So the first two weeks in Japan were all about the food, but the last week was much more about fancy hotels and onsens. The fanciest of the bunch was probably the hotel in the middle of Shikoku where you could take a cable car down to bottom of the Oboke gorge and soak in an open air bath by the river. My personal favourite though was the hotel on Shodoshima where the boys’ bath was in a speedboat and the girls’ was in a yacht – both of which were on the roof of the hotel! Aside from the hot baths there was also plenty more feasting (because all the fancy hotels serve you banquets too), plenty of temples and train journeys and fish kites flying for the boys festival. We even managed to visit an olive grove! My last full day in Japan we spent on Miyajima, another of the top three most scenic places in the country and managed to get sunburnt hiking up to the top of Mount Mizen to get a stunning view of the inland sea. As usual travelling through Japan the list of places that I need to come back and see more of just grew and grew.
All that travelling was quite exhausting though, and by comparison my time in Sydney has been sedate. It’s been nice to have a pit-stop in an English speaking country so that I can get a few of my chores done – I was due a haircut and my shoes have been leaking a bit, that kind of thing. I even took advantage of being in a big city to go and see the new Star Trek film in IMAX! Hardly the most exciting of travelling stories I know, but I’ve been to Sydney a couple of times now, and I can never get very excited about the place! Anyway, I’ve headed a few beaches north of the city now to Collaroy to enjoy some sun and sand and listen to my spanish tapes in preparation for when the serious travelling gets underway! Hasta luego!
Jim, will you take me to Japan one day?
We will be looking out for your report from Rapa Nui =) And NO bragging about who won the Mexican Train please haha All the best from Karin & Erik