Well hello again! I'm going to have to get better at writing these regularly! Following my last post, I spent another day exploring the temples of Kyoto, starting with Kinkakuji, the golden pavillion which was the inspiration for the silver one I'd attempted to see the day before and it was beautiful and perfectly reflected in the lake surrounding it. It had recently had a fresh gold coating applied so was sparkling. Also in the surrounding gardens were small st...

Well, as I haven`t written this blog so far I should fill in the last few days. The trip started pretty gently, as I had to get used to finding my way around. I guess this is what it`s like to be illiterate, finding your way anywhere just took longer to start with. However, I managed to get my Japan Rail Pass activated and got to Yokohama on the train straight away. I could immediately tell the quality of the trains, they seem to go twice as fast and be quieter ...