Leaving Guam for three months was a process that seemed to have no end. We had to finish the door to the outside closet, put up the storm shutters, screw them in place, write letters of authority giving various people permission to drive our cars, and care for the house, clean out the refrigerator and unplug it, take down the canopy, write a letter to the landlord alerting him to the leaks in the roof, and bring the kayaks into the living room, as well as many other tasks.

And it rained for the last three days, a steady downpour that soaked the ground and made working outside very difficult. When we finally left on Friday morning I was wet, muddy, and very tired. We got about four hours of sleep and rose at 6:00 AM. It would be another 17 hours of work, planes, trains and walking before we would sleep again.

On top of all that July 21 is a holiday in Guam. It is Liberation Day, celebrating the liberation of Guam from Japanese occupation. The days and weeks leading up to that date are filled with anticipation, carnivals, bitter remembrance, and celebration of freedom. There is a month long carnival at Paseo Park. There are interviews on TV and in the paper with survivors telling their stories. Families claim patches of land along Marine Corps Drive in Hagatna so they will have a prime location from which to watch the parade. On the day before the parade the street is lined with canopies as parties are started and barbeque pits are lighted. Every village and every organization builds a float to commemorate the liberation of Guam. On July 21 it all comes together in a huge parade that lasts most of the day.

It is worthwhile to note that June is the beginning of the wet season. Consequently every year there is some rain that falls on their parade. This year they got soaked in that three day deluge.쳌@쳌@It didn't dampen their spirits and the parade went on after all.

We flew out of Guam at noon on July 22.   The flight was uneventful and we managed to get our Japan Rail passes easily enough. We rode the bullet train to Kyoto in style, first class seats! The Japan Rail passes allow us to ride in the Green Cars when available. Lots of leg room and attention from the attendants. When we got to Kyoto we ran into trouble.

We were booked into the Eki Mae White House, a hostel supposedly near the station. Eki Mae means 쳌ein front of the station쳌f. Well, maybe when they established the White House it was near the station but ten years ago they built a new station! We tried to follow the directions on our computer printout and ended up walking in circles. We called and the person on the other end gave us (Wakana) bad directions. Finally she left me with the bags and ran off to look for herself. After a while she came back with a man who led us to a small white building tucked into a small back street. He took our money and carried our bag up to our room. We were booked into a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel. The room was a small empty space with a TV and a low table, a kotatsu. The beds were thin futons that lay on the floor with a single sheet and a quilt to go over us. Wakana referred to the futons as 쳌erice cracker futons쳌f. It wasn쳌ft much better than sleeping on the floor. But we were so tired by that point we didn쳌ft care.

There was only one bath room in the building and two toilets. The upstairs toilet, where we were, was a Japanese style toilet. This is a ceramic slit in the floor over which one squats. The toilet downstairs was a western style toilet. The bath room had a deep bath tub and a shower. There were heavy mats on the floor, similar to the welcome mats you might have seen outside of a house. The remnants of soaps and shampoos left by previous occupants were gathered in a container by the tub.

But the place was clean. The floors were shiny and there was new paint on the walls. The manager was a very nice guy. We surprised him one afternoon on our return and found him playing a guitar. It turns out he plays in a band doing golden oldies, 50쳌fs and 60쳌fs rock and roll. On our last day we left our bags at the hotel while we were out sightseeing and I handed him my Little Martin to play while I was gone. He enjoyed it tremendously. He also knows of Haruo guitars, owns two! And he has a friend who collects them. We left our email addresses so we can get more info in the future.

In Kyoto we started out at the top. We went up on to the viewing platform of the Kyoto tower. From there you can get a panoramic view of this ancient city. Kyoto sits on a plain surrounded by hills and mountains. It was the ancient capital of Japan before the Tokugawa shoguns moved it to Edo (Tokyo). Before that the capital was Nara. Kyoto is full of shrines and temples. Sacred places and ancient dwellings stand shoulder to shoulder with modern homes and businesses. Looking down from the tower we could see Gojo Bridge where, in the twelfth century the young Yoshitsune defeated Benke and gained his first follower in a life that would become legend. We saw temples and shrines erected by emperors and shoguns, lords of the courts, and wealthy men. On the hills old forts still guarded the passes that led into the city.

We took the train to Nara and visited Todai-ji, one of the oldest and largest statues of the Buddha. It is housed in an enormous temple complex that was built in 1195. It has burned and been rebuilt several times but it is still huge and sacred. I don쳌ft ever want to hear anyone complain about Americans and how they build things too big ever again. The temple building itself would cover half a football field! The statue inside is enormous and looks as serene as that big guy can look. He is built of dark wood and is flanked by two others coated in gold paint or leaf. It takes a while to soak it all in.

The approach to Buddhist temples leads through gates and vendor stalls line the way. At Todai-ji the grounds around the temple are a huge park that is FULL of deer. The Nara deer are 쳌gtame쳌h, that is, they expect to be fed. Actually they seem to be brown hundred-pound seagulls, some with antlers! Wakana asked me if I wanted feed them and I innocently agreed. She bought a packet of deer crackers from a vendor. These were thin wafers with two paper bands holding them together. As I started to remove the paper bands I felt a bump and looked down at a deer pushing at me. More were coming fast. The first one nipped me, urging me on. The paper wouldn쳌ft let go. More deer surrounded me pushing and nipping as I desperately tried to release the crackers. I was backing up fast now, breaking off bits of cracker and handing them out, trying to keep my fingers attached to my hands. Antlers swung at me. There must have been ten or twelve deer now pushing and nipping at me. Suddenly the crackers were all gone and they turned away and forgot all about me.

We headed back to the hotel after that. I was tired. In the weeks leading up to this trip I was unable to get much exercise thanks to that operation on my knee. Now I am paying the price. I bought a step counter before we left. In the days leading up to this trip I was not doing well at all, 600 to 1200 steps a day. Since then we쳌fve been averaging 3000 to 5000 steps. I have sore muscles and my feet are complaining. Today is a rest day.