I've covered some of the great food Andrew and I had in Japan, so now let me move on to whatever else it was that we were doing between meals. Two posts ago I touched on Osaka, the second largest city in Japan and our fist stop in the country. Osaka is in the Kansai region of Japan, which also includes Kobe and Kyoto Osaka city proper has about 2.7 million people, but that is only a fraction of the true number. Citing population based on city limits can be quite misleading. Take my hometown of Columbus, and Cleveland, another city in Ohio, as examples. The population of the city of Columbus is over 800,000, while Cleveland's is less than half that. Take a look at the metro area, or the urban core plus surrounding suburbs and commuter towns, and the comparison is flipped: Cleveland is substantially larger than Columbus. Back to Osaka - while the city itself only has a couple million inhabitants, add in the urban sprawl and surrounding ...
This time I actually got a seat for the overnight trip! I slept better too, and when I awoke we were already in Strasbourg. After studying the train charts I decided that it would be best to go to Frankfurt first, spend a night there, and then head to Berlin. I had a couple of hours before the train to Frankfurt left, so I did the usual, exploring the city by foot. It was odd to see so many traditional German houses in a French city. Strasbourg (or Straβburg) has flipped between German and French control over the centuries, but much of the turn of the 20 th century German architecture remains. Although French is most common, I also encountered German speakers. The old town, with its massive cathedral, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Again I found myself wishing that I had more time to spend in a city that I was just passing through. Much of the architecture in Strasbourg reminded me of Germany, not France The massive (and impressive) Strasbourg Cathedral ...
Mike and I said our goodbyes to Sam, had one more night of cheap beer and plastic chairs, and then were off to Phu Quoc Island. Phu Quoc is the largest island in Vietnam and a growing tourist destination. On a map it's not that far away from Saigon, but land travel is notoriously slow; would you rather have a 40 minute plane ride or 10+ hour bus and ferry combo? Considering we found a one-way ticket for all of $40, flying was a no-brainer. Phu Quoc looks like it might be part of Cambodia, but it's actually in Vietnam On our "booze cruise" in Nha Trang we met three English backpackers, and they also happened to be traveling to Phu Quoc. They had first taken a bus to the Mekong Delta, south of Saigon, to tour the famous floating river markets before heading to the island. The day after Mike and I arrived they came by ferry, and although we weren't at the same hotel we all met up several times during our stay on the island. From right, David, G...
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