Clare Ross Japan Baltic Svalbard

 Another great day! We walked back along a posh shopping mall to two lovely bakeries. Errin gave us 2000 yen each and said " go buy lunch" Wow - wheat everywhere, no one bought rice cakes. We bought a 2 cranberry and ricotta danish, a curry bun, a plum and a blueberry turnover. And we had change. We then walked up the road past very exclusive houses, hotels and restaurants. And up, and up and then we went up. After two hours we reach a lookout with views over heavily forested extinct volcanoes. As with all Japanese forests there was not a building in site. Over 400 m up, but then nearly one thousand down. Bears near the bottom, a mother with cub, Asiatic Brown Bear. We didn't see them by about ten seconds! We ate lunch at about 2pm! Any later and we would have mutinied. Ten minutes later and we were out of the forest and racing to meet our trains(3) to Tokyo. We finished our journey at point zero in Tokyo (Edo). Great fun (mostly)

We got help again! Forget walking onwards ever onwards, no matter what! We bused it again! Large sections of the historic Nakasendo Way are now city or in private hands. Our tour company has picked the best 135kms to walk. Nice! This was a great day! Forest, lunch, mountain views, variety and a luxurious inn with beer and plum wine. We were all craving wheat.  Lunch was in a family home right on the path. We had been told it was special. The couple in their seventies, have a large verandah overlooking a glorious mountain and surrounded by a model train track with Thomas the tank engine. They served us freshly baked pumpkin bread and home made pizzas  - Wow! Then they played local songs for us. They were smiling the whole time. After lunch we watched Thomas do his stuff whilst we sprayed the air with a bubble gun. Thankfully some people stay young at heart always! Our evening stop was in a resort town for Tokyo's rich and famous. Bars, cafes and designer clothes shops everywher...

A beautiful day of forest walking. Noelene joins us at the female waterfall. Our bus drove us deep into the forest and left us at twin waterfalls at the bottom of a mountain. A steep climb, but it was cool and immensely peaceful.

A long days walk, but much cooler than yesterday's 30°. Ross went with our Malay friends and took a train detour whilst Clare walked on with our guide et al. Now and then! We are travellers at a checkpoint. We are slowly getting used to the food, but I would kill for a cheese sandwich on white bread. Bye for now😀

We have mostly stayed in traditional Inns. This may not be the norm - we just don't know. Our room in Kyoto was like a budget hotel but since then You take your shoes off at the hotel entrance or your room vestibule. Tonight's room becomes a bedroom after dinner when staff will roll out the futons. Rooms often have a little Annex with chairs and a tea service plus windows to a garden. We will bathe, dress in robes (a yukata) and go down for a drink with our group. I'll have a draft beer (Asahi) and Clare will have a plum wine with soda water. If I order a bottle beer I get a 650ml bottle and an 80ml glass. A bit about toilet training. We almost need Google translate to make a visit. The seats are heated. Most preload when you sit down. Most flush when you stand up. There are bidet controls with different streams, temperature and pressure. All are push button control in Japanese. Thankfully there are symbols😀

 This morning we met tourists - lots of them and many were locals including school groups. A short walk past our inn we entered the old post town which has been preserved beautifully. A post town or Juka was a staging post for messengers and travellers on the Nakasendo Way. During the Edo Period (1603-1867) the Emperor required lords to visit Edo (now Tokyo) every year, and leave relatives when they returned home, as an insurance. An assurance of loyalty. The mountainous walk was easier than the coastal alternatives. We stopped for a rare latte and croissant at a shop with a 15 minute queue. I'm getting used to paper cups even in sit down cafes🥴 The days walk was along minor roads and in forrest. Many walkers today as this section is used by day trippers.

 No easy feat. I have been trying for two weeks. Before we left there was no time. In Kyoto we had places to go. On the trek we were always on the move. Today I stole four hours, and along with our five Malay friends, caught a train. Bliss - we had time for coffee and cake, a stroll and a beer. Joselyn and I went off to get haircuts. I met Joselyn at the Inn an hour later and we swapped sad stories. At Joselyn's first try the owner just made an X with his arms and shooed her away. At her second she made an X and ran away herself!!??🥺. I had slightly better luck. At my first, there was a sign saying no english was spoken so only Japanese should enter. My Malay friends urged me in anyway but the barber frowned and shooed my out. At the second one there were five chairs, set up for men and women, but no staff. I waited, periodically going in and out of the shop and saying konnichiwa. After about twenty minutes the owner came in, from the street, appologising profusely. He took about ...

 A bit about our merry band We are 12 plus our intrepid leader Errin. Five are from Borneo, educated mostly in London, lawyers, accountants and a priest in their seventies. They are amazing well informed philosophical and funny - great fun. Three ladies of similar age come from Melbourne, Brisbane and Kansas City (USA) and a young couple (60's) are from Melbourne. The American is as bewildered about Trump as the rest of us. We are mostly staying in traditional inns with mats on the floor sliding paper doors/ walls and a low long table for meals. No chairs, but we were treated to a pit for our feet tonight.

 22kms 346m up Errin (our guide) is looking after us! Today we were due to start by climbing a mountain, be very wet from lunchtime and 30 degrees. Instead a minibus took us up and over and we started with a gentle downhill. When you leave the village roads and enter forests, the temperature drops five or ten degrees. Pure bliss! A couple more things on cleanliness. Breakfast this morning had disposable gloves to where when getting buffet food. After bathing there are special robes for wearing inside the inn. There are inside slippers to go with them and separate slippers for toilets.

 We caught the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. The train way amazingly quick and quiet. The exact opposite of Tokyo Train station. Luckily we had an hour to find the right entrance platform and seat. We needed it!! Kyoto is a large grey city which seems to go on for ever in both directions along the coast. Inland it quickly changes to rolling wooded hills with no buildings at all. The food is very very different. Seafood, meat and fried food abounds in the cafes, many of which are one table wide heading deep into the building. In the more traditional eating places fungi, meat, tofu, rice, tempura, miso and pickled vegetables.

 12kms 346m climb This was a gentle introduction to the trek. We caught 3 trains, each smaller than the last. The first stop took us to the famous battlefield who's victors ( featured in the film Shogun) introduced the Edo Period of prosperity 1603 -1866.  The trains are frequent quiet comfortable and clean. Not at all like Tokyo peak hour! Alighting at Hosokute our merry band of twelve walked through the village, past rice paddies, verrrrry neat veggie gardens and patches of bamboo grove.

 This is a very clean country!  There is virtually no litter. There are also no rubbish bins. You take it home. You leave your shoes at the front door. You have special slippers waiting for you at the toilet door. Accommodation often has a men's and a women's bathhouse (even if you have a shower in your room). You shower in the bathhouse before entering the communal bath. You can go to your hotels lobby and restaurant in your own special bathrobe  Napkins are wrapped in plastic and are wet. For hands only not faces.

 We don't know when we'll be back again!! Japan  - to walk the Nakasendo Way ( ten days between Kyoto and Tokyo. A couple of days in Kyoto and Tokyo then Finland - hiring a car and driving the southern coast.  then ferry to Estonia - hiring a car and exploring for five days then plane to Oslo and connecting flight to Svalbard. Staying on board a big boat (200 ish people) and  cruising the islands for 12 days. Meeting bears whales walruses and otters. I'll post when I can and add a few photos Got to go now, our flight is boarding Ross and Clare