Now, I van tell you all what I did today. I went to Himeji, 30 minutes away from Kobe (then I realised that instead of forking out 200 yen to take the subway to JR Kobe station, then take the JR local train ride to Himeji, I could actually just walk to Shin-Kobe besides my hotel and take the Shinkansen instead! And the shinkansen only takes like 12 minutes!) and I visited the very famous Himeji castle. Famos because it is cond=sidered to be the most beautiful castle in Japan and it is also a Unesco World Heritage Site along with Horyuji Temple off Nara. Himeji city itself is also famed because many movies have been shot in both Himeji Castla and Mount Shosha. Movies like Ran by Aikira K (Whatever) and the very famous pre-insane Tom Cruise's Last Samurai were also shot in Mount Shosha. Actually, My trip really only involved Himeji Castle, it was only till last night that I was info-gathering on web that I realised that Shosha is famed cos' there's where Tom Cruise shot his movie.
First, lets talk bout Himeji Castle. The castle itself is majestic and really very impressive. It is also one of the few original castle left in Japan where everything is left intact, as in, no further re-construction were done to it.
The main straight street you see is the way leading to the castle grounds from JR Himeji Station. Around a 15 minute walk (1KM) and since it is straight, unlike Horyuji's winding route, it is sooo easy to get to the Castle.
Of course, when you are listed as a world treasure, you need to show it, yeah?
I got into Himeji at around 12 and was done with the castle by 1330. So I walked down the straight street again and tried to look for food since I missed hotel's breakfast served from 7-9 as I woke up past 9...I finally settled on a Chinese restaurent! haha, i see lots of Chinese food all over Japan and naturally, since Japanese curry here tasted way hotter than the ones we had in Singapore, I have to try the Mah-Poh Tofu ans see if it's as apicy as the ones we have back home. And the restaurant is having this ultra value worthy set lunch at 880 yen that has 4 (!!!) dishes and a soup AND dessert!
The serving was actually really wortth the bucks! The tofu was great!!! Not spicy and so my taste bud level! The sweet and sour pork was great too! The sweet and sour taste is not as viniger-ish as ours and the pork is so tender! And they are real meat okay! Not like those C Jade ones where's its flour. Then the fried chiocken is also really crispy despite being cold! Not soggy at all!
So, after I finished lunch, it was already 2+ and I was thinking if I should go back to Kobe and rot or venture to Mt. Shosha. I decided that since I am already in Himeji, I might as well just go to Shosha since it's those been there and I'll never do it ever again thing. Plus, I really want to see Tom Cruise's footprints...haha...So I took a bus (30 min) and then transfer to a cable car (here, they call it Ropeway...yah...haha) and just for transport, i blew 900 for return ropeway and 520 return on bus! Then, I paid another 300 to get into the grounds of the temples. And I did my fair share of exercises today! To get to the temples that are scattered all over Mount Shosha, and I emphasis the word: Mount, you have to climb and trek through steep slopes and stairs! But the place was worth every tiring muscle of it cos I loved how off the beaten track Shosha is as very few tour groups comes here (think it must have to do with the slops climbing) so the place is really peaceful and serene. And the temple grounds is so medicating to heal the tired mind from city's bustle. Also, ok, not many of you know this, but I am a Guan Yin lover because I always feel peaceful and calm whenever I see a statue of the Bodhisattva, so imagine how peaceful I felt when the slopes are lined with many bronzed statues of it in various stages (Thousand hands, normal standing etc...)
Then I finally reached the Main Gate, only to realise that there are to be MORE slopes and treks ahead before seeing the place where Tom was filmed!
Ok, This is not where he filmed but this temple is buil hanging (like Kyoto hor)
This is where Tom shot his scenes! There are 3 temples (and it is called The 3 Temples). I chanced upon a tour group from Holland and the reason they were there is cos all of them have seen the movie and is there just to see the temples!
This is another temple 5 min away (=more trekking)
Then of course, when you climbed up, you must trek down later...
1 comment:
Thank you for the information on Himeji Castle and Kobe. I am travelling to Japan in October and your info on your blog was helpful.
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