the fundamentals including personal hygeine (not for the faint hearted)

As Matt has described we have been to one of the most beautiful places in the world. Mount Fuji is everything expected and more, it looks like two strokes of a japanese paintbrush with a small hat on the top, stroked by clouds. I maybe a cynical old cow but I have had a very zen time. we walked along a ridge on the hills opposite fuji that just rose from nowhere covered in green green trees. below fuji-san is the sea of trees, we were told about this when we made chemical garden (an art installation of thousands of salt crystal trees in front of a video of mount fuji to celebrate the millenium). it is a true to premieval forest growing on a sea of lava from the volcano, feels spooky, the light, you could get very very lost there.

anyway. personal hygeine. me and matt have had fun getting some of the basics these last couple of days. a bath or shower. well trying to understand onsen and communal baths has been fun, time limited and potentially shared with anyone, i went in the mens! here by the sea it is proper onsen (hotspring) how hot??? when it is already sweaty so you are in a pool of water - hot humidity outside, how hot can you be??? included in this I have a fever from a bad cold and cough.

the toilet are fun, they are either ancient hole in the grounds (which I am sure are good for you) or high tech service washes (which are also great, if not slightly too nice) better when you know where the stop button is, once you get cleaned for a while you begin to want to start the whole process again.

and finally, even the tampons are hi-tech, i am too embarrased to ask anyone how to use them, the adaptors are a feat of engineering that goes beyond my simple knowledge, I was stuck in the toilet for half an hour getting through half a pack trying to work out what that was about...

but the sea is beautiful, mountains, city, mountains. and I haven't started on the adventure to wash our clothes, which resulted in me getting sprited away by some guys playing the ancient japanese drums...