I appreciated this sub a lot when I was planning my trip (although I think almost all of my posted questions were rejected by the mod, lol) so I thought I’d come back and foist my opinions on y’all about my month-long solo adventure.
For context, I’m an American woman in my early 50s and this was the first big trip I’ve taken alone after a decades-long relationship with someone who was very driven to travel via guidebook. So most of the time I was trying to do was just push against the idea of needing to see everything. I ate, I prayed, I did stuff I loved. You get the picture.
Ok, here’s roughly what I remember happening (it’s gonna be long so I’m glossing over stuff. Feel free to ask me specific questions if you have them):
**Day 1-3**
Arrive in Osaka around 5pm. An hour to get through customs, another hour to try to get Suica on my ApplePay because I’m a dumbass and didn’t do it back in the States. Initially overwhelmed by the train system, I made it to my hotel after leaving the station too early and then grabbing an uber, then crashing.
The next day I vowed to conquer the trains so I got the Osaka Amazing Pass and just dorked around riding the subway hither and yon. Osaka Castle/Park, a weird industrial boat ride, the Aquarium (whale sharks! giant crabs!), the Ferris Wheel (literally thirty seconds after the door closed I remembered how terrified I am of heights. Oops) and ending the day at SpaTown (so goofy and great).
Other Osaka stuff included a walking tour that wasn’t that great and a food tour at Kuromon market that was, buying knives, walking around aimlessly. Most of these days were kind of jetlaggy.
**Day 3-5**
Kinosaki Onsen.
Heckin lovely. Five stars. I just stayed at the Women’s Guesthouse (very sweet) but I can see the value of staying somewhere nice here. The ropeway was a nice break in the perpetual soaking.
**Day 5-9**
Kyoto.
This is where I felt the most urgency to Be A Tourist and where I had to fight the hardest against that impulse. Highlights: taking the taxi to the top at Arishiyama (as suggested in that one famous Reddit comment I now can’t find and link) to go to Otagi Nenbutsu-ji and walking down (silk cocoon shop, tea houses, doll museum), sitting by the river when all the school kids were having lunch, going to Nara and bowing to every deer. I also went to that traditional arts show in Gion (eh), Gear (also eh), and the otter cafe (ok, their paws!). I walked around a lot, ate ramen, really embraced the glory that is 7-11.
**Day 9-11**
Koyasan.
Honestly, so beautiful and worth it. It snowed when I was there! The cemetery is maybe one of the most magical places I’ve ever been. My temple lodgings were lovely and I got a masseuse to come to my room to combat the effects of sleeping in traditional Japanese bedding.
**Day 11-16**
Kumano Kodo
This was the only piece of my trip that was planned by a tour company (Oku) and had been scheduled back in March of 2020. I am so glad I did it and also it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. The trail is very rarely just a flat, straight road and my hips are creaky on the best of days. I wound up skipping one of the hikes and going to Yunomine and the tsuboyu which was so excellent.
All the ryokans I stayed at along the way were great, from converted schoolhouses to family farms to slightly fancier deals like Manseiro in Kii Katsuura (such good food). Katsuura is a darling place (the God Rock!) and the cave onsen at Hotel Urishima (my hotel had visiting privileges) is ridiculous, like how does such a place just exist day after day.
**Day 16**
Travel back to Osaka. Realize I kinda hate cities when I have a nightmare trying to navigate Apple Maps to my hotel (all my fault but whatever). Hole up in my hotel and way for morning to come.
**Day 17**
Hiroshima.
I took the tour bus thingy from the train station that stops at all the places. It was cheap and worth it, saving you from planning out a specific route you can just jump on and off. I was surprised the museum was mostly neutral about the United States. I wound up crashing and missed on the delicious Hiroshima food, but sleep is a delicious food in and of itself, no?
**Day 18**
Okunoshima/Rabbit Island
Loved, loved. Make sure you’re not a dummy like me and get food when you’re still on the mainland. If you are a dummy like me, you’ll still be able to pet a metric ton of rabbits. Also, it’s just as nice to sit on the beach and think thoughts while staring at the sea.
**Day 19-24**
Meditation (?) retreat in Oita
This temple stay is billed as a Zen Retreat Center, but my experience was more like “hanging out with a monk at his house.” I’m not complaining. I loved it. We went to some onsen, ran some temple errands, saw the Giant Buddhas, made udon using water from the sea, got up every morning and chanted and sat for hour and then had tea. One night, his friends came over and we got horribly drunk on sake and shochu and did origami.
**Day 25-28**
Naoshima with a day trip to Teshima
Magnificent. No notes. Highlights abounded. I loved everything/ask me anything.
**Day 29-32**
Tokyo/back home
Honestly, I was so tired and done with seeing things by the time I got to Tokyo, I was not the target demographic to be in Tokyo. However, it was in Tokyo I discovered I had finally mastered the train system, more or less. Huzzah!
I got some delicious food (Tamawarai, omg) and went to Spa La Qua, and walked around Harajuku and Asakusa. I took a really terrible sushi making class (why why why) and drank too much whisky at non-descript bar. Sometimes visiting one of the most incredible cities in the world is wasted on some people. I got a lucky fortune at every place I tried and the woman who sold me my new giant ceramic bowls thunked them with her finger just right so they sang, another sign of good luck.
I could easily go back tomorrow and do a whole different trip and it would probably be just as fantastic.