April 7, 2011 - Nagoya -Magome - Iga Ueno - Kyoto
In the past few days we have done a fair bit of traveling.
We stayed 2 nights in Nagoya, A wonderful city. The castle alone is worth the visit. There is also a walk through town from the castle that brings you back to the train station passing all sorts of interesting and besutiful sights along the way.
We intended to do the Magome to Tsumago trail but unfortunately we weren`t up to the task of the long walk. We started at the Magome end and it was particularly steep and we were tired from walking during previous days. We only made it 2km in the time we had allocated for the 8km walk so we turned back at that point and made it back to Magome in less than an hour. We were disappointed not to see Tsumago but it was still an interesting look into rural and old Japan.
On route to Kyoto we passed through Iga Ueno. If you have any interest in Ninja culture this is a must see! The entire town is dedicated to ninja and the museum is one of the best I have seen. Unfortunately the demonstration was not on the day we were there but it was still worth the trip.
When we arrived in Kyoto we finally started seeing some western tourists. In fact heaps of them. We now here English being spoken in the streets which did not happen at all in Tokyo.
We went to Gion Corner last night and really enjoyed it. It`s just a little taste of all sorts of Japanese culture. We were lucky enough to volunteer to be part of the tea ceremony, so that helped with the experience. The Gion district is just amazing. There are so many women walking around in Kimonos, the streets are all paved and old worldly looking. We`re really loving it.
Today we walked the philosophers path from the Silver Pavillion back to Gion. It is possibly one of the best walks I have ever done. All the Shrines and Temples along the way are amazing and the canal with the Cherry Blossoms is just stunning. Just when you think you`ve seen the most beautiful sight ever, you turn a corner and there is something even more breath taking.
Tonight we are going to see Nijo Castle because it is all lit up for Cherry Blossoms.
