Konichiwa everyone from Japan!
Since arriving in Japan we have both been very good and learnt a bit of
the lingo, so much so that i'm sure James' eyes are beginning to slant
ever so slightly!! Ok, so we're not bilingual, but by learning a word a
day we'll know approximately 45 by the time we leave!! Hehe!
We started our 6 week Japanese adventure in Osaka, Kansai. Quite a
concrete looking place, with some lovely areas too! During an 'orientation session' we stumbled upon (as usual) some rather suspect little streets! Picture little houses with open front rooms, in the room is a scantly clad Japanese 'beauty' on a little chair and by her (what can only be described as), her 'granny pimp'...just waiting!! There were literally 30 or so of these little shop houses in the space of a few hundred metres! How we always find them i'll never know (though i'm sure James has a nose for it!).
After Mr Malcolm met us in Osaka we had a quick nose around Osaka-Jo (castle), lunch at the bay, a scary ride on (apparently) the World's Largest Giant Wheel and an evening out wandering the streets of Amerika-Mura where we had a lovely stone roasted Japanese meal!
Onto Nara...the first proper Japanese capital. Nara is an absolutely
beautiful place where wild deer wander the streets and parks...we were
quite surprised when we saw a couple walking down the middle of the road
when we first ventured out! Cute though...although not when you have
food (see the pics of James surrounded by them - hilarious!). We spent
the day with our brollies up wandering around Nara-Koen (park), taking in the shrines, temples and the world's largest wooden structure (Dobutsen-Den)! Except for the rain and me finding a leech on my leg, it was a
more than pleasant day!
Next stop...Kyoto!
Our Ryokan in Kyoto was precisely what you'd expect from a Japanese
house - tatami mats, futons and a lot of wood! It was lovely! Eikan-Do
(temple) was first on our list, it was surrounded by cute little japanese streets and alleys in the most gorgeous setting you can imagine! Not
the season for Cherry Blossom though unfortunately, but that would have
made it perfect! On our next day in Kyoto we went shopping and Geisha spotting in the evening! Our search failed though, but we won't leave Japan without having seen one in the flesh!! Our tour guide James took us on a walk (in the rain) around the pretty and seedy areas of Kyoto (the Lonely Planet suggested it so he's not entirely to blame for the nature of the tour!), ending with a Japanese Pizza (it is actually authentic) which was....unusual!! All in all, there's so much more of Kyoto we could have seen so I think we'll definitey be heading back at some point!!
We are now on a train to Hiroshima (via Himeji-Jo castle which was
beauitful as well...seeing a pattern emerging here!).
