Japan Final Impressions

After almost a fortnight in this absorbing country we will be sorry to leave as we have felt very comfortable throughout. The scenery of the Japanes Alps contrasted sharply with the cities' bright lights but beneath these Japan's history, culture and religion was still evident. Our travel company Inside Japan Tours Ltd are to be congratulated for their attention to detail and the meticulous travel arrangements which have made this trip such a pleasure. The friendly and genuine welcome from our hosts in the traditional ryokans was much appreciated and even the vast transport system was able to retrieve my camera left on a bus and returned several hundred miles to be collected days later back in Tokyo. Here we spent our final evening 700' up in the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt. Building enjoying the 360 degree view as the sun set to the west and electric dawn broke over the city below.

Our journey now continues with a flight via Sydney to Auckland where we hope to retrieve the van in a fortnight or so - until then we are very much looking forward to meeting Sue and Danny (longstanding friends of Sarah's) who will be our hosts.

Skype has provided a remarkably cheap and effective method of chatting to other friends and family and we were delighted to hear that Amber has settled in very well with Jan and Ian at her new home near Brecon.

Another link to a few more pictures appears below - Japan is well worth a vist as I hope they show :

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/sjarratt5/Japan2009202?feat=directlink