|
I have had two trips to Japan in 2006, one at the
beginning of the year on my way back from England, where
a friend Hiromi was kind enough to show me around Tokyo
and Kamakoura. Having only had a few days in Japan
in January, I decided to re-visit this time on my way
home to the UK and spend some more time, and travel
around the country, although admittedly, it was still a
very rushed trip.
I began my trip this time in Tokyo, going down to
Yokohama, meeting up with a friend Tomomi in Yokohama,
then heading down to Nagoya to meet up with a friend
Takahiro. Before arriving in Japan, I purchased a
Japan Railpass, which I was able to use on the
Shinkansen (Bullet) trains, which at almost 300KM/Hr got
me through Japan incredibly quickly which explains my
amazing schedule. After visiting Nagoya and
Takahiro, I headed to Osaka where I met a friend Yukari
and we went out for dinner and walked around Osaka.
From Osaka, I headed down to Hakata
in the Fukouka region of Kyushu, and met with Rie,
who showed me around Hakata and then we went back to
her home town of Saga where we went to the hot
baths, had a walk around Saga, and then went out for
an evening of Yaki Niku and Karaoke. The
following day I continued in my pattern of waking
stupidly early and getting on a train, and went up
to Kyoto, I started to explore the city after
finally finding an ATM with some recognizable
symbols on, and found loads of incredible temples,
the best being Kiyozumi Temple which was incredible.
I also met a Japanese guy in a restaurant who
accompanied me around which was great and I had
another mad dash for a train to head back to Tokyo,
and stayed in Shinagawa again, meeting up with
Hiroko and Hajime, which made it a fantastic end to
my trip. This trip has definitely enforced the
fact that I love Japan and the Japanese people, and
having been there twice this year already, I imagine
it won't be long before I'm back again, either to
work or for another trip.
Thank You so much to Tomomi,
Takahiro, Yukari, Rie, Hajime and Hiroko. You
made me have an unforgettable experience, I hope
that you will come to visit me so that I can return
the favor.
|
