Day 10

Today we had booked the Romantic Train Route at 11, so we had to get about 45 minutes outside the city center to reach this train. It was a super old steam engine train, and I don’t think the person driving has ever driven a train before. It was jerking the whole entire time haha

It was pretty, but half of the 25 minute ride was spent in tunnels. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to do it, as it’s so far outside the city and isn’t thaaaaat great. We did see a wild monkey across the river, though.

After we got back into the city, we decided to go to the famous Nineizaka area, which was absolutely packed with tourists and so many school groups. It had some nice views and is a very old area, but it was super hot and full, making it not enjoyable.

From there, it was just a 10 minute walk to Ryōzen Kannon, a Buddhist temple constructed after WWII to commemorate all the soldiers who died. The Buddha on the top was amazing to see. It’s roughly 90 feet tall!

On our walk back to the hotel, we ran into the cute little love statues at Kodai-ji. They’ve been my favorite so far.

We wanted a drink, and found a tiny craft beer bar not too far away. It was empty besides the woman owner/barkeeper who made us play Jenga, a pirate game, and a crocodile biting game. It was just okay, but we got the bill and for two beers paid $22, so that wasn’t nice hah

We found another craft bar not far, and had a few beers there. None of them were super good unfortunately. We sat by a Scottish couple who got kicked out because there was a reservation at their table in 10 minutes. They’re intense about their timing and schedules haha

We finished our beers, walked around the corner to another craft bar, and low and behold, our Scottish friends walked in 30 seconds after us and sat next to us. We ended up talking to them for the next few hours, and it ended up being a really good time.

We said our goodbyes, got some drunk ramen, and made our way back to the hotel to sleep without setting an alarm.

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