Japan Confidential: Sailing along Japan's southern coast
Japan Confidential: Sailing along Japan's southern coast
In this episode: Recapping the Golden Triangle, Bangkok and coastal Japan (Recorded 8/26/23 in Osaka, Japan)
Appears in this episode
Greetings from Takamatsu, Japan!
We have a lot of ground to cover in this week’s episode. The boys and I traveled from Chiang Mai to the Golden Triangle, then back to Bangkok and finally to Osaka, Japan.
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You probably saw this question coming: Have you ever woken up in a hotel bed and asked yourself, “Where am I?” I did it several times this week. Please leave a comment and we’ll read it — and respond — in our next podcast!
I’m doing the photos in reverse chronological order. Our first stop on our expedition cruise was the small port city of Tamano, Japan. We spent most of the day sleeping and exploring the city, which had two excellent grocery stores that sold mochi and Japanese energy drinks. (I think that’s all the boys lived off for the last 24 hours.)
Himeji Castle near Kobe, Japan, on a perfect August day. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and they’ve done a remarkable job of preserving this historically important building.
The Thai dance show at the Mandarin Oriental’s Sala Rim Naam restaurant. This was one of the highlights of our final visit to Bangkok.
Aren hangs out with a friend at the Anantara Golden Triangle. It was a little rainy up at the Myanmar-Laos border, but not enough to stop me from writing a story about visiting Southeast Asia during the rainy season.
Don’t forget this week’s question: Have you ever woken up in a hotel bed and asked yourself, “Where am I?” (We’re looking for the Rated G answers on this one.)
Japan Confidential: Sailing along Japan's southern coast
I wake up at home & wonder where I am. No! Kidding. I do wonder how the weather’s going to be since it’s so weird these days. Want to say: you missed the opium farms in the GT. And you missed Kyushu. But please don’t miss Kyoto. And ask the tourist office for a schedule of festivals. Usually there’s one almost every day at a temple (Buddhist) or a shrine (Shinto). Some are historical with people in costumes. Get a vegetarian lunch at a Zen temple. Climb up the hill with the Tori’s and have a great view. Visiting temples on all sides of Kyoto isn’t boring if you can appreciate the aesthetic sense of the land around. And whatever their individual food specialty might be. This is worth the boys (young men) stretching their comfort levels into the Japanese zone that is beyond manga and games. Okay now I’ll listen to your podcasts of the GT and trip to Osaka.
My last trip to Japan was a fast turnaround. I got into Tokyo in early evening and had to catch a Shinkansen in the morning. Someone told me that going for a swim would help hydrate me. I didn’t unpack put on my swimsuit and robe and went up to the pool. When I got back to my room, I realized I hadn’t unpacked. I decided to sit down for a moment. I woke up four hours later, still in my robe and swimsuit.