Japan Trip 3: Osaka & Nara - port city, temples & deer
10.01.2023 - 28.01.2023
Off to the port city of Osaka
16.01.2023 - Monday
Off to Osaka, again with a shikanzen from Hammamoto. I'm staying here with Lena, Anna and Samuel for 4 days until 20.01. From this base, a few short and long trips will follow over the next few days.
Today we visit the "Namba" river & market and eat "Okonomiyaki".
After that, it's time to relax again in the evening. After all, I've been lugging around 40KG + 2 rucksacks of 10KG luggage & souvenirs since we left Daegu.
Nara - metropolis of deer
17.01.2023 - Tuesday
Today we take a day trip to the peaceful "Nara". Here you can taste traditionally made mochi and feed wild deer. We searched in vain for deer goulash, but Nara is famous for the invention of mochi, Japanese rice cakes (usually sweet) made from glutinous rice, which are traditionally eaten at New Year in particular
Osaka Castle & Umeda Sky Building
18.01.2023 - Wednesday
Today we're staying in Osaka.
We're going to Osaka Castle & the Grand Front Observatory of the Umeda Sky Building with an amazing view over the whole of Osaka.
Himeji & Kōbe
19.01.2023 - Thursday
Today we take another day trip from Osaka by shikanzen to "Himeji" to Himeji Castle (a World Heritage Site, by the way). We are even allowed to walk through this castle relatively freely and admire the ancient architecture from the inside. For this reason, and also because of its impressive size and the preservation of the entire architecture, I personally found this castle the most beautiful of all the ones we visited.
After we've finished admiring Himeji, we head to Kōbe, a small town (ridiculous 1.5 million inhabitants...) between Himeji & Osaka. There is a beautiful Chinatown here. If we're not traveling to China, then at least here. We have dinner there and return home for our last night in Osaka.
Next, we travel a little further north to Kyoto, the "influencer city" of Tokyo with its famous orange shrine path and various other temples.