The Duffs Travels

Today was a great day! We woke up early and took a bullet train to Kyoto, which was once the ancient capital of Japan for over 1,000 years. The train ride was amazing, and we even had our first-ever bento box which felt very Japanese.  Once we arrived in Kyoto, we dropped off our luggage at the hotel and headed to the Nishi Hongwanji temple. The temple was an amazing sight! The walls around the temple were so immense and intricate, we couldn’t wait to get inside. There were two giant halls, the founder’s hall was built in 1760 and has been closed for 10 years for restoration and it is now looking incredible. It is joined to the smaller hall by a large bridge that squeaks when you walk on it. This is called a nightingale bridge and warned of intruders i.e. ninjas 😂 After enjoying time around the halls and taking in the vast amount of gold we spent more time in the courtyard. We saw our first thatched roof on a temple. We got to watch the evening prayer which felt very special. Afte...

After a restful night's sleep in a tiny hotel room, we had a quick breakfast of cake and a melon bun before heading to Harajuku. Even breakfast is exciting and different when in Asia. I am certain the bun had fish floss in it 😂 Harajuku is a bizarre place, full of the ultra-trendy young Japanese. It's full of cuteness wherever you look from character cafés to quirky boutiques. We became totally absorbed into this addictive atmosphere and ended up having an incredibly colourful lunch at the Monster café 😂😂 After this intense colourful experience, we spent the afternoon at the Yoyogi Park watching the 1950s Rock and Rollers and there were plenty of Elvis wannabes. The Meiji Shrine was our next destination. This was a relaxing walk through a woodland area then through a giant Tori gate to the Shinto shrine. Here we wrote a prayer for our family and my sister's family on a wooden plaque and fixed it around a huge tree, tomorrow the priest will bless them. L...

Today is finally here, we are going travelling !!!! We are extremely excited yet a little apprehensive. We have chosen a country that we have wanted to visit for many years but never got around to . This country has had many things written about it, good and bad.  Most people say there is no place like it on earth.  Some people say the people are not especially welcoming to outsiders Lucky for us we like to make our own minds up. We will not let any of this put us off, we are up for an adventure. Any ideas about where we are going? It's classed as one of the most expensive countries in the world. They are renowned for eating raw fish  Anyway we are to find out for ourselves. Asia is calling us back, this time to the  Land of the Rising Sun  JAPAN !!!!!!!!!