My (Jodi) Mum and Dad arrived in Himeji just before lunch on Saturday. We waisted no time in introducing them to the local attractions...namely Himeji-jyo. Jono and I had been saving our visits / too lazy to go ourselves and so therefore had not been there yet after 4 months of riding past nearly everyday.Himeji-jyo is a world heritage sight and is close to its original state. It is the most famous castle in Japan. It cuts an imposing figure high above the city centre. In other words...it's really big, white and you can't miss it if you're in town. It's an impressive sight.
With Jono's future Ma and Pa in law in toe, we headed inside the gates and up to the Himeji Japanese gardens. They had changed a little since we visited just two weeks ago...only a few, sad and lonely sakura petals remained on the trees. With the weather being delightful (we even stripped down to a t-shirt, very exciting) there were many other visitors around. This, however, did not disturb the tranquility of the gardens. Following the paths, and the crowd, we made our way to the castle entrance. Here you had to remove your shoes, put them in a plastic bag provided and wear the ever-sexy brown slippers. A fashion statement in themselves! As Jono put the slippers on he heard the sweet voice of Justin Timberlake singing, "I'm bringin' sexy back"!
Interestingly enough, despite its original state, there were quite a few fluorescent lights, way ahead of their times!!! We meandered our way up the many narrow staircases, past the samurai swords and other various displays. The staircases (more like generous ladders) were progressively getting steeper and steeper until we reached the top of the castle. There was a small shrine at the top which people use to pray to the gods. This was much more impressive than the two vending machines and souvenir dispenser at the top of Hiroshima castle. With the magnificent weather, the views were awesome. If anyone had attempted to invade Himeji on that day, we would have spotted them a mile off! A good time was had by all.Now we can prove that a good time was had by all. As we have visitors staying with us they are also special guests on our blog sight. Watch this space for special guest comments from Marg and Doug.
VISITORS COMMENTS
it is an amazing sight. The day we visited, there was a beautiful blue sky which made the white walls of the castle really stand out. The stair case which led to the very top of the 6 story high building were quite steep and keeping on .the vinyl slip-on shoes was a challenge. The gardens were stunning also.
