Intermezzo, kinda
Wednesday 29th October
More walking.
This morning I had to check out a bit early, so I quickly gathered my stuff and walked to the basutei (bus stop) . Having ridden with the basu (bus) before, this time I confidently got on board, waited for arrival at Hiroshima eki (station), paid for the fare (while apparently somewhat amazing the driver) and got off. Off to the Shinkansen! Booyah!
I quickly located the platform I needed to be at, except that the next Shinkansen (this particular type, yes there are 6 types) was not covered by the JR pass, so I couldn’t take that one. Half an hour later a proper one arrived. I was glad to have my eReader with me. xD
After getting on board, I was surprised to meet my fellow gaijin Stefano. Quelle surprise. He was headed for Tōkyō and took the same train as I. Only I would get off sooner, in Himeji. A short talk later, it was time to say goodbye again.
After arriving at Himeji eki, I took a moment to eat some lunch (I love that prepackaged sushi) before I would go to the hotel. The hoteru (hotel) was situated about 1 km from the eki, the weather was nice, so I decided to just walk there.
Check in would only be possible from 15h, but I managed to leave my luggage, while I would scout the city. I would be back after 15h to do the final check in. The hoteru employee happily obliged.
And so I went out again, this time with only a light backpack. I quickly located what must me the nightlife area, which now was pretty devoid of life, what with it being a bright and shiny afternoon. You need night-time for a nightlife area to be alive. 😉
So moving along I headed for the (practically) one and only attraction of the town: Himeji-jō (Himeji castle). Yes, pictures will follow. But time was nearing 15h already and I wanted to check in quickly, so as to be sure to have my stuff safely in my room. Thus, I headed back to the hoteru, before reaching the jō. I decided to either go later in the evening or possibly in the next morning.
When arriving at the hoteru, I quickly checked in and went to my room.
Fun fact 1: in fact my luggage had already been brought to my room. Classy!
Fun fact 2: when checking in, I was asked to provide address data of both myself and the company I work for. (Yes, in Japan you are actually defined by your job. I’m so happy I could live this stereotype. xD)
Not so fun fact: the room smells of cigarettes… Not overwhelmingly, but still. And there are burn spots in several places. Charming.
Once I had arrived in my room, I sat down, took a break and turned on the TV. Before long it was dinner time, so I went out to find a restaurant in the neighborhood.
Remarkable: I was required to hand in the key to my room before leaving the hoteru.
Quicky I found a restaurant and ordered something that looked pretty in a picture on the menu. I have no idea of what it was called, but I had some kind of noodle soup, possibly some pho. Totemo oishii deshita (it was very tasty)!
And after that, the walk was on again. I took a long walk through the city and visited Himeji-jō. The area surrounding the jō was (still) open and with it being around 20:00h it was also nice and quiet. I think I’ve gotten some great pictures. (yes, yes, them too will follow)
After having seen enough of the area, I decided to take a detour back to the hoteru. I walked past the former outer walls of the defensive structures of the jō and ended in the middle of nowhere (see my previous post).
When I got near to the hoteru, I entered the nightlife area again. This time it was just full of life as lots of folks were walking around and.. well, just walking around, as far as I could tell. At one point someone asked to me something, but I did not manage to decipher what that might have been. Oh well…
Back at the hoteru I took a nice bath and watched some more TV. In the news there was an item about the Dutch Royals visiting Japan. Totemo omoshiroi desu (very interesting). I think.. I didn’t understand much of it. xD
Having visited Himeji-jō already, I think tomorrow I’ll quickly depart for Ōsaka.