Hiroshima was an hour and a half by Shinkansen from Kyoto/Osaka and we think we may have got on the bullied Shinkansen becuase this was a long hour and a half (there seems to be different trains which stop at different stations). Anyhow after being passed by the big brothers Nozumi and Hikari trains, we eventially got to Hiroshima. Our hostel was near the station and the bunkbeds had curtains surrounding each of the beds! Something we had not seen before but we...

Well Osaka is much bigger than we expected, stupid really as it is Japan's second city after Tokyo, so we are not sure what we expected. The city itself is just a normal city, we didn't find any wonderous parts - maybe because we had already been marvelled by Tokyo. There is a cool shopping and nightlife district called Dotonbori - which in essence is a tribute to Times Square, with loads of neon lights and funny shop signs (including moving giant crabs). Its ...

Nara is accesible via Kyoto on a local line train - but don't be fooled - catch the rapid service as the local one is freezing! After an hour and a half of utter freezing weather we arrived in Nara, didn't look that great to be honest. However Nara's beauty is through the town, up the hill and into the park. Now we know we have raved about Tokyo being so modern and Kyoto being such a cultural experience but Nara is sheer beauty. As you walk up the street you e...

Kyoto has proven to be a huge sucess in our eyes - we have had loads of fun and got to see a side of Japan Tokyo can not even begin to show! The day started with the realisation that it was snowing outside - we haven't seen snow since Denver - and having heard all about the snowpacked December you got in the UK, we were very excited. Firstly we hiked up the windey snowcovered alleyways to the Kiymizudera temple which sits on top of a hill overlooking Gion. Not...

So we continued our Japanese adventure by heading on the Shinkansen (or Bullet train as we like to call them) to Kyoto. They look so cool, streamlined and exceptionally comfortable even with the huge bags we were carrying. Kyoto is 400 miles south from Tokyo and we did it in 2.5 hours - now that is fast! Driving it's estimated to take 8 hours approx. You don't really feel the speed, that is until you are trying to take a picture of Mt Fuji and nothing comes out...