As with most of my blogs, so much has happened that I don’t know where to start. Should I start with the amazing sights I have seen throughout Japan, the incredible friends I have met and spent time with, the harsh cold I have had to endure these past 17 days or the great kindness and culture of the Japanese people. Its always hard to start with one topic so I will start by timing and progress from there. It started almost 17 days ago when I flew from Hong Kong to Osaka, where I planned to begin my trip leading me to finish in Tokyo, where I would leave for New Zealand. When I say planned, I mean I had one flight booked out of Tokyo and no set itinerary for my actual time in Japan. Standard for me at this stage! I tend to turn up to places without having any clue what I want to see, where I want to go next or what even brought me here. Its something I quite like though and leaves me open to suggestions and travel spontaneity.
Osaka for me was pretty cool, from what I saw, when I was actually awake. The area I was staying (where I luckily found a last minute bed), was in the ‘Americamura’ area, a very trendy, ‘Harajuku’ kind of place, surrounded by bustling streets lined with famous designer shops and also filled with small streets lined with small hippy boutiques playing catchy music as you walk by. The river running through the area was beautiful at night and the people that surrounded the area seemed to be very much the cool kids, hip and trendy with their own Japanese style which is exactly what I had pictured. I briefly met a girl here who I chatted to about Kyoto and immediately I wanted to go there. Having downloaded a super handy app called ‘Triposo Japan’, I read about a place called Nara, nearby Osaka which sounded right up my street. It was said to be filled with temples, have a relaxed country atmosphere and was a very nice place to experience culture. I took the train to Nara where I stayed in a lovely homely guesthouse of a Japanese husband and wife who upon my arrival were very helpful and friendly. I rented a sweet pink bicycle and with my map in my basket I was ready to head off exploring. I spent 2 nights in Nara and the second day I met two lovely French girls Sabine and Angela, who I spent the day/evening with doing more exploring, by foot this time, followed by a lovely dinner that evening. It was short but sweet and these girls were such a nice addition to my trip. They gave me tips on Kyoto and I promised to visit them in Paris. Nara was so pretty, the national park was filled with friendly deer, pagodas, temples and tree lined walkways which could captivate you for hours, and they did! My next stop would be to Kyoto where I didn’t get off to the best start. After an hour on a local bus, which was the right one to take, but turned out to be going the opposite direction, I finally came to my stop, thanks to a lovely Japanese woman who translated for me. We chatted for a while before we got off at our separate stops, but It was clear that the Japanese people would go out of their way to help you. It was so nice! I stayed in Kyoto for 2 nights at the Santiago guest house, a very luxurious hostel in a superb location right beside many famous attractions. My first day was spent exploring the beautiful temples, the big Buddha, the incredibly unique backstreets lined with wooden Japanese houses and taking photographs with Japanese students. Eventually that evening after a brief trip back to the hostel, I set out again to explore one of the famous temples that reopen at night and are beautifully lit up. I decided on Koda Ji temple, that I had skipped earlier that day and lucky enough because seeing it that night was so magical and special to me. I followed the route around the temple that led me over tiny bridges, through bamboo forests and to a beautifully lit up lake which had perfect reflections of the autumn trees around it. The next day I took the train to the Fushimi Shrine which has bright orange shrines leading all the way to the top of the mountain. I walked to the top of the mountain despite the rain, and wearing flip flops and it was so cool to stop along the way and see the shrines. Kyoto was so amazing and was one of the most special places I have been in the world. It’s a must for everyone!
Osaka for me was pretty cool, from what I saw, when I was actually awake. The area I was staying (where I luckily found a last minute bed), was in the ‘Americamura’ area, a very trendy, ‘Harajuku’ kind of place, surrounded by bustling streets lined with famous designer shops and also filled with small streets lined with small hippy boutiques playing catchy music as you walk by. The river running through the area was beautiful at night and the people that surrounded the area seemed to be very much the cool kids, hip and trendy with their own Japanese style which is exactly what I had pictured. I briefly met a girl here who I chatted to about Kyoto and immediately I wanted to go there. Having downloaded a super handy app called ‘Triposo Japan’, I read about a place called Nara, nearby Osaka which sounded right up my street. It was said to be filled with temples, have a relaxed country atmosphere and was a very nice place to experience culture. I took the train to Nara where I stayed in a lovely homely guesthouse of a Japanese husband and wife who upon my arrival were very helpful and friendly. I rented a sweet pink bicycle and with my map in my basket I was ready to head off exploring. I spent 2 nights in Nara and the second day I met two lovely French girls Sabine and Angela, who I spent the day/evening with doing more exploring, by foot this time, followed by a lovely dinner that evening. It was short but sweet and these girls were such a nice addition to my trip. They gave me tips on Kyoto and I promised to visit them in Paris. Nara was so pretty, the national park was filled with friendly deer, pagodas, temples and tree lined walkways which could captivate you for hours, and they did! My next stop would be to Kyoto where I didn’t get off to the best start. After an hour on a local bus, which was the right one to take, but turned out to be going the opposite direction, I finally came to my stop, thanks to a lovely Japanese woman who translated for me. We chatted for a while before we got off at our separate stops, but It was clear that the Japanese people would go out of their way to help you. It was so nice! I stayed in Kyoto for 2 nights at the Santiago guest house, a very luxurious hostel in a superb location right beside many famous attractions. My first day was spent exploring the beautiful temples, the big Buddha, the incredibly unique backstreets lined with wooden Japanese houses and taking photographs with Japanese students. Eventually that evening after a brief trip back to the hostel, I set out again to explore one of the famous temples that reopen at night and are beautifully lit up. I decided on Koda Ji temple, that I had skipped earlier that day and lucky enough because seeing it that night was so magical and special to me. I followed the route around the temple that led me over tiny bridges, through bamboo forests and to a beautifully lit up lake which had perfect reflections of the autumn trees around it. The next day I took the train to the Fushimi Shrine which has bright orange shrines leading all the way to the top of the mountain. I walked to the top of the mountain despite the rain, and wearing flip flops and it was so cool to stop along the way and see the shrines. Kyoto was so amazing and was one of the most special places I have been in the world. It’s a must for everyone!
Following Kyoto, I took a trip to Nagoya on the famous Japanese Shinkansen or bullet train, where I met my first couch host in Japan. I couch surfed at his place for 2 nights and hung out with him for three days. He was such a great host and took me around Nagoya and Tajimi city. He also let me drive his car which was great fun, and in true Japanese style I drove us for some sushi and a game of pool. We had such a great time and after a few farewell drinks in Nagoya, he waved me off as I took my bus to Tokyo. My plan was to go to Tokyo early and take some day trips from Tokyo as it seemed easier to go from there. I stayed at Tokyo hostel where I had originally booked three nights but after a week spent there, I look back and don’t regret a thing.
My first day I was let in to the closed hostel by two people staying there, and was told I could chill in the lounge until reception opened. Here I met a girl from Switzerland who instantly became my friend. We chatted for ages and she told me she had missed her morning bus out of Tokyo. She was due to leave that night, so we spent the day chatting on and off and swapped contact info before she left. I felt a great vibe from this hostel already and could tell it was the right place to be. The next day I took a day trip to Hakone, a naturally beautiful place, with ropeways, cable cars and a lake that had a backdrop of Mount Fuji. I spent the entire day from early morning until late evening, travelling, walking in the rain, freezing my ass off, shopping and taking pictures, but despite the rain, when the sun set I got beautiful view of Mount Fuji in the background of the Gotemba shopping outlets. The closest to Mount Fuji you can get from Hakone. The day was so cloudy that there was no view of Fuji from the lake, nor the cable car, but as soon as I turned around and saw this outline of Fuji behind me, It made up for everything. What a beautiful place this was! The next few days in Tokyo were great, I kept extending my stay, in order to chill out and feel slightly settled for once. It was a good decision because I met such great people including Nils from Holland, Hilly from India, Jelena from Serbia, Tom and Dave from the UK, Rie from Japan/USA, Pierre/Matt from France, Chad from Canada, Kemon from Trinidad and many others who passed in and out of the hostel throughout my stay. We had so much fun, and one crazy night in particular which we spent in Shibuya, at one of the world’s best nightclubs ‘Womb’ (yeah I know). We did sightseeing during the day together, went to Disneyland, did more sightseeing and drank in the evenings, before one by one, everyone went their separate ways. Looking back on the past week and the past 17 days overall, I realise why I chose to come to Japan. I wanted to experience a completely different culture, different food, incredible scenery and as anywhere else, meet inspirational people. All of which I can tick off my list. Every day spent in Japan thought me something and even if I did suffer from the coldness of autumn here, I did experience so much more that can make me forget this. Japan is an incredible place, somewhere everybody should visit at least once and believe me you will love it!
Just like I do!
Just like I do!
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