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a few photos from Kyoto, plus below some of Junko and family and the Sunday Lunch in the next blog.

Our final day in Japan is being spent on a Shinkansen train from Hiroshim to Tokyo for our overnight flight to Vancouver. We are sad to leave - our 11 days here have rather flashed by.

Japan has proved to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable countries on our tour. Part of our enjoyment has been getting out of the extreme heat and humidity of our tropical leg and into warm spring sunshine. Part has been due to the ease of travel - despite the ocassional difficulty navigating huge railway interchanges or finding a sudden lack of any English signage. But mostly we have been entertained and sometimes amazed at the street life, the cityscapes and of course the wonderful temples, gardens, national parks, and landscapes.

Next to India, Japan has to rank as one of the most interesting countries to visit - at least in our widened by still limited experience. Street life in India is great theatre, but sometimes a little hard to take. In Japan the streets are also full of life but always entertaining, never appalling. We saw in Ahmedebd the more developed side of Indian urban life but in Japan we seem to be peering into the future.

Our enjoyment is however overwhelmingly due to the kindness of people here, Junko and her family of course but also the many people who have helped us on our way. They never bother you but if you stop and look a little lost, as we did at Hiroshima streetcar terminal, an old man rushed forward with route maps and advice on where to get our tram.

We thought Kyoto was a wonderful city and despite spending four nights there Tess was still finding things we had to do as we left, making a return trip necessary! It's an impressive modern city, good metro and wonderful bus system and is fringed by and interlaced with the most extraordinary temples, shrines and old streets and buildings. They are as seen in all those classic photos you have seen - right down to the artistically raked gravel. Mind you, I was continually surprised (even as an old cynic) by the sheer variety of ways in which those Buddhist monks had come up with ways to guarantee good fortune - all for a few hundred yen of course!.

Hiroshima seemed at first like just another modern Japanese city. We were travelling on a streetcar to our ryokan when the Japanese announcements of stops gave way to a rather stentorian English voice, 'The next stop is the Atomic Bomb Dome'. There were the stark ruins and in the distance the surrounding hills, also familiar from photographs and which were partially responsible for the choice of Hiroshima for obliteration - since they would contain and magnify the effects of the bomb.

Our ryokan was very close to the Peace Park, an area which was completely devastated. We wondered at the small graveyards crowded with grave stones that we found among the densely packed modern buildings. Our visit to the Peace Park was enlivened by groups of school childern seeking an interview - part of the work book they were all carrying for their visit. Most affecting of all were the underground Hall of Remembrance - a circular structure with a tiled stone 360 degree panorama of the devastated city - the 140,000 tiles representing each of the dead- and of course the Peace Museum which presented in graphic detail the impact of the bomb on people and the city.

This was a major purpose of our visit of course but we found time to explore the city centre a little, enjoy the local noodle dish and spend a wonderful day on Miyajima, a beautiful mountainous island a short train ride and ferry hop from Hiroshima. A lovely way to spend our final day before beginning the journey north to Tokyo and onto Vancouver.

Brian

I have really enjoyed Japan, it has enough mystery and surprise to make it feel really foreign (can't understand the language or writing) while being reassuringly clean, safe and organised. I was going to add 'comfortable' but as far as I am concerned the jury is still out on Futons as viable beds.

Things here that are wonderful: the hot bath to soak in, especially when fed by a natural hot spring; the food; the kindness, politeness and quietness of people in public places and private spaces; the cleanliness of all public spaces and facilities and the transport. There are many others but thats the list that springs to mind first.

Odd and different things: so many elderly people everywhere, smartly dressed, doing things and going places and using the public transport. The Pachinkos - huge halls of slot machines and one armed bandits; the huge size of the shopping centrs; housing packed as tightly as an Indian shanty town but so much less messy.

Watching people here is fascinating. Japanese girls dress modestly with few arms, shoulders or cleavages on display but lots of leg as they wear very short skirts or shorts. Often under these they wear black tights or calf length leggings or sometimes over the knee socks in black, I have also seen socks with bright pink with lacey tops, they leave an interesting (slightly Victorian naughty postcard) gap between sock top and skirt hem. I saw one woman on the streetcar with knee length black lacey shorts showing under the hem of her severe black business suit. Japanese girls like lace, frills, ruffles and sheer fabrics with small flower patterns - 'cute' in a big theme. Shoes and boots have very high heels or are completely flat and often brightly patterned.

Cyclists ride fast on pavements often holding an umbrella, some have a special umbrella clamp on their handlebars.

Queus are very orderly, train entrances are marked on platforms and lines form at them and only the very ancient push by.

No outling is complete without taking home a beautifully wrapped box of the local speciality food. On our trip to the stunning Miyajima island we watched the making of special waffles in the shape of a maple leaf which are then filled with a sweet bean paste and are very tasty. We saw other shapes of the same delicacy on our visit to Hakone. Our speciality food in Hiroshima was a sort of pancake cooked in front of you on a huge hot counter. First came the pancake batter, then a pile of finely shredded cabbage, a sprinkling of chives and crumbed nori, beansprouts, bacon and noodles. Each layer is added and pressed down on the hot plate with seasoning added with finally an egg which is first broken onto the hot plate and omleted then addedto the pile and the whole thing flipped over, preesed down and cooked some more. It is then slid over on the hot plate to your place on the counter with a cutter to cut off a piece, place in your bowl and eat with the chopsticks after adding some delicious brown sauce. There were three floors of these eating establishments in one building all making this same dish (with different fillings available), and all selling like hot pancakes!

Tessa

ps apologies for the lack of photos, they will be added we hope when we get to Vancouver. Despite being the centre of technology and communication we have found Japan the hardest place to get this blog done!