This is an account of my visit to Guy in Japan in summer 2005. Click on the camera icon to visit the gallery relevant to each section.

I arrived in Fukuoka and meet Guylaine, who flew in a few minutes after me from her town of Miyazaki. I basically left the first weekend to her, as a surprise, so she took me into the mountains to a town called Yufuin, which by many seems to be regarded as one of the last 'authentic' pieces of traditional Japan. Ergo, many tourists. But it was lovely, and our Ryokan (a Japanese inn, where you don't wear shoes and have lots of hot batshs) was a real treat, especially the seven course meal they served! Guy got a bit sick, so we took it easy, but I really appreciated the tranquil introduction to Japan and being out in the mountain rather than a busy (muggy!) city upon reuniting after eight months.

Since Guy was working most of the weekdays, I spent some of the cooler moments during the week exploring her town of Miyazaki. The second weekend we took went on a roadtrip around southern Kyushu (Japan's southmost main island). We camped out both nights. Friday night we spent on a campground by the beach and made a fantastic improvised cheese fondue. After a bit of swimming and watching the locals set up a festival for the July 1st official opening of the beach (we had it all to ourselves, having gone on June 30th), Guy got a huge sunburn so I had to smother her in Aloe gel and we decided to head into the mountains. Passing through some truly rugged and lush landscapes we made our way to Kobayashi and into a national park called Sukimo Lando, where we met Guy's boss and his wife and some of their friends (for another cheese fondue). Sunday we, somewhat listlessly took a walk around the area, crossing an impressive footbridge over a dam before making our way further inland to the top of a volcano, a fantastic volcanic (smelly) onzen bath nearby and Takachiho Farm (which was too foggy to be enjoyed for its sights but the dairy and produce we bought were excellent - even though Japanese are known not to have a strong dairy tradition...)

The week after that I left Guy and Miyazaki to spend some time travelling around and headed up to Tokyo for three days (thanks again Rob for the hospitality!) Tokyo instantly appealed to me for its hustle and bustle (which I seem to get a big kick out of when travelling) and its navigatability. After a few months in Sydney, I rediscovered the benefits of a truly efficient train system - after an impressive itinerary of visiting Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara, Ryogoku (and the highly recommendable Tokyo-Edo museum), Aoyama, Ginza, Shimbashi, (the public parts of) the Imperial Palace, lovely Hibaya park, and a trip out to Haneda Airport to fetch Guy's sister and brother-in-law, I was pretty exhausted and hopped the Shinkanzen to Kyoto. There I met Guy on top of Kyoto tower and we embarked on a more relaxed weekend of shrines, temples, mountain hikes, onzen and food, staying at another lovely Ryokan. Kyoto represents Tokyo's natural counterpart, the latter being most things associated with modern, the former with traditional Japan. While I find that the oft-cited juxtaposition of new and old in Japan is vastly overstated, visiting the two in sequence made you appreciate that particular dynamic of Japanese culture. However as Kyoto attracts a slew of foreign tourism, and since it doesn't have the comsopolitan indifference that Tokyo has, people seemed a bit more unfriendly and less forthcoming than elsewhere in the country (which of course doesn't mean anything, as people generally were by far the most friendly and forthcoming I've ever met.) I'll leave out the details of all I saw that week, but seeing these two cities gave me a good feel for what Japan is all about.

And finally, here are a couple of photo's of me and Guy that we took either ourselves or had others take. Sorry, nothing naughty.