On the last day of our 5-day Kansai Wide Area Pass (link to: Official Website, Japan Guide), we decided to make the most of it and went all the way to 彦根 Hikone at Lake Biwa after dropping our luggage in 京都 Kyoto.
And we gotten an eki-bento in the form of curry katsu sando which we enjoyed on the train ride.
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We spent the morning at 古猗园 Guyi Garden (¥12 per adult).
It appeared to be a garden where the locals gather to dance and chat. We guessed it paled in comparison to the natural beauty of 西湖 and 东湖, and we thought the artificial swans and all were really quite unnecessary. There were also a few exhibitions in some of the pavilion.
We also caught some 腊梅 and 梅花 on their way to blossoming. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours strolling and enjoying the greenery. Continue reading
As we had spent the previous day doing side trips out of 岡山 Okayama, we ended up visiting 2 very famous gardens today, 後楽園 Koraku-en at 岡山 Okayama and 栗林公園 Ritsurin-koen at 高松 Takamatsu.
後楽園 Koraku-en had the reputation of being one of the 日本三名園 Nihon Sanmeien. Three Great Gardens of Japan, while many claimed that 栗林公園 Ritsurin-koen was even better! Having been to 兼六園 Kenroku-en, another of the top 3 gardens in 金沢 Kanazawa during our previous trips, we had very high expectations of these 2 gardens! Does 後楽園 Koraku-en live up to its reputation? Why do people say that 栗林公園 Ritsurin-koen is better?
Eat.Eat.Walk.Walk . 吃吃走走 