Kyoto well and truly done, the next morning we caught the train to nearby Osaka. The city didnt make much of an impression on us at first and as we walked around the shopping district and downtown area it was very much a case of 'just another city'. In fact, probably the most interesting thing about it was the tiny bar near our hostel we visited in the evening. With room for just a bar and 4 stools, it had a strong claim for the title of Smallest Bar In The World!

The following morning we got the train to Nara - historically the first permanent capital and home to some of Japan's oldest and largest temples. The main site here was Todaiji temple, the largest existing wooden structure in the world, housing a giant Buddha - the apparently world famous Nara Daibutsu. The biggest attraction really though is the deer - there are hundreds of them roaming free in the park. They were very docile and it was safe enough to feed them but as soon one got a sniff of food we were surrounded in seconds by a pack of hungry deer nibbling at our bags and pockets! One of them even took a liking to Kate's map and after stealing it from her hand, stood there munching on it with a slightly confused look on its face!

That evening we stayed in a capsule hotel - a slightly weird but very Japanese concept where you sleep in a private pod in a dormitory-style room. The pods themselves were surprisingly light and spacious, (enough room to sit up at least) and were fitted with TVs (with a choice of sports and porn channels!), radio and even a panic button! It was ok for one night and quite novel, but it wasn't overly comfortable and the fact the pods looked like a row of ovens from the outside was a little disconcerting. With the exception of one communal lounge, dorms and floors were segregated and in the basement were the male baths - or Onsen as its known in Japan.

An Onsen is essentially at hot spring but its also used to refer to public bathing facilities around the springs. Using natural water from geo-thermally heated springs, they are strictly single sex affairs and have their own rules of etiquette: All guests are expected to wash thoroughly before getting in the bath (this usually involves sitting on an up-side-down bucket using a set of showers next to the bath); no swimming costumes allowed - you are allowed to bring a small towel (essentially a flannel) to provide a modicum of decency (it doesnt!) when going from the showers to the baths; no excess noise; no tattoos. Of course at the time I didn't really know most of this so when I ventured from changing rooms to shower to bath with nothing but my birthday suit on I was taking a bit of a gamble! Thankfully the baths were empty so if any etiquette was broken, nobody saw! After a brief soak I got dressed to go out for dinner...feeling ever so slightly liberated!

Venturing to the popular and busy Dotonbori street, we found a very different Osaka to that we'd experienced during the day. Though slightly cheesy, the neon lights and gaudy restaurant fronts (think giant moving crabs above a seafood place) gave the streets a vibe missing in the daytime. After a very expensive beer (those surprises just keep coming, this time there was a mystery seating charge!) we went to try one of the local specialities, Okonomiyaki. Particularly popular in Osaka and Hiroshima, Okonomiyaki (sometimes called 'Japanese pizza') is a pan fried dish that consists of batter and cabbage. Toppings and ingredients such as meat, seafood, cheese and even noodles are added and the resulting pancake is topped with BBQ sauce, mayo and fish flakes. It probably sounds a bit odd but its very tasty, if not a bit rich after a while! On the way home we saw lots of young guys hanging around in pairs near the canal bridge area, all smartly dressed, with perfect hair and ready to pounce the second a young girl walked past on her own. There was nothing dangerous about it, it just seemed an odd and very specific place for them to wait to chat up girls. We later found out that the guys were working for hosting clubs, trying to lure in girls to pay for the privilege of a couple of hours of male company...no touching, just chatting! Weird.

Next stop was Kobe, just a quick half an hour train ride away. Apart from the famous Kobe beef we knew next to nothing about the place before we got there so we basically made it up as we went along. When we arrived it was hammering down with rain and to say the directions to the hostel were less than adequate is putting it mildly. After half an hour traipsing round getting soaked we finally found the place tucked away behind a shopping arcade. It was pretty much deserted but we'd booked an ensuite double so if nothing else the next few days would be a good chance to catch up on some sleep. It's just a shame the ensuite toilet was a Japanese squat-style loo! A quick recce of the area told us we would have been able to walk the entire distance (a good 15 minutes) from the train station underground (Japan seems to have an endless network of underground tunnels connecting train stations, shopping centres, slot arcades and restaurants)! Exhausted from a week in noisy dorm rooms, we slept the afternoon away, rising only to go in search of Kobe beef steak for dinner.

Something of a delicacy, Kobe beef is famed as being one of (if not THE) tastiest steaks in the world and its certainly one of the most expensive. Its flavour comes from its extensive marbling, which in turn comes from the way it's reared and its specialist diet (rumour has it ranchers feed the cattle beer!). To try it, we went to the hostel-recommended Steakland in downtown Kobe. With a prime seat at the hotplate we ordered a set (steak served with rice, stir-fry veg, salad, soup and sauces) and were able to watch as the chef diced, cooked and served the entire meal in front of us. It tasted awesome. But...I still maintain the best steak I ever had was at a BBQ in Uruguay! The bill came, and entire days budget went! Travellers on a 6 month trip should not even be considering a £40 a head steak but hey, when in Rome and all that!

The next day we slept in until long past midday (our first lie-in in weeks) and after a hearty breakfast/lunch made our way to the local Sake brewery. After a quick walk around the ' educational part' we moved on to best bit, the free samples! Four or five shots later and we were ready to hit a few more bars...and it wasn't even 4pm! An unsuccessful attempt to find an Izakya downtown - there's never one around when you need one - led us to a 'British' pub serving fish and chips in a basket! They made a decent fist of imitating a proper English pub but the food menu wasn't quite right and the fact you had to queue at the till to order drinks completely missed the point! Still, it was happy hour, so we had to at least stay for a few cocktails! Happy hour over we headed home to cook dinner, drink more wine and chill out in the luxury of our own room. Rock'n'roll.