Japan..A Trip to Remember.. Part 3

Day 3

We started our third day trip early in the morning, heading out to Arashiyama area, in the western outskirt of Kyoto. Arashiyama was famous among Nobles in the ancient time for nature viewing during the spring and fall. We arrived at Hankyu Arashiyama Station and decided to take a walk across Katsura River instead of taking public bus. We bought our breakfast from the nearby convenience store and having them while relaxing and enjoying the spectacular view from the bench at river bank.

Arashiyama Map from JNTO webstite. 

   

Arrived at Arashiyama Train Station

Beauty of Katsura river

Dua gadis pingitan..:)

I just can't stop taking pictures!

Managed to took picture of Maiko (?) walking with her family

Wish we had more time there! We missed our chance to take the boat ride..:( 

Beautiful !

After we finished our short picnic, we start our journey towards Togetsukyo Bridge to cross Katsura River. There’s quite a number of people in Arashiyama that day and most of them are Japanese people. Arashiyama famous for its temples and also bamboo forest. We choose to explore the most famous temple there, Tenryu-ji temple. We strolled along the river bank to Ternyu-ji Temple, bought 500yen ticket to enter the temple and just begin to explore the temple when it’s start to rain. Tenryu-ji Temple is the first ranked of Five Great Zen Temple of Kyoto. The moment we entered the temple, we started to ignore the rain. Our attention had been captured by beauty of the temple Zen garden. The garden dating back to the 14^th century, features a large pond which catches the reflection of red colour of the maple tree.

View from inside the temple

Stunning garden! 

You can throw a coin inside the pool and make a wish too!

Stairs to heaven...hehe..to the  Bamboo Grooves "heaven"

We left Tenryu-ji temple by the north gate and walked to the famed Bamboo forest. Sagano Bamboo Forest is one of the most amazing natural sites in Japan. One of the most interesting facts about Sagano Bamboo Forest is the sound which the wind makes while it blows amongst the bamboo. Amazingly enough, this sound has been voted on as one of the “one hundred must-be-preserved sounds of Japan” by the Japanese government. Walking through the bamboo forest really took our breath away. It’s indeed one of the most memorable moment that we will never forget!

He's really adorable!

Tempat Kenshin Himura berlatih pedang.. =P

Love the bamboo forest!

We had our lunch at Kyoto Station before hop on a bus to the famous Kiyomizudera Temple, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The rain start pouring heavily as we arrived at bus stop. Luckily we brought an umbrella with us that day! We walked about 10minutes and paid 300 yen for the entrance ticket.  Kiyomizudera is best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside below. The stage affords visitors a nice view of the numerous cherry and maple trees below that erupt in a sea of color in spring and fall, as well as of the city of Kyoto in the distance. We just had a short visit there due to the rain plus the excessive crowd of visitors at the wooden stage area, trying to avoid from being drenched by the rain. We bought souvenirs before heading back to Kyoto Station and took a train ride to Gion area.

Wooden stage, the autumn leaves really did a great impact! 

Gadis-gadis

Kyoto Tower right in front of Kyoto train Station

We strolled along Gion - Potoncho area, hoping to catch Maiko or Geisha in action. I only managed to caught a glimpse of one of the Geisha working inside one of the building there. We then had our delicious Omurice and sushi as dinner before head back to our hotel in Osaka.

Sumpah sedappp!

Day 4

Our fourth day in Japan was our longest day trip. We travel almost 750kms in one day, all the way from Osaka to Nagasaki, Kyushu while making a few stops along the way. We checked out from the hotel in Osaka, and brought only our bag pack to accompany us for the next 4 days until we checked in Tokyo. Our host in Osaka helped us arranged our luggage being transferred to our hotel in Tokyo and make sure the luggage arrived at the hotel on the same day when we supposed to arrive there. The service was quite cheap and really convenient since we’d planned to overnight in different hotels for the next 3 night.

Our first stop was Okayama, in Chugoku region. Okayama's most famous attraction is Korakuen Garden, which is ranked as one of the three best landscape gardens in Japan, along with Kanazawa's Kenrokuen and Mito's Kairakuen. Okayama Castle is located just across from the garden. Okayama serves as the locale for the popular fairy tale of Momotaro (the Peach Boy).

There’s food festival being held at the Okayama Station during that time. We bought some local snacks and bread to eat later in the garden. We took a bus that runs between Okayama Station and Korakuen-mae bus stop (20 minutes, 140 yen, every 15-25 minutes), which is located just beside the garden's main gate. We paid 400 yen for the entrance ticket.

                                      

Okayama city

Sasuke kun! Yeah, this place also famous for Naruto manga.

Okayama Castle dalam kejauhan

Tea Garden

Paddy field

Kawaii..:)

"Enchanted Forest"

Okayama Castle also known as Kuro Castle because of its colour

Gadis-gadis Jepun yang comel

One of my favourite!

Comel!

My favourite drink! 

Our next destination after Okayama was Itsukushima Island or best known as Miyajima Island. Miyajima Island is most famous for its giant reed torii gate, which at high tide seems to float on the water. The sight is ranked as one of Japan's three best views. We took half an hour train from Hiroshima Station and arrived at the port at dusk. We boarding JR Miyajima ferry to go to the island for free (fees covered by JR railpass) while enjoying sunset.

There are usually many day tourists, but in the evening the area becomes much quieter and more peaceful. There are wild deer on the island that have become accustomed to people. In the day the deer wander around the same sites as the tourists, and in the evening they sleep along the walking paths. We really enjoy walking around Miyajima Island. The souvenirs price also quite reasonable price and there’re lots of choices to buy.

After bought souvenirs and took a lots of pictures, we finally took our last train to Nagasaki, where we spend our night there before continue our journey on the next day.

Hiroshima at dusk

                                      

Miyajima island from the ferry

Hello Kitty shop!