Mudbath to Hotsprings

Within the first 24 hours of meeting Julie we shared a theraputic mudbath at romantic spa and a bed at a quaint vacation home in Napa Valley, California.  We were just two girls of a bachelorette party of six on a weekend of debachery. I must say it was probably the oddest beginning of a friendship I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing but set the tone for many future adventures.


This is Julie:

Over the past year and a half Julie and I became fast friends and since then we've been on many adventures.  We've hiked Little Si, she went with me when I jumped off Tiger Mountain, we've had long chats discussing our similar approaches to life.  She's traveled Europe solo and went to Ghana the year after I went to Egypt.  We both have a healthy sense of adventure which is why we're going to Japan in 3 very short weeks.


Now, Japan was never really on my list of places to visit but the opportunity arose and I jumped at the chance.  As we've been planning my excitement has increased ten-fold.  We've booked our flight, our destinations are set (Tokyo, Takayama, Kyoto, Mt. Koya, Osaka, Misawa, and back Tokyo), most of our accommodations, including a night in a buddist temple on Mt. Koya with monks, are booked.  We're close to purchasing our rail passes (tomorrow).  We've mapped out places to go and things to see.  We've already discussed the hot springs and bath houses (not THOSE kind) that we will surely be visiting, because once you've mudbathed together nude hot springs are obviously the next logical step (At least that how I think friendships go). 


Besides that, two tall white girls backpacking in a foreign land, who don't speak/read the language, sleeping in youth hostels with strangers, I can't imagine what could go array...except everything.