But wait! There's more...

Bwa-ha-haaaaaa! You thought that once the trip had finished, I would shut up about it. "Just how many more sickeningly superlative descriptions could she possibly inflict us with?", I hear you moan.

Well, my friends, you can't get away without being subjected to the Top 5 places I found myself during our trip. H.e.l.l. n.o. Although the whole shebang was jasper, there were some definite highlights;

1. Itsukushima Shrine at dawn, looking out over a will-o-the-wisped o-torii (ah, the incurable romantic struggling for air time again);

2. In the rotenburo at Unzen at dawn, butt naked;

3. Roaming the streets of Shianbashi in Nagasaki, drunk as skunks;

4. In the beautiful and aromatic cedar wood bath at Kawaguchi Ryoso (The Mister and I had it for private use - no going and getting yourselves any kinky ideas, now);

5. Although draining, the Nagasaki and Hiroshima A-Bomb Museums and the 26 Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki.

Top 5 low-lights ('cos every trip has 'em);

1. Not being able to walk properly. Bummer, that;

2. The cold reception at that frigid ryokan in Unzen;

3. Our fitful 3 hour sleep in Fukuoka c/- the Stormtroopers invading the rooms above us;

4. The sheer expense of travel. Honestly, JR is the biggest rip-off in the free world. It costs as much to train it to Fukuoka as it does to fly. And as residents, we're not entitled to the coveted JR Pass;

5. Having to sleep on those infernal bean pillows. Whoever the HELL decided they were comfortable needs a solid shooting. It's like sleeping on.. well, a pillow packed full of hard, gritty beans. Nishiki-so and Seiun-so didn't have them thank CRAP. I could have gone down to the front desk and snogged all the girls in gratitude.

Oh, and having hatsumode in Miyajima to beckon the Year of the Monkey we thought we'd, you know, see some monkeys because its a famous place for them. No monkeys. Not a peep. Hope that's not inauspicious.

So its goodbye from me, and its goodbye from him (until tomorrow).

The Dicky Knee Tour:
Miyajima blog
Hiroshima blog
Fukuoka blog
Nagasaki blog
Unzen blog