Quick Update

Not so much time to blog now that Nisha and Andy are here.

Quick update on what we are up to:

- Spent a few days in Matsumoto, which was a very nice small city in the valley of the mountains in the center of Honshu. Stayed at a nice hotel and went to the castle as well as Japan's largest Wasabi farm. Wasabi is grown in diverted river beds and is pretty cool to see. Also had the wasabi soft serve ice cream, which was pretty tasty.

- Hiked up a large mountain, who's name escapes me, near Hakuba. It was a pretty challanging hike, the top of the mountain was around 3000m (9600 feet) and the hike up started at only 1350m. The hike up involved a long time hiking on a glacier, and the views from the top were incredible. Definately the coolest mountain hike I have been on. We spent the night at a cabin at the top (for the pricy fare of 6000 yen), and the thin air did not lend itself to a great night of sleep, but there was really no way to do the hike in one day without starting crazy early in the morning.

- We are in Kyoto now and about to check out some of the sites. Will update on this later.