Japan
Saiin

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    • Day 10

      Alle laufen im Pyjama und Schulklassen

      April 24 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Beim Kaffeeholen im Hotelpyjama stelle ich fest, dass es noch mehr Leute mit meinem Outfit gibt. Witziger Anblick. Leider war M zu klein, trägt Eric, passt, sieht aber aus wie zu heiss aus dem Trockner.
      Nun sollen die Top Sehenswürdigkeiten abgeklappert werden. Zu Fuss zur Pagode, beeindruckend. Schulklassen in diversen Schuluniformen sind omnipräsent. Tempeltoilette 1 ist für mich unbenutzbar dafür ist die zweite mit automatischem Vogelgezwitscher. Weiter zum Food Markt, der natürlich auch der absolute Touristen Hotspot ist. Ganz schön teuer die Häppchen. Und wieder Schulklassen ohne Ende. Muss denn hier niemand zur Schule? Wenn schon, denn schon sagen wir uns und nehmen uns noch den Iniri Schrein vor. Falsche Geishas, weitere Schulklassen und sonst noch was traben wie ne Schafherde durch den wunderschönen Schrein. Hier versucht jeder das wirklich allerbeste Foto zu schiessen. Mir gelingt es nicht habe aber auch keine Geduld dafür. Jetzt sollen unsere Traumkörper aber endlich in den verdienten Hotelonsen (getrennt natürlich) plumpsen. Und sie sind geplumst. Das Hotel ist wirklich gut. Der Onsen ist toll, Massagesessel dann noch ein Eis umsonst, alle Pflegeartikel da - da gibt es nix zu meckern ❤️ ach waschen kann man auch für umme.
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    • Day 14

      Arrival in Kyoto

      November 11, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      We left Osaka and travelled by train to Kyoto successfully making the required transfers with our luggage. We found our hotel in Kyoto and left our bags. We decided to visit Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion). It is a Zen Temple - the top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. Formally known as Rokuonji, the temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and according to his will it became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect after his death in 1408. Getting there was by train and crowded bus and it was a very busy destination. It is an impressive structure on a large pond. We left the crowds and walked back to catch a bus back to the station where we found a little Japanese restaurant to have lunch. Next we walked to Nijo Castle but decided against paying to go inside the grounds (we've already seen a few castles!). Then we wandered up to the Imperial Palace grounds. The grounds are extensive with wide gravel paths, lots of different tree varieties, various buildings, a shrine and impressive gates. We caught a couple of trains to get back to our hotel to check in and relax.Read more

    • Day 15

      Kyoto sights - Nara Park & Inari

      November 12, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      In an attempt to beat the crowds we rose early and caught to train to Nara where we caught a bus to the Park. The journey takes approximately two hours so we arrived at around 9am. Nara Park was already bustling with tourists so we headed straight for Todai-ji Temple to see the Vairocana Buddha. Housed in an impressive structure it is almost 15 metres in height. It is made of cast bronze, plated in gold. The Great Buddha Hall is one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The 660 hectare park contains other interesting buildings, a bell tower and is also home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. Considered the messengers of the gods, Nara's deer have become a symbol of the city and have even been designated as a natural treasure. Deer crackers are for sale around the park, and some deer have learned to bow to visitors to ask to be fed. Next we walked back to the station and caught the train to Inari. Fushimi Inari Shrine is right at the station exit and is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates donated by companies and individuals. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. It was also a very popular tourist destination. This ancient shrine was founded in the year 711 to house the Shinto deity Inari Okami, making it a site of worship for more than thirteen centuries. The name “Inari” comes from Inari being the god of rice. We spent a couple of hours walking the trails and exploring the shrine before heading back to Kyoto.Read more

    • Day 16

      Kyoto - Gion and Nishiki Market

      November 13, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

      It was a cold, wet morning in Kyoto. Having just finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha I was keen to visit Gion (Kyoto's Geisha District) so we set out to catch the train to the area. First we found Yasaka Shrine (once called Gion Shrine) which has several buildings, including gates, a main hall and a stage. Next we wandered through the Gion streets where some tourists were dressed in traditional kimonos. We crossed the river and found ourselves in a main shopping street and large arcade. We had some lunch and shopped for a while then eventually found Nishiki Market which is a narrow, five block long shopping street. Known as "Kyoto's Kitchen", this lively retail market specializes in all things food related, like fresh seafood, produce, knives and cookware, sake and sushi. The rain had stopped when we made our way back to the station and returned to the hotel.Read more

    • Day 4

      Rainy day

      March 5 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

      It's a rainy and cold day today, max of apparently 9 degrees. We got up a little later than previous day today and after a quick breakfast at the nearby konbini, it was off to the Kyoto Aquarium. Entry is 2500y. It was alright, quite small overall. Warm inside but a lot of schoolkids, many very small haha. The penguin exhibit was funny, they came right up to the glass and oddly didn't smell. They had dolphins but we missed the performance at 11.30am by just about half an hour. Stayed for about 1.5h then it's off to lunch.Read more

    • Day 11

      Fushimi Inisha

      May 27, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Nachmittags sind wir dann noch zum Fushimi Inisha Schrein gefahren. Ich hatte schon gelesen, dass es sie lohnt den gesamten 4km Weg anzutreten und es stimmt. Die ersten 500m voll mit Menschen, Touristen und Japanerinnen, die sich Kimonos geliehen haben, um das perfekte Insta Foto zu schießen. Die haben wir relativ schnell überholt und man merkt dann richtig wie es nach oben hin ausdünnt. Der Schrein ist wunderschön. 10,000 dieser orangenen Tore sind aufgestellt. Anscheinend kam jeder sich eins aufstellen lassen, der genug spendet.

      Als letzte Station sind wir Okonomyiaki essen gegangen. In einer verrammelten kleinen Bude, in der ein Opi (der aussah wie der japanische Joachim) mit seiner Schwester japanische Pizza gemacht hat. Dafür gibt es eine heisse Platte auf unserem Tisch und die Pizza besteht aus Pfannkuchenteig, Nudeln, Kohl, Fleisch, Ei und anderen undefinierbaren Sachen - super lecker und einfach total süß die zwei. Haben uns total nett gezeigt wie es geht ohne ein Wort englisch zu können. Aber es geht ja immer irgendwie.

      Weitere Erkenntnisse:
      4. die Menschen in Tokio wissen sich verdammt gut anzuziehen, insbesondere die Frauen (Kyoto ist da schon mehr hipster)

      5. auch die Männer. Viel im Anzug und sogar Parkwächter, Bus- oder Taxifahrer oder Bahnhofsvorsteher (?) tragen Uniform mit weißen Handschuhen und sehen sehr vornehm aus.

      6. Japaner können immer und überall schlafen.
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    • Day 10

      Aquarium

      June 17, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      Disclaimer: this aquarium has a dolphin show. I do not doubt the living condition in the aquarium are ok, but there are no suitable condition for dolphins to be captive. Few associations in Kyoto also denounce the capture conditions of dolphins: hunter capture a family of dolphin, kill all the ugly ones and keep the cute ones to sell, leaving them traumatized. We skipped the dolphin show.
      The pingouins seem to be taken care of nicely, with a very cute relationship chart between them. 🥰
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