So much to say....
I have just returned from a long weekend of traveling with mom. As I write this, she is currently in Hiroshima by herself probably getting very tired from walking around all day.
On Saturday we left very early to get to Nara before the crowd. We left at about 5:30am to get to the station for a 6:10 train. we got to the station and at about 5:55am mom realized she had left something she needed back at the apartment. We rushed down to get a taxi and had him drive us back to my apartment, I don't mean to go all fresh prince on you, but something was really different about this cabbie. I asked him to wait while we ran up and then when we got back in I told him that we were trying to make the 6:10am train. He said "It's probably impossible, but let's try!" He started speeding off and said "If we get stuck behind more than 2 traffic lights we won't make it." And then he proceeded to turn down a small side street just to avoid a traffic light that had turned red. The whole time he was kind of giggling to himself in a crazy way, he seemed to really enjoy the challenge. After avoiding two or three lights and running one red, he got us there with a minute to spare. There's relatively no tipping in Japan, but I gave him a tip anyway just cause he was so awesome.
Nara was good, the weather was great and mom and I walked to some other temples that Meredith and I didn't get to see when I was there. Once we saw everything we wanted to see we decided to leave so we would have more time in our next destination, Koyasan.
Koyasan is a small Buddhist village built on top of a mountain. It has a lot of history and was completely different than any other place I have been to in Japan. It was also a pain to get to. We had to take a near 3 hour train ride from Nara, and then a cable car up a mountain, and then a bus to get to the city. It was worth it though. Mom had read about this place in a travel guide which suggested we stay at a temple for the night. I wasn't sure how this would go, but with the help of a japanese friend I got the reservations anyway.
It ended up being amazing. The place where we slept was pretty much a modern style addition to the temple with TV's and seperate bathrooms, but the rest was as old as time. I'm not sure the exact age of the temple, but they were celebrating their 1,200 year anniversary for a certain shrine that they had that was built by the third shogun of Japan. Our stay included a traditional vegetarian dinner that has been made for centuries and has been passed down secretly from chef to chef, it was very good and had possibly the best tofu I have ever tasted.
Sunday morning we got to see a morning prayer service in the temple. Afterwards, the president of the temple led us around and showed us various shrines and things that were 400 years old and older. Even though it was a rainy day, we set out to see the last big temple in the area. The name of the temple is Okunoin and it is surrounded by a half a million graves. We went early in the morning and I didn't think there would be many people there, but while we were walking around the back of the temple we ran into this group of 20 or so Buddhist followers chanting and shaking bells. It was pretty eerie.
I'm not really into Buddhism or any religion for that matter, but I still really enjoyed the stay. It's a hard place to get to but I recommend it to anyone.
After the creepy stroll through the woods we headed out of Koyasan to Himeji to see our last sight together, the Himeji Castle. We took another 4 hour-ish trip and the rain let up just long enough for us to stroll around the castle grounds and get some pictures. That night I took mom out for some yakitori (skewered chicken) and beer. A great end to a great trip.
I did however have to get up at around 5:30am this morning to catch a train back to Hikone so I could get to work. Mom and will see Hikone castle tomorrow and probably run around trying to get more souvenirs for her to take home.
Once mom leaves I will start cleaning again and preparing for Dad and Geoff who arrive on the 15th of May.
Here are the pictures!
On Saturday we left very early to get to Nara before the crowd. We left at about 5:30am to get to the station for a 6:10 train. we got to the station and at about 5:55am mom realized she had left something she needed back at the apartment. We rushed down to get a taxi and had him drive us back to my apartment, I don't mean to go all fresh prince on you, but something was really different about this cabbie. I asked him to wait while we ran up and then when we got back in I told him that we were trying to make the 6:10am train. He said "It's probably impossible, but let's try!" He started speeding off and said "If we get stuck behind more than 2 traffic lights we won't make it." And then he proceeded to turn down a small side street just to avoid a traffic light that had turned red. The whole time he was kind of giggling to himself in a crazy way, he seemed to really enjoy the challenge. After avoiding two or three lights and running one red, he got us there with a minute to spare. There's relatively no tipping in Japan, but I gave him a tip anyway just cause he was so awesome.
Nara was good, the weather was great and mom and I walked to some other temples that Meredith and I didn't get to see when I was there. Once we saw everything we wanted to see we decided to leave so we would have more time in our next destination, Koyasan.
Koyasan is a small Buddhist village built on top of a mountain. It has a lot of history and was completely different than any other place I have been to in Japan. It was also a pain to get to. We had to take a near 3 hour train ride from Nara, and then a cable car up a mountain, and then a bus to get to the city. It was worth it though. Mom had read about this place in a travel guide which suggested we stay at a temple for the night. I wasn't sure how this would go, but with the help of a japanese friend I got the reservations anyway.
It ended up being amazing. The place where we slept was pretty much a modern style addition to the temple with TV's and seperate bathrooms, but the rest was as old as time. I'm not sure the exact age of the temple, but they were celebrating their 1,200 year anniversary for a certain shrine that they had that was built by the third shogun of Japan. Our stay included a traditional vegetarian dinner that has been made for centuries and has been passed down secretly from chef to chef, it was very good and had possibly the best tofu I have ever tasted.
Sunday morning we got to see a morning prayer service in the temple. Afterwards, the president of the temple led us around and showed us various shrines and things that were 400 years old and older. Even though it was a rainy day, we set out to see the last big temple in the area. The name of the temple is Okunoin and it is surrounded by a half a million graves. We went early in the morning and I didn't think there would be many people there, but while we were walking around the back of the temple we ran into this group of 20 or so Buddhist followers chanting and shaking bells. It was pretty eerie.
I'm not really into Buddhism or any religion for that matter, but I still really enjoyed the stay. It's a hard place to get to but I recommend it to anyone.
After the creepy stroll through the woods we headed out of Koyasan to Himeji to see our last sight together, the Himeji Castle. We took another 4 hour-ish trip and the rain let up just long enough for us to stroll around the castle grounds and get some pictures. That night I took mom out for some yakitori (skewered chicken) and beer. A great end to a great trip.
I did however have to get up at around 5:30am this morning to catch a train back to Hikone so I could get to work. Mom and will see Hikone castle tomorrow and probably run around trying to get more souvenirs for her to take home.
Once mom leaves I will start cleaning again and preparing for Dad and Geoff who arrive on the 15th of May.
Here are the pictures!