Our first morning, we were welcomed by the most amazing breakfast of savoury delights. We tried very hard to follow the example laid out for us. I spilled some coffee (overfilled my cup - so needed that caffeine) and we were sure we had offended the hosts! Kate, to our amusement actually eats these breakfasts - we are going to have to start by getting some really cute bowls.
We then ventured out to visit the ancient city of Narita (just not ready to see Tokyo). The city is celebrating its 1080th anniversary. Now when we were in Amsterdam, we were blown away that houses are still being lived in that were built in the 1600s and thought it quite remarkable that the same market has been held continuously on Thursday for over 500 years. Hey I am a centennial baby, my mom always said but 1080 years.... we are into a new category here.
Turned out to be a great way to start the trip. A large temple, pagoda and tons of shrines welcomed us.
We picked up our camper. Paul calmly and confidently navigated us through some very stressful traffic with Tokyo's expressways and then little towns. He didn't once swipe the windshield wipers for the turn indicator (something I did all the time in NZ driving on the left as they do here). It was a very long drive as we made our way towards the Japanese Alps. We quickly realized that it is dark...dark at 5:30 and we need to be where we are going before then.
Our camper is cute but big for Japanese standards. We are learning that when our bags explode as they tend to do at the end of each day, there isn't much room for anything or anyone. We made homemade chop sticks (rustic style) when we realized the cooking set didn't include utensils. We absolutely froze the first night. The sleeping bags are not even as thick as our liners back home. We are in a warmer spot tonight and will surely get more sleep.
I have observed that Japan is a wonderful mix of extremes. They do 'small' so well. Everything has a place and a design to fit. Whether it is a hook for the slippers by the door or a hole in the writing pad to hold the pen, they have it dialed. Everything but everything is sold individually wrapped and in plastic... Bananas sold singly in plastic... soup, noodles, toothpicks... in plastic. Yet you CAN NOT FIND A GARBAGE CAN for love nor money. Ramen noodles... got them galore! We are getting our carbs, I can tell you.
Kate and I went out for a run in Numata today. Tricky finding routes where you won't get squished. We left the town of 55000 and in minutes we were in farmers' fields... apple orchards and oranges growing yet the skiing resorts can be seen in the distance. Crazy. Kate and I run like a grade 5 math problem. We both leave at the same time and end at the same time but she runs double the distance.... you figure it out.
Love to all. sharon.
