Japan: Tokyo and Nikko
After arriving in Japan, we spent the first three days in Tokyo. We visited several of the city sights, including the zoo, Ginza and Shinjuku. We also took a day trip to Nikko, which was a two hour train ride each way.
Email: Greetings from Japan – Tokyo
We arrived in Tokyo at approximately 2:45 pm on Sunday. We changed some money, activated our train pass and took the one hour ride into the city. We are staying at one of the three youth hostels in central Tokyo.
Japan: Hiroshima
Our first extended bullet train ride to Hiroshima was a great event. Once there, we spent time exploring the beauty of Miyajima Island and also visiting the important and sobering sights associated with the atomic bombing at the end of World War II.
Japan: Kyoto and Takayama
We began our second week in Japan by visiting Kyoto and the wonderful temples in the city. Also included in our time there was a day trip to Nara.
Email: Greetings from Japan – The Bullet Train
Nearly everyone has heard of Japan’s famous bullet train. Our first experience was not actually riding one. Instead our first experience was in a train station. We were waiting for our train to come when, whoosh, one flew by at full speed.
Japan: Nagano and Matsumoto
Our last stop before returning to Tokyo was in Nagano, the site of the 1998 Olympic Games. In addition to visiting this city and large temple, we took a day trip to Matsumoto to visit one of the few surviving castles in Japan.
Email: Greetings from Japan – Slippers
We’ve started week two of our vacation here in Japan. One of the things that struck me about how Japan is different from the U.S. is their use of slippers.
Email: Greetings from Japan – Cars
As most people know, Japan is a very homogeneous culture. An interesting contrast from the people who live here is the cars they drive.
Through China from Beijing to Hong Kong
China is a unique destination and we spent three weeks exploring this country. Our goal was to go from Beijing to Hong Kong, relying primarily on trains.
China: Beijing and the Great Wall
Beijing was the first stop on our three week trip. We visited the Forbidden City in addition to our day trip to the Great Wall.