So my dancing has upscaled a little now. Especially as there is ONE WEEK TO GO! (I forgot to mention, it’s also my birthday today ^^)
Figured now is a great time to let you know exactly what I’m gonna be up to and all the details.
Trip Summary:
Where: Japan
When: 19th March – 9th April 2014
With Who: Jose Guerra on a self guided tour
Why: Time to take that trip of a lifetime and fulfill that life long dream
We will be flying with British Airways from London Heathrow directly to Tokyo Narita airport at 12:40pm Tuesday 18th March. The flight will take approximately 11 hours and 40 minutes. Whilst it’s a long flight, at least it’s direct though it will be difficult as we will leave during the day and arrive in the following morning, so it will feel like an extra long day.
12 locations in 22 days
The 22 days we will be spending in Japan will involve lots of traveling. We will be visiting the following places:
- Tokyo
- Nikko
- Hakone, Odawara
- Osaka, Takarazuka
- Hiroshima
- Miyajima
- Kyoto
- Nara
- Takayama
- Kanazawa
Tokyo
Wednesday 19th – Sunday 23rd March, Monday 7th April – Wednesday 9th AprilOur total time spent in Tokyo will amount to around five days, of which three are full days. During our stay in Tokyo we’ll be exploring contemporary architecture, attending an Anime fair, Hanazono‐jinja antique market as well as various shops that sell really cool stuff!
Most importantly though we will be having fun!
Nikko
Friday 21st MarchWe’ll be heading out from Tokyo to Nikko for one day before heading back. First stop will probably be the Toshogu Shrine and if we have time we’ll go look at some of the waterfalls there.
Hakone
Sunday 23rd March – Monday 24th MarchHot Springs! Onsen! Mountains! This is one of the parts of the trip I’m really excited about!
Odawara
Sunday 23rd March, Tuesday 25th MarchI sense that our time in Odawara will be short as it is mainly a transfer point between Tokyo and Hakone but I’m sure it will be great to see it anyway. Possibly a quick look at Odawara Castle.
Osaka
Tuesday 25th – Wednesday 26th MarchAs soon as we arrive in Osaka we will be off to Takarazuka which is just west of Osaka to visit a manga museum, then we have a free day to explore.
Hiroshima
Thursday 27th MarchHere we are going to spend a little bit of time sightseeing and do some location scouting.
Miyajima
Thursday 27th – Friday 28th MarchHere we will see the floating gate, ferries and lots of deer.
Kyoto
Saturday 29th March – Tuesday 1st AprilIn Kyoto we will be trying our hand at making traditional sweets, experiencing a Tea ceremony at an En tea house, dressing up as a Maiko, watching the Miyako Odori Geisha performance.
Nara
Wednesday 2nd AprilDay trip from Kyoto to Nara where we can see Todai-ji Temple, the world’s largest wooden building.
Takayama
Thursday 3rd – Friday 4th AprilHigh in the Japanese Alps, we will have a day and a bit to explore the area.
Kanazawa
Saturday 5th – Sunday 6th AprilThis is the place where I would love to have more time, ninja castles, kimono walks and craft shops. Somehow I have to try and fit this into a day and a bit!
Budget
Budgeting for a 3 week trip in Japan is not an easy thing. A lot of our trip has already been paid for using Inside Japan, a company that specialises in tailor-made Japanese holidays. I’ll update this section at a later date with the costs and such. For now the budget includes getting a second hand kimono or a robot (big difference I know!) From what I have found out kimonos vary wildly in price but I’m aiming at no more than £200 for the set up (it will be tough but we’ll see).
Preparations
There has been a lot of preparation for this trip (including saving up for it). We used Moneycorp to exchange our pounds for yen and picked it up on Oxford Street, House of Fraser. Moneycorp rates were a lot better than Travelex and The Post Office. We have also invested in other things including:
- a Salomon Quest 4D Women’s GORE-TEX Walking Boots
,
- some Bridgedale Woolfusion Trekker Women’s Socks
,
- a mountain equipment bag with heavy duty wheels,
- a ball head for my monopod,
- a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED Lens
- a Adata 500GB USB 3.0 Dash Drive Elite Hard Drive – Titanium
,
- a Lowepro Fastpack 250 Backpack for SLR Kit, 15.4″ Notebook and General Gear – Red
,
- lightweight mountain fleece,
- lightweight raincoat,
- a guide to Japan and finally
- a short course in Japanese at my local college
The short course in Japanese is more about giving me an opportunity to listen to and practice speaking Japanese as well as ask questions which may not otherwise be understood. My sensei, Junko, has been very patient with my never ending questions on the Japanese language which I’m very grateful for. I actually started studying Japanese many years ago but never had an opportunity to use it. It was only last year that I started studying again using Memrise (an online learning website) as my launch platform. You can see my profile/ follow my progress here.
Cherry Blossom Forecast
Cherry Blossoms are one of the other reasons why we wanted to go in spring. I look forward to seeing them and taking lots of pictures. I found this really useful website which explains when the Cherry Blossoms will start blooming and when they will reach full bloom.
Location – First Bloom // Full Bloom
Tokyo – from 29th March // 31st March
Osaka – from 28th March // 4th April
Kyoto – from 28th March // 4th April
Hiroshima – from 25th March // 4th April
Kanazawa – from 3rd April // 8th April