Day 16 & 17: Samurai quarter and moving day

Day 16 - Wednesday September 6, 2023

Hello everybody:)

Today was supposed to be a quieter day again because I (Jule) felt a bit sick yesterday and didn't feel so well today either. Traveling is really tiring.

We started our morning by doing laundry because our hotel had a washing machine and we wanted to start with fresh clothes for our next two stops, Fujiyoshida and Tokyo. So we got ready, threw on two loads of laundry and headed to 7/11, a convenience store, to get breakfast. Moritz had a small bowl of salad, an onigiri and a sandwich, while I had an iced latte, miso soup, sushi and a coleslaw. It was very delicious.

We then went on to the shopping mall in the train station because we wanted to kill time until the laundry was finished.

When we got there, we discovered a “German Bakery” which of course I immediately went to! We miss the bread and rolls a bit. But that didn't really exist here. There was toast, but that was it. My German heart felt a bit insulted, at least there were things like donuts (called “long donuts” here), sandwiches, garlic bread, Baumkuchen (you can find them everywhere here!) and a few other things that I don’t think are German knew bakeries.

As we walked on, something stupid happened: the strap of the only bag I had with me broke. My bag, which is also my favorite bag...

That's what I was missing.

So, dejected, we went back to the hotel. I had to bite into the Baumkuchen that I had bought. It really tastes so delicious here and I've eaten at least one piece every day since we arrived.

Luckily there are already Christmas snacks in Germany, so I can continue this new tradition.

After our laundry was finished and we picked it up again, we chilled out until around 1 p.m. and then went to a shopping center to look for a new bag. After 6 floors and 1 1/2 hours I finally found it. It's a simple cream-colored shoulder bag that has a lot of space. Moritz was happy because now he no longer has to carry everything alone.

We also looked for aftershave or an adapter because the battery on Moritz's razor was empty but the plug didn't fit into the socket. Of course, the adapter we bought couldn't be used for Japan. But unfortunately we couldn't find either.

Next up was the old samurai district. Before that, however, there should be something for lunch from the convenience store again, since this time we only wanted to go out to eat in the evening.

Strengthened, we then continued on by bus. Although Japan is supposed to be so progressive, the buses here were not. You couldn't use our public transport card to pay, nor could you use the new 500 yen coins we had. In addition, you had to give the money correctly, since there was no change. What progress...

The samurai quarter really looked very beautiful again. We strolled around and looked at the beautiful old houses and properties. There was a small river running next to the road with lots of bridges, which looked very pretty.

Then we passed a shop that had a strange sign on it: “Please speak Japanese in our shop”. (Please speak only Japanese in our store).

That took us a little bit off guard for a moment, because it wouldn't have gone over so well in Germany. But we already knew that things in Japan are still quite discriminatory/racist towards foreigners.

As we continued walking, I discovered a small sign that pointed to a nearby shrine, which we then visited without further ado. It was again a very pretty shrine with a pond surrounded by stone bridges and paths. We walked along this and explored the place a bit before heading back to the hotel at around 6:15 p.m.

On the way back we continued looking for shaving cream and aftershave, but we still haven't found the latter. That was really stupid and Moritz wasn't in such a good mood after the long search. Hunger also came slowly… bad combination. So off to the hotel.

When we got there we took another shower and then got ready. We were both very hungry and at the same time had the problem that we didn't know where to go to eat. It was relatively difficult to find something here where I even had a choice. So we went to the same ramen shop from the first day, where they had the delicious yuzu ramen.

The employees even recognized us straight away. We ordered another portion of noodles to go with our ramen for 150 yen (=1€), which we wanted to pour into our remaining broth. When the bowls arrived we were very surprised: we thought we would get a small bowl of normal noodles, but instead there were a lot of noodles, which were tossed in the appropriate sauce with lots of garlic to match our dish. FOR ONE EURO. We couldn't believe it. We also enjoyed these again.

Totally full and half in a food coma, we walked out of the store, bought some ice cream for dessert (that's also a must here) and then went back to the room, where we actually wanted to watch a movie.

But since we also wanted to write a post, we first procrastinated for 40 minutes, then folded the laundry, wrote the post and presto it was 00:00. Since tomorrow is departure day, we only watched one episode of a series and then went to sleep.

Tomorrow we go to a small hostel in Fujiyoshida, which is located at the foot of Mt. Fuji. From there you should have a great view of the volcano. We are really looking forward to a few relaxing days.

Day 17 - Thursday, September 7th, 2023

The seventeenth day of our trip to Japan was once again a moving day. Well rested, we got up and packed our things. After that we checked out and walked to the train station. When we arrived there, we handed over our large suitcases so that we could travel to Fujiyoshida with lighter packs for the next few days.

There is a special suitcase shipping service in Japan, which we wanted to use. Although this caused a few difficulties due to the language barrier, in the end (hopefully) everything went well. We'll see if we can get our suitcases back in Tokyo. So keep your fingers crossed.

Since we planned extra time, we were still able to get a relaxed breakfast at the convenience store even with this delay and started eating it on the platform. Afterwards we walked to a compartment where there was a free choice of seats, as we didn't have a reservation this time. Our train was already there and shortly after we arrived in our compartment, the doors opened and we could get in. That was timing. Since Kanazawa was the first stop on this train, we were even able to sit next to each other in a fairly empty carriage. The journey started quickly.

Tokyo was our first transfer point on this trip. The hustle and bustle at the train station gave us a little taste of what to expect in the coming week. Together with the fact that we had to look for our track under time pressure for a while, it was enough for me (Moritz) and I think Jule too. Nevertheless, we made it again and found our train. Again, since we didn't have a seat reservation, we had to stand for a couple of stops. At the beginning we were seated, but the availability of seats was marked by colored lights, which meant that we had to move around again after the first few stops. At some point this became too stupid for us. Anyway, after a while we arrived in Otsuki, our next transfer point. From there we went on to Fujiyoshida with the super cool "Thomas the Locomotive" train.

The road to Fujiyoshida was full of mountains and rivers. The scenery was really beautiful and made the ride over quickly. Already on the train we could spot Mount Fuji, Japan's highest mountain, which is also a volcano. You can definitely tell it's a volcano with its steep, rounded sides and flat top. When we got out, we were allowed to take a closer look at it. We then quickly went on foot to our hostel, which was also so easy to reach. When we got there, everything was shown to us and we were then able to move into our room. The pictures probably speak for themselves, our hostel looks very homely and traditionally Japanese.

Since it was already evening, it was time to eat again. Luckily, the reception gave us a restaurant and bar guide for the place, which made it easy to find something. This was also easy to reach on foot. The restaurant had all kinds of udon noodles and tempura (fried stuff). Even if the sheer mass of options overwhelmed us at first, we soon found what we were looking for. The food was great as always. While we happily slurped our soup in front of us (our moms would have freaked out here at one point or another), an older Japanese lady at the next table asked us where we came from. So we answered her and got into a little conversation, during which she praised us for how well we could eat with chopsticks. That was once again a great interaction with the locals, as both were very nice. When we left we say goodbye to the owner and the couple and return to our hostel. There we both drank a cup of tea and played Uno. While I was doing the dishes afterwards, Jule went to get some snacks. When we returned, we made ourselves comfortable in the room and let the day end in a relaxed manner. Kind regards from both of us and thanks for reading as always.