On top of Kofu!

We hopped into a cable car to get to the top of the nearby mountain, was just a bit high going up...



At the top of the mountain was a temple:



The view of Kofu was fantastic, unfortunately due to cloud cover we was unable to see Mt Fuji fully but still worthwhile!


We then decided to scale a near by cliff, though Steven was lagging behind a bit:


Me and Yaron decided to pose for some photos as we waited:




Steven was nearly here!


Just in time for a group shot:


Here are some other shots too:

After the gorge...

Here's my last post just before we drive out to Kyoto (minutes away), yesterday we visited the gorge with these three guys helping out:





After visiting the gorge we continued to follow the river further down into a valley, we ended up going underneath part of the cliff, as we was walking, we noticed all the 1 Yen coins that had been stuffed into cracks by people as they passed:


Yaron thought he would try to lift up the cliff but he wasn't strong enough...


As we popped out from underneath the cliff this view was awaiting us:


Yaron decided to pose for a photo on the footpath:


But Steven decided to jump over the fence and inspect the river/rocks more thoroughly!


Some of the rocks in the river were pretty big:



We also went through a small tunnel, we used this short guy to show you the height of it:


After taking in the views and fresh air we decided to return back to the little village that is located near the gorge to get a cablecar ride to the top of one of the mountains!

Shosenkyo Gorge (in Kofu)

Hi Guys, final part of this instalment of the blog update for today but probably one of the best!

We went to Shosenkyo Gorge today, it's located just outside of Kofu City and very close to the surrounding mountains including Mt Fuji. On the drive up to the gorge we decided to pull over and take a photo of the city, we asked the three guys to move out of the way of the shot but they wouldn't listen...


As we was climbed the amount of trees were growing, there was very little rock around:


While going to the gorge we found Arakawa Dam:




Although there wasn't much water flowing through, there was a massive amount of water being expelled near the bottom of the dam:


As we continued on towards the gorge we had to pullover suddenly and hop out of the car! In an effort to save petrol we decided to open our windows and switch off the air conditioning but then a massive hornet came into the car.. it must of been an inch or so in size!! Once the hornet ejected itself from the vehicle we casually made our way back... we wasn't worried at all! A little further on we found these:


Just before going to the gorge we found a temple and paid that a visit:




There was this amazing looking fountain just outside the gorge as well:


The video of the gorge is to follow shortly..

Welcome to Kofu!

Actually we leave Kofu tomorrow morning to go to Kyoto but here are some photos of what we did on our first day once we obtained our rental car (a Toyota Belina, like a stretched out Yaris).

Once we dropped off all our stuff in the hotel we headed for the ruins of Kofu Castle, some parts have been rebuilt based off drawings and what had been excavated, pictures to follow.

After that we headed over to a nearby temple, here is a shot of one of the buildings.



We was able to get quite a good view of Kofu from the top of the grounds:




And we managed to get in a silly shot too!

Ueno Toyshop

Hi Guys, sorry for the delay in posting new content, mainly due to tech problems with getting things charged and the fact the hotels we've visited provided Internet via a cable instead of WiFi!!

Anyways here is some old photos of when we went to the toyshop in Ueno, it has 7 floors of toys, manga, game machines, here is a few shots of the place.

You can make out the toyshop on the corner of the photo (with a yellow sign):


They had lots of figurines based on anime/manga as well as hello kitty..


Steve found a Luigi hat but unfortunately there was no matching Mario cap to go with it..


Perhaps one of the weirdest things in the shop was this:


They are licensed by Disney too! Known as cube Disney... looks a bit strange..

Akihabara

Though a date late we have seen Akihabara, will be posting some pictures after we move to Kofu tomorrow, going to sleep early tonight so we can get the hire car and drive there.

Ciao

Day Trip to Ueno

We visited Ueno today, which consisted of visiting a massive toy shop, park, zoo and lots of shops, here is a video of the busy Ueno:



More to follow of the day trip, onwards to Akihabrha now!

Sushi Bar Theme

As I was walking around Ikebekuro looking for food and came across a sushi bar.. the music was playing from a radio right at the front... guessing to try and lure customers in!

Toilet And More!

Hii, sorry for the delay, WiFi was acting funny this morning so we went out instead... here is some photos of the supertoilet! I gave it a try, very weird experience as you don't use toilet paper.. instead an arm pops out from the bowl and gives you squirt.

The toilet... looks innocent.. until you notice the controls..


Here are the controls, you can choose the strength of the jet too! We think the one that looks like a fighter pilot ejecting from the seat is for ladies to wash their ermm front bottoms ;)



Even more controls!! Not entirely sure what they do though..


What the paper is used for..


This is where I went last night, Ikerkurbo.. quick snap of the place.. Youtube to follow

Yatta!

Finally made it to Tokyo after a delay with Aeroflot, just sitting in the hotel, post a couple of videos and pictures taken so far, more to come after tea!!

Vending machines are all over the place.. here is one I saw at the train station, the 2nd brand sounds taste!

Thunderstorm in Moscow

Throwing it down at the moment, flight is still go.

Monies

My monies has arrived! All 61000¥, which works out to roughly £499. Have to say the guy on the 1000¥ looks like he's got a wig.