You get what you pay for!

Day 12

Another day Will and Jorge had to leave earlier than breakfast time. When we woke up breakfast had already been laid out next door for 4 people so we proceeded on eating our share and part of Will and Jorge's share. The ladies attending to our breakfast were a bit slow at bringing rice and lighting up the hot pots. I think they were waiting for the other 2 guests (Will and Jorge) and we couldn't explain in Japanese that they weren't coming. We got there in the end.

Today was going to be a long day of driving and little sightseeing. Driving wasn't that interesting, we were driving in the northern part of the Kii Peninsula, where big cities like Nara and Osaka are. Plenty more houses, people, cars, traffic.

We had one stop today: Iga Ueno and then straight to Osaka to drop off the car. We are spending the next 2 days in Osaka before heading back to Tokyo. Will and Jorge did not want to go to Osaka and went to Nagoya instead. We'll meet them again in Tokyo.

Iga Ueno is best know for ninjas. The Iga school of ninjutsu used to be one of Japan's 2 leading ninja schools during the feudal era. Today it's best know for its Ninja Museum.

The museum is in Ueno Park, right in the centre of town. The signs in the park are very confusing and hold little useful information, at least in English. 

We found Ueno castle first. Originally constructed in the 16th century, the 20th century reconstruction was made with wood and no concrete which gives it a real look.

The stone walls on the western side of the castle are the tallest in japan at 30m high.

It took us a while but we finally found the Ninja Museum. We were really excited and expecting something quite grand. 

We were quite disappointed. Plenty of information but some with no English translation.

We learned they used a code to communicate made from dyed rice grains. That was interesting!

There was a display of some of the tools they created for their use. It seems like that whoever invented the character Wolverine in the X-Men knew a thing or two about ninjas...

The museum has set times with ninja shows, showing how the ninja tools were once used. That would have been interesting but we just missed the last show of the day. Damn!

Iga-Ryu Ninja House is part of the museum and a building just by it. It's a reproduction of a typical ninja house with hidden doors, escape routes, places to hide swords and traps.

There is a guided tour of the house by an employee dressed in ninja costume and as he started speaking in Japanese we assumed it was going to be that way all the presentation and we wouldn't understand a word. No!, there were roller screens with English translation of what he was saying. The screens were as neatly hidden as the traps. Amazing!  It was actually the most interesting part of the museum!

I tried to find the Sukodo School, an old former school for samurai children, which was supposed to be near the castle but I couldn't find it nor find any sign directing us there so we quit.

In the park there is also a museum dedicated to Matsuo Basho, one of the most celebrated Japanese poets. We considered visiting but what was the likelihood of there being English translations?

Onto the car again and heading to Osaka we went. It took a few hours, too many. There was a lot of traffic heading to Osaka and even more getting into Osaka. We took motorways hoping to reduce the time but even the motorways were crowded.
Osaka is Japan's second largest metropolitan area after Tokyo with over 19 million inhabitants. It has been the Kansai region powerhouse for many centuries. So what else to expect but traffic?

It was 7pm when we finally found the place to drop off the car, in the basement of Namba JR station. Bye, bye car, you were good to us but on foot we continue now.

I asked Manuel whether he wanted to take the train or he wanted to walk 30min to get to our hostel. We had our heavy backpacks on. He said 'walk' and would shortly regret it. 

It started raining, at first just a few drops and it then turned into a tropical shower. It was hot, wet, we were walking as fast as we could, first flat and then uphill and Google Maps kept saying 13min to destination regardless of how long we had been walking for. It took a while. 

We got to For Leaves Inn Uehonmachi wet and Manuel was quite grumpy. Later Jorge texted asking why he hadn't use the poncho he had bought ahead of the trip. Manuel had forgotten about the poncho and this left him a bit more grumpy...

The hostel was cheap. No, the hostel was very cheap. I booked a room (with a bunk bed) for 2 nights for  ¥9900 (£67.7, €80, $87). The hostel has a tired look and the corridors smell of cigarette. The bunk bed squeaks and shakes dangerously when you climb up. The room as space but the aircon is portable and takes some window space, we did not have to use it but reviews state it is very noisy. The ensuite shower room is very small and in dire need of renovation, towels not included, 1 bath towel costs ¥250 (£1.7, €2, $2.2). You get what you pay for!

I was too tired from the journey and too wet from the rain to worry too much about all this. I decided to leave the window a bit open to get the air circulating, forget about dinner and dive into bed.