For 1 year around the globe – Part VIII

Jina is a small village surrounded by green hills and tea plantations as far as the eye can see. We stayed in an old farm house, which was renovated and turned into a hostel. Mister Kitaro, the manager, is an extremely friendly man and will make your stay very pleasant. The part we enjoyed the most were dinners, because he cooked on an open flame in the middle of the dining room.  We didn't come here only for food (although we could), but because of the hiking trails, which are combined with the steam train ride. First we took a ride to the big dam where we got off the train and walked the mystery trail. It took us through a dark tunnel full of surprises. Then we got on the train again and we got off at the station, which is located on a small island in the middle of a lake. That was the beginning of another trail, the adventure trail. It takes you over many suspension bridges, up and down to the last stop of the steam train line. Then we drove by bus and train to a traditional onsen – typical Japanese spa. Stone pools with extremely hot water and divided for both genders. You only get one guess why.

 

The most famous city (besides Tokyo) of Japan disappointed us a little bit. Anyone who read Memories of a geisha envisions Kyoto from the book. The city nowadays is very modern, the only part that resembles the book is Gion, apart from the fact that it is packed with tourists trying to spot a geisha. We saw the must – The Golden palace, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Gion, the Bamboo forest, but we also discovered a less popular, and very beautiful and romantic Shorenin Temple with illuminated garden and a classic Japanese garden with a small bamboo forest. We recommend having a tea overlooking the beautiful Japanese garden, very intimate and romantic. We also saw three geishas, but it happened very quickly so we were only able to get a quick picture.

 

 

One thing that comforted us in Kyoto was our amazing accommodation. Kyoto Utano hostel is an airy, light lit house with a lot to offer: a breath-taking Japanese style bathroom, tennis court, restaurant, evening events and beautiful cherry trees.

Completely unknown to us, but for the Japanese, a tourist attraction. A village with many well preserved houses with thatched roofs. We also stayed in one because it was rebuilt into a hostel. We didn't just stay here, but we also learned a lot – they showed us how a tea ceremony looks like, we folded some origamis and they showed us the attic so we could see with our own eyes that they didn't use any nails when building the roof. Of course we went for a walk through the village and stumbled upon an indigo museum – clueless about how it is actually made. We learned everything from the indigo master himself.

 

Shodoshima is home of the art triennial. We wanted to see some installations, but the weather wasn't playing along. So we stuck to »indoor« activities. We visited the soy sauce factory (did you know that it takes around two years to get good soy sauce), master of noodle making and in the afternoon when the weather was a bit more cheerful, we discovered an olive park where you will think you are in Greece. Olive ice cream was the cherry on top of a nice, although, rainy day when we headed back to the Olive youth hostel just steps away from the sea.

 

After Shodoshima, we moved to the next Japanese island (Shikoku) with its capital Kochi. We stayed at the family run Kochi youth hostel. The owner of the hostel invited us for a sake tasting at a nearby brewery. Despite the rain (again) we tasted different types of sake, eating typical Japanese snacks, as the only foreigners we were invited to a sake drinking competition. You are supposed to drink 980 ml of sake in one go (women) and double the amount (men). Because all eyes were on us, we didn't dare to say no, but the factory’s owner gave us a wink so were assured that we wouldn't die. It was water (and we didn't have to drink that much), so we emptied the bowl in one go and lifted the bowl in triumph. Everyone was cheering like at a football game.

 

 

Kochi has a beautiful castle in the town's centre. We were there just in time for the lantern festival. The castle and its surroundings are illuminated in gentle yellow and pink tones giving the cherry blossoms even more beautiful colours.

Site of a horrible tragedy 71 years ago. This is the place where the first atomic bomb was dropped. Thousands of people died, the survivors suffered heavy burns and many died because of direct consequences by the end of the year, many fell sick because of radiation. It was predicted that nothing would grow in the area for the next 100 years, but take a look at Hiroshima now. Blossoming cherries everywhere, we didn't know where to look and what to take pictures of.  There is a memorial park in the downtown area (full of cherries, of course) with a museum. On the other side of the river is a reminder of the tragedy – A-dome. The only remaining building in the downtown area. 7 minutes from here there is a JYH Hiroshima Reino Inn with its amazing location. But Hiroshima doesn't offer only sad landmarks. Just an hour's drive (and boat ride) away is the Miyajima island with the UNESCO heritage site, Itsukushima Shrine. Access to the shrine depends on the tide. You can walk directly to the shrine only at low tide. The island also has free living deer which like to be cuddled.

 

Probably never heard of, did you? Neither did we, until we visited it. It is the southernmost city on Honshu Island, with the main attraction being fugu – the pufferfish. Of course we tried, a great thank you to our good friends at JYH Japan. Why is this dinner so special? Because it can kill you if it’s not prepared properly. Because we stayed at the completely new JYH Shimonoseki (a beautiful hostel, one the most beautiful hostels we have ever seen) with the manager being a fugu chef, we had the dinner there. The dinner was amazing, with fugu sashimi, fugu finn sake, deep fried fugu, grilled fugu, fugu in a soup. And yes, we were able to eat everything and survived.

 

 

The city boasts with a nice beach front promenade and an aquarium with the biggest collection of fugu fish. They also have other animals such as penguins and dolphins.

Our last stop in Japan and the capital of Kyushu island. We visited some temples, but for us laymen they all begin to look the same after three weeks. But we did find out that Fukuoka is a city of shopping malls. We liked the lake where we hired a swan shaped paddle boat and took it for a ride around the lake. We stayed at a bit older hostel JYH Fukuoka, but it was very close to the airport. So that makes it a good choice if you are flying from Fukuoka.

 

 

Japan is an amazing country. We were surprised and amazed on every step. People tend to be a bit shy, but when you need help, they will help by putting you in their car and taking you to the place you want to go if necessary (experienced this first hand). Food is excellent and diverse, but it helps if you like rice and are a master of chopsticks. Transportation, our favourite bit. Trains are punctual to the minute, we liked shinkansen so much that we want to travel by it in the future. We were quite sceptical about the prices, but we can assure you, that it is not so bad. We travelled by trains all the time without a JR Pass and we spent less than we would with a JR Pass. So before buying the JR Pass do some math and check if it really worth it. Food, tempuras, soba noodles and the other sets start from 600 yen (5€), which makes them reasonably priced. Drinks are expensive, but you always get free water or tea with meals. Entrance fees are cheap or at least cheaper than Europe.

 

We hope we got you excited about visiting the land of the rising sun. For more information about Japan (or other destinations) join us on our blog www.slovenianstravel.com or Facebook or Instagram under the same name. Have a nice trip, wherever that may be.