Sayonara, Sushi and Sake...

The last time we wrote to you all we were sipping whiskey overlooking the Bund, toasting our amazing adventure in China and eagerly awaiting the next stop on the Asian leg of our trip: Japan. As we touched down in Narita airport, little did we know that Japan would become a victim of timing on our long and exciting trip. In the previous four months, we had sampled some of the most world-renowned cuisine (we are still debating whether Italy or China takes first stop - B is arguing for China!), walked with lions, fed elephants, watched whales breach from a small boat a mere 30 metres away, climbed the Great Wall of China, fed a baby panda and rode in a Sampan down the famour Yangtze river - one of the most beautiful scenic spots in the world. How was Japan, globally the second largest economy (and thus vastly developed), going to compete with all that preceded it?

We felt a bit like that kid in the movie 'Wedding Crashers' (...bear with me here!..). In an attempt to catch the attention of the beautiful bridesmaid, Vince Vaughn's character starts making animal shapes out of balloons for the kids. One particular kid storms up to him, arms crossed. Vaughn asks: "..So, what can I make for you little guy?". The spiky-haired eight year old puffs out his little chest and shouts: "..Bike! I wanna bike!". Vaughn looks surprised and returns with "..A bike? I don't think we have time to make a bike." The kid screams back "..I want a BIKE! Make it happen clown!". Five minutes later, Vaughn produces a life-size bicycle, made entirely from balloons. The kid, still arms crossed, looks at it vaguely unimpressed.

And that's perhaps where we had got to on our trip. We rocked up to Tokyo, stamped off the plane, crossed our arms and shouted "Make it happen clown!"..but it didn't happen, or at least not in the way we expected...

Japan is not a country that overtly shows off, or tries to impress. It is almost the exact opposite of China: meek, mild, reserved, private, polite, intricately detailed and ordered. We had to shift from our position of fourth gear, that ensured we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of China, and drop it right down to second - a slower pace of gently soaking up the ambience, rather than seeking out a series of highs to satisfy the traveller addiction. It took over a week to work that out!. We had masses of energy that simply didn't need to be consumed, and the more we searched and dug, the less we found. Japan is a country of intricacies, hidden beauty and complex gestures. You cannot demand of it. You have to unravel it. To quote the strap-line of a current TV ad: 'God is in the details.' And that is a perfect synopsis of the Japanese psyche - inexplicably unable to see the bigger picture, this is a nation obsessed with detail, from the beautifully-presented Bento boxes and wagashi sweets to the multi-layered social etiquette.

And so it is with these thoughts and feelings in mind that we regale you with stories of our trip through Japan.

In our month-long journey, we fully explored the central Japanese island of Honshu (one of four main islands). Our first stop, inevitably, was Tokyo - a large, fast-paced, highly-developed, glistening city - crammed with Michelin-starred restaurants, funky bars, high-end shopping malls, designer boutiques and lots of art and theatre. A global city as good as any (...well, perhaps not London, but we are a little biased) a shockingly homogenous population, aside from Chinese and Korean immigrants and the usual gajin crowd. This is a truly Japanese city, made by Japan, for Japan. It's also budget-bustingly expensive, but to bemoan Japan's cost is as churlish as complaining about the volume of people in China - it's not as if you didn't know beforehand. Tokyo was good fun - we visited evocative buddhist temples, decorative Shinto shrines, walked through wonderful parks, explored the sumo-obsessed quarter of Ryogoku and enjoyed several of the fantastic food markets. Talking of food, perhaps we should drop this 'travelling' charade and just admit that this trip is a long, drawn-out attempt to enjoy all the different types of food the world has to offer. A 'gourmet oddessey' if you like. Now that we have reached the end of our time in Japan, the Barrelmeos are looking more like a couple of human rice balls. And so it was in Tokyo that Japan first picked up the food baton handed down from China - and we were not to be d isappointed.

Firstly, let's dispel some myths. Japanese cuisine is not just sushi and sushimi. It is not by any stretch of the imagination a healthy diet - 70% of food is deep-fried or breadcrumbed to death. The Japanese are obsessed with sweets and cakes (naturally, we felt it our cultural duty to join them in this national obsession). So to summarise: we enjoyed ramen, udon, soba and hoto noodles in hearty broths, warming stews and tasty stir fries; sweet and sticky eels (unagi); gut-busting sumo stew (chanko nabe); kyoto's haute cuisine (kaiseki ryori); thick batter pancakes, heaped with lashings of barbeque sauce and mayonnaise, topped with pork and bonito fish flakes (okonomiyake), and wonderfully addictive sweet bean paste in pounded rice balls (mochi), ice cream or cakes.　We are now also totally addicted to wasabi paste.

And what of the booze we hear you cry! Well, on one boozy night at the handily-placed and cheap travellers bar next to the hostel, after starting with a couple of glasses of red wine, we decided to work our way through the japanese drinks list: full tumblers of mind-numbing spirits - the next day was somewhat unproductive.. There's wonderfully dry sake, diesel-loke shochu (distilled from rice, barley or potatoes), palate-pleasing suntory whiskey and sweet, sweet plum wine - the plum nearly ruined us..

Aside from the food and drink, we had some fantastic day trips and overnight stays around Tokyo - the wonderful olde-worlde charm of Kamakura (the 14th C. c apital), with its array of impressively-set temples and buddhas of all shapes and sizes, fun hiking trails up the heavily-forested Mount Takao, hanging out by the base of the mighty Mount Fuji, and the relaxed atmosphere of the old pilgim town, Nikko. Nikko was a highlight of our trip, as the thick snow covered the beautiful Chuzenji and Yumoto lakes, with the impressive Kegon falls gushing down the steep cliffs.　The snow was over a foot deep. What is it about a thick covering of snow that makes you grin from ear to ear and powers you with childish energy? We walked, frolicked, slid, made a cool snowman and enjoyed a couple of snowball fights. It was a wonderfully immature couple of days.

It was then time to move on to Kansai, an overnight bus journey from Tokyo. We arrived at our first stop, Kyoto, the centre of Japan's history and culture - boasting a vast collection of jaw-dropping temples, the most vividly-beautiful red and yellow autumn leaves we are ever likely to see, the wonderfully preserved Geisha district of Gion, and a memorable day trip to the 8th C. capital of Nara - a town alive with history, and a few too many wild deer! Next stop, Osaka, the Manchester of Japan - a great vibe and a little grungy. The highlight was enrolling in the home visit programme, and being invited to Sunday lunch with a wonderful couple in their sixties (I know, rock-n-roll eh!) - for a day, they were our surrogate grandparents. We shared views on Japan's development and 'progress' and got wonderfully well-fed. It was a priviledge and a joy. In the next couple of days, we took in the impressive Himeji castle and the port town of Kobe ( a great place to chill).

Our final stop was Hiroshima - a city totally and uttertly synonymous with the dropping of the first atomic bomb. They have preserved one of the main halls that lines the river and it remains in exactly the same state as it was after the bomb had dropped. It is a sad, poignant, numbing reminder of the evil of war and the dire depths that humankind is able to stoop to. The entire 'ground zero' area is converted into a Peace Park, a Children's Memorial space (...full of paper cranes made in memory of a 2 year old bomb survivor who died at the age of 12. She belived that if she could make a thousand paper cranes then her wish would come true - if only life were that simple), and an excellent memorial museum (photos, childrens toys, peoples clothes and survivors' testaments all bring to life that day on Aug 6th 1945 when America - with UK and Soviet backing - dropped an atomic bomb on a Japanese garrison town). It left us humbled.

There was time for one final day trip before our return to Tokyo on yet another night bus. This was our trip to the beautiful island of Miyajima. Stunningly set, with the sun streaming down on us, we hiked the 2 hour trail up Mount Misen and soaked up the views. A thrilling cable car ride down was followed by a visit to the floating shrine20- one of the most photographed scenic spots in all of Japan. As the tide came in, the towering orange painted torii gate 'floated' in the sea - a powerful symbol of 6th century religious and spiritual devotion - as impressive today as it ever was.

So, after returning to Tokyo we have started to reflect on our time in Japan. Japan is indeed a wonderful country to experience. A good tourist destination, and the most gentle introduction to Asia you could ever imagine. If you are looking for a challenge, this may not be the place to find it. If you want to experience a developed area in Asia, aside from Hong Kong, this is the place to come.

So, time to start to roughing it again in Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia. We can't wait!