Continuing highlight pictures
Himeji castle
Kokoen Gardens, Himeji
Miyajima/ Itsukushima Shrine,
Miyajima Daisho in [O-Jizo-Sama statues with red caps, bibs]
KYOTO, Arashiyama
Shirakawa-go
TAKAYAMA Old town
KANAZAWA GARDENS
TOKYO MEIJI SHRINE
TOKYO BOTANICAL GARDEN
TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM
RESOURCES USED
Logistics and pre booking:
we had limited number of days in each base and so had to commit to some of our plans quite in advance. The following were the bookings we had done before we landed in Japan.
In Tokyo we had 4 days including the day we arrived so we pre booked our bus trip to Mount Fuji Kawaguchi ko for Monday April 15. Usually its better to check weather and go to Mount Fuji excursions. We had no choice as our options were limited. We just avoided the weekend as the locals were likely to be there to enjoy the cherry blossoms at Fuji. Thankfully it worked out for us the weather was glorious and we saw Fuji in all its magnificence.
we also booked train tickets to Nikko for that Sunday April 14th so that our slots won't sell out. Turned out a great day trip.
Same way we had booked the Shinkansen ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto for 7:00 AM on April 16.
We booked the Shinkansen ticket from Kyoto to Nagoya for 6:10 Am on April 22.
When we landed in Takayama, we booked our onward bus ticket to Kanazawa For April 24 morning 7:30 AM.
We also booked the total package for the Kurobe Alpine Route starting at 7:00 AM from Tateyama for April 25th. This alpine route also needs clear weather to enjoy the sight of the mountains but we had no choice of other days. Thankfully yet again the weather was awesome. If the weather had been bad we would have enjoyed the peripheral sites.
Also for our Miyajima day trip from Kyoto, we had to look at the tide patterns so that we could enjoy the sight of the Torii gate seemingly coming out of water. We consulted the high tide timings and understood the water will start receding fully after a couple of hours. We had to travel more than two hours from Kyoto to Hiroshima first and then onward to Miyajima which will all take time. We chose April 26 Sunday for this trip and were able to see the gate in the tidal water. The next day had much better timings but we were leaving Kyoto on that day. On April 25th our plan was to stay back and enjoy sunset and the lighting but it started raining around 4:00 PM the rain was predicted to become worse so we cut our trip short and took the train back to Kyoto.
Basically we rolled with the punches and it mostly worked out.
ACCOMMODATIONS & FOOD:
We self catered as usual, we are vegetarians. So we stayed in apartments with well equipped kitchens.
There are cup noodles/ ramen available in all convenience stores but none of them are vegetarian; even the ones marked miso soup and spring onions have pork in them. Even potato chips has pork lard. So we avoided such convenience food .
Regarding accommodations Japan's hotels in cities are notoriously small and quite high priced, all in the relative sense of course.
We did all our reservations through booking.com and they turned out amazing.
CHECK IN/CHECK OUT:
In all our apartments the check in was at 3 or 4:00 PM.
for our Tokyo apt it was not a problem as we landed only in the afternoon; for our second stay there they gave us 1:00 PM check in as we were repeat guests.
For Kyoto and Takayama we arrived early just a little after 9:00 AM and kept our bags in the coin lockers at the train station for 700 yen.
We checked out early from all our apartments much earlier than their 10:00 AM checkout time. Even otherwise the coin lockers are very convenient.
On our way to Toyama from Takayama we went through Kanazawa and kept our bags in the coin locker at the bus station, then visited the gardens, came back, claimed our bags and took our train to Toyama.
Making such stops is pretty easy in Japan the transportation is very user friendly the bus and train stations are adjacent to each other and coin lockers are available everywhere.
TOKYO Laffitte Hirai Condominium Hotel:
In Tokyo our apartment was in residential area, away from the touristic center... at Hirai 400 metres walk from the Hirai train station which has local trains by JR East Company. It had great connectivity for easy transfers to all are important destinations including the airport.
From the airport we took the Kaisei main line limited express with no additional charge and got down at Kaisei Funabashi Station. Got out through the East exit walked 300 metres to the south exit of Funabashi Station and boarded the local chou sobu train and reached Hirai Station which was the 7th stop. We got out of the North Exit, we had already seen our walking route on the Google map it was an easy walk to our apartment.
The apartment code for the main gate as well as our apartment door had been emailed to us. Our apartment was 10 steps up from the ground and was very user friendly.
The kitchen had all the basics. And there was a huge window which could be slid open for fresh air. It had a safety net as well.. so we never used the aircon in any of the apts. There was a 24/7 Lawson just opposite; the Walmart of Japan Seiyu was right near the station. It was all so convenient.
This is a picture of the groceries we bought and the bill showing 6100 yen/ 40USD which is much more than what you will pay in Houston TX usa. 2 kg rice, bread, cooking oil, milk, yogurt, bananas, grapes, lemons, tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, cucumbers, sweet corn, chocolates
Kyoto Kotobuki apartment
In Kyoto our apartment was a 300 metre walk from the main Kyoto train station bus station. Again we had the code to open the main gate and get our key which gave access to our apartment on the ground floor quite spacious and well appointed with an openable door leading to a balcony. The well equipped Aeon mall was a short walk away..
TAKAYAMA RIKKA HANASATO APT
APA Hotel Toyama-Ekimae Minami
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