the land of the rising sun...

Japan is an archipelago of more than 6000 islands (another revelation for both of us) dominated by the four biggest - Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. Up to this point in the trip we had only seen a small part of Honshu so, as we prepared to leave Kyoto, Charlie decided that we needed a new challenge (at which point I got very nervous...)

He had been reading about a 70km cycle route - the Shimanami Kaido - which passes over the Japanese inland sea, between Honshu and Shikoku, by way of six bridges criss-crossing a series of small islands. Having run out of excuses why we couldn't possibly do it (apparently, me being unfit didn’t cut it and there was even a service available to deliver our bags to our final destination), I finally agreed. A couple of days later and our rucksacks were on their way Fukuoka (we waved goodbye to them at the local 7-Eleven, not entirely convinced we were going to see them again) and we were on a train to Imabari with our overnight bags. A few minutes walk from the tiny local station, we rented bikes and set off on our little adventure. Don't tell Charlie, but it turned out to be one of his most inspired ideas so far and we had two fantastic days of great cycling and beautiful scenery (I’ve blocked out the difficult bits i.e. the hills as they were worth it for everything we saw along the way).

The well-marked route started on a high bridge (the first of many climbs) before taking us across a huge stretch of water and out onto the first of five islands. The bridges were something to admire in themselves (see the many pictures…) and were great fun to ride across with their dedicated cycle lanes or sometimes even a separate cycle track running beneath the cars and lorries. After the very satisfying descents, we made our way along quiet coastal roads, through orange groves and sleepy villages, with hardly a soul around; and we were so lucky with the autumn weather – perfect blue skies and not too warm. The landscape was so different to the normal hustle and bustle, busy, crowded image of Japan. There was also significant ship building going on here. Going home from work after a hard day's welding to your peaceful picturesque, seaside cottage, must be highly preferable and more productive to knocking ships together in a cold, grey industrial city.

We decided to spend the night in a small guesthouse right on the beach (aptly named “sunset beach” for the stunning views across the water). We were the only people there, and were able to make full use of their private onsen, built overlooking the beach, to relax our tired muscles before collapsing into bed.
We set off the next day for more of the same, and a couple of wrong turns aside made good progress to the finish line. We treated ourselves to a bag of freshly plucked tangerines from one of the groves we passed - really sweet and delicious. Feeling quite chuffed with ourselves, we returned the bikes at Onomichi station and jumped on a train to Hiroshima where we were staying that night. I just about managed to eat dinner and drink a beer before Charlie had to escort (read: carry) me home and tuck me into the futon.

A quick note while we’re on the subject of food… As a non-sushi eater, I'd been a bit nervous about the whole food thing in Japan and was convinced I'd be living on pot noodles and snickers bars. I was so wrong... We both loved the food and, although it is mostly healthy, we continued to grow our expanding waistlines during these three weeks. From breaded pork Tonkatsu to Okonomiaki (cross between a filled omelette and a pancake), Yakitori (grilled meat on a stick), Noodles with bacon, cabbage and soy sauce (my new favourite) and of course Sushi/Sashimi. I can proudly announce that I am now capable of eating raw fish without screwing my face up (and sometimes even manage to enjoy it!) I don't think I'll ever be the biggest fan, but it does now mean that I'll be able to visit restaurants with my sushi-loving friends :-)

After a good nights sleep, we spent the next day at the Hiroshima Peace Park, which was a sobering experience to say the least. One of the most impressive things about the park is the openness and honesty on the part of the Japanese about the role they played in the war and the events which led up to the Hiroshima bombing. The people of Hiroshima continue to lobby for nuclear disarmament, including the mayor who sends an official protest every time a country plans to test a nuclear bomb. I think the most emotional part of the day was emerging from the Peace museum to see the burned out shell of the old administrative building, the only one to survive the bomb blast, which has been left as a stark reminder of the devastating effects of nuclear warfare. All in all, a very somber day.

From Hiroshima, we headed west to Fukuoka and the island of Kyushu. Here, we had arranged to meet a friend of a friend for a night out and to try some of the great food that the city is known for. Miyuki and her friends were brilliant and we had great fun sampling the sashimi, tempura, and raw chicken with wasabi (I know, I still can't believe it myself) as well a healthy dose of sake to wash it all down. Funniest moment of the evening was telling the story of how Charlie and I got together, translated by Miyuki into Japanese for the three girls, and listening to the shrieks of delight at this crazy English love story. Margot - it's still not the same as when you tell it...!

We've had such great experiences with the people we’ve met in Japan and, with few exceptions, they have been incredibly friendly, helpful, polite, humble and so, so respectful. We were particularly fascinated by this culture of respect which, we now understand, is steeped in Japanese history. The Samurai warrior-noble race, who dominated Japan for 500 years until the industrial era, had very strict codes of honour and loyalty, which spread through the wider society. The Samurai were legally permitted to kill any commoner who did not show them due respect, so the cheeky, irreverent, rebellious genes appear to have been literally sliced out of the gene pool. The country also shut its borders to all foreign trade and influence for nearly 200 years until they were opened again by American gunboat diplomacy in 1853. This meant Japan's unique culture of respect and deference developed and took strong hold with, it seems, little influence from neighbouring countries China, Russia and Korea.

Our original plan had been to spend a day in Fukuoka before catching the boat to Busan in South Korea but, unfortunately, political events got in the way…Following the latest round of aggravation between the North and South, and a LOT of deliberating on our part (read: indecision/going round in circles) we decided to give South Korea a miss and head straight to Vietnam. A bit over cautious in hindsight, but I think mums and dads were definitely more relaxed with this revised version of the itinerary!
So, on the day our rail passes expired and with flights to Vietnam booked for 3rd December, we took our last ride on the Shinkansen and headed back to Osaka. If only the onward travel had gone according to plan...

We had spent a couple of days exploring Osaka and getting ourselves prepared for the journey south (I was allowed to buy two new t-shirts as a special treat on the understanding that a) I had to find room for them in my own bag - not easy - and b) we had to go without food for the rest of day - even H&M is beyond a backpacker's budget in Japan). On the morning of our flight, we'd started our journey out to the airport in plenty of time, although we weren't expecting any real delay with the trains. Then the fun really started.... High winds had closed the bridge to the airport (built on reclaimed land just off Osaka port) and they were transferring us on to buses which were still being allowed to make the crossing. After queuing for at least an hour with several hundred people (very politely of course), we made it onto a bus and over to the airport. Much relieved and still with enough time for check-in and a bite to eat, we handed over our passports to the smiley airline staff. Then came the killer blow....

"Where are your visas please?"

I replied quite confidently: "It's ok, we don't need one, UK citizens get a visa on arrival in Vietnam"

"Ok madam, but it states here (showing me her computer screen) that you need to have a visa or at least an official letter of invitation and evidence of onwards travel"

I reply again (based on the very thorough research of my husband): "No, no, we checked and we can definitely get one in Hanoi airport"

"Ok, hold on please..."

At this point, the boss (who didn't speak any English) got on the phone and the 3 juniors fussed around her while giving us awkward smiles. This conversation seemed to last forever and as the clock ticked towards check-in closure, she was still on the phone and avoiding any eye contact with us. We had no idea what was going on and were going slightly nuts as we saw our boarding window slowly closing. We were sure they were wrong, but there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. After a good hour stood at the desk and with check-in now closed, it finally sunk in that we were going nowhere. In hindsight, we should have realised sooner that we weren't getting on that flight and that the delay in giving us any feedback was because the Japanese hate to give a direct 'no', avoiding confrontation and any potential loss of face wherever possible.

I was fuming, and in an attempt to stop me from exploding, I went off to find a computer to double-check the UK foreign office website. A few minutes later, I returned to the check-in desk with my tail between my legs having established that we did in fact need a visa and that the girls had been right… Let’s just say that my lovely lovely husband, who had been in charge of research for all our visas, looked crestfallen to say the least (I promise I was gentle…)

Despite our embarrassment and blatant error, the girls at the desk rallied round like you wouldn't believe. They managed to call in a favour with the China airways staff and delay our flight tickets by 3 days - the maximum allowed – and then called the Vietnamese embassy to ask them to process us first thing on Monday morning (in time to catch the evening flight). This was all happening on a Friday evening as the embassies were closing for the weekend…perfect timing! So we left the airport armed with maps printed out by the girls and a telephone number in case it all went pair-shaped. We even bumped into two of them on our train back into the city who insisted on giving us suggestions for hotels nearer to the embassy.

So we had 2 more days of wonderful (but expensive) Japan - and I had all the teasing rights over Mr Curtis for being a bit of a muppet on the organisation front. When Monday morning finally came, we were outside the embassy at 8.30am sharp, only to be kept waiting for nearly 2 hours before someone decided to show up and open the consulate section. Not a great start when we had to leave for the airport by lunchtime in order to catch the flight... Luckily, and to our great amazement, once they got going we were processed in under 30 minutes and left with shiny new visas stamped in our passports. I still can't believe we pulled it off... After that, it all went smoothly and we left on time from Osaka heading via Guangzhou, China to our next destination - Hanoi, Vietnam.

Lots of love to everyone and we'll be in touch again soon. And keep your comments coming - we love to hear from you when we're so far away and to feel that you're sharing some of this with us xxx

Other bits and pieces:

- The medical face masks worn by a huge number of the population – not just underground passengers, but also customer facing personnel in hotels, shops and cafes. We both found this a bit unnerving at times.
- The absence of spitting in the streets. This was a welcome change from Beijing and just one of the many differences from Japan’s neighbour.
- Feeding the birds can be a bit different in Japan. We saw an old lady feeding large chunks of sashimi raw fish fillet to a very greedy heron outside a temple
- The amusing hand signals that the white-gloved train drivers and guards use as they pass through signals and stations, pointing, ticking, saluting ... even when nobody is looking at them
- The entertaining toilets - i'd been warned about these before coming here, but they definitely live up to their reputation. From heat controlled seats to fake flush sounds that disguise your own activities - you need a degree to work out all the buttons!
- The habit of removing our shoes 10 times a day. They even have 2ft long shoe horns outside the temples to help the girls put back on their thigh high spike heel leather boots.
- The deferential service language which seems to be high pitched for women and a low grumble for men. The bus drivers in particular were hilarious, talking incessantly into their lapel-mikes in a low grisly, grumbly whisper (Charlie has got this down to a tee)
- The regular bowing – by bus drivers to their colleagues driving in the other direction and even by passing cyclists (I almost lost my balance on several occasions bowing my head in thanks to a fellow cyclist…)
- The inconveniently located mess of electricity wires right next to the most beautiful temples – were they not thinking of the tourists trying to take photographs when they put these up?
- The omnipresent “jingles’’ wherever we went – whether it was the tuneful announcements at train stations or the musical pedestrian crossings, this was a constant source of amusement.
- The fast food pork restaurant where we ended up paying 50 quid for lunch because we had the pleasure of being served at the seated counter by the chef!
- The overly helpful, yet respectful, taxi drivers. Sadly, it took us over a week to get over our tendency to believe that anybody that is nice to us must be selling something.
- The incredible work ethic of the Japanese people. Although it will be interesting to see how the country handles its major demographic challenge in the coming years.