Hi Clem

Well, I’m back!! Japan was fantastic!!

All the accommodation was great. Good to be back to a soft bed now though, that’s for sure. They were all in really good locations – even the Tokyu Hotel in Kyoto was only a 10 min walk from the station so we only caught a taxi once when we arrived.

Takayama Ryokan was amazing. Hubby loved it, and was mega scared to try the onsen, but after much encouragement he attempted it and then I couldn’t get him to stop raving about it. He was first to go back the next morning (may have had something to do with the fact we were the only ones in there both times in each of ours, which made it easier).

The only thing that was a bit crappy was My Fuji. We left Takayama at 9.30am (you had suggested 10.30), and caught the train back to Odawara via Nagoya, but by the time we got there it was 3.30pm even though we caught the bullet trains where possible and all the trains connected perfectly (love the rail over there!!). By the time we transferred to the little train to Gora, cable car etc, it was quite late and we had the basically race through everything, and literally run from train-cable car-ropeway-pirate ship to make the last departure at 5pm.

The weather was really crappy that day, and we didn’t see anything (no Fuji-san), and it was really cold and overcast, so we just got on the train straight away back for Tokyo. We were gonna skip it altogether, but decided at the last minute to go for it, but was kinda a waste of money, then we couldn’t be bothered going back and doing it all the next day again even though the weather was perfect (of course).

So, of course not blaming you for that, but just a handy bit of feedback for next time that it takes much longer to get there, so prob wouldn’t advise people do it in one day as you don’t have time to see anything.

Other than that one day of craziness, we had great weather. The cherry blossoms were amazing, and it was so great to get back after 10 years (can’t believe I could still speak & understand some Japanese). Thanks for planning everything!!

Cheers
Sal.

May 2010 Hotel, Kyoto, Nagoya, Nature, Onsen Hot Spring, Ryokan, Sakura Cherry Blossoms, Skiing and Snow Boarding, Tokyo

Hi Kathy,

Thanks for your email.
The trip was amazing! Everything went to plan and ran so smoothly – we kept calling it the lucky trip.
Our luck finally ran out at the airport though – as our flight was delayed 5 hours! We didn’t end up departing until 2:20am!! The kids were incredible though – no whinging at all!
The weather was also great – 20 degrees in Hiroshima – we all wore t-shirts at Miyajima!
Cherry blossoms were in full bloom and we actually got to see Mt Fuji!!
The school visit was a huge success too – we are now officially sister schools! Yeah!!

Thanks so much for all your hard work too – things went well due to your organisational skills and attention to detail. We all very much appreciate your professionalism and genuine love for your job

The Monterey was a beautiful hotel – great breakfasts. Quite good location – we walked everywhere from there, and the staff were very helpful. The Starbucks across the road certainly benefited from us being there!

One student hurt her knee while we were there and we had to take her to the Doctor. Not sure what the problem is but I think she will be claiming insurance for physio back here in Australia.

A friend of mine stayed at an inn in Kyoto and hired a maiko to come and entertain the group. She also agreed to answer questions at the end. They said it was a real highlight and as the Inn was near Kawaramachi it was very handy. I think we’ll look into that accommodation for our next trip – which will be in September 2012.

The bags were good – a very good size, but the front pockets fell apart when kids put things in there – the mesh parts came away from the zip area. We saw another group with the same bags the day we went to Miyajima!! I thought of you that day : )

So happy to be home with my babies – who are now TWO! I missed them heaps, but I also appreciated having time just for myself too!

Thanks again Kathy. I’ll certainly be in touch before our next trip as we will definitely go through you again.

Cheers,
Leanne

Hiroshima, Hotel, Kyoto, Nature, Sakura Cherry Blossoms, Skiing and Snow Boarding, Temples and Shrines