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Well what a day,

Went into Aomori to get my next few stops organised and made a complete mess of the train. Was on the right train and three stops away when I was overcome by unceartainty. I hop off the train to check and of course the station is unmanned! So I manage to decipher the timetable and find that I was three stops away but now have to wait for an hour for the next train!! On the upside it did give me time to think out the rest of my trip. This is when I came to the devastating realization that I only have two more weeks in Japan!! Still so much unseen and haven't even touched Aomori or Hirosaki which I was really looking forward to. I am seriously considering pushing my flight back a week so I can get back up here after going south.

So when I get to Aomori, find the JTB(Japan Tourist Branch) and stumble through my broken Japanese and mostly english maps I get the following info.
From here to Tokyo costs nothing, JREast pass is v handy. First train from here at 8am get into Tokyo 2:30pm, all good. Tokyo to Kyoto takes 2.5 hours, sweet and costs 13520 yen!! Ouch! Once Im in Kyoto I can get to Ise in 2 hours at 3520 yen one way. Hiroshima is 1.5 hours away at 10790 yen, one way. Fukuoka also is only 1 hour away and at that stage I didn't really want to get another price. Suffice to say I may not be able to extend my trip and get to Hirosaki and Aomori properly. I was really looking forward to that part as there is a little 'Edo period' village they use for movies and Hirosaki castle, famous for its cherry blossom trees which I suppose wouldnt be much to look at this time of year anyhow. Haven't looked for prices on accomodation in Kyoto yet so it may not be much of a shopping spree in Tokyo before I leave.
I guess we will have to see how much yen I end up with after conversion. Having said that just checked the rate and its pretty poor. Should end up with about 127 900 not deducting bank fees! I still have 40 odd thousand after the hotel here in Goshogawara so it all hinges on what sort of accomadition I can get in Kyoto.
Anyhow, dinner tonight was interesting, Nori Bento, battered fish with rice, seaweed, gari and a damn spice little shreaded black vegetble. Tasty and fillig. I also had my first shop bought coffe today, before getting train prices of course. 650 yen and no espresso so I'll be sticking to the drip stuff I've been getting for 400 yen for four cups in Lawsons. Not a bad brew and not 600 a cup! Managed to catch a few of the lads back in OZ on msn and email so that was cool. One fool was under the impression I was back in Oz and had invited me to his place tonight, sorry mate don't think I'll make it :p

Anyhow, doing my laundry and a repack before heading back to Tokyo tomorrow so till next time....
PS - some new pics of cool looking moths, they might look broken in the pics but their not and a lovely sunset view from the train on the way back to Goshogawara.