Japan Continued

Day 3: 

We accidentally slept in, which was ok with us but we went across Tokyo to a man-made island featuring a replica Statue of Liberty (much smaller) and went to an "Onsen" which is a Hot Spring Spa.  The Onsen is very traditional so you walk in and take your shoes off, and you get a Kimono to wear for the day.  You may do a foot bath which is communal with both male and female and then go to the large baths, gender separated and NO clothes allowed! Laura and Christine and I got to know each other very well.... ha It was a little touristy, it had a food court type thing inside so we ate there and then went to the "relaxation room" where we sat in comfy chairs and you could watch Japanese television if you wanted.  

We stayed there until 5pm! so it was kind of a long day at the spa but well worth it! We packed up from Fattiah's house, and went into the city had dinner, and got on an all ladies night bus to Kyoto called "Beaute4ladies" haha! It was pretty interesting, not really the best sleep I've ever had but we saved money! 

Day 4: 

We got into Kyoto at 7am, found an internet cafe and then rented bicycles for the day! All of our favorite thing we did was biking in Kyoto.  We made it to two big temples and went through part of the Imperial grounds.  We got to see the ins and outs of Kyoto when we were biking, highly recommended! We went to a huge temple high on the hill where you could overlook the whole city, and then biked the other direction and went to the "Golden Temple" which was so incredibly beautiful and awe inspiring.  By about 4 we were exhausted so we hopped on a train to Kobe and eventually found the ship and took showers!  We met up with a friend from class and we went out for dinner and then met up with more students in the city and about 15 of us did Karaoke together which was so fun! We had to walk back to the ship because the subway shuts down at midnight, which was a little bit of an adventure after drinks at the Karaoke bar :D but we found it! 

Day 5: 

We slept on the ship, and went out and wandered around Kobe for the day.  I really liked Kobe, it was smaller than Tokyo and I think it made the night life scene more fun.  We ate lunch in town and then we all came back to the ship and I fell asleep for about 3 hours ha! 

Japan was so great.  I'm still so impressed by the people.  They were ALL so nice! So many people helped us, we would have never made it without all the people who helped guide us along the way.  I'll have to pay it forward!