Pete's Tuppence Worth
Hey I'm Pete, I'll be with Scott throughout this entire adventure thing!
Yeah the confirmations have been received. Its official, we're going to Japan! And now our preparations shall begin! Even though we have five months to prepare ourselves we still have a lot to do!
First things first we had to sort out our guide books. I plumped for the Lonely Planet Guide to Japan which is the latest and most up to date one at the moment. Be aware though that Lonely Planet's sworn enemy (Rough Guides) might release a more up to date guide before September. Currently Amazon are doing a deal where you can get the Lonely Planet guide to Japan and Tokyo for a cheaper bundle price plus free delivery, so I went for that.
The next thing to get is a Japan Rail Pass. As you might (or indeed might not) know, Japan has one of the fastest, punctual and comprehensive rail networks in the world.
However it can be a tad bit expensive if you're trekking across the country. By getting a rail pass we can save lots of money for buying by getting a pre paid pass. For example to buy a seven day pass costs just as much as a return trip to Kyoto from Tokyo.
Finally we had to plan a route. After much too-ing and thro-ing we managed to work out a basic route for us to take in our 18 days in the Orient...
Yes yes I know it looks pretty pants. I'm the guy on the right and Scott is the one on the left. As you can see we intend to make our way to Nagasaki. There is indeed method to our madness. You see we're on the trail of Victorian Scot and entrepreneur Thomas Glover!
A brief history. Glover was born and raised in Fraserburgh, Scotland and when he grew up joined one of the many trading companies that was bringing wealth to Scotland.
He initially landed in Nagasaki and worked for a company that bought and sold Japanese Green Tea. Soon though he had founded his own firm which bought and sold Gunpowder and arms to the Japanese during various rebellions in Japan during the 1860s.
After helping with the fall of the Feudal Tokogawa Shogunate, he had cordial relations with the new government and thus secured himself a position to trade with the Japanese. He secured contracts to build Japan's first western style warships, imported trains and created the infrastructure for Japan's Industrial revolution. In short it is thanks to him that Japan is a global economic powerhouse. If it wasn't for him multinationals such as Mitsubishi Corporation would have never existed.
Thus we felt as students in Aberdeen that it would be great if we could trace the roots of Thomas Glover through Japan, see, ride and experience the things that he brought to this country and see for ourselves the legacy of his entrepreneurial spirit.
More news and plans later!
Yeah the confirmations have been received. Its official, we're going to Japan! And now our preparations shall begin! Even though we have five months to prepare ourselves we still have a lot to do!
First things first we had to sort out our guide books. I plumped for the Lonely Planet Guide to Japan which is the latest and most up to date one at the moment. Be aware though that Lonely Planet's sworn enemy (Rough Guides) might release a more up to date guide before September. Currently Amazon are doing a deal where you can get the Lonely Planet guide to Japan and Tokyo for a cheaper bundle price plus free delivery, so I went for that.
The next thing to get is a Japan Rail Pass. As you might (or indeed might not) know, Japan has one of the fastest, punctual and comprehensive rail networks in the world.
However it can be a tad bit expensive if you're trekking across the country. By getting a rail pass we can save lots of money for buying by getting a pre paid pass. For example to buy a seven day pass costs just as much as a return trip to Kyoto from Tokyo.
Finally we had to plan a route. After much too-ing and thro-ing we managed to work out a basic route for us to take in our 18 days in the Orient...
Yes yes I know it looks pretty pants. I'm the guy on the right and Scott is the one on the left. As you can see we intend to make our way to Nagasaki. There is indeed method to our madness. You see we're on the trail of Victorian Scot and entrepreneur Thomas Glover!
A brief history. Glover was born and raised in Fraserburgh, Scotland and when he grew up joined one of the many trading companies that was bringing wealth to Scotland.
He initially landed in Nagasaki and worked for a company that bought and sold Japanese Green Tea. Soon though he had founded his own firm which bought and sold Gunpowder and arms to the Japanese during various rebellions in Japan during the 1860s.
After helping with the fall of the Feudal Tokogawa Shogunate, he had cordial relations with the new government and thus secured himself a position to trade with the Japanese. He secured contracts to build Japan's first western style warships, imported trains and created the infrastructure for Japan's Industrial revolution. In short it is thanks to him that Japan is a global economic powerhouse. If it wasn't for him multinationals such as Mitsubishi Corporation would have never existed.
Thus we felt as students in Aberdeen that it would be great if we could trace the roots of Thomas Glover through Japan, see, ride and experience the things that he brought to this country and see for ourselves the legacy of his entrepreneurial spirit.
More news and plans later!
posted by Scott Leiper at 8:49 pm
1 Comments:
Here's a wish of good luck to you fellas. Hope you get to try as many local beers as humanly possible.
Good luck, and Godspeed!
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