I am not in Osaka. I’m in Kyoto. I spent last night in Kobe after visiting Himeji Castle. Today I went to the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the longest bridge in the world outside of Kobe.
I’ll be spending two full days in Kyoto before going to Osaka. My time in Kyoto should be packed as this place is crammed full of temples, shrines, castles and other bits from the close to 1,000 years it was the capital of Japan.
I’m exhausted from carrying all my gear around for the better part of the last day and a half. My current set up for my bags isn’t cutting it.
I can also tell a marked difference between Kobe/Kyoto and Hiroshima and Kagoshima. It is becoming much more crowded. The train from Himeji to here was nothing but two to three story buildings as far as the eye could see. I’ve had problems getting rooms in Kobe and here, so I’m going to have to do some pre-planning before I head to Osaka this time.
I still have two weeks on my Japan Rail pass, but I feel rushed. I’m going to have to take a week off to rest (yes, vacation from vacation) and get a stable address for a while to have stuff sent to me from home. I also need to get a new pair of glasses and sunglasses. I’m thinking Korea, but maybe I might work in a stop to Singapore from Hong Kong. We’ll see. I don’t think I can wait for Australia.
I have over 200 photos from Japan uploaded to Flickr. I’ll usually have things up there before I will on this website, if only because I have to get photos off my camera nightly. I still have a bunch from Himeji and the bridge I have to upload. I have one from each on Flickr now just so you can get an idea what it was like. I’ve also updated my map.
I’m going to eat some noodles and get to bed. Temples await me tomorrow!