Hak-oo-oo-ba!

On our first morning in Hakuba we got up super early to catch the bus to the famous Snow Monkey Park (apparently the only place the Macaque Monkeys bathe in natural hot springs). After getting two long buses we had a 45 minute trek up through the forests. All along the way were signs to watch out for snakes and all kinds of other creatures, but I was more concerned about the monstrous spiders they have here.

We eventually arrived at the Monkey Park and it was surprisingly scary – the monkeys were everywhere and even though they're obviously really used to visitors, they are still wild animals. There were fights constantly breaking out between male monkeys and they'd run around after each other, screaming at each other and paying no regard to the tourists that got in their way. It was amazing to be so close to the monkeys but it wasn't quite as natural as the tour guides made out – basically the hot springs had been built and while the water was naturally hot, sneaky Park owners had placed food in the water to tempt the monkeys in. But nevertheless, it was great to be so close to wild monkeys and they did look cute while they were bathing. You'll notice though, that every photo Kev took of me in the Monkey Park, depicts me with a look of sheer panic on my face. I'd been told not to look the monkeys in the eye as that is a sign to them that you want to start a fight. Needless to say, I really didn't want to start a fight with any of these monkeys and so I spent the majority of my time there staring at the floor so as not to even catch a Monkey eye! Kev, meanwhile, enjoyed the challenge of getting as up close as he could in order to capture the perfect shot!

When I decided we had tried our luck for too long and it was only a matter of time before we got caught in the middle of a vicious looking Monkey Fight, worse than any Saturday night in Glasgow, we started our trek back to the bottom of the mountain. We decided to take the longer walk to the train station, through the town of Yudanaka. I could not get over the size of the spiders all along the side of the pavements there. The spiders have these massive abdomens and they are bright green and yellow and striped. They just look evil.

We found the train station and got a tiny little train to Obuse (pronounced Ob-boo-say). It's here that the Saki factory is found and we had wanted to visit and try to some real home made Saki. We sat down at the Saki bar and ordered a couple of different samples. While we waited for our drinks I noticed everyone around me seemed to be dipping in to these little bowls of what looked like Sherbet, situated all around the bar. There were bowls of 'sherbet' of all different colours and these tiny little spoons in it for you to take a measure and pour it into your hand. Everyone was doing this and then licking their hand and in it's pink fluffiness, it looked like the sherbet dib dabs you get as a kid. 'That's a nice touch', I thought and I proceeded to dip into the closest bowl. It wasn't long before I realised that this wasn't sherbet, but was indeed the strongest salt I've ever tasted. The bar man told me, only after I'd discovered this for myself, that the plan was to drink the saki and then lick the salt – seemed a bit backwards to us Brits who are used to the lick, drink, suck technique for Tequila slammers, but when in Rome.... So we took a sip of Saki and a lick of salt, but the salt did nothing to ease the taste of the neat alcohol I had ingested. With or without the salt, I couldn't drink any of my saki, it was as I imagined meths to taste and not an enjoyable drink in the slightest. Kev however, went on to sample a few different types eventually concluding that the most expensive one was his favourite – think my expensive taste must be wearing off on him!

We were going to go the art gallery just round the corner where Hakusa (that's probably totally wrong, but something like that – the guy who did that really famous block painting of a wave)'s work was on display – but to be honest, we just couldn't be bothered, so we didn't bother! We stopped at the supermarket and bought ingredients to make a home made meal – this was a very exciting prospect for me, eating out all the time soon wears thin and I was craving a spaghetti bolognese type pasta dish. We bought some mince meat that we hoped wasn't horse (although I was up for giving that a go if it had been!) and later in the hostel, the owners confirmed it was beef and pork mince mix! Why chose between them when you can have both – I like this philosophy when it comes to food!

So with our pre-dinner bagged up we found our train and then bus all the way back to Hakuba and there we took the creepy walk back to the hostel. It's such a quiet, little place in Hakuba that they don't really have street lights so it feels really creepy walking around, although you know you're totally safe because you're in Japan!

The next day we were kind of both dreading and yet counting down until, all at the same time – it was the morning of the canyoning. I'd been so looking forward to going canyoning but I knew it was going to be absolutely freezing. We got picked up about half eight by a Canadian guy who had set up his business in Japan over ten years ago. For some reason, when western looking people speak Japanese, it seems so weird – but I'd love to learn to speak the language. We had a 20 minute drive to the Outdoor Centre, accompanied by Dave (the Canadian)'s two beautiful dogs – it's so nice to be able to stroke dogs without fear of rabies or fleas now!

At the outdoor centre we were kitted up with as much rubber as possible to protect us from the snow melt water that we were about to immerse ourselves in. So first rubber socks, then a rubber wetsuit, then a rubber jacket, then a waterproof hoody, then another wetsuit, a helmet, boots and rubber gloves – it was toastie in there...for the meantime. We got back in the van and after one of the bumpiest ten minute drives I've ever been in, we arrived at the top of a dirt track...in the middle of a forest... on a mountain... somewhere in Japan! Dave left us in the capable hands of Yasu, our guide, and got back in the van telling us he'd hopefully see us at the bottom, but if we were to see a bear in the meantime....just run! I knew there were bears in the north of Japan, but I hadn't realised they had them here in Hakuba too – suddenly, the psychedelic Japanese spiders seemed like friendly little bugs! My mind flashed back to the disclaimer we had signed before putting on our rubber attire – the final line of which had read something along the lines of... 'I fully understand that participating in this activity could result in death!'. I had questioned that final line before putting my signature on the line, but Dave had assured me that life was more dangerous in Tokyo and that was saying something, so I had signed my life away! During the Canyoning trip, Yasu did show us some bear prints in the muddy banks but assured us they were all hibernating now!!

We took a ten minute trek through the undergrowth and eventually climbed down a rope into the canyon. It was a beautiful day, clear blue skies, warm, but fresh and after that hike in all our gear, me and Kev were really looking forward to getting in the cold water! That excitement didn't last long! We were told we first had to check that our wetsuits floated so we had to lie down in the snow melt – the first snow melt of the year...lucky us! As soon as we got in the water, the icy liquid seeped into every part of our suits, but it was funny and we knew that once that first shock was over, the water would get insulated by our suits and we would warm up...that was the plan anyway.

So we started our descent down the canyon by which ever method suited best – abseiling, sliding down waterfalls, jumping off rocks, zip wiring over the edges...literally whichever means possible. The first slide was the hardest and it wasn't even that long. By this point we had soaked our bodies in the icy water, but we had yet to put our heads in. As we slid down the natural rock slide, we were plunged into a pool of sub zero (well, no, not sub zero because that would be a block of ice, but really cold!!) water. It was the cleanest water I've ever seen and looked like you could stick it in a bottle and sell it as chilled mineral water in the shops – but it's beauty was deceptive and that water was evil – it hit you like a brick wall and pierced every pore in your head with a sharp stabbing sensation which literally took your breathe away. I went down first and plummeted in at the bottom. As my head reached the surface of the water, all I could think was 'my god, I somehow have to put my thumbs up to tell Kev and Yasu that I was OK', but how the hell was I going to manage that when every part of my body was using all it's energy just to cope with the cold! I did manage to stick my thumbs up, even with a little smile, and I swam to the side to wait for Kev to follow.
We had successfully tackled the first water shoot but as soon as we got our breath back, we knew we were in for trouble as we couldn't even see the bottom of the next shoot – it was literally just the edge of a 10 meter cliff! It was great fun though and we continued right to the bottom of the canyon having the best time and taking some very unattractive photos along the way!

We got the the bottom and were gutted we weren't doing a whole day trip. The morning had gone too quick, and I really liked the sound of the 50m jump that you get to do if you do the whole day trip. We vowed that when we return to Japan we'll do the day trip for sure.

After changing out of our gear we were taken to a much needed Onsen (the hot spas they have here). It was scolding hot in the onsen and just what the doctor ordered – that morning had been like a temperature party in our bodies, from one extreme to the other, but we loved it and couldn't recommend it more. Kev even enjoyed his first Onsen, despite not looking forward to the prospect of sitting on a little stool, washing himself in front of other men and then prancing around butt naked between hot pools.

We went back to the hostel to lunch and then hired a couple of bikes to cycle out of some of the local viewpoints. They turned out to be miles away and I began to moan like a child, constantly asking, 'are we nearly there yet?' Kev said we would turn back but I insisted we carry on, simply because I didn't want him saying 'yeah, we only turned back because Rosy didn't want to carry on' (even though it was true that I didn't want to carry on). Kev insisted we turn back and I agreed on the proviso that it be noted that I had said we SHOULD carry on!! Sure enough though, we were about 5 minutes back up the hill and Kev said 'well, we only turned back because you were moaning so much', right, that was it, I started turning my bike around...we were going back! But eventually we agreed to head home (and I was very pleased, but don't tell Kev!)

The next day I was aching all over. Canyoning and cycling had used muscles that I don't think I'd ever used before. Somehow, Kev was fine, but every part of me hurt! Nevertheless, there was things to do and no time to moan. We had a lie in and then got on the train to Hotaka. There we hired a couple of bikes (again, I know!! I could barely sit down on mine and I seriously knew about every bump we went over) and cycled to Daio Wasabi Farm. This is the largest Wasabi farm in Japan and wasabi (for those who don't know) is Japanese horse radish. It was interesting to see what Wasabi actually looks like when it's not in a paste on the side of your plate of sushi or smothered over peas in a bowl by your beer in a London pub, and of course, I had to try to Wasabi Ice Cream. For those of you who don't have the opportunity to head to Hotaka and try Wasabi Ice Cream for yourself, there's a simple way you can experience this for yourself at home – simple look in your freezer and dig out a huge bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream (Dad, I'm expecting you to try this as I know you've always got Vanilla Ice Cream in the freezer!). Next, add to that bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream, I wanna say about 6 table spoons of horseradish sauce. Mix it together, put a little green food colouring in and then...enjoy....or not, as the case may be. It's not enjoyable in the slightest, but it had to be tried and while I was wandering around the farm eating my ice cream, some Japanese guy asked me 'how it felt', he could tell by the look on my face that this wasn't the culinary highlight of my trip to Japan!! They sold everything at the wasabi farm: wasabi Sake, wasabi wine, wasabi chocolate (Mum, I did think of you, but I couldn't do that to you!), everything. I settled on just buying some Wasabi pepper to sprinkle in small quantities on my fish back home, but that's as far as we went.

We headed back to the train station and got a train to Matsumoto. All we wanted to do here was see the castle, but actually when we got here we realised it's a pretty cool place and seems like a place that's worth spending a night or two (next time!). The castle was as lovely as all the pictures make out and I think I'm right in saying this is the biggest wooden castle in Japan. Inside you wander around the main tower right up to the 6th floor (although I only made it to the 4th floor – if you had seen the last two flights of steps you'd have known why – it was like being back in Cambodia with the dodgy steps, they were literally vertical!). Kev went up to the top and took some great pics. Then it was time to get the train back to the hostel for our last night in Hakuba. It was a sad night. Toshi and Meg, the couple who run the hostel in Hakuba are just the nicest people and we'd loved our time there and didn't want to leave – but at the same time, we knew we'd had the perfect amount of time there and it was right that we were moving on.

So the next morning it was an early start and a sad farewell to Hakuba as we hopped back on the train to Tokyo. At Matsumoto, yesterday, we had booked reserved seats on our long train to Tokyo, but once we got back to the hostel Kev realised he had misplaced them! We have discovered that if Kev doesn't put things in his money belt immediately, then he ends up putting them somewhere, and that somewhere isn't generally anywhere we can find again!! I'll forgive him for that little fault though as I think we've discovered many more Rosy-flaws than Kev-flaws along our travels so far!

Back in Tokyo, Shinjuku station, we put our bags in some lockers and headed to Harajuku for some shopping. I'd seen a ring there the week before but hadn't bought it as it was a bit pricey and we still had our whole time in Japan to go. But I'd not managed to find a nice ring elsewhere so we were hoping the ring would still be there, and sure enough it was. That was ring number 7 purchased.

Despite everyone saying you see the teenagers dressed up in the famous and crazy outfits on weekends in Harajuku, we actually saw more of them today that we had seen when we were last in Tokyo. They're amazing. They're outfits are awesome. Some look like Elizabethan or Victorian dolls and no-one bats an eyelid as they walk around...I'm all up for places where people can wear whatever they want and no-one cares, I think I'd fit in well here. And sure enough, I found some great shops and bought a great pair of shorts which I can't wait to get the opportunity to wear. Kev thinks they look more like a pair of pants!!

Having bored Kev thoroughly with shopping we picked up our rucksacks and headed back to the same hostel we had stayed at when we first arrived in Tokyo. We checked in and dumped our bags in the room and then ventured out to find a bar in Asakusa (which we recently learned is pronounced Asak-sa), which is the area we were staying. We ended up in a pub that we'd been to before, it's quite westernised and so it's easy to go inside. We knew that the westernised pubs are always more expensive, but some of the local places can be fairly intimidating. So we went in and had a beer and then decided to try our luck somewhere else. Just round the corner I spotted this funny little bar that looked like it was in a corrugated iron hut and inside everyone sat at tables which were made of beer crates – but full beer crates! Can you imagine having a pub in the UK where the tables are full beer crates and expect the clientèle not to just help themselves to your beer!! As we approached the door, so a drunken, old, Japanese bloke was coming out and he murmured to us 'where you from?', Kev said 'Scotland' which went completely over this guys head. Kev continued to try and explain, as did I, but this guy had no idea what we were on about. The bar tender came over and tried to explain to this guy, but this time in Japanese. It was a lost cause, but eventually this lovely friendly, old dunk man clicked and exclaimed 'Ah, Schotaland!!' - we all nodded and laughed and the old man stumbled off into the night – even the drunken bums are lovely here!! We went in and ordered a beer (which was about half the price it had been in the last pub!). I had a look at the menu and couldn't resist trying their Sashimi assortment (strips of raw fish – Tuna, Octopus and Sea Urchin – I didn't even know you could eat Sea Urchin!). Kev sampled a plate of Terriayki Chicken Skewers and the great food along with the great atmosphere in this trendy, little bar was just great and it made us reflect on how much we loved Japan and how sad we were that this was our last night. We had intended on having a really early night that night because we were getting up for the fish market first thing in the morning. However, we were having such a good time that we deicide to order another plate of chicken and fish and another beer each. Just as we were finishing that beer and preparing to head off for our early night, so the skies opened up and signalled to us that it just wasn't time for us to throw in the towel yet!! So we had another beer and waited for the rain to pass. We had such a good night and then wobbled back to the hostel.

The alarm went off at 4am the next morning and we crawled out of bed, heads pounding, and threw on clothes before creeping out into the dawn to catch the first tube of the day. The tube took us to Tsijumachisisho (that's totally wrong, but you get the idea) and here is where the world famous Tokyo fish market takes place. As soon as we got off the tube I knew we were in the right place as the smell was overwhelming. Suddenly the memory of that at delicious sushi I'd had the night before didn't seem so delicious as it swirled around with 5-hour-old-beer in my stomach! We walked into the market and it was just as I'd expected. It was manic, with crazy little trucks speeding around all over the place carrying enormous fish from lorries to auctions and back to lorries again. There were hundreds of stalls selling every thing the sea has to offer, from fish guts to whole Sea Urchins – I gazed at the spiky little things as their long lost friends churned around in my stomach!

We wandered over to watch the Tuna auction and I was slightly surprised at how small the Tuna were. I, of course, had looked at giant tuna pictures while working on Extreme Fishing 3, but Kev was amazed at the size of them. It was pretty gross and as the auction isn't officially open to tourists, we knew we were constantly in the way. It wasn't a nice feeling being an unwelcome visitor, stinking of fish and suffering with a hangover, all by 5 O'clock in the morning. One thing that did hit us though is that this is just one fish market in the world, which takes place almost every day, and sells an unbelievable amount of fish and those fish are so huge that they must take a fair while to grow to that size – it kind of hit me how big the ocean is if all those huge fish come out of it every single day – I know that sounds like a totally dumb thing to say, but the scale of it just hit me while we were there!

The original plan had been to go to one of the sushi stalls at the fish market and try the chef special platter featuring the best of the day's catch. But at that time in the morning, there was no way even I could go some sushi!! I'll save that for next time too! We got back on the tube and went back to the hostel to grab a few more hours sleep before we had to check out. We got another three hours sleep and woke again, still with a pounding head, and checked out. Our flight wasn't until the evening, so we stored our bags and went wandering around the local area. We didn't get to do much, except take paracetamol, drink coffee and eat burgers!! In Starbucks we saw this woman who was all dressed in the traditional kimono, but she wasn't a Geisha. She was beautiful though and despite having all the traditional dress on, she had died blonde hair, rode a little motorbike and was holding a Starbucks coffee cup – she just looked like a complete contrast all in one person, but she seemed lovely and smiled at me as I tried to take a photo. Other people were more bolshy and she posed for numerous photos with various tourists. I'm still not sure why some women wear the traditional outfits here on a daily basis – from my geisha experience, they're really not comfy, but it's so lovely to see them walking around everywhere.

After lunch the time had come for us to say our goodbyes to Japan and reluctantly we picked up our bags and took the train to the airport. We're not sure that anywhere else is going to live up to our high opinion of Japan and over our beers the night before we had insisted that we would look into studying Japanese when we get home – whether we actually do that remains to be seen! But I'm definitely going to get me a Japanese cook book. It was sad to leave Japan and know that we would no longer be eating with chopsticks, we would no longer need to struggle to get people to understand us and we would no longer be in the fashion capital (in my eyes) of the world!

But we had to get on our flight to Sydney and I was excited to get to Australia even though I was sad to leave Japan. The flight was fine and we slept most of the way. I watched 'The Hangover' 5 times (because I kept falling asleep during it) and it got funnier every time I watched it. When we landed in Sydney we were surprised that, even though everyone speaks our language here, it was actually harder to find our way to the correct bus than anywhere else we'd been to so far!! We ended up getting the train to the centre of Sydney and our hostel was a close walk. The hostel is huge and it's nice, but I feel about 10 years too old to be here!! The backpackers here are very different to the backpackers in Japan. They're much younger here and they're very loud!!

We couldn't check in straight away so we went for a wander and we were both ecstatic that I managed to get some hair dye and kev managed to get a hair cut. So far, I have to say, Sydney isn't filling us with love – but we've really not seen a lot yet, so we're reserving judgement. Tomorrow we'll have more energy to go visit things and of course we've got the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb thanks to Mum, Dad, Nes and Sarita. We're also hoping to get a ferry over to Manly as recommended by Mandy and Geoff from Halong Bay (in fact, Mandy and Geoff: when we flew into Sydney we had amazing views from the plane and we saw the national park and thought of you – the views were outstanding, it was really surreal and we were getting lower and lower and I thought at one point we were going to land in the water!!).

Enjoy the photos we put up of Japan while I ponder on the prospect of one more sleep in my twenties!! The big 3-0 is beckoning me and the next time I write on this blog, I shall be an grown up – in theory at least! xxx