If we came all the way to Japan and didn’t see a Sumo Wrestler we would be very disappointed. The day didn’t begin well as we were behind schedule for the sumo practice at Arashio Beyo. Then we stupidly bought the wrong metro pass and had to walk large distances to save buying another ticket….
Tag: japanese
Incredible views of Mount Fuji
It took seven trains to get from Osaka to Kawaguchiko which is part of the Fuji Five Lakes region. We did take one wrong train but still it would of taken six if we did it right. A bullet train took us most of the distance and we even got our first glimpse of Mount…
The wild deer of Nara and 30,000 cherry trees, Japan
It was a miserable day and totally pouring with rain but we didn’t have any spare time to kill so headed to Nara as planned. A very wet walk even in our ponchos took us to Nara Park which wasn’t a typical park and lots of roads cut through it. The park is home to…
Exploring Kyoto’s top sights
The bamboo grove of Arashayama is an image I’ve seen posted online numerous times and finally it was our chance to see it. Sadly everyone else had the same idea…it was heaving and totally impossible to take a photo without anyone else in it. The bamboo forest wasn’t as vast as I expected, just a…
Experiencing a traditional Japanese Inn, Takayama
We arrived at Takayama’s old town on a cold, dark night but had the warmest of welcomes from our hosts at their traditional inn. The old couple that owned the place were adorable, the man who I’ll call Bob guided us through his spotless house showing us everything we needed to know and being totally…
Snow monkeys in thermal pools, Japan
We had the same problem looking for breakfast in this ghost town as we did looking for dinner. Thankfully we spotted a coffee sign so headed into what turned out to be a very old couples house. I don’t think they get many customers and the man literally threw his wife into a cupboard along…
First impressions of Japan
I can’t quite believe we decided to come to Japan. Two backpackers in Japan, what were we thinking? We randomly pointed at a map and picked it because it was en route to Alaska (it’s really not that en route) but it looked like a fascinating country. We knew it would be expensive but we…