Travel Round The World With Jim

My first week in Hong Kong has been most interesting, the city itself is brilliant and the weather has been very good. Unfortunately my initial accomodation, a youth hostel in "Chungking Mansions", the little India of Hong Kong, was absolutely dire. The location was good but the room was awful, 2 sets of very small bunkbeds and a toilet that was also the shower, on a more possitive side atleast we sometimes had the company of a few cockroaches whilst in the shower! I spent my first few days roaming round with a French guy staying in the same place as me we visited kowloon park and found some good palces to eat. He then left for China and i subsequently spent the rest of the week with a German guy. We visited Hong Kong park, Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens and Victoria peak. We also took a ride accross hong kong on the tram and the star ferry across to hong kong central. The best thing about Hong Kong is that the food isn't quite as strange as the food in Japan is, there are lots of chinese fast food restaurants and small local restaurants where rice and noodles can be purchased. A more than substantial meal can be acquired for less than 3 pounds, the only catch is that it must be consumed with chopsticks.
I am now staying in a very nice hotel about twenty minutes from the center of Hong Kong where I am enjoying having space to move, a television and some time to relax and recover from Chungking. I have several things planned for the rest of the week and hope that the weather will be better than the internet is predicting. I intend on visiting the Big Buddha on lantau island as well as a trip in the cable car, there are also a few places to visit nearer to the hotel in the new territories including temples and a race course.

Yesterday I did a guided tour of Kyoto which was very good as it allowed me to see a lot more than I would have managed to if I had to find my own way around. We visited the following places:
Nijo Castle
The Kyoto Residence of the Tokugawa Shogun built in 1603, Nijo Castle is noted for the contrast of its solemn appearance and gorgeous interiors.

Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion)
The most authentic and exquisite Japanese style garden in the world, plus the celebrated Golden Pavilion.

Kyoto Imperial Palace
The ancient Imperial Palace clearly shows the Japanese taste for purity, simplicity and calmness.
Kyoto Handicraft Center and shopping at Kyoto Handicraft Center.

Heian Jingu Shrine
Graceful old court life is reflected in the brightly colored shrine with its vermilion pillars and green roof, and in its enchanting inner gardens and ponds.

Sanjusangendo Hall
A renowned long wooden hall housing 1,001 statues of the Buddhist deity Kannon that date back to the 13th century.

and finally the Kiyomizudera Temple
A quaint old lane lined with pottery shops leads to the temple. Enjoy a sweeping view of the entire city from its lofty terrace.

I am now in Kyoto after travelling here on the very impressive, very fast but also very expensive Shinkansen Train (bullet train) from Tokyo Station. With speeds of up to 186mph it was a brilliant experience and as something that Japan is famous for, it was well worth the money. Today I visited Nara which is Japans oldest capital city about 60km's from Kyoto, it was a very interesting place with original buildings and statues dating back to the 8th century. It was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784 before Kyoto became the capital. Amazingly in Nara there was an abundance of tame deer roaming the streets eating out of peoples hands and posing for photographs. We visited the Todaji Temple which is home to the largest buddha statue in Japan, a stunning statue with a backdrop of over 440 kg's of gold (which, i'm told, is unfortunately too heavy to send to cash4gold). The buddha is housed in the worlds largest wooden building which was another incredible piece of japanese architecure and almost as impressive as the Buddha itself. The second place I visited in Nara is a shinto shrine that is home to over 1000 thousand stone lanterns, some of which are 1300 years old set in protected woodland with deer roaming around freely. It was an incredible place, I'm very happy I didn't spend all my time in Japan in Tokyo as visiting Nara allowed me to see so much more of Japan, also having a japanese tour guide was very insightful. Tomorrow I am going on a tour of Kyoto

I'm having a great time in Tokyo, over the past week or so I have visited more shrines and gardens and took a day trip to Kamakura. Kamakura is the old political center of Japan and consists of several shrines and historical monuments. We visited the Great Buddha which was, as expected, a great Buddha. A bronze statue of Amida Buddha to be precise, which stands on the grounds of the Kotokuin Temple. It is13.35 meters talls and is therefore the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan, surpassed only by the statue in Nara's Todaiji Temple. The statue was cast in 1252 and has survived several typhoons and a tidal wave in the 14th and 15th century, it was orignaly contained within a large temple hall which was destroyed in the typhoons and has stood in the open air since 1495. We also visited the Hase Temple (Hasedera) and took a walk down to the beach. Unfortunately the weather over here is not far better than the weather at home ,so with the execption of a few estranged and bitterly cold surfers, the beach was empty and not in particularly good condition. It was certainly a welcome change from the opressive and overwhelming tower blocks that are commonplace in central Tokyo, I can see why it is a popular retreat for the people of Tokyo over the summer but it certainly doesn't compare to the beaches at home.
I have planned a four day trip to Kyoto next week. Kyoto is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million and was formerly the imperial capital of Japan, I have been told it is home to some amazing shrines and temples and hope to visit as many as I can. I will post further updates on my return from kyoto next week.

On friday I visited the meiji shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo which is a large shinto shrine set in 175 acres of grounds with over 120,000 trees, the shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. It was a very interesting experience as there was some sort of small ceremony going on in the shrine whilst we were there. There were two priests and there was a japanese man drumming. There were lots of people making wishes in the shrine, this involves bowing once throwing money into the box clapping your hands, wishing for something then clapping your hands again and finaly bowing once more. The shrine is very different to many of the others with large gravel pathways leading up to it underneath a series of large tori gates, it had a very tranquil and relaxed feel that is very different to that of the rest of Tokyo. Despite being a very poular destination for tourists and Japanese alike it was such a vast area that it didn't feel particularly busy or overcrowded, this is caused in part by the ridiculous amount of trees that were donated when the shrine was orignaly constructed by people all over Japan. When you are weaving through the trees along the large gravel pathways it is hard to believe you are still in the heart of Tokyo.

Then on Saturday we went to Akihabara which is the main area in Tokyo for electrical goods, both new and used. It was interesting to see all the new computers and gadgets that are for sale here in Tokyo. Lots of the computers are yet to be released in England and the prices were relatively low compared to the same sort of thing back at home. There were lots of differnet shops offering second hand laptops and computers etc. We purchased a wireless router for Ken, who i'm staying with whilst i'm in Japan, it was all in Japanese and we weren't too sure what we were buying. I helped Ken set up the router back at the apartment, another success! Despite being in japanese we managed to get it working alright, luckily it was password protected out of the box as it would have been impossible to navigate through the japanese configuration to set our own password, now we can enjoy the freedom of wireless internet access.

On sunday ken and I visited the imperial palace gardens, which were beautiful with lots of plum trees in blossom and a series of paths running through the walled grounds. The main palace is not open to the public apart from on new years day and various other occassions or through appointments. The East Gardens are the former site of Edo Castle's innermost circles of defense, the honmaru ("main circle") and ninomaru ("secondary circle"). None of the main buildings remain today, but the moats, walls, entrance gates and several guardhouses still exist. Edo Castle was the residence of the Tokugawa shogun who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867. Emperor Meiji also resided there from 1868 to 1888 before moving to the newly constructed Imperial Palace. In place of the former buildings in the secondary circle of defense (ninomaru) at the foot of the hill, a nice Japanese style garden has been created. This garden was particularly nice with a large pond and a small waterfall, photos to follow.