Japan

I embarked upon my two week long Japanese journey in Osaka and continued to beautiful Kyoto. Apart from the odd European here and there, I could tell that with it's european prices and distance from SE Asia mainland it with wasn't a backpacker hotspot. I spent my days in Kyoto walking around in historical Geisha areas, testing Japanese foods in the massive Nishiki food market and kicking back in my yukata (summer kimono) with some good ol' sushi.

After Kyoto I took a day trip to Nara, a really peaceful and green city with 1200 free deer casually roaming around as they are spiritual creatures and deemed holy in the city. They look so majestic, and I could get so close to them, so it goes without saying I sat in the forest all day long amongst a flock of deer. It was fantastic! 

One high tech bullet train ride later I was in Tokyo! Finally I was going to meet up with my Japanese friends from my year in the states, Mayu and Saeko, but before we could find each other a lot of hassle and stress went down and I was listed missing person number 1690 in Tokyo. When my search party, police officers and two hysterical and crying friends, found me I got a lot of anime tokens from the police station as a "glad we found you" present. Oh, the Japanese! 

It was so great seeing my girlies again, and the following days we were catching up, walking around the massive city, eating delicious Japanese food and shopping... a lot! Fashion in Tokyo is so much fun. People love being stylish and go all out. People watching was one of my favourite past times. 

After a good time with Mayu and Saeko I finally caught up with my good friend, Anton San, a fellow Georgia student. We went to phenomenal restaurants, Swedish parties, ate kanelbullar och hallon sylt and went to a traditional onsen. An onsen is a Japanese public bath, where you emerge your naked self in hot water with your fellow Japanese women, then you put on a yukata and drink beer and eat good food in the common areas. It's great! 

There's so much to say about Japan. The culture is so fascinating and is so very different from other Asian countries I've visited. Organised chaos. Strict rules, politeness and free spirits, all in one. The mind boggles. I'm excited for my next visit!

Lots of love from the travelling road,  

Merete // Mellie 

Merete//Mellie