Kansai, Chugoku, Hokuriku (Dec 2008 - Jan 2009) - Part 3

Kobe, Arima Onsen, Osaka

Our final stretch of this trip took us the supposed two hour or so drive from Okayama to Kobe.

A photo of Akashi Kaikyou (明石海峡大橋) bridge when we were stuck in traffic on the outskirts of Kobe:



After spending almost 4 hours driving, we got to Kobe just before dinner time and after a quick check-in, we headed straight out to the Sanno-Miya and Motomachi shopping streets:




One of the largest Chinatowns in Japan:




After a quick walk around, we went to eat the only thing worth craving for in Kobe.... the beef. We went to Kissho Kobe Steak Dining:





Dessert brought us to green tea mousse with tapiocas:



After dinner, we headed up to Mount Rokko (931m), about 30 minutes up from central Kobe for a beautiful panoramic view of Kobe and Osaka at night:



After an hour freezing ourselves up there, we headed back down to the city and checked out Kobe Tower and Harborland:



Next morning, we headed across the Akashi Kaikyou bridge to Awaji Island (淡路島), an island along the series of bridges connecting Honshu to Shikoku, paying an almost scandalous toll of US30 (one way) to get across.




Awaji Island was the epicenter for the great Kobe earthquake in 1995, and ranks one of the most beautiful places we've been to. Beautiful wide roads, cool summer-like breezes and stunning views of Kobe made this an awesome place.



Tadao Ando's most famous presence in Awaji Island is the Yumebutai complex; a mixed used art site overlooking the sea:



The sunclock:



Lunch at the restaurant there:



Kevin's delicious ox-tongue:




The central oval at Yumebutai:



More of Yumebutai:






We then headed over to the famed Arima Onsen (有馬温泉), a famous 8th century onsen town situated on the other side of Mount Rokko to our ryokan, Taketoritei Maruyama (http://www.taketoritei.com/en/), a superb ryokan sitting at the top of Arima Onsen:





Great service, great rooms, great views, great food and small but lovely onsens made this a great experience! One of our favourite ryokans so far.

Arima Onsen is famous for its iron and salt content and dark brown water:




And their foot baths:



Arima town:





Dinner at the ryokan:









Next day we headed to Osaka and stopped by one of Osakan's favourite establishments, Kani Doraku where we were served nothing but crab!








Dessert:



Restaurant street:



Osaka castle:



In and about Osaka:




Dinner at a blowfish (fugu) called Zuboraya (づぼらや) restaurant (another restaurant along the famed Dotobori street):







Where we were served nothing but blowfish - sashimi, grilled, boiled, deep-fried. While the experience was 'interesting', neither of us thought the blowfish was better than any other fish - and to quash a common myth, there is definitely no tingling on the tongue when you eat blowfish!

Kevin ended dinner not being completely full, so off to get more ramen at another famous establishment Gin-Ryu:




And to top it off, a delicious crepe blueberry crepe at Crepe Ojisan:




Traveling through the Hokuriku and Kansai regions gave us a more 'historic' and cultural trip through Japan than we are usually experience - touching almost all the UNESCO world heritage sights in the region and stopping by a number of famous onsens towns, sights, views and of course - trying out all the best cuisine that Japan has to offer.

Some people would argue that our itinerary may have been a little bit rushed, but for us, it felt like a perfect combination of culture, food and sights. We learned a lot about the history behind some of the castles and shrines which form some of the roots of modern day Japan. We also saw some of the most spectacular sights found anywhere on the planet and, last but not least, we sampled lots of what Japan is known for... food!

This has been the 4th time in 3 years we've come to Japan and it has been great fun as always. We are still hoping to cover Okinawa/Fukuoka and Tohoku in the near future! And as usual, don't hesitate to give us a shout if you want names and contact details of any of the places we went to!