by joostay
I went to the top of Mount Takao today to experiment with my camera and make a short video. This was the view of Fuji waiting for me at the top. All around me people were picnicking in the sun, enjoying the start of hanami. Spring has arrived.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, backpacking, blog, electronica, fuji san, hanami, hiking, idm, ikimasho, japan, japanese, mount fuji, music, ovuca, takao san, tokyo
by joostay
Mount Bromo shows its darker side at this haunting Hindu festival. This is Mount Bromo, an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. I took this photo while flying over the area from Denpasar to Surabaya in a small aircraft. Five days earlier, I had been standing on top of the volcano at midnight, about to take part in Yadnya Kasada – a haunting Hindu ceremony unlike anything I’d ever seen before. What is Yadnya Kasada? Yadnya Kasada is the biggest […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, Batok, blog, Bromo, cemoro lawang, climbing, crater, East Java, hiking, ikimasho, independent, indonesia, japan, Mount Bromo, Probolinggo, Semeru, summit, Tengger Semeru National Park, Tenggerese, tokyo, tour, travel, trekking, volcano
by joostay
You can read about the local family I stayed with in Cemoro Lawang here.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, cemoro lawang, hiking, indonesia, java, Mount Bromo, nature, sunrise, travel, viewpoint, volcanic, volcano, walking
by joostay
I went to Mitake with a camera and some music. This is what I saw and heard. Ikimasho! Mitake-san is a sacred mountain in the far reaches of western Tokyo. From Shinjuku catch the JR Chuo line Tachikawa and change to the JR Ome line towards Okutama. (90 minutes / 920yen). From Mitake Station catch the Nishi Tokyo Bus to Cable Shita (ケーブル下) bus stop. Buses leave at least once or twice an hour and cost 270yen for the 10 minute […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: beauty, blog, Chichibu Tama National Park, hiking, ikimasho, japan, mitake, nature, okutama, tamagawa, tokyo, Zen
by joostay
Yes, this is Tokyo. But not as you know it. Ikimasho! Okutama is a mountain district in the west of Tokyo. To get to Okutama Station take the Chuo Line from Shinjuku and switch at Tachikawa on to the Ome Line. Depending on connections the journey takes anything between 90 minutes and 2 hours (for a very reasonable 1,080 yen). Buses are irregular to Lake Okutama, one or two an hour – and if you decide to walk between […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, backpacking, culture, dam, hatonosu, hiking, ikimasho, inaka, japan, lake, nature, okutama, ome, shiromaru, south east asia, tokyo, wildlife
by joostay
Introducing my new favourite place to do absolutely nothing. Lake Toba has been part of traveller folklore for decades: the largest volcanic lake in the world, one so enormous that an island almost the size of Singapore sits in its centre. It’s hands-down the best place I have ever been to chill out, but it wasn’t always so peaceful. The lake itself is the site of a massive supervolcanic eruption that occurred 75,000 years ago. This is actually the biggest known explosive […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, batak, hiking, indonesia, japan, lake toba, mas cottages, nature, samosir, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, tomok, tuk tuk
by joostay
Above the clouds, Mother Nature rumbles below. The beautiful power of Mount Sibayak. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes including Krakatoa and Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. Add violent storms, earthquakes and tsunamis into the equation and you’ve got one of the most geologically volatile countries on earth. Its shores and interiors are regularly hit by severe natural disasters, such as in 2004 when a 9.3 earthquake struck off the north coast of […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, berastagi, climbing, guide, hiking, indonesia, japan, jungle, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel, volcano
by joostay
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Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: hiking, hiking in japan, japan, kanagawa, mount fuji, mount oyama, nature, serene, tokyo, woodblock
by joostay
Mount Kobo is a nice way to spend an afternoon. Just watch you don’t bump into the locals… I’ve always been fascinated with insects. As a kid I would spend hours in the garden overturning rocks, wondering which weird and wonderful creatures I would find next. At a young age spiders did scare me to an extent, but not to the point that they would keep me at bay. I’d find a web, throw a leaf onto it and then […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, hadano, hiking, hummingbird hawk moth, japan, kogane gumo, kumo, mount kobo, nature, odakyu, spiders, tokyo, train, trekking
by joostay
Brush past spider webs and dusty shrines and immerse yourself in Tokyo’s best kept secret. As I stand motionless in a trance watching a spider hypnotically spin its web I’m hit by an odd sensation. Absolute nothingness. I can’t hear Tokyo. I close my eyes and instead feel the sound of water splashing against rocks and nature breathing peacefully. Not to sound like a hippy, but Todoroki truly is a special place. It’s the only natural gorge left in Tokyo, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: commute, gorge, hiking, japan, metro, nature, shrine, station, subway, temple, todoroki, tokyo, train, travel, valley, Zen
by joostay
Why Mt Oyama earns its place on the list of ‘Kanagawa’s 50 Most Scenic Sites’ One of the best things about living in Tokyo is the ease of which you can escape it. Travel an hour in any direction and you’ll either end up on the beach or on top of a mountain. Izu and Hakone are both great day escapes – as is Takao, just an hour away from central Tokyo on the Keio line. The problem with Takao, however, is its popularity. 3 […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, cable car, food, hiking, isehara, japan, nature, odakyu, oyama, south east asia, train, travel, udon, walking
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