- Packing
- A week of extremes
- Preparation
- Dress Rehearsal
- H6, #13, and Bo
- Vlotho
- Stockholm
- Tallinn
- Helsinki
- Helsinki II
- St. Petersburg
- St. Petersburg II
- Moscow
- Beijing
- Beijing II
- Beijing III
- Beijing IV
- Xi’an
- Xi’an II
- Shanghai
- Nara – Halfway plus one day
- Kyoto
- Back in the (Former) USSR
- Muroran
- 180th Meridian
- Seward
- Ketchikan
- Vancouver
- St Paul
- Chicago
- New York City
- North Atlantic
- 78 Days and 9 Minutes
- London
Left Nara this morning for the short jaunt up to Kyoto. Much bigger and much busier than Nara. Have not done too much exploring yet, but we should see quite a bit tomorrow. We are hoping to take a walking tour we have heard good reviews of.
Rented bicycles yesterday to explore Nara. It was a great way to get around and we were able to get some of the temples and see a little more of the city than we would have had time for on foot. Found a nice fish pond and watched people feeding the fish. Seems to be working, they were very big and when we came up to the bridge still seemed to be hungry. The fish actually followed us along the bridge, mouths open, looking for more handouts.
Have been staying in ryokans, Japanese-style inns. They are somewhere between a hostel and a pensione in Europe. Lots of information is provided for those who stay there, usually about the things to see and do in the city. The rooms are covered with tatami mats requiring visitors to remove their shoes at the door and wear the slippers provided. The view from our room in Kyoto is facing east toward the hills. We can see the pagoda from a temple in the distance. Perhaps tonight we will try the Japanese bath which sounds very relaxing.
Board the ship in just under two days time. Sunny and very warm allowing us to enjoy spring. We have probably just missed the height of the cherry blossoms, but a few are still around to give us an idea of what it must have been like a week or two ago. Weather does not appear to be a problem for our cruise departure: it remains sunny and warm and there have been no recent reports of large fire-breathing lizards in Osaka harbour.
We are not sure what internet options will be available on the ship, so we may be off the air for a little while. Will try to send updates whenever possible. So we are signing off from the land of the rising sun; where there are cities with greater GDP than most countries, where vending machines serve hot coffee in a can, and where images on the ATMs bow to you at the end of the transaction.
This entry was posted in Around the World
