Japan: Worth a visit at least once in a lifetime, if not more. Here are my Top 10 reasons:

The Bullet Train

A train journey like no other: With over 2,387.7 km of tracks, the Shinkansen will whisk you people from one end of Japan to the other, and has been doing so since 1964 with maximum speeds of 240–320 km/h. It is the way to travel in Japan. They have spotless cars, comfortable seats and impeccable service (the conductors even bow on entering and leaving the car). They are also amazing when it comes to timekeeping -- your train will arrive at its destination to the very second -- guaranteed.. 

The Conductor

Japanese Toilets or Washlets

Once you use a Japanese toilet, you will never want to use a normal toilet again. From warm seats to automatic flushing and the amazing bidet spays with panels to adjust direction, pressure, temperature and anything else you can imagine.

The Japanese toilet is a testament to Japan’s excellent engineering and design being used to make life better.

Asahi Super Dry beer

As a general rule, all South East Asian beers have a sweet undertone, be it Tiger from Singapore, Tsingtao from China, Singha from Thailand, Bintang from Indonesia and the Japanese ones like Sapporo or Kirin. Super Dry Asahi is, as it’s name suggests, not at all sweet. As a bonus, Asahi has set up dedicated outlets where beers are served at a bone chilling -2 C from dispensers that are frozen over. I do not know if the ice on the dispenser is a gimmick or it really freezes the condensation. We went to the Asahi Super Dry outlets and had some really good beer. Having said that, as a general rule beers in Japan are served super cold

Pastry

The Japanese do sweets and desserts of all varieties extremely well. Every department store has a large section devoted to cakes and pastries and they are works of art. When we were at the Cordon Bleu, a majority of the students in the Patisserie section were Japanese. We now know why. The Japanese love pastry and Japanese Pastry is really top notch.

Wagyu

Although this seems obvious, you have to visit Japan to eat the beef. It is unlike anything you will have ever eaten. The quality and marbling are unsurpassed. Wagyu literally means Japanese Cow. However Japanese Cows come in different breeds and the most desired genetically have very high fat to meat ratio. The top three Wagyu are Matsusaka Ushi, Kobe Beef, and Ohmi Beef cattle raised in the Kansai region of Japan. Eat any of them and you will never regret it.

The Electronics at Ahibara and Yodobashi Camera Umeda

If you love gadgets and electronics, Japan is the place for you. Browse the numerous stores showing off the very latest in technology. Many electronic items never make it out of Japan, so you might see some flashy new contraptions on display -- even if you're not sure what they actually do. Of course there is a small problem with a lot of the electronics. The devices only offer Japanese menus and read outs. The Yodobashi Camera stores are mega large crammed with all manner of electronics. They are entire building with restaurants inside.

Taxi etiquette

Hail a cab and when it comes to a halt, the kerbside passenger door opens automatically. When you are seated, the driver will press a lever and the door swings shut. It’s the same when you reach your designation. The doors are never to be opened or shut by you. Taxi drivers are very well dressed, often in suit and tie, peak caps and white gloves. They have a credit card machine and are more than happy to take a card.

Also, the taxi’s are spotlessly clean and in perfect condition.

People politely line up for a train

The dignity and discipline when people wait for trains is a sight to behold. Always wait till the last person alights before entering the train. No pushing or shoving, ever

Immaculate gardens

The gardens and parks are like picture postcards. Every tree, bush and shrub is perfectly manicured and not a branch is ever out of place. Everything is raked and trimmed to perfection

Wrapping

Any purchase be it a gift or a household item is artistically and skilfully wrapped.

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Forsyth

Let me begin with some disclaimers:

I have never been to a ‘national park’ before this (unless you count a brief visit to Periyar when I was a child)

I have never thought of going on a safari because I didn’t really think it was ‘my kind of thing’

I have never been particularly interested in wildlife and have never really stopped to admire a bird or tree or creature.

Having said this, I have just returned from an absolutely fantastic three day jungle experience. The complete jungle immersion started on the drive from Bhopal to the Forsyth Lodge when we suddenly realised we had no mobile network. Our cheerful driver happily informed us that there is no mobile network in the hotel or in the forest and definitely no hope of wifi or any form of internet communication. And no, no TV either. BSNL, a mobile operator nobody I know uses, does have a weak signal in a few parts of the Lodge but we of course did not have a BSNL connection. For perhaps the first time in my life, I spent 3 days completely cut off from the rest of the world. Quite an unnerving feeling at first, but after a bit fairly liberating.

By way of background, the relatively less known and low key Satpura National Park is in the district Hoshangabad of Madhya Pradesh and lies at the foothills of Panchmarhi. It gets its name from the Satpura hill ranges (Mahadeo hills). The Park has a unique central highland ecosystem and an extremely rugged terrain. As you traverse through the Park you will see high sandstone peaks, narrow gorges, ravines and dense forest. The Park covers an area of 524 km² of which just 4% is open to the public.

The nearest town to the national park is Panchmarhi, the nearest railhead is Piparia 55 kilometres away and the state capital Bhopal is 210 kilometres away.

We were booked at the charming Forsyth Lodge, a place I will without hesitation recommend to everybody. While not luxurious, it falls under the category that can be called rustic comfort. The accommodation is 12 individual cottages that are spread around the main Lodge building and though extremely charming with a sweet sit-out with planters chairs, we hardly spent any time in our cottage and only used it to sleep and bathe.

Rishi, the gracious, unflappable manager of Forsyth Lodge introduced us to the rest of the guests and to the resident naturalists. Naturalists are essentially people who are experts in botany or zoolology, especially in the field. We were told that a naturalist would accompany us on every safari or outing.

Within 10 minutes of our checking in, one of the resident naturalists, Surya, offered to take us on a walk around the property. What an absolute delight. In that 1 hour I saw innumerable butterflies and dragonflies, learned to recognize the sound and sight of several birds and was introduced to the world of spiders. Surya’s enthusiasm is to be seen to be believed. He is passionate, knowledgeable and so eager for you to see and appreciate every bee, bird and tree. The enthusiasm was infectious and soon we were asking questions and looking around with eager eyes and straining to hear the calls of different birds. What an absolutely charming start.

Back at the Lodge, we met the second naturalist, David Raju. David’s reputation as “one of India's great young and independent, naturalists” preceded him and from the brief time we spent with him, he more than lived up to it. An absolute mine of information and knowledge with a well honed instinct to spot even the most elusive wildlife. Soon after lunch we set of with David for our first safari.

The Lodge is a 10 minute drive from the ticket booth to gain access to the Satpura National Park. The Denwa river separates the mainland from the core Satpura Reserve and the only way to enter the Park is by crossing the river in a speed boat. Once on the other side, there are a total of 12 jeeps that can be used to see the Park. Each jeep comes with a driver and a forest guide or spotter and if you are lucky enough to stay at Forsyth, you also have your own dedicated naturalist. Because the number of jeeps in this National Park is so limited, you can drive around for hours without encountering any other jeep or human. It’s just the jungle and you.

We were incredibly lucky with that first drive and sighted at very close quarters several sambar, peacocks, deer, a huge Malabar Pied Hornbill, a few majestic gaurs and an absolutely close encounter with a mama and baby bear who crossed the path less than 10 feet in front of our jeep. We watched closely as they ambled across and then to our delight, the mama bear began digging for termites while the baby bear rubbed his backside against a tree stump.

Early the next morning we set off for another jeep safari and the lovely Forsyth Lodge made it special by arranging a picnic breakfast deep in the forest on a pile of volcanic rock overhanging a stream. That afternoon we took a Boat Safari through the inlets and channels of water that run through and surround the Park. Perfect for sighting the many birds that make this eco system their home. As we drove back to the Lodge, another jeep with some guests was setting off for a Night Safari. We were invited to hop on and we jumped at the chance. We drove in the buffer zone of Satpura and were treated to wonderful sightings of the Eagle Owl and a very close view of a civet. Driving through the dense jungle in the pitch dark was an eerie, exciting and completely special experience.

Another early start had us set off on a Walking Safari. As the Forsyth Lodge website lyrically says, “There’s walking, and then there is learning to place your feet according to the undulations of the landscape, the minor shifts in the undergrowth, and the many variations of mud the jungle can offer. Not to speak of the rather surprising racket that your feet can make across fallen teak leaves.” The Satpura Reserve is apparently the only protected forest in India that permits Walking Safaris. The walk was for about 4 hours and in that time we tracked bear paw prints, saw innumerable langurs and sambar, listened for jungle alarm calls to see if we were close to any of the large cats (leopard or tiger), saw a giant dragonfly trapped in a spider web and learned about the evolution of spiders. I also learned to identify and avoid the dreaded Rainy Tree with its curved thorns that can rip your skin out. The Walking Safari is an absolutely must-do experience if you ever visit Satpura.

Our last dawn at Satpura found us in canoes rowing down the Denwa and Sonbhadra rivers and their many inlets and tributaries to watch the sun rise, hear the birds wake up calls and chance upon 2 sambars swim across a stream right in front of our canoe. A sudden sighting of a large 14 foot crocodile was exciting enough for us to spend a half hour tracking it and trying to get a closer look.

All in all, an absolutely fabulous jungle experience made special I believe by the wealth of information and boundless enthusiasm of the wonderful naturalists at Forsyth Lodge.

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