Kyoto and Fuji-san

Dan and Timmy K were in town on separate business trips, which were good excuses for weekend trips out of Tokyo. I've been itching to get outta town more often, as you know.

Tim and I spent the July 4-5 weekend in Kyoto, which is a 7-hour bus ride from Tokyo, or a 2-hour ride on the shinkansen. Kyoto is to Tokyo, what Beijing is to Shanghai (that's probably not the best analogy). It felt far more like "real Japan" than Tokyo, and I suppose there are good historical reasons for that. Temples, shrines and castles everywhere you look. And at night, the kids just hang out in yukatas and drink by the river banks. Very nice, relaxed feel compared to the insanity of Tokyo. It was a bit of a rushed trip, though. A weekend is nowhere near enough time to see all of Kyoto. I definitely intend to head back sometime soon.

The weekend after, Dan flew in for a weekend stopover in Tokyo, en route from China to Lebanon (??). We stayed out all night on Friday, slept all day Saturday, and headed out to Mount Fuji early Saturday evening. We started the climb at 10:30pm, caught sunrise 6 hours later at 4:30am, made it to the summit by 5am, and were back down by 9am. There is such a huge human traffic jam once you get near the summit (see photo below), that it takes more than an hour just to climb the last 100-200m. We were back in Tokyo that afternoon, barely in time for Tim to make his 4pm flight, and Dan to catch his 6pm. I slept about 14 hours that night, and could barely walk for the next two days. They say that say a wise man climbs Fuji once, and only a fool climbs twice (I don't know who "they" are). One of the most epic weekends in recent memory.

Hmm, what else? My friends all seem to be leaving Tokyo at the same time, which is a bummer. Paulette, Arnab and Gustav, all within the span of two weeks. They all claim they'll be back, though. It's a long weekend ("Marine Day", don't ask), so I'm gonna get off my laptop and go get some sun.

Sanjusangen-do, Kyoto. Conveniently situated next to the Hyatt Regency.

Kiyomizu-Dera, Kyoto.

Cafe & Restaurant White Lover, Kyoto. Something gets lost in translation, I'm sure.

Late Friday night / early Saturday morning in Tokyo. It's cool, they're just taking a breather while waiting for the first train home.

At a rest stop, about two hours into the climb. Yeah, I wear my sunglasses at night.

Human traffic jam.

Sunrise atop Fuji. Stunning.

Victory! The three of us are a lot unhappier than we look in this picture. It's cold, windy and our legs hate us. And a 3-hour descent lies ahead.