Well, things went smoothly with our move-out and we are happy backpackers now....Unfortunately, any future blogs will not have pictures because I have no way to get pictures from my camera to the computer, so sad.
Sianora Party: The day we left our apartment for the last time, we found lockers for our backpacks at Tokyo Station (at absolutely the worst time to try to find empty ones--Sunday afternoon!), then headed to Shibuya to hang out until meeting up with friends for a sianora party of sorts....We had a fantastic time at an izakaya place and then moved on to karaoke. We seem to be forming a pattern of spending our last nights in Tokyo at karaoke places--a fine tradition, I must say ;) Much fun was had singing our hearts out and I am so grateful that we were able to visit with some of the people we trained with one more time before leaving--they are a wonderful bunch of people.....
Hakone-bound: The next morning, we headed to Hakone a little worse for wear....and let me tell you, it is very hard to travel with a slight hangover on little sleep (we had found a cheap love hotel the night before, and no, we didn`t lose sleep for the reasons you`re thinking of--naughty mind;). I was rudely awakened at around 4 in the morning by the `white noise` music they pipe into every room to block out other sounds....which is a great idea, but it makes it sooo hard to sleep. Oh well. I made a mental note to be better prepared next time (and there would be a next time because love hotels are so affordable!).
When we arrived at The Prince Hotel in Hakone, we sunk into absolute relaxation. Wow, this place was amazing. The hotel was at the end of a road, surrounded by lush forests and Lake Ashi. It was peaceful and very quiet. We took a nap and then started exploring. The hotel complex was immense and there were several walking paths. This was the perfect place to replenish our depleted energy stores and get ready to return to the Hakone Open Air Museum.
The day we decided to go to the museum was a crystal-clear, pristine day. We walked into town to catch the pirate boat ferry (couldn`t resist another ride on it) on a lake-side stone path....it was gorgeous. We walked by the torii in the lake and had stunning views of Fuji-san along the way. When we got to town, many people were gathering along the lakeshore, or parking along the lake, to sit and gaze at the majestic peak of Fuji-san....and it really is breathtaking. You can`t help but get caught up in the excitement and honour of setting eyes on it, particularly because it is quite rare to have such unobstructed views of it.
We can officially say now that we have seen the entire Open Air Museum and it definitely takes a couple of days to do it! One of the best parts of it was a foot bath, with fresh hot spring water to soak your weary feet in....65 degrees hot, whew! There are magical, healing properties to the water....after a 10 minute soak, our feet felt phenomenal and ready to go--any aches or pains were gone.
Hiroshima: After spending a night at Hotel La Michelle (yes, there is a love hotel with that name), we headed to Hiroshima by shinkansen (4 hours). FYI, my preparations to stay at another love hotel, and be able to sleep in one, proved fruitless.....even with earplugs the `white noise` is terrible to try to sleep while it`s playing. Anyhow, we were able to catch up on sleep on the train.
Hiroshima has been absolutely amazing. Our first full day consisted of walking to the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. It is truly a beautiful city, with two wide rivers and several gorgeous bridges. Interspersed with the physical beauty are several reminders of the horrible atrocity that occurred during World War II--most evident of which is the Atomic Bomb Dome, a building that remained standing after the blast, and one which will be preserved forever as a reminder of the horrible effects of atomic warfare. The museum was very difficult to walk through--many moments of experiencing tears welling up and feelings of immense sadness, anger, and repulsion at what happened. Part of the reaction is shock/disbelief that something this horrible could actually have happened, which is all the more reason for people to go to this museum and/or the one in Nagasaki.....to never forget.
What is more disturbing is that since the bomb was dropped, the mayor of Hiroshima writes a letter of protest to governments every time an atomic bomb is `tested.` As of October 2006, 593 such telegrams have been written by the mayors of Hiroshima....593!!! The elements that put me over the edge were seeing the story of Sadako Sasaki and some of the cranes she folded, along with the drawings and stories by survivors....Sadako`s story had an immense impact on me when I was a child and it felt both strange and powerful to be here to read about the real details of what she experienced....
Ker and I welcomed the time to walk through the park afterwards, to have time to talk about what we had seen and read, and basically to connect with and appreciate our blessings together....until we were approached by two very sweet women, who seemingly wanted to practice English with us, which was great. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with them until one woman asked us if we believed world peace was possible, asked us to read a passage from the Bible, and gave us some Watchtower literature.....It kind of seemed inappropriate to be spreading the word in this way, at this place....
As we were walking past the Hiroshima Carp baseball diamond, we stopped to take a picture in front of a huge billboard, promoting an all-star game happening the day we were there.....to commemorate the beloved home team over the past 3 decades and to have one last game at this park. A new stadium is being opened next year. As I was posing for the photo, a woman walked by with her son, and gave us two tickets to the game--how generous! Ker and I had a heck of a time trying to find our seats, and the guy who took our tickets chuckled because we were coming in so late.....Once we found our spot, however, we thoroughly enjoyed watching the final two innings of the game (yes, we did arrive a bit late;). The crowd was loving the wild antics of the players and the good-hearted fun that was being had.....Ker and I walked out of there a little bewildered at our good fortune to have been able to participate in this moment. We were even given a small vial of dirt from the diamond as a keepsake.
So many great memories from this place, and so little time to write about it. It`s time to leave our hotel and head on to Kyoto....
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