The bullet train from Hiroshima whizzed us to Osaka in no time! The Shinkansen bullet trains in Japan can travel at speeds of up to 320 kilometers per hour (199 mph) but as a passenger it feels like such a smooth ride that you have little concept of the speed.
Osaka is the third largest city in Japan and a popular destination. I had read that Japan is suffering from overtourism and here it can be seen in the sheer numbers of foreigners (ourselves included) walking around the city. Word is out that Japan is the place to visit! Sadly for us it felt at times that we were in a sea of tourists, quite different to how we felt in South Korea and Taiwan.
We wandered around the city and marvelled at the signs and arcades. We tried the local street food specialty takoyaki, which are of balls of batter filled with octopus. The girls preferred the McDonalds Happy Meals which come with the choice of edamame beans (a family fave) instead of fries.
Craig and the girls visited a micropig cafe. Themed cafes are popular in Asia and the girls love the experience. We have been to cafes with cats and dogs in Malaysia, birds, rabbits and ducks in Thailand and capybaras in Taiwan. The micropig cafe was not one of the best and in Craig’s words ‘overpriced nonsense’. I escaped for a day in Kyoto on my own (see below).
We took the train to Nara to meet the bowing deer, Phoebe has written about our experience here.
The Bear Paw cafe was another novelty cafe experience, this one we loved. Our drinks were served by a fluffy bear hand through a hole in the wall! The cafe was created to support people suffering from mental health conditions by providing a low-stress contactless working environment.
Whilst the others were stroking micropigs I escaped for the day on a train to Kyoto. Since reading ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ in the 90’s Kyoto has been on my list of places to visit and I was excited to spot a geisha in the distance whilst getting lost in the side streets. However, I think the rest of the world had the same idea and Kyoto was quite possibly the most touristy place I have seen so far on our trip, surpassing even the pyramids.
Kyoto is Japan’s ancient capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is renowned for its traditional architecture, temples and shrines. I visited Fushimi Inari Taisha (also known as Thousand Torii Gates) which is a never ending hike through thousands of orange gates winding up Mount Inari. I very much enjoyed the mountain hike, alongside the millions of other tourists interrupting my peaceful alone time!
After Osaka we are headed for Tokyo, our last stop in Asia and quite possibly Craig’s final destination on this trip (more on that later). From Tokyo we fly to our final country – USA!
2 responses
Just another world!! It must have felt very strange wandering around alone, when you have been together in such a close unit for so long?
Yes it was very quiet! But I also managed to walk a very long way