Well, I think my tour group hates me at this point – even though they’re family. Today I had hired local guide Kenji to meet us at our hotel and take us to Himeji Castle. It’s a fairly common tour to do from Kyoto with a fairly common itinerary. But I had to mess with […]
Dragging my own little tour group around
One thing that’s hard about being on a tour is lack of control – over hotel choice, tour pacing, site selection etc. This being my first trip to Japan, I’ve been really grateful for the safety net provided by being in the safe hands of Shizu and Gate One. But I was definitely ready to […]
Striking out on our own in Kyoto
On our last day of touring we were taken to Nara, which is a town with a gorgeous Buddhist temple – Todai-Ji Temple. This building is from 1692. Contained inside is one massive Buddha: It’s all gorgeous, but I don’t think my troops cared anymore, generally. As you approach the temple, you need to walk […]
Ron finds an unexpected snack ally
Japanese things I have gotten the gist of: Tokugawa Shogunate was a military government that existed between 1603 and 1867, according to Wikipedia. The Shogunate put together some nice buildings but we have to take our shoes off to tour them, which gets to be a hassle after awhile. Samurai is a word that comes […]
Travels with Valerie 