Blogs from Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, Asia - page 4

Not only is there piped music in the lobby of my smokey business hotel for the night, but to be heard at Kenrokuen park was the most serene and beautiful music befitting of the location.....a japanese harp player. My arrival in Kanazawa by train, 2 changes via naoetsu and nagano, was earlier than usual, and a great chance to see the city before bedding down in a smokey business hotel..........my reservation at the Garden hotel opposite the station was not on file, despite an internet reservation done 2 months earlier (I will be watching my credit card account closely as they have my details!) So a blessing it turned out to be as the extremely helpful tourist info people in the station, open until 7pm, found me a close hotel called the 'Econo' hotel, for only ... read more

Nous avons debute la journee par une visite du quartier des geishas. C'est vraiment un quartier special, avec les vieilles maisons de bois. C'est tres beau! C'est aussi tres different des autres places qu'on a vues jusqu'a maintenant, c'etait tres agreable a visiter! Il reste des maisons de geisha qu'on peut visiter, mais la plupart des batiments contiennent des boutiques de souvenirs. Partout ou il y a des touristes, il y a une tonne de ces boutiques, et partout ou il y a ces boutiques, il y a des tonnes de touristes (surtout japonais) dans les rues! Dans ce quartier, nous avons visite la boutique et　ｌ'atelier d'une compagnie fabriquant des feuilles d'or. Il s'agit ici de feuilles vraiment tres minces, utilisees pour plaquer differents objets. Nous avons vu une femme a l'oeuvre lorsqu'elle manipule les feuilles, ... read more

Nous sommes arrives la veille (le 30) a Kanazawa, mais etant donne que nous sommes alles au festival, c'est le 31 que nous avons vraiment decouvert la ville. Nous pensions que c'etait une assez petite ville, mais finalement c'est une pas mal grosse ville, et notre hotel est situe en plein centre! C'est assez anime, il y a beaucoup de monde, et le soir c'est illumine partout, car c'est aussi le quartier des bars. On voit regulierement des femmes en kimonos. Elles nous font penser a des geishas mais sans le maquillage blanc. Nous supposons qu'elles travaillent dans des bars d'hotesses... Durant la journee du 31, nous avons visite les principaux attraits de Kanazawa. Tout d'abord, le temple Myoryuji, aussi surnomme Ninja-dera a cause de toutes les cachettes, de tous les trucs secrets qu'il renferme et ... read more

Woke up today at 5:50am and knew I wasn't going to fall back asleep, so I got up, showered, and took care of some e-mail from the lobby internet station. Apparently shortly after 7am while I was in the lobby there was an aftershock, but I didn't feel a thing. Rick sure did though, while he was up on the 26th floor. I'm assuming I would have felt it had I been in my room on the 25th floor. We had a western style breakfast at the hotel and then headed off to meet the governor of the Ishikawa prefecture. I am still stunned at how polite and respectful the Japanese people are. As we came into the offices of the governor, his whole staff stood and bowed as we passed through. 3 of his ... read more

Our accommodation throughout the trip was in the traditional Japanese ryokens and onsen. For the Beckhouses and Riddles this was a memorable experience. As well as providing many humorous moments it gave us some real cultural insights into Japanese life. The ryoken, part of Japanese culture for centuries, were generally small and often owned and operated by a family so there was quite a homely feel to them. Our longest stay was in Kyoto, at Hanakiya Inn which had three guest rooms and a common room - ideal for breakfast and pre-dinner drinks at the end of the day. We booked out the entire ryoken and even made friends with the children of the house. Our host Eimi was charming, spoke good English and of course had plenty of local knowledge to share with us. After ... read more