To the Orient and Beyond

March 18th Finally a Sea Day I couldn’t get these photos of Hiroshima to upload yesterday so I am going to try again: Also, especially for St Patrick’s Day: It’s not that I don’t enjoy exploring...

March 17th Hiroshima Happy St Patrick’s Day I so need a sea day, but it was not to be. We were sailing into Hiroshima when we woke up. I thought there were loads of rocks around us, but on closer inspection they turned out to be oyster beds. It...

March 16th The Day of Stairs We woke up to a cold, rainy day in Kochi. After a brief discussion as to whether we really wanted to wander around temples and castles in the rain (of course we did), we set off to breakfast. The Lido has a wide...

March 15th Queen Elizabeth Beckons We said goodbye to the beautiful Kyoto station, and piled all of the luggage into the car that was taking us to Osaka. When we arrived at the port, and our driver saw Queen Elizabeth for the first time, he was...

March 14th The day of Gates and Lanterns We awoke to another beautiful day. It was time to catch the train to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is famous for its hiking trails and multitude of Torii gates. The shrine is dedicated to Inari, who is the...

March 13th The Train and Kyoto We awoke just after sunrise, when the sky was still pink and glowing. We rolled off the futon, and then lay in the soaking bath. It was so terribly civilized. I do love Japan. Breakfast was waiting, so we had to...

March 12th The Magnificent Mountain The sun was shining when we woke up this morning, and it looked like it was going to be a great day. We arranged for our 4 suitcases and 1 carry on bag to be sent directly to Kyoto, and we were ready to head...

March 10th Tokyo We are staying at the Park Hotel which is in a newly built business district near the Hamariku Gardens. The hotel itself is on the 25th to 34th floors of the building, and our room is on the 34th floor with a great view over...

It seems strange that in order to get to the Far East, you have to go west. Well, I suppose it proves that the world is round. There was no other way of looking at it. We absolutely needed 4 suitcases. I was able to remove several items, but...