After arriving in Taipei and spending a few days there to acclimatize to a new country, we were ready to get out of the big city and get into nature. Since I had spent two lazy months in Taipei just a few months ago, I made it a mission this time around to explore the rest of Tawian, especially its national parks.

How it is to backpack in Japan, spending summary, and my favorite pictures of this fascinating country.

After going to the amusement park at the top of Ikoma Mountain, I found out that there was, in the city of Nara, another even bigger one which was completely abandoned. Closed since 2006 because of competition from Disneyland Tokyo and Universal Studios Osaka, Nara Dreamland became one of the things I had to do before leaving Japan.

A visit to a friend in Kobe, and the so called “Machu Picchu of Japan”.

On the way back from Nara, I stopped at Ikoma Station and took the funicular to the top of Mount Ikoma, where I found a very pleasant surprise.