Now that we're back home and have told you everything about what we did in Japan, it's time to tell you what we didn't have time to see.
1. Kyoto: 2990 temples that we didn't see. Even if we saw all the temples we wanted, there is still so much to see there. Each temple is unique so you should find what you like.
2. Nara: We had only 1 hour there, but we should have spend a day there. The main attractions are located at a park 15 minutes from the train station. There are a few temples to see there and the deer are one of the attractions. So be prepared to spend a few hours there.
3. Mt. Fuji: Since we visited Japan in the winter, we couldn't climb Fuji, but we didn't have time to see it either. Even from afar. But next time we won't miss it. And maybe even climb it. Well, Rony will. Talia will cheer from the bottom. In the AC.
4. Ski: Although we visited Japan in the winter, we didn't have time to ski there. It's possible to ski almost everywhere in Japan. From Tokyo to Sapporo, there are plenty of ski stations, big and small. Japan is considered to be one of the best places to ski in the world, so try it, too, if you have a chance.
5. Hokkaido natural parks: Hokkaido is the northern island of Japan and also the least populated. Half of the island is covered by natural parks and very rare animals can be spotted there. Access to those parks is not that easy, however: It seems that only organized tours and private cars can access those areas. So we passed on it this time. If we had more time, we would have visited some of them.
6. Disneyland: Well, we didn't really plan on going there anyway. But if theme parks is your thing, you should go there. We read somewhere that it's the most visited Disneyland in the world.
7. Himeji-jo. The beautiful castle is under renovation until 2015, so we will wait until then.
8. Kamakura and Aizu-Wakamatsu: These 2 sites near Tokyo are worth visiting according to several guides, but since we had only 3 weeks of the JR Pass and since Rony was sick at the beginning of our stay in Japan, we missed it.
9. Matsushima: One of the 3 most beautiful views in Japan.
10. Kyushu sites: The least-visited island where Beppu, Aso-san, Nakasaki are located. Again, time was short and we had to make hard choices about what to see. Well, next time.
11. Special events: We missed Iwate Snow Festival, but we saw so many others, so it's OK, even though each festival we went to was completely different than the others. We also missed the Taylor Swift concert, which Talia really wanted to go to. We couldn't find tickets for any of her 3 dates.
12. The rest of Japan: There are so many things to see in this country, big and small, that probably another month wouldn't be enough anyway. I guess we'll have to live here some day :)
13. Sakura: The cherry blossom is suppose to be one of the highlights of Japan.
But as a compensation, we saw it in Jerusalem the weekend we got back.
The festival in Jerusalem was nice, but it wasn't poorly put together, and it basically just made us miss Japan - and the trip - even more.
The trip was amazing. People keep asking us, "So, how was it?" and honestly? We can't give any answer that can possibly convey the past 4 months of ours lives.
We saw so much, did so much, met so many people, and - to our surprise - lost nothing but a hat and a lot of weight. It's a bit hard to readjust to real life, but we have. Rony is back at work, and Talia is starting a new one on Sunday.
We clearly won't be removing this blog - the memories recorded here are amazing to us. We set out with this blog as a way to let everyone know what we were up to, especially since we couldn't email everyone all the time. What ended up happening is that we have amazing record of a 4-month trip that we still can't believe we went on. We really hope that this isn't the last blogpost, and that some time soon we will travel more, and of course, keep updating you through this blog.
Thanks for traveling with us!
Pics from the cherry blossom in Jerusalem:
1. Kyoto: 2990 temples that we didn't see. Even if we saw all the temples we wanted, there is still so much to see there. Each temple is unique so you should find what you like.
2. Nara: We had only 1 hour there, but we should have spend a day there. The main attractions are located at a park 15 minutes from the train station. There are a few temples to see there and the deer are one of the attractions. So be prepared to spend a few hours there.
3. Mt. Fuji: Since we visited Japan in the winter, we couldn't climb Fuji, but we didn't have time to see it either. Even from afar. But next time we won't miss it. And maybe even climb it. Well, Rony will. Talia will cheer from the bottom. In the AC.
4. Ski: Although we visited Japan in the winter, we didn't have time to ski there. It's possible to ski almost everywhere in Japan. From Tokyo to Sapporo, there are plenty of ski stations, big and small. Japan is considered to be one of the best places to ski in the world, so try it, too, if you have a chance.
5. Hokkaido natural parks: Hokkaido is the northern island of Japan and also the least populated. Half of the island is covered by natural parks and very rare animals can be spotted there. Access to those parks is not that easy, however: It seems that only organized tours and private cars can access those areas. So we passed on it this time. If we had more time, we would have visited some of them.
6. Disneyland: Well, we didn't really plan on going there anyway. But if theme parks is your thing, you should go there. We read somewhere that it's the most visited Disneyland in the world.
7. Himeji-jo. The beautiful castle is under renovation until 2015, so we will wait until then.
8. Kamakura and Aizu-Wakamatsu: These 2 sites near Tokyo are worth visiting according to several guides, but since we had only 3 weeks of the JR Pass and since Rony was sick at the beginning of our stay in Japan, we missed it.
9. Matsushima: One of the 3 most beautiful views in Japan.
10. Kyushu sites: The least-visited island where Beppu, Aso-san, Nakasaki are located. Again, time was short and we had to make hard choices about what to see. Well, next time.
11. Special events: We missed Iwate Snow Festival, but we saw so many others, so it's OK, even though each festival we went to was completely different than the others. We also missed the Taylor Swift concert, which Talia really wanted to go to. We couldn't find tickets for any of her 3 dates.
12. The rest of Japan: There are so many things to see in this country, big and small, that probably another month wouldn't be enough anyway. I guess we'll have to live here some day :)
13. Sakura: The cherry blossom is suppose to be one of the highlights of Japan.
But as a compensation, we saw it in Jerusalem the weekend we got back.
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| One of the cherry trees that was imported from Japan in the 90s |
 |
| From the tea ceremony |
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| From the tea ceremony |
We saw so much, did so much, met so many people, and - to our surprise - lost nothing but a hat and a lot of weight. It's a bit hard to readjust to real life, but we have. Rony is back at work, and Talia is starting a new one on Sunday.
We clearly won't be removing this blog - the memories recorded here are amazing to us. We set out with this blog as a way to let everyone know what we were up to, especially since we couldn't email everyone all the time. What ended up happening is that we have amazing record of a 4-month trip that we still can't believe we went on. We really hope that this isn't the last blogpost, and that some time soon we will travel more, and of course, keep updating you through this blog.
Thanks for traveling with us!
Pics from the cherry blossom in Jerusalem:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=629649&id=906005363&l=96d1380845
