cmon onsen
So Long, My Dear
So I moved out of Chelmsford, sold my beloved drumkit and all my furniture, got drunk with friends for a final time, hugged my mum and dad and got on a plane. I was nervous for the two weeks leading upto departure, even though I had been planning this trip forever.
I felt guilty for leaving Golden Staph and Bermuda. I felt nervous about not having enough money. I felt excited about not having a job and felt utterly daunted by not having the slightest clue about what i was about to do.
I was as ready as I would ever be.
Sydney
We hadn’t even taken off from Perth before I got my first dose of Sydney culture - An Ed Hardy douche-bag. He was covered head to toe in the sequin range and was an eyesore on the red-eye.
Without much sleep, I test out my pack carrying skills on the way to Shag Cottage. I am thinking more about the unconfirmed birth of my niece than the post-cyclone drizzle that I am walking in. The familiar surrounds of Elizabeth Bay engulf me and I am happy to be back, after only being here a few weeks prior with the Golden Staph/Taco Leg tour.
Sleep is all i can think about. So I do.
I awake to what seems like a billion phone calls and SMS messages. Most were from Commonwealth Bank (I somehow got approved with a credit card. They think 12K is an appropriate limit!), but then there was one from Conor: “It’s a girl, Bonnie Bee O’Brien has arrived with lots of red hair, weighing 6-9 pounds and perfect”. Holy shit. I am an uncle.
I head to fratelli (my favourite cafe) for a coffee, before hill-bombing to meet Rob, Ash and Kasia. They had been at a filming for Ready Steady Cook and were in awe of Peter Everitt. We head up to Surry Hills and get some Pastizzi. Amber and Tim had put me onto this place and boy, is it good! I go for the spinach and cheese and then a curried vegetable one.
A quick skate back to Elizabeth Bay and I am quick to hit the couch. I haven’t really done too much today, but it has worn me out. I watch a bunch of Grand Designs on the gogglebox and then head up to Lizzie Bay Gourmet, where I get their homemade bangers and roasted vegetables. Fucking hell it was good. The baby carrots had a slight tinge of mustard in their juices and the peas were minty fresh. Bloody ripper mate.
Bonnie Bee O’Brien
Miss Chu (Darlinghurst?East Sydney?) is great. I missed out on eating there the previous day with the other Perthonites, but it is my first stop the next day. Shredded duck pancake and steamed pork bun for breakfast.
Next stop is Gordon’s Bay. I had a perfect time there on tour and was keen to re-live it. After walking from Coogee and doing an questionnaire on bottled water (thanks bloke, from Uni of Sydney), I arrived at the site. It wasn’t crowded like last time. In fact, there are no young people here at all. There are about 4 people and one of them is an elder, fat, browner-than-you nudist. I walk a little further up, but still cop the dirty old man bending over in my peripherals. yuck. oh well, at least the water is nice. I head back to town with a slight detour at circular quay. Chong is picking me up at 5pm to visit Amanda, Bonnie and Conor at the hospital: his beard is as fierce as I remember.
We pick up his wife Ash along the way. She is great, full of beans and ecstatic about the baby. “I will allow you twenty seconds, Pat. Otherwise I will push you out of the way to get in there.” They both offer me advice about Japan and tell me of a wonderful whiskey at Narita duty free, which is contained in a ceramic, tiger-shaped bottle.
Bonnie is the cutest baby I have ever seen. She has a little bit of orange hair and is really long in length for a baby of her size. She has big grabby hands and is loud! Conor and Amanda have their work cut out for them.
I was really touched to be able to hold Bonnie and see her in her infancy. I didn’t think that I would even see her for at least six or eight months. Conor and Amanda are beaming with positive energy and I have never seen either of them so happy or proud. It feels great to know that I am part of a beautiful family.
How To: Travel Toothbrush
01: Buy an ordinary toothbrush.
02: Locate the desired length along the handle of the toothbrush.
03: Using your index fingers, bend the toothbrush at the desired point. Continue back and forth motions until the toothbrush divides into two.
04: Discard the unwanted piece of toothbrush into a bin.
D-Day
Going to Sydney was nothing. I have done it plenty of times before. Shit was suddenly real. I was going to Tokyo!
I have a serious dilemma in regard to my digital SLR camera. I hadn’t really planned on using it all that much, because I was taking two other cameras. And it weighs alot. And it has lenses. And chargers. And chords… I leave it with Conor and my pack and conscious rest at ease.
In typical circumstances, my earphones die in the taxi on the way to the airport. I replace them and get a cheeseburger stunner deal, which is far from stunning. The flight was pretty gnarly. Eight hours in all. I tried to watch a few movies and ended up crashing out for about half of the trip. Both the passengers beside me have face masks on, which leads me to think that I smell bad. We land at Tokyo Narita Airport and it is brutally cold. I am talking five degrees. The fact that it is raining does not help.
I manage to get through customs with only a few head nods and then I board the local train into inner Tokyo. Not realising that there are expresses etc, I find myself on the one that stops at every station, meaning to get to my destination of Asakusa, it takes about two hours. I am pooped by this stage and freezing my balls off, walking around in the rain for an internet café soon loses its novelty and I retire into the local starbucks to scab their internet – which fails. I stop at MisterDonut, where I figure they may have Wi-Fi. Donut heaven, Wireless hell. Fuck. This is gnarly.
I end up climbing up four flights of stairs on a hunch that there was an internet café. Well, I was right but by judging on the amount of porn that was in that place, people use the term ‘internet café’ loosely. The dude tells me that they are full, so I leg it a few blocks and finally get on the internet at another café. I am sick of the internet by this stage.
It turns out that the capsule hotel is right next to where I started, in fact it is exactly forty metres from the train station that I got off at. I go to check in but I am way early. So I leave my bags and go wandering around Asasuka for a few hours to kill the time. I see a few traditional things including a temple, some old shops and a garden. I participate in washing and purifying ritual involving my hands in this statue. Pretty rad. Another Japanese tourist saw me do it and asked if I could photograph her doing the same. I did, but she looked retardo. I pointed out a face that she did in the photo and she thought I was asking for money! Jeez Louise.
Anyways, I end up walking back to the hotel and getting a bowl of hot soba noodles to warm me up. A bit of soy and chilli and it is amazing! Not bad for 220Y.
I am still early for check in so I end up falling asleep on the commonroom couch. Before my kip, I met an American guy named Sam who is a DIEHARD photographer aka shithead. He goes on and on about staking out spots, ‘that perfect light’ and other random shit, mostly about his tripod. I think he helped me zonk out and sleep.
After waking up I go for another walk around Asakusa, this time with neon lights. I search the back alleys in the guise for a place to eat. I end up getting pork cutlet and rice and udon.
After getting to the shower level at the hotel, I come across a cultural roadblock. It is one big room. There is a hot bath or onsen. There are shower heads and buckets, and a sauna off to the side. It is weird. I go about my business and then head to my capsule, where I indulge in an asahi can that I purchased out of a vending machine in the bathroom.
The capsule itself is awesome. Like a tiny tiny apartment, it has tv, a radio and a light. It also has room for a few loose items and then a cloth type blind to the roll down for sleepytimes. I am thoroughly impressed.
It is a good nights sleep.
Tokyo
I wake up not nearly as early as I should have. My intention was to hit the fish markets nice and early so I could see some of the action. I end up going at 9am, which is still too late.
By the time I had navigated the subway and walked into the world’s largest fish shop, vendors were started to wash down their stalls and bag up the last of their stock. I still managed to see people hacking up fresh tuna, writhing sea snakes, weird red-blue octopi, and a whole bunch of other weird seafoods.
As I had not eaten yet, I figure I deserve a splurge and head to a sushi and sashimi bar which is part of the markets. I get a decent set of tuna, mackeral, prawn, salmon roe, eel and scallop. All fresh. All raw. I think this is the most sashimi that I have eaten in about 4years, all rolled into about 25 minutes. I wasn’t sure how my stomach would go, but I didn’t vom and it all tasted great! As we were at a fish market, the miso(naturally) had prawn heads in it.
From here, I walk and walk, up through Ginza and then the winding road to Roppongi. Along the way I head past the Tokyo Tower, grab a beer from 7-11 and walk through some nice gardens.
Roppongi is mad. I follow liams advice and head to the hills development. In the first tower, I ascend 52 floors to the mori art museum and the Tokyo skyline lookout. Breathtaking views and great contemporary Japanese art. I also snapped polaroids of the view from the window.
After stooging the train guards a few times, I thought I had a fail-safe method for minimum fares. WRONG. A few hundred yen and I am off to Shibuya and the crossing for which this destination is so famous. It is gnarly, but not nearly as brutal as it is made out to be. You cross it and it feels like any other intersection. You view it from Starbucks - level 2, and it seems insane! I shoot some photos and meet some dickbrain American missionary named Steve who is about to get married after “My mission to japan, to film promo for our church”.
From Starbucks I wander up to Shibuya 109, where I am rudely awakened to the world of young Japanese girls! There are 9 levels of independent girls clothing companies. I get some odd looks from people and the odd stare. After leaving with a blush on my face, I follow round the corner a bit and then back to the crossing for a final look.
Next stop Akihabara. So many electronics! So many stores. I dodge the girls dressed as anime characters and wander into a huge store where I peruse the HD video capable point and shoots. It doesn’t look like I will be getting a bargain, but I find a second hand one for 7800Y. 123 Australian Dollars. Not too bad. I might have to go back for this one.
By this time I am completely fucked. I head for the station and then to a local eatery where the specialty is beef, onion and rice(Shabu Shabu). I devour my meal and then head for the hotel to catch up on a few things and chill. I hang with a few older British dudes and then head for the capsule. Such a good little room. Better get some sleep for it is off to Nikko in the morning!
Playlist One
My Bloody Valentine
Beaches
Devo
Sonic Youth
Animal Collective
Black Mountain
Massive Attack
Bon Iver
Nikko
I wake up and gather my things. I still need to sort my money out before I get going. Bloody ‘Commonfilth’ bank card that doesn’t work at all god damn it.
Anyways, off to the onsen to bathe with about 6 old fat naked Japanese business men. Yep. I got naked with a whole bunch of old naked Jap’s. Sitting on a little stool and washing yourself in the presence of others is quite strange. I got a few weird looks from one guy, mainly because I wasn’t fat, and that I had two tattoos jumping off my skin. I rinse hurriedly and then get the fuck out of there.
In the lobby I manage to get hold of Camille on skype and we talk about our different cities. San Fran sounds a long way away. After a few minutes I need to bail in order to get this bank shit under control. The weather is perfect outside, so as I get up, I grab my board, giving me my first chance since Sydney to have a roll.
This is my first real test, or at least first test that I wasn’t a baby about. I didn’t have enough Yen to make a call, nor did I know how to withdraw funds from my bankcard as my previous attempts had failed. I emailed the bank and got no response. Bum. I panicked a little and then went to play the Australian citizen card, emailing the consulate too. No luck there either. Fuuuck man. I remember that my card had been able to buy things with the little I had in my streamline account, so I skate down the road to 7-11 and tried to buy some supplies for the upcoming trip to Nikko. ‘Cash only, arsehole’ was the rough translation that I got. So then I went for the big gun. Straight to Tobu Rail itself to see if I could get onboard with my mastercard. Computer says, yes.
I ask to use a phone and then she talks some shit about blah blah post office. At that point I realise that I might be able to withdraw cash from the ATM at the post office. So I get on my board again and push down the road. I have an hour to kill til my train. The ATM works miracles and here I go: 7-11 for supplies, karage and sweet rice for breakfast and then its saiyonara to the capsule hotel and off to Asasuka station.
The trip starts off slowly, but as it is above ground, I get so see a new side of outbound Tokyo and the start of rural Japan. A man named Suke and his son sit in my booth and strikes up a conversation about half an hour in. He tells me about his background, his commuting patterns and his children. I meet his youngest who is four years old. He enquires into my background and into my travel in Japan. He thanks me for the chance to speak English again and is off.
The trip takes a few hours and I had packed snacks for along the way. The scenery outside changes immensely, into a long run of fields and houses into towns and such. It then starts getting closer to the hills outside and then into the valleys. By the time we arrive at Nikko, we are at 540m above sea level.
I explore the town for a while and then wait for the bus to Yamuto Onsen. I have a skate in the little square of the town and nail a couple of tricks, with applauds from the locals(the tricks weren’t that special). I get chatting to a Taiwanese bloke who explains he is in Nikko with his wife to make up for missing a honeymoon with her for some reason. He minds my bags as I head for a lighter, in the thought that I will need to make a campfire, as that is my plan once I get to the onsen.
The bus ride is spectacular. We wind up hill after hill until I realise that they are mountains. Snow starts to be evident at the bottom of the hills, something I wasn’t really expecting. Here I was being gung-ho about camping in the wild of Japan, not realising that I was headed to a snow-town! The tempreture hits when I get out of the bus. It is absolutely fucking freezing. There is about 3 foot of snow in all directions. Although I should be thrilled about seeing snow for the first time, I am daunted by the sheer volume of it. It is clear that there will be no camping tonight.
I walk up a hill to see if I could find any undercover spots or miraculous snow-less ground. I cannot. I then consider breaking into an abandoned petrol station, which fails. The only spot left is the visitor information booth. I figure that that is my spot and then get organised. I eat the sushi I brought and I start to drink the weird suntory drink. It is not beer like I thought. From here I don’t really know what to do, so I get up to go for a walk. I figure I will see the town in which I am about to dwell in. In getting up, I drop my hip flask and it springs a leak. FUCK.
This nojuku is becoming NO-nojuku. I buy a Coke from a vending machine in the snow and fill the remainder of my whiskey into the bottle. After going back to the visitor information booth, I settle in only to have a bus pull up and the guy rush me out. I try feebly to communicate with him and say “my accommodation failed and I was going to sleep here. Can I sleep here”? “NO NO NO NO”. Then I realise he means he is driving back to Nikko and that I must go with him. I am stoked. The bus is going to be warm as hell. It is.
Now I am in a similar predicament, what to do about accom in Nikko. I think I might find an internet cafe or just sleep at the bus shelter. I cannot really afford too much on accommodation, so the latter makes more sense.
I try to get comfortable in the ‘Waiting Room’ of the JR station. More like the sitting room of the devil. There are no benches and the floor is the only answer. It is cold and made of granite. After taking out my pillow(my unsused clothing and towel, combined together), I realise that I had left my sleeping bag back at Yamuto-Onsen. Once again, I panic and then fall calm to the realisation of failure. I will have to get another along the line. I try to sleep to my ipod which plays Smog, Sigur Ros and Mogwai and end up getting about five hours worth of sleep.
Shogun-Town
At 4:30am the lights come on and I pretend to act asleep as a guard comes over and checks me out. He doesn’t wake me nor say a thing on the matter. I arise and buy a coffee(out of a vending machine), before going and unloading my ‘change of diets’ poo. It is not the right colour, texture, smell or feeling. I then act on a brainwave from the fairly sleepless night from before. If I get the first bus to Yamuto-Onsen, I can regather my sleeping bag! So I kill an hour by waiting inside and then jump on the first Tobu line bus that I see.
The view outside the bus is more dramatic than I remembered from the previous day. The sun is coming up through a vast field of fog and what looks likely to be snow clouds. By this point, I had already realised that I had overlooked my childhood dream of seeing snow for the first time. It is so beautiful and cleansing on the outside environment. It takes the grace of a lace cloth gently draped over the trees and hills.
I get out at Yamuto and meet the Taiwanese bloke again. We have a chuckle as I explain my chickening out. He tells me not to be down on myself. We chat about the hot springs and about the landscape. He tells me to just ‘waltz in’ to the hotel he stayed at for a hot spa in the natural waters, which I store away in the memory bank. We say our farewells and then they hop on the bus, at which point I sneak back my sleeping bag from inside the waiting room. I head for the visitors centre where I find that it is closed. I read a map which shows me the location of a temple and a hot spring within a short walking distance. I head in the direction, following some decorative stone lanterns to the temple entrance. I slip over on the ice at one point and feel a damn fool. The temple is closed - but then again, it is 7am.
I take a snow covered bridge out over the sulfur spring. It smells like a billion bad eggs cracked into a bain-marie. The colour of the patches of hot water are a cobalt blue mixed with a bakelite green and it bubbles and brews. I then take up the idea of just waltzing into a hotel and using their onsen. It works a treat, even though I have to double back for a towel and kimono right past a staff member who welcomes me with a ‘konichiwa’.
The water is so hot it hurts. It must be about 50 degrees. It stinks like eggs and has little white bits floating in it, but I guess that is what makes it a natural hot spa. I then sit on a bucket and cleanse myself of my own filth and the filth of hot sulfur water. I feel like a real person again, I change and head for the bus. A brush of the teeth and some deoderant and I am fresh as a daisy. I have a few minutes to walk in the snow covered block before the rumble of the diesel engine. The bus gets moving back to Nikko and I am ready to relax and admire the view.
Right as we get to Churizenko-Onsen, I notice a haze about the air. As there is a scheduled stop, I get out and walk in what is my first experience of falling snow. It is so cold, yet so beautiful. I ask politely if my bus driver could take a photo of me, which he does and then mumbles in Japanese ‘you must be cold in just a Tshirt.’
Back on the bus and there are a few nods of the head as I slip into a slight sleep. Awaking just before the station, I get up and stow away my bag at the train station lockers. I walk up the road to the visitors centre and ask about accommodation. Turns out ‘Yusu Hostero’ is the Japinglish term for cheap accommodation, as the guide puts me in the right direction.
As I ascend the main drag of Nikko, I get to the historical 17th Century bridge. There is no way I am paying to cross it, so I snap a few photos from the main car bridge anyways. I then climb the stairs up into the World Heritage Precinct of Nikko.
Back in the day, a guy who worshipped the green mountains set up a religious sect of the Shinto religion. The Shogun got behind it and they built a whole bunch of shrines and temples for the worshipping of their Shinto gods. When the shogun died, they housed his spirit in a specially built mausoleum. This is basically what Nikko has to offer, a precinct of buildings and stunning natural forest AND A BILLION TOURISTS. Upon coming to this part of the town, I was swamped with gaijin BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, heaps of Japanese tourists. It turns out that every Japanese person has Sunday off, meaning it is the day to do roadtrips out of Tokyo. I try to overlook the hoards of people and experience the temples and shrines in a quiet and peaceful manner, however it is hard when people are yelling out “Is it in focus” or the equivalent in Japanese. After an hour and half I walk down the hill in the light snow and try to determine my next move. The crowds of people had turned me off the idea of staying in Nikko for another night, so I decide to get back to Tokyo and have a good nights sleep.
I board the train and fall asleep immediately after smashing some chips and a packet of Pocky. When I awake, I am close to Asukusa and my end point of what had been a fun time outside of Tokyo.
Back in the real world and I decide to get back into the capsule hotel that I had been staying at a few nights prior. It was cheap and because they remembered me they gave me a discount! I get set up and then go across the road to get my negs developed and cd’s made of my first 5 rolls of film. I purchase some face masks from the 100Y shop and then get some noodles from the local cheap place. I chat to some of the other travellers staying at the hotel. They span from Sydney, Oxford, Cambridge and Utah. We drink a few beers and get chatting about art and all the usual small talk you have with other travellers. A fairly nice group of people in the end. Sleep.
Nara
I get up and head to Ueno to get my rail pass exchanged. It was time to get out onto the JR lines. I then head a little further into the city and go to Akihabara for some Polaroid film and Fuji 200. Ok, so my chances were thin- but I dint really expect to be told that Fuji 200 doesn’t get made anymore! Crud.
Right before I check out of the hotel, I use the bathroom. I can’t figure out what button on the electronic panel will make it flush! There are about a million buttons and none of the seem to work. I try them all. I end up sheepishly closing the lid and walking off. I feel bad.
Tokyo station is next and I hop on the Shinkansen to Kyoto. I have decided to go to Nara for the night/following day. Hopefully I can see a castle and feed some wild deer. I probably shouldn’t keep eating so much pocky…
The Shinkansen is amazing. It is so fast, yet doesn’t feel that way. Although the outside world rushes by, you get used to the speed and then it just seems normal. We fly to Nagoya in no time, without being able to see mount fuji (it was cloudy). Bugger. Next thing I know we are about to get into Kyoto.
I go straight to the local JR line bound for Nara. I don’t really want to think about Kyoto yet. Not for a while at least. Once on the train, I get cold and my facemask comes in handy. Not only do I look like Shredder from TMNT, I have a warm face to match.
By the time we get into Nara, it is fucking cold and starting to get dark. I have only a hand drawn map to guide me to the hostel that I had seen in the morning on the net. I go up the main road, shrugging off the view of the pretty lake, as I was on a mission. At this point it is getting cold and dark and my fingers are going blue. I do a few laps, enquiring at one place and then rejecting it due to it being super expensive. It is fair to say that I panic a little here. It is dark and cold and I want to sleep in a warm bed tonight. No-nojuku here. I come across a sign saying cheap accom and then a shitty map, which doesn’t nearly describe the narrow and crooked roads that is Naramachi. I ask a local to help and he points me in the right direction. Half way up the road he comes running up ‘sorry sorry!’ he then guides me back to the sign and points me in the real direction, which is the other way. From there I follow his directions and get lost again. Fuck. Panic.
Another twist and turn and I end up finding the place! All emotion is quelled by the relaxed and cool nature of Katsuro, the young guy operating the guesthouse. He shows me around his traditional Japanese house, it is awesome! Wooden sliding panels and Paper screens. I would say that it is a hundred years old for sure.
After dropping my bags, I head into the twisting roads and malls of Nara. There are a few second hand boutiques that I check out. One has a new Thrasher T-shirt!. Other items of merit include faded harley shirts and some first edition nikes (which he is trying to sell for the price of a car). I follow the laneways for about an hour purchasing woollen gloves along the way. Dinner is beef donburi and some karage.
On the way back to the guesthouse I stop to load up my pics onto my hard drive. The internet café is rad. Super nice staff and for 280Y I get half an hour internet and free drinks, which I take advantage of. 2 coffees and a grape Fanta later, I am out into the street and the moderate snow, which has started to fall. It is big, sort of how it is seen in cartoons. I end up having to double back for my usb, but end up just chilling and photo editing til it is sleep time. I will have to decide if I wanna stay another night in Nara, but at this point all things are pointing to yes.
Sakura And Deer
I awake early and shower in the Japanese style bathroom. I am used to the whole ‘sit on a tiny stool and wash yourself’ routine, so it is easy going. Katsuro agrees to hold my bags for a few hours, so I grab my board and my map and walk up the road to Nara park.
DEER. EVERYWHERE. I didn’t realise how many deer there actually were. I knew that there would be some, but there are fricken hundereds. All the deer around the parks edges(closer to the city) are shabby and scabby. I see one that has blood pools in its cut down horn-stumps. Eww. Just as I get into the wild part of Nara Park I see an amazing setting of sloping hills, Sakura(cherry blossoms) and some grazing deer. This is the sort of thing I came for in Nara.
Onward towards the shrines. I see a botanical gardens along the way and stop to check it out. Bad decision, as nothing is in bloom. I seriously consider asking for a refund, however fail to muster the courage. On from the botanical gardens and it’s to the first shrine of the day.It is really nice, mainly because there are no tourists. I spend a good 40 mins walking through the grounds, admiring the building and the Shinto vibe. From here I walk up to Nara’s biggest tourist attraction, the Todaji Temple. A long pathway with a decorative gate lead the way into a large opening, where the enormous monilith of a building emerges. It is the largest wooden structure in the world (and it used to be 40% bigger!!) This is where all the tourists have come, so it means lining up and having to weave in amongst people taking myspace style shots of themselves in front of it. Up at the top of the stairs at the entrance is a huge pot, filled with burning incense. I pay some yen into the donation box and light my offering.
Stepping inside the temple, the first thing you notice is the statue of Bhudda. It is fucking enormous, like maybe twenty metres high. It has several smaller gold Bhudda around it, almost like a halo of baby-bhuddas. The other gaijin are putting me off with their snapping of photos and annoying American accents. I am mindful that I need to back to Katsuro to get my bag, so I descend the main road back into town on my board and meet up with him. What I fail to realise here is that I have overlooked one of my ‘things to do whilst in japan’ - crawling through the Bhudda. No enlightenment or long life for me.
Katsuro helps me find more accommodation, so I move hostels and then its back up the mountain. This time, to Mt Wakakasura(?), where I take the beaten path to the top. What I failed to realise is that in my gung-ho explorer mindset, I had missed the stairs that make the 600 climb a lot more bearable. Instead, I am climbing up actual forest mountain and tackling small creek crossings. When I get to the top, I am blown away. You can see for about 60 kilometers in about 270 degrees. It is amazing. I use the time to sit in the sun and relax, before heading back down the mountain. I skate through the park on the way back down into town, on what is the smoothest surface I have ever rolled on. I don’t see how it is any different from normal concrete paths, but it is FAST.
I head into the malls of Nara and hunt down the Thrasher shirt. I have to have it. Even though I said I would not buy any clothes. Consumer. I also buy a rising sun flag souvenir. All this shit that I am buying will need to be boxed and shipped home before flying out. I am gathering a fair amount of junk. After going back to the hostel and checking in, I leave my bags and jumpers and take only my skateboard as I head up into the neighbouring suburbs of Naramachi. The streets there are smooth and it is enjoyable rolling around and getting friendly smiles from locals, who I don’t think may have seen too many skaters hanging out in their narrow laneways. After half an hour of skating I change directions and circumnavigate back to the hostel. uptown I find a geisha walking home, so as I am bombing a hill, I snap off a photo, it didn’t work… Stopping along the way, I find a smooth parking lot and skate flat ground for a while. I haven’t done this in SO long. It took me back to the days at Woodlands Primary with Brad Ennis and Isaac Lukatlic.
The Hostel is warm, so I grab a beer and get on with researching Naoshima and Shikoku. I meet these two dorky British engineers who have been travelling for 6 months already. All they think about is how expensive everything is. I had gone out for a cheap meal of noodles which I thought were both great AND thrifty , whereas they were making there own and sitting in silence with each other OR being whiny and whingy about money. Fuck. I don’t worry about money so hard that it changes my mood. I don’t want to turn out like these two. They talk about the middle east a lot and I end up blocking them out and getting on with my travel prep.
Another Day, Another train
I wake up and get back to the travel prep. I change my mind from Kyoto and decide to head further West/South. Nagasaki looks interesting, so does Fukuoka. I think I will head over that way. I will be using the most of my Rail pass and it gives me another week or so to see some of that part of the country before meeting up with Amanda in Osaka.
I get on with the squat shower and then its straight to the JR station. I get the local line to Osaka, where I get out only to realise I was a stop away from the Shinkansen line. I head to Shin-Osaka and get on the Shinkansen, only to be rushed off by guards holding red flags. Apparently the kanji symbols meant that it was out of order. I drink a coke out of an aluminium bottle and then board the correct train. A woman and her daughter sit next to me, nodding off about forty minutes in. The lady’s head ends up rested on my shoulder and I leave her to sleep.
I watch as the landscape whizzes by, with a few moments sticking in my mind. The next thing I know, I am in Hakata, my destination since this morning. By this point had already decided to go even further south, to the extreme point that I can. I head to Kagoshima on two more trains, now I am tired. It has fallen dark and I am in serious need of food. It is hard to think that I just spent an entire day on trains.
When I get there, I find out that the youth hostel in this town is on a volcanic island, just off the main harbour. I get on a local train and am stunned of the view of the bay and island at dusk. The top of the island is shrowded by cloud and my fascnination with the landscep helps me miss my stop, meaning a good half an hour of sitting about at a dark, personless train station. With my error corrected, I stumble to the port where I board a ferry to go to Sakurajima, the volcanic island. I buy a beer and get directions from a ‘conbenie’.
Upon getting to my destination: the Sakarajima YH, I instantly regret my decision not to camp. It is a great big 1960s monolith, obviously built when the YMCA was a ‘new’ and ‘happening’ thing. The guy at the desk is cold. I fill out my paperwork and the woman comes along. She is colder. It turns out that there is nothing substantial to eat on this island after 8pm and the curfew won’t allow me to go to back to the mainland and get some real food. I pay for two nights and then leg it to a FamilyMart where I eat a myriad of snack food. As liz would say, it was a ‘snack dinner’.
I get back to the YH and then head downstairs to the onsen. The building is seriously like the one out of ‘The Shining’. It is big and there are virtually no guests (I am afraid of getting axed in the back by Jack Nicholson). The onsen is powered by the volcanic heat in the earth, meaning the water it is a browny gold colour. Kind of like bathing in a cup of tea. I rinse off and it is straight to bed. I have already decided that I am camping tomorrow night. I will be asking for half my money back first thing in the morning. This place sucks.
