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Lake Ashinoko below me and the town of Hakone on its shores There are cruises decorated like pirate ships that tour around Lake Ashinoko, to give visitors a view of Fuji from the waters Back on the road!

Neda grabs a cloud drifing past Mount Fuji. Stone marker: 三国峠 reads Mikuni Pass Glamour shot of our steeds There's a little diorama showing where Mount Fuji is. It's right behind you, Neda! Ah, Mount Fuji. Subject of countless poems and paintings. The spiritual and geographic symbol of...

As always, we don't have a concrete plan, but the general idea is to keep on heading south, towards the warmer islands, because it's so cold up here in the north. We are thinking that we may be able to see some Cherry Blossoms bloom sooner since it starts earlier in the south. And then follow...

I doubt many non-Japanese-speakers embark on a self-drive journey across the country. This is confirmed by the automated sushi restaurant that we've chosen to sit down in for lunch: The ordering system is totally in Japanese, no English whatsoever! AHHH! Once you've ordered, the food shoots...

"Stoplight" in Japanese is "Sutoppuraito". Say that out loud and it becomes awesome! :) The rental agency guys told us the speed limit in the city is 40 km/h. This is not enforced by police. The "Sutoppuraito" do that for you... It is physically impossible to accelerate faster than 40 km/h and...

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/393.html We're renting motorbikes and seeing Japan on two wheels! I really wanted to hire some Japan-only motorcycles, like a Honda CB1300 or something that's never been sold in North America. This was all the rental company had left... BMWs. Haha...

On the way back to the train station, we see Mario Karts racing by us! What?! Apparently you can rent these go-karts and the Mario Brothers costumes to go with it. Then they take you on a Mario Kart tour around the streets of Tokyo. OMG! How cool!!! I want to try that! A Ninja on the streets...

Our sake bar experience. Very expensive... With only seating for four people at a time, they have to make their money somehow, I guess! We spill out onto the streets of Shinjuku The Drunken Alley is still empty when we leave. We're here so early, the locals don't really hit the bars until...

Another evening, we decide to head to Shinjuku for more sight-seeing Shinjuku district is the site of the famous all-way pedestrian crossing that's in all the TV shows, movies and documentaries set in Tokyo. All the traffic lights flash red for all vehicles and pedestrians are allowed to walk...

But walk we do. I notice that there are some differences in some of the kimonos that the women wear around town Then it hit me. Most of the women at the temple wearing kimonos weren't Japanese! They were other Asian tourists - Chinese, Korean, etc. and they had rented kimonos to walk around...

Sensō-ji temple is a very popular place to visit in Tokyo Trying out my new camera! So happy with it! One of the streets leading up to the temple is Nakamise-dōri. It is tradition for shops to set up there to sell trinkets, food and snacks to the pilgrims walking to Sensō-ji. So, like the...

Prayers inside the temple A gathering of kimonos in the courtyard Consulting the oracle at one of the o-mikuji stalls inside the temple We watched some people do this, so we quickly learned how this works. For a small donation, you get to shake a metal box containing 100 sticks. Then you...

Asakusa is a well known district because of the magnificent Sensō-ji Buddhist temple The original temple was built in 645AD, but was destroyed by bombs in WWII. It was rebuilt and today stands as a symbol of rebirth and peace for the Japanese people. Again, we see women in the traditional...

On a particularly clear spring day, we walked across Sumida River over to the next neighbourhood of Asakusa. The Tokyo Skytree dominates the Sumida skyline Another Japanese tradition: Buying fresh melonpan at the store Melonpan is a popular sweet bun that you can find everywhere: convenience...

Walking off the curry back to our apartment, we spy a motorcycle. Hmm. That wouldn't be a bad way to see Japan... Our apartment is on top of a four-storey building, which is one of the taller buildings in the neighbourhood. We discovered that there's a lot of flex in the structure. Every time a...

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/392.html PRM-PRM-PRM-PRM-PRM The trains have started running for the day. Despite our daily 6AM wake-up call, we are still enjoying life in Tokyo. We don't venture into the busy downtown too often, but instead walk around our quiet neighbourhood of...

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and then... squirrel on a leash. LOL... whut!? Japanese people are weird again. We end the day with a cold Asahi at our local neighbourhood Izakaya, which is kind of a Japanese pub. So thankful for the English menus! After dinner, we retire back to our awesome Tokyo apartment. I get the...

Everyone enjoying the park in their own way Guy groovin' on the bass alone under the trees with a face mask on was a bit weird... but cool. No RideDOT.com blog post would be complete without pictures of doggies Dog owners taking their pups out for a walk in the park. Hey... the Japanese are...

Shinjuku Gyoen Park is the perfect place for us It's Tokyo's largest park right in the heart of the city. It kind of reminds me of Central Park in New York City. Since it's the weekend, there are tons of people enjoying the beginnings of warm weather after a cold winter. Lots of locals too! We...