Japan Deluxe Tour Package Review – Day 5

Our last full day review on our Japan Deluxe Tour Package. First thing in the morning after breakfast, we load up the bus with all our luggage and cross the street to go to the Nijo Castle. Got a lesson on Japanese history regarding the period when the Shogunate started to lose power. The Castle was very interesting and kept in great condition. After walking around, we headed out to watch a Kimono show where models walked around a stage to show off traditional Kimonos. This was a 15 minute show, and very crowded. I personally did not see why this was such a big attraction, but a lot of tour companies brought their groups for the short presentation.
Close by, we had a “secret” picture taking session with a modern day Geisha. Along with the picture taking session, we were also educated about the REAL duties of the women who chose to enter that profession. Coming from the US, there are a lot of inaccuracies about what a true Geisha is and what they do. The reason for such secrecy in meeting with the Geisha is because she is hired specifically for our group to get a chance to take a pictures and ask questions. Since the picture taking is in a public park, if it is not done secretly, the Geisha will undoubtedly be overwhelmed by requests from the general public and other tourists in the area.
Our next stop took us to Kinkaku-ji, which is the Golden Pavilion, and a very famous tourist site. The temple is covered with a gold leaf coating and was beautifully built next to a small bed of water for GREAT picture taking opportunities. The grounds of the temple offer guests places to throw coins into bowls to have wishes granted or good luck.
From that temple, we then headed over to another one called the Kiyomizu-Dera. This one was built inside of mountain and offered a long stretch of shopping before getting to some great mountain and temple scenery. We saw a monk standing on the side of the walkway near the top where guests could give an offering if they wish. This site was unique due to the way it was designed to be a part of the mountain.
It was always a dream of mine to ride on a bullet train in Japan, and this day made that dream a reality. The Shinkansen is every bit as cool as I imagined it to be and very comfortable. We also did a transfer to a regular subway train through a busy station. I thought it was crazy trying to get 11 of us on to a subway if it was packed, but we were traveling before heavy rush hour and got to our location without problems.
Our lunch was a surprise! It came with BEEF! In Hawaii, we call this a Loco Moco, but those not from Hawaii just saw a hamburger patty with gravy all over it and an over-easy egg on top of it all. It was awesome! Especially for those who started to lose a lot of weight from too much good Japanese food that they couldn’t get used too. If it wasn’t for the walking, I would’ve gained 10 pounds by this day.
After lunch, we then were taken to a large shopping district. This area had TONS of stores and shops all over the place and the final shopping for most of the people who needed to get their last minute goods. We were given a lot of time to shop so we could take our time looking around since this area was so large and we were told where to meet for dinner for our final meal together as a tour group.
Our dinner pictures don’t give any justice to what an awesome meal we had. The only shot I could find was that of a plate of Chinese food my sister must have picked up. Our dinner was a buffet with lots of raw foods to pick from that you could grill right on the table. They also had lots of sushi and quite a variety of other foods as well to suite the needs of every one in the group. Dinner was later than usual so I was too hungry to take pictures and videos that night.
After dinner, everyone was wiped out from such a tiring and long day. We were told by our tour guide that she would like to see everyone off and she met everyone one by one in the lobby as they caught their flight at the various times they needed to leave. The hotel was connected via an enclosed walkway which made it convenient for her to do so and helpful for us to get last minute instructions to get our transportation set.