皆さん, こんにちは! Minasan, konnichiwa! Hello everyone! 🌸
Due to the whole corona situation, I, unfortunately, had to completely change my actual travel plan. It was clear that it would not be easy to travel during this time, but I still wanted to get to know a few other parts of Japan, after all, I haven't spent much time outside of Kyoto so far. 🙈
After my trip to Tokyo and Kawaguchi-ko, I ended up in Kumano. Among other things, there is the famous Kumano-Kodo, a pilgrimage path. But since I didn't want to do this alone, I decided on an alternative route. My first stop was Hotel Nami, where I stayed for one night. The trip there alone was an adventure in itself. Unfortunately, not all trains ran as planned due to Corona. So my original 5-hour drive turned into a full day trip with a lot of waiting time. After I finally got to the hotel in the evening, I took a short trip to the beach and went straight to bed after dinner to be fit for the next day. 💪🏻
My next day started with a tour to the Oniga-jo ("Demon Castle"). This is a spectacular rock wall that extends around 1.2 km around a small cape. The sun was shining, the temperatures were great and I decided to go there to have a small breakfast picnic. It was impressive and relaxing to watch the waves break on the rock walls. 🌊
My next stop was the Kumano Nachi Taisha, a Shinto shrine that is on the route of the Kumano Kodo. It is located on the slope of the Nachisan Mountain and near the shrine is the sacred Nachi-no-taki waterfall. With its 133 meters high, it is one of the most famous waterfalls in Japan. There is a basin in front of the waterfall in which some of the water is collected. For 100 yen you can have a sip of it, which is supposed to ensure a long life. 🍀
After this experience, I went back to Kyoto, but the next trip wasn't long in coming. I went on a day trip to Osaka with a friend. Since he knew his way around there, he showed me around a bit. Mainly food was in the focus that day, but we also visited a few sightseen spots. After a small morning refreshment in a small standing restaurant, we went to the Tsutenkaku, a 103 meter high transmission mast and observation tower. It is located in the Naniwa district, which is also home to many Kushikatsu restaurants. Of course, we had to visit them too. 😋
Then we made our way to Korea Town. It is the largest Korean neighborhood in Japan and is home to some of the best Korean restaurants and shops. My highlight there: the Kpop-Cafe "iTEm". The owner was very friendly and gave us free goodies and cakes even though we only ordered one coffee. Besides, we were allowed to express music requests as we were the only customers in the store. 🎼
Since we somehow had to use up all the calories we had eaten, we then went for a walk through the Dotonbori district, through which the river of the same name flows. It's a typical entertainment district with numerous restaurants, cafés, karaoke boxes, saunas, etc. I think you can easily get around there until the next morning. 🎉
But that was not our plan, since we wanted to visit a restaurant that served original Okinawa dishes. My favorites of the evening Goya-Chanpuru and Mozuku-Tempura. Our day in Osaka ended with this culinary experience. 😴
You can say that the Corona period makes it difficult to get around in Japan, at least when you are in more remote areas. I often had to struggle with longer waiting times and I had to change trains more often than I actually thought and also had to cover one or the other distance on foot. Unfortunately, many places were closed as well. On the other hand, there was a big advantage: the places were emptier than usual. Without the crowds that you would otherwise expect there, you could take more time for sightseeing and look at the sights in peace. 👍🏻
Now I have one more final journey ahead of me. You will find out what I am experiencing in the next entry. 😉
次回まで! Jikai made! See you next time! 💕