Nagoya to Osaka
Centrair International Airport
Friday, August 22, 2008
We arrived in early afternoon in Nagoya International Airport also called
CentrAir. After clearing our immigration, picking up our bags in carousel 3 we headed through the customs to train terminal in the airport.
The trains that connect from
CentrAir to Nagoya are run by a company other than Japan Rail and is called
Meitetsu Railways. We had to take this train to reach Nagoya station before we coul
d reach Shin-Osaka (New Osaka) and finally Osaka proper and to our Hotel.
Since this train system is different from JR we had to buy tickets. We bought the tickets in the Limited Express Train (¥ 850) and took the first available train around 3:15 PM going toward Kanayama. We had to transfer to another train at Jungu-Mae station after traveling about 25 minutes. At Jungu-Mae station we took a train going toward Nagoya and the second stop was Nagoya.
After leaving the Meitetsu Railway station we transferred to JR Railway station. Went to the JR Information booth. At the information booth we gave our receipts for JR 7 day railway pass and showed our passport (JR passes are available ONLY fo
r non-Japanese citizens) and got the shiny JR Railway Pass. From this point onwards we could travel in JR lines unlimited times for another 7 days.
By this time we were tired and hungry. We started to inquire people whether there is a place to eat. Since we were not yet sure where to eat we were looking for some familiar places to eat and found out that there is a McDonald's at the Nagoya JR station itself. We took our luggages and sat at Mickey D and had some coffee and hot lunch. The people were very nice. There were both Japanese and English menus with pictures. We showed them the pictures of what we wanted and they were able to serve us what we needed. Not many people could speak English.
Then we took the next available
Shinkansen (Bullet train) headed toward Hakata (opposite side to Tokyo) and in our case it was a Hikari Railstar train. We boarded the train and sat there for about 1 hour 10 minutes before arriving at Shin-Osaka (Shinkansen station for Osaka). Since we were very tired by that time, we came out of the station and hailed a taxi to go our Hotel paying about ¥ 3000 for about 15 minutes ride through Osaka (it was worth it considering our baggage and our tiredness).
We checked into the
Hotel Okuuchi Osaka and were ready to go to bed around 8:00 PM JST.
From Shin-Osaka we took the Shinkansen Hikari Number 364 around 8:40 Am and going toward Tokyo. Kyoto was the very next stop for that train. We got out of the train and were looking for the Kyoto (Prefecture) Tourism department at the 9th floor of JR station building was not open yet. So we proceeded and picked valuable information from Kyoto city Information center in the second floor of Kyoto JR station.
Kyoto's tourist places are well connected by buses (in Hiroshima we found street cars or trams were convenient and in Osaka we found sub-ways were convenient). So at the Kyoto City Information Center we picked up the Kyoto City Bus Travel Map (aka Bus Navi Guide). Based on the places we wanted to visit the lady at the center asked us to buy City Bus All-Day Pass (for one day) at ¥ 500. At the end of the day we found that her suggestion was good.
The Nijo Castle is a huge place and we spent about 1 1/2 hour touring both the interior and exteriors. The castle floors still make squeaking noise when one walks on them. It was originally built that way to warn the Shoguns if somebody tries to get inside the castle with out their knowledge. We found common crows at the castle grounds and with loud mouths. There were beautiful blooming trees and a lily pond.
to go another location from any other location, a very convenient feature). We headed to Kinkaku-ji (and not the Ginkaku-ji Temple) Temple and took the same Bus Number 101 and got off at Kinkaku-ji-michi stop.
The Kinkaku-ji temple has the beautiful golden pavilion. Even the tickets to the temple are so beautiful to look at. As you around the bend all of sudden you see the golden pavilion with a reflecting pond just next to it. Even though the day was cloudy we could still see the shiny gold color. In the pond there were several colored fish swimming around. The whole temple had a peaceful mood. Even the walk way out of the temple is so nicely done.
Then from there we went back to the Kyoto Station and had lunch at the McDonalds nearby the station. After lunch we headed to the Sanjusangen-do temple by another bus from the Kyoto JR station. In the main hall (where you have wear the shoes provided by the temple) you see 1001 Kannons. It is considered by one of the oldest and longest wooden structures in the world. Even the court yard outside with corridors filled with equally spaced orange pillars make this place really nice to visit.
After resting for a night we started our travel in Japan by going toward Hiroshima and Himeji. It was a cloudy day. 
We got out of our Hotel Okuuchi Osaka and went to the near by Awaza Subway Station in Green Line and bought a multi-use subway pass for ¥ 3000 and used it to get two more individual tickets for ¥ 230 to get to Shin-Osaka (New Osaka) station. We first traveled to Hommachi station in Green (Chuo) Line and transferred to (Midosuji) Red line and arrived in Shin-Osaka.
We spent about an hour going around the A-Bomb Building, Peace Memorial Park, and Eternal flame all located on either side of the Motayasu-gawa river. Then we turned back to the tram station and took the Street Car # 2 and got back to Hiroshima JR Station.
meji and arrived there at 1:50 PM. At Himeji we saw one beautiful palanquin at the JR station. It looked very similar to the carriage that are prevalent in India for carrying deities from the Hindu temples. We walked out of the JR Station and it started to drizzle a bit. We quickly saw the special bus that took people to the Himeji Castle and paid ¥ 180 and took it the Castle. It was probably the fourth stop.
We stopped at couple of places to take rest since drinking (even water) and eating were not allowed. There was no electrical connection and hence no a/c or fan inside the palace. The raining and cloudiness in addition to the hot climate made it hard for us to climb all the way to the top. We stopped at three floors from the top most floor and headed back. We bought some souvenirs at the shop on the front of the palace.
d reach Shin-Osaka (New Osaka) and finally Osaka proper and to our Hotel.
r non-Japanese citizens) and got the shiny JR Railway Pass. From this point onwards we could travel in JR lines unlimited times for another 7 days.
Shinkansen (Bullet train) headed toward Hakata (opposite side to Tokyo) and in our case it was a Hikari Railstar train. We boarded the train and sat there for about 1 hour 10 minutes before arriving at Shin-Osaka (Shinkansen station for Osaka). Since we were very tired by that time, we came out of the station and hailed a taxi to go our Hotel paying about ¥ 3000 for about 15 minutes ride through Osaka (it was worth it considering our baggage and our tiredness).
