yes you should have asked for tickets to Odawara which is the gateway to Hakone via JR

If you took Odayaku train from Shinjuku again station is odawara or hakone-yumoto sta if I am reading schedule right.

Search using Tokyo/Hakone pulls up the aforementioned 3 towns.

Aloha!

you have a very good memory, e.

Hakone Yumoto would be the right station but JR doesn't go there.

Hakoneitabashi is between Odawara and Hakone-Yumoto.

Probably was Hakonegasaki. You can get there by a L'Ex from Shinjuku to Hachioji and then a local train. So I could believe a JR person at Shinjuku might think of *gasaki first. Maybe something got lost in translation. Gaijin might say "we want a ticket to Hakone". JR-jin says "Hakonegasaki desu ka?" Gaijin figures that "gasaki desu ka" means, roughly, "is where you want to go?" Gaijin nods ...

Anyway, great report, looking forward to days 7 thru 21.

mrw, I wish that you would post all your Japan and Thailand (and Vietnam) pics online again somewhere.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans here. The pie ingredients in the kitchen are calling me.

It was definitely Hakonegasaki, although I still don't know where it is.

mrwunrfl, We got the tickets at the JR ticket office & were planning on going to the counter where they sell the Hakone Free pass but stupidly to save time we didn't.

Day 7 Takayama

We got up at 6am & checked out of the hotel. We really liked the Akasaka Prince hotel & were wondering if we would be just as happy with the Capitol Tokyu Hotel that we had booked for our last 2 nights in Japan.
We had sent our suitcase on to Kyoto so we only had 1 bag for the Takayama/Kanazawa trip.

We caught the 7.36am train to Takayama. When we arrived we went straight to the tourist office in front of the station. After getting info & maps we went to the bus station to reserve seats for the next day to Shirakawago & Kananzawa. The lady told us that the only bus from Shirakawago to Kanazawa was full so we wouldn't be able to stop off there. We were really disappointed as we were looking forward to spending the day there but we couldn't do anything about it so we reserved a seat to Kanazawa.

Our hotel the Washington plaza was across the street from the station so we went there to check-in. The receptionist told us that check-in time was from 2pm so we left our bag & coats & went to look for somewhere for lunch. It was a beautiful day so we decided to buy some sandwiches. There was a Lawsons store across the street & we ended up buying the hot snacks they have there; Spicy chicken & pork & deep fried fish balls.

Ten minutes later we made our way to the Jinya Historical Govt. House with it's nice garden & torture chamber, very interesting. We then crossed the river to the Merchant Houses where we visited a couple along with a Sake Brewery. We then headed off to the Float museum. At the door they ask you if you want a tape recorder which explains all about the floats in English & is great.
Next we went to the Lion masks museum where we managed to catch the end of a Karakuri show.

When we left it was 3pm & we decided that because we couldn't visit Shirakawago the next day we would go to the Hida Folk Village even though we knew we wouldn't have much time there. We just managed to catch the 3.40pm bus & after about 10 minutes we arrived. We only had an hour to visit but we managed to complete all the tour route & visit the houses which we enjoyed very much.

WE caught the bus back to the station & went straight to the hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by the Washington Plaza Hotel. You reach the lobby by escalator where there's also a bar & restaurant. The room was quite a good size adequate or 2 people, although the bathroom as very small, but that didn't bother us. We paid 110 US Dollars for the room.

For dinner not far from the hotel we found Murasaki Pub, it was very busy mainly with young people. We had steamed dumplings & mixed skewers, washed down with a couple of beers. Total Bill 4500y

Next Kanazawa

Day 8 & 9 - Kanazawa

We checked out of the hotel & had coffee & toast at a cafe next door then got the 9.45am bus to Kanazawa, it stopped for 10 minutes at Shirakawago. It was a beautiful day so there were loads of people, probably also because it was a Saturday. It was a shame we couldn't stay longer but C'est La Vie so we got back on the bus & carried on to Kanazawa. We enjoyed the bus ride from Takayama very much, the scenery was breathtaking & would definitely recommend the bus rather than the train for this trip.

When we arrived in Kanazawa we had sandwiches at the station then went to the tourist office to get maps & info. The lady told us where to get the bus to the APA Chou Hotel. It stopped practically outside. The receptionist told us that check-in time was from 4pm so we left our bag & jackets & set off to visit Kenrokuen Gardens.

The gardens are lovely & we took loads of photos, I'm not really a garden person but Japanese gardens are really special. We visited the Seison Kaku villa which is situated on the Southeastern edge of the garden. The villa is very elegant & worth the visit. We ended our day with a quick visit to the castle across the street from the gardens.

Back at the hotel we checked-in & went up to our room. When I opened the door my 1st thought was that they had made a mistake & given us a single room, but a closer look revealed a double bed, albeit a small double bed which was aginst the wall with only a 6 inch space at the bottom, so to get out of bed you have to climb over your partner. There was also only enough room between the bed & the television to sidestep to the bathroom. There was no room for a wardrobe so they had put up a couple of hooks on the wall across from the bathroom door. And thank heavens we sent our suitcase on to Kyoto because there was no room for it. The only place we could leave our small bag was in front of the door. We paid 112 US Dollars which is'nt expensive but I would prefer to pay a bit more for a larger room. The location is fantastic though.

Because the room was so small I decided to do some shopping while my husband showered & got ready for dinner. There's a shoe shop not far from the hotel & I fell in love with a pair of shoes. Unfortunately or fortunately (We kept our baggage to a minimum so no way was there place for an extra pair of shoes) they didn't have my size. I headed off to Gucci. There was a lot of young people buying bags & it seems to me that Japanese people are obsessed with Gucci & Vuitton goods, even men.
I went back to the hotel with my Visa Card intact.

For dinner we went to a Sashimi & Sushi place about a 5 minute walk on the other side of the road from the hotel. The restaurant had a glass floor & you could see the fish swimming around. My Husband had Sashimi & I had Tempura with Sake. Total Bill 9800y.

We stopped at a bar called St Louis Jigger for a couple of Negroni's before heading back to the hotel.

The next morning we asked the receptionist if she could ring the Ninja-Dera Temple to make reservations for that day as you can't just turn up. We got booked for the last tour at 3.30pm We then st off for the Geisha District.

We strolled around the winding narrow streets & visited Shima, one of the Geisha houses, we then went across the street to visit another house called Kaikaro, very interesting as it gives you an insight on the Geisha way of life.

Next up was the Sakuda Gold Leaf Company.
There's gold everywhere even on the bathroom walls.
The gold leaf process starts with about 3cm of pure gold, then it's rolled out until it measures roughly 2mt X 2mt. & .0001mm thick, then it's cut into small squares about 10cm which is the ideal size for it's many uses. We were given some tea with specks of gold leaf in it. It's supposed to be good for Rheumitism.

We took the bus to the Omicho market but there was only a few stalls open as it was a Sunday so we went to look for a restaurant for lunch. We had Rice with 2 deep fried prawns & 1 large beer between us. 2600y. We then set off for the Samurai District.

We went straight to the Saihitsu-an Samurai House to watch the Kimono-Dyeing process.
A pattern is drawn on a fabric with blue ink from Spiderwort flowers, then they go over the lines with rice paste using a cone like instrument, this is to keep the dyes from running as they are painted onto the silk. The colours are filled in & covered with more rice paste & then the whole sheet of silk is dyed with the Kimono's background colour. Then the fabric is rinsed clean (This used to be done in the river) & steamed to fix the colour. It takes 3 months to dye a Kimono.
From here we went to visit the old Pharmacy.

It was about 3pm so we walked quickly to the Ninja-Dera for our tour. There were 4 American ladies so we were given a separate tour with them. because one of them spoke Japanese & translated for us so we were very lucky.
The Ninja-Dera is a large house which was designed as a hideout in case of attack. There's hidden staircases, escape routes, secret chambers, concealed tunnels & trick doors.
The tour lasted about an hour & we really enjoyed it.

We caught the bus back to the hotel & had a coffee in the cafe in the lobby.

For dinner we went to a little Okonomiyaki place just around the corner from the hotel. Of course we had no idea what to do with it so the owner got the chef to help us with it. We're not really omelette people but it was different & we enjoyed it.

Takayama & Kanazawa are a bit out the way but we were rally happy with our decision to go there. If you only have 2 weeks & it's your first visit to Japan then there are probably more important things to see, but if you have a few days more then the detour is definitely worth it. The fantastic scenery in itself in my opinion makes the trip worthwhile.

Next up Kyoto.

Did you get any gold leaf at Sakuda? Do they sell it anywhere else in Japan? Enjoying all the details of your report.Thanks again!

Aloha!

It is too bad there is no way to reserve the bus to Shirakawago before you get over there...I have not followed threads about this before very closely but I guess there is no way to go it ahead of time.

You had a full and well-planned day in Kanazawa! Kudos to you, you seem to have planned ahead and fit in what you wanted to see in your day there. It sounds like an interesting day for you.

Re your shoe story. Isn't it funny to try to buy clothing or any sized items in Japan. I had the same expereince (being "oversized" from a Japanese perspectve) w/swim suits at Sports Authority in Japan.

Cant' wait to hear how you planned your time in Kyoto. I love your travel style.

Actualy I think you can reserve a bus seat ahead of time. Take a look at JNTO site and download the Takayama/S Go pdf file. Page 6 of the pdf has the bus schedule and the tel# to call to reserve a seat. Here is the link

http://digbig.com/4nhaj

Aloha!

hawaii, that is good news that I don't recall hearing about. Maybe I have missed that in the many prior discussions of this bus route on this board. I wish Clark55 woudl have known, but hopefully this will help others.

Yes if I had known I would definitely have booked the bus in advance but as emd says at least it'll help others.

I didn't buy any gold leaf but I was tempted to buy the edible stuff because here in Italy a lot of restaurants serve Risotto with a small sheet of gold leaf on top but in the end I didn't bother.

Day 10 - Kyoto

We had coffee in the hotel lobby & left to catch the 9.12am train to Kyoto. When we arrived we had a look around the very futuristic station & took some photos then decided to have lunch. We went into what we thought was a noodle restaurant but discovered it was Italian, we decided to stay anyway & had Spaghetti with 2 small beers. Total bill 2350y.

We went straight to the Aranvert hotel & were expecting to be told we couldn't check-in until later but were pleasantly surprised when the receptionist immediately showed us to our room. The room was quite large & well decorated. I didn't know what to expect as I had a lot of problems trying to book a room in Kyoto as everything was fully booked for our date. I had begun to look for a room in Osaka when this hotel cropped up so I booked it before it was gone too. In the end it turned out to be a very good choice. There aren't very many restaurants or shops around the hotel but it's only one metro stop to the station.

We left the hotel & walked to Nishi Hongan-Ji. Unfortunately the main hall is being refurbished at the moment & won't be finished until 2010 so there's a lot of scaffolding around but we did visit the Daisho-in hall which is full of paintings & carvings & Kara-mon which is full of intricate ornamental carvings. Very nice.

We then walked to Higashi Hongan-ji, this is also under scaffolding but we did see the strange rope made from human hair donated by female believers, which was used to haul the timber for the reconstruction after a fire destroyed the temple in 1895. The gate to the temple is very impressive.

By this time it was 5pm so we walked back to the hotel stopping off 1st at a cafe for coffee.

For dinner there wasn't much choice of restaurants around the hotel so we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. We had the set meal 3000y which consisted of; Roasted scallops - Carrot & Radish soup - Seabream - Langoustine with vegetables, Salad & Rice - Chocolate cake - Fresh fruit - Tea or Coffee. We thought this was a real steal for the price & it was so good we ate the same menu again on our last night in Kyoto.
We ended the night with a glass of wine at the bar.

Day 11 - Kyoto

We had made reservations to visit the Imperial Palace so we made our way there for the 10am. tour. It was really interesting, you can't go inside the Palace but there are some doors open so you can look inside. The guide was very good but she had a hard job keeping everyone together as people were wandering off to take photos instead of listening to her. It made me happy that we travel individually as group travel certainly wouldn't be for us.

After the tour we headed off to Nijo Castle.
There's different Tatami rooms with beautiful murals & models dressed in traditional clothes. The corridors squeak when you walk along them, this was supposedly done on purpose to alert the lords of a persons presence.

We decided to visit Gion & stopped off on the way to visit the very bright & colourful Yasaka Shrine. Very nice.

At Gion we crossed the bridge & went to explore Pontocho Alley. As we turned a corner a Geisha came out of a door, she was taking her time but when she saw us she hurried to a waiting car. Unfortunately we didn't have time to take a photo. We had coffee near the bridge before getting the metro back to the hotel.

For dinner we went again to the hotel restaurant. My husband had the box with 8 different dishes which he pronounced as great & I had stir-fried noodles with chicken washed down with Sake. We were really getting to like Sake. Total bill 8500y.

Day 12 - Nara

We took the 9am train to Nara, then changed trains & went on to Horyuji. From the station we walked about 15 mintues to Horyuji Temple. The temple area was fantastic. It's made up of ancient wooden temples which are supposedly the oldest wooden structures in the world & Pagodas from 8th Century Japan. There weren't very many people there so it made the visit more enjoyable. There's a museum next door with ancient artifacts & sculptures. We loved this place & would recommend making the extra trip while visiting Nara. It shouldn't be missed.

We got the train back to Nara, about 20 minutes. We walked about 25 minutes to Nara Park & immediately were surrounded by deer. My husband told me that the Japanese see the deer as their ancient ancestors reincarnated & are therefore protected by them.

The path to the Great Buddha is lined with old stone lanterns. We visited a couple of shrines on the way as we made our way up the hill to Kiyomizu. It was a beautiful day & the views of the surrounding mountains was spectacular.

We arrived at the Todoji temple, the Great Buddha's home. The temple is enourmous as is the Great Buddha itself. It's over 16mt. high & consists of 437 tons of bronze & 130kg. of gold. There were loads of school kids visiting & as we walked around the buddha at the back we saw the kids trying to climb through a hole in a wooded column. As we were watching this ritual a lady approached us & explained that if you can squeeze through the hole you are ensured of enlightment. The kids were one thing as they had no problem squeezing through the hole but adults were a different matter. We witnessed one lady with 2 children who were trying to push her through, she couldn't stop laughing, we couldn't either & in the end she gave up. Thank heavens she was wearing trousers.

After the Great Buddha we looked for a restaurant. We walked past a shop selling all kinds of souvenirs, it was run by an old couple & they both had headbands with deer antlers, they looked really sweet. The shop was full of school kids & they were having a hard time trying to serve them all. The old man saw us looking at the menu & came over & hurried us to one of two tables at the back of the shop, he gave us some tea & rushed back to the kids. After about 15 minutes his wife served us excellent Curry Noodles. When we had finished the old man gave us an ice cream cone, the ice cream was a grey colour & we couldn't figure out what flavour it was, maybe poppy seed? he then opened up a Japanese umbrella & gave it to me so that my husband could take my photo. I motioned to him to stand beside me & my husband took our photo. It's one of the best photos from the whole trip.
Another thing made us laugh. When the school kids were feeding the biscuits to the deer they made the deer bow before giving it to them, we thought it was really funny.

We headed back to the station & got the train back to Kyoto.

For dinner we took the metro to Gion & once again walked down Pontocho Alley. In the evening there's a different atmosphere than in the daytime. It's very mysterious, we could hear voices & music coming from some of the ancient wooden houses & it made us wonder what was going on behind the closed doors.

We walked back to the bridge & after a few minutes found a sushi restaurant with the conveyer belt system. It was very busy but the waitress soon found us a couple of seats. The 1st plate I took caused a pile up of the other plates & the chef had to stop the belt & fix the plates. He must have been thinking "Damn tourists" I'm not bad with chopsticks but I couldn't manage to pick up the sushi pieces because they were too big & when I did manage to pick it up it landed in my lap. I thought this is going from bad to worse I ended up eating with my fingers. The people next to me were having a right laugh & it was a really fun dinner. Total bill with Sake 4200y. We walked over the bridge & had a drink in a pub that I think was called The Pig & whistle before getting the metro back to the hotel.

I've never really had much of a desire to go to Nara, but your report is swaying me.

My daughter asked me out of the blue last night when we are going back to Japan.

Those little Mom and Pop resturants are the best, aren't they. I ate at one like that close to Fushini shrine and I still remember the lady who owned it and who served us.

Have never heard of your hotel. Can you tell us a bit more about it, where is it, what was the room like, cost, etc. People on here are always asking abotu rooms in Kyoto and if you were able to find this one when the city was booke dup, someone may want more info on it to try to book it sometime...

Clark55, you inspired my day today. I was shopping a few miles from where I live tonight and stumbled upon a Japanese store (shoji screens, kimono robes and shoes, traditional dishes, food items, etc.). I was psyched.

I asked the woman working there if she could recommend a Japanese restaurant nearby and she directed me a block away to what she called "a not fancy but very good traditional restaurant." She told me to order off of the Japanese menu. So I went over there. OMG. Mrwunrfl, how did we miss this one when you lived in Northern VA? It is called Blue Ocean on Main St. in Fairfax. This was like some of the little traditional Japanese restaurants I've been to in Japan. It was like a little vacation! After I had the best hamachi sashimi I've ever had (very thick and fresh) I asked the American waitress they sent over (she grew up in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese) to help me order off of the Japanese menu. OMG. It was so good. I had age mochi kinoko (a mochi patty that is softly fried so it is hot, topped w/several exotic mushrooms and a cool dark broth). Then I had some kind of vegetable croquete kind of thing w/a special sauce. And I brought home kitsune udon, my daughter and son's favorite. You can even order from 3 different full kaesiki meals but it has to be ordered a week in advance. And you can order any of 6 diff. nabes (shabu shabu, and even chanonabe is on there) if you order it 24 hrs in advance.

I was so psyched to find this place. Hand painted murals of The Wave and Mt. Fuji on the walls. Lots of Japanese lanterns. Lots of Japanese language buzzing around me at the tables, all occupied at 9 pm.

Here is a review of the place if anyone finds themselves in Northern VA, Fairfax area.

http://tinyurl.com/ye8trp


So thanks for getting me inspired today w/your trip report!

Sorry you couldn't make the stop at S-go but sounds like you had a good time in the mountains anyway and had a good amount of time in Kanazawa. Going to the Hida no Sato was a good backup to S-go.

That rate for the APA Chuo sounds very high. I had a semi-double there which was almost too small for just me. You described the close quarters well. A couple would definitely want a twin room there.

ht, way to go, thanks for pointing out the bus res info.

hakonegasaki is west of Tokyo, just north of Hachioji.

I will try Blue Ocean next time I'm in NoVa, thanks emd!

The rooms at APA hotels in general are small, as it is a business hotel chain, but their rates are generally much better than what Clark55 got at APA Chuo. I see double rooms and twin rooms on a variety of dates in the future for the usual ¥5000 - ¥10,000, some rates including breakfast. The room size there ranges from 11 - 16 square meters, about 1/2 the size of the rooms at the Tokyu Excel Kanazawa, at about 1/3 the price. Twin rooms are the most spacious as far as I can tell. This is a hotel where reservations made in English are at rack rate, and reservations made in Japanese are at discounted rates, often very discounted.