For our last week in Japan we activated our rail pass and decided to explore some of the rural areas of Japan after being mostly in the big cities of Osaka and Kyoto.
The JR Japan Rail Pass is only offered to tourists and visitors to Japan and you need to purchase it before arriving in the country. It provides unlimited travel throughout Japan during a set period at drastically reduced rates. We got our 7 day JR Rail passes ordered and delivered right to Yamba Australia a week before our flight to Osaka. It was very exciting to see the passes come in the mail with a large map of Japan for us to fold out on the table and plan our travels.
Day 1 & 2: The Japanese Alps
The best thing about the JR Rail Pass is that it offers complete freedom and flexibility to go wherever and whenever. On our last night in Kyoto we went to bed with a plan to head southwest toward Western Honshu, but when we woke up in the morning we had an entirely new plan to travel in the opposite direction into the Japanese Alps.
Our destination was Takayama – which is a small town nestled in the middle of some beautiful mountain ranges. In the winter, this area gets dumped on with some of the best snow in Japan. We spoke with a local resident who remembers a previous winter when he had to climb out of his second floor window to get out of his house which was buried in deep snow. We all agreed right there to plan a snowboarding trip to Japan sometime.
We checked into a hostel in Takayama called ‘J-Hoppers’ which was a great experience for Kai and Vea. They were able to be very independent and socialize with the other hostel guests on their own in the common room. They became quite popular within the hostel for their Kendama skills and it was nice for us to take a step back and watch them interact on their own.
Takayama is a great town to explore by bike. The hostel rented out little Japanese bikes that were perfect for Vea and Kai but a little short and funny for us. Our knees would hit the handlebars every time we peddled! It was fun to explore the street markets and find a nice spot for a picnic lunch – consisting of our favourite salmon sushi triangles that can be purchased from every corner store. After the day of exploring we parked the bikes and checked into an Onsen to experience some local Japanese Bath House culture (yes – we all went ‘Nake’). It was so relaxing to soak in the thermal waters in such a natural setting while looking out at the mountain ranges.
Day 3 & 4: Okayama and Hiroshima
We considered heading further into the Japanese Alps to see Mount Fuji, but visibility is supposed to be hazy throughout the summer months – so instead we caught a train west through Okayama to Hiroshima to see the Peace Memorial Park and the A-bomb museum. This was a sobering experience for all of us. It’s hard to believe the destruction and horror that happened here 69 years ago when you look at the bustling city of Hiroshima today. At the museum, we noticed how much Kai and Vea were both so engaged in reading and following the exhibits about the Atomic Bombing. One of the most touching things was listening to a women volunteer at the museum speak about her personal story of being a survivor of the A-bomb. She was only 4 months old when the bomb hit Hiroshoma. She was located at a train station only 1.5km from the hypo centre of the explosion with her mother, who had just put her down on a bench to change her diaper. The back of the bench itself sheltered and saved her from the blast. We found ourselves later that day at the same train station on our way out of Hiroshima, and we all thought about what it must have been like for that mother and baby sitting here on that day.
Day 5 & 6: Shikoku
We’ve been so lucky with the weather this week. It’s supposed to be the rainy season in Japan – but it’s been sunny and beautiful every day – so we decided to travel down to Shikoku and cycle the Shimanami Kaido. It was nice getting to a new province in Japan – which was a long day of train travel but much faster and enjoyable when riding the amazing bullet trains. We have our special take-out lunches from the train stations – consisting of salmon sushi triangles (our new favourite snack). On one of the local trains early in the evening (this is when everyone in Japan comes home from school), Vea made friends with a few grade 8 school girls. They exchanged teaching each other the international language of ‘hand clapping games’. It was great to see Vea so confident in these kinds of social settings where earlier she would have been so shy.
Day 7: KIX Airport Hotel
Our last day with the train pass was used to get us closer to the KIX airport for our next day departure to Singapore. We booked into a cheap airport hotel and enjoyed a mellow night watching FIFA soccer and some take-out food from the grocery store (more salmon sushi triangles).
We fly to Singapore via Manila with an overnight at the Singapore airport before flying on to Krabi,Thailand. On Canada day we’re planning to meet up with the Rogers for a few days in South East Thailand – at Koh Samui. It will be wonderful to experience a little bit of Thailand together with them. Hard to believe it’s been 3 months since we saw each other in Hawaii.
Over the past three weeks of travel here, we’ve grown to really love the country of Japan, the culture and it’s people immensely. We’ve vowed to come back sometime and enjoy some snow in the Alps!!
All 4 now.
It all sounds so intresting,i am joining you on your next Japan tour,was it on my next big birthday?
Hug from mamor unni
Absolutely!!! You would love this place! The way of the Buddha! xo
I am just amazed! It has been awhile since I read your blog, and you still make me say WOW!
I so can’t wait for the slide show when you get home. And maybe you’ll cook up all of your faithful blog followers some special treats 🙂 Just saying! 😉
Have fun guys.