Holly Crabtree’s Japan

I may be no Joanna Lumley but I can genuinely say after spending the beginning of this month touring Japan like the lovely Joanna , the experience was totally amazing. You may have already seen my last blog with myself and the Snow Monkeys. This time I will be taking you on a day by day journey, featuring all my top tips and what I loved and possibly didn’t love (although I will struggle to find anything I didn’t love) about this trip. So sit back make a cuppa and I hope you enjoy it.

Day 1 Friday 2nd September 2016

I flew to Japan from Manchester with Finnair via Helsinki. I didn’t know this but Finnair operate the fastest route to Japan with an average flying time of just 11.5 hours. If you do not like flying then this is a perfect way to fly rather than fly with other airlines that can take up to 16 hours. It cost 160 euros to upgrade to extra leg room seats for the entire journey and worth every penny.

The only downside to flying with Finnair is the food. I will be honest with you it wasn’t great as you can see from the pictures.  I am not a fussy eater but even I struggled to eat what was given. The breakfast prior to landing in Japan was a little better . I have added some photos, what do you think? All in all though I would still rather fly 11.5 hours in total and suffer the food on board than fly the 16 hours as I am not the best of flyers.

Saturday 03rd September

On arrival into Osaka airport at 9.00am local time , Japan is 8 hours ahead of UK time, we were met by a lovely lady who directed us to a minibus for our shared transfer to Kyoto. Wifi on board the bus so we could let family and friends know we had landed safely. The weather was very hot mid eighties so an air conditioned minibus was just the ticket for our 90 minute journey to the hotel. It is fascinating to see the sights when you arrive in a new country and as we approached Kyoto I was taken aback with how it looked a little like a shanty town, but I needed not have worried as once into the City Centre I arrived in what seemed like a New York lookalike . Spotlessly clean with high rise buildings , beautiful boutiques and of course Mcdonalds on every corner. We checked into the Karasuma Kyoto Hotel, right in the heart of the city centre and my room was ready on arrival. Thanks Wendy Wu for organising this. The hotel was very smart and was attached to a Starbucks, which became my friend for the 2 nights we were staying there. I had a single room , the rooms to be fair didn’t quite match the hotel as were very small and basic but I guess adequate for what I needed. The twin and double rooms were much bigger of course.

Now in Japan you will notice the toilets are an experience in themselves. They allow you to wash whilst seated all areas with little buttons to offer you the choice to wash front and back.  I had to try it and although refreshing the water was a little too warm 🙂 You will find that this experience is offered in every bathroom in Japan, some toilets even allow you to choose music to listen too !!!

Once we had freshened up it was time to explore, you could see why it was the second largest city in Japan. Kyoto is huge. It really did remind me of New York in many ways. Shops lined never ending streets with much traffic then you would find many hidden cobbled side streets with quaint little shops to browse through. I couldn’t have asked for a better location.  Lovely to see the Japanese ladies using umbrellas to stop the sun burning their skin. After a long walk around we found a lovely English bar which was situated in the basement of a shopping centre offering British beers and wines and snacks with great music and even football on if you prefer. After a bite to eat in  the hotel, bear in mind Kyoto is very expensive, I headed to bed as been up 27 hours. I could have slept on a zip wire at this point.

Sunday 4th September

We were meeting as a group at 9am this morning and after a wonderful nights sleep there was plenty of time for breakfast, I am not a breakfast person but the restaurant had a choice of American and Japanese food. Japanese breakfast consists of fish, noodles and rice and soup . So the American breakfast went down a treat with some guests. After inroductions to the tour guide and rest of the group we went to explore Kyoto. We were first taken to Nijo Castle then the Kyoto Imperial Palace and finally Kiyomizu Temple. Kyoto itself was the imperial capital for over a millenium and much celebrated for it. Thought of as Japan’s most beautiful city, with an elegant and unsurpassed dignity, Kyoto’s ultra-rich cultural heritage consists of an exquisite collection of majestic palaces and beautiful temples, and shrines dedicated to ancient deities all set in peaceful pockets of the city. Kyoto did not disappoint it was absolutely stunning and if you like history too then you will enjoy this stunning city. We stopped for lunch half way through the day in what I can only describe as a little village in itself where you could taste local delicacies and have a cup of green tea. Japan is famous for its Green tea so you will find Green Tea ice creams and desserts everywhere. We found a lovely cafe where they offered sandwiches and sushi. You will find on this tour there are many steps to the temples and some areas can be a little hilly so please bear this in mind if you have walking difficulties.

We also visited the Geisha district where you will find many Japanese girls dressed up, they hire the costumes for around £37 and you will see them walking around the city. Apparently the real Geisha’s do not come out until after 6 pm in the evening so we didn’t manage to see them but just seeing where they live and entertain was fascinating.

 

Once back at the hotel we had an hour to change ready for the traditional Japanese dinner which was a two minutes walk from the hotel. Now this was an experience. Once sat down on very low table in our own room we were offered what seemed like an infinity of dishes that kept on coming and coming,  that consisted of Sushi, chicken rice , in all variations and was a real dining experience but after about 6 or 7 dishes we couldn’t eat anymore. It was a great first night of trying local delicacies though.  Gluten free was catered for too. Just be aware when you are booking on a trip like this Fish, Sushi, noodles and rice with some vegetables are the order of the day. After a long day it was time for bed and ready for an early start the following day.

Monday 5th September

This is where we had to say goodbye to Kyoto and ready to travel to Atami . The journey from Kyoto is my Bullet train. You need to know that suitcases are not allowed on the Bullet train so we had to put our luggage on a truck which was then to take it to Tokyo and where we would only see it to days later. You will need a smaller suitcase therefore for the remaining two nights so please bear this in mind.

On arrival at Ktoto station the tour guide Andy led us to the side of the track . Now I have to say Kyoto station is not what I expected, bright clean airey full of statues and monuments and very well organised. The bullet train itself is larger inside than what I though, 6 seats in a row with plenty of space and a carriage where you can buy drinks etc. This trip was two hours and the time flew as quick as the train. The Bullet train took us to Mishima where a coach picked us up ready to go to Hakone. Hakone is absolutely stunning and after lunch we experienced a boat trip on Lake Ashi for around an hour or so. The Pirate Boat we were on was a bit of a gimmick to be fair but the sun was shining and the views were spectacular.

Afterwards we were then taken to  Komagatake and had the chance to experience
the Hakone ropeway over molten rock and volcanic rivers. The cable car was 7 minutes to the top where you had a great photo opportunity, unfortunately the cloud came over us so the only views we managed was riding up the cable car and riding back down.

Finally we were taken to Atami, a little beachside location . The Atami Hotel had beautiful sea views and I have to say the bedrooms here were really lovely. We were again treated to a typical Chinese banquet, with many choices put in front of you, and not kowing what you were eating we just tried everything . You also had the option to cook some of your dishes as you were given a little burner too. Really lovely dining experience and were given Kimonos to wear at dinner. Please note drinks here again are expensive where you can pay £25 for a bottle of wine.

Tuesday 6th September

An early start this morning as we were on our way to Mount Fuji , the journey on the coach can take around 2.5 hours but you do stop on route. Normally the coach stops at either a service station or a place where there is a seven eleven , this is like a mini coop and sells many English branded foods and everything you could possibly want to stock up on for the coach journey as many of us did. We also stopped at a viewing point where we managed to get some amazing photos of Mount Fuji which can be unheard of sometimes because of the cloud.

On arrival at the Fuji Visitor Center you can again see many viewing points for some great pictures. This area is like a miniature village with gift shops restaurants and little carts selling hot dogs. I loved it here and we stopped for around two hours, the cloud starting to come over so I am glad I got some great photos of Mount Fuji earlier. This was a typical lunch here…

The coach trip here to Yudanaka, our home for the night was around 4.5 hours, but a movie was played on the coach, many coach stops adn Andy the tour guide tried to keep us entertained with trivia. The journey was long but went pretty quickly. We arrive at our home for the night around 6.30pm and dinner was shortly to be served, This was a typical traditional Japanese home . On arrival into your room there was no bed and a lady came to measure you up for a Kimono which was standard dress here, Also your were given slippers to wear throughout. Where was the bed at this poitn? I was advised that you slept on a low mattress on the floor and this was put down for you whilst eating dinner. My bed for the night, although again bear this in mind if you struggle to get on and off the floor. Being honest I had the best night sleep here of the whole trip.

Again treated to a typical Japanese banquet this was a highlight. The food presented to you was like no other. What a fabulous dining experience and many guests said this was one of the highlights of the whole trip. As you can see you were given something that looked like a tree bark with mushrooms still growing on there. You removed the mushrooms and added them to the grill and cooked them yourself , they tasted wonderful. Of course green tea mousse followed for dessert, something we were becoming quite accustomed too.

After a karaoke session and a couple of Gin and Tonics it was time for bed.

Wednesday 7th September

Today was time for the highlight to finally meet the Snow Monkeys. The journey from the hotel was around 20 minutes to the entry of the monkey park. I have blogged about my monkey park adventure and you can read all about it on this link here The Monkeys and Me. Absolutely loved this day meeting the monkeys. Wonderful experience to last a life time.

After the Monkey Park we took the 3 hour coach ride to Tokyo , we arrived around 4pm. We stayed at the Hotel Sunshine City Prince, a lovely hotel and only a short walk from the station and a ten minute walk to a pedestrianised  shopping area that rivaled Times Square. The rooms were again clean but small and basic , I think this again is because I had a single room. The view of Tokyo was stunning. The hotel is huge and in the middle of a shopping mall with a supermarket attached to it which was great for purchasing bottles of water but you could buy anything here.

I will be honest with you and say that the first place we saw was TGI Friday’s so here we spent our first night and after three nights of wonderful Japanese food it was lovely to have a salad or burger. Many amusement arcades novelty street venders and entertainers here with bars and restaurants galore.

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Thursday 8th September

A full day in Tokyo, here the world is your oyster once you can work out the train system as all in Japanese but many poilce guards happy to help and escort you anywhere you need to be. We were going to head to Disneyland but a Typhoon was on its way as you can see from my picture above so we decided not to go. You can visit so many places in Tokyo eg Sky Tree Tallest Building in Japan, the zoo, hop on hop off bus ride is a good one. I guess as the tour only had one full day in Tokyo it may be a good idea if your not so adventurous to pre book a tour with a reputable tour company which some customers did . If not then you have a wonderful day of exploring ahead of you.

Friday 9th September

This is where we had to say goodbye to Japan. Our flight was with Japan airlines on the dreamliner at 10am and was due to arrive into Manchester via Helsinki at 5.00pm Uk time. Narita airport is absolutely wonderful , huge and full of different corridors taking to even more shopping areas , it was endless and a mini city in itself. Japan airlines was a totally different experience. The service on board could not be faulted and the food was amazing . A real pleasure to have the experience of flying with them. Cabin crew came around every ten minutes offering you apple or orange juice and ice cream for when  you were watching your movies. I would definitely recommend them.

My overall experience for this trip was totally amazing from start to finish. SO to summarise here are my top tips ………….

PACK COMFORTABLE SHOES AS ALOT OF WALKING INVOLVED

JAPAN CAN BE EXPENSIVE IN PLACES SO TAKE JAPANESE YEN AS CASH IS USED MORE WIDELY THAN CARDS

ALOT OF WALKING AND STEPS IN KYOTO AND THE SNOW MONKEY PARK SO BE AWARE IF YOU HAVE WALKING DIFFICULTIES

WEATHER CAN BE REALLY HOT IN SEPTEMBER SO IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH HEAT MARCH AND MAY WILL BE COOLER MONTHS WILL BE BETTER FOR YOU.

THERE ARE A TWO OR THREE LONG TRANSFERS ON THE TRIP SO BEAR THIS IN MIND

FOOD ON THE TOUR IS VERY MUCH JAPANESE VARIETY CONSISTING OF FISH RICE NOODLES VEGETABLES AND SOME CHICKEN DISHES.

If you are like me and an adventurer and love to travel them I 100 per cent have to recommend this most amazing trip of a lifetime, the people, hotels tours and stunning scenery made this completely magical. I really cannot put into words the experience.

We have three departures on this trip for next year so if you want to do what myself and Joanna have done then click on the link below.

Bucket List Collection

If you have any questions at all then please do let me know

Until next time Holly