In the afternoon of day two at sea we spotted land off the starboard side. This was the south western island of Kyushu, which we followed until passing under the bridge that connects Kyushu with the main island, Honshu, in the evening. We sailed through the Inland Sea at night, then, at early morning, accompanied with blue sky and bright sunshine, something we hadn't seen at all in China, we docked in Kobe. After some waiting around (for no clear reason) and having had our temperature taken (to check for bird flu) we finally set foot in Japan.
Things got off to a bit of shaky start as we didn't have any idea where our hotel was, didn't have any Japanese Yen, there were no ATM or currency exchange facilities at the port, the ticket machines for the metro didn't take cards and needless to say neither Richard nor I speak a word of Japanese. Luckily a friendly taxi driver appeared from nowhere who took credit cards. Our first example of how things here are designed to make life much easier, in particular compared to our experiences in Russia and China.
Kobe appears to be an attractive and cosmopolitan town wedged between forest covered mountains and the sea and with and abundance of flashy department stores together with some traditional narrow streets and wooden buildings. I could have spent hours wandering around the food hall admiring the beautifully prepared sweets, vast arrays of fish and of course, Kobe beef. Instead we caught the cable car up the hill behind the city, which provided panoramic views and a lovely walk back down through the forest, and past a very scenic waterfall.
We finished the day rather extravagantly with cocktails on the 36 floor of our hotel which had splendid views across the city. I could not then miss the opportunity to sample some Kobe beef which was to die for – melt in the mouth tenderness with incredible flavour. Richard had a pizza.
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