Day 4 - Osaka & Himegi
Posted on May 2, 2008
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Himegi castle was one of the sites that was on the top of both Sandy’s and my list to see while in Japan. It is the oldest authentic (not restored) castle in Japan and is certainly a sight to behold.
It was well and truly worth the 2+ hours on the train to get there and Sandy and I thoroughly enjoyed climbing up and up through the keep and towers, looking at all of the family crests and tombs in the walls of the castle. At about the halfway point, you come to a landing where this is the view.
We continued to climb all the way to the top of the castle where we received a stamp to prove we’d done it. You’d be surprised how many places offer you a stamp! We of course, got them all!
On our return to Osaka, we decided to pay a visit to Osaka Imperial Palace & Museum. It was getting a bit dark when we left and we got this shot of the palace.
After spending some time sitting at the fountain in the Palace park,
We tried unsuccessfully to get some night shots and headed home for dinner and to send some flowers home for our Mother. It was her birthday the follwing day and we wanted it to be special seeing as both her daughters were halfway around the world.
On getting back to the hostel we met Fred and Lisa. Two Americal girls who were on virtually the same path through Japan that we were.
Lisa (Portland, Oregon)
Fred (Pheonix, Arizona)
In fact, we had actually booked the temple that they had wanted to stay in and were the reason they got turned down. We recommended Himegi as a great place to visit and marvelled over the fact that though we met in Kyoto, our paths would cross again in Mt Fuji-san and Tokyo!
Day 3 - Kyoto Imperial Palace
Posted on April 26, 2008
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Heading off fairly early again on foot, we decided to find the Nishiki Markets on our way to the Imperial Palace.
Ever notice that distances on a map never look quite as far as they really are? Even with your ratio [————-] = 1 kilometre. It still seems closer than what it really is.
W popped into quite a few little shrines along the way (that we never would have seen had we bussed everywhere) and finally reached Daihatsu where we did a little girly shopping - hey, what’s a vacation without shopping? Some make-up and hair accessories later, and a browse through the Nishiki Markets, we took our time wandering through the Imperial Gardens, taking photos and searching endlessly for a bathroom with a western style toilet.
The true test of how badly you need to pee lies in deciding whether you have to use a Japanese toilet..LOL
Thankfully Mos Burger (Japan’s answer to Hungry Jacks) is fully equiped for western tourists both facility-wise and food-wise. Filled with burgers and melon soda (Yum!) we continued our walking tour of all the little local shrines before heading back to the hostel for a wee rest before dinner.
Stupidly thinking we’d dress up a bit, Sandy and I donned our heels and headed off by metro to Ponto-Cho, the night-life spot in Kyoto. Little did we know that Ponto-Cho is mostly cobblestone (Arg!) AGONY of the feet after another day of 15+ km of walking.
Did I mention that I had Plantar Fascia in BOTH feet? For those of you out there who are not podiatrists, that is a torn tendon in the feet. It feels like you are standing on bruised heels all the time and it particularly excruciating early morning, late at night and after lots of walking…I digress.
We were looking for a restaurant with an english menu and saw one that had pizza on it not far down the alley. Sandy is allergic to fish so that limited our choices. Pizza sounded good so we headed inside the Italian restaurant with a french name ( I forget what the name was but remember it was french) in Japan.
Inside was tiny …and empty except for 1 guy in jeans and a T-shirt smoking a fag. A little concerned, Sandy and I breifly discussed how to leave politely but woulnd up sitting down for fear of hurting the guys feelings. We braced ourselves with fuzzy navels and proceeded to order.
“We’ll share a pizza.” I said confidantly. He started walking away. * Second thoughts* “Wait!” I called, “What’s on it?” I had realized there was no listing of ingredients on the menu.
In stilted english he replied “Onions, capsicum, mushrooms, olives, cheese…” and with a flourish worthy of a french waiter in a 5 star restaurant, he wisks what looks to be a dish towel off of a leg of ham on a wooden chopping block, complete with big bite mark out of it as he says “and raw ham!”
Sandy and I control the urge to flee quite impressively and I change my order to steak. At least if that’s not cooked through, I can eat it! (I like my steak rare.)
Then, the waiter’s face lit up. “Vegetarian?” he suggests. “Yes,thank you!!” we both agree.
And thus begins one of the best dinning experiences we had in Japan.
Food…great! ( We wound up with both steak and pizza, both delicious.)
Atmosphere…cozy and friendly
Company…superb
After hobbling home, wincing and complaining laughingly the whole way we played cards in the common room with some fellow aussie travellers (Andrew & Brandon) to the wee hours of the night and then slept like logs in our bunks. This was the night we discovered the heating in the room…lol
Day 2 - Kyoto
Posted on April 20, 2008
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Bright and early after a HEAVY sleep in our bunkbeds, (I got the top bunk…boo) Sandy and I got up and decided to set out exploring on foot.
Sandy in her bunk.
We looked fruitlessly for an open breakfast restaurent before stumbling apon the biggest blessing in Japan…the vending machine.
Coffeed up (mine hot and Sandy’s cold) we headed in the general direction of some nearby temples. Along the way, we got our very first glimpse of a real geisha. Dressed in an exquisite pink silk kimono, she minced out of her house and walked (hobbled) in front of us to the street corner. I was so enthralled, I was bumping into people because I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Then the most surreal thing happened…
She reached into her little matching silk bag and pulled out…a mobile phone. *FLINK* She flips it open with expert precision and calls herself a cab.
Mouth agape, I stared, transfixed by the wrongness of what I had just seen. That did NOT just happen! Struck by the oddity of old world tradition meets new-age technology, we continued on our way.
Our first stop, Higashi Otani Mausoleum. There was lots of people around and the air was filled with the smell of incense. I got a great picture of Bhuddah in here. It’s a bit blurry but I love how he fills the picture.
Next stop, Yasaka-jinja. Not the best place for those nervous on stairs or in tight spaces because it has both! Another few geishas were on thier way to temple and were nice enough to stop for photos. My favorite is one I got from behind. LOVE those kimonos.
From here, we walked through a large market area (LOTS of great souvenirs - Sandy bought a geisha doll) and onto Kodajai Temple.
Dragon Path
and Ryozan-Kwannon Temple. Here we found our very first cherry blossoms and one giant Bhuddah!
After a 15 kilometre walking tour, we were pooped and hungry. Someone in the hostel had recommended a nearby restaurant so we headed there for a HUGE meal. Well worth it just for the atmosphere but the food was great too.
Still a little jet-lagged we made an early night of it, picking up some stuff for breakfast the next day and watching a movie. I’m not sure either of us saw the end of it!
Day 1 - Arrival at Narita & travel to Kyoto
Posted on April 13, 2008
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My flight arrived at 9am on Saturday morning March 22. Unfortunately, Sandy’s flight didn’t arrive until almost 4pm so the first 7 hours in Japan I spent wandering Narita’s terminal 1. I have discovered that it is HUGE. I had my nails done, spent half an hour or so on a paid massage chair, another hour or so on the paid internet terminals (100 yen/10 mins) validated my Japan Rail Pass and read a substantial part of my book all while waiting for Sandy.
I also discovered that McDonalds in Japan is not quite the same as in the western world. Apparently they use some sort of wasabi flavouring in the burgers. Ordering was an experience in itself. None of the staff spoke English so I was reduced to pointing to what I hoped was a cheeseburger. It was OK, but it was the last time I ate at McDonalds in Japan.
Then again, I usually avoid Macca’s in Perth too…
When Sandy arrived, we went straight to validate her pass and booked our trains to Kyoto (what was meant to be a 3 and a half our trip) on reserved seats. This first train to Shinigawa was uneventful…we were tired after all that travel.
On arrival at Shinigawa, we had 10 minutes to find the next train track and rushed to ask a steward for directions. He pointed to a train sitting at it’s track and clarified with “Track 24.”
What Sandy and I didn’t realise at the time, is that trains in Japan are VERY timely and the train that was sitting there was actually a few minutes early to be ours. We were meant to wait 3 minutes until the next one arrived but of course, the language barrier prevented the steward from explaining.
We got on the train and then puzzled over why there were people sitting in our reserved seats. Obviously tired and hauling a lot of luggage, we were slow to react and the train left the station with us standing in the full compartment of people. We saw an almost empty car and decided to sit there until another steward came by but before that happened, the train stopped and people streamed in to the previously empty car. We were in someone’s seats!
Apologising for being so rude (Sandy doing it in French causing hysterical laughter on my part), we moved and asked the lady for help (by showing her our tickets and shrugging with a questioning look..lol) She then spoke to her companion, her father, who explained to us in stilted English that we were on the wrong train!! DUN DUN DUN…
Apparently, by getting on the train 3 minutes early, we were now headed in the right general direction but instead of going right to Kyoto, direct, we were now going all stops to Nagoya where we would have to change trains again for Kyoto - extending our trip from 3 and half hours to more like 5!
Sandy was less than impressed…
If fact, she was so tired and worried that she spent the rest of the trip speaking only to my reflection in the window. I think she was confused LOL
We called the hostel from Nagoya to let them know we were going to be late and they agreed to leave the key in the mailbox for us…whew! The rest of the trip to Kyoto was uneventful until we tried to follow the internet provided map to the hostel.
We discovered that a lot of streets in Japan have no names and therefore, do not show on the map. So, when we counted 4 streets down, we were really meant to count 6! Exhausted and desperate, we stopped a family on the street and asked for help. (Showed them the map and shrugged with a questioning look…lol) I pointed to K’s house on the map and looked around with my hands in the air (huh?)
They seemed as confused as we were and eventually stopped two boys on bikes, to in turn ask their help. After a gruelling 5 minutes, one of the boys face lit up and he pointed to a side street nodding vigorously. We thanked them all (Arigato-gozaimas!) and headed off in the direction he indicated.
FINALLY coming upon K’s House Kyoto a full 24 hours after I left Perth and 33 hours after Sandy left Montreal. We were never so happy to see a set of bunk beds and promptly hit the sack.
Holiday over :(
Posted on April 13, 2008
Filed Under Japan, Holidays | 1 Comment
OK, so I’ve been back from Japan for a week now and I’ve decided that it’s time to update this seemingly silent blog with my adventures and tribulations of inter-continental travel.
I was actually rather clever (I thought), in that I brought a notebook with me on holiday and logged what we did each day along with any silliness that made us laugh or events that we didn’t want to forget. This will make it much easier to tell you all about the things we did, places we went and anything else that might be of interest.
I haven’t had time yet to resize all of my photos (almost 1000 of them!) so I will add photos as I can. I’ve decided that I will dedicate a post to each of the 15 days I was in Japan so that each one will be fairly accurate and not novel length.
Here we go…
— keep looking »