Author: LittleKevinBigWorld

I accidently did all the things I had planned to do in three days in Osaka on the first day.

I went to see Osaka Castle. Osaka Castle had been destroyed and rebuilt more than once in Japan’s civil wars.

Then I had lunch and coffee in Dotonbori. Dotonbori is a huge shopping district with all kinds of food and shops. I ended up spending a lot of time there.

I went back to Dotonbori for dinner and had some dumplings. I walked around after and found this huge display.

I needed something to do the second day since I had already finished what I had planned. I opened google maps and found this interesting bridge, Sumiyoshi Taisha, so after lunch I went to see it.

Then I spent the third day back in Dotonbori, and I went to see Tsūtenkaku, a large tower. I stopped for ice cream there and then headed back.

Next I start traveling home, taking the bullet train back to Tokyo. I’ll spend two more days there before flying to Seattle.

I had spent a day in Kyoto when I visited in 2017 and so I had already covered a lot of ground, but there were still things I didn’t have time to see.

Kyoto was definitely less chaotic than Tokyo. First I went to see the bamboo forest, about an hour by subway and then streetcar.

There was a trail leading up the mountain which led to a very nice view, and some green tea.

My path also led me through a Japanese garden.

The next day I took the Shinkansen Bullet train to Hiroshima. They had a preserved building there called the atomic dome, along with several memorials and fountains in a huge beautiful park.

There was also a museum that depicted what everyone went through after the atomic bomb was dropped. It was incredibly sad.

I made my way back to the Shinkansen and had some sushi for dinner.

The next day I went to Nara, another quick train ride from Kyoto. Nara had a park full of deer that would bow to you when you walked by them.

After some time in the park I had dumplings and returned to Kyoto.

Winter has definitely arrived and I’m happy I kept my coat from Nepal. Next I’m going to Osaka, a nearby city.

I decided to take the bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu. It was the difference between $10 for the bus and about $270 for the plane. Next time I’ll take the plane.

It was only 125 miles but the bus took 11 hours on the bumpiest road I’ve ever been on. It did have some nice views though.

I took Kathmandu slowly. The first day I visited the nearby Garden of Dreams, a park in the middle of the city near where I was staying.

I went to see Durbar Square. There was a large crowd and I wasn’t feeling great so I ended up not going in, but I did see it from the outside.

I went to the monkey temple and then the national museum. The national museum went over all the different ethnic groups in Nepal, what they specialize in and where they came from. There were also rooms full of Buddhist and Hindu art and sculptures.

I went to see Buddha Stupa which is supposed to be the tomb of Buddha. People were just walking around it.

Next I’m heading to Tokyo. I’ll spend about two weeks in Japan before heading back to the US.

I loved Pokhara. I had elected to buy a relatively pricey flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara so that I could make it from Rishikesh in one day of travel. I didn’t realize how good of a choice that was until later.

It was a short flight on a little twin engine prop plane.

I stayed near a lake which had a nice walkway next to it with plenty of restaurants and cafes along it.

Most of my time in Pokhara was spent either provisioning or recovering from the Poon Hill Trek. I walked across town to get a trekking permit, then I walked to a trekking supply store which were plentiful and bought the things I was missing. I would end up making several trips over a few days.

After the trek I shipped the things I didn’t want to bring with me home. I also went to see Sarangkot mountain and rode the cable car to the top.

I spent the last day by the lake and had dinner with my friends from the trek before taking the bus to Kathmandu.

I had the option to go see a national park but wasn’t feeling it after the trek. Kathmandu is my last stop in Nepal.

I had originally planned to do the Annapurna Base Camp trek but I ended up doing the Poon Hill Trek. It was in the same area but we for beginners. I caught a bus from Pokhara to Nayapul in the morning which is where the trek begins and I set off.

I had my permit validated at the checkpoint at Birethanti and stopped on the trail for lunch.

I had also planned to do the ABC trek which would have been 9 days all together but I ended up finishing after 4 days.

I ended up going up what seemed like an endless staircase to get to my Ulleri, my first stop where I got a room at one of the large guest houses. I was racing sunset and made it by about half an hour. The view from the room was beautiful.

While I’ve been trekking before, the was the first time I was carrying my own pack. It was about 33 pounds with water and snacks.

The second day was also all uphill but much easier. I caught the sunrise from my room.

I had a breakfast apple pie and then started the hike.

I thought I still had an hour left to hike when I reached Ghorepani, my destination for the day.

I arrived in plenty of time to watch the sunset.

The next day we left at 5am to watch the sunrise at Poon Hill. I joined a couple that I met for the short hike. I’d end up hiking with them for the remainder of the trip.

It was a short hike and afterwards we had breakfast before leaving for Tadapani.

We watched the sunset, had dinner and played hearts before heading to bed.

The sunrise the next morning was probably better than the previous morning. It had the benefit of not having to walk an hour to see it, we just walked outside our rooms.

I decided to go back to Pokhara instead of to trek, mostly due to everything hurting. Going down was also pretty rough. I didn’t have a plan for getting back to pokhara but thankfully I was able to join my new hiking friends.

By shortening the trek it ended up leaving me with extra time in Pokhara and Kathmandu which is good because it took me days to recover from the trek.

Rishikesh is in a valley with the Ganges River running through the middle. It’s also known for yoga, although I couldn’t figure out how to take one yoga class without trying to become a yoga teacher.

I also gambled and won taking a taxi from the airport with no issues.

Rishikesh is my last stop in India before I head to Nepal. I will miss all the delicious Indian food which is my favorite of all food, especially the Masala Chai.

This is the Ram Jhula foot bridge in Rishikesh which was built in 1986

There was another bridge right next to my hostel but it was closed for safety. They’re building a new one right next to it.

I spent some time on Ram Jhula beach next to the Ganges where people were going in the water. There was also a constant stream of white water rafters.

Here’s Rishikesh at night. The sunset from my hostel was amazing (above).

Getting around Rishikesh was a little difficult so I was doing a lot of walking. My new boots have been comfortable and excellent.

Next I’m heading east to Pokhara, Nepal, where hopefully I will be able to do the Annapurna Base Camp trek.

Amritsar, which to my continual dismay is not called Amristar.

I bought some incredibly comfortable hiking boots for a possible Annapurna trek next week. I like them way more than my boots at home, I will probably keep these. It will make packing harder because now I’ll have to pack my shoes.

I also went to see the Golden Temple. There were some interesting things along the way.

The Golden Temple according to wikipedia is the preeminent spiritual site of Sikhism. The area around the temple was closed to traffic and packed with people, many who appeared to be on religious pilgrimages.

Amritsar is very close to the India-Pakistan border. I had planned to see the border ceremony between India and Pakistan but the US has issued a Level 4: Do No Travel advisory for everything within 20 miles ofthe India Pakistan border and so I’m skipping that.

Instead I went to see the martyrs obelisk in a nice park off the very busy and hectic streets. It turns out it was right next to the Golden Temple and I could have easily visited it then.

Next I’m flying east to rishikesh to hopefully enjoy some more mountains.

I took the night train to Goa. I arrived at my hostel in the late afternoon. Their restaurant was not open yet in a hiring staff kind of way. Thankfully there was a Marriott across the street and I had dinner there.

The next two days I went to the beach.

The night before I left we decorated the hostel for Diwali. It was like putting up Christmas lights and everyone seemed pleased.

Someone also talked me into doing the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, so I’m trying to figure out what I need for that.

I then flew to Mumbai. I met many people from mostly the UK but also Toronto and Wisconsin. I also found my favorite food so far, Paneer Tikka Masala, and I had it many times.

I saw the Gateway of India

We had Diwali at the hostel. The hostel owner threw a big Diwali party and included us. They brought the pets too.

The national park I planned to go to was closed on Mondays, so instead I went down to the bay and walked to the beach.

Next I’m flying north to Amristar in Punjab for a few days.

I flew into Kochi which took all day and arrived late at night. Visiting India is easier this time in a couple big ways. India deprecated its 2000 rupee bill which was next to impossible to break. Now the ATMs dispense 500 rupee bills which are significantly easier to get charged for.

Second, my new phone supports mobile SIM cards, and I found an app (Airalo) which let’s me buy, download, and install local SIMs. It’s like having full service which makes many things easier.

Kochi is in the state of Kerela, and all the places I visited were here were also in Kerela. I was staying in Fort Kochi which had some things for me to do. I went to the market and saw some Chinese fishing nets.

I went to Alleppey and took a backwater boat tour. I saw plenty of house boats, ferries, and tour boats, also a few rice fields.

Back in Kochi I went to a different part of town for lunch and walked by the port. They had a nice walkway down by the water.

Finally I went to Munnar, known for the tea it grows. I stopped at a tea museum and saw many tea fields.

We stopped at a lake created by a dam and spent some time driving around that.

There were also several beautiful waterfalls that we saw on the way to and back from Munnar.

Munnar was my favorite part of Kerela.

On a side note, when counting calories and deciding if I can eat something I always think “I’m not on vacation, this is regular life”. Otherwise I’d have 66 days of eating like I was on vacation which would future me would not appreciate. I mention it because my previous employer has given me three months of job search assistance which has started now, so I’m also doing that under the not a vacation rule.

Next I’m taking the night train north to Goa for four-ish days.

Dubai! Home of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. I had kind of a rough start in Dubai, my flight landed at 5:00am. I made it to my hotel and did get some sleep before moving to a hostel. Then I had some kebabs for lunch and went to the Mall of Dubai to see the Burj Khalifa.

There was also a very nice water fountain. I didn’t get a picture of it doing its fountain thing though.

It also had its own light show.

Dubai had the feel of Las Vegas, like the richest people in the world built a city in the middle of the desert. It has some delicious food once you get away from the malls.

My hostel was on the 77th floor of a building. This was the view.

I also went to Kite beach and spent the day walking around and listening to an audio book.

Next I’m going to Kochi, India. I’m planning on spending the next three weeks in India, starting in the south.