Finally!!

As I write this post I am in some college computer lab in Kyoto. Apparently they allow free access so I just walked in with John, another member of the group and we are using the computers. We have been in Kyoto since Tuesday afternoon. The last two nights here I have slept 24 hours. Thats how tired I have been since my extended flight ordeal.

You guys know what happened Saturday but Sunday/Monday was just as bad. The flight to Chicago was good. Left on time and everything and so did the flight to Tokyo. But there was a big problem here. Halfway through the flight the captain (who was female by the way- i thought that was interesting because it was a first for me) announced that there had been a cargo plane crash in Tokyo and the runway we would land on was closed for all of Monday (when we were supposed to land) so we were diverted to Osaka. So things got interesting. We landed in Osaka, walked through immigration, customs, all that and eventually to baggage claim, all the while thinking that United Airlines is of no help to anybody. I went up to their counter and was told I wouldnt be able to go to Sapporo until Tuesday morning at 8 and I was to go upstairs to the ANA counter for more information. ANA (All Nippon Airways) is the Japanese airline and I was supposed to connect with them in Tokyo to get to Sapporo. I went upstairs with my bags and stood in line. I was planning to use Japanese in the airport but at this point I was going all in English because I just wanted to get on a plane quickly. The lady at the counter told me the flight that night was full so I couldnt get on and she called somebody from United to come down and help me out. I stood around waiting and nobody showed up so I jumped to the front of the line again and asked her if she could help me out. She took my stuff, went behind a door and came out saying she had one more seat on the plane and I could get it. I was so happy. I got on the plane, got picked up at the airport, met everybody at the guest house and went to bed after packing for our 8 day trip.

The trip started Tuesday morning and we could only bring a backpack for all that time so at some point I have to get some washing done. We flew to Osaka (the same airport I had come from the night before) and then got a train to Kyoto. Osaka is a huge city. We were on the train for an hour and still hadnt left the city itself. It went past the stadium where the pro team there plays (Gamba Osaka) and some World Cup games were held in 2002. We got to Kyoto after a couple hours, hopped on a bus to Jingu Michi (Shrine Street- jingu means shrine) where our hotel was and then went to a tiny noodles place to eat. I had some curry soup with noodles. I didnt think the food portions would be big here but they are. I couldnt even finish the bowl it was so big. And the chopsticks were and are killing me. They offered a couple of us forks but I refused. I figure I have to learn at some point so I`ll just struggle till I get it down. Next thing we did was to walk to Marayuma Park and learn some stuff about shrines there. The Shinto traditions are really engrained here and accessible everywhere. They even have random shrines in the street so people can pray on their way somewhere. I probably wont remember all the stuff that was said but hopefully the pictures I took will jog my memory when I see them. After the park we had the choice to go shopping or go back to the hotel. I took the lonely trek to the hotel and passed out. Slept for 13 hours until 8 the next morning

Yesterday we walked 8 miles or so. If you know me you know I`m not one for walking endlessly or running for no reason so I wasnt too happy, especially since alot of that was us walking up a mountain. The place is real touristy. You cannot miss the big shrines, which is what was on the mountain, because the gates are painted orange and they are high and big. The shrine on the mountain had steps for us to walk up and it gave beautiful views of the city (Kyoto) below. Not only did we do that but we also visited a castle before that (Nijo-jo...jo means castle). We walked through this then walked for about an hour to the train station to go to the mountain shrine.

Today is a free day so we got 3000 yen and an all day bus pass and we are just doing what we want. Tomorrow we go to Nara by train and come back. There we visit Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Shrine. Saturday we take the train to Nagoya where we visit the shrine of all shrines, the big dog- Ise Jingu then Monday we go to Tokyo, walk by the Imperial palace and have a free day before we take the plane back to Sapporo on Wednesday. I have no idea when I will be able to drop a line again but thats whats up. This probably could have been 3 separate posts and I skipped out a whole bunch of stuff such as food etc. (2000 yen for a medium dominos pizza...lol...thats over $20! The place is crazy like that). But yeah, I will try to get all that done another time. Sorry for the long read. It is now March 26 at 11.15 am here- 2.15 am in London, 10.15 on the East Coast and 9.15 in JA- both March 25th. Take care everybody.