Apr 13, 2018 - Hakone

Hakone is not the town/city I was expecting it to be. It seems to be a region made up of villages/towns nestled between the mountains. And it takes at least 50 minutes by bus to get anywhere. And it's very expensive -it's costing me 3000yen per day, compared to Tokyo at approx. 500yen per day However, I braved the bus system and went to Hakone-machi. I did a very non-Japanese thing and hiked around the southern shore of Lake Ashi. I could see Mt Fuji at first, before she decided to be coy and disappear, even though it was sunny &...

Apr 12, 2018 - Kyoto to Hakone

Went back to Nishiki Market to buy myself a Japanese kitchen knife (16000 yen) and a grater. They engraved my name in Japanese on both. Hope I don't have any problems getting them into Australia. It was nice to be able to walk around at my own pace after the tour. Apart from the market, it was a travel day. Caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Odawara. The highlight was seeing Mt Fuji from the train. Then a bus for 50 minutes to get to my ryokan (Japanese inn). It was all surprisingly easy. I have had a private onsen and a fabulous dinner

Apr 11, 2018 - Kyoto

The majority of the group got up early to leave at 7.30 to visit Fushimi Inari before the crowds arrived. They were only getting a brief visit, which is why we went yesterday evening. We met them out there at 9.00 to catch another 2 trains and then a bus out to the countryside of Kyoto to learn about tea (my favourite, not). We learnt about Japanese tea, tasted tea and learnt to make matcha. Unsurprisingly, I didn't buy anything from the shop. Made the return 2 hour journey back to Kyoto. Because of the travel time, this excursion took...

Apr 10, 2018 - Kyoto

Busy day in Kyoto, trying to fit in as much as possible before probable rain tomorrow. Started with a flying visit to Nijo Castle. Not as picturesque as Osaka Castle but far more interesting inside. There is a nightingale floor which makes the sound of nightingale birdsong when you tread on it, instead of creaking floorboards. Back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group to walk to our cooking class where we cooked a range of Obanzai (Kyoto home cooking) dishes and then ate them for lunch. After lunch it was free time for the rest of the...

Apr 9, 2018 - Koyasan to Kyoto

Basically another travel day. Reverse order of Osaka to Koyasan, but with another 2 changes of train to get to Kyoto, plus a change to a subway line to get to our hotel. Lunch at Kyoto Train Station, which sounds terrible but had amazing choices. Walked through the covered Nishiki Market - mainly food items such as pickled vegetables, an entire shop devoted to sesame and various food vendors plus other random shops. Walked down to the river and the edge of the Gion District. Went for a drink which turned into dinner. Upon leaving we walked...

Apr 8, 2018 - Osaka to Koyasan

Today we travelled up into the mountains to Koyasan. It took 2 trains, a cable car (it was really a funicular railway) and a bus to get there. Koyasan is basically a small town made up of monasteries practising Shingon Buddhism. We stayed at one of these monasteries.It was a high tech monastery with free wifi, a computer room, a coffee machine and high tech toilets (in keeping with the rest of Japan). Unfortunately it got down to -1 at night and we were only sleeping behind paper screen doors We went for a walk to the major monastery, then...

Apr 7, 2018 - Kanazawa to Osaka

Still raining in Kanazawa. Caught the "Thunderbird" train to Osaka. Walked around the Dotonbori District and through the covered food markets. Walked down the cooking utensil street but no time for shopping. Went out to Osaka Castle and went through the extensive museum - not that exciting, mainly dealing with civil war in Japan. Back to Dotonbori, where a few of us put money into a kitty and went sampling the street food of Osaka, including okonomyaki and sushi from a conveyer belt (invented in Osaka)

Apr 6, 2018 - Kanazawa

Got up early and went for a walk back before breakfast. While I left at 6.30am, it was too late for the early morning light, but the gardens didn't open until 7am. Once they opened, it was nice to have them almost to myself - there were perhaps only 20 of us, in contrast to the crowds of yesterday. Was able to focus more on the Japanese styling of the garden, rather than just the cherry blossom. Already the petals are starting to fall After breakfast, another walk around the Edo period Teahouse (or Geisha) District, which was charming Early...

Apr 5, 2018 - Takayama to Kanazawa

Went for another walk around Takayama including one of the morning markets before travelling approximately two hours via train from Takayama to Kanazawa via Toyama. Kanazawa is referred to as the hidden pearl of the Japan Sea, having avoided any bombing in WWII Cherry Blossom Report: Magical!!! The trees were in full bloom yesterday. Apparently there was a little rain last night which caused some petals to drop, but today is like a fairytale To make the most of the cherry blossom, I spent the afternoon wandering around Kenrokuen Garden (one...

Apr 4, 2018 - Takayama

A morning walk along the river first thing after breakfast followed by a visit to the Hida Folk Village, which is an outdoor museum showcasing traditional housing from the region. They are all original buildings which have been relocated to the site Fried noodles back in town for lunch then a sake tasting at one of the local breweries. Takayama is famed for it's sake due to the purity of the water in the Japanese Alps. Wandered around town in the afternoon before walking back to the ryokan for a soak in the onsen before another dinner in...

Apr 3, 2018 - Tokyo to Takayama

This morning I didn't get up at 2am to try and witness the tuna auction at the famous Tsujiki Fish Market. You need to be there by 2.30am, with no trains running, to stand in a queue for 3 hours to maybe get a chance to witness the auction for 15v minutes. Instead we got there early in the morning for a super fresh sushi breakfast, straight from the morning's catch. It was really good, but it is only the tourists who eat sushi for breakfast. Time for a quick look around the fish market, but only the small part open to the public The rest of...

Apr 2, 2018 - Tokyo

In the morning we visited the Meiji temple, which I didn't find particularly interesting, but is one of the major historic temples in Tokyo - there just wasn't a lot of information about what we were seeing. Then we went a short distance to Harajuku, which was manic. Packed with people. It felt like being at the Royal Show as it was filled with gimmicky things. I didn't really enjoy it, but was glad to have seen it. In the afternoon we went to a soba noodle making class. We watched a demonstration on how to make soba noodles by hand, and...