Jim's travels

Monday 7th April ~ Tokyo

Monday morning 3;00 am, the sound of my alarm told me it was time to get up, shower then breakfast before saying goodbye to Graeme and Briony (& Joffrey of course) and catch an Uber to Melbourne airport for my 10-hour flight to Tokyo. All the usual checking etc went smoothly, and I spent the rest of the time in the departure lounge relaxing before taking off.

The Qantas flight took off on time and we arrived at Narita Airport on schedule. The flight was reasonably comfortable, the fact that I had an empty seat next to me made it much easier, the catering was standard fare (no real cutlery though Jim) and there was a reasonably good number of movies to watch, I opted to watch the Bob Dylan Biopic and the Brutalist, both of which helped pass the time.

On arrival, there was a fairly long queue to get through immigration, but with a high degree of efficiency on display, it didn’t take too long to get through, it would have been a bit easier if I had completed the disembarkation and customs declaration forms beforehand, but there were plenty available to allow me to complete them whilst in the queue. Once I had collected my luggage and cleared customs, I withdrew some cash, bought a SIM card for my phone then headed to the railway station to catch the train into town. Leaving the station behind, I quickly found my hotel for the night, the Agora Place Asakusa, and checked into the small but perfectly functional room. Since I had been on the hoof for around 20 hours, I was happy to retire for the night.

Tuesday 8th April ~ Tokyo

A good night’s sleep was just what I needed, and a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant set me up for my Japanese adventure to begin.

Not knowing too much about my local area, I decided to check out of the hotel and go and find our tour-starting hotel, the ICI Hotel, which was about a 15-minute walk away. It was relatively easy to find and after leaving my luggage, I decided to visit the nearby Senso-ji temple, this temple, built in 645, is Tokyo’s oldest, and was a really nice place to visit in the sunshine. Surrounded by cherry blossom trees, the temple and the adjacent 5-storied Pagoda certainly brought out the crowds, many of the young people resplendent in traditional clothing. Coincidentally, just as I got caught up with graduation ceremonies on my first day in Hanoi last year, the same thing occurred today; there were many families dressed in their finery, many of the mothers in traditional kimonos.

It was good to just wander aimlessly enjoying the sights and sounds of this fascinating city. I eventually ended up on the banks of the Sumida River, where I found a nice restaurant to have lunch, a refreshing beer and a chance to rest my feet. One thing to notice was the lack of street art in the areas I had so far visited, I only managed to find one piece in my wanderings, and from what I had read, I was lucky to find that. Another slow stroll took me back to the hotel to get into my room and have a short rest before the Intrepid group meeting.

It was interesting meeting our small group. We were met by Rie, our Intrepid tour leader and the rest of the group. This is a mixed group, we have the Johnson family from Melbourne, Mark, Lou, Cameron & Ingrid. The Rose family from London, Michael, Aron & Sasha. Gianna & Roger from Switzerland, and of course,e myself. After the meeting, most of the group went with Rie to Seiryu, a nice restaurant for a tapas-type meal before returning to the hotel and calling it a day.

Intrepid’s Land of the Rising Sun Tour – Our Route and the Group

Wednesday 9th April ~ Nikko

Since we were not leaving on the next stage of our tour until the afternoon, I took a stroll through town to visit Ueno Park. This peaceful park was just the place to spend a morning in the sun. The Benten Temple on an island on Shinobazu Pond, with walkways lined with Cherry blossom trees, was so relaxing, it didn’t take long until the lake was full of colourful pedalos, many shaped like large swans, and I resisted the urge to get on the water myself.

In the afternoon, we all made our way to Asakusa Station to catch our train to Nikko. The train, being a limited express, which left bang on the schedule, was very comfortable and spacious, got us there in around 2 hours through an ever-changing landscape, from the urban sprawl of Tokyo city then into arable fields, some converted to solar farms, then finally into the highland country with it’s snow-capped mountains and scenic rivers and waterfalls.

Our accommodation, The Turtle Inn, for the next 2 nights is a lovely rustic chalet-style B&B off the beaten track, deep in the forest. Everybody in the group was very surprised to hear that the room I had been allocated had beds rather than the simple futon mattresses on the floor that they all had, (I must admit that it was a rather comfortable bed too, but I didn’t admit that in the morning at breakfast): After checking in, we all walked along the riverbank to the Kanmagafuchi Abyss, this short gorge with its row of about 70 stone statues of Jizo looking out over the river. These statues, said to be guardians protecting children, looked wonderful, all decorated with red crocheted caps and red bibs amongst the mossy forest area.

For our evening meal, the whole group of us went to the Bell, a nearby restaurant, to try a Yuba Festa ( a monk’s diet). Yuba is one of Nikko’s most traditional delicacies, made by gently scooping the skin off soy milk while it’s boiling, and in our meal, served in a wide variety of ways, I must admit that it was not among my favourite meals in Japan.

Thursday 10th April ~ Nikko

Following a simple breakfast, we walked into town to visit the Nikko National Park and especially the Tashogu Shrine complex. This magnificent shrine, dedicated to a famed warlord, is full of carved and brilliantly decorated structures. The complex forms a part of Nikko’s UNESCO World Heritage status, and we spend a good few hours being guided by our local guide, Mr Suzuki. Our visit completed, we returned to the Nikki town centre, all going our separate ways to find a good lunch spot. I managed to come across a lovely cafe called Hatsuishi, a lovely little cafe hidden in a back lan,e where I enjoyed a light lunch and a wonderful coffee.

After lunch, a group of us met up again near the Shinkyo Bridge before returning to the National Park to visit the Toshogu museum. this excellent museum was much quieter than the shrine. The only disappointment I had was that photography was not allowed. Despite being a smallish museum with a great collection of artefacts and the portable shrines we heard about during our tour. It is just a pity that we won’t be here on May 18th to see the procession called Hyakumono-Zoroe Sennin Gyoretsu, in which some 1,000 men dressed in samurai warrior outfits march to reproduce the scene where the first shogun’s grave was being transferred to Nikko.

Friday 11th April ~ Hakone

A taxi ride took us to the JR Nikko station to catch our first train of the day, a local public transport journey to Utsunomiya, a short journey of 6 stops took around an hour. We quickly changed trains at Utsunomiya onto one of the fast shinkansen, bullet-type trains to Tokyo Central. This journey was very smooth and very rapid and comfortable. Once in Tokyo we only had a few minutes to catch our next train to Odawara, then after a break for lunch we caught our last train to Hakone and got the bus to our destination, as I said, it certainly was a travel day.

Our accommodation for the next 2 nights is the Fuji-Hakone Guest House, set in lovely countryside. The guesthouse is in a traditional Japanese style with rooms without bathrooms or toilets. Tatami mats and Futon beds. We were provided with Yukata, Japanese cotton bathrobes, and towels. Our friendly host Ted welcomed us warmly, explaining how things worked in the house. Our evening meal was in a Chinese restaurant (Japanese style), which was unlike any Chinese restaurant I have visited before. I found the house to have a friendly, homely atmosphere combined with traditional style which ensured us a comfortable and restful night.

Saturday 12th April

Another interesting day today, using our provided Hakone freedom pass, we caught a bus outside the accommodation to Gora to then take the Hakone Tozan Cable Car up the mountain to the Hakone Ropeway, stopping at the top in Owakudani to view the sulphur springs, the interesting thing there was the Black Egg shop, which sold eggs boiled and treated in the sulphur springs, which turned the shell black. We then descended on the ropeway to Lake Ashi for our cruise on one of the mock pirate ships down to Hakonemachi-Ko. Back on another bus to go to the Mishima Skyway, Japan’s longest suspension bridge, to walk across to see all the activities on offer and to have lunch. We then returned by bus to Motohakone-Ko to board another pirate ship back up the lake to Togendai on our return home.

This trip, whilst it was good to see so many interesting and different places using a variety of transport methods, was a little disappointing as we had hoped to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji at some point during the day. When we awoke this morning, the sun was shining and the skies were clear, but by the time we got to the viewpoints, it had clouded over.

We visited Gin no Ho, a local Japanese restaurant, where I sampled a Kanameshi chicken dish. I found this to be excellent, and I may consider it to be one of my best meals so far. On returning to the accommodation, I had a session in the Onsen (thermal springs bath), I found this to be so relaxing and a great way to end the day.

Sunday 13th April ~ Takayama

Back on the move again, this time from Hakone to our destination of Takayama, again using a variety of transport methods, including another of Japan’s speedy bullet trains.

Once we arrived in the city, we took a shuttle bus to the Hida Folk Village, a heritage park with many old historical thatched buildings from the area’s past. This was an interesting place to visit despite the rather wet weather. We learned how the villagers lived and worked, and how the buildings were constructed to withstand the extremes of the weather.

Hotel Wings International, our accommodation for the next 2 nights, was our next destination, and once checked into my room and reunited with my luggage, which we last saw in Nikko, I met the rest of the group to visit Tenaga Ashinaga, a lovely traditionally styled restaurant, for another good meal, this time I had a ramen dish with local Hida beef which was so tender. All too soon, it was time for bed.

Monday 14th April ~ Tkayama

I woke early, so I decided to use the time to visit a nearby laundrette to get my bits washed before breakfast. We visited the morning market on the riverbank, where we visited Takumikan, a cafe attached to a beautiful furniture store. I really enjoyed looking around, gathering ideas for my future crafting. After breakfast, following a stroll through the town, we visited a temple complex where we were given a tutorial on how to mix Japanese incense by a really fun old guy with a good sense of humour, following that, we were allowed to sit through the monk having his morning prayers; it certainly was interesting to see.

From one spirit to another, it led us from there to a nearby Sake brewery for a tasting session, which was very good, but I must admit that I couldn’t detect much difference between them.

We were fortunate to arrive in Takayama in time for their Spring Festival, or Sanno Matsuri, which is an annual festival of Hie Shrine and celebrates the coming of spring. The festival consists of a parade of 12 Yatai (festival floats) around the town, 3 of the floats have a marionette show, which we got a chance to see amongst the packed crowds in blazing sunshine, unfortunately due to the threat of rain, the evening lantern parade was cancelled, but we did see some of the Yatai returning to their storehouses. A lovely Ramen meal finished off a great day in a nice location. However, I did find a website which stated that all 12 floats had managed to gather for the Festival for the first time in three years. I have linked to a short video showing some of the scenes we were unable to see. Video Here

Tuesday 15th April ~ Hiroshima

After another morning travelling with a variety of trains, local and bullet, we arrived in Hiroshima just a bit too early to check into our hotel, leaving our luggage behind, we were taken to the Peace Memorial Park to see the remains of the Dome building, which was left standing as a permanent memorial and to stroll around the area being told the history by a delightful local guide, before visiting the museum. Like many other similar memorial sites I have visited, I found this to be very moving, especially when hearing the stories told by our guide.

On our return from the museum, we were able to check into the Comfort Hotel, and another small but perfectly formed room, before going to visit Okonomimura for an Okonomiyaki dinner. Okonomiyaki is a savoury pancake with loads of cabbage, bacon, noodles and egg cooked on a teppanyaki grill. It was great fun watching the couple behind the grill cooking it all, they had it down to a fine art (if you look closely at the photographs, you may notice that she has her baby on her back while she was cooking), another great day in Japan.

Wednesday 16th April

A tram, a train and a ferry took us to Mayajimi Island this morning. Known for its forests and ancient temples, roaming deer, and just offshore, the giant, orange Great Torii Gate marks the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine, a beautiful place. I was lucky enough to visit relatively early, so it was quiet. A lot of the activity was around a wedding party, which was followed by a prayer session by a group of monks. It was a lovely way to pass a morning.

One of the main activities on the island is to climb Mount Misen at 535m above sea level, while the rest of our group decided to do the trek up to the summit, I elected to take the easy route up using a cable car system to 430m above sea level. While the day was really sunny and warm, the clouds restricted the views somewhat, but it was still a worthwhile trip.
Back down in the village, I wandered around the little souvenir shops, stopping for lunch, watching the world go by, including the many deer who populate the island. I eventually met up with our group, who told me that I had made the right choice in missing out on the climb. The ferry, train and tram combo quickly got us back to the hotel for a well-earned rest.

I went for a walk in the city centre in the evening and had my evening meal in a Wagyu Beef restaurant I chanced upon, a nice meal and a beer finished off another great day in Japan.

Thursday 17th April ~ Hemiji ~ Kyoto

After a stop in Himeji to visit the famous Shogun castle and have a lunch stop, Himeji Castle, also known as the White Heron Castle, is both a Japanese National Treasure and a World Heritage site. Its status as one of Japan’s 12 remaining original castles makes this beautiful fortress a must for anyone visiting the area. We entered through the Hishi Gate and then started to climb the keep to the top floor. The floors got progressively smaller as we ascended. On the top floor, there was a small shrine and viewpoints that allowed us to look over the Castle grounds and the city.

After leaving the castle behind, we continued to Kyoto, the tour’s final destination, on another shinkansen, this one was a bit different as it was decorated from top to bottom as the ‘Hello Kitty‘ special (click the link to see a YouTube video), Once in the city, we quickly caught a bus to our hotel, another Comfort Hotel. This time, my room was much larger than the previous ones. I have been lucky this trip. Due to there being 2 spaces left on the tour, I was allocated a single room for the whole tour. Thankfully, there was no need to share, as I had expected.

Gion, Kyoto’s famous geisha district, was our first stop in the city. It was an interesting area full of shops, restaurants, and teahouses. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see many geisha while we were there, and the famous theatre was fully booked. However, it was still a fascinating place to visit.

An interesting meal in one of the bustling city centre restaurants, I sampled a chicken Caesar salad with a rice omelette, which was very good, before returning to the hotel after finishing yet another great day.

Friday 18th April ~ Kyoto

Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, was our first visit of the day, a temple built overlooking a large pond, whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. The temple is set in a beautiful garden with evidence of wildlife throughout, a highly recommended visit in my mind.

The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove was next on our list, and there was no way to avoid the massive crowds here, as this is also listed as one of Kyoto’s top sights. When you stand among the towering stalks of bamboo, it is like being in another world. Before we could get there, though we had to pass through a ‘Kimono Gate’ in the railway station, this collection of kimonos in glass columns was very colourful and fun.

Like all other Intrepid tours I have done, this one was no exception. After leaving the forest behind, we were taken to a factory to learn how to make some Mochi sweets and Macha tea. The end result was worth the effort as they were very enjoyable indeed, and it was great fun to do.

After a brief stop on our return to our hotel, we headed out again to visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine, famed for its thousands of bright red Torii gates, which wind their way up a series of trails through the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari. Again, the temple was quite crowded so it was difficult to capture those iconic ‘Insta-type’ photographs of the gates disappearing into the background.

Since we wouldn’t get the chance to all be together for our final meal, we decided to splash out on a special Sukiyaki dinner in a wonderful restaurant called Kyoumachi, this was a really wonderful meal, served in an Edo styled room, with mats on the floor on low tables, by waitresses in traditional clothing. The food was delicious, served raw, and we cooked it in a hot pot as required. It really was a special meal I will remember for some time.

Saturday 19th April ~ Kyoto

This morning, I went with Michael and the boys to revisit the Gion district to visit the Yasaka Shrine. The shrine includes several buildings, including gates, a main hall and a stage. It was good to be there early to miss out on the crowds. We followed this with the Ryozen Kannon, a beautiful, peaceful Buddhist temple commemorating the dead of the Pacific War. The memorial with its stained windows was very touching. The whole temple is dominated by a giant statue of Buddha. Next on our list of places to visit whilst in the area was the Kodai-Ji Temple. This temple, set in lovely gardens with turtles and fish-filled lakes, was a pleasant way to spend some time. It even had its own bamboo Grove, which was much quieter than yesterday’s.

Before returning to rhe city centre and the shopping malls, we braved the crowds, and steep hills and staircases to catch glimpses of some of the other attractions of the area, whilst walking around in the rising sun, we quickly needed a rest, by chance while exploring a little side alleyway, we came across a little coffee shop. The patron, an elderly lady, made us most welcome, and some pretty amazing coffee. She took great delight in talking about Japanese Baseball and origami, and she was enthralled by Aron’s little rose he made for her. It was a stop well worth making.

Sunday 20th April ~ Kyoto

After breakfast and saying goodbye to the rest of the tour group, I made my way to my hotel for the night, which was conveniently near the main station..
As it was too early to check in, I left my luggage and went across the road to the massive Kyoto Station to determine where to catch the train to Osaka Airport tomorrow.

I then took a bus into the city centre and the famous Nishiki Market, where I had a nice lunch and did some souvenir shopping, before sitting on the riverbank watching the world go by.

In the afternoon, I drifted into a large department store and spent a few hours looking at the myriad objects that you didn’t need or even knew existed. It was a great way to spend some spare time. A meal and a couple of beers in a local bar finished the day off in style.

Monday 21st April ~ Kyoto – Osaka – Home

Going home day. As my flight from Osaka wasn’t until the evening, I decided to visit the Philosophers’ Path. At the bus stop outside the station, I met a lovely New Zealand couple, David and Janela, who were going the same way. After chatting whilst waiting for the bus, we decided to travel together. The path, following alongside a little canal, was a wonderful way to spend a morning; it was so peaceful with none of the huge crowds. We saw artists drawing, one old man making little bamboo leaf boats and having great delight giving them to passing people to float down the canal. It was a really lovely morning spent in good company.

After a quick lunch in the station area, I returned to my hotel to relax in the lounge, reading, before collecting my luggage and heading for Osaka. I had prebooked my journey on an express train, which took around 1½ hours, getting me to the airport with sufficient time to check in for my flight.

My first flight to Dubai left on schedule, and 10½ hours later, we touched down after a fairly uneventful journey. Since it was a nighttime flight, I tried to sleep for most of it to no avail.

My next flight became interesting when I went through the final gate security in Dubai. I discovered I had been upgraded to Business Class, what a different way to travel! The seat was amazing, it could turn into a bed at the touch of a button, and they even supplied a mattress. The food service was divine, I reckon it’s the only way to fly, but I doubt I could afford it too often.

It would be difficult to pick a highlight of this trip; Japan is an amazing country. It is an experience which surrounds you in every way. Each day I was there was filled with new discoveries, cultural differences, and utter delights. The people are very friendly, polite and in the most part very welcoming. The food is so much more than the perceived raw fish sushi that we westerners expect. I can honestly say that I ate some of my most memorable meals whilst there. The towns and cities are spotless, and the same can be said for the very efficient transport systems. I can’t describe it beyond that, but everyone who has been there knows exactly what I’m talking about. Japan is one of the few places I would welcome a return to; hopefully, I will be able to go back.