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You may remember the time President Obama visited Japan and paid a visit to a town which happened to have the same alphabetic name as his family name, Obama. This little town is on the Japan seaside near Tsuruga and not too far from Kyoto. On this trip I happened to visit Tsuruga and saw the town just to the west. This gave me the interest to visit which I did and here are the photos.
if you are Hunting in Himeji you have a lot to find. The city is well known for the castle, which has remained very much intact, unlike most of the castles in Japan which burned down once or twice or maybe more. This castle was very much the center of the struggles between the different Shogun over 300 years ago. But the battles were settled when Ieyasu Nobunaga was the final Victor and whose family maintained control until the 1860s when the Kyushu And other clans decided that rather than fighting the western powers it was better to open the country to a different kind of progress. But there are more things than just the castle. I found quite a few restaurants that looked like they not only served some interesting food, but also provided good quality and friendly service.
before you try to enter the castle there is a trick. You can get a free ¥1,000 coupon you can use in over 200 shops in the city if you get the digital ticket before going up to the entrance area. If you don’t do the digital ticket And instead go up to the automatic payment machines and then go inside the castle you lose the chance to get that ¥1000 coupon. I did not read things extensively before going in so I made the mistake of going to the machines at the entrance and buying the ticket. But at the entrance, Before going in with the ticket , I asked someone about the coupon and they told me that buying the ticket in the machines did not allow me to get the free coupon. So they introduced me to some people in the office who could give me a refund for the ticket and they guided me to the tent about 30 m in front of the entrance where they would advise me how to get the digital ticket and the free coupon. But again once you go in with the ticket you purchased in the machine you are out of luck concerning the coupon.
when you study Japanese history, you learn about these descriptions below of the three warring families trying to gain control of Japan more than 400 years ago. There is a description of how they would treat a bird according to their individual personalities. They are interesting descriptions.
Frankly, I got a little board of the Bangkok even though the food selection is good. The issue is I’ve seen pretty much everything over the past 30 years so I was thinking about moving onto Koh Chang but it was raining and I didn’t like the idea of going there and renting a motorcycle, riding in the rain. So I decided to move up my trip to Japan a couple weeks and I arrived at Narita. I then just zipped right over to my hotel, I dropped my bag and went for sushi at my neighborhood sushi restaurant
For me Bangkok is kind of like a backyard. I have probably spent about a year and a half in the number of days staying here and wandering around not only as a tourist but also for business so it’s a very familiar place. The reason I decided to spend about a week here was for food. There are different varieties of food. I like to try out, especially the IISAN (NORTHEASTERN) and Chinese food in the old Chinatown area. This time I found a couple new interesting places. Near the Chulalongkon university area. There are quite a few restaurants that serve the student population so are very inexpensive and the food is so far very good. That’s where some former student students took me for IISAN food. in the Chinatown area. There was a restaurant I went to several times which was pretty good, but the restaurant has become fairly dirty and a number of rats running around. But then again that’s the very old area with old buildings and there is a lot of grease and maybe not well managed leftovers which provide good nourishment for the rats. But being an old part of the city it’s an animal you just kind of hope isn’t caught. He could very well wind up on somebody’s dinner plate somewhere.
There are shops in Japan that sell goods duty free which now means the 10% sales tax is credited by the store when you buy something duty free for tourists. But i have found a dishonest trick going on. I am now officially a tourist in Japan so i can use the duty free system.
Let me give you my experiences. At Bic Camera where i am a member and get 10% credit on my next purchase every time I buy there. So when i bought a watch I asked for the duty free option and when i went to pay they said i could not get any points if i opted for duty free which means i paid full price including tax and then took the points. So they put in one hand just to take from the other hand.
Last week i went to buy a used backup phone in Akihabara. The shop offered a good price so i bought one. But i paid the tax since it was not a duty free licensed shop. Then i went to a few duty free used phone shops and found the same phone was 10% more expensive but they would credit the 10% tax. So they put in one hand just to take from the other hand.
Today i went to Apple to check out the new phones. Apple Japan is no longer a duty free shop. I wanted to get the tax credited so i went to duty free Yodobashi Camera and found the same phones. their prices are almost exactly 10% higher. So make sure you are really getting the benefit when shopping duty free.
I have been told this system is being taken over by the government on November 1 so duty free shops will probably issue a certificate and the tax reimbursement will be done at the airport on departure. But that does not mean duty free shops will provide any benefit. They might be more expensive than other shops as they are today. So check it out before you buy.
The Georgia Uplistsiche Caves are kind of an unusual set of caves and that they were not created for people to live in a community permanently. They were used for very temporary purposes and very much for ritual and religion. As opposed to the caves in Cappadocia, Turkey, you will find probably no opportunity to go very deep inside since they were not made for permanent dwelling. But it is very much worth the trip to go see these caves a couple hours away from Tbilisi. The stories and the history of the area is very interesting.
the Chronicles of Georgia
overlooking the major lake near the capital and the capital in the distance a recent structure was built to graphically describe the history of Georgia which goes back many thousands of years. The figures are very interesting and while this is a new complex structure it’s worth a visit partly because of the beautiful view of the area. The lake is actually a reservoir. What you will notice is many of the figures are of religious significance. As you probably know this is a Greek orthodox influenced religion.
I recommend staying in Tbilisi and taking tours from there since they are so well organized and a very affordable way to see the sites and experience some traditions. If you are accustomed to driving in Thailand or Napoli you might think of renting a car. If not I would think twice. White knuckles are waiting for you. But the tours require up to 6 hours of van/mini bus rides during the day trip so be prepared for those long rides.
The other issue is going close to the Russian occupied areas. Foreign Ministries warn people about those areas so I recommend heeding those warnings. On the other hand the countryside is very beautiful so you might want to consider venturing into other towns to stay and experience the great hospitality Georgians are famous for. While I was there 4 young people from several nationalities were missing or found dead for various reasons. Two were related to fights which I am sure you won’t be involved in. One was a disappearance and the other was a young Thai YouTube traveler, well known in Thailand, who might have just died of natural causes. But I found no concern for danger while there. Most everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Russians may need extra caution since they are not well liked.
Metekhi church of the Nativity
on Santorini Island in Greece you have a very stereotypical town with white walls and blue painted church and Chapel domes with beautiful ocean views. This town is pronounced like “IYA”. It’s a 30 minute bus ride from Fira and certain times of the year you can expect to be accompanied by a huge number of visitors so be prepared. You will have to move around a little bit to get photos without the other visitors but you can also use your post processing capabilities on your photo software to get just the effect you want. It’s a beautiful place to walk around but you can expect that because it is a tourist area everything can be just a little bit expensive but that’s OK if you’re just there once in a lifetime. It’s definitely worth it and if you visit here you may not feel the need to go to other islands to see the same architecture and Oceanside views so you can do it all on Santorini.
Prachuap is a cute little city with a few good restaurants and nice hills and beaches to view. The beaches are not really the cleanest in Thailand so swimming should be done in another area of Thailand but the town is fun for a few days and not overcrowded and developed like Hua Hin which has really been over populated and cementified. So try Enjoying Prachuap Thailand. I have friends who live here, having worked in the Scuba Diving business in Phuket for 8 years long ago. That’s why I come back to Prachuap.
Waghor Aquarium
I thought quite a few times about going to Kazakhstan but until two years ago I knew nothing about it except for a taxi driver someplace in the US when I was visiting. He won the green card lottery and his next step was to start an interesting business, very typical of new immigrants. My second encounter was with three Kazak girls in Turkey who needed a ride to the local town since the bus was not showing up. I had space in the car I rented so I took them to the town and we talked a little bit about Kazakhstan. they were very nice people and I thought it might be interesting to visit. But the deciding factor was the two wars going on, one in Ukraine and one in Iran. I was thinking to avoid both of those I would fly in between and that meant going through Georgia and then onto Kazakhstan which I did. A pleasant surprise was the people. They are just extremely friendly, helpful and joy to be around. If you ever get the chance to go in that direction I highly recommend visiting if it’s just to enjoy the people. Next time I will spend in the countryside sometime to enjoy what many people have explained is extreme beauty.
Almaty Kazakhstan has a few is interesting things including the main park with the cathedral a museum which I did not visit at the local shopping areas. in one full day you can pretty much see everything of interest. It’s easy to get around using taxis and the buses or Metro. But don’t expect the timetables to show up in Google Maps. If you get stuck somewhere or with something the people are very helpful and things will work out just fine.
one thing I want to mention, with everything I did interacting with other people I always felt that people were being honorable and straightforward. I never felt people were trying to take advantage of the dumb tourist. on the contrary. The whole atmosphere was one of welcome and friendly.
