Deborah is much more eloquent than me at describing our daily activities and discoveries, but I thought I would offer a list of things that caught my attention over the weeks. 1 Subway stairs The stairs to and from subway stations in Tokyo are often divided by a yellow line or a hand … [Read more…]
I have been promising an entry on loos in Japan, so here it is. The traditional Japanese toilet is not like the usual ‘two footprint’ squat toilets found elsewhere in Asia, and, because of the Japanese paranoia about cleanliness, every toilet I visited was spotless, which is also unusual! In a traditional Japanese loo, the … [Read more…]
Our stay at Toya Onsen was quite different from anything that went before. It is a large resort on the shore of Lake Toya, and we were staying in Hotel Kohantei, which is a huge hotel, dating from the 1970s, we think. The hotel is right on the shore of the lake, and our rooms … [Read more…]
On Saturday morning our friends, Jane and David, joined us in our hotel and we planned our journey for the day. Both couples are driving hire cars. We have a Toyota Prius, which is a hybrid petrol/electric car, and David is driving a Nissan Cube, which looks like a Postman Pat van.
On Thursday morning, after another disastrous, barely eaten, breakfast we spent our last few hours in Takayama, visiting some lovely shrines and temples very close to our hotel.
On Monday morning we left Miyajima Island and made a journey of over 400 miles to Takayama. Our route took us by ferry, local train, Shinkansen, express train and taxi. As we’ve come to expect, everything ran like clockwork and the trains were clean and comfortable.
On Sunday afternoon we took the train from Hiroshima to Miyajima-Guchi and then the Japan Rail ferry across the 500 metre wide Onoseto Strait to Miyajima Island. Miyajima is one of many islands in Hiroshima Bay, 5.6 miles long by 3.7 miles wide. It is very mountainous, with tree clad mountains rising to 530 metres. … [Read more…]
Today we left Kyoto early and took another Shinkansen to Hiroshima. We were too early for breakfast in the hotel, so we had (hurrah) croissants and yogurt in a very stylish coffee shop on Kyoto station, which we were surprised and delighted to find open at 7.30 am on a Sunday morning. Paul was impressed … [Read more…]
We started Friday by taking a train to Inari, a couple of stops outside central Kyoto, in order to visit the Fushimi Inari shrine. Inari is the Shinto god of rice. You are bound to recognise this iconic place, as it is the site which has over 10,000 red torii arches, spread over pathways up … [Read more…]
On Wednesday morning we left the ryokan in Hakone and journeyed to Kyoto. This involved taking the Shinkansen again, this time from Odawara. Many of the trains run fast through Odawara, so I tried to take a photo of one on its way through, but it was too blurred! I had to make do with … [Read more…]