Visit With Us (Rich and Helen) @[email protected]
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Welcome! We are British couple Rich and Helen, full time cru
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ad| Today on our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour we had a free day so we decided to head out of Kyoto to nearby Kobe. Seeing as it was a Sunday we were able to take a very special train that only runs at the weekends. Called the Garaku train the six carriages are themed and decorated accordingly - each one representing a different season in Japan. We chose carriage 3, the cherry blossom spring coach with outward facing seats to enjoy the scenery.
Arriving in Kobe late morning we set off on foot to explore the city heading first to the City Hall which has a 24th floor observation deck to see over the city and out to the nearby dockyards and sea. After a wandering in the nearby park we headed back to the city centre along the main shopping street before a quick visit to the main city centre shrine. But the main reason we were here was for Kobe beef so we found Steakland and joined the queue for lunch. Our Kobe tenderloin were cooked on a hot plate in front of us and was delicious - the meat was so tender and the whole thing only cost £25!
After lunch we boarded the train back to Kyoto getting off near Gion to have another wander around this district on our own and we were lucky to spot another Meiko walking down one of the side alleys - it made my day. The walk back to the subway took us through the busy Shijo Dori shopping area, still really busy even though it was quite late on a Sunday evening.
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Starting the second week of our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour we had another full day with our wonderful guide Matsue around the beautiful city of Kyoto.
ad| Our first destination of the day was Fushimi Inari Shrine in southern Kyoto, dedicated to the Shinto god of rice, Inari. Famous for having thousands of torii gates, they form a network of trails up the hillside of the sacred Mount Inari. With the full trail being an uphill 4km walk taking around two hours to complete, we knew we wouldn’t get round it all in the half hour of free time we had. But we did as much as we could in time we had making sure to pick up a tourist torii gate souvenir.
Then it was time to sample another Japanese beverage, this time of the alcoholic kind, as we made our way to a sake factory. After a short video on how to make sake we had a couple of samples to try. We must admit we’re still not sold on sake though we did enjoy the beer flight of beers brewed at the factory.
Our next destination was Japan’s oldest permanent capital, Nara, starting with a lunch stop. Feeling less adventurous than usual we both settled on a McDonalds as we had wanted to try a Samurai burger since we got here.
After lunch we had a short drive to the impressive Todai-ji temple. Until recently, Todai-ji’s main hall held the record as the world’s largest wooden building (even though the present reconstruction from 1692 is only two-thirds the original size). Inside is dominated by a 15-metre-tall seated Buddha, one of Japan’s largest bronze Buddha statues. It really was the most impressive temple we’ve ever seen.
Surrounding the temple is lovely parkland where masses of tame deer roam free. Considered for centuries to be messengers of the gods, the gentle deer are revered in the city and have even learnt to bow at visitors in return for a deer cookie.
After another long day we didn’t head out far for dinner, stumbling upon a rather cool basement foodhall at Kyoto tower where after a nice G&T at the bar we enjoyed some delicious wagyu steaks at Nick Stones there.
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We’re now a week into our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour and finally starting to learn some of our fellow travellers names 😂
ad| With 3 full days to explore Kyoto the first order of the day was to learn how to make matcha tea with a traditional tea ceremony at a local tea house. Once we were all seated our beautifully dressed tea master took us through the rituals of a tea ceremony, finishing up with the chance to sample some of the sweet treats that accompany the tea and then make our own matcha tea to taste - which, by the way, we loved!
From here we drove to the Golden Pavilion, which dates back to the classical Muromachi period of Japanese temple design and is exactly what it says it is - a temple coated in gold leaf. With blue skies and good weather it was perfectly reflected in the lake beneath it.
Next on this full day tour was the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, a maze of walkways lined with towering green bamboo columns. After walking through the bamboos we had the chance to wander the shopping centre and get some lunch at the railway station where we tried fried gyoza and pork shumai followed by a local favourite, Kori shaved ice flavoured with mango, delicious and refreshing.
Then we visited Nijo Castle, an iconic monument in the heart of Kyoto. Built in the 17th century, it’s famous for its unique wooden floors designed to creak like a nightingale’s song, thus warning its occupants of any impending stealthy attack. The numerous rooms of the castle were decorated with Japanese murals and Tatami flooring but not much else leaving us pondering what life would have been like as a shogun with so few comforts.
Finally, we took a walking tour through Kyoto’s Gion district. It’s the classic image of Japan and home to geisha and Helen was thrilled when we spotted some Maiko (trainee geisha) in taxi and then in one of the side streets.
What an action-packed and exhausting but unforgettable day exploring this multifaceted city.
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Day 6 of our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour and it’s time to leave Hiroshima for the culture capital of Japan, Kyoto.
ad| As we weren’t leaving Hiroshima until 9am we took the chance to wander up to the Peace clock in the Peace Park which every day at 8.15am, the time the atomic bomb exploded over the city, plays a chime to remind everyone of the horrors of nuclear weapons. It was very moving to just sit and listen with tourists and locals alike as the rest of the city seemed to fall quiet.
Having completely fallen in love with Hiroshima we were sad to leave but were excited about our next destination Kyoto. A four hour coach ride brought us to Kyoto, the old imperial capital of Kyoto where we had a four night stay.
On our way there we enjoyed a stop at Okayama, home to the serene Korakuen Gardens. Built in 1700, Korakuen is renowned as one of Japan’s most exquisite gardens, with various themed gardens, lakes, quirky bridges, shrines and teahouses.
Arriving at our hotel @kyoto_centuryhotel late afternoon we headed out to explore the station area over the road from the hotel. ‘A station!’ you may say, but this is no ordinary station, it’s out of this world. Twelve stories of escalators, LED stairways, shops, foodhalls, restaurants, a roof garden and a skywalk - we spent over an hour wandering around finding our bearings.
Feeling peckish we decided to try a tonkatsu restaurant for a delicious dinner of miso soup, sticky rice, shredded cabbage and tempura pork, mine accompanied by a rather large prawn! It was another delicious meal and we managed it all with chopsticks.
We can’t wait to show you more of Kyoto!
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Day 5 of our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour and we woke up to glorious blue skies over the beautiful city of Hiroshima.
ad| After a leisurely breakfast we set of by coach to the south west of the city to catch a ten minute ferry across to the small island of Itsukushima in Hiroshima Bay, known to the locals as Miyajima, or ‘Shrine Island’.
Once here we had a guided tour around the downtown area finishing off at the Itsukushima Shrine where we then had some free time. We decided to head down to the beach to see the famous giant Torii gate up close. Set in the sea at high tide it seems to float on the water, but since it was low tide we were able to get very close to it.
We then had some time to explore the tourist streets by foot sampling some Momiji Manju or Maple Leaf Cake. Shaped like a Japanese maple leaf (momiji), which Miyajima is famous for in autumn, it is Traditionally filled with sweet red bean paste which I tried, while Rich had a custard one. We then thought we would get a lemonade as island is well known for growing lemons but unfortunately Rich had his drink stolen by one of the rather forward deers that roam the island 😂😂
With our time on the island up we headed back to the ferry and back to our hotel for an included buffet lunch before a free afternoon. With such gorgeous weather we headed over the road to visit Hiroshima castle before taking a short stroll out of the city centre for a peaceful hour wandering the serene Shukkien Japanese gardens.
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Day 4 of our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour and it’s time to head west to Hiroshima
ad| Leaving the Hakone hotel in pouring rain we headed to Mishima station where we boarded the Shinkansen bullet train to Hiroshima, negotiating a change at Kobe along the way. We covered over 455 Miles reaching speeds of 180mph, arriving into Hiroshima just after lunchtime.
With a quick stop at the hotel to drop our stuff off we set off on foot with our guide for a walking tour of this beautiful city. We walked from the conveniently located @rihgaroyalhotelhiroshima through the Peace park passing the Genbuko Dome, the Children’s Peace monument, the Peace Flame and the Peace Dome before a rather harrowing visit to the Peace Memorial museum.
Our guided tour over, we wandered back to the hotel via Hondori shopping street. Feeling peckish we stopped at the Okonomi-mura food precinct. Set over four floors these street food style ‘restaurants’ serve Hiroshima’s famous speciality: Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. Cooked on teppanyaki style hot plates in front of us, chef starts with a pancake which is then layered up with cabbage, bean sprouts, bacon and noodles with seasoning from fish flakes and seaweed powder. Topped with a fried egg coated with a special terriyaki type thick sauce and more seasoning mine was finished off with spring onions. We were then given a sharp palette knife type cutting utensil which we ate the okonomiyaki straight off of. It was delicious and all for about £7 each.
Heading back to the hotel in time to enjoy the view as the sun set over Hiroshima castle from our room on the 22nd floor, we were glad we had another day to spend in this wonderful city.
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Day 3 of our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour and it’s time to say goodbye to Tokyo.
ad| This was the day that we hoped to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji but with heavy clouds as we left Tokyo we were not all that hopeful. We had about two hours on the coach to get to our next destination Hakone and about an hour in we caught a glimpse of Fujisan’s shoulder through the clouds.
Our guide Masa decided to change the order of our tour in the hope that the clouds would clear over the mountain later in the morning. So we headed first to the Kubota Itchiku Art Museum dedicated to the Kimono artist Itchiku Kubota who devoted his whole life to reviving the lost art of Tsujigahana silk dyeing. The museum exhibited a number of his amazing kimono workpieces and was itself set in beautiful woodland.
After our museum tour we boarded the coach again to head to Lake Kawaguchi for the picture perfect shot of Mount Fuji. But alas it was not meant to be - we could only see the base of the mountain. However we enjoyed a delicious ice cream flavoured with red and green grapes while we waited patiently to see if the skies would clear. They didn’t!
Eventually we had to give up and leave but a stop to pick up some lunch at a local supermarket rewarded us with a glimpse of her peak.
Next, we headed south to the mountain resort of Hakone and Lake Ashi for an unusual sightseeing cruise aboard the Japanese version of a 19th-century pirate ship which would take us from one point on the lake to our hotel a bit further down. The lake side hotel was a short walk from where we disembarked the pirate ship (not a sentence we expected to write on a tour of Japan 😂😂😂).
As the entire area around the hotel is geo-thermally active, we had the chance to try one of Japan’s unmissable experiences – bathing in an ‘onsen’, or hot spring, at the hotel, which Helen did as a soon as we arrived (no pics of that I’m afraid - no swim wear allowed 😂).
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Day 2 of our @RivieratravelCoUk1 Grand Japan tour and our second full day in Tokyo.
ad| The day started with a drive through the electronic Akihabara district on our way to Asakusa, centred around the impressive Sensoji Temple, Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) and Nakamise shopping street. One of the largest and most visited temples in Tokyo it was really busy on this sunny Sunday morning. After visiting the temple we wandered the streets succumbing to a warm melonpan (think doughnut bread with a sugary topping).
From the temple the group walked down to the Sumida river for a river cruise along Tokyo’s waterfront district.
Back on dry ground we headed to the swanky shopping district of Ginza where we all left our guided tour for afternoon exploring on our own.
We wandered up and down the pedestrianised streets of Ginza, window shopping in some of the most luxurious stores in the world, then taking a little detour to see the nearby Godzilla statue.
Jumping on Tokyo’s oldest subway line, the Ginza Line, we headed back to Shibuya to see the scramble crossing again. It was much busier than our previous visit as it was much better weather, but our real reason for returning was the Star Wars pop up shop Rich had spotted there last time we were there 😂
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For the next two weeks we will be on a Grand Japan escorted tour with @RivieratravelCoUk1 starting in Tokyo.
ad| Staying for three nights at the Hotel New Otani we have two full days to explore as much of Tokyo as we can.
Day one started early with our Japanese guide for this section of the tour, Masa-san, escorting us around the old Tsujiki fish market, where in our free time we tried some traditional Japanese omelette.
Next up was a short hop to the peaceful Hamarikyu gardens, home to 300 year old pine trees, traditional tea houses, beautiful Japanese gardens and a salt water lake. It was hard to believe that this serene space was in the heart of the city and surrounded by high rise buildings. If only it hadn’t rained the whole time we were there 😔
Already lunchtime we stopped for a delicious bento box lunch before a visit to the Imperial palace gardens. Thankfully the rain eased up by the time we arrived at our next destination, the magnificent Meiji-Jingu shrine (where we even caught a traditional Japanese wedding).
The final stop of the escorted excursion was one we were looking forward to, the busy Scramble crossing in Shibuya - a crazy network of zebra crossings where every couple of minutes the traffic stops for nearly a minute to allow pedestrians to crossover the road whichever so way they choose!
With our guided tour finished we decided to head from the craziness of Shibuya to the bright own lights of Shinjuku and Kabukicho, the streets often used to depict Tokyo at night. Shinjuku is home to the neon signs and busyness of Kabukicho, but just around the corner from the bright lights are also Golden Gai (a labyrinth of narrow alleys and over 200 tiny bars, many barely wide enough for a single person) and Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane, another narrow alleyway of almost 60 izakaya (Japanese-style pubs), yakitoriya (grilled chicken skewer shops), and motsuyakiya (grilled offal eateries).
What’s a first day! Over 13 hours and 25,000 steps later we will sleep well tonight 😴 💤
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Welcome! We are British couple Rich and Helen, full time cruise and travel content creators, focusing on luxury and expedition cruising.
Since late 2018 we have been documenting our cruise and travel adventures, finally making the decision to leave our previous careers in 2020 to concentrate solely on our YouTube channel, website and other media outlets.
Our aim is to inform, advise, entertain and share our extensive knowledge and experience of cruising around the world.
Every second of our content is 100% original and from our own cameras. If we don't experience it ourselves, it doesn't go in our channel.
Thank you for visiting, please consider subscribing and WELCOME to the big, beautiful world of Visit With Us!