Hikone

30th April, 2007

Monday was a public holiday so Marie, Lauren and I decided to go for a day trip to Hikone which is about 2 hours away from Himeji. Adam is currently here from Australia so Steve and Adam are having a little boys trip. Hikone was a beautiful town. Very pretty and cute. When we first arrived we went down the main street which was lined with beautiful buildings and we looked for somewhere to eat lunch. We eventually decided on a place and ate a delicious meal. I had omerice which is riced wrapped in egg (absolutely delicious), Lauren had some shrimp dish and Marie wanted to try the steak as Hikone was known for it’s steak. It wasn’t the cheapest in the world either. All meals were delicious and very well worth it.

After lunch we headed to the Hikone castle and gardens. The Hikone castle is also one of the original castles in Japan. The views that we could see were amazing. Hikone is surrounded by mountains and so you can imagine the magnificent view.

Lake Biwa was next on the list. After walking for what seemed like hours in the heat we finally made it to the lake. This lake is the biggest lake in Japan. It sure was big – we couldn’t even see the other side. Since we were there we took our shoes off and walked through the water. There were people windsurfing and jet skiing too. It’s definitely a place that I want to go back to in the summer so that I can swim in it. We have definitely had a very busy weekend but I have enjoyed every minute of it. No use sitting at home doing nothing – better to be out enjoying and experience as much of Japan as possible.