After spending a day in Osaka and seeing everything I felt I needed to see, I decided to make a spur of the moment trip to Kobe, and I’m so glad I did.
This town is probably known best for its fantastic Kobe beef, however, I found the city of Kobe to be utterly charming and one of my favorite stops in Japan. It’s a little calmer than Osaka, but offers plenty to do when spending the day there.
Once I’d arrived in Kobe I decided to head to Chinatown which oddly enough really did remind me of my very recent trip to Beijing. It was fun to roam the streets and see all of the food stalls selling some the the tasty bites I’d just been eating in China. That said, I was on a mission to find one food stall in particular.
The previous day I’d read on a few blogs that there was a budget friendly food stand selling delicious Kobe beef for about $15, perfect for a backpacker’s budget. Following the blogs’ directions, I found myself right in the center of the market ordering a plate of Kobe beef which came with a little side of corn and green onions. Not being much of a beef eater, I hadn’t been expecting a whole lot, but, oh. my. gosh. was it divine. Unbelievably tender, and the sauce that they add on top is incredible as well. It turns out that the stand is a small street branch of a larger restaurant which, I’m assuming, is how the quality is so good.
After that delicious lunch I wanted to visit the Nunobiki Waterfall which lies just past the train station. It’s easily walkable, but also happens to sit below an herb garden that seemed pretty to visit. It also looked like it had a very Instagramable greenhouse that I wanted to check-out. I decided to take a cable car up to the top of the mountain, wander through the herb garden, and then walk back down hoping to come across the waterfall.
Okay, let’s talk about this cable car ride… Before heading into the building to buy a ticket and board the glass walled cable car, I met a bumblebee that was absolutely no smaller than the size of a U.S. silver dollar. Luckily I was close to the front door and able to quickly sprint inside. Crisis averted. I naively boarded the cable car ready for a peaceful 10 minute ride up to the top of the mountain.
Roughly 90 seconds or so into the journey I was soaking in the beautiful Kobe skyline outside when I felt an odd buzzing sensation to the left of my topknot. I turned to the side only to see that the formerly mentioned Megalodon of bumblebees was back, and staring me right in the face. What unfolded over the next two minutes included some prayers, some screams, and ultimately a lot of swatting. Finally, I was able to get the mega-bee out through the only small rectangular window that had been, miraculously, left open. Within another 30 seconds I was at the half-way point of the cable car ride where the lovely attendant told me to stay seated and continue the journey to the top of the mountain. No longer feeling like I was in a scene from Final Destination, locked in a swinging glass box with a massive bumblebee, dangling hundreds of feet over a mountain, the rest of the ride was much more serene.
I arrived safely atop the mountain and took an hour to explore the gardens and greenhouses. My favorite was the rose garden which still had some delightful garden roses in bloom and smelled just wonderful.
When I’d finished exploring the gardens I decided it was time to hike back down the mountain in search of the waterfall. After a few twists and turns I started to hear the rumble of the falls, and the next thing I knew I was standing in front of the most beautiful tiered waterfall. It was all I could do not to spend the rest of my day sitting in awe, but I still had a lot of Kobe that I wanted to explore.
Before doing some research I had no idea that Kobe, or Japan for that matter, had a very popular European district dotted with western architecture. The Kitano district of Kobe is filled with colorful, colonial-style homes and buildings, and the streets actually remind me very much of the historical part of my own home town in the suburbs of Chicago. Definitely an interesting surprise to find in central Japan.
As the sun was starting to set I still wanted to visit the harbor and see the giant ferris wheel lit up at night. I decided to walk about a mile back to the subway station and see the streets of Kobe. It was still hard to believe how different the city was compared to the farm town I had been expecting.
I made it to the harbor just as day turned to night and was able to see the skyline all lit up. Again I couldn’t help associating the pier with home as it reminded me so much of Navy Pier back in Chicago. It was built up to include a museum, lots of shops and restaurants, and a giant ferris wheel.
I took in the scenery before heading back to Osaka, so happy to have unexpectedly visited this fantastic pocket of Japan.
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#bbmtravelsjapan
Any quick Pinterest search of South Korea brings floods of images of bright green rolling hills filled with perfectly manicured green tea hedges, specifically those belonging to the Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation. That said, upon my arrival in Korea it didn’t take long to hear about the unbelievable tea fields that lay within the sleepy town of Boseong. Once discovering the fields were on the southern edge of Korea, I immediately made it a goal to visit on the first long weekend once the weather got warmer.
The park is actually much bigger than I had anticipated and is more than just tea fields. We wandered through fields to find cedar lined trails, water falls, and even some late blooming azaleas. After exploring the grounds we decided it was time for some green tea ice cream.
The acupuncture in Japan was much different than what I’d received in Korea. She put a few needles on my back then after 10 minutes took them out, asked me to turn over, and repeated the process. She also spent about 30 minutes helping me to stretch, which I had never experienced before. That said, it was really helpful. Even now weeks later, I’m still feeling better.
I spent the next two hours walking around the gorgeous white and green castle and the part that surrounds it. Everything about that castle made me feel like I was living in a fairytale. The Japanese architecture was so beautiful and perfectly complimented by the lush part that surrounds it. There were even people sailing in gold canopy boats through the moat to get a closer look at the structure.
Right through my walking path was Dotonbori, another place I wanted to cross off my list. It took nearly two hours, but I’d made it to the flashing lights of the tourist strip. Dotonbori sits along the Dotonbori Canal is filled with shopping, restaurants, street food, arcades, and casinos. It’s most well-know for takoyaki which is kind of similar to a little pancake ball that is filled with octopus and then covered with delicious sauces. I decided to grab a plate from a little mother/son run cart and sit next to the canal to eat. It was interesting just to do a little people watching on this busy strip in Osaka. The perfect way to end the night.
After a quick and adventurous weekend in Beijing I flew into Tokyo for a two-week tour through Japan. I started with two days in the capital city before moving down to Kyoto for the rest of the week.
Himeji is a city in Japan that lies just a few hours train journey away from Kyoto or Osaka and is home to this centuries-old gorgeous white castle. I caught a late morning train which put me in Himeji in early afternoon; perfect timing for exploring. After buying my ticket I took a self guided tour through the six-story castle climbing up the steep staircases with the rest of the visitors.
We were greeted by a fantastic look out point and beautiful blue skies. I couldn’t have asked for better weather that day. We had about two and a half hours to really explore the wall. It was incredible to walk through some of the fortresses and see the history of the country. One of my favorite moments was seeing a father showing his young son the small windows in the wall and explaining to him how they were used back when the wall was built. While I’m sure the facts that he was sharing are pretty depressing, the moment was sweet.
I had received strict instructions the night before to meet my tour guide at an adjacent hotel down the street at 8:10 a.m., which is where I was introduced to Mike, our tour guide for the day. I’d signed up for some small group tours to try to get the most out of my limited time in Beijing, however, when the van door opened it became clear that I would more likely be intruding on a family’s private tour. With just four of us in the group, I met two lovely sisters along with one of their sons who were touring Beijing and Mongolia on holiday from the Philippines. They could not have been more lovely. We spent the day exploring the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace, with a quick lunch in between.
After the Forbidden City we moved on to the Temple of Heaven. This time Mike gave us a brief overview of the history and then allowed us to explore the temple for ourselves. The coloring of this structure stood out to me as it was blue rather than red which covers most of the structures we visited. As I learned, blue was used to symbolize Heaven throughout the buildings which really made it stand out in my mind compared to everywhere else we visited.
Following lunch we made the drive to see the Summer Palace. It was immense and incredible. We didn’t cover nearly a fraction of it, and that is something I would go back to Beijing to see more of. But Mike led us around explaining to us the history of the 17-arch bridge and the palace itself, happily answering any questions we asked. I have to say I think my favorite part of the day was getting to chat with him about his life in Beijing and his passion for Chinese history.
In saying goodbye to life in Korea, I’ve said hello to an exciting three months of traveling throughout Asia before returning home to Chicago. The first flight out of Incheon brought me to Beijing where I would have approximately 60 hours to explore all that I could of this dynamic city.
Anyways, back to Beijing. So I opened the door to the hostel and was amazed. It was beautiful. White walls were adorned with wooden beams and strong pillars in the center of the room. Worn wooden tables were dressed with bright pink flower arrangements and surrounded by mismatched, yet complementing chairs. The whole space was filled with lush greenery hanging from the ceiling and sprouting from planters along the walls. GORGEOUS. And exactly the breath of fresh air I needed as I was officially feeling overwhelmed from traveling and being away from my home away from home. Mind you it had only been about 6 hours since boarding the flight to leave.
Following our 
After a couple of subway transfers we got to our stop and followed the crowds to help lead us to our destination. Once we saw the mystical white clouds of steam rising from the water we knew we were in the right place. A stone pathway allowed us to walk right over the crystal clear cyan water, getting just close enough to feel the heat and lean over for a quick steam facial. We were lucky in the fact that it wasn’t terribly busy for a holiday weekend and we were able to peacefully enjoy the hot spring. I’ll chalk that up to the Lunar New Year and so many people being out of town to visit their families.
Now it was time to journey out to visit Jiufen. We’d come across this day excursion via a couple of blog posts which had compared the small Taiwanese town to Santorini as it too sits cozily on a mountain next to the water. We spent the next few hours exploring all of the back roads of this small mountain village, trying different foods, popping into different shops and wandering a temple. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon out of the hustle and bustle of Taipei. We explored just long enough to catch the sun setting behind the mountain and see the blue sky fade from yellow to red to black, at which time the city began to light up. I couldn’t have asked for a better day in Taiwan.
The weekend started off with a great flight from Korea to Taiwan and an easy bus ride from the airport to the hostel that my friend and I would be staying at for the weekend. After arriving in the center of town we ventured off for a quick dinner and explored our new surroundings into the evening. Something that Taiwan and 
Once we had our fill of the square we decided it was time for lunch. Something we weren’t expecting about traveling during the main weekend of the Lunar New Year was that most of the city had gone back to their hometowns to be with their family. This meant that the city was unimaginably peaceful, but it also meant that a lot of storefronts and restaurants were closed for the week. Luckily for us we found an incredible restaurant tucked away on a little side street that served absolutely delicious dim sum.
As the evening of day two was approaching we wanted to explore one of the markets that we’d researched. A lovely taxi driver dropped us off at Raohe Night Market which was supposed to be where any locals were likely to be on New Year’s. In theme with the weekend, we were surprised to see just how calm the market was. Nonetheless, we did a bit of shopping and grabbed some street food as we started to find our way to the subway to head home.
As we exited the temple we found ourselves moving with the crowd into the main strip of the Raohe Night Market. We crawled along with the thousands of other visitors slowly taking in all of the shops and stalls along the market until we found a crêpe stand that we couldn’t pass up. We hopped out of the shuffle where we were handed our strawberry Nutella crepes and reluctantly decided it was time to head back home for the night. in preparation for the following day.
bbm travels 