Our last day in Japan!

Had a quick stop in Kamakura after leaving Mount Fuji but probably didn't do it justice with one night there. Think we'd reached our quota of temples by then and weren't as enthusiastic as we'd probably have been at the start of our trip. Still a nice town though (although Hotel New Kamakura is a bit overpriced!) and found a good place to Pooch-watch in 'Bowls' cafe where you can choose the size of the bowl you eat from and watch extremely small dogs meet'n'greet - taking a dog-friendly cafe to a whole new level.

Back in Tokyo and we met up with Joe again for bar snacks and a catch up. Poor Joe again had to suffer our barrage of questions about 'Do you find this to be the case in Japan...' and 'Why do people do this?...' etc.

The next day we decided to visit Tokyo Bay. The Lonely Planet doesn't really do this area justice. Admittedly it was a Bank Holiday and very sunny, but we really enjoyed it. There's a Toyota Showroom and lots of simulators, new designs etc as well as all the usual seaside kind of amusements. There was also more freakiness than you'd get from an afternoon in Harajuku.... aside from the driverless train we got there and back, there are malls a plenty, including one that had a false sky effect that changed with the time of day and " the dog run" - a horrendous floor devoted to accessorising tiny bag-sized pooches, where they can be seen parading around - we saw one in a mexican-wrsetling style mask and walked quickly out and as far away as possible. Ended the day back in Shibuya with an all you can eat affair - a rather poor selection of pastas and salads (and you had to literally elbow your way to them past hoards of hungry schoolchildren) but a huge array of cakes. As we ate, we took in our spooky Halloween surroundings (including most of the staff in full Halloween gear) and tried to work out what this occasion really means to people here as it has filled the shops for the last month and seems to be a very popular theme all around at the moment!

Finally, today, we went for a stroll around the Imperial Palace Gardens and to see the Palace itself from the outside. Very peaceful and a good way to finish our stay here.

It's been an amazing 4 weeks and we are so so lucky to have had the time to see as much as we have. The people have been enthusiastic, very welcoming and patient (!). We've tasted some delights and experienced a complete contrast in surroundings and architecture to the UK. We would really recommend a visit here, and, although excited about our next country, will be sad to leave.

Thanks for reading about our Japan adventures. We think China will be slightly harder to access the internet in, so here's a link to our itinerary which begins on the 17th Oct. Take care and we'll be in touch soon xx

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/CSE