Here is our most recent trip to the Kansai Area... Enjoy
We took an overnight ferry to Kobe. We arrived around 7:00am. The ride over was nice. The ferry had a big buffet, showers, game room, and an onsen. We got a community room. Each person got a futon, blanket, and block pillow. Needless to say, we were not very comfortable and the ride was little shaky. We got a little bit of sleep but we managed.
We arrived in Kobe and got some breakfast. We then walked around the city. Around noon, we met up with a family friend, Bob Nichols who is a missionary in Japan. He showed us around the city. The next stop was Himeji Castle.
We got there near closing time and it was a bit rainy so there were very few tourists there. We walked around the grounds while Bob shared its history and secrets with us. Later we watched the James Bond movie that takes place in Japan (with a few scenes from Himeji Castle).
We stayed with Bob Friday night. The next morning, before heading to Osaka, Bob took us to this place where they made these huts in the style of homes that were built around 1000 years ago.
We got to Osaka and started to explore. It started to rain but we had an umbrella and were able to make the best of our experience. We saw someone with a box of KrispyKreme doughnuts. We walked down the street and found it! We went to get in line but we were told we need a ticket. Okay, no problem! We ended up having to go two blocks down and around the corner. Where there was a 45 min wait, to just get your ticket. We decided it wasn’t worth it… and moved on.
That night we stayed with a ‘couch surfing’ friend. Couch Surfing is a website where you can sign up and find people to stay with. You e-mail them and let them know you’ll be in the area and ask if they have room. Many times they have a floor or couch for you to crash on. It was very handy to use this because you stay for free!
The next day, Sunday, we explored Osaka a bit more and then met up with Bob again. We went to church with him. Unfortunately it was just the three of us. All the other members were sick or out of town. We still made the best of it and had a nice service!
After church he took us to the Osaka Castle and then out to Hard Rock Café. It's the first time in a year we’ve had an “American size portion” which the waitress made sure we understood! “Just so you know, this is American size portion!?” – ‘That’s ok, we understand it's a lot of food! But thanks J.’
Monday morning we headed to Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710-784. The city is not TOO big and is known, apart from being the old capital, for its free roaming deer. We walked around a national park seeing many deer, temples and shrines. It was a very nice park but a LOT of walking. We took a tap on some benches under a gazebo and then finished up. We met up with our Couch Surfer, Dessy, later that night. Dessy owns a dance studio, where we stayed. She also teaches English. She was very nice.
Tuesday we visited Heijo, the old capitol castle (mostly ruins and recreations). It was very large and took a few hours to walk around. The Imperial palace just finished it’s restoration. It was quite breathtaking! Tuesday night we went to sushi with Dessy.
The next morning we woke up and headed to Kyoto. Kyoto was the capital of Japan from 794 until 1868. Kyoto was rather difficult to get around in. It’s way to large to walk to most places. Shrines and Temples are EVERYWHERE. In the evening we saw a historical performance at Gion Corner. It was a 1 hour performance of Kyogen (classical comedy), Kyomai (Geisha dance), Gagaku (Imperial Court music), koto (Japanese harp) , flower arrangement, and Tea ceremony.
We stayed with a guy name Youri . Nice guy, musican, and in school. Thursday morning we took a walk along the “Philosopher’s Path”… kinda lame – basically a little path by a river, which wasn’t even a nice river. Lol. The main reason it’s famous is for the cherry blossoms, but that season was over.
We did a lot of sightseeing. We saw the Koto-in Zen Temple, which was by far, one of our favorite places. Beautiful trees, bamboos, and grass give many different green colors to the place.
We also went to the Rojuon-ji Temple. The main attraction here is the Golden Pavilion. The 2nd and 3rd floors are covered with gold-leaf on Japanese lacquer. We then went to the Ryoan-ji Temple, where the famous Rock Garden, Karesansui, is. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Rocks. But small white pebbles raked into rows and then strategically placed large rocks are in different areas. We then walked around the main city area, then had dinner. We stayed in a love hotel that evening, which was an interesting experience.
Love hotels are quite popular in Japan. In a society where many family members live in the same small house, private time with your spouse is a rare thing. Love hotels are basically hotels designed for couples. You can get a room for different amounts of time; 90min, 120min, or STAY – all night. They are cheaper often cheaper than a regular hotel. We walked around for a few hours trying to find one that wasn’t full or too expensive. The one we settled on was a yacht theme. The shower room was HUGE, with a large Jacuzzi. In the main room was a large comfy bed, massage chair, big screen TV.
The next morning we got up early and went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. We then went to the Fushimi Imari shrine. This was incredible! SO MANY tori gates making winding paths up and down a mountain. 1000’s of them!
We headed back to Kobe and went back to the ferry. Saturday morning around 7:20 we arrived back in Oita. Erika and I stopped at Star Bucks and then I headed to the preschool and she headed home.
