Here and there but not quite everywhere!
We ended up waking up early at the Hyatt Place Kyoto and headed out to Kiyomizu-dera, hoping to beat the crowds. We were successful but the morning light wasn’t great due to the proximity of the mountains. We ended up visiting three times throughout the day hoping for better light! Later, in the afternoon, we walked over to Kodai-ji and stayed for their nighttime fall illumination event.
Continue reading “Daytime Kiyomizu-dera and Evening Kodai-ji”
After breakfast, we checked out of the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo, dropped off our bags at Shinagawa Station, and headed to Koraku-en, a garden near Ueno. After walking through the garden, we had lunch nearby and then visited the Meiji Jingu‘s inner garden. We then had an afternoon snack in Omotesando before taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto where we checked into the Hyatt Place Kyoto.
Continue reading “Koraku-en and the Meiji Jingu Inner Garden”
After arriving at Haneda, we quickly passed through immigration and customs and checked in at the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo by Shinagawa Station. We then took the Yamanote line up to Tokyo Station where we had a quick dinner. Afterwards, we walked around the Marunouchi area to the west of the station before heading back via Yurakucho.
Continue reading “Tokyo Marunouchi at Night”
We were pretty tired after doing the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route and heading right to Tokyo afterwards so we got a late start today. We headed to Akasaka Palace at what we thought was the opening time at 11am. It turns out it probably opened earlier at 10am. This palace serves as the state guest house and has been open to tourists only since 2016. Various US presidents have been here. Joe Biden features quite a bit in many of the photographs on display.
Continue reading “Akasaka Palace in Tokyo”
After spending the night at the Hotel Tateyama at Murodo Station on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, we saw the weather improve after breakfast. We decided to check out as soon as we could put everything away to once again go hiking in the snow. We ended up hiking to the Mikurigaike Onsen, and then a bit past to the Jigokudani Observatory. Afterwards, we completed the alpine route, spending some time at the Kurobe Dam before ending the trip at Ogizawa where we caught the Alpico bus to the Shinano-Ōmachi JR station.
Continue reading “Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route to Ogizawa”