Japan.It's Bloomin marvellous.

[drron]

Mrsdrron went back to the room whilst I tackled the hotel's wild bird trail.This was set aside in 1890.We westerner's thought we were so good setting up National Parks but here was a hotel in Japan doing it's own bit.Also in the 800's the Emperor in Nara set aside a forest to be free from hunting and logging to protect wild animals and plants.So another pictorial-

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Buddha stones-

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The winds of yesterday have put down a floral carpet-

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Well not these ones-

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[drron]

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Finally a wild bird stayed still long enough so I could get a picture!

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[OATEK]

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Finally a wild bird stayed still long enough so I could get a picture!

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Looks very peaceful.

 

[love_the_life]

Gorgeous pics. Pity about the lack of good sunsets though

 

[drron]

We now got the shuttle down to Kyoto station and caught a standing room only JR rapid service to Osaka-we actually got the last 2 seats.Now a bit of advice.We forwarded our large bags on to the hotel in Osaka-officially takuhaibin but known by the original trademark-takkyubin.It would have been really uncomfortable with all our luggage on this train.Even on most shinkansen large bags can be difficult to travel with.Usually costs ~ $30 but well worth it.
This also enabled us to have lunch when we arrived at Osaka station.Went to the top floor of Daimaru and a small family restaurant.Mrsdrron had the suikiyaki set and I a pork paper bowl set with broiled salmon.We both enjoyed our meal.

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Then went to where the Imperial Hotel shuttle stop was and one was just about to leave.They had bought the cherry blossom inside-

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Checked in and collected our bags.Got a room with a decent view-

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Unfortunately twin beds-

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[drron]

Unpacked and went for a walk in the riverside park.Sakura were in full bloom and the hanami parties were in full swing.

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.http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ofCNAxNTL10/Vv94nfxx_aI/AAAAAAACTFA/f2hrBvfcInc8vA63HnDThbmjkiOBCx_sQCCo/s400-Ic42/DSC09602.JPG.

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[drron]

All sorts of vessels were on the water for blossom viewing-

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[drron]

Back to the blossoms-

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[drron]

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[drron]

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and breaking it up with a couple of delightful names-

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[drron]

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[drron]

So the last of the blossoms-

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Local delicacies-

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That night it was the Welcome dinner for the group.Western menu of course.French wine but pretty ordinary.We turn out to be amongst the youngest 25%.:shock:
Next morning it was an early breakfast.The restaurant opened at 0630 and as all 90+ of us had coupons for the 1 restaurant we were in the queue just before 0630.We were meant to have the luggage down by 0730 and to leave for a bus tour at 0800.Quite a few had very little breakfast.
A last look at the view-

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Naturally at 0815 a couple were still in the room and later on another couple realised they had left their passports at the hotel.Ah the joys of group travel.
Will we survive the next 12 days?

 

[JohnM]

We turn out to be amongst the youngest 25%.:shock:

Will we survive the next 12 days?

Scary, verrrry scary :shock::shock:.

 

[drron]

Yes JohnM it was very scary.Over the next few days there will be examples.Needless to say even if the itinerary is good we will go back to be completely independent travellers.No more APT/Botanica trips for us.

But for now the fun starts as we leave Osaka by bus for Kyoto.Fortunately the itinerary was known so we had not visited the temples that were part of the trip today.We were on the Blue bus.I did prefer the description of our Korean guide later to whom we were the Brew group.Sounded right to me.
So first stop was the Ryoanji temple famous for it's rock garden.We did come here 32 years ago and we were by ourselves for the visit.I still remember the feelings I had.Today was very different with lots of tourists including the 90+ of us.A few of the other westerners were ignoring local customs and there was certainly not the tranquillity of our first visit.Added to which were the comments from fellow travellers-"cant see the point"."what the hell does it mean"."boring".

So to some of the pics-

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[drron]

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[drron]

Some shots inside the temple-

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[karen blancfield]

Your photos are lovely and you certainly timed the Sakura viewing well. Two weeks since we were there .... and once you're back at work, you have to remind yourself how fabulous it was.

 

[drron]

And now the main attraction the Hojo garden.Simplicity.Stunning.Serene.But first the model-

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[drron]

Time to walk back to the bus.The outer garden was also beautiful-

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[drron]

The last couple of shots from Ryoanji-

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And now to a temple which we missed lst time as it was closed,Rokuon-ji temple.The Golden Pavilion.Now this was very crowed.

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According to our Japanese guide this tree was more than 300 years old.