One of the county tops we did last weekend was Holly Hill. The views were magnificent…

Ten months have passed since that day where I bagged Brown Clee Hill in Shropshire, and got myself a new girlfriend on the way there.

(She was already in the car accompanying me on the walk… it’s not like I pulled over and picked up a complete stranger)

It has been the very best ten months of my life.

Thanks, H.

That was a successful weekend… brought the projected completion date in by over a year!

Statistics

Total: 138
Done: 28
Todo: 110
Completed: 20%

First date: 09/05/2007
Today’s date: 26/08/2008
Days elapsed: 475
Days per visit: 16
Projected finish: 23/01/2015

Note… the total has gone down by one because we hit one of two equal tops of Brighton + Hove which in my book allows me to a) claim the county and b) delete the other one.

More Japan soon, honest.

I wrote a neat little program to help me with my peak-bagging. It also generates HTML reports…

Completed peaks sorted by Date

Statistics

Total: 139
Done: 24
Todo: 115
Completed: 17%

First date: 09/05/2007
Today’s date: 22/08/2008
Days elapsed: 471
Days per visit: 19
Projected finish: 09/02/2016

After a rest, we walked for miles and miles and miles because whereas Tokyo is this shape…

…Kyoto is this shape…

On every street corner there was a little shrine. Like you’d see newspaper stands in London. And I mean a little shrine… no more than a metre square, on a pedestal, like a little nativity-scene version of a temple. And then there were real temples too. Big ones. Anywhere they wanted one. We found a seemingly endless shopping centre…

…but even in here, commerce had to stop at regular intervals for yet another temple or shrine…

The whole city had such a stark contrast between new and old, although unlike Tokyo’s constant development, I think Kyoto had a boom in the late 70s or early 80s and pretty much stopped there, judging by some of the architecture. The old bits were more abundant too, and given greater priority. Even Colonel Sanders was Japanified here…

(Although to be fair, when we passed by a day or two later, he was no longer a Samurai. Disgraced his family? Or maybe head office complained.)

Two years ago today, I filled in the experience list. I swear I wasn’t using it as a checklist… in fact, I didn’t even remember I’d done it until I was just looking through the archives. But it’s fun to see what I’ve added in just 24 months…

03. Climbed a mountain
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
54. Visited Japan
75. Gotten divorced
83. Got flowers for no reason
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
127. Eaten sushi
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

Not bad work.

Sorry you haven’t been able to see my blog for about 24 hours. I blew my server up (literally) by getting it to simulate opening 244 million packets of wine gums. Long story.

We woke and checked out from our lovely Saukra hotel, went to the rail station, reserved seats on the Shinkansen and made our way to Kyoto. Separately.

Ok… not very separately, but we hadn’t realised that Sunday is Official Long-Distance Travel Day™ in Japan. We had the option take the next train in separate seats, or take the one after that and sit together. We were keen to get to Kyoto, and plumped for the former.

Tip: If travelling in Japan on a Sunday, reserve your seats well in advance.

There were several empty seats we could have moved to, including an unreserved carriage or two, but in Japan that doesn’t work. They’re a bit funny about things being orderly. The ticket inspector has a little pad which has a diagram of where everyone should be sitting. If anyone is not sitting there, it becomes difficult.

There are rules like… “If you have an unreserved seat and there is standing room only, and there are lots of free seats in the reserved carriage, you may sit in one of them - but only if you pay for the reserved seat.”

We’d already witnessed the reserved seat thing on the bus to Fuji. There were two ladies sitting next to each other and two empty seats to the left of them. One of them moved across so that they both had a little more room, at which point the driver told her off and made her move back.

So, anyway, a couple of hours later, and absolutely bang on time of course, we were pulling into Kyoto station. It was here that we really fell over Japanese maps. I’ve already talked briefly about Japanese addresses, and the way you must have directions to your destination to have any hope of reaching it… well in Kyoto we had only a map.

The map, of course, didn’t tell us which way was north. Nor did it explain which exit from the station was which. Kyoto, fortunately, has a giant landmark - the Kyoto Tower - right outisde the station.

This was not marked on the map.

The map did have, uncharacteristically for Japan, some road names marked on it. The roads in real life didn’t, though. So I approached a local advertising-tissue-hander-outerer and asked if the road in front of me matched the one on the map. He had to think for a while. Then he had to ask another tissue-hander-outerer. She decided that yes, maybe that was the road we were looking at.

In classic helpful Japanese style, she then handed her basket of tissues to the first guy and began to walk us the whole two miles to our hotel. They do that, you know. Fortunately, I managed to thank her profusely, and point out that yes, I did now understand the map, and explain that the world’s opinion of her nation didn’t hang on her personal actions. Finally, after half a pretty long street, she was happy to leave us to our own destiny, and return to her tissue-handering-outering.

I should mention the tissues at this point. The two big advertising opportunities in Japan (after giant TVs on every street corner) are freebie fans and tissues. You never have to buy tissues in Japan… just take a little wander into town and you’ll be offered three or four packs in the space of an hour. You have to look like you’ll understand the advert printed on the pack though - if they think you won’t be able to read it, they won’t offer them. So you have to walk along, carefully noting all the interesting Japanese writing around you - maybe pointing and laughing if you see the flaming chicken shed character, that sort of thing. If you can bluff them, they’ll offer the tissues and you’ll be quids in.

They’ll give anyone a fan because everyone else can read that even if you can’t.

Where were we?

In Kyoto, heading for the hotel.

Ok… so after a couple of turns we found ourselves passing alongside a huge temple. This was the western Hongwanji temple. There’s another, equally large eastern Hongwanji temple a few streets away. Kyoto really was the place for temples and shrines as we’d been led to believe.

And so to the hotel. Rather grander than our beloved Sakura in Ikebukuro. The sort of place where a white-gloved man greets you part way across the car park to take your cases from you. A place with huge glass windows looking out onto beautifully designed pools and waterfalls. A place where rather than telling you your room number, they allocate you a person to show you up there, open the door for you, and show you round. The sort of place where, despite the good deal on the room rate, there’s absolutely NO WAY you can afford to eat in the restaurant, or use the bar.

Just a little side note to myself in support of my peak bagging…

#1 - 528m - Tan Hill Inn
Keld, North Yorkshire (NY896067)

I’ve not yet visited this occasional employer of our very own DogBoy.

#2 - 515m - The Cat and Fiddle Inn
Buxton Road, Cheshire (SK002717)

Two visits so far. One (April 22, 2007) when tackling Shuttlingsloe, and another after Cheeks Hill.

#3 - 451m - The Kirkstone Pass Inn
Ambleside, Cumbria (NY401080)

Also not visited… but all being well, that will be fixed in under four weeks’ time.

#4 - 432m - The Warren House Inn
Postbridge, Dartmoor (SX674809)

I’ve been here once, maybe around 2001 (and have a couple of letterbox stamps to prove it!)

On my last trip to Dartmoor last year, we failed to go in due to soakedness of the members of the party who had unsufficient waterproofs. They do good pie and I shall therefore introduce H next time we’re there.

#5 - 404m - The Lion Inn
High Blakey, North Yorkshire (SE678997)

Also not visited. The Kirkstone, Tan Hill and this one form a kind of line across approximately the same latitude. Looks like one to do next time we’re going up to Newcastle.

It was Saturday and Tokyo was a completely different city. With the exhausted salarymen crashed out in their suburban homes, there was a distinct air of kicked-back-ness.

We had a plan to visit three distinct regions… Yoyogi, Harajuku and West Shinjuku for a daytime trip up the metropolitan government building. On looking at the map, we realised that these places weren’t all that far apart from each other and decided (slightly foolishly, it turned out) to walk between them.

Yoyogi station brought us into, strangely enough, Yoyogi park. In a place as short on space as Tokyo, it was a real surprise to find a 175 acre forest, but that’s exactly what we found. In 1912, the Japanese parliament dedicated a shrine to Emporer Meiji - he of the Meiji Restoration when Japan opened its borders and modernised to what we see today. People from all over Japan donated their time and their saplings and the forest was planted. In the subsequent near-century, it has matured into a bona fide forest. Impressive.

Torii gate at the Meiji shrine, Yoyogi
Everything around the shrine is grand. The torii gates are the height of four-storey buildings. The emporer was, apparantly, partial to a little bit of the old happy juice and so a liquid donation was made by several French wineries and Japanese sakeries (warning: not a real word) with barrels adorning the sides of the path.

Sake barrels at the Meiji shrine, Yoyogi

We met a very chatty gentleman - I think he’d clocked we were not Japanese (a simple task) and wanted to practice his English. He was very knowledgeable and was interested in where we’d been and where we were going to. In fact, it was here that our itinerary would begin to change, but for now we chatted about emporers and earthquakes and fish and things like that. We explained we were going to Harajuku next, and he asked why we’d be going there. I began to explain about popular culture over here and he stopped me, rummaged in his bag and brought out a dictophone. I was interviewed about Harajuku.

I seem to remember he was a teacher, and I assume he wanted a recording to play to his class. I hope so, anyway. We bade farewell and headed out of the other end of the park which brings you neatly to Harajuku, spiritual home of Japanese youth culture.

Harajuku Girls

This is where gang culture is absolutely rampant, though the worst the gangs will do is look slightly condescendingly at the choice of clothes of a rival gang member. We spotted the eighties gang and the rock gang and the frilly gang and the dirty-old-men-ogling-the-pretty-girls gang.

I went in a shop and bought some nonsensical t-shirts bearing such wisdom as Luck Is Given To The Person Who Is Enjoying The Ball and The RIDERS the NATURE have known, FUNKY BLANKEY MONKEY. Only a fiver each, what a bargain.

Now, the aforementioned folly. That was the bit where we walked from Harajuku to Shinjuku. You see, Tokyo is made up of lots of little town centres, most of them on the Yamanote line - did I mention the Yamanote line yet? Between the town centres is, essentially, urban suburbs if that makes any sense at all. So after the first street, they were all pretty much the same, and it was a long walk. We had headed south from Yoyogi, through the park to Harajuku, and now had to head north again. In the blistering heat it was, as I said, a long walk.

A great bonus, though, as we approached Shinjuku, we spotted the Sunflower Building. I’ve already mentioned how difficult addresses are in Toyko, and we knew that the all you can deep-fry place was in the Sunflower Building, but didn’t know where the Sunflower Building was, except now we did, it was in front of us.

West Shinjuku skyscrapers

Location noted, we walked through the skyscraper district for our second trip up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) Building, this time in daylight. It was good to be able to pick out some things we’d actually visited this time.

Drinking fountains. I forgot to mention them. All over Tokyo are drinking fountains. It’s wonderful to be able to take a free drink and/or top up your water bottle in any park/open space/public building/street corner. Well done Tokyo.

After our aerial views, and copious use of the TMG Building drinking fountain, we descended the 45 floors and made our way to the Sunflower building and thence up to the 8th floor for our deep-fry fun.

“O KYAKU SAMA DE~!”, the Maitre D’ shouted.
“There’s a customer”

“IRRASHAIMASE!!!!” came the shout from every single member of staff.
“WELCOME!”

Whenever any customer appeared, this cry would go up. There were lots of other call-and-answer things going on… “What do we say in the morning?” “GOOOOOD MORNING!!!!!!” It was certainly a lively place.

The all-you-can-deep-fry place was fascinating and Would Not Work™ in Britain. There are too many ways to die:

1. A deep fat fryer sunk flush with every table. One spill of a drink could send boiling fat into the air.
2. A deep fat fryer sunk flush with every table. When they’re not frying they look very, well… calm. It would be easy to forget that’s it’s VERY HOT and put your finger in and NEARLY DIE.
3. Raw food and self cooking. The threat of food poisoning, while very low in Japan on the whole, is very real. You’re handling raw food, cooked food and salad so proper coordination of plates and implements is important.
4. Even if you survive the visit, the huge coronary you’ll suffer later is worth considering.
5. …and the shock of the cleaning bill to get the smell of deep fat frying out of your clothes. Let’s just say, don’t turn up in your Sunday best, eh?

Almost certain death on so many counts

But it was oh so good, and we found our first tentacle. With suckers on and everything. It was hiding in a dumpling.