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By Apples
Well, I have sorted my photographs and finaly got to the trip report! Thank you everyone on the forum for your advice, and questions, other peoples questions have been so useful!!! Without this website we could not have experianced so many faces of Japan .
The Japanese people were kind and generous with their time. We tried not to impose, but did occasionally need assistance from passers-by, and rescuing in restaurants! We also found ourselves to be the subjects of curiosity to school parties, the braver boys shouting hello to us, they were delighted (and a bit surprised) when we stopped to speak to them, and as a result we star in several photos!
Like many visitors to Japan we were concerned about our budget, we found that costs were similar to those at home, most of the places we stayed cost about the same as a UK bed and breakfast, and most meals out were similar in price to eating in a Pub. We did not eat in restaurants all the time, using Family marts, bento boxes and Andersons for at least one meal a day. Our daily budget - everything except flights and JR rail passes - was about JPY 8.500 each for two of us. We did not have to work hard at keeping to this, and keeping to our budget did not stop us from doing anything we wanted, only lack of time! Of course it would have been possible to spend much more, or less.
Leg room on the Tokaido Shinkansen train
Day 1) To Tokyo. Once we had picked up our luggage and passed customs we collected our phone (ANA do a rental free mobile phone loan service), then we found the JR office and collected our 21 day rail passes, tickets into Tokyo, Hakone free passes and onward tickets to Kyoto.
We were a little aprehensive about finding our Tokoyo Inn in Ikebukuro, but with the help of the map and two kind passers-by we got there! It was comfortable and very close to the station, despite appearing to be a red light area, it felt safe. Near the hotel is a family mart, very useful for snacks.
Days 2, 3 & 4) For our first full day we decided we needed to walk so went to Takaosan. Just as at home, everyone we passed greeted us, it was a steep climb to the top and we had plenty of opportunities to practice our "konichiwa"s . We met the first of many school parties; these were the youngest classes, all wearing matching caps and looking very sweet. After eating a dish of cold noodles for lunch we followed one of the many marked trails back down to the railway station. This time we only met a Dutch family!
Nikko, I did not know the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys were there... I had not realized they were Japanese... it was such a surprise... my Grandmother had a model of them, and as a small child they had fascinated me. As for the rest of the Nikko temple area, it is an astonishing, breathtaking place. Go there!
We thought we should visit an area of Tokyo by daylight! We had explored the area around Ikebukuro in the evenings, so we went to Odaiba. There were many dance groups, all beautifully dressed in different costumes, we went up the Fuji TV building, explored Palette Town, Aqua City, Mega Web and Venus Fort. We returned via Shinjuku, it was pouring with rain... I have never seen so many umbrellas.
Fuji San on the round tour at Hakone
Days 5 & 6) Hakone: We booked a two day free pass and a night in a Ryokan. I confess that the sound of laughter as our fellow guests bathed panicked me and I did not join them in the bath. We enjoyed our meal although it was very unfamiliar!
We did the circuit; bus, boat, cable car, and train quickly the first day and slowly the second. I knew we had a chance of seeing Fuji san but had not expected it to be such a moving experience, nor so beautiful across the lake with the autumn leaves. We really enjoyed the gardens at Gora Park.
Gora Park
Days 7,8 & 9) Kyoto and Nara... the high points:
We were lucky to visit Nara in November when the Shosoin Exhibition was on display. We are both tall which was a great advantage as we could see over the crowds.
We walked the Philosopher's walk and went to light up at Kodaiji which was magical. (Thank you forum)
Visiting Arashiyama was great, not just the bamboo forest, but also the boats. We come from towns (Oxford & Cambridge in the UK) where boats are poled along the river; this made our river trip very special.
My husband poling the boat at Arashiyama
Day 10) We had not pre booked accommodation at Koya-san, but a visit to a travel agent solved that! The journey up was beautiful, breathtaking vistas as the train climbed the mountains. Staying in the temple was a fantastic experience, I finally took a Japanese bath, wonderful and we ate an excellent meal with sake. In the morning we joined prayers and after breakfast walked to Okunoin, very quiet and a little misty, we were almost alone for much of the time.
Autumn colour at Koya San
Days 11 & 12) Visiting Hiroshima Peace Park was a somber experience; we found the city busy and vibrant. I only recommend walking up Misen on Miyajima if you are fit and have plenty of time... it is a stiff climb! With the help of the English speaking lady in the Station information office we organized our bike ride across the Shimanami Sea Road. I will do a separate trip report for it.
Days 15,16,17,18 &19) We returned to Hiroshima for the night, visited the castle in the morning, and then traveled down to Kagoshima, why? Well it is a long way south, has a volcano (Sakurajima) and looked interesting! We found it an easy and relaxed city and learnt a great deal about Japanese history. One day we traveled further south and were buried in hot sand, another we spent visiting Sakurajima and the third we spent touring the sights of the town, which include a Ferris wheel, a lovely garden and the first factory in Japan.
Sakurajima smoking, from the big wheel at Kagoshima
Days 20,21 &23) Kyoto was full so we stayed in Osaka on our way north again, from here we visited Himeji (and enjoyed a great Elvis impersonator) and Kyoto where we spend hours crammed in a bus in a traffic jam but did visit the Golden temple and another light up!
Finally we traveled on to Narita to stay in the largest hotel room of our trip before flying home.
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