We got back from Japan a few weeks ago, and it feels like a dream. We had been planning this trip for a long time and were lucky to do the first half with Alex's whole family. If you ever have the chance, go! You will see some of the most beautiful sights, oldest houses and buildings, yummiest&craziest foods, kindest people, and feel so out of your comfort zone. But it is all worth it. This was a trip of a lifetime and I am so happy we were able to go to this incredible country for two weeks. We took waaay too many pictures (none of which are edited---b/c who has time for that), and it may take a few blog posts, so here is the first part of our trip!
Our first day we were lucky enough to visit Alex's favorite place on earth! We went to Ryougouchi aka his Ojiichan's village. Also Ojiichan=grandpa. Ojiichan is the CUTEST little old Japanese man ever, and his village is equally as cute and quaint as him. He grew up literally in the moutains, with about 10 houses and beautiful scenery. Bamboo forrest, green stretching everywhere, a huge waterfall, a river running through the village, rice fields---it was an absolute dream. We ate a traditional Japanese meal, in which I only knew what 3 things were maybe. Some noodles in a cold broth (we really don't have that in America), rice (of course), tempura, and vegetables that I have never seen but enjoyed trying. Then we were able to see Ojiichan's house that he's been in for the last 30+ years that he built himself. This was about an hour away from his village and where my mother-in-law grew up. It was so traditional and the details were incredible.
He only thinks we were taking a pic of him haha
^^Ryan sat like this by himself, and everyone thought it would be funny to join ha
Second day was also an absolute dream, and one of my highlights of the whole trip. We went to Shiraito falls at the base of Mt. Fuji, near where my MIL grew up. First off, there are two pictures of ice cream because there is soft-serve ice cream EVERYWHERE. I mean everywhere. (side note: there's also 711's everywhere too. Convenient stores are huge in Japan and pretty sure they started here. But they don't have gas stations connected. They also always have soft-serve) Okay back to these falls. They were BREATHTAKING. The clearest water, and jungle all around you. I think everyone should go there. You can explore a little bit into some cave-like thing too. After these falls, we drove up Fuji and went to the most serene lake. Again, incredible.
If you visit Japan, go to Kyoto! We could have spent another day here, there is so much to do. It is the old capital, and everything is SO ancient there. We went to three different temple/shrines. We started at the golden temple, Kinkakuji. I loved the change of the gold and the scenery. Most shrines are reddish. For "lunch", we went to a famous market, which pretty much had nothing appetizing (see: crazy food pics). Next, we saw Fushimi-inari which was probably my favorite. 1300+ year old poles that go around the mountain. Before you enter any shrine, you have to wash your hands with water and then drink some to cleanse yourself. Inside the shrine there was this "wishing rock". You guess how much the rock weighs, and if it's heavier than you thought, your wish won't come true. It was WAY heavier than I thought haha, oh well. Last shrine we saw was Kiyomi-zudera. The walk up to this shrine was my favorite! Tons of girls in kimonos and just cute buildings. The shrine was way crowded, but I bet in the spring or fall it's amazing with the amount of trees!
This was only our first three days, and we already did so much. But much, much more to come!
xoxo, kay
