Category: Japan

Japan : Miyajima, Kyoto and Kurama

In a slightly sober mood after Hiroshima, I packed up my things and booked a train ticket back to Kyoto but not before making a day trip over to the nearby island of Miyajima. A short ferry ride away, I was amazed yet again by the natural beauty of Japan.

The main attraction of Miyajima is the Shinto shrine, with it’s floating Torii gate which free stands in the sea, partially submerged most of the time. I caught a glimpse as the ferry approached but the real fun was walking out on the beach at low tide to stand underneath it.

The streets are small in Miyajima and the pace is slow. I got there early morning and wasted no time in taking the cable car up to the mountain top. On the way I encountered the second biggest attraction – Miyajima has it’s own deer population 😎

What I didn’t realise was the link to Kobo-Daishi (see post on Koya-san). The first cable car takes you half way up the sacred Mount Misen which I shared with a lovely old Japanese couple. It’s a pretty ride over dense forest. But the second ‘air walk’ is something else – with 360 degree views over the Seto inland sea and hundreds of tiny islands, you feel like you are flying. The viewing platform alone is worth the trip. Video below from the air walk…

Naturally I had to go to the very top, of the mountain, which is a fairly steep hike at times through woodland, passing a beautiful shrine to Kobo-Daishi himself, who apparently spent 100 days here and lit the flame that’s burning in the Eternal Fire Hall. It was this flame that was used as the pilot light for the Flame of Peace in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It had indeed the same peaceful feeling as Koya-San.

At the very top the views were just incredible. It actually reminded me the Indonesian island of Komodo where I hiked up and looked down on tiny islands. I definitely wasn’t expecting this in Japan.

Back at sea level the tide had gone out so I could walk out to the gate. It’s strange walking around somewhere that was submerged in water only hours ago.

The main street is very busy but great for sampling new foods and a good coffee. Vegetarian steamed buns, deep fried cake, sweet red bean pastries and roasted chestnuts are all on offer.

If you venture out onto the parallel streets, it’s like stepping back in time with empty roads apart from the odd bicycle and traditional houses.

I really liked the feel of Miyajima, sitting on a bench by the sea looking out at the gate and up at the mountain top, with Hiroshima visible across the mainland. It would be nice to spend the night here to see the sunset although it’s very quiet. The highlight for me was the mountain top, which many day trippers skip.

Back on the mainland, I had time to try a version of the Hiroshima favour of Okonomiyaki noodles, sitting at a table in the train station watching the chefs prepare these nests of noodles and cabbage on the hotplates.

All of a sudden I was back in Kyoto wondering where the last 2.5 weeks had gone. I splashed out and treated myself to fancy pod hotel The Millennials, where your pod comes an iPad to control the double bed and lighting…

It also comes with unlimited free beer in happy hour of 5.30-6.30 where good looking flashpacker types filled up their glasses and mingled / played on their phones. I found it more like an awkward singles night. I was only staying two nights so I didn’t make that much effort! Perhaps if the hostel organised an activity it would have been easier to make friends.

Coming back gave me a chance to visit the hillside Kiyomizu-dera temple and a final cherry blossom fix at Maruyama Park.

Whilst Kyoto is very pretty, the second time I found the crowds exhausting and wanted to end my Japan trip with some more nature. I turned to Trip Advisor and Google to see where I could go for some solitude and found the perfect place, the hike between two little mountain towns, Kibune and Kurama. Despite varying descriptions from different people (tough 3 hour steep climb, easy 1 hour meander, uninteresting walk along the roads), I decided to trust a description of a helpful blog and set off with some water and snacks. I really love a day trip with an element of the unknown!

An hours train ride north of the city, I got off at Kibune and was happy to find a local bus waiting to pick up passengers heading to the local temple and start of the trail, which it turns out has just reopened earlier in the year.

Sure enough I found the start of the trail where I paid 300 yen entrance and received a ticket and a map (all in Japanese). Once I started climbing the steps through the tall cedar trees, passing only a few Japanese people with a polite ‘konnichiwa’ and noticed that my ticket was actually a prayer to Mount Kurama, I knew it was going to be a beautiful day.

The path between the two towns is actually pretty easy. There are steps to climb but there are also rest areas and little shrines to stop at. With no idea what any of the signs said I just kept going until I reached a museum. For a couple of quid I thought I might as well go in – only after I’d paid did the old man give me a leaflet and say ‘Japanese’.

I was literally the only person in the museum at that time, and I suspect the only visitor that day. There was a weird display of photos with hidden insects and camouflaged animals, where I spent quite a long time looking for each creature until I remembered I wanted to be back before dark.

I’m sure the fossils were interesting if you could read what they actually were, but what I did like was the guardian statues on the top floor where I had to change into wooden slippers before entering the room. No photos allowed, but here is a similar guardian, from japanvisitor.com. These guardians are found at many Buddhist temples and usually have intense, often scary expressions. One of them had eyes that almost followed me around the room.

Finally I reached the main Kurama temple, with huge bell you could ring and amazing views over the forests. Notice there is nobody in my photos! I had managed to escape the tour groups at last.

At the foot of the mountains is, amazingly, a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant where I enjoyed hot noodles (after watching some Japanese people first to see how they poured the soup and what order to eat things in) and a smoky tea that the lady kept refilling.

Kurama is a one steet town and ten minutes walk past houses with shutters down that seemed closed up or empty is, of course, a hot springs. I had felt I missed out on the real Japanese onsen experience as every time I took the plunge I was the only one there. This time I was going to take off my clothes with some Japanese ladies otherwise my trip would not be authentic! As a fitting end to my trip, this one had a beautiful setting outside on the mountain side, looking up at the cherry blossom whilst relaxing in the hot mineral water. Success!

And that concludes my quick trip to Japan. Added as an afterthought, it amazed me on daily basis and I can’t wait to come back. I’ll probably write one more post on the highlights and my favourite Japanese experiences, but The Philippines blogs are waiting….

Feeling refreshed from my stay on the mountain, I had a couple more days around Osaka to explore. I visited the biggest castle in Japan, Himeji, only an hour away by train. This was the second time it rained on me in Japan and after getting drenched in my rain jacket that I bought in India, I forked out for the see-through umbrella that eveyone else was sporting.

Unfortunately the rain didn’t put anyone off visiting the castle and I spent an hour waiting to go inside the main keep, doing the familiar queue shuffle around the narrow castle walls.

Once inside you have to take your shoes off and put them in a plastic bags. I followed the crowds with wet feet, wondering if this was worth it, as the inside of the castle is mostly empty. I did get some good views of cherry blossom in the rain…

The thing I liked best about Himeji was the nearby Sakurasaku restaurant, run by a lovely woman who quite literally ran from the kitchen to the low tables serving up delicious set menus (her first question was ‘are you vegan?’) , accompanied (as usual in these establishments) by coffee and cake. It looks like a fruit and veg shop from the outside but it was worth the trip to Himeji to sit on the floor for a while in this old fashioned place, enjoy the food and even the wartime music.

Osaka itself is a cool city that I would come back to, if only to experience the night life which I missed out on as I was always too exhausted from walking all day to go out again. The cherry tree lined river is beautiful and Osaka has it’s own castle, which would probably have been just as a good as Himeji.

There was time for some more silver jewellery shopping, a visit to a dragon shrine and the best food I had in Japan at the tiny Base Island Kitchen. The beautiful woman here serves up vegan tapas style dishes. I found her place just moments from where I was shopping by doing a quick Google maps search for ‘vegan food’ 🙏 I wish I could recreate these ‘nuggets’ at home!

Now that I had an extra week, Hiroshima was added to the itinerary. After some takeout avocado sushi (the best I have ever tasted, obviously as this is Japan), another couple of hours west on the Shinkansen and another reason I should have bought the JR pass (although overall I don’t think I was actually worse off because I took one way tickets) I arrived in the city famous for the atomic bomb.

I was a little apprehensive of visiting. But whilst it’s undoubtedly emotional – seeing a watch that stopped at the moment of the blast in 1945 and a child’s burned bicycle along with their cute smiling faces is hard – it’s actually incredibly peaceful and the ultimate feeling you are left with is one of hope. I learned a lot in the museum and Peace Memorial – such as just how many nuclear weapons there still are in the world today, and that in the 1980s there were enough to kill every member of the human race several times over.

Hiroshima is a quiet city and I saw the sites on foot in one day. It was also very cold! I spent two nights here in another K’s House hostel as the sister hostel in Hakone was so good, but the Hiroshima branch just doesn’t compare – the common area had no atmosphere and was always full of couples glued to their phones and not talking to each other (another reason to travel solo!) 🤔

The cherry blossom was well and truly in bloom in Hiroshima, and well worth extending my stay for! Cherry blossom viewing even has a name – ‘hanami’. It’s a national past time in Japan, with rows of blankets spread out under the trees and picnics in full swing. It’s really lovely to see.

The ruins of the only building in the centre left partially standing after the bomb is the Atomic Dome. The city decided to keep it as a reminder of the devastation and has campaigned for peace ever since. Seeing these ruins in stark contrast to the sky scrapers behind and the bright pink cherry blossoms lining the river infront is hard to comprehend.

There was bicycle set up nearby, with a folder packed with information and first hand stories of the bomb that are not found in the museum, website below which I will look at when I get home.

Naturally there is a castle in Hiroshima, which has been rebuilt and was worth a look although as all of the information was in Japanese I didn’t really know what I was looking at.

As always, I found a quirky little cafe in ‘Buddies’ just around the corner from the Peace Memorial to get out of the cold for a while. Shame I wasn’t there for the live music.

The Shukkeien gardens have been restored and are really worth a look. I tried the sticky rice and sweet soy sauce while I was there.

I’m glad I went to Hiroshima. Knowing you’re standing on the site of an Atomic Bomb is a strange feeling. At the Victims Memorial you can select a name on a touchscreen from up to 146,000 people killed as a result of the blast or radiation later in life, to see their photo, look into their eyes and read about their life. I only managed to look at three of them.

Paying respect here and becoming more educated about this moment in history was the least I could do before I was fortunate enough to continue my travels. Next stop, the island of Miyagima, which I will write as a separate post.

I wanted somewhere special to spend my birthday and in Japan I found the perfect place. A few hours south of modern Osaka is Mount Koya, otherwise known as Koya-San. When I started my Japanese journey, I didn’t realise how spiritual it would be. Koya-san is one of the most sacred places in Japan, a small and secluded temple town that was first established in 826 when monk Kobo-Daishi brought Shingon Buddhism to Japan after learning in China. It is now the world headquarters. Kobo-Daishi is believed to be in external meditation on the mountain top. It seems fitting that I came here after visiting the place where The Buddha found enlightenment in India, and the various tooth and hair relics throughout Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

This is another train journey where you buy a helpful heritage pass that includes all of your travel. It’s very easy – a train from Osaka to Gokurakubashi station where a cable car was waiting to take passengers up to the top of the steep mountain. Once in Koyasan station, there are local buses and people ready to help direct you. I arrived early afternoon with just a small backpack containing overnight kit and it was freezing – good thing I’m still rocking the Michelen look.

Cable car

I hopped straight onto a bus and got off at the helpfully numbered stop for my Ryokan (temple dwelling). Searching for solitude and a place to reflect, I was going to spend the night in the Shojoshin-in temple, eat Japanese vegetarian food and rise at 6am to watch the morning meditation ceremony. Right up my street then 😂

A kindly monk checked me in and showed me my room, which I thought was perfect. With no real English on his part, it took a while for me to understand that it was perfectly acceptable to wear the provided robe for dinner but absolutely not OK for the morning ceremony. Good thing we cleared that up! He also showed me the communal bathtub, to be used before bed 🤔

My room, with a sliding door (no lock necessary here), had a Japanese style mat to sleep on, thankfully a heater and pile of thick blankets, a pot of hot water and some green tea and a little sweet, some handmade brochures of the area and a tiny table and mat which were perfect for journal writing which I hadn’t managed since early February 🙈

Dinner was served in the hall at 17.30, each party separated with a little bamboo divider. The Shojin Ryori meal included local specialities of tofu which I liked, although for the omnivores it’s not really the best introduction to tofu. Again, the fun was really in the trying the different dishes. Maybe the weirdest taste sensation I’ve ever experienced was (I think) a pickled cherry tomato. The intensity of flavour actually took my breathe away and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I’d love to know what each dish was. Anybody recognise this white sponge like thing with pink and blue stripes that was in the soup? 🤔

My room was next to the bathroom so I could have a sneaky peak to see if there were any shoes outside the ladies curtain or if the bathtub was empty. I plucked up the courage to go in just as another woman was coming out and I’ll admit it did cross my mind that I was about to get into a stranger’s dirty bath water… I did it anyway as I was freezing cold and it was lovely! I took a photo earlier in the day before it was open.

On my birthday morning I woke up at 6am and joined the morning ceremony where a tall monk chanted for almost an hour straight, using a prayer bowl and gong at what I presume were key moments.

After breakfast of rice, miso soup and another wild array of unknown items, I spent an incredible morning at the Okunoin site, hours before any of the day trippers arrived. I met one old Japanese man who insisted on taking a photo for me, just as a group of people arrived and my heart sank. Luckily they disappeared and I had the place to myself.

There is an otherworldly feel to this place and a palpable calmness in the air. The 2 kilometer path to the mausoleum is lined with over 200,000 tombstones, with trails leading off on either side to hidden clusters of crumbling monuments. Many are in ruins, which gives it a tomb raider feel. I passed only a handful of people at 8am. It reminded me a little of a miniature Ankor Wat in Cambodia with none of the people.

I crossed the bridge to reach the mausoleum, where no photos are allowed. Behind the Hall of Lanterns, where 10,000 lanterns are eternally lit, is the site of Kobo-Daishi’s eternal meditation. Underground are 50,000 tiny statues.

This was the most serene place of all, surrounded by thousand year old cedar trees, the only sound being the trickle of water from the stream behind. I have never seen trees so tall.

I could easily add a hundred photos, but here is a video which hopefully shows the tranquility:

On the way I passed the water well, where it’s said that if you don’t see your reflection you’ll die within 3 years. I waited for someone else to arrive and see their reflection before I peeked over the edge and was relieved to see my face looking back at me.

I spent a good few hours here, climbing up random stairways and taking a detour along the river into a forest, without seeing anybody else. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had looked into the well and not seen my reflection when I was all alone.

I could have stayed all day but I was hungry and there is a lovely rustic vegetarian cafe that serves a set meal with coffee and cake included, called Bon-on-sha, on the way back into town which was perfect. Before heading back, I went to the edge of town to see the Daimon gate, marking the traditional entrance to Koyasan with its huge guardian statues.

Even though it was early afternoon by now there were still hardly any other visitors – most people stick to the largest temple of Kongobuji which contains the biggest rock garden in Japan.

A pine tree stands in the central Garan temple grounds, said to have 3 pronged pines. Legend has it that Kobo-Daishi threw his three pronged sankosho from China and discovered it in the branches of this very tree, which determined the site of Koyasan. I spent a while looking for a 3 forked pine but I didn’t see any.

When I got back to the cable car boarding area there was chaos (by Japan standards). A female staff member was shouting instructions in a high pitched voice and handing everyone a number. I had no idea what was going on so just stood there with my number until somebody explained that a tree had come down on the train tracks so we were waiting for a bus to drive up the mountain and rescue us. Ever so often an official would shout numbers in Japanese and people would follow him while the tourists in the room just held up their numbers hopefully. Fortunately a lovely old Japanese man on a pilgrimage (Koyasan is the start and end point) took me under his wing as we had the same numbers. Eventually we got on a bus that dropped us at a different train station and he gave me some sweets for the ride. This man was very concerned that I get back to Osaka safely and spent the entire train ride looking at his map through a magnifying glass, although I tried to tell him I’d figure it out and not to worry.

When I eventually made it back to my hostel a few hours later, the boy at reception said ‘ah yes your friend called us!’. I was very confused as I’m travelling alone until I realised that the old man had in fact called my hostel to confirm their location 🙂

I was too exhausted to do anything that night but relax and enjoy the nightly tea ceremony where the lovely front desk boy donned a robe and prepared the frothy mix in the traditional way. I couldn’t even pretend to like it this time 🤢 Luckily another girl shared her bottle of wine with me instead, a much more enjoyable end to the perfect day 🙏

With an extra week added to my trip, I had a couple more days in Osaka to explore the area – next blog coming soon.

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

I may have stolen that from a country music song I’m listening to at the moment but it’s a good question, especially when travelling and the answer should always be ‘today’ 😎 On this day I rode the ‘Romance Train’, saw Mount Fuji, and got unexpectedly naked in a communal Japanese bath 😬

I took this rather fancy train from Tokyo to the mountain town of Hakone, towards Mount Fuji, and it was hands down the nicest train I have ever ridden.

In my reserved seat with enough leg room for my own legs twice over, a luggage rack where I actually left my backpack out of sight and somebody came and served me a cup of coffee and biscuit. There were proper toilets with soap, and free WIFI with an interactive map and live camera view from the front of the train. Whatsmore whenever the attendant leaves the carriage they do a little bow 👏

I realise most of these points may sound obvious to the Western mind (maybe not the bowing part), but remember I’ve gotten used to trains in India where I’ve sat on the filthy floor watching my bag like a hawk and almost falling out of the open door onto the tracks.

The Japan train experience reminded me of something I forgot to write about in India. We had just arrived in Agra after a long train journey and tour guide Manny McPhee had clearly said ‘get off to the left’. Now the last time we took a train we nearly didn’t get off at all as a crowd pushed their way on before we got near the exit. So, as a few of us approached a door on the left and saw locals getting off, we followed suit. The fact there was no platform to step onto did not deter us. We jumped right down onto the live railway tracks like lemmings. I remember telling Izz Dog ahead of me to hurry up, not realising there was a metre drop. Only when I was down on the tracks, looking into the face of an oncoming train (that I now know was stationary) and realising it was not physically possible to haul myself, let alone my backpack, up onto the platform, did I panic slightly 🤦🏻‍♀️ Especially when I heard a train whistle in the distance. I still have the image in my head of Del Dog, mid air and horizontal, being dragged up on to the platform by her arms and legs. Had I not thought I was about to die I would have taken a photo, but I was too busy shouting HELP ME before I too was hoisted up by the gang. My lasting memory is tour guide Manny’s horrified expression as he registered what had happened from further down the train, where where everyone else was getting off at platform level like normal people, shouting ‘what are you doing!?’ Although I still cry with laughter at this memory, it scares me a little that I adopted this pack mentality and didn’t question what I was doing 😬

Anyway, in Japan it’s clearly marked where to get on and off so no risks of that happening again 😂

I also appreciated for the first time that Japan is not just bright lights and big cities. There was snow and sunshine at the same time 😎 The scenery and nature here is simply stunning.

The ‘Heritage pass’ from Tokyo to Hakone includes all transport in the Hakone area, which is perfectly set up for tourism. I’ve decided to start including actual useful information about where I’ve travelled as well as silly stories, as more people are reading this blog now who might be planning a trip. I got on a local bus and headed to my hostel, K’s House which had some beautiful mountain views although it was raining. I hadn’t seen rain for months!! Just across the road from the hostel is a great little Japanese style bar where you sit side by side at a long bar. They even have a veggie menu – vegetable noodles Japan style please!

The Japanese love to queue for restaurants too. All of the eateries around the train station had long lines outside but this little place is too far up the hill for most people.

Everyone who comes to Hakone does two things. Firstly ‘the loop’ which is a brilliantly organised system of trains, buses, a boat, a ropeway (unfortunately not a rope ladder as I thought but a cable car) with a bit of easy hiking thrown in. Although what I ended up doing on Saturday was spending all afternoon at various train stations trying to buy a ticket for the following day to Kyoto, plus it was raining and bloody freezing.

Secondly, eveyone visits the hot springs (‘onsen’). The bathing experience in Japan is very different. I chose this hostel since it has it’s own onsen. I thought I had misread the sign at first that said ‘no bathing suits allowed’. But yes, the Japanese like to bathe full on starkers, albeit in separate men and women’s pools. Actually they switch the timings, so men are in the outdoor pool when women are inside, and vice versa. It’s a little bit stressful making sure you’re entering the right one at the right time – should have learned the Japanese sign for women! You have to shower first sitting on a miniature stool otherwise you’ll cause offence, then get in the pool. I decided to take the plunge and was initially relieved to have the outdoor pool all to myself – although in a way this was weirder than bathing with others 🤷🏻‍♀️ No photos for obvious reasons – you can stop reading now if that’s what you were looking for!

The next day I set off bright and early on the loop after K’s free coffee 👏 The temperature was 1 degree celcius but the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I realised one more thing that day – I would be wearing all of my clothes, all of the time. I refuse to buy a thicker jacket even if that means resembling a Michelen Man.

I teamed up with a couple of guys from my hostel for the day. It was fun to do the loop with others – backpacking is a mix of time spent in your own company and with others, and today was the perfect time for the latter.

New travel buddies Matt and Andy…. a selfie stick may have been involved

With another paper map and and not really knowing how long any of it would take, plus not wanting to miss my train that I had unnecessarily prebooked, we whizzed around the first bit and accidently missed half the places we wanted to stop at 🤦🏻‍♀️

Note to self #1 – there is actually no need to pay extra to prebook a train seat if you’re flexible on time.

Note to self #2 – next time just cough up for the Japan Rail pass (for a flat fee and certain number of days you can travel all over Japan with a few exceptions) then you don’t have to faff about buying a ticket at all, you can just jump in the three unreserved carriages.

The loop includes a boat ride across the lake on what I considered a pirate ship – I really wanted to climb the masts 🤔 The crowds really build up come midday so be prepared for a bit of a wait.

I was lucky with the weather and got so many stunning views of Mount Fuji…. I had prepared myself to maybe catch a glimpse between the clouds but this was fantastic. Yes there are a lot of people doing this loop, but if you set off early and take your time to get off the beaten track you can escape the crowds.

We did just that when we veered off the path in search of a viewpoint and discovered some gorgeous snowy paths around the lake. The scenery reminded me of Banff in Canada, or New Zealand – it’s rare to have snow on the ground, bright sunshine and waves lapping at your feet.

And Mount Fuji in the background – that’s snow on the mountain top, not a cloud 😎

I tried a giant freshly roasted rice cracker with soy sauce while the guys went for the local ‘black egg’ 🤢 I guess it’s black due to the sulphur from the hot springs which we could smell – obviously ignoring the warnings stating that anyone with any health problems at all risks death (flashback to the volcano in Hawaii which Helen and I survived). I didn’t see anyone bothering with the protective face towel that was provided 🤷🏻‍♀️

There’s a lot more to see in the area if you have the time, including the Hakone Open Air Museum at the top of the loop, which I missed, and local onsens which I chickened out of. Beware – most onsen don’t accept tattoos as this is a sign of Japanese mafia 🙊

After a nonstop day involving all kinds of transport, I had my first encounter with the Shinkansen (bullet train) as we all headed to Kyoto. Next post coming soon 😎