An Unexperienced Trip in Japan

I wrote the title “An Unexperienced” because this trip is my first time trip with backpacker style…. I went there with my friend and we just brought big backpack. Of course I also brought camera, tripod and flash hehe…. Anyway I enjoyed the trip and it was really unforgettable trip ~ although there are some plan can’t be achieved. Here I can share beautiful photos I took there, sorry if the loading time too slow since I put about 70 photos….

Our plan for this trip: Taipei – Osaka – Himeji – Osaka – Kyoto –  Tokyo  – Lake Kawaguchi – Osaka – Taipei…

April 1st

We arrived at Kansai Airport, Osaka… no place to go except hotel because it’s already 10:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m. when we arrived Osaka City. (Umeda station).

April 2nd

We went to Osaka castle in the morning ~ that was my first time to see big castle, first impression I love it hehe…. Good news I still took some beautiful photos there although a little bit rainy in the morning….

After that we continued our journey to Shitennoji Temple…. but at the time we confused how to get Shitennoji temple… We have read the map but the information wasn’t clear. Then we tried to ask some japanese local but the response was too bad. They are too busy and didn’t answer our question…. Fortunately a school girl student helped us, I really thanked her because she tried her best to help us (no matter her English was not too good, I still remember she said “righto”, “straigtho”….). Then I took her photo ~ “a simple girl with pure smile” hehe….

After we got right information then we finally arrived Shitennoji Temple.

The next target after Shitennoji temple was Himeji Castle. A huge castle in Japan and it also a national treasure. It took about 2 hours from Osaka to Himeji (including the time we spent to walk from the station to the castle). There are many people visited Himeji castle, and I think it is a wonderful castle. In order to enter the main castle you just need to pay 600 yen, really cheap for this wonderful view hehe….

Some photos I took outside:

Some photos I took inside main castle:

From inside I also can see beautiful scene…..

After we enjoyed the beautiful Himeji Castle then we moved to Osaka…. We arrived at Osaka then we continued our journey to Universal Studio. We just took photo inside because it’s already too late to enter it and it cost around 5800 yen (quite expensive I think hehe…).

We really tired after visited so many places but we still have one place hehe…. The place was Floating Garden, from this place we can see a beautiful night scene. The entrance fee just 700 yen, quite cheap I think hehe…

After The Floating Garden we need to move to Kyoto but the bad news when we arrived at the station the last train to Kyoto already departed. So we changed our plan, we slept at cheap hostel in Osaka then continued our journey to Kyoto on the next day.

April 3rd

In Kyoto we met our friends who worked in Japan ~ they are my friends from ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung), one of best university in Indonesia… I personally love this photo below, it’s very natural hehe…

Waiting for other friends I spent time to shoot Kyoto Tower Hotel….

After that we took bus going to Golden Pavilion, one of the best spot in Kyoto….

Many people tried to throw the coin into the bowl for their belief hehe….

My friends treat me this one…..

After Golden Pavilion, we moved to Kyoto Imperial Palace which situated in Kyoto Gyoen…

In the left part of that (above) photo is a famous muku tree. A little story about this tree: “When the Kimmon Incident in 1864, near the tree, a Choshu samurai, Kijima Matabee who led a radical “revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians” (“Sonnojoi”) group, is said to have died a heroic death beside this tree”. The tree is almost 300 years old…

We also took photo together with local beauty there hehe…..

The next place we need to visit is Gion ~ the famous place for Geisha….

Fortunately I met the real Geisha….

I also took sunset view in Gion….

We continued our journey to Tokyo, we used Moonlight Nagara (an overnight train). It took 8 hours from Kyoto to Tokyo. We need to use local train from Kyoto to Ogaki or Nagoya. Then we can move to Moonlight Nagara train. The train was not fast enough, as comparison Shinkansen Nozomi (the fastest shinkansen) just need  about 2 hours 20 minutes from Osaka/Kyoto to Tokyo. We choose overnight train because it cheaper and we don’t need to spend another money for hotel hehe…..

April 4th

We woke up from Moonlight Nagara train and finally saw Tokyo hehe….

First place in Tokyo we want to visit is Ueno Park, the park which famous for Hanami festival….

After took many shots of beautiful sakura in Ueno park then I went to Ushiku. In Ushiku there is a famous Ushiku Daibutsu statue, the statue is the third highest Buddha statue in the world. The fee to enter the statue just 800 yen.

Some photos I have taken outside:

Some photos I have taken inside the statue:

A beautiful pattern (I think)….

There is also beautiful meditation room inside….

After visited Ushiku Daibutsu, I moved back to Tokyo. I think I need to go some place that interesting at night ~ it is Tokyo Tower hehe….

At that time there are many people in front of the ticket counter….

After visited Tokyo Tower then I went back to Mizue Hotel in Tokyo, slept and restored energy for the next day trip..

April 5th

On April 5th, I went some places around Tokyo: Shinjuku and Shibuya. It was a rainy day…..

Some shots I took in Shinjuku:

They are my best friends hehe…..

Some photos I took in Shibuya:

The famous Hachiko statue…

Because my friends haven’t visited Tokyo Tower then we visited Tokyo Tower… for me it’s my second time visit Tokyo Tower hehe….

What a beautiful rainy day hehe….

We continued our journey to Kawaguchi Lake, it was said to be the famous place to see Mt. Fuji. But so sad the weather was not good enough, and we can’t see Mt. Fuji hehe…. I took some shots but it just a documentary photos, no any beautiful Mt. Fuji photos.

Below is Kawaguchiko station, and do you know we can see Mt. Fuji from here… but from this photo I just see the cloud hehe…. I think I will go this place again just to take beautiful photos of Mt. Fuji hehe…..

April 6th

We took bus from Kawaguchiko station to Osaka and just slept at overnight bus hehe….The bus costs 8500 yen (really expensive) but we haven’t choice  because we need to arrive Kansai airport at 9:00 morning for check-in.

In my opinion the trip was really interesting, it’s very different if I use travel agency and just go with tour. In this trip I need to plan everything including schedule, hotel, transportation and of course money hehe….

Anyway thanks for visiting this blog….

Tags: 2010, Floating Garden, Geisha, Gion, Golden Pavilion, Hachiko, Himeji Castle, japan, Kawaguchiko, Kyoto Gyoen, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Mt.Fuji, Muku Tree, Osaka Castle, sakura, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo Tower, trip, Ueno park, Universal Studio, Ushiku Daibutsu

• April 18, 2010
• My Photography Album, Photography
• 18 Comments