Japanification

Our last $2 in Kansai Airport.

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:08:59 -0400

Our last $2 in Kansai Airport.

Ultraman Steampunk Train

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:01:00 -0400

Well, we’re back in the states after another long travel day. The highlight, without question, was the awesome Ultraman Steampunk Train we rode today, the rapi:t b (rapito beta).

This bad boy whisks you from Osaka over to Kansai Airport, which is built on an artificial island. Pretty cool stuff, and a nice way to end our trip. Sommer, in her infinite wisdom, budgeted perfectly which meant that we came with a set amount of money and we spent exactly that amount without going over. She’s good. We did, however, end up with about $10 in the airport which I wanted to spend on the below, but instead bought a really cheesy black velvet painting.

As we mentioned before, keep an eye on the blog for the residual posts on all the things we didn’t have time to talk about while we were there.

Check out the pictures from today.

Our last day

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:32:12 -0400

This will be our last post from Japan, we’re packing our things up and will be leaving for the airport in a few hours. Very sad, I know, but the blogging is not done yet! There are lots of cultural things that we’ve noticed that haven’t really fit anywhere else in our posts, so we’re going to do some residual blogging once we’re back home. In other words, keep coming back for leftovers, there’s plenty more where this came from.

Thanks for coming along with us, and sayonara for now!

Godzilla, meet Osaka.

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:02:23 -0400

Godzilla, meet Osaka.

From the top of a mountain to the bottom of the ocean

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:14:52 -0400

The morning started off bright and early with a 6 am Buddhist service. Part of the appeal of staying at a temple on Mount Koya is taking part in their morning service, which is quite an experience. Shojoshin-in, one of the oldest temples in Koyasan, was originally built over 1,150 years ago by Kukai himself (aka Kobodaishi, the founder of Koyasan), which made the service feel that much more authentic. The dimly lit temple was filled with laquerware boxes (that I assume housed scriptures), golden flowers, candles and other glittering ritual implements. The majority of the ceremony featured the monks chanting in unison and ringing an altar bell and cymbals. It was very peaceful and moving, more so than I expected it to be. Following the ceremony we ate a delicious breakfast and got the day started with a trip back to Okunoin cemetery.

It was great to get back here during the day when we could enjoy the beauty with the sun peeking through the trees and illuminating the 200,000 tombstones. There isn’t much I can say to explain just how amazing this place is, so you’ll have to check out the pictures. Seeing it both at night and during the day was the right way, the contrast alone was worth it.

After Okunoin we walked back to Kongobuji, the head temple at Koyasan, to enter and view the painted sliding screens that it is famous for. There were no photos allowed inside, but trust me when I say that the screens are well worth the few dollars admission. I love the style of painting, so simple and minimalist and yet so beautiful. One of the highlights of Kongobuji is the rock garden, reputedly the largest in Japan. It is said to represent a pair of dragons in a sea of clouds, and is impressive both for its scale and beauty.

From here we headed down the mountain on the long journey back to Osaka, where we checked in to our last hotel. Namba station in Osaka is HUGE, and is the most confusing station we’ve been in yet. It was no problem getting to the hotel (which is atop Namba station), but we’ve left the hotel several times since and each time has been an adventure finding our way back again. This station has multiple full scale malls inside, both below (two levels of stores) and above, which adds to the confusion. Pretty crazy. After checking in we made a quick trip over to Osaka Castle, one of the largest tourist draws in the city. It is a rather peculiar place, having been built in 1931 (originally built in 1580, it has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times since), it looks like a real castle from a distance, but the closer you get the more you see the “modern” accents. We didn’t climb the steps to the top, but we did grab some ice cream and a bench to take in the action around the castle.

After the castle we moved on to Kaiyukan, Osaka’s aquarium which is one of the world’s largest. The aquarium focuses on the Pacific Ocean and is unique in that you enter on the 6th floor and then spiral down to the bottom around an absolutely massive inner tank. We saw a whole bunch of excellent critters, all of whom seemed out and posing for pictures.

By far the most impressive sight were the two whale sharks. I’ve never seen one other than in pictures, and they are giant! These two are the largest fish in captivity in the world. They were so big that you almost didn’t notice the rays in the same tank with 9 foot wing spans. We watched these guys swim around for quite awhile, they are so graceful for being such large animals and they seem to float in a beautiful slow motion.

At the very bottom of the aquarium was the second thing we came to see, the giant crabs. Looking like prehistoric spiders with legs that can reach 9 feet, they were certainly a stark contrast to the gliding whale sharks. From here it was on to the souvenir shop, which was excellent and very reasonably priced. Unsurprisingly they had a whole section devoted to snacks! Speaking of which, we left the aquarium in search of dinner, which was much harder to find than we expected. Osaka is known for its love of food, but everywhere we looked there wasn’t a restaurant to be found! I guess we were looking in the wrong places, so we headed back to our hotel where there are plenty of places close by. Sommer has been wanting a pizza, so we located an Italian place which was fun because it gave us a chance to see what the Japanese version of Italian is. For instance, apparently Italians love Doritos, because that was the appetizer. Strange. From there we did a little walking around the city, which is considerably different than both Tokyo and Kyoto. It actually has a very Western feel to it. Fortunately it didn’t take too long to find a robot, though.

The highlight of the trip back was definitely the drunk businessman on the subway, doing his best to remain upright. His friends weren’t much help as they had appeared to have been drinking alongside him. I am happy to report he was able to hang on and make it to his station.

Check out the pictures from today.

Drunk businessman on the subway in Osaka. It was only 9:30,...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:07:56 -0400

Drunk businessman on the subway in Osaka. It was only 9:30, guess someone had too much sake!

When hinges creak in doorless forests…

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:54:46 -0400

After dinner we waited until just before dark and then headed out for Okunoin, Kobo Daishi’s Shrine, via the 1 mile path through the cemetery. Yes, we waited until dark to visit a cemetery. Yes, we are strange.

The path is lit well enough to walk, but only outlines the silhouettes of the more than 200,000 tombstones here. The entire cemetery is in the center of a centuries old forest, so in addition to the darkness of the night, you are also cradled by towering cypress trees. To say it was an experience is an understatement. We were the only ones there, so beyond our footsteps the only sounds were those of the forest. I will admit that it was a bit frightening at times, being out there with the unfamiliar noises in a vast sea of tombstones. But this is one of the main reasons we came, and it was every bit as awe inspiring as we expected it would be.

After making our way over the river (literally) and through the woods (literally), we arrived at Kobo Daishi’s Shrine, the Offering Hall and the Hall of Lamps. Being that this is the most sacred land in Koyasan, it is said that one must clean their soul before crossing the last bridge to the shrine – which we did from the Tamagawa stream. Because it was late we were not able to enter the buildings, but we were able to see the impressive glow of the hall of lamps, completely filled with lamps sent as offerings by followers. We also lit a candle and incense, something we have not done at any temple on this trip except this one, there was just something about the journey that made it seem right.

Our journey back was slightly more comfortable, having become familiar with the various sounds of the forest. We met two delightful frogs on the path as well, and made note of a few things we missed on the way in. The entire trip took just over an hour, and like everything we’ve seen on this trip, it is something we will never forget.

Arriving back at Shojoshin-in we decided to visit the communal baths, which turned out to be less than communal since no one else was around. Bathing here is done on a small wooden stool where you soap off, rinse and then once you are clean you soak in a very large, very warm wooden tub. It was a great experience, and it makes me want a very large, very warm wooden tub at home. From there it was up to the room to go through the nearly 400 photos I took today, and then off to bed with the sounds of the wind in the trees lulling us to sleep.

10,000 torii and a journey to enlightenment

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:44:00 -0400

We began our day by retracing our footsteps from last night to Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was much better during the day, despite the rain – we could actually see what was beyond all of the Torii! We found numerous shrines tucked into the wooded trails that meander through the torii pathway, many with stone foxes, which are said to be messengers of the gods. We also found a beautiful lake that we would have completely missed if we had walked that far in the dark.

We didn’t make it all the way to the end of the 10,000 torii pathway because we were short on time, and it was starting to rain even harder. I think the rain added to the experience: the sound of the rain drops, the sheen it gave the vermillion torii, and the smell of wet earth. Very calming.

We began our trip to Koyasan around 11am. The trip seemed quite daunting: four train rides, one cable car ride and one bus ride to make it up the mountain. We began by taking the Hikari shinkansen to Osaka, then caught the subway to Namba Station. From there, we took the Nankai Koya Line to Hashimoto. By the time we reached Hashimoto, the modern train stations of steel and lights had diminished into simple wooden structures jutting out of the countryside. We got on our last train to Gokurakubashi, which screeched up the mountain and afforded a spectacular view of exactly how far we’d fall if the train were to dislodge from its track. Fear aside, it was a beautiful journey and we hardly noticed that the trip had taken upwards of two hours at this point. From our last train stop, we boarded a cable car, which took us up a very steep climb to the Koyasan basin. The last part of our journey was a 10 minute bus ride up a very winding road to the town.

I thought this journey up the mountain would be insanely difficult, given all the transfers and the short amount of time to make them, but it was quite effortless. It was even easier than navigating Kyoto Station, which we still had not figured out when we left Kyoto earlier today (you know a building is confusingly built when you need to use a compass INSIDE the building). The signage on this trip was great, they were all in English, and everything was on schedule. To anyone fearing the trip: Do not fear. Just follow the signs, get a Koyasan round trip ticket to cover all your fares in one shot, and go.

Now, about our lodging: We are staying at Shojoshin-in, a Buddhist temple situated beside the side entrance to Okunoin, a huge cemetery. The temple itself is more than 1,150 years old, with the guesthouses around 150 years old. We were greeted promptly by a monk who checked us in and showed us to our room, which overlooks a pond and the side of a mountain covered in beautiful trees that whistle when the wind rushes through. It’s incredibly gorgeous – the room has a tatami-floor, with sliding screen doors and futon bedding. We even have a tearoom with a balcony. The word “unworthy” comes to mind again.

After dropping our bags off and taking a moment to pinch ourselves, we set out to visit a few of the many temples in Koyasan. We saw the Danjo Garan complex, which houses the oldest structure on Mount Koya and a number of other beautiful buildings; the Tokugawa Mausoleum; and Daimon, the enormous gate of Koyasan which overlooks the mountain range. We left Daimon around 4:45pm, and we had to be back to our temple by 5:30 for our dinner. We were planning on catching a bus back, but it turns out that buses don’t run between 4 and 6pm, so we did some major powerwalking back to Shojoshin-in. We made it just in time for our Shojin ryori dinner, which is a Buddhist vegetarian meal. The variety of food was incredible, as was the room we ate in: we were all by ourselves in a tatami-floor room with painted sliding doors. I was unable to finish everything, but I think Casey managed to get through every dish in front of him – there were about 12 dishes in all.

After dinner, we explored the garden and pond outside the temple.

Check out the pictures.

Our delicious Shojin ryori dinner at Shojoshin-in temple on...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:43:00 -0400

Our delicious Shojin ryori dinner at Shojoshin-in temple on Mount Koya.

Goodbye Kyoto! We’re on our way to Mt. Koya next and since...

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:06:47 -0400

Goodbye Kyoto! We’re on our way to Mt. Koya next and since we’ll be staying on top of a mountain at Shojoshinin, a Koyasan Temple, there won’t be any internets or phones. Can monks go on the internet, anyway? I guess the ones above did (although I wish I took this picture, sadly I did not). Anyway, you’ll probably hear from us next some time tomorrow night when we get to Osaka.

We headed up to the Fushimi Inari Shrine thinking it would be...

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:17:54 -0400

We headed up to the Fushimi Inari Shrine thinking it would be nice at night. It was nice alright, nice and scary! It wasn’t all that well lit and is basically in the forest, so it was a pretty dark and unsettling affair. We walked around as much as we could, but then decided it was really something we need to see during the day. Let’s try this again tomorrow, shall we? We did get a few neat pictures, though.

Check out the pictures from tonight.

Antiques, a Thousand Statues and Tree Top Temples

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:56:13 -0400

Today blew our minds. Literally. Right out of our collective left ear. This city is absolutely incredible. We made the tough decision to axe Himeji from our itinerary this morning, figuring there was a ton of things to see in Kyoto and even though Himeji is something we really wanted to see, the trip there and back would eat precious time. It was a very hard thing to decide, but we’re both really glad we stayed here.

We were lucky enough to be in town for the Toji Temple flea market, which happens only once a month, and it was something we were not going to miss. Finding the temple was easy, we took the free hotel shuttle to Kyoto station (thank you free shuttle, you have proven invaluable) and then headed due west. After just a few minutes we were at the gates of the temple grounds and immediately we saw the stalls of vendors lining the walkway. I was most excited at the prospect of finding antiques and within a few feet we found some. Fortunately we held off, as the flea market stretches on for what seems like miles! The most amazing part was that the antiques, for the most part, were unbelievably affordable. We bought a ton of stuff, and would have certainly spent thousands if we had a way to get it all back. The mix of offerings was great, with plants, trees, food, souvenirs, antiques, art, crafts and clothing all sharing space. We actually didn’t even make it through the entire flea market as it seemed to stretch on infinitely in every direction.

In the center of this bustling market is the Toji Temple itself, which features a gorgeous pagoda as its centerpiece, the tallest wooden structure in Japan. The small park surrounding it was gorgeous and impeccably manicured. It was really amazing to be in this historic location totally surrounded by thousands of people buying and selling their wares.

We decided to head back to Kyoto station for the next leg of our tour and to take advantage of their handy lockers. After packing a locker full of our goods we headed due east this time in search of Sanjusangendo Hall, something I have been very much looking forward to. It didn’t take too terribly long to get there and although a bus would have been faster, I wanted to spend most of the day on foot to maximize our views of Kyoto. The Hall isn’t much to look at from the outside, but it is what is held inside the long building that blew our minds. 1,000 life-sized, hand carved, gold covered statues of the thousand-handed Kannon. It is difficult to explain just how incredible it is walking into the hall and seeing the statues, ten rows deep, floating out into the distance. Although Kannon had 1,000 hands, the artists that made these settled for just 22 a piece, but boy would it have been a lot of work to make them all. In the center of the hall is an enormous seated Kannon with an incredibly detailed back panel. Throw in 30 other statues, all national treasures, and you’ve got one of the highlights of the trip. I’m not sure anything can ever top seeing the terra cotta warriors, but this had the same sort of impact with the sheer number and amount of work that must have gone into them. No pictures were allowed, so you’ll have to settle for a picture of a picture in a book we bought.

From Sanjusangendo it was time to head for the hills and find our way to Kiyomizu temple on Mount Otowa. Thanks to Kyoto’s grid street layout we were able to find our way very easily, with the grade increasing as we got closer to the mountain. After a bit of a hike we were at the first gate, which right away hinted at the beauty of the location. We were completely surrounded by beautiful green trees and turning around at the gate you could see all of Kyoto in one expansive view. Definitely worth the walk! There are a number of temples and shrines on the hill, but the big draw is the main hall which is built over a cliff with two decks that hang out over the trees. It was so surreal being up there, looking down on the modern city of Kyoto surrounded by these ancient buildings and incredible landscape. We spent quite a bit of time just hanging out on the deck and taking it all in, amazed at the fact that our day just seemed to be getting better and better. On the way down the hill we grabbed some quick shaved ice (ichigo flavored), hit some shops and then walked back to Sanjusangendo to catch a bus back to Kyoto station.

The station itself is pretty unbelievable and is apparently one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city. In fact, it is a bit like a city itself with everything you could possibly need. We did a little shopping, grabbed a delicious lunch and then collected our antiques and headed back to the hotel.

We’ll be heading out again in a bit here to track down Fushimi-Inari with its 10,000 red torii. After seeing Yasaka in the dark last night we definitely want to check out another temple under the moon.

Check out the pictures from today.

Geishas, Shabu-shabu, and Shopping

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:10:14 -0400

After resting for a few moments back at the hotel, we headed out for Gion, a famous geisha district. The district itself looks rather plain at first, especially in comparison to the dazzling lights coming from the nearby shopping and nightlife district. Upon further inspection, we found lots of dining options and shops, and we even spotted a geisha! We were not fast enough with the camera, though. Oh well! I’m sure a google image search will produce a few photos if we somehow forget what they look like.

We set out with the intention of finding a shabu-shabu restaurant for dinner - we had read about this kind of hot-pot meal and we were hoping to try it while in Japan. Our hopes were dwindling when we stumbled upon a small restaurant in Gion serving shabu-shabu steak…Mmmmm!

The restaurant was what you would expect to find here - tatami mats, low tables, waitresses in kimono. Our food was served promptly, and our waitress was kind enough to explain the shabu-shabu process to us. Here, allow me to demonstrate:

Watch Sommer demonstrate Shabu-shabu.

Looks tasty, huh? Trust me, it’s delicious and fun! We’re trying to figure out how to do this at home. Our waitress was in love with Casey’s moustache (or maybe just Casey…?), and she kept coming by to pay a compliment or stare in wonder at his handlebar curls. I took a picture of Casey and his #1 Japanese fan before heading back out into Gion.

Gion is situated near Yasaka Shrine, but we figured it would be closed since it was 8pm. We saw a few other people walking up the steps and figured we’d follow. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the shrine was not only open, but all of the lanterns were lit. We’ve seen quite a few shrines during our travels, but we’ve never seen a shrine after dark. It’s so beautiful at night, and it’s so nice to see all of those lanterns being used. I had always wondered if they were just for show. Now I want to go back to Nara at night!

We took the long way back to the hotel through Pontocho, and we ended up stopping in lots of unique little shops. Kyoto is a great place for shopping because stuff here is actually affordable, unlike Tokyo where everything was upscale and expensive. It’s still overwhelming because there are so many options for every item - want a pair of socks? There’s an entire store just for socks. In the mood for a strawberry sundae? I challenge you to pick just one:

Once we reached our sensory capacity for the night, we located a subway station and headed back to our hotel. Tomorrow is another adventure around Kyoto - it looks like weather/construction/time will be prohibiting us from visiting Himeji Castle…maybe next time.

Check out pictures from tonight.

Oh deer

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:06:09 -0400

Today we opted to head out first thing in the morning for Nara, about an hour from Kyoto. I was pretty excited about the abundance of temples and the park itself, but I think we were both most interested in checking out the sacred deer. The nice thing about Nara is that you sort of just get out of the train station and walk north until you run into the park. Once inside the park it is just a big loop to check out all kinds of awesomeness everywhere you look.

The first temple we ran into was the Kofukuji, a moderately sized rather attractive temple with a pagoda across an open field. The pagoda was really impressive at 5 stories and this was our first interaction with the deer. These little dudes are everywhere and the only thing the deer outnumber are the vendors selling deer cookies. We opted to hold off on feeding the little fellas until we had a chance to check out more of the park.

Walking through the park we passed the Nara National Museum, which we opted to skip, and headed straight for Todaiji Temple. The largest buddha in Japan is housed here, which should have given us a heads up on how big the building might be. It was quite a surprise, however, as we crossed a deer filled walkway and looked up to see the enormous gate leading to the temple. The gate alone would have been impressive, or the fantastically huge wooden statues inside the gate, but that all went out the door when we got our first glimpse of the temple itself - this thing was huge! There is a lot of open space around the temple, which affords you lots of great views as you make your way there. Once inside we were pleasantly surprised by the signs saying you could photograph the buddha, a first for us. This dude was gigantic. We saw an unbelievable huge buddha in China, but he was standing and was situated in such a way that you really couldn’t see all of him at once. Seeing this enormous seated buddha was quite a site, and I just kept saying “geez, that thing really is big.”

From Todaiji we headed to the northernmost part of the park and Kasuga Shrine. This part of the park was probably the best because you begin climbing a hill covered in trees with stone lanterns lining the walk. Every corner you turned there seemed to be more to look at and it definitely kept my camera busy.

Heading back down the hill we decided it was time to feed the deer, so Sommer bought some cookies and we found a group of nice looking fellas. Unfortunately there was one aggressive gang leader type who went straight for the cookies and used his antlers to hook Sommer under the elbow to force her hand. Sommer did her best to feed the other deer, but this guy was having none of it. As Sommer turned her back he decided he’d show her and snagged our map from her purse and promptly devoured it. What a punk! Luckily we were close enough to the park exit that we found our way out, but I was afraid we’d be having to try to look down his throat for directions.

We grabbed a quick lunch of udon and fried rice and then hopped a painfully slow train back to Kyoto. It seemed like every stop was 10 minutes, which really made it a haul. We also ran into our first train hiccup when we got lost at the Kyoto station trying to locate our hotel shuttle. We have been fortunate enough to always exit on the same side of the station, so when we popped out on the opposite side we were doomed. This is the second largest station here, so getting lost is pretty easy. After some fiddling about we finally wound up on the correct side and were headed back to our hotel.

Check out the photos from today.

Sacred Nara deer chomp on Sommer’s map instead of the...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:38:54 -0400

Sacred Nara deer chomp on Sommer’s map instead of the cookies she bought for them.

Kyoto in one minute

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:05:00 -0400

I’m spending one minute on some super quick observations about Kyoto so far:

Definitely a bike city (they dominate the sidewalks, alleys and just about everywhere).
Definitely a different vibe than Tokyo, more laid back and more eye contact (yay for that!).
Definitely easier to navigate than Tokyo (grid street layout with the streets clearly marked).
Definitely has a nightlife (we just scraped the surface tonight).
Definitely some serious history afoot.

Pachinko anyone?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:59:23 -0400

Pachinko anyone?

Photo

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:04:06 -0400

Bullets and castles

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:23:07 -0400

Today started off with one more trip to the Disney mecca of souvenirs, a last look around the hotel and a quick couple of train hops over to Tōkyō station to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. We had a bit of trouble locating the ticket exchange counter (we had vouchers purchased ahead of time), but once we did it was quick and easy to get on the train. The Shinkansen platforms are awesome because every track has one on it, so you get to see multiple styles (and speeds) of bullet trains all in one place.

The train ride was great, after a few station stops right outside of Tokyo we accelerated up to top speed and flew past the countryside. It was excellent seeing the areas outside of the city, such a departure from what we have been seeing. The tracks run along the coast most of the way, which afforded beautiful views of the mountain ranges meeting the ocean. Sommer checked out the inside of her eyelids for part of the trip, but I was glued to the window watching everything glide by. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

About 3 hours later we were in Kyoto, and it was another mini adventure trying to track down the shuttle that runs to our hotel. In a bit of luck we decided to give up on locating the shuttle and instead take the subway, but as we went down the stairs toward the track we stumbled into the information office that was directly across from the shuttle pick up. Yay for us! The hotel is just a few minutes from the station, and directly across from Nijo Castle. Since it is so close we decided to check in and head right across the street.

The castle was amazing, but the gardens were the highlight. Right inside the gate you are surrounded by the most beautiful trees, most of them interestingly trimmed and surrounded with perfectly placed grasses and rocks. One of the nice things was that there were lots of signs pointing you in the only direction around the castle grounds, so there was no chance of getting lost or missing anything - just follow the signs!

We got there just in time to hear a funny announcement: “Please come to the palace right away!” The Ninomaru Palace was the home of the shogun and was closing, so they were telling us to hurry if we wanted to take a peek inside. I’m glad we made it, the place is amazing - 3300 square feet, built almost entirely of cypress and filled with elaborate carvings and hand painted sliding screens. One of the coolest things for me were the nightingale floors: “To protect the occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, the builders constructed the floors of the corridors in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walks on them.” No joke, the floors sounded like you were walking on birds, very cool!

From the castle we went for a walk in the streets surrounding our hotel to get our bearings and ran into an awesome Udon place where we had dinner. You order up your noodles (hot or cold) and then get a sort of buffet of options to put on top of your noodles. I kept mine simple (raw egg, yummy to taste but yucky to see) while Sommer had some tempura vegetables and a bean patty. Throw in some cucumber salad, a piece of sushi and a beer for $15 and we were some happy campers.

We’re about to head out again, toward Gion and Pontocho, Kyoto’s nightlife district. We hope to spot some Geisha and then take a walk down the Kamo River.

Check out the pictures from today.

Looking out the window of a speeding bullet.

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:22:49 -0400

Looking out the window of a speeding bullet.