After packing my bag it was time to go. Firstly we went to the post office, so I could send all kinds of stuff back home that wouldn't be usefull in Indonesia and the rest of my trip. Then I say goodbye to Shinya and take the train to Osaka. After some initial difficulties I finally arrive at the hotel, which appears to be close to the airport but far from the city centre. I take a nice shower and head back to the city, as I only have one day in Osaka. Firs...

Today = temple-day! But first we head out to search for a store that sells cheap Yukatas (= summer style light kimono). Unfortunately we cannot find them, so we continue to have lunch in a nice ramen restaurant and then head to a lot of temples! The first shrine we visit is Ginkakuji, also known as the Silver Pavillion. The pavillion itself is under reconstruction, which is a bit disappointing, but does allow us to see the details of the construction of the bui...

Although I still feel tired we wake up early and head out to walk the Philosophers' Path, together with a friend of Shinya. The temperature is still pretty high, and to avoid the big crowds ate the temples ini the city this seems to be the most sensible choice. After a relatively long bus-drive through the city we meet Shinya's friend, a French engineer that also spent some time in Delft. A short trip on a local train brings us to the start of the track. The ...

After sleeping in we decided to keep this a nice and relaxed Saturday. We explored the shopping area of Kyoto for a bit and especially the food market was really interesting. I thought it was very cool that there were all kinds of free samples of local delicacies available for tasting. I especially enjoyed the Japanese pickles. Around lunchtime we headed for a little restaurant with French style foods where we had a very nice lunch with Iku-chan (a good friend ...

After an early rise I set out together with Laurence and Helen to the top of the mountain. During the night we didn't get much sleep, and Becksy was too affected by altitude sickness to continue upwards. Luke finally also couldn't continue. Laurens, Helen and I made it to the top and had some time to find a nice spot to wait for the sunrise. The actual sunrise was really cool, and a good reward for the effort we took in climbing the mountain. After sunrise we w...