Naritasan Shinsho-ji, Narita, Japan

What a fantastic introduction to Japan. We made the decision to stay in Narita for a night once realising that with the time our flight landed if we went straight to Toyko it would be evening when we got there. Best to stay close by and make the jump to Tokyo the next day.

Then we were recommended a temple in Narita, which turned out to be the perfect place for us to experience the sereneness of Japanese temples for the first time.

Narita itself was a busy, bustling place and walking down the street everyone seemed to be making their way to the temple as well. We thought this would mean the usual hive of activity at the temple, which there was, but we were also able to quietly stand and appreciate the zen garden, and wander around the grounds and the ponds mostly by ourselves too.

The weather was a perfect sunny day too, not the usual high heat and humidity that we have become accustomed too, which made this an even better experience. Our first restaurant meal in Japan we also had here - unfortunately it had to be Indian, as we could guarantee vegetarian and nut free, but it was delicious nonetheless!Read more