Day 23- Nara

Day trip to Nara today. I got there around half 10 and almost immediately met a girl from Germany.

There were so many Deer around and they'd eat right out of your hand. They were a bit cheeky though, they'd follow you around until you fed them.

We headed for Todaiji temple where the big Buddha is.

We walked around for a while before heading to the Earthquake museum. It was really cool, they had a chair which simulated an earthquake.

It was around 3 so we went to go and get something to eat. I had noodles with dried fish, I didn't realise that was what I had ordered.

It was very very fishy.

After lunch, Christine had to go back to her hostel, so I walked around for a little longer before catching the train back to Osaka.

I chilled out in the hostel for a bit before going to get dinner. There menu wasn't in English but there were some pictures so I just pointed at what looked good.

The one on the far left was basically crackling on a stick. The 5th one was chicken and the 6th one was heart. I'm not gonna lie, I have no idea what the rest were but they were really good, except the one on the end. I don't know what it was but it was gross.

I then went back to the hostel and relaxed. It's been a good day, now I'm going to bed.

Day 22- Shikoku Mura

 Early start today, arrived in Shikoku at around 10, after 2 and a half hours of travelling.

Shikoku Mura is in the 3rd island of Japan so it was pretty cool watching the train cross over.

When I got to the station it was a couple minutes by bus to get there. It was a long journey but so worth it. It was really beautiful.

Cool lizard with a blue tail

It was where old families had lived and there were various "factories" which produced sugar, soy sauce, etc.

Processes sugarcane 

Massive barrels for soy sauce

Old houses

The place was empty which was really nice, I didn't see any other tourists.

I went to the water gardens which were really beautiful.

I didn't realise how much I had walked till I got to the top around half 1. I had some amazing views.

I spent the whole day around Shikoku, it was so worth the journey.

When I got down, I went for a rather late lunch. The only place around was an udon noodle shop. It was really good.

I also had some sugarcane ice cream.

At the exit, there was what I think was supposed to be an English style restaurant. It was really funny, there was a telephone box and a mailbox outside.

I left for the train station just after 3, giving me 45 minutes to get to the station. I didn't know what time the buses ran so decided to walk, it was only supposed to be 10 minutes.

That is if you don't get horribly lost.

I ended up at a station, just not the one I was supposed to be at, it wasn't JR. Some school kids attempted to direct me but it really wasn't working. I continued to walk, at this point I was pretty stressed because I had to catch the sakura shinkansen. There wasn't another one covered on the JR pass for another 3 hours after that one.

After asking so many people where it was, I eventually arrived in the nick of time.

I got back to the hostel around half 6 and grabbed dinner from the local shop and chilled out in the common room for a while.

I met 2 girls from Alabama and we hung out for a while, then 2 girls from Australia joined and another 2 girls from France. It was a really good evening.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Nara. Off to bed now.

Day 21- Shitennoji temple & Osaka castle

Really lazy start this morning, in my defence I only had 2 things to do today.

Anyway, I got to the temple around 11. It was really nice to see a temple where people were actually praying. There was a service going on when I got there so I couldn't go inside.

I did however get to go inside the pagoda. There were so many steps up to the top, but it was lovely. Unfortunately there were bars on the windows at the top, so I didn't get any good photos.

I explored for a while before getting something to eat.

First I was given what I think was kimchi.

I then had noodles with beef, I've managed to avoid rice and noodles for a while now so I was actually craving it.

I was also given some greens and some bean sprouts. These were so good, the bean sprouts were marinaded in something really tasty.

After lunch, I headed for the castle. It was really beautiful but the inside was so modern. It was like a museum. There were beautiful views from the top.

I walked down slowly, looking at all the exhibitions. The history was really interesting and it linked to what happened in Nijo castle in Kyoto.

I left the castle around 4 and took a detour back to the station. It was really beautiful.

When I got back to the hostel I met 2 french girls, we hung out for a while then they headed off to Dotonbori, I didn't fancy going because I've got an early start tomorrow. Instead I walked around to find somewhere to eat.

I had tonkatsu and udon noodle. When I ordered it I thought it was just cabbage underneath, turns out it was mainly rice. How can they eat rice and noodles in one meal??? Needless to say, I did not finish it.

I'm going to bed now, early start tomorrow.

Day 20- Osaka: Aquarium & Dotonbori

Early start this morning. My train to Osaka was 10 past 7, but it was 2 and a half hours so I slept on the train.

I got to Osaka around 10 and shoved my luggage in a locker before heading to the aquarium.

Before I went in I had lunch, it was a bit early but I was really hungry. I had chicken wings in a teriyaki sauce. It was really good.

I then went to the aquarium. I didn't know what to expect from it but it was actually pretty cool.

There was a seal upside down just staring at me for ages, it was so weird.

I also got to see a dolphin have a sonogram, it was cool but I couldn't take photos because there were so many people.

 

There was a small tank where you could pet a shark, it was so strange. They had really rough backs.

After, I went to a nearby shopping centre and had a wonder round. They had a petting zoo inside the centre.

I left to go back to the hostel around half 3. I thought I would be clever and take a different route back which would use just my JR pass, but it all went horribly wrong. I managed to get on the wrong train and ended up heading in the direction of Nara. About 20 minutes in, when the scenery started to drastically change (as in, I was in the mountains), I decided to ask someone. She was so nice and basically put me on the train.

I got back to Osaka station around 5 and picked up my luggage. This was surprisingly difficult because there were so many lockers. I eventually got my luggage and got to my hostel to check in.

I relaxed in the hostel for a while before heading off to Dotonbori around 7. I met some fellow Brits whilst I was there and we hung out for a while.

Eventually we got hungry but I decided to part ways with them at this point. 2 of them were vegetarians and it sounded like they wanted to eat something western. Definitely not what I fancied.

I found a tiny little restaurant on side street and decided to eat there.

The first thing I saw on the menu was heart, it didn't specify which animal the heart came from, the translation was just heart.

Intrigued, because I've never had heart before, I ordered it.

It was amazing. It was lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, and was so tender. So good. I'm tempted to go back again and just order lots of variations of heart.

I also ordered sardines stuffed with fish roe and prawns with roe mayonnaise. They were also really nice.

After dinner it was pretty late, so I headed back to the hostel. Now I'm off to get ready for bed.