I woke up at a decent hour. A quiet, good night’s sleep at the hostel, but my legs and shins hurt so much! I’m really wishing I hadn’t left my sneakers in the US. Walking in Chucks all day is hurting. I left my stuff in a locker there as it was a flexible check out time. Saved me 300 yen for a train station locker ha. I then headed off to my first stop, Tenryu-ji and the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Got some breakfast from a conbini and ate outside near a stream. The train station was right nearby. This was the first time I’d encountered JR machines that were only in Japanese. They had some English instructions printed out, but googled only showed me the romaji, not the kanji of my destination, eee. I decided to trust Google’s price estimate and just bought the ticket for that. Luckily when I disembarked, I got through the gates no problem with the big herd of tourists.

The walk from the train station to the temple was quite pretty! We crossed over a big river filled with birds. Saw a heron type one and several egrets. So common here. I’ve seen more in the two months here than in my whole US life, ha. While crossing the bridge, I saw some photographers with a geisha and snuck a photo. This temple is known for its gardens and their design that date back to the 1400s. I wandered the gardens first, some gorgeous landscaping with a pond.

I actually got to go inside this temple as well! You had to remove your shoes at the entrance. It was cool to see the large wooden beams, and paintings inside. I can’t imagine how people stayed warm though. Afterward, I headed to the bamboo grove. A fantastic atmosphere again: calming, with a bit of wind rustling. Bamboo grows freely around here, but I’ve never seen so much in one spot.

With a train ride, I was off to take a bus to Kingaku-ji, the golden temple. I had to wait for a second bus because the first one was so full! Luckily, I managed to by a day bus pass from the driver. You only go in the back doors so I wasn’t sure how to buy it from the driver. Asking him if he had any from outside the bus worked, and then I just walked to the front to buy one from him. I don’t know if you normally buy it at the end, but I hate holding up everyone disembarking. By the time we got there, I was pretty hungry. I ended up finding a pizza stand by the temple and had some flatbread pizza that was quite yummy. No English required, point and pay XD

There were a lot more tourists here than at Gingaku-ji. The temple itself was quite stunning. Two levels of the building wrapped in gold leaf with a gold phoenix on top. The gardens weren’t as nice though, so really it was an expensive entrance fee for just the temple. I was still on the hunt for omiyage for my co-workers and ended up buying something outside the temple from a tourist stand. But dumbly enough, I later realized I hadn’t bought enough so I had to find some more before I left that night.

I then took a bus to Nijo Castle! One of my absolute favorite parts of my trip. I really enjoy historical sites. It was interesting to compare the Japanese style castle to those I’ve visited in Europe. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside. They kept everything pretty dark and dim to preserve the paintings. Most of the original wall screens had been moved to a gallery. Almost no décor besides tatami mats, wood floors, some wall alcoves that used to hold relics, and beautiful paintings (with gold) reaching two stories. Very high ceilings. The floors made an interesting sound when you walked across them. It’s called nightingale floors: “Dry boards naturally creak under pressure, but these floors were designed so that the flooring nails rubbed against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. The squeaking floors were used as a security device, assuring that none could sneak through the corridors undetected.” I love walking among places where major events in history have occurred. The rest of the gardens and adjoining buildings were interesting to see too. The castle has two moats.

Itinerary completed! I headed back to my hostel to pick up my backpack. I stopped by McD’s for early dinner as I had some time to kill before catching my bus and my feet and legs were not up for more sightseeing. They even spoke some English! I can’t get over how different big city life is ha. My cheeseburger tasted quite different than those from the US. Much less greasy, and the bun was made of better bread. Got to charge my dying phone too. Afterward, I decided to brave a French styled café for dessert. No English this time, but I got enough of what was being said. After a brief wait, I got a table with a menu all in katakana so I knew at least it was English names. I planned on just ordering in accented English, but the waitress brought me an English menu! I ended up with a cake set with lemon tea and a lemon tarte. The cake was delicious, and had a blackberry glaze. A nice dessert for me! I hung out by the banks of the river again once I was finished and did some reading.

I caught the bus to the train station and wandered around inside. Bought some more omiyage, ha, and then checked out the whole department store they had for food omiyage. The gift giving culture here is so strong! I then went to the rooftop gardens on the top floor and passed a cool light show built into the stairs. The escalators for me though. There was a pretty awesome night view and some benches amongst bamboo. So many young people making out in the dark shadows haha. No PDA here. I hung out here next before it got too cold and I descended into the station to sit on the lit stairs. Finally I decided it was time to find my bus home. I stopped by a bakery for a late dinner cutlet sandwich snack and milk tea. My bus was already there and I managed to board without problems. The ride back was rough again. I was exhausted but I’m not sure how much sleep I got. I walked the twenty minutes home at 4:30 am and fell into bed. The walk woke me up in the brisk air, but I got about an hour of sleep before I had to wake up and go to Shimonita.

Woke up with rather sore muscles. All that mountain climbing yesterday. I knew I should have made my sneakers fit anyway. I need to buy some here. While getting ready, Ayaka had the Japanese news on. It’s quite interesting to see the differences in the crime report. Everything was detailed, mapped, and plotted out. Any witness or person being interviewed never had anything but their upper body shown. Reminded me a lot more of a 60 minutes report. We took the train to Kyoto, about an hour, full ride, and dropped my backpack off at a locker close to my hostel. Afterward, we continued on our schedule to Gingaku-ji, the Silver Temple. We had to take a bus from the station (my first one). The street was covered in vendors, especially many selling yatsuhashi. The hard kind tastes kind of like flavored fortune cookies or waffles. The soft one has a paste filling and a rice flour covering. It comes in many flavors: strawberry, green tea with chocolate, banana with chocolate, sesame, red bean.

Inside the temple, it was rather peaceful. Such a serene atmosphere and there were less tourists. The gardens were covered in moss. A good site to begin with. I definitely want to come back in November though when all the momiji (Japanese maple) are red! We walked a bit along the philosopher’s path, also quite calming before getting lunch on the way back to the bus stop. We ate at an udon place. I had kitsune (fox) udon which had fried pieces of tofu in it, yum. Ayaka pointed out how the broth differs here in Kansai. It’s lighter than in Kanto.

Next stop via train, Fushimi-Inari Taisha (Shrine)! This was on my Japan bucket list! It featured in two of my favorite manga/anime and they actually had posters everywhere for the one. So many people again, but that’s what I get for going during Silver Week. Each tori (gate) can be sponsored, but it’ll cost you about $1500 for the smallest size! I read that turning around at the crossroads point gets you a good view without having to make the whole 2-3 hour hike up. After yesterday, my legs were not ready for anything more. This was already exhausting. The map kinda tricked us in the beginning as it was not too scale at all. Made the distance seem short, but the higher you got the longer it actually was. All the steep stairs up and then back down. Really impressive and amazing to see.

We picked up my luggage from a station and went to check in at my hostel. Ayaka acted as translator again because the family barely spoke any English. Super sweet though! Our reward for the hike today was tea time with matcha (green tea) parfaits! Kyoto is famous for all the matcha parfaits. We first tried to go to Tsujiri tea house which is the most well-known, but it was an hour wait so we went to an imitation café that Ayaka had been to before. The parfaits were amazing. I will continue to dream of it. Sometimes matcha can be too bitter or sweet for me, but this was a perfect blend of tastes and textures. Drooling right now thinking of it.

After tea, we went to Hanami-koji which is old Kyoto where you can find geisha. Really cool to see the old buildings and cobblestones. We didn’t see any Geisha, just a lot of expensive restaurants, $150 meals! Ayaka didn’t feel well so we took a break and sat by the river. Apparently this a big lover’s spot so Ayaka said she had never sat there before. Very pretty and peaceful. We wanted a small dinner since the parfait had filled us up so she recommend a Showa Era chain restaurant. It was super cool! The walls were decorated with posters and flags, and they played the coolest music. It sounded a lot like our WWII and pre-war music, but in Japanese! As ladies, we got free soup and ice cream, yes! Ayaka just ordered some things off the menu as it was huge and of course all in Japanese. My favorite thing was cheese hanpen – deep fried cheese on a stick. Sadly, we had to say our goodbyes with several hugs as she had to catch the train back to Osaka.

I headed off to my hostel which was a close 5 minute walk. I met a Chinese girl who was a Tokyo student and staying in the same room. She spoke great English and Japanese. She was very friendly and shared some peanut brittle snacks from China with me. It was off to bed with me. Two other girls from the Netherlands came in shortly before midnight. 

I slept very well at Ayaka’s! Her neighborhood is calm and her futon super comfy. On the way to catch the train to Kobe, we grabbed some conbini breakfast. A lot of people everywhere all the time. We missed our switchover so we did have to backtrack a bit, whoops. In Kobe, I saw my first homeless person as we were going through some back alleys. It’s been really surprising to not see them in the big cities at all or beggars.

We stopped by Chinatown first and grabbed a snack. Ayaka got Peking duck and I had a dumpling. Absolutely mouthwatering. It had the white, fluffy bread that Chloe and I dream of from back when our Chinese lab group ordered food for us. We then headed towards the harbor! It smelled like the ocean, ah, I miss a salty breeze. It’s been a little over a year since my last ocean visit in Maine. We walked around Meriken Park and saw Kobe Tower and a ferris wheel. Lots of hotels right on the water. There was music playing and some kind of festival tents and people practicing their dance performances. I also saw the Japanese Coast Guard boats, ha.

Afterward we walked to the next train station and stopped in a cute little store. Once I have a bit of a nest egg built here, shopping here I come! We got off to take a gondola up to the Kobe Herb Garden Park. The round trip ticket was a little pricey but once we saw how steep the mountain was, we decided it was worth it. I was worried I’d get motion sick with the swinging up the gondola (they only sat 6), but once it was past the initial swing out, the rocking calmed. Fantastic views of the city! And we passed over the Nubiki Falls and the damn. We got off at the middle station, dodging the couple with the baby carriage that got in after us. The gondolas never stopped moving so you had to swing yourself in and out quickly. We began our descent to the falls using a road. I took a photo of the initial map and with the help of GPS and google maps, we managed to avoid the wrong path. There was some crazy, unmarked, wilderness trail that we had a short heart attack about, but it turned out the right path was further down the road, thanks to Ayaka’s questioning.

We headed down some steep paths and uneven stairs before finally making it to the waterfall. So beautiful! I really wanted to go swimming in the pool. We decided not to take the road back up as it was really steep and basically the same distance as the hike through the woods. So wasn’t wearing the right shoes for all this walking and standing. We passed some cool sights, a vine covered bridge, a waterfall caused from water overflow from the dam, the dam itself, and the lake of drinking water. Then came the worst part, a bunch of steep switchbacks and stairs back to the top where the middle gondola station was. Somehow we survived and headed to the top station.

At the top station was a European styled building and some food stalls for the Autumn Fest featuring German polka and food – onion soup, sausage, beer and pretzels. Ayaka and I both got a sausage in a bun and enjoyed part two of our lunch. Missing Germany, ahh. I was quite hungry after all that exercise. We walked through the rose garden. It was a little too early for the blooms, but enjoyable. We had tea by the flowers. It was a rosehip, hibiscus tea that changed from a gold to red-orange color as it steeped.  We also walked through the shops, smelled many good herbal fragrances.

We then began our descent through the gardens. Supposedly this is the largest herb garden in Japan with over 75,000 herbs. It was a little off season sadly, too early for the cosmos. They had some Halloween décor up. I feel like there’s a lot more Halloween things around here than in Europe. We finally made it back to the middle station after walking down some steep paths again. My legs were so done. We headed back towards the main station before looking for dinner. Not more walking, but a train. I couldn’t do more. We ended up at an “Italian” family restaurant chain called Saizeriya. They had pasta and pizza, and that was it for the Italian part, haha. Hamburgers were also served. In Japan, they come with just the patty and some fries. Ayaka told me it’s usually eaten with a side of rice! I got doria which was delicious. A baked bowl of rice, sauce, cheese, and some veggies. Would definitely go again!

After we got back to Osaka, we went to a mall where we could go grocery shopping. Ayaka also showed me an import store there; benefits of living in a big city. Good prices and loads of food from around the world that I like. I had mentioned to Ayaka that I was searching for yogurt without fruit chunks and she showed me the brand that she buys. Plain, strawberry and blueberry – all chunk free! We got some breakfast for tomorrow, a kind of cheesecake bread and brown sugar bread. Then we stopped by the takoyaki shop near her apartment and I got to try that for ‘dessert.’ So yummy (even though it was super hot, burnt my tongue). The seller knew Ayaka and asked him about me. Also got asked earlier in her neighborhood if I was a missionary, ha. Takoyaki has octopus inside of a dough ball. After figuring out tomorrow’s plans, I went to bed a full, happy girl.

Caught the bus at midnight. I took a two hour nap ahead of time to prepare myself for a night of little sleep. While walking the 20 minutes there, I went through a ‘new’ part of town for me, clearly filled with more bars and a club (?). A lot of people were out and about for Tomioka. There were two buses that came. The first was 10 minutes early and took a family of four. Two other people and I were left waiting. The next bus came 15 minutes late! I feel like nothing is ever late in Japan, but wham. I was told a seat number so good thing I’d learned my numbers by then. The seats had lots of leg room and reclined nicely as did the night bus I rode in Europe.

I slept some, but it was rough. Every two hours the bus stopped at a rest area and turned all the lights on. The two drivers kept switching on and off too. I didn’t see a toilet on the bus either so that’s also probably why they stop. I gave up on sleep around 6 as the sun was bright and shining. We disembarked outside of Kyoto Station at about 6:30 am. So many people! And all the Westerners I saw in the first couple of minutes. The signs were also written in English everywhere. Big city shock for little inaka (country) me. I bought some breakfast (pancake sandwich with bean paste and onigiri) and set off to navigate the station. Definitely wandered around a bit in circles to find the right part. Everything was upstairs! Successfully bought a ticket and caught the train to Osaka. Very interesting to see at the big train stations how everyone properly lines up to enter the train. There are door and car number markers on the ground including lines that you show stand on.

All I can say is that big city life also looks like anime, ha. Herds of people crossing crosswalks at once. Masses at the train station and on the trains and buses. I’m sure it was also extra busy for Silver Week. I met up with Ayaka in Osaka Station (also huge, 15 floors or so, but less tracks than in Munich). It was six months since we last traveled together in the US. So good to see her again! Now we’ve met in North America, Europe, and Asia! We first went to her apartment so I could drop off my stuff. I must say traveling suddenly got a lot faster. No deciphering train signs, waiting for the romaji spelling. Her Japanese transit app told her which platforms to go to as well. I just followed her around.

She’s located about 20 minutes from the main station in a nice neighborhood. We shared a yummy breakfast of croissants from a bakery, oranges, and buckwheat tea. Then we headed off to completely the itinerary. First up, Osaka Castle. We walked through a park from the train station that was filled with sakura trees and a food festival that was hopping despite it only being 10 am. Now that I can identify them, I see them everywhere. Can’t wait for spring! The castle had an outer and inner moat to cross. Certainly an impressive building! The park around it was rather meh. A small Japanese garden was more landscaped but that was it. Perhaps the paid garden area was better, but we didn’t enter. Afterward, we went to have lunch after traipsing through the city a bit to find the nearest train station. We went to a kaiten sushi (conveyor belt) place for my first time. Each plate costs a different amount and you pay based on your empty plates. I tried saba (mackerel) for the first time. So yummy! Now I understand why Haru from Free! is obsessed with it. It was also cool that you made your own tea. They had matcha powder there and a tap which emitted hot water.

Then it was off to stop #2, the Umeda Sky Building. It’s an awesome piece of modern architecture, two skyscrapers joined together built in 1993. We went all the way to the top and had great views of Osaka. Afterward, we went to the Pokémon Center in Osaka Station. I figured I had to satisfy my inner curiosity and check it out for my little bro. There was a special event going on with dancing Pikachus and so much Pokémon stuff. I’d like to go back when it’s less crowded. We had a little bit time to kill before our dinner plans so we popped into a bookstore. Very interesting to see that the books were quite small and all written up and down.

We had a mini Nashville consulate reunion with four of us! We had seven people meet up for dinner at an izakaya with nomihodai (all you can drink). We were lucky to have Ayaka with us. She made the reservation and found a coupon, and helped with all the ordering. I continued to drink my new fav, Calpis. Also tried the alcoholic version, Calpis sour. I finished it, but it was a bit too alcoholic tasting for me. The food was yummy! Ten dishes and so filling. Got to have yakisoba and Osaka’s traditional food: okonomiyaki. We made it home, planned our next day, and Ayaka slept her drinks off. What a fun evening!