12 intense days in Japan: last day in Osaka
Osaka by night ! It is the end of our visit in Koya-San. What goes around, comes around; as we came up, we must go down, first the bus to the Koya-San station, then the cable car down the mountain, then a train to the Namba station for the last…
12 intense days in Japan: Koya-San
Magnifiques poissons devant l’entrée de notre temple … To get to Mount Koya from Kyoto, we take the Shinkansen to Osaka. From there, we will take another train, then a cable car up the mountain, and finally a bus….We look forward to…
12 intense days in Japan: Nara
être cerf à Nara … The JR train ride from Kyoto to Nara takes less than one hour, and so it is convenient from Kyoto to go to Nara for a full day of sightseeing and be back in Kyoto for the evening. In the Kyoto subway heading for the JR…
12 intense days in Japan: 3rd day in Kyoto
Lanterne à Gion For our 3rd and last day in Kyoto, we have planned to visit 3 must-see places: the Kinkaku-ji temple, the Nishiki market, and the Gion district. We start our day of visits with the world-renowned ‘Golden pavilion’. The Kinkaku-ji…
12 intense days in Japan: 2nd day in Kyoto
Tellement de temples à voir à Kyoto ! We wake up for our 2nd day in Kyoto. Again we choose a western-style breakfast, taking advantage of a buffet offering both Japanese and Western food. We have travelled quite a bit throughout exotic places, but…
12 intense days in Japan: 1st day in Kyoto
Fushimi Inari This morning we will skip on the traditional Japanese breakfast at the minshuku. We have a hard time with the miso soup and rice bowl in the early morning….The omelets are good, yes, but flavored with seaweeds….So last night we made…
12 intense days in Japan: Tsumago
Maions de daimyô à tsumago After a fully-Japanese breakfast (sorry, girls, no orange juice, no croissant) at the minshuku, on the agenda for today is a hike from Magome to Tsumago. It is an 8-km hike and, at a leisurely pace under the 35°…
12 intense days in Japan: Magome
Magome Excellent night’s sleep on the futons of the ryokan. We eat a copious breakfast of miso soup, rice, and green tea. Our daughters still prefer a western-style breakfast and opt for some croissants. Check-out, and we are on our way to the…
12 intense days in Japan: Bessho-Onsen
Bessho Onsen It is our last breakfast on the 20th floor of our hotel, overlooking Tokyo’s skyline. Dragging our heavy suitcases, we depart for the Yoyogi station on the Yamanote line, and head for the gigantic Tokyo station. We are to board the…
12 intense days in Japan: 3rd day in Tokyo
Ginza For our third day in Tokyo, we decide to go visit the Imperial Palace district, of course via our dear Yamanote line. We get off at the Tokyo station. Only the gardens are open to the public; there are plenty of very beautiful trees, bamboo…
12 intense days in Japan: 2nd day in Tokyo
Le temple Senso-Ji Waking up in Tokyo and realizing you are going to spend the day sightseeing … it’s a wonderful feeling … But wait, there is so much to see! Where do we start? We know that, with merely 3 days on our hands, we will only get a…
12 intense days in Japan: 1st day in Tokyo
Tokyo ! Japan. I had been dreaming about going to Japan for 20 years. That dream came true upon our arrival at Tokyo’s Narita airport on August 5, 2013. We had boarded a plane in Bangkok the day before. A 5-hour flight from Bangkok is not too bad.…