To Kyoto and Beyond

Hamamatsu, Japan

We're currently on the Shinkansen ("Bullet Train") traveling at ~150 km/h towards Kyoto. After a wicked outing (involving some "legal" drugs) last night at a club called Womb, we ended up at home at 6am only to find out that we had been politely kicked out of our digs and had to vacate the premises by the afternoon. So, we made a patient, informed, and well-reasoned decision to leave Tokyo and make our way to the former capitol of the Land of the Rising Sun. Once there, we'll be staying in a local hotel, and hopefully enjoying a much quieter slice of Japanese life.

It's probably better this way. It felt a little like we had stalled in Tokyo. We spent ten days there, without really getting to know much about the country. We had free reign over the Japanese rail system, but we never used to do anything besides get around Tokyo (except for the one day trip to Nagoya). Don't get me wrong; Tokyo was fun. But, there's only so much you can learn about Japan wandering through the gaudy streets of Shibuya. Now, over the next week, we are going to be seeing more of Japan outside of it's legendary metropolis. We will be absorbing the traditional customs of Kyoto, marveling at the wonders of the World Expo in Aichi, taking in the sunrise from the top of Mt. Fuji, and relaxing in a natural hot spring overlooking Lake Kawaguchi-ko.

Then, if things go as planned, we will be hopping onto a ferry to Tientsin, China next Friday.