Japan

Jordan and I spent Saturday biking through the streets, alleyways and bike paths of Kyoto.

We visited and saw a few things including Nijo Castle and its beautiful gardens.

On Sunday morning, we visited Kyoto's Golden Temple (made out of real gold!)

then took the bullet train back to Tokyo to see the Tokyo Yakult Swallows crush the Baystars 6-2...

The excitement came in the 6th inning when Jordan and Sveta were featured on the scoreboard....

Tomorrow is our last day....

Hakone is a major tourist area in the Tokyo region located near Mt. Fuji. We reached Hakone by the express 1 1/2 hour "Romance Train" from Tokyo. The Japanese know how to do trains...

We bought a fare card that enabled us to ride all the modes of transport in the area for three days, including buses, trains, funiculars, cable cars and ships!. We reached our hotel by bus, the venerable Fujiya Hotel

and rested for the evening. The next day, we explored the area, starting with the Hakone-Tozan Railroad.

all the way to Gora where we switched to a funicular...

and then to a couple of cable cars to reach the top of the mountain at 3000 ft. The mountain is the result of a volcanic eruption and still spews boiling water laden with sulfur and other minerals.

This water is also used to feed the local hotels for hot baths and a thriving wellness industry. A local custom is to cook eggs in this boiling mess. The eggs turn black and are said to add 7 years to your life if you eat one and 14 if you eat two!

From the top of the mountain, one can catch glimpses of the elusive Mount Fuji, which appears and disappears throught the clouds in an instant.

One the other side of the mountain lies lake Ashi, where we cruised the lake on a replica of an old ship.

In the afternoon of the third day, we also visited the great Hakone open air museum

and then ended up taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto with top speeds of 160 miles per hour...

See you in Kyoto...

Before taking off for the short 3 hour hop form Shanghai to Tokyo, Jordan visited the Northwest Airline 747-400 flight deck to ensure that everything was under control.

Upon arrival in Tokyo, we sampled all the modern culinary delights so dear to us, including Starbucks, and Jordan's favorite... Subway!

The next day, we visited Sensoji Temple and the area surrounding, walked through a couple of other neighborhoods and ended the day at a Giant versus Dragon baseball game (well planned in advance) at the Tokyo Dome.

The next day we headed for the countryside.