I’m writing this while hurtling silently through the Japanese countryside from Tokyo to Sapporo on a Shinkansen bullet train. We’re doing 197 miles per hour without breaking a sweat. Very cool. Like the TGV in France and the Frecciarossa in Italy, the feeling is of being in an office building while the scenery screams by. We’ve gone 214 miles in a little over an hour. Wow….

Japan – land of the Rising Sun…. I’ve wanted to come here forever, and it’s great to finally make the trip. Landed in Tokyo yesterday and roamed around through the Imperial Palace grounds, then partook in great sushi and sake…..

Before leaving Vietnam and arriving in Tokyo, we visited Hue, Hanoi (third time for me on this trip) and Ha Long Bay, a marvel of nature and another United Nations World Heritage site.

Hue is an ancient imperial city and a United Nations World Heritage site. Beautiful palaces, temples and pagodas abound. Here are some:

En route to the goods

The Imperial City

Peace, love and happiness….

The Royal Music Hall

King Khai Djnh’s tomb. Six hundred soldiers who ferried him ten miles from the palace in Hue to his final resting place were entombed in the underground tunnel leading to his tomb when explosives were detonated in both ends after their journey so that they could never grave rob or inform others of the riches that lay with their king. Thanks, boss…..

Outside the Palace walls, a local market sold everything imaginable. Everyone is so happy and chill here.

Overall, Hue was a great place to stop in and poke around, with out of this world food.

We then returned to Hanoi, and I must say that I’ve grown to love this chaotic, manic city. The Old Quarter, where we kicked around, is magical. With an endless stream and merging of humanity on every form of transportation imaginable, filling every available square inch of space, it’s warm, inviting and really interesting to be a part of. It was Sunday, and the entirety of the Hoan Siem Lake area in the Old Quarter was closed to cars and traffic, with  music, art and food stalls everywhere and families out for the day. Just perfect.

Haircut and shave on the go….

From Hanoi, we departed for Ha Long Bay. It’s hard to describe how beautiful this place is, so I’ll just let the photos do the talking here.

Jes chillin’

Tokyo was really nice. Perfect weather for December – 50 degrees F and bone dry. Just great for cruising around.

Imperial Palace grounds

Imperial Palace doors

Amazing stonework. Reminded me of the Incas.

Old and new

Bling

Well, I’m off to Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido, in the far northern wilderness of Japan. It’s said that Hokkaido has the best sushi in Japan. Should be great…. I hope to see Sakhalin Island from its northern tip. I’ll let Sarah Palin know….