We had a long list of things we had half planned on doing in Kyoto, and most of them didn’t happen. We didn’t get to the Imperial Palace, or see Ryoanji’s famous dry garden. I even had to miss out on the Manga museum, and the cinema dedicated to the works of Tezuka Osamu (creator of Astro Boy). But one thing I refused to miss was the walk to the Fushimi Inari shrine, even if it meant waking up at 5:30am.
Beside all the temples and gardens in Kyoto, it also has a rather famous castle – Nijo-jo. Himeji, an hour west of Kyoto is best known for its castle Himeji-jo. Today (perhaps rather ambitiously) we visited both of them, so it’s only natural that I try and determine whose castle reigns supreme.
Yesterday we back tracked along the Shinkansen line to Osaka, then headed onwards to Kyoto. We’re staying in a ryokan here, which is meant to be a traditional Japanese style of accommodation. However judging from the private bathrooms, air conditioning and LAN port, I don’t think this place can be considered too traditional.
I think it’d be fair to say that Iron Chef had quite a bit of influence on our decision to travel to Japan. After seeing some of the amazing (and strange) creations on the show, the idea of eating some of this food ourselves was rather appealing.
Spent today getting sunburnt and sore legs. We covered a lot of ground – first stop was Osaka Jo, a castle that has been built, destroyed and rebuilt many times. We ran out of time to take a look inside, but spent a few hours wandering through the gardens that surround it, quite a nice change of pace compared to Shinsaibashi.
I’m currently sitting in a very small (but not unpleasant) hotel room in Osaka. It’s the farthest I’ve ever been away from home, the first time I’ve been in a non-English speaking country and the first time I’ve seen the sink drain the opposite way (I had to check).
Continue reading Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore