Matsumoto Itinerary: Exploring Japan’s Coolest Castle
Matsumoto Itinerary: Exploring Japan’s Coolest Castle In this Matsumoto itinerary guide, I’m going to show you EXACTLY how you can see all the must-see places in Matsumoto in just one day. This itinerary comes from both my extensive research and travels around...
Hakone Itinerary: How to Spend 2 Days in Hakone
Hakone Itinerary: How to Spend 2 Days in Hakone Long ago when Japan was ruled by a shogun and samurai still roamed the countryside, the cities of Japan were connected by five highways. The most famous one, the Tokaido Road (East Coast Road), connected the two most...
The Best Ever Guide to Japan’s Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
The Best Ever Guide to Japan’s Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route One of the most unique travel experiences for me in Japan was traveling from Kanazawa to Matsumoto via the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. I could have taken a boring old train between these two cities,...
Kyoto Itinerary 4 Days: A City of a Million Temples
Kyoto Itinerary 4 Days: A City of a Million Temples Kyoto doesn’t really have a thousand temples, but it feels like it does. Even before I set foot in the city, I was overwhelmed by all there was to see. On top of that, like Tokyo, the sites are spread out all over...
Top 10 Must-See Places to Visit in Kyoto
Top 10 Must-See Places to Visit in Kyoto “If Japan were a human being, then Tokyo would be its brain, Osaka its stomach, and Kyoto the heart.” – a famous saying about Japan How many great cities can say that they originated from a need to escape a curse, were...
The Best of Kyoto: Tenryu-ji Temple
The Best of Kyoto: Tenryu-ji Temple “Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.” – Rumi If I ever return to Kyoto (cross my fingers), Tenryu-ji is a place I could see myself coming back to. That’s how special it is. Tenryu-ji...
The Best of Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji Temple
The Best of Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji Temple “Beauty is truth, truth is beauty” Kinkaku-ji Temple, also known as the Golden Pavilion, is one of the three most stunning and unforgettable sites in Kyoto. Like two other famous Kyoto places, Fushimi Inari and the Bamboo Forest,...
The Best of Kyoto: The Bamboo Forest
The Best of Kyoto: The Bamboo Forest The second most unforgettable site in Kyoto is another atmospheric place and that is the Bamboo Forest, also known as Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. It’s not a temple, and it’s not a shrine. It’s just a forest of bamboo trees....About Me
I’m Julie, a.k.a. the Bamboo Traveler. Like bamboo, I look weak on the outside (a short, bit overweight, and not very athletic 40 something traveler with poor eyesight, a bum knee and flat feet), but inside I’m strong, resilient, flexible, and open-minded. I write about how to travel to exotic locations around the world and what it’s like traveling solo as a middle-aged woman. I’m also a bookworm, food nerd, and amateur historian, so you’ll find lots of advice and info about what to read for your travels, where and what to eat, and where it all came from. Welcome to my travel blog! I’m so glad you made it here!
