Picking up the pace

It now seems that every time there are a couple of days between blog entries, we have an enormous amount to catch up on!

Before I get to the 'we saw this and did that' - some insight into Japan we noticed.

Firstly, it must be one of the easiest places to travel as a blind person...there is an audible alert for everything:
-each station on the metro in Tokyo seems to have it's own door closing bing-bong
-the crossings in Kyoto sing to you when it's safe to cross
-the shopping streets in Kurashiki play light jazz whilst you wander between shops
and in most places you will find little speakers hanging from lamp-posts playing bird calls.

The second thing (and I am sure that this will not be a surprise to most of you) I am amazed at the ingeniousness of the Japanese. Only here would you have train seats that can be flipped round to ensure that you are facing forward no matter which way the train is going!! The place that people seem to have spent most of their time inventing things is in the bathroom and in particular the toilet. I will spare you a picture (although tempted to take one) but the very minimum is that toilets have heated seats...mmmm...slightly more advanced versions have a little squirty washer and speakers to play "waterery noises" to protect ones dignity.

As I hear your staggered intakes of breath I will get back to the program...last time we left you we were on our merry way from Kyoto...to a lovely little traditional guesthouse in a place called Oji in order to check out a very large buddha sat in a very large temple. He was indeed very big and the building he is sat in is said to be largest wooden building in world.


The big building and the very big Buddha


After this we headed off on a spiritual adventure up a mountain to spend an evening with monks in temple lodgings at Koya-san. The mountain and the temples thereon are one of the holiest peaks in Japan and it is said that Kobo Daishi is still meditating after over a thousand years...he's not dead, right!

The spiritual side of the trip was very rewarding. We were invited (and attended) evening meditation with the monks and were taught some basics of breathing and relaxation - the temperature took some of the edge off as you can imagine how easy it is to breathe freely with 2 t-shirts, a jumper, a fleece and winter jacket on...topped off with a beenie!! This is not traditional Buddhist monk garb, but it was -5 degrees, they do not have central heating and the walls are made of paper!! Morning meditation started at 6am and we just made it in time as a lay-in was tempting.


Temple lodgings

The graveyard of 500 000 tombstones. There is even one from a pesticide company in apology to all the little ants they have and will kill!

Escaping the snow under a tree

An unexpected highlight for me, although Cath might not agree, was the food. We were served some of the best vegetarian food you'd find anywhere...it was mostly different kinds of tofu, but not like the tasteless stuff you get in Sainsbury's. This tofu was complimented with delicately flavoured soups and pickles It is claimed that Michelin himself stayed at the temple and gave their tofu 2 stars (confirmed by two Frenchmen who were staying there and showed us the Michelin book) ...afterwards I felt a little guilty that we had gorged on a pack of chocolate chip cookies (just in case.)


A very guilty face - in anticipation of a tofu only dinner, Cath devoured a box of chocolate biscuits. Good thing too as she didn't eat much dinner!

As you can see from the photos there was snow everywhere which made the atmosphere quite magical - little Buddhas appearing through drifts and giant gravestones capped in a winter topping. There is still so much to share from our trip, but that will have to do for now as we need to get going to the next adventure.