Another bus ride, this time to Kawaguchi-Ko which is one of the best locations for viewing mount Fuji, probably Japan's most iconic image - we were excited. After 30 minutes walk fully laden, we arrived at our hostel, another "Ks" house and headed for their observation deck. Unfortunately, Mt. Fuji was nowhere to be seen, not even the tip showing through the clouds …… Gutted. Especially as someone in our hostel had experienced the views on a perfectly clea...

Typhoon Trami did not reach us overnight, so we caught our bus to Takayama, with a 4-hour stop-off at Shirakawago (we will never remember all these names). We arrived surrounded by misty mountains on a wet day and checked that our departure at 2.30 was still on schedule as Typhoon Trami was still creeping up on us. Shirakawago is known for its thatched farmhouses with steeply slanted roofs to prevent snow accumulation (also likened to "hands in prayer" as the ...

After 5 nights in Kyoto we were on the road again (well actually rail) - The Thunderbird Express to Kanazawa, a 2-hour journey through some incredible mountain scenery and gradually moving closer to Tokyo. Now we are hardened "backpackers" we walked to our hostel and settled in - It was a Japanese room, very quaint, very pretty but essentially a futon laid on the floor with elaborate bedmaking instructions. Heather decided that we should eat Japanese, we headed...

Half an hour train journey and we were in Kyoto, which had been the capital of Japan for a thousand years. Another big city but this one was different from Fukuoka or Osaka, no overpowering high rise and limited neon, much more traditional in many ways. We hired bikes and set about exploring the "city of 1000 temples" We were generally "templed out" in Japan but nevertheless were totally "blown away" by the Golden Temple, which was totally impressive by any sta...

Having reached our "tipping point" for cities, we decided to spend a few days in the mountains. Packing short stay essentials into a small "daysack", we deposited our big rucksacks into lockers at Osaka Namba station and headed for the hills. Our destination was Koyasan, a mountain sanctuary for Buddhist monks and the headquarters of the "Shingan sect of Esoteric Buddhism" which was founded by a monk named Kabo Dashu in 816 - His followers do not believe he is ...