JAPAN: Tuesday, April 11- Saturday April 15
It’s becoming even more real now that this voyage is almost over as I have to write about the last port :( It’s been an amazing adventure so I have no regrets and feel satisfied heading back home now. I’m kinda worn out and could use a little down time after the past few weeks, especially Japan because I went non-stop so that I could see everything.
It took awhile for the ship to clear, so we didn’t end up getting off the ship until a little before noon. Then I went off with 8 friends to Hiroshima which was only about 2 hours away by bullet train. The hard part was beating everyone to the line to get out Japan Rail Passes at San-no-miya station. By the time we got there, there was already a very slow moving line, but soon afterwards, the line grew really long. I don’t think those people really got anywhere that first day because you have to trade the pass in before getting on a train.
Hiroshima was really incredible to see after hearing about it my whole life in History classes as being the first place where an atomic bomb was used. Now the city dedicates itself to peace and even holds a peace festival every year that is attended by people from all over the world to show support of non-violence. We went to the park that the festival is held in, Peace Memorial Park, and saw the site where the bomb was dropped above, and the one building near the site that was left standing, A-bomb dome. Then we went to the Peace Memorial Museum where detailed accounts of the war and the effects of the bomb were on display. I walked out of the museum an hour later, as it was closing, with tears in my eyes and no words. It’s really remarkable how much pain and suffering one bomb can cause, and not just at that moment but for many years to come. The bomb wiped out almost all buildings within 2km of the hypocenter and instantly killed 140,000. Even today, people from Hiroshima are still dying of cancers related to the radiation and giving birth to children with an elevated rate of birth defects. The city has recovered very well and now, at a glance, looks just like any other city.
On a lighter note, we ate at a Japanese restaurant where we had to take our shoes off before sitting at the table. We also had to point at the picture of what we wanted since the entire menu was in Japanese. Not many people here speak English, and those that do are a lot of the times afraid to speak it because they are not fluent.
We headed back to the ship for the night. I packed my bag for the next three days planning on traveling through Japan without returning to the ship with one friend. The next morning my friend told me she had mad other plans... so I was out on my own. I headed to Kyoto by myself early in the morning. I didn’t have much of a plan except to walk for as long as I could to see as much as I could.
I started out walking North-East out of the train station and ran into Sanjusangendo Temple and then Nishi-Otani Mausoleum. Both were incredible and really cool to explore around, especially since they were basically deserted. From there, I went up a very steep street to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a national heritage site which has incredible view of the whole city since it’s up on a mountain side. The streets down from the temple are also historic sites and are kept as they were over 100 years ago. I continued down those side streets for a while until I ran into a tall pagoda (that I can’t figure out the name of), and then to Kodai-ji by Ishibei-koji street. Men were pulling upscale rickshaws by hand around these streets. I thought it was funny because their shoes looked like hoofs because they had a thick layer of rubber at the bottom that was split in two like pig hoofs.
After all of that walking and viewing, I was really tired and my back hurt from carrying my huge backpack around all day. I sat in a small shrine area where I ate my lunch (granola bars because I wasn’t having any luck finding a meal without meat in it). I met three people from Spain that were traveling and they showed me some good places to go at night. After walking with them a bit, they also told me to check out Marayama-koen park. There I saw Yosaka-Jinga shrine and wondered around the park. Somehow it was dinner time, so I figured it was safe to buy Indian food since it’s typically vegetarian, but it ended up having pork in it, so I only ate the nan (flatbread). From there I went down busy streets in the shopping/dining district to the Gion area, the historic district where Geishas have always been (the same one from Memoirs of a Geisha). I saw a few Geishas heading out, and another pagoda at the end of the street.
Before it got too late, I wanted to find a place to stay, so I tried to track down a hostel close to the train station. It took me forever to find, and it was full by the time I got there. I headed back to the train station to get a ticket back to Kobe to stay on the boat for the night. Two SAS girls, both Jaime, were behind me in line and heading to Tokyo for the night. They invited me to join them, and since I was planning on heading the next morning anyway, I went with them.
We arrived in Tokyo at about 11:30 at night and I was exhausted from a full day of walking with my heavy load. They already had a room booked at the Hotel Monterey Ginza, which was close to the station and in the really nice district of Tokyo- good thing because almost every place in the city seemed to be booked.
The next day we locked out big bags in the train station lockers and then went to the Sony showroom. It was interesting to see the new stuff they have out that will be in the U.S. within the next year (we are a little behind). Then we went to use the internet and decided to do different things so we split up for the rest of the day.
I walked to the Imperial Palace and Gardens. It reminded me a little of Central park just in the sense that you can look out from the green to the skyscrapers. The gardens were different from western style gardens with a moat-like stream surrounding the Palace gardens and another surrounding the Palace itself.
Half an hour after I got to the gardens I remembered that I had locked my stuff up with the girls and that I had no way to get a hold of them. I walked back to the station and tried to explain to security what had happened. It took about an hour to get them to understand me, and with a little crying (because before that they told me they could not take my bag out), I got them to open up the locker so I could get my stuff out. I felt a lot better getting my stuff out in the middle of the day rather than that night when I would be in a rush to leave.
I went to the Ueno area to the North of central Tokyo next. My goal was to see the Panda in the zoo, but I was too late since they closed right at four and of course I got there at like 4:01. So I wondered around the park nearby and the city area and then headed to the big fashion/dining/modern district of Tokyo. The city is so clean and modern itself, but this area was especially interesting with it’s young feel and bright lights. I spent some time here and had a good Japanese fondue diner then headed back to the train station.
I was planning on going to Mt. Fuji, but other SASers advised me against it since all paths were closed and it was too foggy to even see the mountain from the ground. Instead I read my Lonely Planet the whole three and a half hour train ride to make a new plan.
I decided that I was done with the big cities and ready to get away from the crowds so early the next morning I headed to a smaller island of Japan called Shikoku. There is a famous pilgrimage to see 88 sacred pagados, but it takes a couple months to do without a vehicle. Since, I did not have near that amount of time, I decided to see one of them and then explore a little more of the island near the mountains. As soon as I read that there was a sea turtle nesting beach and museum along the coast I knew what my other stop would be.
The trains to the first pagoda, Yashima, took about three hours (from Kobe to Okayama to Takamatsu). I walked out of the Yashima station toward what I though was the right direction and eventually found it by following some road signs. On the way I passed an old shrine and a graveyard in a small town. I got to the base of the mountain and hiked up to the top of the temple. From there I could see the whole town surrounded by mountains. The temple and area were gorgeous and I was the only one there which was a different feeling from the bustling district of Tokyo. After I hiked around and back down I explored the bottom area where there was a small stream with stepping stones as in traditional Japanese gardens among many other scenic areas.
Next, I headed further down the coast through the rice paddies and mountains to Hiwasa. On a side note, I love my Japan Rail Pass because it got me everywhere I wanted to go and would have been much more expensive to travel without it. Hiwasa has a beach where hundreds of Loggerhead Sea turtles nest every summer. There was also a museum there with tons of information on Sea turtles, and even though it was almost 100% in Japanese, I learned some new stuff and saw some turtles that they had in large tanks. I was the only person there the whole time, which did not surprise me, but it did surprise me that they had a really nice, big Sea turtle museum in a rural part of Japan. I explored around for a long time, and checked out the nesting beach.
I had to run back to the train station in Hiwasa to catch the train to Tokushima then to Takamatsu then Okayama and finally back to the boat in Kobe. Despite all the traveling, I had a great, relaxing day and really enjoyed getting away from everything.
On the train back that night, a man pointed out a castle to me, and in broken English explained that it was the best castle in Japan and Samurai used to fight there. So the last morning, the 15th, I headed to Himeji Castle first thing with 3 other girls. We were lucky enough to come by a free English guide so he came with us through the castle, showing and telling us many things we would not have known without him. The castle was beautiful, and from the top (after a couple hundred stairs) I had a great view of the city of Kobe.
I had to run back to the station to catch the next train to Shin-Kobe station. I just made the train and twenty minutes later I arrived in the center of the city of Kobe. The first thing I wanted to do was get to the Kobe zoo to see a Panda. I walked for 30 minutes to the zoo, walked around for 2 hours and saw a Panda and lots of other really cool animals I have never seen before. Just like everything else in Japan this time of year, the zoo was beautiful with Cherry Blossoms lining the pathways.
I walked back toward the station and hiked Mt. Maya directly behind it. The hike was very steep and after only about 40 minutes I could look out at view points and see that I was higher than the skyscrapers. I continued until I realized I had taken a wrong turn somewhere, which is pretty easy when all signs are in Japanese and it is pouring rain. I hiked back down and took a different path up to see a huge waterfall in the middle of the Mountainous forest. It was really beautiful and a perfect ending to my journey in Japan.
I feel like I got a good glimpse of Japan and did everything that I could in five days. We went during a great season and although it rained a lot, Spring also brought the beautiful blooming of the Cherry Blossom trees everywhere in the country. The bullet trains and my Rail Pass made my travel extremely easy. Even when I was scared I might not end up where I wanted to be, everything worked out. This whole trip has been more than I could have ever expected. I have seen, done, and learned so much more than I ever would have imagined possible at the age of 20.
I miss love and miss everyone at home! To my friends abroad- I can’t wait until you all get home so I can hear your stories, too! See everyone soon.
Ten days...excited to come home and sad to say goodbye to this journey
It’s becoming even more real now that this voyage is almost over as I have to write about the last port :( It’s been an amazing adventure so I have no regrets and feel satisfied heading back home now. I’m kinda worn out and could use a little down time after the past few weeks, especially Japan because I went non-stop so that I could see everything.
It took awhile for the ship to clear, so we didn’t end up getting off the ship until a little before noon. Then I went off with 8 friends to Hiroshima which was only about 2 hours away by bullet train. The hard part was beating everyone to the line to get out Japan Rail Passes at San-no-miya station. By the time we got there, there was already a very slow moving line, but soon afterwards, the line grew really long. I don’t think those people really got anywhere that first day because you have to trade the pass in before getting on a train.
Hiroshima was really incredible to see after hearing about it my whole life in History classes as being the first place where an atomic bomb was used. Now the city dedicates itself to peace and even holds a peace festival every year that is attended by people from all over the world to show support of non-violence. We went to the park that the festival is held in, Peace Memorial Park, and saw the site where the bomb was dropped above, and the one building near the site that was left standing, A-bomb dome. Then we went to the Peace Memorial Museum where detailed accounts of the war and the effects of the bomb were on display. I walked out of the museum an hour later, as it was closing, with tears in my eyes and no words. It’s really remarkable how much pain and suffering one bomb can cause, and not just at that moment but for many years to come. The bomb wiped out almost all buildings within 2km of the hypocenter and instantly killed 140,000. Even today, people from Hiroshima are still dying of cancers related to the radiation and giving birth to children with an elevated rate of birth defects. The city has recovered very well and now, at a glance, looks just like any other city.
On a lighter note, we ate at a Japanese restaurant where we had to take our shoes off before sitting at the table. We also had to point at the picture of what we wanted since the entire menu was in Japanese. Not many people here speak English, and those that do are a lot of the times afraid to speak it because they are not fluent.
We headed back to the ship for the night. I packed my bag for the next three days planning on traveling through Japan without returning to the ship with one friend. The next morning my friend told me she had mad other plans... so I was out on my own. I headed to Kyoto by myself early in the morning. I didn’t have much of a plan except to walk for as long as I could to see as much as I could.
I started out walking North-East out of the train station and ran into Sanjusangendo Temple and then Nishi-Otani Mausoleum. Both were incredible and really cool to explore around, especially since they were basically deserted. From there, I went up a very steep street to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a national heritage site which has incredible view of the whole city since it’s up on a mountain side. The streets down from the temple are also historic sites and are kept as they were over 100 years ago. I continued down those side streets for a while until I ran into a tall pagoda (that I can’t figure out the name of), and then to Kodai-ji by Ishibei-koji street. Men were pulling upscale rickshaws by hand around these streets. I thought it was funny because their shoes looked like hoofs because they had a thick layer of rubber at the bottom that was split in two like pig hoofs.
After all of that walking and viewing, I was really tired and my back hurt from carrying my huge backpack around all day. I sat in a small shrine area where I ate my lunch (granola bars because I wasn’t having any luck finding a meal without meat in it). I met three people from Spain that were traveling and they showed me some good places to go at night. After walking with them a bit, they also told me to check out Marayama-koen park. There I saw Yosaka-Jinga shrine and wondered around the park. Somehow it was dinner time, so I figured it was safe to buy Indian food since it’s typically vegetarian, but it ended up having pork in it, so I only ate the nan (flatbread). From there I went down busy streets in the shopping/dining district to the Gion area, the historic district where Geishas have always been (the same one from Memoirs of a Geisha). I saw a few Geishas heading out, and another pagoda at the end of the street.
Before it got too late, I wanted to find a place to stay, so I tried to track down a hostel close to the train station. It took me forever to find, and it was full by the time I got there. I headed back to the train station to get a ticket back to Kobe to stay on the boat for the night. Two SAS girls, both Jaime, were behind me in line and heading to Tokyo for the night. They invited me to join them, and since I was planning on heading the next morning anyway, I went with them.
We arrived in Tokyo at about 11:30 at night and I was exhausted from a full day of walking with my heavy load. They already had a room booked at the Hotel Monterey Ginza, which was close to the station and in the really nice district of Tokyo- good thing because almost every place in the city seemed to be booked.
The next day we locked out big bags in the train station lockers and then went to the Sony showroom. It was interesting to see the new stuff they have out that will be in the U.S. within the next year (we are a little behind). Then we went to use the internet and decided to do different things so we split up for the rest of the day.
I walked to the Imperial Palace and Gardens. It reminded me a little of Central park just in the sense that you can look out from the green to the skyscrapers. The gardens were different from western style gardens with a moat-like stream surrounding the Palace gardens and another surrounding the Palace itself.
Half an hour after I got to the gardens I remembered that I had locked my stuff up with the girls and that I had no way to get a hold of them. I walked back to the station and tried to explain to security what had happened. It took about an hour to get them to understand me, and with a little crying (because before that they told me they could not take my bag out), I got them to open up the locker so I could get my stuff out. I felt a lot better getting my stuff out in the middle of the day rather than that night when I would be in a rush to leave.
I went to the Ueno area to the North of central Tokyo next. My goal was to see the Panda in the zoo, but I was too late since they closed right at four and of course I got there at like 4:01. So I wondered around the park nearby and the city area and then headed to the big fashion/dining/modern district of Tokyo. The city is so clean and modern itself, but this area was especially interesting with it’s young feel and bright lights. I spent some time here and had a good Japanese fondue diner then headed back to the train station.
I was planning on going to Mt. Fuji, but other SASers advised me against it since all paths were closed and it was too foggy to even see the mountain from the ground. Instead I read my Lonely Planet the whole three and a half hour train ride to make a new plan.
I decided that I was done with the big cities and ready to get away from the crowds so early the next morning I headed to a smaller island of Japan called Shikoku. There is a famous pilgrimage to see 88 sacred pagados, but it takes a couple months to do without a vehicle. Since, I did not have near that amount of time, I decided to see one of them and then explore a little more of the island near the mountains. As soon as I read that there was a sea turtle nesting beach and museum along the coast I knew what my other stop would be.
The trains to the first pagoda, Yashima, took about three hours (from Kobe to Okayama to Takamatsu). I walked out of the Yashima station toward what I though was the right direction and eventually found it by following some road signs. On the way I passed an old shrine and a graveyard in a small town. I got to the base of the mountain and hiked up to the top of the temple. From there I could see the whole town surrounded by mountains. The temple and area were gorgeous and I was the only one there which was a different feeling from the bustling district of Tokyo. After I hiked around and back down I explored the bottom area where there was a small stream with stepping stones as in traditional Japanese gardens among many other scenic areas.
Next, I headed further down the coast through the rice paddies and mountains to Hiwasa. On a side note, I love my Japan Rail Pass because it got me everywhere I wanted to go and would have been much more expensive to travel without it. Hiwasa has a beach where hundreds of Loggerhead Sea turtles nest every summer. There was also a museum there with tons of information on Sea turtles, and even though it was almost 100% in Japanese, I learned some new stuff and saw some turtles that they had in large tanks. I was the only person there the whole time, which did not surprise me, but it did surprise me that they had a really nice, big Sea turtle museum in a rural part of Japan. I explored around for a long time, and checked out the nesting beach.
I had to run back to the train station in Hiwasa to catch the train to Tokushima then to Takamatsu then Okayama and finally back to the boat in Kobe. Despite all the traveling, I had a great, relaxing day and really enjoyed getting away from everything.
On the train back that night, a man pointed out a castle to me, and in broken English explained that it was the best castle in Japan and Samurai used to fight there. So the last morning, the 15th, I headed to Himeji Castle first thing with 3 other girls. We were lucky enough to come by a free English guide so he came with us through the castle, showing and telling us many things we would not have known without him. The castle was beautiful, and from the top (after a couple hundred stairs) I had a great view of the city of Kobe.
I had to run back to the station to catch the next train to Shin-Kobe station. I just made the train and twenty minutes later I arrived in the center of the city of Kobe. The first thing I wanted to do was get to the Kobe zoo to see a Panda. I walked for 30 minutes to the zoo, walked around for 2 hours and saw a Panda and lots of other really cool animals I have never seen before. Just like everything else in Japan this time of year, the zoo was beautiful with Cherry Blossoms lining the pathways.
I walked back toward the station and hiked Mt. Maya directly behind it. The hike was very steep and after only about 40 minutes I could look out at view points and see that I was higher than the skyscrapers. I continued until I realized I had taken a wrong turn somewhere, which is pretty easy when all signs are in Japanese and it is pouring rain. I hiked back down and took a different path up to see a huge waterfall in the middle of the Mountainous forest. It was really beautiful and a perfect ending to my journey in Japan.
I feel like I got a good glimpse of Japan and did everything that I could in five days. We went during a great season and although it rained a lot, Spring also brought the beautiful blooming of the Cherry Blossom trees everywhere in the country. The bullet trains and my Rail Pass made my travel extremely easy. Even when I was scared I might not end up where I wanted to be, everything worked out. This whole trip has been more than I could have ever expected. I have seen, done, and learned so much more than I ever would have imagined possible at the age of 20.
I miss love and miss everyone at home! To my friends abroad- I can’t wait until you all get home so I can hear your stories, too! See everyone soon.
Ten days...excited to come home and sad to say goodbye to this journey
posted by Kim @ 5:01 AM
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