Warning: photo-laden post coming up
A small group of old school friends, seven of us, decided to visit Japan early April. We particularly wanted to catch the beautiful sight of the sakuras, and boy we sure did. I am going to let the photos tell the story - not in the sequence that it had taken place
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| Entrance to the Osaka Castle |
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| Found a piece of the homeland here |
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| Chanced upon a monthly fleamarket at the railway station on the way to Nara |
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| Was amazed at how tall and straight the bamboos shoot up to the sky |
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| Bamboo groves - looking up as Arashiyama, Kyoto |
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| Bridge over the Oi River, Arashiyama |
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| Supposedly the oldest sakura tree in Kiyomizudera Park, Kyoto |
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| A geisha at Gion Street, Kyoto. Can't imagine how she can walk wearing that kind of shoes. |
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| Himeji Castle, Himeji |
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| The fishes, in clear water of the pond in Koko-en Garden, Himjei |
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| We feasted on the sakuras - Koko-en Garden |
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| In the park leading to Himeji Castle |
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| Leading to the Tokyo Tower |
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| Went up the mountain to walk in the Ogimachi Village - a UNESCO heritage site |
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| Took a ride on the Shinkansen bullet train for the first time and a couple more times after that |
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| On one occasion, we had the whole coach of the Sinkansen to ourselves. |
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| Another first - tasted onigiri, the japanese fast food on the go. |
And to round it up, this was waiting for me when I returned from the trip.
