Reply To: DW Community Catch-up Thread

All of that sounds fabulous! Nara is still fantastic. With tourism being way up, some spots (like the Golden Pavilion) were so crowded that the experience felt ruined compared to how it used to be. Nara still draws tourists, but there’s enough space for everyone to have a bit of breathing room. We did Team Labs Borderless and liked it. We randomly got invited to a tea ceremony at a small pearl store in Miyajima after I made a purchase.

If you are Japanese garden people, we liked Okochi Sanso in Kyoto — it was laughably empty and lovely in the fall. There was an admission fee of I think 1,000 yen, but we thought it was worth it.

Oh, and if you have not already been given this tip, it’s best to always have cash on you! Some of the places that don’t accept cards are surprising and at one point we ate at a cash-only soba restaurant in a small mountain town without realizing we did not have enough on us. The bf had to run to the nearby post office to get more.