Blogs from Nara, Japan, Asia - page 2

We arrived at Nara station in the afternoon and decided to walk the 6 kilometres to our hotel to save the £10 that a taxi would have cost. We quickly regretted that decision. Our bags have recently put on weight - my bag weighted 7 kilos when I left Paris 5 months ago and is now almost 12 kilos! We were very tired so we stopped on the way and ate a snack from the convenience store in the middle of the street. We finally made it to our hotel, which was very nice and cost us the same price as the hostel in Osaka! There was a bathtub/jacuzzi so the first thing we did when we got there was to make use of it! We ordered food to our room in the evening. On the ... read more

Japan Day 4 Koyasan to Shikoku Island 65km What a night. Sleeping on a 40mm mattress and a rock hard bean bag did nothing for my old body. I don't remember ever sleeping but I assume I must have done for a few short intervals. I awoke at 2am and walked the length of the Temple to the toilet only to see on of the old monks doing the same dressed in a cloak and puttees, which looked like bandages around his legs and funny white soft shoes on his feet. I thought I was in the Burmese jungle during WWll. I surfaced with puffy eyes, a stiff neck and a bad back ready for breakfast of good quality but not over generous portions. Luckily a Frenchman next to me was not enamoured with Japanese food ... read more

Tuesday afternoon, I went with Bon-chan to the U-En guest house. It is a place where all my flatmates are working. While we were having coffee, the girl at the information desk gave me a paper and asked me if I would be interested. On this paper, was a "job offer" for 1 day where I was supposed to go visit Sakurai area (1h from Osaka by train), and I should give my impressions about the place by filling a questionnaire and doing an interview after the tour. All costs would be payed by the company and they will give me 10 000 Yen (100 euro) for the day... After asking around what was the catch (because the offer was too good), looking at the place on my guide book (I actually planned to go there) ... read more

Konecne mi dnes z batohu ubudne batozina. Zbavujem sa treniek a oblubeneho tricka so vsetkymi simpsons postavickami. Na recepcii uz je nova baba, rozlucka a smer nijo stanica. V kyoto stanici prestup na dalsi vlak. Vo vlaku kopa skolakov. Cesta ubehla rychlo, vystupujem na stanici JR uji (nara line dalo sa ist aj keihan line,vystupuje sa na inej stanici pred mostom ale rozhodol som sa pre prvu varianty). Pri stanici je hned turisticke centrum, fasujem tu mapu. Bohuzial je tu len jedna teta co dava informacie a ta je obsadena, tak vonku cumim do mapy, porovnavam s wikitravel a ide sa. V plane mam navstivit chram Mimurotoji Temple, podla wikitravel su tam pekne kvetiny. Velmi zaujimavo tu maju riesene parkovanie aut, auto dole, nad nim dalsie a dokonca este aj nad nim. Triple parkovanie, to som ... read more

Indie maja świete krowy, Nara ma sarny. Co prawda miejscowe znaki informują o obecności jeleni ale pisał je chyba jakiś łoś. A wiec sa sarny, świątynie i święty spokój. O sarnach można napisać nawet wiecej niż to, że są. Początkowo chcieliśmy usunąć Nara z naszego napiętego planu podróży z powodu braku czasu i, jak sądziliśmy, powtarzalności tego, co możemy tu zobaczyć. Byłby to niewybaczalny błąd. Osakę opuszczaliśmy żegnani deszczem i z ulgą. Duże miasta męczą. Osaka jest pod tym względem szczególna, bo jest bardziej nastawiona na rozrywkę i atak na wszystkie zmysły turysty. Neony, zapachy, gwar wdzierają się do głowy tak intensywnie, że dwa spędzone dni to maksimum jakie moglibyśmy przeznaczyć na to miejsce za jednym podejsciem. Podróż tzw. JR Limited Express Train, czyli po prostu pociagiem pospiesznym, była nawet szybsza niż wyczytalem w internecie. Z ... read more