Japan 1 week in, 1 to go....

This post is for "Mama van Wyk"....

I am drafting this post as we sit comfortably in airline seats with ample legroom (more than any plane I have flown on) zooming along on the Shinkansen Hikari 408 from Kyoto to Tokyo. This bullet train like all the trains in Japan pulls up to the platform exactly on time, the door opens next to the marked spot on the platform, you step on and off you go. So far my impression of Japan is it is a first world nation that should serve as the model for other 1st world western nations. It has everything we have, but it is just done better, cleaner and faster. Everything is incredibly easy to understand, navigating the incredible public transportation network is a breeze (high speed trains, local trains, subway, tram and bus), this place is spotless, I mean not a cigarette butt in sight (and they smoke a lot here). We have actually seen people walking a distance just to drop the ash into an ash tray. How do they do it, well they clean, and never stop cleaning, also the culture just seems to support not littering, it is fantastic. Both the hostel we stayed in in Osaka and the guest house in Kyoto were clean as a whistle (the 2 best places we have stayed so far, except for the 5 star Marriott in Hong Kong). Another thing is the people are incredibly friendly and always ready to help. If you are lost, and get out your map, next thing someone will stop and ask if they can help you. And if they don't know they run off and find someone who does know. We have had this happen a number of times and even people who speak virtually no English help you out.

Now how did we spend the first half of our visit to Japan? Well after a brief stay in Osaka (we did come back 2 evenings as it is just 25 mins on the train from Kyoto) we headed to our 1st base, Kyoto. This city has more history in it than you could possibly take in over a month or more, but we did our best and with the help of the guest house visited some truly lovely spots around the city. Also 2 of the nights at the guest house we watched DVDs, 1 was the Last Samurai and the other, Memoirs of a Geisha, both these movies where filmed in and around Kyoto and we saw many of the locations used. I will let the pictures of the gardens speak for themselves, but as you can see, fall is a beautiful time to visit Japan. All the temples had beautiful gardens, but our 3 favorites were; To Ji, Ginkaku-Ji (Silver Pavilion), and Eikan-do (which we visited at night since it was illuminated). Other favorites were; the Fushimi-Inari Taisha (Inari Strine) which is known for its 4km passage of hundreds of red Torii up the mountain, Kinkaku-Ji (golden pavilion) and Nazen-Ji for the Hojo with Leaping Tiger Zen Garden. Other cool spots worth a visit are; Higashi Hongan-Ji, Kyoto Station itself an awesome building and mall, Kiyomizu-Dera, Heian-Jingu (see the pic of the huge Torri that straddles the street) and Tofuku-Ji for its Zen Garden and Bridge to Heaven. We would skip the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park (Forest Park in St. Louis kicks its butt).

A really cool thing to do in the evening is visit the Gion area of Kyoto. If you get there between 6-8pm you will likely see one of the Geisha's walking to or coming from an appointment. We were lucky enough to have 3 walk by us while strolling around, unfortunately I only got 1 photo off and it was from behind because they walk very quickly and pop in and out of various tea houses along the streets. If you don't see any no worries, the area itself, with traditional tea houses and other houses/ restaurants makes for a really cool evening stroll.

Given Kyoto's location it is also very easy to visit both Nara and Himeji by train and we did. Nara was amazing, its like Kyoto but much smaller so you can walk most of the city in a day. We just visited the Tourist Information Center in the station and the women mapped out our day for us, which took us past some incredible temples, shrines and trough a forest of stone lanterns (I have decided, I love stone lanterns and want one in my garden some day). Another cool thing is the deer that are all throughout the park and temple areas and are very friendly (looking for snacks :-)). We visited; Todai-Ji, home to the worlds largest wooden building and two fierce looking Nio Guardians, the finest wooden statues in Japan, if not the world; Kofuku-Ji, famous for its 2 pagodas; Nigatsu-do and Sangatsu-do; Kasuga Tausha and the forest of lanterns and beautiful ponds. We also made the trip to Himeji for an afternoon to see Himeji-jo, which is the most magnificent Japanese Castle, still in its original (non-concrete) form. It is a beautiful structure and quite an interesting walk around if you have the time. Also it sits on top of the hill in the middle of the city, so once on the top floor of the main tower you can see all of the city below.

Ok, my fingers are getting tired, so I will wrap this up. We are on our way to Takargawa Onsen, 2 hours outside of Tokyo for some relaxation in what is considered the most beautiful Baths in Japan.