Away from home

I love the feeling of being away from home. This week I have stayed in a variety of accomodation, with some special people. Today, I am enjoying my first experience of a Japanese `business hotel`. It is just 5000 yen (25 pounds) a night, including a lovely self-service breakfast plus a tiny little booth where you can use the internet (for free), in which I am now sat - with the door open (until the receptionist tells me to close it) as it really is tiny (and hot).

I have had a wicked time this last week, on holiday. With Mirabelle, we hitch-hiked, camped, found our way to Shikoku`s highest mountain (Mt Tsurugi san) and got to the summit, crossed over three vine bridges (made of branches over big gorges - see me crossing one in the photo!), ate soba and udon (the region`s specialities) and just generally enjoyed the whole exciting experience. As Mirabelle said, when we were walking on the roadside in the dark hoping for a lift to save us walking the 30 km home, and I asked her if she was scared, `No, it`s not often in life we get to do this`.

And so here I am in Kouchi, where we arrived last night, and I decided I`d like to try, for the first time in my life, to walk the streets and find a hotel just for myself, rather than travel back to Mirabelle`s place at quite an inconvenient time for her. I will venture out soon, and explore the city a bit, but at the moment I need to rest, there is free internet, and it`s been raining since I woke up.

I also had a great time earlier in the week with Simon, visiting Tokushima. We stayed with some friends of a colleague, who were lovely and hospitable and whose lifestyle we both admired enormously. They seem to welcome people into thier house at all times of the day and night and also simply enjoy walking through this fun life together as a couple. I was not looking forward to staying there, as before arriving I felt it would be a burden of more small talk with people in Japan that I don` know, but instead it was a pleasure and one that was provided for us by God.