Bizarre Journeys

Wonders of Japan

• Traveling Japan on a Budget

  Apr 2023

  Is traveling Japan on a budget possible? Short answer - yes. Is Japan really that expensive? Short answer - no. Here are some of my recommendations to keep your Japan travel costs at a reasonable level.

• Japan Is Actually Not That Beautiful and That Is Why I Love It

  Oct 2022

  I love Japan and I love living in Japan even more. But I do not think that Japan is one of the most beautiful countries on earth. It does not compare to countries like Switzerland, New Zealand or Norway in terms of the majestic and picture perfect scenery.

• Letters from Japan – Spring 2023

  May 2023

  This is the Spring 2023 edition of my sporadic letters from Japan. It would probably be more appropriate to title this seasonal spring letter as a letter from Turkey or Oceania as opposed to Japan. I was gone for most of the spring season. First physically in New Zealand for about a month and then not physically but mentally very much back in Turkey due to the upcoming elections.

• Islands of Japan Worth Ditching the Mainland For

  May 2023

  Japan is an island nation. Now, please repeat with me – Japan is an island nation. And now once again but this time in Japanese – Japan is a “shimaguni”.

• Daisetsuzan Hikes: Asahidake to Naka Dake Loop Hike

  Aug 2021

  Daisetsuzan National Park is the largest national park in Japan and home to Hokkaidos`s highest mountain - Asahidake. I spent five days in the park exploring the various trails each with a unique but equally splendid scenery.

• Best Hostels in Japan: Stylish and Budget Friendly Options

  Jan 2022

  Hostels in Japan tend to be a little more expensive than their Southeast Asian counterparts (ranging between USD 25-40 per night)  but the service and facility quality is usually very high.

Featured Articles

• Milford Track: a Hike Worthy of All Praise

  Apr 2023

  When a hike is as popular as Milford Track and promoted as "the finest walk in the world", there is always the inevitable question: "is it overrated?". For me, the answer is a definite no. The four days long trail is worthy of every praise.

• Routeburn Track of New Zealand: Picture Perfect Scenery

  Apr 2023

  Routeburn Track is one of the most desired Great Walks of New Zealand. The track, located in South Island, goes through two national parks, Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks.

• Kepler Track of New Zealand: a Walk in the Clouds

  Apr 2023

  I arrived in Queenstown on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, I did not have anytime to enjoy the town. In all honesty, the town itself is not particularly special but the surrounding scenery dominated by the Remarkables Mountain Range is the dictionary definition of a picture perfect scenery. I had to do food shopping for the Kepler Track, which is located in South Island of New Zealand and considered to be one of the best Great Walks of New Zealand.

• Laos: Where the Wild Things Are

  Dec 2022

  I remember flying from Luang Namtha in Northern Laos to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, during a work trip in 2020. It was my second trip to the country. Our time in Luang Namtha was limited but still filled with several opportunities to introduce us to the landscape beauty of the region. Yet nothing prepared me for the scenery that I was about to experience in mid-flight once the clouds cleared away. It was a scene out of Tolkien style fantasy novels: sharp cliffs rising out of nowhere in the middle of an impossibly green valley divided by a narrow river.

• I Don’t Like Airbnb, Now Off My Chest

  Apr 2021

  This may be my most controversial post up to date as I will declare something that will be despised by many independent travelers and which will turn me into a less cool person immediately: I don’t like Airbnb. I would prefer staying at Hilton (even worse – probably even at Holiday Inn or Travelodge or Ibis) rather than staying at an Airbnb place. I prefer most of the hostels/hotels over an Airbnb apartment.

• Farewell to Fuji – Back to Canon

  Aug 2020

  Farewell to Fuji, I today sold my X-Pro II and lens set - my main camera for the last 4.5 years and probably the most beautifully designed camera ever but if we can talk of chemistry between cameras and humans, we sure did not have it. I went back to my old full frame Canon.

Destination Tips

• Walking Shikoku: Discover the Temples, Small Towns and Surf Beaches

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  Shikoku Pilgrimage Route covering 88 Temples is one of the best known pilgrimages in the world along with Camino de Santiago. The route covers all four prefectures of Shikoku, namely Tokushima, Kochi, Kagawa and Ehime and takes on average 6-8 weeks to complete.

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  Although the temples are biggest draw of Shikoku Pilgrimage Route, I think the small towns along the route are at least equally rewarding, if not more. Some of the towns along the course offering a good range of accommodation and dining facilities in a cozy small town environment are Aki, Sukaki and Ashizuri in Kochi Prefecture and Hiwasa in Tokushima Prefecture.

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  The accommodation along Shikoku Pilgrimage Route is one of the most discussed topics in relation to this journey. There are all types of facilities along the route including free temple stays (tsuyado) or locally funded accommodation (zenkonyado), paid temple stays (shukubo) and various other paid categories ranging from hostels to high-end hotels. Here are some of my accommodation suggestions suitable for o-henro/pilgrims all located in Tokushima and Kochi prefectures. 

  Kochi no Ya located in Aki in Kochi Prefecture, Ichi the Hostel in Hiwasa and Shimanto Riverside Hideaway near Shimanto were among my favorite stops along the Shikoku Pilgrimage Route.

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  Shikoku is the only island in Japan not served by country`s high speed rail system – Shinkansen. However, the island is served by many airports in addition to fairly well established local train network making up for the lack of high speed rail. You can read more about your options on how to get to Shikoku in my related post. 

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  While keeping your luggage is essential to fully enjoy the walking experience in Shikoku, there is still nothing better than reading a few pages after a long day of walking to relax before you shut your eyes for the night. The 1918 Shikoku Pilgrimage of Takamure Itsue is a wonderful account of a century old pilgrimage by a young women in Japan that makes a great companion for your walk.

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  If you will be covering only parts of Shikoku Pilgrimage Route, one not so expensive way of reducing the weight of your luggage is to use TA-Q-BIN services offered by Yamoto Transport. with TA-Q-BIN you can send your luggage/heavier pack between any destination for relatively low rates starting at 1000 Yen. I often benefit from this service during most of my travels in Japan. I pack one smaller bag with two days worth of staff and a bigger one that I move around with TA-Q-BIN between my main stops.

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  Hiwasa town in Tokushima makes a perfect base to explore some of the most scenic temples along the routes. The town is easily accessible by train from Tokushima (served by an airport) – Hiwasa town hosts Temple # 23 – Yakuoji. It is a small town by the ocean, which no longer feels sleepy thanks to the young entrepreuners reviving the tourism scene.

  There are two hostels in the town opened by young Japanese who moved into the town from big cities of Japan. Both hostels had their own pub or cafe section which attracted not only visitors but also locals in the evening. There are also good range of eateries. I unfortunately only spent one night here but I definitely want to return for more. It is also the gateway to famous Minamiawa Sunline Route (that I walked the next day) which will take you to Minami town in less than 4 hours (on foot) following the Pacific Ocean and great views all through the way. It is a vehicle route but the traffic level is usually very low.

  More about small towns along Shikoku Pilgrimage Route.

More Japan Destinations

• Letters from Japan – Spring 2022

  May 2022

  Good afternoon, happy belated Ramadan to all who celebrate and to my home. I love all the events surrounding Ramadan and what, at least once, the season culturally meant for my country.

• Cape Ashizuri in Shikoku: Japan`s Wild Cape and Most Beautiful Temple

  Feb 2022

  We have a long trip from Tokyo to Cape Ashizuri, or Ashizuri Misaki in Japanese. We first need to take the plane followed by a hopefully scenic train journey before we get on the car for the final leg.  We barely make it to our plane out of Narita bound for Kochi due to the train line suspensions caused by power outage.

• Aoni Onsen in Aomori, Autumn Wonderland

  Nov 2020

  If it was not for the promise of surrounding fall colors and an onsen only lit up with oil lamps, I would not find my way to the wonderful Aoni Onsen in Aomori and finally connect with the onsen experience. Aoni Onsen was like a scene from one of the novels of Tanazaki with its very traditional feel with each guest perfectly playing the part.

• Shikoku Pilgrimage Accommodation

  Apr 2021

  The accommodation along Shikoku Pilgrimage Route is one of the most discussed topics in relation to this journey. Along the route, there are various types of accommodation including free temple (tsuyado) or locally funded accommodation (zenkonyado), paid temple accommodation (shukubo) and various other paid categories ranging from hostels to high end hotels.

• Walking Kumano Kodo: UNESCO World Heritage

  Mar 2021

  It is 5 am in the morning. I will shortly start hearing the footsteps of the monks and their students. The preparations for the morning pray start at 5.30 am. The prayer room, which is decorated with hundreds of lanterns, needs to be heated up.  The temple where I am lodging in is located in the temple town of Koyasan sitting at the altitude of 800 metres surrounded by the eight peaks of Mount Koya. Joki-in Temple is among 117 Buddhist temples of Koyasan. 52 of these temples, which all belong to Shingon school of Buddhism - originally born in China and introduced to Japan by Kobo Daishi 1200 years ago - open their door to overnight visitors.

Explore More

• New Orleans, a City Ruled by a River

  Mar 2023

  New Orleans is a city, which is much older than its own country. This makes perfect sense once you get to spend a few days in this amazing city that is geographically and politically part of the USA but is mentally million miles away.

• Best Hiking Movies and Documentaries

  Jan 2022

  Whenever I feel blue or anxious, watching hiking movies and documentaries always helps me to lift my mood. While this may attest to a strange character trait on my part,  I also enjoy the survival movies where the protagonists need to cover thousands of kilometers on foot overcoming unthinkable challenges.

• Into the Greenery: Scottish Highlands by Train

  Feb 2023

  After years of contemplating - I finally traveled to Scottish Highlands in the summer of 2016 for a short visit of three days. I benefited from a long weekend that fell between two weeks of meetings in London.

• Gobekli Tepe: Interview with Excavation Team

  Apr 2021

  There is no question that Turkey is an archeological wonder and home to magnificent sites such as Ephesus and Pergamon in the Agean region. While we are very proud for hosting such extraordinary sites on our own soil, we are never short of imagination and the ability to “manufacture” stories associated with these sites. I reached out to German archeologist Jens Notroff, who is part of the crew of the archeologists running the Tepe Telegrams to discuss the story of Gobekli Tepe.

• Farewell to Fuji – Back to Canon

  Aug 2020

  Farewell to Fuji, I today sold my X-Pro II and lens set - my main camera for the last 4.5 years and probably the most beautifully designed camera ever but if we can talk of chemistry between cameras and humans, we sure did not have it. I went back to my old full frame Canon.

• Dancing in Kenya

  May 2021

  It has been almost two years since one of my best friends whom I have known since age 11 and I went to Kenya. I have posted numerous photos but never wrote a proper post. So here we go. The idea of going to Masai Mara in Kenya got into me when I was traveling in a region which is the complete opposite of Kenya: Alaska. I still remember the moment when I was riding on a bus in Denali National Park (certain areas are only accessible via buses in order to protect the wildlife - Nat Geo of this month (Feb 2016) has an amazing article on this very specific point).

Down the Memory Lane

• Enoura Observatory by Hiroshi Sugimoto

• Iceland: Not a Place, a State of Mind, a State of Wonder

• Ghost Forests of Japan: Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

• Svalbard: Travel to the Midnight Sun

• Circling Yakushima: In Praise of Road Walks

• Interview with Matthieu Paley: My Favorite National Geographic Photographer

• My Favourite Travel Movies and Documentaries

• A Day in San Francisco

• Taishakuten Temple in Katsushika

• The Famous Red Cabin – Eliassen Rorbuer

• Aix-en-Provence: Trip Diaries

• Death in Venice: Snow Storm and Some Forced Imagination