Ladee's Travels

Wednesday, May 8 The morning started with an immigration process on the ship.  All passengers, even those not going ashore, were required to get a day pass and give fingerprints.  We were videotaped going through the process to allow for a facial recognition process to take place.  Very fast, very efficient.   Staging for the tour was in the Wheelhouse, where the group waited for the tour number to be called.  We were called early, and “queued for the tickets and our group number.  The groups were assembled early and we all moved to the bus about 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  We boarded the bus from the left side as the driver drove on the right. We drove through Osaka to Kyoto.  Both cities are modern with older housing sections.  The section between the two cities was filled with farms, mostly rice.  The highway is raised and life continues in the sections below.  Most of the highway was walled in and I’m not sure if i...

As we entered Kyoto, we could see the the blue roofs of the houses in Kyoto.

The tour coach continued through the farmland to Kyoto.  I liked the fact that the highway was elevated and the farmlands beneath it worked uninterrupted. The brownish trees are bamboo.  I zoomed in and looked very close to see if I could see Ninjas walking on the bamboo.  I'm not sure...

We left the high rises of Osaka and moved in to the suburban area.  The low single and double story homes took the place of apartments and office buildings.