Himeji Orient Hotel

Here we are in Kobe. We will be here until tomorrow night at midnight.　We　will　 be　here　until　tomo rrow　night　at　midn ight.　　Unfortunately,&#12 288;we　cannot　upload&#122 88;pix ...

... we caught the train back to Sannomiya and bid farewell to our comrades Saffiya and Nichelle.<br><br>Since we only had one more night in Kobe, Jess and I decided to retrace familiar territory. So we headed back down to the harbour and had a fantastic night.<br><br>It started out with the Maritime museum, which to be honest, wasn't the most amazing place I've ever been. It was interesting, but not great. I was mostly drawn in by the amazing building it's in!<br><br ...

... since our friend's from Matsuyama were going to be arriving shortly.<br><br>After they arrived and we took some photos overlooking Kobe, we all set off for Kobe's Chinatown. It was quite interesting, but honestly the Chinatown in Vancouver is a lot bigger and I think more Chinese. There was still a lot of Japanese restaurants and signage in Kobe's Chinatown.<br><br>After that, came the most interesting part of Kobe, the harbour ...

... br><br>Takahiro is a great person and reminded me of a lot of people who live in historic places but never visit them. He lived in Osaka all his life but had never been to Himeiji or to Gion Fest and he decided to go to both with us. My legs were still aching from Mt. Misen but I managed the 15 minute walk from the station without stopping because I got more and more excited as we got closer.<br><br>Probably the first ...

... Lots of climbing and being Japan you have to take your shoes off and wear very fashionable slippers! Took about three hours to get around it and the gardens attached. We had our suitcases with us so a scramble for the lockers at the train station trying to beat Americans with huge amounts of luggage! Got back on the train about five and arrived in Hiroshima at six. Will update soon from there Lisa and Paul

... and works a couple nights a week in Kyoto. This morning we took the train South to the city of Himeji, where the main attraction is the impressive Himeji castle. It is said to be the most magnificent of the handful of Japanese castles that survive in their original form. It doesn't look like your typical castle you know from fairy tales, etc. Apparently, since artillery never played the role in warfare in ...

... to be *the* place to do so. The fact that the restaurant looks quite dodgy would only add to the mistique. Minutes after we walked into the hotel lobby, the heavens opened in a torrential downpour. It didn't even look like it was going to rain, let alone bucket down like it did. I then appreciated not doing the additional elements of Himeji castle, because it is very possible that we may have been ...

... size of one of the cupboards from our last hotel room, but at the moment we are to tired to care. Himeji Castle in the morning, which is apparently a pretty special sight. Should be interesting anyway. I'm just hoping it is better than Nijo castle in Kyoto, which was also supposed to be fabulous. As I type these final sentences the rain is starting to beat down on the window. Hopefully it rains itself out overnight, so tomorrow is clear.

... doen dat zo`n 3 keer en strooien dan ook nog met wat zout. Jaja, alles om die duivel weg te krijgen. Hardnekkig persoon blijkbaar. Dan tegenover elkaar zitten, in de startblokken en lekker die lijven tegen elkaar aan kletsen! Zonder te kijken met je armen zwaaien om te proberen de zijden band van je tegenstander vast te pakken en ja, dan kletst er ook wel eens een hand perongelukexpres tegen het gezicht ...

... turned, we stayed on drinking for a while and then headed off to a nearby temple where the Japanese go to pray and receive their fortunes for the forthcoming year. You pay some money, 200 Yen i think, shake a box full of fortune sticks, when one slides, the attendant goes to collect the corresponding fortune. I was lucky, I got a good one, which you keep, some were not and the tradition is then to tie the bad ones to a nearby tree. You also have to pray, you throw ...