Tuesday - KYOTO

The adventure continues...

Up early to check out at 7.00am and take a taxi to Hiroshima Station with Renee and Matilda, we had time for brekky in a coffee shop before we left them to finish eating while we went to find the correct platform.

Renee and Matilda caught the Nozoni Shinkansen directly to Kyoto but with JR passes we had to travel Hiroshima to Shin-Osaka and transfer trains to Kyoto. 

While walking to find the exit at Kyoto Station, Matilda ran over Rebecca's foot with her suitcase causing a great deal of pain and leaving an indent where the wheels had gone over her foot. It wasn't until we reached the hotel that Rebecca actually realised her toenail was hanging on for dear life. Fortunately, the receptionist was able to provide us with an ice pack as I prepared to perform surgery to remove the toe nail. A very traumatic experience for the patient and the surgeon!  After applying an ice pack the foot is still sore. Poor Bec!

Our hotel is over the road from the Kyoto Train Station which will be very handy for our departure to Tokyo on Friday. 

Renee and Matilda are at a nearby hotel so once we were checked in we met up again to explore the area around the hotel.

The Aeno Shopping Mall is very close, so we headed there first. Lunch was another "point at the picture" and hope for the best, but as usual everything was delicious and very reasonably priced. Dishes range from Y550 to Y1200 which is roughly $5.50 - $12.00.

Rebecca had bought another truck load of "things" so we walked back to the hotel to offload and check in.

The Station across the road contains three shopping centres/malls where we have just spent the past couple of hours. It's such a busy place with brightly lit shops and signs and thousands and thousands of people.

Monday - MIYAJIMA ISLAND

We awoke to a gloriously sunny day in Hiroshima and were up early to be ready for our visit to Miyajima Island. The hotel receptionist provided directions for catching the street car to the train station where we could transfer to another train to reach the ferry.

Sounds simple, but we decided we could read the map (acting like locals again) and instead of getting the #3 streetcar as instructed, we opted for #1. Of course that took us in the opposite direction and we ended up at the main Hiroshima Station, a long way from where we needed to be!

It was back on to another streetcar (#2 this time) to head across the city to where we wanted to go. However, Renee pointed out that the trip would take up to an hour on the streetcar and we hadn't had brekky, so we jumped off at a stop near Tully's Coffee Shop. The brekky was amazing - good choice!

Rather than brave the streetcar again, we caught a taxi to the station and got the train that took us to the ferry port. 

It was only 10 minutes across to Miyajima Island, which seems to survive on the daily influx of tourists. Wild deer roam freely and follow tourists down the street. 

We wandered along the streets, browsing through the shops, took photos of the Shinto Gate, for which Miyajima is most famous and just enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and beautiful weather. 

After lunch in a small restaurant we headed up the track behind the shops to find the Rope Way (cable car) to ride to viewing areas up the mountain side. The walk was through rainforest-like trees, with occasional bridges and waterfalls, along with the deer that wandered about.

 

The cable car took us high up the mountain for spectacular views across to Hiroshima in one direction and small islands in the other. Well worth the trek up the hill.

The trip home to the hotel was uneventful - we chose a taxi this time and dropped in to 7Eleven to buy a salad for dinner.

Bec needs to try and squeeze her truckload of purchases into her suitcase so we can catch two trains tomorrow! 

Sunday - HIROSHIMA

It was an early start today - we were up at 4.45am! We checked out of the hotel at 6.00am and made our way to Tokyo Station via subway and train, to arrive there at 7.00am.

We were booked on the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Hiroshima, with a transfer at Shin-Osaka.

The Shinkansen is a great way to travel. The seats are comfy, with plenty of leg room. Bec had considerably less leg room as her case was too heavy to lift up into the overhead racks so she had her case in front of her! 

As we sped past towns at speeds of up to 300km per hour, we either enjoyed the scenery or snoozed, like so many Japanese travellers seem to do.

On the first leg of the trip we had clear views of Mt Fuji - the same Mt Fuji we had been on yesterday!

Hiroshima is very different to Tokyo. The pace is considerably slower and it is far less crowded. We met up with Renee and Matilda at our hotel and visited the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park for the afternoon. 

We spent time in the Museum and explored the park's monuments before a late lunch at a restaurant in the subway.

Next it was Hiroshima Castle and the Atomic Bomb Dome as we walked back to the hotel along the river bank. 

For dinner we tried Hiroshima's local specialty, okonomiyaki, which is a savoury pancake cooked on an iron hot plate. It contains eggs, vegetables, meat and noodles. We sat at the hot plate on bar stools to watch the chef/s cook our dinner - very interesting and quite tasty!

An interesting sight this afternoon was a gentleman taking his cat for a walk. Even crazier, the car was dressed in a coat and hat!

TOKYO TRAVEL TIPS

After our adventures in Tokyo we'd like to share some tips for future visitors ...

1.   Read the signs! 

But beware! The signs don't always make sense and can sometimes just add to your confusion.

2.   Your Australian credit card, key card or travel money card will only work at the ATM at the Post Office. 7-11 stores have ATM machines but your card won't work in them no matter how many buttons you push.

3.    You need CASH as it is rare to find a shop or restaurant that will accept cards.

4.    BYO rubbish bin. There are very few rubbish bins available anywhere, so be prepared to carry your rubbish with you all day.

5.   If you decide to chew gum, the lack of rubbish bins means you could be chewing that piece of gum for up to 8 hours.

6.   To prepare yourself for riding crowded trains and subways, lock yourself in small cupboards for up to 30 mins at a time to adjust the size of your personal bubble.

7.  Bring a packet of small koala toys to give as gifts. For the best reactions, give the koalas to the lady cleaning the public toilets, the girl at the ice cream shop, the cook at the cafe, etc, rather than those who constantly deal with Australian tourists and probably have a cupboard at home that is full of small koalas.

8.   Google detailed map directions rather than use mud maps from hotel websites, as even the locals can't read those. 

9.   Practice keeping your balance whilst standing on a water bed to prepare you for standing on subway or train trips.

10.  Always check the English version of a restaurant's menu to avoid eating local delicacies like minced pork intestines or the like.

11.   In spite of what the travel guide books say, squat toilets are rarely seen. Toilets and rest rooms are modern (with all sorts of buttons that play music and do some very fancy things). They are clean, with plenty of toilet paper, so don't stress about having tissues. 

12. Highlights to include in your itinerary:

- Nikko

- Sumo wrestling

- Tokyo Metropolitan Building Observatory

Saturday - MOUNT FUJI

Another day, another six trains to get to our destination - Mount Fuji!

We left early this morning (7am) to catch the subway to Shinjuku Station followed by an hour train trip to Otsuki and another hour trip to Kawaguchiko. 

Now, this is another one of those 'I don't know how to condense this morning's events into such a small blog post' so I have decided to use some of the dialogue from this morning...

SETTING THE SCENE

On the final train to Mount Fuji surrounded by big, beautiful and picturesque mountains. 

After some time, a REALLY BIG mountain comes into view and I (Bec) get excited...

Bec: Oh look.. there it is!

Kaye: Pfft.. that's not Mt Fuji. Mount Fuji has a constant ice cap at the summit. 

(Granted, this mountain did not have any ice/snow on its peak)...

Bec: Rightio.. but I don't really understand how we can be so close to the station and not see Mount Fuji ANYWHERE - the tallest mountain in Japan.

Meanwhile.. a lot of people are taking photos and pointing at said mountain, making me even more confused.

Kaye: Trust me.. you'll know it when you see it.

END SCENE

So, we got off the train with about 30 minutes until our tourist bus took us on another 50 minute trip to the 5th Station Mt Fuji lookout. There was this BIG, BEAUTIFUL MT FUJI-LOOKING MOUNTAIN RIGHT IN FRONT OF US... and yes, people were still taking photos of this big, beautiful mountain - idiots, it's totally not even the right one!

We filled in our time with a lovely coffee and odd-looking cake from the Station Cafe before beginning the bus trip. Upon arriving at the 5th Station Lookout, I'm not going to lie I was still pretty confused.. especially since we had just driven up this mountain that apparently wasn't Mt Fuji. It probably took a couple of minutes for it to click and for the confusion to subside - this mountain was, in fact, THE Mt Fuji.

We spent approximately 2 hours on the mountain - taking photos of the spectacular views over the rugged mountain ranges, visiting the Fuji Omuro Sengen Jinja Shrine and the many shops that were situated an the Station. Lunch was interesting again as Mum tried a Beef Miso Soup and I stuck with the Chicken Curry and Rice.

We were back at our bus stop early as we had spent the trip up the mountain without a seat and were left standing the entire time. It was a good thing we were so early as about 600 other people joined the line after us..... I'll have you know all 600 people were let onto the bus.

At the moment, I am writing this post on the train ride home. It has started to get a little overcast and my inner weatherman predicts rain for the trip home this evening. Tonight will consist of packing suitcases and an early night - our train bound for Hiroshima leaves at 7:33am. 

Very excited for the Peace Park tomorrow and to casually 'bump into' Renee and Matilda!

Bec 

Friday - SIGHTSEEING & SUMO

A glorious, sunny day!

Onto the subway - no crowds, so personal space wasn't an issue.

At Shinjuku Station we navigated our way to the West Exit - sounds easy enough to do but in reality is akin to swimming against raging rapids while trying to comprehend cryptic signage.

We were very excited to find our way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, where we headed up to the Observatory on the 45th floor.

Wow! The views were spectacular! Tokyo's buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. Incredible!

We browsed the 'conveniently located' shops before deciding on brunch at the restaurant, with views over Tokyo City as we ate.

From the viewing area we were able to locate the hotel that was our meeting place for the Sumo Wrestling Tour, which made it very simple to get ourselves to the hotel lobby on time!

With the tour group we caught two trains to take us to the Kokugikan Sumo Stadium. 

Sumo is Japan's national sport and our visit to tokyo coincided with one of the six annual sumo tournaments held in Japan. Crowds of people joined us to watch the afternoon bouts of sumo wrestling, involving the current sumo champions - higher ranking bouts commence from 4.00 pm.  

It was fabulous! A bout often only lasts for a few seconds, but the crowd loved it. As the champions confronted each other, the crowd went crazy, throwing the cushions off their seats when their hero won.

After the tournament, we were swept up in the sea of people that flowed back to the train station to head back to Shinjuku and back to the hotel.