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nechamaro

@nechamaro

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Life is only a series of hashtags, really really good hashtags. Oh, and I like headstands, free stuff, ice cream, winning, #NYC and my thumb 👍 ✡️

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Japan may 2026 - day 11 - part 2 - NAKASENDŌ TRAIL— so this concludes my hiking through history in Japan - I made it 6 miles through the forest to the next post town - I didn’t encounter any bears (though was sufficiently terrified). Saw lots of old water mills and rice farmers - I had no idea they actually still farmed that way - oh and I ate kiwis - lots of em - and then when I made it to the final town there was tons of little dolls - like tiny Japanese scenes all set up - by far the stranger dollhouse I’ve ever seen - only one tiny little narrow road left (which was narrower than my body) and then I made it to the train station… which had trains every 2 hours so people were sitting there playing Rumicub waiting 😂 - yes they hiked all day with it to play at the station . And that’s it. I concluded the thru hiking … got on the train to my next destination and Baruch hashem …. My bags were already there!! I got to shower and put on clean clothes!! Wohooo!! #travel #japan #travelling #travelgram taken in Nakasendo Trail, Nakatsugawa, Kiso Valley, Japan by @nechamaro

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8 days ago

Japan - may 2026 - day 11 - part 1 - NAKASENDŌ TRAIL - started off my day with a cab ride over from nakatsugawa to magome (about 10 minutes) but what I forgot to say this entire time was that I left my luggage in Kyoto an it was shipped to my next hotel - so all I had for the last 2 days was my backpack - kinda insane / anyways I got to Magome and was ready for walk the 7 miles of untouched edo towns - to walk through the forests - over the rivers - and on the trail that the merchants took hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Started off in town at the coffee shop (which I went to for a picture with the water mill) and then hiked up to the top of the mountain then trekked through the forest making sure to ring every bear bell I could - I don’t want to encounter no bears - but I did encounter bathrooms every 5 minutes - Japan if nothing else, is very into bathrooms - lots of bamboos and shrines and everything Japan along the way - a couple waterfall detours and some interesting art and cold water left out by locals for all the hikers - oh and the tea shop - there’s a board for everyone to write their country on it - pretty crazy stuff (ya israel was early on the list) - they erase and start again every morning and it’s always full!! Saw some cool old stuff and it’s just crazy to recognize the history here. This was their highway. This was the road home for so many. Now I’m on it - walking the same roads - over the same bridges - stopping for the same tea - all the same.
#travel #japan #travelling #travelgram taken in Nakasendo Trail, Nakatsugawa, Kiso Valley, Japan by @nechamaro

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8 days ago

Japan - May 2026 - day 10 part 2 - Nakatsugawa day! We (me and Mr moto) left town and drove 20 minutes to a nearby small park with waterfalls Yumori park - - zero tourists here - just locals jumping around in the water and playing on the rocks (which there’s a great sign telling you not to - got to love these Japanese signs) . I stopped on the rocks to jump around and of course eat some mochi that I bought in town - and then passed the massive train on the way out that used to transport the wood - this entire town used to be a logging town and that’s how they made all their money - of course I found an ax and starting chopping some wood - had to find out how much a wood chuck could chuck, ya know? Then from there to Naegi Castle which was used basically as a fortress back in the day - as it can see the entire surrounding area. I had mr moto drop me off here as I figured hey it’s only 5 miles back to town, how hard could the walk be? So after climbing the mountain I ventured on the highway, over a bridge, through a rice field, down into a small village over looking the everything … and finally hours later and very hungry found myself back in town. Stumbled into a small shop that literally was a hole in the wall - no chairs but two people sitting on the floor eating. Managed to tell them I wanted water and tuna. Unsure why I didn’t take any pictures but man were these people shocked to see a tourist. And man was that tuna the best thing ever. Remind me against telling my driver to just leave me in the middle of nowhere? Great. All in all … a wonderful day!! #japan #travel #travelling #instatravel by @nechamaro

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13 days ago

Japan May 2026 - day 10 (9 was shabbos) - Nakatsugawa! - this day may look like not much to you but it was a true highlight - took a while of researching and messaging to finally get connected to a local man in this small little town - Mr Moto! - who gave me a full tour of the area - this town is a preserved uncommercialized Edo-period post-town.- we started off at the - Honjin - the ‘hotels’ for the samurai’s where they’d sit on these cushions and lean on this akward little wooden box while people came to see them - then we walked the secret back alleys that the VIP / samurai would escape through when the town was attacked or during assassination attempts. We walked the zig zag streets (purposely confusing so the attackers would get lost) to get to a sake brewery and I learnt how to make sake. He taught me about ‘boys day’ which the town recently celebrated with pictures of fish everywhere (because boys are like fish swimming through the ocean with the many challenges and waves they have to overcome) - I got a fish shape mochi to celebrate - he took me to the towns entrance where the magic cat comes out of the window and tells you whether or not you’re permitted to enter (yes this is real) - we saw all the trees that it’s actually illegal to cut - he showed me their water systems and wells and how the entire town still actually utilizes this system - and the school where there is still a sculpture of a little boy reading - seems they used to be all over Japan until little kids where walking through the streets on their phones looking down and getting hit by cars - so people petitioned to remove this and focus on teaching kids to look where they are going.
Ok so maybe this doesn’t sound like much to you - but Mr Moto was the best guide I’ve ever had - his English perfect and he was so knowledgeable about just about everything including our lengthy chat on religions and everything else we could possibly think of - if you’re looking for something chill to do before the NAKASENDŌ trail - this is it!
#japan #travel #travelgram #nakasendo taken in Nakasendo Trail, Nakatsugawa, Kiso Valley, Japan by @nechamaro

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20 days ago

Japan may 2026 - day 8 - Kyoto day - started the day off going to Fushimi Inari - and passing through their thousands of red tori gates - obviously had to get some street food to fulfill the entire experience and lucky for me there was a vegetarian + halal stand selling sweet potatoes - cooked in vegetable oil! Yay! Got me some of that and then spend the rest of the morning pushing through hoards of people trying to get pictures from every angle of these gates. Then back to the hotel to pack up my bags and run to conto for the best vegan ice cream ive ever consumed. Then off to my next stop - a bike tour of Kyoto! Who knew i know how to ride a bike?!? I booked this on airbnb and loved the tour - gave me all the background info to so many of the things ive seen but didnt know much about and we went to a zen temple and learnt about the history of philosophy of zen buddhism then to the golden pavilion. And then … to get some tea and mochi on sticks from a tea shop behind the temple that has been around for 500+ years - only selling these two items snd solely there to support the people coming to pray there - and only women work there! And then i rushed back, grabbed my bags and then off to my next hotel where i had the most insane view overlooking all of kyoto. Then it was shabbos! #japan #kyoto #instatravel #travel #travelgram taken in Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan by @nechamaro

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a month ago

Japan May 2026 - day 7 - part 3 - well really - part food - so much of this day was built around food so that even though I’ll be doing a full food post - likely 2 - I could complete this day without said food stops - part of this day was Nishiki Market - the food market in Kyoto! - Soy Milk Donuts: Sano Tofu - was a must - they have soy milk soft serve and soy milk donuts - everything they make is vegan and based from soy. To be honest I hated the soft serve and dumped it in a Starbucks bathroom (they wouldn’t let me use the Starbucks garbage 😢) but the donuts were great! Also - they have little octopus on sticks (no I didn’t eat it but some kind stranger let me take a picture) they had snoopy pancake and little fish on sticks too. Oh and here’s a picture to separate things of the school girls who took my picture on the bridge earlier - ok then to @ainsoph.journey.kyoto for lunch - it’s a vegan chain all over Japan - and yes it’s אין סוף - as in the Hebrew words - needless to say it was a must. Got the ‘chicken’ nuggets and their famous pancakes with ice cream . And some more pictures from the temple - then back on the street what sustained me all week long was getting these energy drinks from vending machines everywhere - I likely drank about 6 bottles of these a day - and well here’s some more leftovers from the day and the river walk to close out the day taken in Kyoto, Japón by @nechamaro

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a month ago

Japan may 2026 - day 7 part 2 - Kyoto day! I returned the bike and started off on foot to see all the sites Kyoto has to offer - and fast - but before even getting anywhere I spotted a Geisha!! And one in training (a maiko!) there are a lot of people in Japan dressing up this way - but I saw the real thing!!! They avoid pictures but clearly I look so non conspicuous that they didn’t even see me! Then I walked along the Kamo River & Pontocho Walk then into the streets through some really nice hair salons that I contemplated getting my hair done at - then to the Kennin-ji Temple - I really enjoyed this - the walls had crazy interesting drawings - insane details - and the ceilings fascinating dragon art too - oh and the sand and zen gardens were nice to just sit at for the 5.5 minutes of relaxing I scheduled in - then off to - Yasaka Kōshin-dō Temple — the ball shrine - which once again felt like sifting through the kotel messages - so many messages- from there I finally made my way up the hill to what @lisabethklein calls עלייה לרגל‘׳’ which is basically the temple that everyone goes to and the walk up the hill is filled with thousands of people all venturing to the same place - Kiyomizudera - there’s tons of shops and snacks to get on the way and the famous fresh hand made mochi with the crazy hammer situation - they also don’t let you record or take pics (you have to pay for that) so I’m standing fairly high up and far away but still a cool experience. At the temple people drink the water from the fountain for a long life but mostly everyone is taking pictures of the insane views taken in Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan by @nechamaro

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a month ago

Japan may 2026 - Day 7! - Kyoto day - so alot happened on this day - which obviously means I had a bike - how else would I have covered so much ground? So I took a bike from the hotel and went off early in the morning to Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple - 1,200 stone Buddha’s statues with facial expressions - quite similar to the last one of these I did just 2 days before - but this one is way more famous and had trillions of people - though before getting there I found a little shrine with a nice little bridge so I stopped and had some little school girls take a few pictures of me - gave them a thumbs up to tell them I like the pictures and they started giggling and 👍 back to me. Highlight of mine and their day’s . Bit back to the statues - they were interesting - but the place was packed - so me and my bike continued on to Adashino Nenbutsu-ji - and through the streets which were insanity and gardens filled with weird statues until i finally made it to the bamboo garden - so this area has tons of shops and fun things to see - wish I had more time there but had to rush back - made a quick stop at the kimono forest (pillars of fabric) - found a paint shop where they sold power that you mix into paint and sold it by weight - the old school way - lots and lots of fans and fabrics and of course ‘Daruma’ - the statue you have to fill in one eye when you have a goal / wish and if you achieve the goal you fill in the other eye - and a shop that had stones in kimonos which I was fascinated by. There’s also a river and a park and yes - I should have spent the day - but way too much to still see! #kyoto_japan #japan #intsatravel #travel #travelgram taken in Adashino Nenbutsu-ji by @nechamaro

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a month ago

Japan May 2026 - Day 6 - Wazuka Tea Farm - took a trip out for the day to a town of tea farms - booked a morning tour at a farm and then a bike for the second half to bike through the tea fields - well the farm tour was a bit pathetic. We mostly watched a YouTube video about how to make tea, picked a couple of leaves then went through a tea grinding facility which was 9000 degrees and was the size of my apt and then back for more videos and matcha tasting and eating of the leaves we picked (fried) We got to play with a matcha grinder. But other than that … it was pretty uneventful. Luckily @digyourowndraves was at my table and heard my afternoon plans and after having such a lame morning she opted to come with me - which means i acquired a photographer for my tea farms photoshoot! Well… if you know me you know I’m also afraid of my shadow … and the outdoors - so here’s what actually goes on behind every photo of me and how I literally respond to grass touching my foot …. Then we walked through the fields (which it seems were private fields and the farmers came by on their trucks wondering wtf we were doing there ….) then off on a scavenger hunt to find the ‘hidden Buddha’ - a Buddha engraved into the mountain on the other side of the like - considering it took us about 4 hours to find it and the town is about 10 min worth of biking I’d say it was hidden quite well! All and all - I wouldn’t suggest anyone does that tea farm tour - but the afternoon biking around places we wouldn’t have ever been and making a new friend … priceless! #japan #travel #travelblogger #travelgram #instatraveling and incase you’re wondering - the fields we biked through: Ishitera Tea Plantation, Erihara Tea Plantation, Harayama Enkei Chabatake - and ended at the Mirokumagai Buddha taken in Wazuka, Kyoto by @nechamaro

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2 months ago

Japan May 2026 - day 5 part 2 - Hakone - my ‘chill’ day - after the Venetian glass forest I took another bus back toward town to the ‘hakone Open-Air Museum - another place that has no business being in Japan - but again all of these insane sculptures set against the insane mountain backdrop - was just plain insane - and they had an incredible Picasso exhibit - never have I ever known much about Picasso but the way this exhibit was set up just told the story so well (contrasted to the Nashville museums which were god awful, sorry) the views - insane. It was nice and breezy and the sculptures massive and so interesting and each with the space to tell its own story - overall - a yes - and then finally made my way to the train station and off to Kyoto! Cant believe I made it through the forest and mountains and the Buddhist towns and to my almost final stop! But first had to get me some Michelin star omakase vegan ramen in an interactive gallery! (This was a teamlabs experience and you need to make the reservation very very very early - it was interesting but honestly havent had much ramen to compare this to - but it was very dark and a bit creepy - just give me food with the lights on, thanks)
#japan #traveling #travel #travelgram #instatravel taken in 箱根彫刻の森美術館 - The Hakone Open-Air Museum by @nechamaro

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2 months ago

Japan - May 2026 - day 5 part 1 - Hakone! - this was a ‘chill day’ (yes I schedule those) - I woke up in Hakone and first spent the morning in my onsen because why not when you have a private onsen on your balcony? Then I played a game of taxis buses and walking through the wilderness - I brought my bags to the train station and dropped them in a locker for $5 then found my way to a local bus that brought me back up the mountain to the most random off the beaten path little temple - Choanji Temple - which was protected by funny face Buddha’s (sort of felt like funny elves but wtvr) - I didn’t see a single person in the entire place and it was nice and breezy and such a change of pace from the hikes and busy schedules - just walked around and talked to my new funny face Buddha friends - oh and this random temple had the cleanest bathroom with motion sensored lights and it just made me wonder why Japan really only does bathrooms right and nothing else - but no, I still don’t like the heated toilet seats - then made my way through the town (stopped at a 7-11 first for a protein shake) - and made my way to the Venetian glass gardens - why this is in Japan I don’t know - but that didn’t make it any less exciting. The trees and flowers and everything else are all made of glass - oh and the backdrop of the mountains behind make it a perfect set for any Photo op - note to self - wear a brighter dress for this one next time. I rang the love bell. And saw some crazy glass blown sculpture oh and a scultupte that spits out hand sanitizer #japan #travel #travelgram #instatravel #travelblogger taken in Hakone Glass Forest by @nechamaro

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2 months ago

Japan may 2026 - day 4 part 2 - Hakone - after leaving the tea shop it’s finally downhill all the way down to lake ashi - such a different thing - the stones were tough on the uphill but the downhill was slippery and still crazy challenging. Of course Google told me I needed 2 hours but by the time I made it down to the Hakone checkpoint - they close at 5 - it was 430 - and they were already closing up and didn’t let me in - the checkpoint is exactly what it sounds like - it where people who came to the town went to check in - it’s turned into something like a museum showing how people used to travel there and the lifestyles they had - anyways I got some amazing pictures in the lake ashi shore line area so I’m ok - also obviously got me some more mochi - sesame flavor duhh - they cook it right there on coals - literally rice and water and nothing else (well mine with sesame) - same recipe they’ve used for hundreds of years - I think this is the Mitarashi Dango ? Anyways get it. When I made it to what I thought was the end there was a sign so I was excited to take a picture with it - assuming it said final mile … turns out it’s a sign that say the name of the cemetery below - so now I have a picture with a cemetery sign. Wonderful. And obviously lots more mile markers and shrines and everything else you’d expect from Japan at this point. #japan #hakone #travel #travelgram #instatraveling taken in Lake Ashi, Hakone, Japan by @nechamaro

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2 months ago