Author: Rosie

Rosie and The Operator looked at each other….we had just hopped on a high speed train and god knows where we were going!  Rosie felt sick.  No English names of the stops were scrolling above the carriage door and all announcements were being made in Japanese.

As far as the eye could see in front of Rosie the giant bamboo slow and dignified, swayed in the breeze.  The stems were soooo tall, unbelievably tall.  When you looked skyward the bamboo arched overhead forming a tunnel.  The Operator bent over the fence and wrapped his knuckles on a bamboo stem that had the girth of his calf, it echoed hollowly.

Hiroshima is like a pilgrimage site for Rosie and The Operator, being in Japan it only felt right to pay homage and visit the sight where the most unthinkable act of violence has happened on the planet. 

The highlight of this wee town is its hilly Temple Walk, behind the railway tracks a cobbled track winds for 2.5 km up and down the hills passing 25 temples on its way.  This was Rosie and The Operators aim today….walking this route and enjoying the sunshine and being away from the crowds of the big cities.

Nara is compact from a tourist perspective and most of the sights to see are based around the Nara-koen (Nara Park).  This park is home to 1200 deer, who are considered messengers of the gods and actually have national treasure status.