When we got to Tokyo, after being on the road for over a week, we certainly started to slow down. We were less enthusiastic about visiting shrines, museums, […]

I loved Osaka, but had to say goodbye.  We packed and headed to the train station bound for Tokyo. We decided to buy bento boxes to eat on […]

After a late night of carousing, we slept in for the first time in days. It was a good hotel with a great bed, and we slept late. […]

We woke up very early but had a very restful sleep. A temple monk led a prayer at 6 a.m. that all guests were invited to, and as […]

We said goodbye to our friends and grabbed a bus right in Kawayu Onsen. The Kumano Travel website sold us a ticket that got us from our small […]

I am going to combine two days of posts. Sam and I spent the next two days hiking the Kumano Kodo, a network of ancient pilgrimage trails winding […]

We woke up on our last day in Kyoto and looked for breakfast. Dennis and Anje were looking for a more traditional Japanese breakfast, and we were looking […]

Our hotel was near the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden. Since we woke up early, we decided to explore the park and find some coffee. The Japanese generally don’t […]

We started the day in Tokyo and took the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Kyoto. The train covered 282 miles in just 2 hours and 14 minutes—roughly the […]

Over the next couple of posts, you’ll follow Sam and me on our Japanese adventure from this spring. I’ll cut straight to the chase: I loved it. Japan […]