The Search

Took the shinkansen (bullet train) to osaka. Very fast smooth ride arriving at shin-osaka station very close to our hotel in the early afternoon. The room was amazingly spacious for japan, however it was much older and worn. The doors were also just that much lower that my head became very sore. We then proceeded to the main tourist attraction in osaka, the castle.

It is surrounded by a disgusting green moat and the actual castle itself has been rebuilt many many times in the past with the most recent being after the end of world war 2. We then returned home and went out to the namba district featuring many arcades and the infamous dotomdori. It was the most neon we had ever seen, ever.

The next day we got up and got straight on the train to nara, an old capital city of Japan. We took a lesson in japanese trains picing between the local, rapid and expresses. We finally arrived and headed straight to macdonaroo (maccas) for sustenance. Then we began the long uphill walk through the city and through nara park, which is filled with many free roaming deer (revered as roaylty) and countless temples and monuments. However the most striking was the todai-ji which is the worlds largest wooden structure (despite also being rebuilt) and also an enormous sitting budda statue, similar to the hong kong one. The was a large line of people trying to fit through a very small hole in a pillar, as it is said that those that pass through it will achieve enlightenment due it resembling budda's nose in size. We had no chance. The park was a also a good way to experience the difference between Shinto temples and buddist temples. After many hours walking up hill and down dale we were exhausted. No thanks to the oppressive heat and humidity, however the forest and gardens were still very green. We returned home much faster due to our new understanding of the JR lines. That night we ventured into the umeda district and where we frequented another so called 'Australian bar'.

The following day we visited Kobe, which is the opposite direction to nara. Here we walked to the waterfront and then attempted to find a ropeway. This unsuccessful search did yield a nice vantage point (ironically a cemetery) at which we could view the bay. However it did involve climbing hundreds of stairs and walking up numerous very steep roads uphill, which tuckered out dane. After returning home we went on a fruitless search for a decent watering hole, however it was a monday night.