Edinburgh - Salisbury Crags

Edinburgh - Salisbury Crags
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

After a long silent period, my blog comes back to life!

Not in Japan any more, I am in the capital of the country of kilts, haggis, whiskey, tartans, William Wallace, Loch Ness... do you need more hints? I bet that's enough to guess Edinburgh, Scotland.

I finally found a job here and I'm staying in this wonderful town. Here you have a view of the city centre from Salisbury Crags, these impressive rock formations on the right. Edinburgh's Castle and the Firth of Forth can as well be seen on the picture.

Cheers!

Emerald Pool

Emerald Pool
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Statement: Japan's nature is amazing.

This picture doesn't need much description, it's a pool below one of the waterfalls near lake Biwa. It was really inviting us to jump and swim... although it's difficult to realize from the picture, there were about 7-10 metres to the surface of the water.

If you like hiking, try in Japan!

Trustworthy Japanese

Trustworthy Japanese
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

The fact that Japan is a very safe country is quite well-known, but many people don't know until what extent this is true. In this country, criminality rates are extremely low, compared to other developed countries.

Some facts: I lost my wallet and my cellphone and I got them back completely untouched, policemen are very rarely seen out of their 'police boxes', streets are very dark in the night and nothing happens...

Just take a look at the picture, it was taken when the shop was closed: the white and blue small metallic box is where customers are supposed to insert their coins as payment. Real Self-Service.

Sand Bath

Sand Bath
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

What you can see in the picture is called 'sand bath' and it's a speciality from the hot spring town of Beppu. They're usually located indoors in hot spring resorts or outdoors in the beach.

In short, it consists of putting a yukata on, selecting the sand 'pool' depending on its temperature, digging a hole in it and covering yourself in sand with the help of another person. As a pillow you're provided with a square piece of wood... it's kinda special feeling but I think I won't become a fan of this stuff.

Red Lotus

Red Lotus
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This is the famous red lotus, a flower that plays an important role in many Asian cultures and religions. Due to its beauty and to the fact that it grows in muddy swampy water, it symbolizes the purity and perfection over the sinful world and, usually, the Buddha himself is represented sitting down on a lotus flower or leaf.

In the picture, both the red-pink flower and the cone-shaped fruit, full of lotus seeds, can be seen. Both are edible and often used in certain dishes, as well as the leaves and stems. If you happen to see one of this plants, try pouring some drops of water on the leaves, I promise some funny behaviour!

Nigetsu-Do

Nigetsu-Do
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This nice wooden structure, standing on the slopes of Nara Park, is one of the most beautiful sights in town. It is situated slightly off the track (although not difficult to access) if one wants to visit the most famous places like Todaiji, Kasuga Taisha, Kofukuji... and, since it's not included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, you won't find it highlighted in almost any tour of Nara.

My opinion is that the atmosphere created at sunset is not easily improved: the wonderfully changing colors, tens of hanging lanterns that are lit, the city that extends below the sinking sun, a few locals who come here just to silently enjoy this moment...

Yukata Style

Yukata Style
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This is the month of Gion Matsuri in Kyoto. It is one of the most important events in Japan, and the climax of the festivities takes place on the 17th of July, the Day of the Sea (Umi-no-Hi), when there is a huge parade on the streets of Gion, the most traditional town in the ancient capital.

These days, many people wear 'yukata' (japanese style robe, similar to 'kimono' but less complex), 'obi' (the belt) and 'geta' (wooden shoes) and, since we wanted to purchase japanese clothes as a souvenir, this was the perfect occasion to buy and start wearing them immediately!

In the picture, Rebeca, I and Rasa are posing outside the temple 'Sanjusangendo' in Eastern Kyoto, Japan's longest wooden structure and famous for its 1001 statues of the Buddha.

Fuji - Above the clouds

Fuji - Above the clouds
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Some people would say that we were unlucky and couldn't see the land of Japan from the top of Fuji, which is supposed to be an incredible sight. Actually, Japan is a very cloudy place, and even thoughout the summer there are usually just a few days when visibility is good enough at the top.

However, on the day we climbed, the clouds stayed below 3000 metres, which gave us the opportunity to enjoy this alternative magnific view. The feeling was very very close to fly...

Fuji - Dormant volcano

Fuji - Dormant volcano
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This is a picture of the huge crater on top of Mt. Fuji. Due to the altitude, it was still partially covered with snow and ice in late June.

According to history, Mt. Fuji's last eruption ocurred in 1707, Japan's Edo Period. The magma didn't come out of this crater, which is significantly older, but from a new secondary peak, which appeared on the south-eastern slopes. Nowadays, that side of the volcano is still covered with recent volcanic gravel, completely black and devoid of vegetation.

Fuji - 3776m

Fuji - 3776m
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This is the true top of Japan, the highest point of Mt. Fuji: 3776 metres of volcanic rock and ascending zig-zag. We were so close to the summit and the weather was so nice that we almost forgot the exhaustion and the altitude sickness.

Although from a distance Fuji-san has a nearly perfect conical shape, it has a crater on top due to its volcanic origin, and the size of it isn't negligible at all. The trail you can see in the picture actually goes around the border of the crater, whose highest point happened to be on the other side of the spot where we arrived, and it took us about half an hour to reach it.

Blood Hell - Foot Massage

Blood Hell - Foot Massage
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

In the onsen-city of Beppu, one of the main touristic attractions are the so-called 'Hells'. They are natural hot springs, which are too hot to be used for bathing and are visually nice for different reasons.

We visited the Umi-no-Ike Jigoku 'Sea Pond Hell' and the Chi-no-Ike one, 'Blood Pond Hell', which receive their names from the color of the water, blue and red, respectively. It was not unusual that part of the next-to-boiling water was used for a foot massage bath... if you want to have an idea of the water temperature just have a close look at our faces!

Fuji-san?

Fuji-san?
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

The summit looks really close but... wait, those trees look too big and the top of Fuji isn't supposed to be covered with grass!

Of course, this is not the biggest mountain of Japan, but just a beautiful scale version of it created in Kumamoto's Suizenji Koen, 'the park in front of the water'. It's a Japanese-style landscape garden which, apart from Mt. Fuji, reproduces the 53 stations of the Tokaido, the ancient way which links Kyoto and Edo (old name for Tokyo).

Fuji - Happy climbers

Fuji - Happy climbers
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

As I previously mentioned, we didn't find many people on our way to the top of Fuji. However, we weren't alone either and, in this spot, we came across our improvised 'photographer', who was already hiking down the mountain.

At this altitude, the clouds had almost dissappeared from the sky, a rewarding sun was giving us strength and we went on, with the sight of traces of last winter's snow and ice outside our trail...

(to be continued)

Main Crater

Main Crater
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This is how the core of an active volcano looks like. It belongs to Aso-san in Kyushu, a place which I have recently talked about here.

The greenish color of the lake was due to the high concentration of sulphur and other elements, which also produce the dangerous fumes that rise above the main cone. It was relatively safe to watch this from the observation platform, since there were plenty of concrete bunkers to take shelter in case of sudden eruption and the local authorities were checking the wind direction constantly to prevent people from inhaling the toxic gases.

Fuji - The endless climb

Fuji - The endless climb
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

The ascent to Mt. Fuji is divided in 'stations', ranging from 1 to 10, and representing the height in the mountain. We decided to start from Kawaguchiko's 5th station, a usual choice located at 2305 m., and go up to the summit, at 3776 m.

This means almost 1500 metres of countinous and steep ascent, on a volcanic rock trail. It was the first time for both of us to try such a demanding hike, mainly due to the 'altitude sickness', and we were unsure of the result.

In the picture, Rasa is fighting hard against gravity. We were close to the 8th station, with a long way below us and the weather still fine...

(to be continued)

Kurama Onsen

Kurama Onsen
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Kurama is a small town, north of Kyoto, famous for its natural hot springs, called 'onsen' in japanese and very popular among japanese people and tourists.

In this picture, Andres and Alberto are enjoying a relaxing bath in the open air version of the 'onsen', which is called 'rotenburo'. The day was rainy and cold, perfect for this kind of activity :)

Notice a couple of typical details: a japanese guy with a small wet towel on his head and a (sort of) bucket, used to pour hot water on oneself.

Fuji - Stairway to Heaven

Fuji - Stairway to Heaven
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

I had been thinking of trying to climb Fuji-san, the highest mountain in Japan, since I knew I was going to live here for one year.

It was Saturday, June 24th. Summer solstice, a special day celebrated in many countries. In lithuania it's 'Rasos ir Jonines', dedicated to Rasa and Juan. One week before the official climbing season, a bit cold but still almost nobody in the mountain..

Rasa and I started the difficult path to the roof of Japan...

(to be continued)

Genbaku Dome

Genbaku Dome
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

8:15 AM, August 6th, 1945.

Hiroshima, a city in the south-west of Japan, became the target for the first atomic bomb (in japanese 'genbaku') used for war purposes. Thousands of civilian lives were taken and the effects of radiation prolonged people's suffering during decades.

In this picture, the former Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition building can be seen as a reminder of the tragedy. Due to its location right below the hypocenter of the explosion, which ocurred several hundreds of meters above, many walls could resist the pressure wave, while almost everything else in the city was blown off.

Deadly Blowfish?

Deadly Blowfish?
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Many people have heard about how dangerous it is to eat blowfish (in japanese 'fugu'), but not so many have actually tried it... there are many legends and stories about it, but the truth is that eating blowfish nowadays in Japan is expensive but safe.

Nicola, Nacho, Uge and I ate what you can see in the picture: a dish called 'tessa', which consists of raw fugu sliced very thin, 'tecchiri' or boiled fugu with vegetables, fried fugu...

Everything was very tasty and a nice experience in general, give it a try!

Girl-Lifting

Girl-Lifting
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This is a new sport, which has become very popular in Japan recently. It is called in Japanese 'Jo-Jou', which means literally 'Female-Lift', and there are even professional girl-lifters who appear in TV and magazines, and have groups of adolescent female fans who want to be lifted by them.

Once we decided to try ourselves and, with the help of Chigu-chan, Rasyte and a thick bamboo trunk, this funny pose resulted. Girl-lifting is very dangerous...

BTW, jokes apart, 'Jo-Jou' would be a valid reading for the kanjis of Female and Lift, forming a compound.

Itsukushima Shrine Bridge

Itsukushima Shrine Bridge
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

I took this picture inside Itsukushima Shrine, in the island of Miyajima, close to Hiroshima. It is very famous because it's standing on wooden poles, and when the tide is highest, the structrure seems to be floating on the sea.

We were not so lucky and couldn't be present at that moment, although the place is quite impressive itself, especially when the day is foggy in the mountains. Like Amanohashidate, this site is designated as 'Nihon Sankei', one of the three most beautiful places in Japan.

Rice Fields

Rice Fields
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This season in Japan (June-July) is called 'tsuyu', the rainy season, and it's the equivalent of the monsoon in mainland Asia.

Just before it starts, thousands of empty fields are filled with water and smalls rice stems are planted, usually with the help of machines. This rice fields are everywhere in Nara region, occupying almost every unused bit of land.

Multi-Stepped Waterfall

Multi-Stepped Waterfall
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

If you like waterfalls, you would have loved this one-day hike, next to Biwa-ko, the biggest lake in Japan.

The waterfall in the picture is one of the set known as 'Yatsubuchi-no-taki', which pour down the gorge that we climbed. And I say 'climbed' because quite often we had to use metallic handles and chains attached to the rocks to be able to advance, making this trail a difficult one.

Aso-san

Aso-san
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

If you start wondering if I have travelled to Mars, don't worry... this is just Aso-san, the most active volcano in the world, in terms of frequency of eruptions, located in the middle of Kyushu island (southwest of the main island, Honshu).

This hike, with Andres and Alberto, was one of the most exciting ones I have ever done. I had never seen an active volcano, and I was really shocked by the smell of the sulphuric gases, the desolated volcanic landscapes, the clouds of insects on top of the main peaks... and the unforgettable huge crater and its exhausts.

Meoto Iwa - The Wedded Rocks

Meoto Iwa - The Wedded Rocks
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This couple of rocks are a very famous sightseeing spot. They're located next to Ise, the village with the most sacred shrines, not very far from Nara.

They represent a wedded couple: the husband is the big rock and the wife is the small one. Both are tied by a sacred shinto rope, used to mark holy places and objects, and topped by a tiny torii (gate).

Although this is a very beautiful spot, I don't like the idea of the man being more important than the woman, a belief that comes from ancient times and is still present in modern Japan.