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For the New Year I was in Indonesia at Tuk Tuk on Samosir Island in Lake Toba, Sumatra. Shortly after the New Year I traveled back to Medan and then caught an over night bus up to Banda Aceh on the extreme northern coast of Sumatra. The Aceh province had a more extreme form of Islam than the rest of Indonesia and generally wanted its independence from the rule of Jakarta. Banda Aceh had a beautiful central mosque and a colorful central market, however, I had really traveled up to the province to go out to the island called Pulau Weh. From Banda Aceh's port of Krueng Raja it was a 2.5 hour sailing out to the idyllic tropical island which was famous for it's marine national park and diving.
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1996 Travel Diary (Part 1)

Gjcmcclurg
2005-12-23 14:40:13

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'Leaping Tiger' Zen garden, the old wooden houses of Sannen-zaka street and the quaint little teahouses of Ninnen-zaka street. One evening after all of the sightseeing I decided to pay a visit to the local sento (public bath). At the sento I stripped naked, as was the custom, and walked into the bathing area for the men. Inside I was quite amazed to see a little old lady vacuuming around the naked men! The sento was quite busy, but had 4 - 5 different baths and I spotted one bath that was empty. I tested the water with my foot and as it was a nice temperature I waded in. Suddenly my body jerked as electric currents were passed through me - I then figured out why the bath was empty!

From Kyoto I traveled by Shinkansen right up through northern Honshu and across to Hokkaido, Japan's 2nd largest island. I spend a night in a friendly little minshiku (guesthouse) in Hakodate and then traveled up to the main city of Sapporo. Sapporo has the coveted reputation as having the best sushi in Japan and I certainly enjoyed checking it out. I particularly enjoyed some of the sushi bars that had the sushi on a conveyor belt, so that you could simply grab the plates of sushi you fancied as the went by!

From Sapporo I traveled to the Daisetsuzan National Park in the center of Hokkaido. I managed to stay in a lovely log cabin at the Asahidake Onsen. Since it was low season I only had to share the large 4 bedroom cabin with one other Japanese guy. Along a small path, some 50m behind the cabin, was a natural hot spring in the forest that we could use at any time. It was great relaxing in the piping hot water in the middle of the forest with patches of unmelted snow around us. I spend four days at the onsen and did some challenging hikes. One day I set off for the Tenninkyo Onsen and got completely lost in the forest which still had a thick layer of snow obscuring the paths - luckily I had a map and compass so I managed to eventually find my way. The following day I caught a cable car to the starting point for the trek up the Asahidake volcano and then hiked to the summit. First I had to walk across a snow field with roaring steam vents and then climb a rocky path up to the 2,290m peak.

From Hokkaido I traveled back to Honshu and then to the town of Akayu in the Yamagata ken. I spent several days visiting an English guy called Peter, whom I had met whilst traveling in Indonesia. Peter was teaching English in Akayu and while he was at work he lent me his car to explore the area. Over the few days I visited the famous onsen and rotemburo at Mt. Zao and the temple of Yama-dera. To reach the temple of Yama-dera I had to climb hundreds of steps up to it's cliff top location. From the temple there were great panoramic views out over the surrounding countryside. After Akayu I returned to Tokyo and spent a further week exploring the city and socializing with Mark and his girlfriend Debbie.

On 9th July, after exploring Japan for almost 2 months, I caught a direct flight across the Pacific to Vancouver in Canada. I was a little sad to be leaving Asia, but now I had the Americas to explore!