Kim's Travelling Adventures!

Hi!  After Hiroshima I got on a train and headed to Takayama, a random little town in the middle of the mountains.  The train ride there would have been beautiful, but it was pouring rain the whole time!  Oh well.  Once I got there I walked to the temple I was staying in, once about 5 minutes from the station.  Two people I met in Tokyo had recommended this place to me, I never would have found it otherwise!  Basically this darling little old Japanese man that ran the temple decided to open up some space to travellers to pay for the upkeep of the temple.  He was so kind and sat down with me for 5 minutes to tell me all the places I should go eat while Im there!  I actually had a room to myself both nights which was really nice.  The town was pretty small, basically you could just do some hikes in the nearby mountains to see lots of shrines and temples (seriously though, Im getting a little sick of shrines and temples!!  They are all the same!) and walk around the cute little shops they had.  The day started off a little rainy but got nice by the end.  I started to feel a bit sick that day, and the next day a bit worse.  I headed back to Tokyo that day and stayed in Asakusa again (this time in a different hostel), and then the next day got on a bus and headed for Mt. Fuji.  Unfortunately by this time I was feeling really sick.  The bus ride there was nice, a very beautiful ride through the mountians.  I remember at one point looking up and seeing really dark sky out of nowhere, and then some weird white clouds...then I looked again and realized it was Mt. Fuji!  It was MASSIVE!  I got to my hostel, which was the nicest Ive stayed in since being in Japan (note to anyone visiting Japan, stay in any and all K's House Hostels you can find, they are in all the major cities and they are SO nice!!!)  I pretty much fell asleep right away when I got there because I was feeling so bad, but this morning I woke up feeling a bit better and took a gondola to the top of a nearby mountain to see a better view of Mt. Fuji.  It was lovely, but a bit hazy so I couldnt get the best photos.  I still took lots though!  The restaurants in this town were funny, anyone who works at a restaurant that is reading this I dont think you would like how they do things here.  At each table they have a button and you just push it whenever you need something, and the waitresses have little beepers and alarms start to go off the in the restaurant saying people need to be served!  Then all the waitresses start yelling things in Japanese and run towards you!  Its kind of intense.  Anyways, Im back in Tokyo now and ready for a day or two of rest and doing nothing.  Then, I will shop til I drop!  Talk to you all soon!!