Hey! How's everyone doing?

I'm sorry that I've been silent in the past few days / weeks. I think some didn't even notice that I was gone for 9 days and was traveling around during Golden Week?
After all I didn't write about it on LJ, simply because I didn't have enough time.

People who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram might already know where I've been and might have seen some photos, but here's a short review of my vacation! ^^


As I was so busy and so many other things were going on, I didn't have much time for planning. And most of you probably know that during Golden Week it can be quite crazy in Japan as almost EVERYONE is traveling.
Thus prices for transportation and accommodation or more expensive and you usually have to book far in advance.
Because I couldn't do that this time, I decided to go to Tokyo!!!

I haven't been to Tokyo ... meaning actually INSIDE of Tokyo ever since 2008, I think.
I've only changed trains and stuff, but never actually got off to spend some time there.
While I was such a huge Tokyo fan in 2007 and 2008 - and visited many times - I just had no reason to go back there.

My hope was that Tokyo would be rather empty during Golden Week, because everybody would get out of Tokyo to travel somewhere else, but I was wrong!
I guess all the people who live in the countryside decided to visit Tokyo! (T____T)

Tokyo is always crowded and it's one of the reasons why I hate big cities, but during Golden Week it's even worse!


Tokyo doesn't have so much to offer for a sightseeing geek like me, but my plan was to do several day trips and get out of Tokyo!
I had a great time and another reason to go to Tokyo was to FINALLY meet hinoai!!!!! (^______^)b
I'm so happy we finally got to meet, I wish we could have spent some more time together! Maybe we'll get another chance?
I also met "onegaikaeru". She's a German blogger who lives in Japan, but she's not on LJ. I know that some of my German readers know her, though.
She's such a sweetie and we had a great time!
I'll write in more detail about all of that in a separate entry. It certainly deserves a post of its own!


Now, I don't want to annoy you with my blabbering and I think I have some really nice photos this time, so enjoy:



My first day I spent in Tokyo. I visited the "Tsutsuji Festival" (azaleas) at Nezu Shrine.



I also ran into a parade.



Oh, and I finally got to see the Imperial Palace (Edo Castle)!
You might be shocked to hear that a castle explorer like me who has been to around 100 castles, hasn't been to that one yet! XD



At night I was already on my way to leave Tokyo again. I took a night ferry (8-9h) to Mikurajima, a very small island that still belongs to Tokyo.
I couldn't sleep in the ship at all and I got a little seasick (as always).

The island that you see on the photo above is another small island nearby where the ferry also stopped by. It's called "Miyakejima" and I'll write about it in more detail later.


The reason why I went to Mikura Island??
Oh, that's simple. I wanted to swim with dolphins!



Mikurajima is the best place in Japan to swim with dolphins in the wild! It's even better than in Okinawa or on the Ogasawara Islands!
There are a lot of dolphins there and you can just observe them in their natural environment.

You're not allowed to touch them or anything. It's not like any of those dolphin shows or a therapy where you swim and touch or hug them.




I rented a wetsuit (that was way too small = too short for my arms and legs) and a snorkel etc. and was off with about 6 other people.
A tour with a fisherboat took about 2h and cost about 7000yen (plus additional fees for rented equipment).

I also rented a waterproof (underwater) camera.



The other people on the boat were all no newbies. Some of them were professionals. Some have been to Mikura Island many times.
They all took great care of me after I told them it was my first time, not only coming there, but snorkeling in the ocean! *g*

As soon as we spotted dolphins all of them jumped in and dived down while I was struggling with all my equipment and stuff.
The first two rounds I didn't get to see any dolphins at all. I was just too slow! ;____; ....



She was our guide. I think she's the daughter of the captain of the boat. She stayed with me and showed me where the dolphins were. Often they were hiding right behind me.
Sometimes you thought: "What's this shadow?" and in the next second a dolphin swam by so close that it was almost unbelievable!



The photos you see here were taken by all the people of my group. At the end we just threw all the photos together, so it's hard to tell who took which photo, but the really good ones were certainly not taken by me. (T___T) ....



While it takes about 8h to get to the island by ferry, it's not that far from Tokyo and so the climate is very similar. In late April the wind is still quite chilly and I think the water temperature that day was around 19°C.
Being in the water wasn't an issue, but sitting in the speedy boat, feeling the cold wind was surely no fun. And I was still a bit sick at that time. By the time we returned I was shivering and couldn't wait to get back to my minshuku to take a hooooooooot shower!



There are 2 tours a day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon, but I planned from the start to do only one. After all it's expensive and after not getting any sleep the night before, still having a cold etc., I was also very exhausted.

Instead I planned to explore the small island a bit more in the afternoon.
The ferry only comes once a day, so I had to stay over night and I was thinking that I could maybe swim with the dolphins on the next morning if I feel like it.
The ferry would come in the afternoon, so there would be plenty of time.


Unfortunately - and everybody who knows my bad luck might be able to imagine what's coming next - there was a "little" problem.
While eating dinner at the minshuku, we were told to take the ferry at 6am in the morning instead of in the afternoon. It's the same ferry, but the ferry will first go to all the other small islands before returning in the afternoon and then heading back to Tokyo.
Why would you deliberately stay on a ship from 6am until 8pm???
The people in the minshuku told us that it often happens that the ferry can't come in the afternoon because of strong waves. It happens regularly, so it's just safer to take it in the morning.

I wasn't very happy about that idea. No matter how good my medicine is, it won't last for over 12h!
After dinner our guide came over and we had a look at some of the dolphin photos we all shot. I had to go to bed soon, because I was so exhausted and I just hadn't slept for over 48h.
I also felt sick again, so I took a lot of meds and crashed into bed. We also had to get up early the next morning because of the ferry.

At 4:30am we were woken up by a loud voice. It was the minshuku lady who wanted to let us know that because of the bad weather conditions the ferry was cancelled and wouldn't come and that we should just sleep.
Usually I would freak out. OMG! What about my hotel in Tokyo? What about meeting the people? My whole plan is gone? What about the ferry ticket that I already bought? Holy shit!!!
But I just thought: "Oh well, I'm not feeling well anyways, so I'll just stay in bed the whole day." And then I went back to sleep.

Shortly before 6am we were woken up again. The lady told us that there would be a charter boat at 6am that could bring us to Miyake Island - the small island you saw on the photo earlier.
Suddenly we had to jump out of bed and hurry up to get our things packed and rushed to the boat.
It was a small fisherboat.

The other island has two ports and the location is also better, so even with high waves the ferry usually can come there. Mikura Island's port on the other hand, has no good location and that's why the ferry can't always come.
It happens very often actually.

I quickly took some meds against motion sickness before leaving the minshuku and me and two other people were off to the boat.
At the port we met a few other people. Some of them had been together with us for the dolphin swimming tour the day before.

The boat ride was INSANE!!! The waves were so high, you can't imagine it! The boat was thrown around like a toy and sometimes I really thought it would be the end! T___T .....

About an hour later we safely arrived on Miyake Island where a van brought us to another minshuku. We were allowed to stay there for free in the huge living room until the ferry would come in the afternoon.
The charter boat did cost around 6500yen for each of us, though ....

Miyake Island is a small island that has an active volcano which erupted quite recently (about 20 years ago). And just recently people came back to the island.
Also, just a few weeks ago there were a few strong earthquakes in and around Miyake Island.
A great place to stay, don't you think? ....


After eating a quick breakfast, I went out to take a few photos. After all it's a great chance because I don't think I'll go to Miyakejima again.



There were sooooooooooooooooooo many cats around the minshuku!!! (*______________*)b


After some more time I told the others that I would like to walk around a bit to explore the island.
In the end everybody joined me! ^____^
We were quite a nice group of people. All about the same age. Of course, I was the only foreigner.



Without a car it was difficult to see much, but we managed to enjoy a few nice sights like this huge pond you see in the photo above.


In the afternoon the ferry really came and brought us safely back to Tokyo where I dropped dead into my hotel bed around 11pm.



Next bad news were that Yumi - whom I haven't seen since early 2012 - called me and cancelled our meeting because her daughter suddenly got sick.
I was really looking forward to meeting her and her daughter after all that time. :(
We've been friends since 2006, I've been to her wedding in 2009 and spent almost every New Year's Eve with her and her family in Japan.




Anyways, back in Tokyo I went to a cat temple (Gotokuji) and also a cat shrine (Imado Shrine).



As the latter was in Asakusa, I also got to see the Sky Tree (from far away) and ...



.... because it was only a few steps away: Sensoji Temple
I've been there before, of course. I mean, who hasn't, right?
The garden there is really beautiful!




As the weather forecast was too bad for the other things I had on my list, I went to Hakone .... again!
Things had changed a bit since I last visited in 2007, though.



Of course, I also ate the black eggs of Hakone. It is said that if you eat one, it'll prolong your life by 7 years!
I'm annoyed that they only sell packs of 5 eggs! What is a single like me supposed to do with 5 eggs????!!! (T_T) ....



Speaking of food, I got a lot of delicious food to eat during my vacation! (*___*)b




One of my highlights was certainly THIS!!! I swear it felt like paradise!
I had this on my list for such a long time now and I was so worried because you know my bad luck with Mt. Fuji, right?
The weather that day wasn't perfect. People were complaining about the few clouds that were covering Mt. Fuji, but that's MUCH better than what I'm used to, so I was sooooooooooooooooo happy!!!!



And isn't it just insanely beautiful????

The pink, white, purple etc. flowers you see everywhere are called "shiba-zakura". You can find them almost everywhere in Japan, but there are only very few parks like the one above where you'll get to see tons of them at once!
There's another one that I've visited and the photos will follow later.



The location of this paradise is in Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. Maybe you remember that I've been there before?



I also went to Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture where I've actually not been before and tried to find a Rakan statue that looks like me at Kitain Temple.



I couldn't enjoy Kawagoe that much, because there were just too many people!!!! Golden Week can be crazy, I tell you! T_T
Luckily I waited long enough to take a photo with not so many people in the way! ^___^;;



On another day I went back to Saitama. In Chichibu there's also a huge "shiba-zakura" park. It was stunning, but not as great as the one in Yamanashi - simply for the fact that Mt. Fuji was lacking! ;)



And I went to Saitama once again on a third day to explore some more castles. In the photo above you see Oshi Castle in Gyoda City.



Nearby was a "Fuji Matsuri" (fuji = wisteria). It was a really local area, so there weren't as many people. That's the stuff I like the most! ^___^
As you can see Japan has so many different beautiful flowers and plants that you don't have to be sad if you missed cherry blossoms in April! ;)



All in all I wasn't so unlucky with the weather this time - maybe apart from the "disaster with the ferry" at the beginning of my vacation.


What did you do during Golden Week? :) (And yes, I realize that GW doesn't exist outside of Japan XD ...)
Bye~chuu~