Nishijinso Ryokan Kyoto

... ettei! Käydään vetämässä pienet Karaokesessiot Tokiossa ja tullaan sitten viimeisellä luotijunalla tuhannen örvelöissä takaisin Osakaan. :-) Toimii!

Suunnattiin siis ensimmäiseksi aamulla Shin-Osakan aseman lipputiskille varaamaan sunnuntaiksi meno-paluulippuja Tokioon. Hiukan nosti kylmää hikeä, että miten tästä varaushommasta Japaniksi oikein selviän, mutta ihan mainiosti meni. No problemos. Tai silleen oli kyllä problemos, että olin ihan sulaa vahaa taas n ...

... on varmasti ihan hyödyllisiä aineita jossain muualla, mutta ei minun teessä! :-) Heh, pieni teevitsi tässä sallittakoon?

Matka Kagoshimasta Shin-Osakan asemalle kesti, kolmen vaihdon kera noin 6 tuntia, mutta matka meni varsin viihtyisästi. Koska olin varannut saman hotellin kuin viime kerralla, niin mukavan helppo oli kävellä Shin-Osakan asemalta tuttuja reittejä suoraan hotellin ovesta sisään. Hiukan olin huolestunut, että jos on sama mies ...

... You weren't able to see much from the outside except for the palace wall.

On the way to the palace I learned all about the X-Man ...... yes, the comic book. Jordan is a big fan. In return, I told him all about the original Planet of the Apes movies (all five of them).

Oh, forgot to say that we stopped at Mcdonalds for breakfast and Starbucks for coffee.

We also stopped at the International Manga Museum. Unfortunately ...

... for the day. Bridget, Eben and I ended up buying tickets to the sumo wrestling tournament down in Fukuoka the next day, a split second decision I will be forever grateful to have made. As a group, the result of all our pow-wowing was to yet again utilize our JR rail passes, and take the bullet train to Himeji to see the famous Himeji Castle. Of course, the train we got on to Himeji was the only train that our rail passes did not work on, as we soon found out when the ...

... They invited us to visit their city.

Back on the bus, we soon arrived back to our hostel for showers and a rest. As we type this we are doing our washing and feasting on our take away dinner – and not take away in the sense that we know it back in Australia. No greasy burgers and chips here – more like sushi, fried rice, tempura prawns, salad and pot stickers (a thin pancake folded over with a tasty filling). Not sure if ...

... der det viser seg at alle vegger egentlig er skyvedører. Soving foregår på en madrass på golvet sammen med så mange andre de klarer å få plass til. Veggene er dekorert med beskjeder og advarsler for ALT, fra "Close the door(på alle dørene)" til "Don't play with fire". Rimelig idiotsikkert. Billig var det ihvertfall. Møtte 2 australiere, en belger og en franskmann her første kvelden. Det ble tid til en liten gåtur rundt omkring i n ...

... out to the new adults.

The weather was busy and the streets were bustling with activity. I walked down to the main shopping district and saw the Yakasa Shrine. While walking I found myself behind a line of Buddhist monks. I guess In my mind a buddhist monk was someone who lived in a temple high on a mountian. (But that's as accurate as assuming a devout christian goes crusading around in armor.) The procession stopped at a number of businesses and sang little chants. Then ...

Today we have decided to be typical tourists and visit a castle, Himeji castle [the largest in Japan] about an hours shinkansen ride from Kyoto to the town of Himeji . We all thought it would be a way out of the town however we got out of the train and walked two blocks and there it was, enormous it took us a couple of hours to go through and of course not wearing shoes with steps that were very steep ...

... was the Silver Pavilion, Ginkakuji Temple followed by a cycle along the small river also know as the path of philosophy - passing the odd temple along the way. We then visited a temple recommended by our didgeridoo playing friend. In our efforts to find Shinnyodo temple we stumbled on Konkai Komyoji temple. It was lovely and quiet, not a tourist in site. We did the ritual of taking shoes off and praying (bowing) and then ...

... So what do you do in this situation? You can take one mouthful and then tell the people there food makes you sick! and life is supposed to be a journey so...yep I tucked in and ate at least three quarters of it before I could take no more. I could happily live from now until the day I die not knowing what I put into my mouth that night! With the meal over I walked back home bought a large beer from the vending machine and drunk the bad thoughts away.