Japan day 12 - Himeji to Hiroshima
Monday
Weather slightly better today with hints of sunshine. Got the slow cheap train in the morning to Himeji. I was starting to think that bullet trains, being quite expensive and so quick, felt like really bad value for money. But standing up for 1hr45mins on the cheap train made me long for the comfy seat and extensive legroom of the shinkansen.
Himeji is only really of interest as it houses Japan's largest castle. I was forewarned from the guidebook that it was undergoing extensive 5-year renovations (finishing 2014) but it seemed a good place to break up the train journey anyway. They've basically built a box around the entire castle, the size of a large aircraft hanger, which slightly spoils the skyline as the castle is sat on top of a hill. Nevertheless the grounds and exhibitions were still a worthwhile visit.
Got the shinkansen from there to Hiroshima, arriving at my hostel at 6pm. Went out looking for a local recommended tofu restaurant, but when I found it, it looked extremely posh, and empty, and so a pointless expense on my own. Climbed some steps and took long-exposure shots of the night skyline.
At 10pm met up with Brett and Heather (from the Tokyo hostel) who'd also just arrived in Hiroshima and tried out a couple of bars. The second being covered wall to wall in baseball memorabilia, the Japanese being quite keen on that sport.
Every Japanese railway station is starting to look exactly the same. The bigger cities have more skyscrapers but otherwise they seem completely homogenous. Tokyo, Sendai, Kyoto, Hiroshima, you could never tell them apart from walking the streets. Doesn't seem much problem with traffic though given the population densities, but that probably because the rail networks are so extensive, regular and efficient.
Hiroshima is a more manageable size than the others though, which is a relief to the blister on my foot.
Weather slightly better today with hints of sunshine. Got the slow cheap train in the morning to Himeji. I was starting to think that bullet trains, being quite expensive and so quick, felt like really bad value for money. But standing up for 1hr45mins on the cheap train made me long for the comfy seat and extensive legroom of the shinkansen.
Himeji is only really of interest as it houses Japan's largest castle. I was forewarned from the guidebook that it was undergoing extensive 5-year renovations (finishing 2014) but it seemed a good place to break up the train journey anyway. They've basically built a box around the entire castle, the size of a large aircraft hanger, which slightly spoils the skyline as the castle is sat on top of a hill. Nevertheless the grounds and exhibitions were still a worthwhile visit.
Got the shinkansen from there to Hiroshima, arriving at my hostel at 6pm. Went out looking for a local recommended tofu restaurant, but when I found it, it looked extremely posh, and empty, and so a pointless expense on my own. Climbed some steps and took long-exposure shots of the night skyline.
At 10pm met up with Brett and Heather (from the Tokyo hostel) who'd also just arrived in Hiroshima and tried out a couple of bars. The second being covered wall to wall in baseball memorabilia, the Japanese being quite keen on that sport.
Every Japanese railway station is starting to look exactly the same. The bigger cities have more skyscrapers but otherwise they seem completely homogenous. Tokyo, Sendai, Kyoto, Hiroshima, you could never tell them apart from walking the streets. Doesn't seem much problem with traffic though given the population densities, but that probably because the rail networks are so extensive, regular and efficient.
Hiroshima is a more manageable size than the others though, which is a relief to the blister on my foot.