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After 5 nights in Kyoto we were on the road again (well actually rail) - The Thunderbird Express to Kanazawa, a 2-hour journey through some incredible mountain scenery and gradually moving closer to Tokyo. Now we are hardened "backpackers" we walked to our hostel and settled in - It was a Japanese room, very quaint, very pretty but essentially a futon laid on the floor with elaborate bedmaking instructions. Heather decided that we should eat Japanese, we headed for the local Sushi restaurant and had our fill of raw fish (healthy but not really filling) - In addition to the normal carousel there was a miniature "bullet train" that delivered special orders to the table via an equally miniature track. We walked off lunch around Kawazawa castle and gardens, the castle was originally built in 1580, but like many buildings in Japan was destroyed by fire - it was reconstructed in 2001.
Day two was raining and armed with umbrellas, spent a few hours exploring the Higashi "Geisha District" picturesque narrow streets, preserved slotted wooden facades on the windows, lots of tourists with cameras primed but no real Geishas.
It was Dan's turn to choose the food and in reaction to the sushi chose hamburger - We had been told about a very good place called "The Godburger" apparently the owner was a massive Marlon Brando fan - It was well hidden and when we eventually found it there was a queue outside (for hamburger?) and it was pouring rain -The burger was very good "a patty we couldn't refuse"
Last day was the Kenroku-en gardens, rated to be one of the top 3 in Japan, possessing the six attributes of perfection - Seclusion, spaciousness, artificiality, antiquity, abundant water and broad views but we were getting hungry and the hostel owner had promised to make us a Japanese curry (free of charge) hunger was calling. The curry was very good and a few Asahi helped with the digestion process. A major typhoon(Trami) was hitting Japan and was due to reach us the next day, this was the main topic of conversation in the drawing room after dinner - Trains and buses were being cancelled and it looked like we might get stuck for a few days....... watch this space
- comments
Rachel I can’t believe the difference in vista again. It looks almost British at times at the Gardens. Really lovely. Authentic Japanese curry very lucky. I hope the rains didn’t hold you up. Enjoy China