Justine and Dylan’s Travel Blog

As mentioned before, I won’t be able to post all my Japan photos till a later date, but I figured I’d put up a few here for now…

One of the nicest walks we’ve done so far was that around Atago-san. As with all of the walks we’ve done, temples were floating around, but this one actually lacked a lot of the touristy aspects which we’ve grown accustomed to. Sure, there were a few others (only Japanese of course) walking around, but the whole place was practically deserted.

A few other hikes which we’ve attempted didn’t get very far as there was snow on the path (or falling!) or construction going on (March is obviously too early for hiking season), but this one was just do-able. There was still snow at the top (at 924m), but it was a sunny day, it wasn’t too deep and as always it really made the place (including the temple at the top, Atago-ji, look even more scenic). After the climb  (starting in Kitoyaki), the second part involved following a beautiful gorge with crystal clear water and moss covered rocks to the next village over (Takao), which had a few interesting (moss-covered) little temples to finish things off with. Very cool and highly recommended if ever in Kyoto.

On the photo side of things. Have tried to post some photos, but as always seem to be having technical issues. Hardware: no problem. Internet: faster than it will probably ever be in Australia. Unfortunately, FTP access: denied. In other words, bulk uploads of all the Japan photos will have to wait till a later date. Perhaps Tokyo

Have spent the last week or so exploring Kyoto and surrounds. All great stuff and worthy of the “not to be missed” description often given to it (if you’re into guide books).

One observation though: it is very easy to overdose on temples. They are everywhere. Which kind of makes sense when you find out over 2000 of them are in just this city. Apart from the big touristy ones, there are little ones, ones with gardens, ones with other types of gardens, ones with shrines, ones tucked in between shops (think Chadstone style shopping centre, but with a handy temple tucked in between JB Hifi and MYER), ones inside of other seemingly unrelated tourist attractions, ones on hills away from it all, and ones just about everywhere in between. And then there’s the shrines, torii gates, etc. Kiyomizu-dera, Todaiji, Choin-in, Heian-Jingu, Ginkakuji, Kinkakuji, Nanzen-ji, Atago-ji and Fushimi Inari are a couple we seem to have stumbled across while walking around.  And trust me, we have stood literally outside the gates of more than that and decided not to go in because there just wasn’t enough time.

To mix it up a bit (we came prepared), we were also able to throw in a few castles (Himeji-jo, Nijo-jo), a few walks (Daimonjo-yama, Atago-san), gardens (Todaiji, Kokoen), a day trip to Nara and of course some shopping.

Topped off by sampling some of the local cuisine (sushi still rules in my mind, even having now also tried okonomiyaki, ramen, udon noodle varieties, syabu-syabu), it’s been an amazing few days. Do seem to be developing a craving for steak, potatoes, normal cereal and brown bread though.

Off to Takayama, Matsumoto and Tokyo tomorrow for more fun and games. Should be… uhm, different… to say the least (as always).