Shinkansen Trip - Mark's perspective

Shinkansen - back to Tokyo - 27 September, 2008 - 14:25


Ladies in Pink waiting to clean out Shinkansen (Bullet Train)


Last day of our Japan rail passes, and we're heading back from Beppu, on the southern tip of the south island, to Tokyo, and finally to Kisarazu, where Satomi likes.
Beppu was excellent, despite my swollen foot, which made walking a chore, to say the least.
I think I actually got a bite when I was saoking my feet in the river in Kyoto. We had stopped at this great point in the river, after cycling all day from one end of the city to the other. We'd gone to the Golden Temple in the afternoon, and by the time we got there we were all tired and hot and not really interested in a gold temple, despite the fact that it was covered in real gold. Big wup.


In front of Kyoto Temple



Geisha in training at the temple


We had crossed a river on the way, and that looked quite inviting. Artemis suggested we ditch the temple and do the river, but we persevered, and went to the temple. She was right of course. So on the way back we stopped at the river, which was magical: right in the middle of the city, a beatiful river, shallow, and not too fast running; cool and clear. Our student guide assured us it was clean. There were stones enabling people to cross from one side to the other. The stones were either very large rectangular blocks, or where in the shape of a turtle. We hopped about, splashing and playing. I sat and soaked my feet, taking in the sites of Kyoto from this spot. School kids played in the water with nets. I dunked my head, and the Artemis frolicked. Caleb read and Lianna strolled. As my foot soaked I thought I felt something on it, and raised it out of the water. Nothing there. The next day on the train to Hiroshima my seond and third toes hurt. I thought I'd ovedone it in the hot tub the night before, as I'd done some stretching to loosen up. Lianna gave me one of her special massages on the train, to no avail. We walked around Hiroshima, and by evening the foot felt sore, but no worse. At one point Lianna asked me if it was painful. it wasn't. But moments later it was. Lianna and I shared a tiny bed, and my foot seemed to hurt more and more. It kept getting more swollen over the next two days. By the end of the first day in Beppu, the spa town, it was almost unbearable to walk.


Mark's foot

We all had a bit of a meltdown in Beppu. Either it was the reality of the train finally hitting us, or just fatigue we don't know, but we all were feeling kind of bored and tired and out of sorts. We had a talk that evening, and all agreed we wanted to fine-tune the trip. The next day was great, as we went to a monkey reserve in the mountains. They are endemic to the area, and live in this reserve, completely free to come and go as they please.
My foot was really sore at this point, so we took the monorail up, which we thought was a huge thing circling the park, but which turned out to be a short 3 minute ride up the hill. The doors opened and there outside were hordes of monkeys, all just mulling about. We all hesitated at the doorway. There were way more of them than us, and nothing stopping them from just coming up to us and attacking us.
There were somne very young children in our monorail, so we let them go first, as our personal sacrificial lambs. They seemed to be OK, so we followed them, hoping the monkeys would see them as easier prey than us.

Turned out the monkeys really coulndn't give a hoot about us. They went about their day, lyeing around, grooming each other and eating the bugs they found. Little ones ran around what we later learned was the nursery, where they spent the day, only to be picked up by their mothers at around 2!
From the monkey reserve we headed to the natural hot springs, for which the area is famous. Except we had one problem: I hadn't brought enough cash, and for some stupid reason, had left all our travbellers cheques at Satomi's! Our debit cards do not really work, and for some reason no one took credit cards in this town. Faced with a long bus ride, we really wanted to take a cab, but had not cash. The monkey reserve was quite remote, and there were exactly two cabs there wating. Japanese cabs are amazingly great: they all wear shirts and ties, and usually snazzy hats and white gloves. They have automatic doors to open for you, and usually run around to get your bags. And I do mean run. When you get in they remove their hat and bow their heads, letting loose a string of welcomes (I think) and proclaiming, or so it sounds, their service to you. They then drive in and out of traffic, missing other cars by millimetres, but missing them. There's no tipping, and they know where they're going and get you there fast.
So our cabbie took us to the hot spring area, and took our credit card, and we were happy.

At the hot springs they did not take credit cards, and we paid twelve bucks to look at a steaming pool. By now our funds were low, we were tired and hungry. unfortunately it was 2:45, and in between lunch and dinner. My foot was swollen, it was hot, and we were really hungry. Luckily the convenience store we happened upon had a full complement of foodstuffs for lunch. We drove the lady there crazy, as we used the wrong containers for the wrong food, picked up things with the tongs and put them back, left food on the counter as we waited for each other, and then I picked up one item and began eating right then and there before paying for it, which almost had here turn inside out. We finally paid and got out of there, eating our lunch at the bus stop. It was adequate, and better than you'd get at one of our convenience stores. So on we went, walking along some windy road looking for the hotsprings we were going to go to, and which I really needed at this point, as my foot was killing me, my back hurt from walking funny, and we were all generally tired. We stopped at one point and I asked Lianna to ask an old lady where it was. Sure enough we'd stopped a the exact street. We meandered along some tiny back alley passage, passing pipes with steam pouring out every which way at every turn, until we came to this little door. We went in and there we were!
This place had hot sand baths, as well as indoor and outdoor hot springs in natural stone settings, small tile pools of hot water, as well as wooden onsen. There was also a showering and washing area, which is standard in all Japanese public baths. Women and men were separate, except for the hot sand, which is where you wear a yukata, or light bathrobe type thing. The whole thing was 18 bucks for the four of us, including bathrobes and lockers.
We all met in the hot sand baths, which you do first. They were hot! you bascially bury yourself in sand, which is heated from the steam of the springs. We lay there for a little over 10 minutes. I sweated my brains out, and the rest of the fam was pretty hot too.

then we went our separate boys and girls ways. Caleb and I hung out in the outdoor springs mostly, but Caleb tried them all, including the shower springs, where the hot water was pouring from spouts. Because my foot was really sensitive, I didn't submerge it, as it burned somewhat when I did. So I hobbled about, lazing in the outdoor rock area with my foot sticking out of the water, resting on a rock.
We all came out pretty much at the same time, and took the bus back to our fun little hostel room, where we were all relaxed, but hungry! We hunted this funny little tourist town for a place that took visa, as we had very little money for the next day home. There was a really cool Japanese bar/sushi yakatori bar, but they were all booked up, so we went to a Japanese-type Denny's, or so it seemed, called Royal Host. the menus were very large and colourful with everything from steak to ramen. Caleb had a great time ordering a four course Italian dinner, which was fantastic. Lianna had the same thing, whith a choice of appetizer, salad, main course, and dessert. Artemis had a burger and fries, Japanese style, which was excellent as well. We had a fine time, ate our fill, and paid happily by Visa!!
Then home for a mellow evening of reading.

The final day of our pass we are back on the Shinansen, or bullet train, heading back to Tokyo.
We were all in better spirits, having recovered from the low of the other day. We had contemplated leaving Japan early, but it looks like we will not. Satomi has reserved a hotel for us at Mount Fuji, and Lianna still has a lot of visiting to do. Also, it's a big holiday in early October in China, and may not be a great time to go there.


Satomi at her house


Chill'in at Satomis

So we will stay here for a little while longer. On the way back we got our first train at 9:22, and arrived in Kisarazu by 8 p.m. For lunch we all dug out all our change from every pocket we had, and came up with about 9 bucks each, enough for a Ramen and snack. Thankfully there were also some great bakeries here in Japan, and we had some excellent baked goods for breakie.IN Beppu we also found a tiny (5 seats capacity) gyoza place that was down a small alley which we went right by about 4 times before finding it. All they sold was beer - 6 bucks, or a set of 15 gyoza - 6 bucks. And yes, they were the best gyoza I'd ever eaten. Actually getting hankerings for noodles when I go more than 6 or 7 hours without them.
Mark