16 Sep 2008 - Day 5: Himeji and Kobe

Himeji is pretty far from Osaka but it is still within the region that is covered by our Kansai Thru Pass. The journey to Himeji took about 1.5hrs. When we reached there, it was already lunch time. So we had our lunch along the shopping street before proceeding to Himeji Castle, our first destination of the day.

Himeji-jo Castle is one of the four castles named as national treasures. In 1993, it was registered as a world cultural heritage site. According to traveller's comment, it is one of best castles in Japan.


Before this Osaka trip, there were friends who told us that it is impossible to carry a baby to the top of the castle. However, I decided to take up the challenge. Jerlene was sleeping in her stroller when we were buying the admission tickets to the castle. After we entered the entrance, a staff came to us and said that stroller is not allowed in the castle ground. I almost "fainted" because that would mean I have to carry Jerlene all the way while she's sleeping and I can't bear to wake her up.

There were so many steps and up slope in the castle ground and after about half an hour of climbing up with Jerlene in my arms, we finally reached the entrance to the castle's main tower.
There was a sign here that says "No resting place in the the castle's main tower". As such, many people, including us, took a rest here before proceeding to the tower. We sat in the shade under a huge tree and Jerlene finally woke up. When she saw the big open ground, she immediately become very cheerful and active.


We rested for about 15mins before moving on to the main tower, which is 7 storey high. Initially I thought since Jerlene had woken up, my life will be much easier as she can now walk by herself. However, the moment we entered the tower, I realized that I'm totally wrong. In fact, I had a tougher time in the tower because the stairs going up from one floor to another were very narrow and steep.

I had to carry Jerlene on one hand and hold onto the support with the other while climbing up the stairs. By the time we reached to the very top of the tower, I was totally exhausted BUT I had a sense of great achievement and satisfaction.
We had a great view of the surrounding area from the tower.

We took a short rest here before going back down. Going down the stairs was in fact harder than climbing up because the steps is simply too narrow and steep.
The tickets that we purchased include the admission to a Japanese Garden (Koko-En) which is 5 mins walk from the Himeji Castle. This garden is composed of nine different gardens, built on the archaeologically excavated site of samurai houses and roads. We took quite a number of great photos in the gardens.





Our next destination is Kobe. The train journey from Himeji to Kobe is about 45mins. By the time we reached Kobe, it was already evening. One good thing was that we managed to see the sunset, which is very beautiful.


One major structure in Kobe is the Akashikaikyo Bridge. This 3,911 metre suspension bridge connecting Honshu and Awaji Island has the world's longest span between the center columns. The reflection of the romantically lit bridge illuminates the water and downtown Kobe.
We returned to Umeda after that and walked around that area. There was a Ferris Wheel on the rooftop of a building called Hep Five.

We were totally exhausted by then and decided to call it a day.