First-person travel notes, city stories, photos, and videos from the Travel Map archive.
#Kyoto / Nara Of course, the great Japanese creatures! Deer attacking tourists in search of cookies! You can encounter them all over Japan, but in Nara, they're so tame that they follow tourists in herds who have spotted food. Their horns are shaved off, so…
#Kyoto / Nara In addition to the deer, there are many temples in Nara, including in the mountain forest. Even if you don't feel like going just to see the meme animals, it's still interesting to stroll around the religious sites in Nara. There will…
Of course, when in #Kyoto, you simply have to visit Nara (yes, that's where the deer are). The population of the city (or village?) is 360,000, but it feels like the place relies entirely on tourists, who come in an endless stream from neighboring Osaka and…
#Kyoto - the capital of temples and palaces of Japan. Of course, this spoils tourists a bit - when you go to see a new temple every day, it's hard to fully appreciate its architecture. But even so, after the trip, you'll fondly remember wandering around the…
#Kyoto is surrounded by mountains, and of course, it's a shame not to hike them, especially if the weather permits. But in the evening, it's definitely not worth doing it - it gets dark very quickly, and the views of the city, although beautiful, quickly…
#Kyoto While walking in the mountains near the Inari Shrine, I came across a strange place. Apparently, it's a small cemetery, but for some reason, it's full of repetitive temple elements - a bunch of gates, statues, lanterns. It's like a set of assets from…
Here's a life hack for you if you're going to #Kyoto in the summer to climb mountains - the city is in a seismic zone, and there are hot springs here, one of which is right where Arashiyama is. The prices are reasonable, and there aren't many people. You can…
One of the most overhyped places in #Kyoto - the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Yes, it's just a bamboo forest. Well, there are also guys who ride carts for money here. And that's about it, lol. But for some reason, the place still attracts a lot of tourists.…
The Kiomidzu-dera Temple on a golden evening in #Kyoto. It's still a cold early spring.
One of my favorite places in #Kyoto is Iwatayama Park (Monkey Park). On the mountain behind the bamboo forest of Arashiyama, there are hundreds of monkeys that 'farm' food from local workers and tourists. The monkeys freely roam the area, and although they…
#Kyoto is built on the wide Kamogawa River. In addition to its obvious role in water supply, the river also had a religious significance and served as a venue for ceremonies. Now, it's one of the city's tourist attractions. Wooden boats ply along the…
Not the most standard entertainment in #Kyoto - going to a sake brewery to watch how Japanese alcohol is made and to get drunk, that is, to sample the local product😁 The Gekkeikan sake production facility in Kyoto was founded all the way back in the 17th…
#Kyoto The last thing I expected to come across here😂 https://maps.app.goo.gl/WwNs5BkfFxQBm3W87
The well-known Gion district in #Kyoto One of the largest old districts in Japan, which attracts crowds of tourists who have so terrorized the locals that they have agreed with the authorities to introduce a partial ban on visits. At least, that's how it's…
#Kyoto An undeniable fact - the best ramen can only be found in such a place!)
Ramen from #Kyoto
The Philosopher's Path is one of the best places in #Kyoto, where the city and nature merge. In spring, the cherry blossoms bloom here, and the path attracts crowds of tourists, but on a rainy March evening, the number of people wanting to meditate on the…
#Kyoto A post of respect to the guys from SiCX Distillery & Bar, who make cocktails from gin distilled right on the spot. I even managed to bring one of their bottles to Canada😁 https://maps.app.goo.gl/aVcdpbTwdP1rfHRi6
The streets of #Kyoto Obviously, not everyone in Kyoto lives in the stylish two-story traditional houses. If the historic low-rise buildings predominate in the center, then as you go further, you again see those typical Japanese multi-story buildings. In…
#Kyoto The Rokudō Chinnō-ji temple and its surroundings. The Gion district on a warm summer evening.
This is the house I rented for a week on my first trip to #Kyoto A relatively good place by Japanese standards!
After a two-week break from binge drinking, I decided to finally finish the series of posts about #Kyoto, which I've already visited three times but haven't yet put it all together into a coherent picture. To avoid repeating myself, I recommend checking out…
#Fuji And here's how the weather changes at the top in just a few minutes. A cloud arrives and covers everyone with fog and rain. Even if it's +35 degrees at the base, the temperature at the top can drop to +15, and at night it can even go down to zero.
I didn't climb Mount Fuji on this trip. Technically, it's possible to do it in a day without any equipment, but a lot can go wrong, and there's a high risk of getting stuck on the mountain overnight, getting wet, freezing, and then having to call for…
#Fuji On the route, there was also a visit to Oshino Hakkai, a tourist-friendly historical village near Mount Fuji. And here I'll say that I wish I hadn't come here, because it's just a place overrun with tourists. The village is quite small, and it's…
#Fuji That very pagoda from the Japanese covers! The viewing platform is located in Arakurayama Sengen Park, not far from the city, if you climb the mountain. Of course, to take a beautiful photo of Mount Fuji in all its glory, you need to put in the…
#Fuji Archival photos from a trip to Fuji in the summer... All the way back in 2024! So much time has passed, and I'm only now sharing them! Fuji-Kawaguchiko is a cool region that's definitely worth visiting separately. Unfortunately, I was just passing…
#Osaka In the basements of Japanese viabu shops, there are things that are meant to stay there forever.
#Osaka No longer poor, but definitely tired-looking residential streets south of Kamagasaki.
#Osaka The Kamagasaki district is the poorest district in all of Japan. Once, workers lived here, but over the past 30 years, the demographics have shifted, and now 25,000 elderly people live here, of whom about 1,300 are homeless. Despite the fact that…
#Osaka Japan has a very rich alcohol culture, and it's no surprise that whisky bars are widespread here - places for, in fact, whisky tasting, mainly Japanese, but also with options from all over the world. Even despite the language barrier, the quality of…
#Osaka
#Osaka Again, I was drawn to live in some dubious neighborhood😁
#Osaka On my way to southern Japan, I decided to stop in Osaka for a couple of days. This is my second time here, and despite honestly trying to make the most of my time everywhere, this is still my least favorite city in Japan (there was already a series…
#Tokyo On the way, I remembered one street, shaded by lush tree crowns. The windows and balconies of a long house overlooking it reminded me so much of the familiar landscapes of post-Soviet five-story buildings! Just across the road, there's a small garden…
My last day in #Tokyo I decided to leave my things in the hotel and take a final walk around the Sugamo residential area, where I stayed overnight. On a scorching July day, there's hardly anyone on the street, and only the occasional FamilyMart shops along…
#Tokyo We're living the best life😎 Bar Andaz @ Toranomon Hills
#Tokyo has always been a place where you can find architecture of absolutely any style, form, and size. Even compared to the rest of Japan, the streets here are much more diverse. It's not surprising when you're building a city the size of a small country…
It's a pain in the ass #Tokyo On a relatively non-hot day, we went hiking with a friend outside the Tokyo JR network. Lots of greenery, local temples, small towns, and of course cemeteries (sorry!). On the horizon, you can see the skyscrapers of Shinjuku…
#Tokyo Post for aura farming of the Tokyo TV Tower
#Tokyo Cuck chair😁
Back in Tokyo again? Of course, #Tokyo is one of those places where it's hard not to return. It's truly the largest city in the world, no matter how many naysayers try to substitute it with some Chinese metropolis. The summer weather might not suit…
Hello to all readers! I have accumulated a lot of content from different places, so I think I might as well ask which of them you would be interested in reading in the upcoming month👇
#Review Final post about #Kaohsiung In general... It's a strange city. It perfectly embodies what provincial cities in Taiwan look like - chaotic, jumping from skyscrapers to shacks, with a bunch of moped riders racing on roads without sidewalks, leading to…
#Gaoxiong The only provincial entertainment in the city is to take some obscure anime-themed ferry and sail across the strait to an island where... Well, it's basically a village. Sometimes with wooden houses that strongly resemble those in Eastern Europe.…
#Gaoxiong Taiwanese social housing ♥️ Soviet-style housing development
#Gaoxiong will definitely be the sponsor of my architectural schizophrenia or depression. Urbanists shouldn't be allowed here, otherwise we'll have to demolish half the city.
#Gaoxiong When I say that the most laid-back religion is in China/Taiwan, and people don't believe me, I just show them these videos. Here in the temple, old men might gather to sing karaoke, there might be children's attractions, or a machine that…
#Gaoxiong The "Lotus Lake" is a very unusual place in Gaoxiong. Along the entire water perimeter, there are several large temples, some of which are quite... Hmm, unusual. Music is playing everywhere, birds are flying, and overall, there's a sense of…
#Kaohsiung It's surprising how all of Asia seems to converge on the mass production of high-rise residential buildings. These aren't exactly prefabricated housing units, but the feeling is pretty much the same. This is what many new residential areas in…