It used to get so frustrated when I had to sit still for a long time, but now I almost relish in it. I’ve spent days at a time now on trains and in transit and each time I think it gets easier, and my patience increases. It’s nice to not have any distractions… to jut sit and ponder for hours on end. Dozing off… waking up… looking around… It was an early start this morning.   Was out of bed by 3:30am, walking to the train station as snow was falling. It was a nice surprise that Dave got up and walked me to the station. We cooked up porridge in the foyer of the station, and I was on my first train by 4:50am. Being Saturday morning it was obvious that Fukouka is a party city. With one of the main streets translating roughly to ’street of the unruly children’. It has been a great experience traveling with Dave, perhaps one of the best… been so refreshing and spontaneous, with a healthy focus on outdoors adventure. Thanks Dave I look forward to traveling together again sometime in the future.

We stayed in one of Japans infamous cyber cafes. They are really something… for a techno-traveller like my self the are a small piece of heaven. For about 2/3rd the price of a youth hostel you get 12 hours in a cyber cafe business booth… the booth is about 2.5m x 2.5m, consists of a raised floor that is padded (perfect for sleeping on), a computer, TV, Game Console, and high speed internet. Out of the booth you have unlimited access to DVD, cartoon books (very popular in japan), free drinks and ice cream, shower, bathroom and laundry room, and more I’m sure.

After the natural beauty of Yakashima, and the beautiful island hospitality Fukouka seemed just like another big city, complete with pollution, noise, cars and lots of people. I made a remark to Dave that we need to reinvent cities…. we need cities 3.0. Cities 1.0 didn’t really work, everyone got sick and they were extremely polluted at the beginning of the industrial revolution. We realised this and moved onto cities 2.0, where industry is restricted to certain areas, and regulated to ensure a more healthy environment. Cities 2.0 is still a bit of a compromise as they incorporate technology and aspects that we know to be unhealthy, but for the time being the benefits seems to outweigh the costs. For example cars and roads to move people and things. And the lack of open social place. There is also a high focus on spending money in cities, that detracts from meaningful social interaction. Or at the very least complicates social interaction by tying it up with money. Perhaps cities 3.0 will find better ways to move people and goods, freeing up the space used for roads, and reducing visual, audible and chemical pollution. Incorporation of green spaces and more free/ low cost opportunities for social interaction. I believe society has already realised this and some people are tugging in that direction, there is just a huge amount of momentum and embedded resources that will have to be replaced slowly over a long period.

There really hasn’t been much else happening since we finished the cycling tour of Yakashima. Got the ferry back to the mainland, camped in a park in Kagoshima, trained it to Fukouka, did a lot of walking around the city. Ate Japanese famous rammen (noodles), by the river and drank a some nice beer. The rammen vendors in Fukouka are interesting, these guys work pretty hard. Setting up and packing up there stores almost every day of the year. They are in fierce competition with each other and hustle for business.

Right now I’m on my… ahh… 5th or 6th train for the day. I’d already been on 3 trains before the sun came up! I’m using the 18-kippu again, which means I can travel on local (slow) trains only for 24 hours using just one ticket for about AU$32. So with some help from the lovely Japanese Rail workers I’ve worked out how to get back to Gifu in about 14 hours, covering over 700km. it goes like this:
Hakata > Kokura > Shimon Seki > Tokuyama > Itozaki > Fukuyama > Okayama > Aioi > Himeji > Maibara > Nagoya > Gifu!!!!
That is 11 trains! In one day! Its pretty impressive that they all run on schedule to the minute… and that the staff anywhere in the country provide all the information without the use of a computer system. There is a book as thick as a textbook with all the timetables in it. Not quite what I expected for Japan, but I think they figure why fix it if it ain’t broke.

Anyways, thats about it for now.

Hope things are good with you all, look forward to hearing what you’ve been up too!

Nathan

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Posted on January 10th, 2009 :: Filed under Education, Life, Travel
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