Hongkong does not really have a lot of must-see sights – probably because it’s a very young city: only really started with possession by the British in the late 19th century, grew after the communist victory in the 1940s, and boomed with China’s return to the world stage of capitalism in the eighties. Fun fact:…

On to Hongkong – the last stop in Asia on this trip. Lots of skyscrapers? Check. Cliche chinese junk boat? check. Victoria peak in the background? check. Pretty much fullfills the postcard image already on the trip into town from the airport. When I say lots of skyscrapers, I mean LOTS of skyscrapers, very densely…

Mount Inari is a famous temple mountain, mostly for its huge collection of red gates along the paths. Usually a single red gate marks the beginning of the sacred area, but at mount inari, there’s hundreds of them. Almost like a tunnel, and along several hundred meters of paths. And yup, it’s pretty crowded, so…

First stop today: the national museum of Kyoto, which I came accross by chance, and which currently has a special exhibition of Ike No Taiga. Never heard of him, but seemed to be a big name, was wondering if it was worth the rather steep ticket price, when a Japanese girl in front of me…

Apologies if the rest of the Japan writeup becomes a more or less random mix of impressions – it’s been a while (currently in Orlando, two countries and three cities further in my travels), just did not get around to blogging. When I started out, I was afraid I would be bored in the evenings,…