After the annual anti-climax of New Years it was a bright an early start from Tokyo with a destination of Kobe.This week of travelling was made possible by some preparation that I had done in Germany before I left for Japan.
I exchanged my money order, which I had bought in Germany for a 7-day rail pass for the JR transport system – including some mighty fast bullet trains. The rail pass can only be obtained by people visiting Japan and is an absolute must. I probably should have gone for the 14-day pass, so that would be my advice to anyone interested in travelling in Japan. The pass means you can basically travel as much as you like in the 7 days for a fixed fee of around 280 €. If you consider that a return trip from Tokyo to Kobe already basically pays that sum, then it is well worth the money.
I set out from home bright and early on the first of January – the worst possible day to travel in Japan as all the Japanese are using the trains and transport systems to return to their native towns or to go to temples to pray. New years is massive here, but not in the way you’D imagine, but rather more like our version of Christmas where people want to be with their families and return home of go to religious ceremonies. That’s why the temples are jam-packed with people. The train I had wanted to get on was booked up, so I had to travel a bit later than expected, only leaving Tokyo station at 12 and arriving in Kobe circa 3pm. On the way I was able to get a great view of Mt Fuji which is a sight that everyone can recognise – a symbol of Japan, this towering peak looked amazing, somewhat like some piece of cake with a light dusting of powder sugar on top. The snow-capped mountain is a great sight from the train and I’m sure would be a great climb weather permitting. Maybe next time! After a short nap on the train I awoke to see a completely different countryside to the one I had seen near Tokyo or in Nagano.
My first impressions were good – the main station in Kobe, not the Shinkansen station but where most local traffic goes through – Sannomiya smelled like heaven. If this blog could somehow convey the smell I think your mouth would water! Imagine the smell of freshly made waffles floating through the station…..OMG…..delicious. Every single time I transferred trains there I was attacked by the smell. If this wasnt enough then in the other part of the station they had a massive bakery just blasting out the smell of yummy treats. I sampled the waffles and they were rather good indeed! Oh…..that smell……I’ll never forget that – my sweet tooth is aching as I write.
In the end I travelled to at least 7 different cities and was able to see loads of Japan and discover some wonderous locations that have to be seen to be believed. I managed to be snap happy and took about a million photos. I must admit that the beautiful weather made these experiences possible. Although it was very cold in the evenings, during the days there were rays of sunshine lighting up the cities and views that I experienced. My days were pretty much similar in planning – up early circa 8am to get on the road by 9 or 10 depending on locations and the do as much sight-seeing as possible by 5pm when it got dark and cold. Once darkness set in it was advisable to get somewhere warm and stay there – be it a train, coffee shop or apartment.
On one of the days we managed to get a look at club rugby here in japan, which is strangely enough quite decent, although there are quite a few foreign players earning a wage here. Have a look at that try – by chance I managed to get it all in one shot – amazing stuff: http://youtu.be/_75cbe_kFyY