Swiden

As usual, I'm amazed at the willingness of the Fodors' crowd to help out others. After doing some lurking and planning (based on the lurking) I'd love some advice on a trip our family (husband and I, 15 and 17 year old girls) will be taking. We're leaving May 28 to Tokyo, leaving for Denpasar and Bali on the 7th, and returning to the US on the 21st of June.
So far--
May 29-31 Tokyo at Asakusa, staying at the Shigetsu Ryokan and concentrating on that part of Tokyo
June 1-3 Kyoto--but I'm looking at the Heianbo. ryokan, but I'd love any ideas.
June 4-5-Takayama--the Sumiyoshi royokan?
June 6 Shirakawa-go overnight
June 7 leave for Bali from Tokyo
June 8-12 Ubud at the Tegal Sari (with the illustrious Putu driving, if he's available)
June 13-17 fly to Yogya and stay at the Meli Purisani to see Prambanan and Borobodur
June 18-20 beach at Legian. The Kumali Pantai?
June 20-leave for home; overnight at Singapore at the Royal Peacock and home.
Since my family lived in Jakarta when I was in college, I've been wanting to introduce my own family to this part of the world--but it's changed considerably since the 1970s, I suspect!
Any advice would be gratefully accepted.
Sandy

mrwunrfl

I just did a similar trip: went to Japan at the end of May and on to Bali at the beginning of June. Your Japan itinerary looks good, you will be able to use 7-day JR passes. You might consider going to Shirakawago before Takayama. Or put the S-go night in between the two Takayama nights. It would be easier to get to Narita from Takayama.

mrwunrfl

I stayed at Sumiyoshi one night. Nice enough place, nice room, good food, quiet, good location. Did not sleep well.

Swiden

Mr wunrfl--
I'm wondering about the JR pass. I think we're there a couple of days longer than the 7 day pass. Does it pay to get a longer one?
Also, any suggestions on places to stay? Where did you go on your trip?

marmot

Sandy, I'm glad to see you've included Yogya in your list. You won't be disappointed by the temples. I'd strongly suggest that you either put Java at the end or beginning of your Bali trip. (Spend more time at the beach!) Although the flight from Bali is short getting in and out of the airports can really extend your travel time. And, most importantly, you can't depend on Indonesian airlines to be on schedule. I live in Indonesia and find the unreliability of local airlines to be one of the biggest negatives. Sometimes all goes well, but when it doesn't, it's horrid. It's best to limit your exposure.

The Melia's an okay hotel. It's right in the thick of Yogya, which is fun. When you're at Borobudur, try to stop by the Amanjiwo for a snack or drink. It's really fabulous. Also, be sure to get an early start: be there when it opens at 6:00 a.m.

It looks like you've done some homework on your Bali choices. I've never been to these properties, but it's hard to go wrong in Bali as even the glitches are overwhelmed by the amazing hospitality of the people.

At the beach, I'd recommend dinner at La Lucciola. Not too pricy and very chic. Your teenagers will love it.

mrwunrfl

No, you don't need a longer JR pass. You would just need a 7-day pass for June 1 when you leave Tokyo to June 7 when you travel from Chubu to Narita airport. You're not on the JAL flight at 4PM from NRT to DPS, are you?

In the Chubu section of the following webpage, you ought to take a look at the Takayama & Shirakawago pdf.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/index.html

There is info on that pdf about transport in the region.

You have a few options depending on your sensitivity to price and schedule changes. This is not a minor undertaking, a family of four touring Japan, so it would be good if you have some budge flexibility and/or that you will be travelling lightly. Is that the case?

mrwunrfl

budge flexibility is ok, budget flexibility is more important

Also, I'm sure that you are aware that it is a major undertaking, just noting that I understand that to be the case and that is why I am asking questions?

Swiden

Thanks for your kindly help, everyone. I know it's a huge undertaking--I have such fond memories of Indonesia, though, I really wanted to show my family this unbelievable place before the older one leaves for college in a year.

Mr W--
We'll travel light, and we're flexible. We've saved up enough FF miles to go business class, which should make those unbelieeeeevably long flights from Denver bearable. (I remember flying straight through from NYC to Jakarta one summer in college and feeling like leftover mashed potatoes when they scraped me off the plane 32 hours later).

Marmot--I'm interested in the idea of not splitting the trip to Bali.I guess it makes most sense to go directly to Java from Denpasar, then. I guess my thinking was to go to Ubud, then Java, and then relax a couple of days at the beach before the unbelieeeevably long trip home (although we do have a 1 day stopover in Singapore). So, you'd go straight to Java and then back to Bali, spending some time in Ubud and then some at the beach?
Again,
Thanks, o noble Fodorites.
(And Mr. W-- I always have budge flexibility. I think a flexible budge is critical.)

marmot

Swiden, I'd suggest you try Japan -- Yogya -- Bali -- Singapore if your flights work out. In Bali I'd do Ubud first (the serene) and end up in Kuta (the raucous).

My son is now at college in the Northeast -- one of those you can't get there from here connections -- so I know what you mean about the flight. Exposing your daughters to Asian culture is a wonderful gift.

I don't really recommend Jakarta as a tourist destination but if you want to stop for old times sake, the Dharmawangsa hotel is a wonderful experience.

mrwunrfl

Ok, then you should be ok. Except for making it to the airport from Shirakawago. It is about 6 hours by JR from Takayama to Narita airport.

Swiden

Marmot--
So your son is me . . . 30 years ago. Will he visit you in Indonesia (Jakarta)? To make matters worse back then, I had to get to NYC from Ithaca first.
Still, Indonesia is magical. I have to show my family Borobodur and Yogya. Where would you stay there? And would you hire a driver?

Mr W--
What about coming back to Tokyo on the 6th and spending the night at Narita, since our flight is at 9:25 the next morning? And we're not on the JAL flight, by the way. I scored Singapore Air tickets and feel like we won the jackpot.
Sandy

KimJapan

Mr W is right on about getting from Shirakawa-go to Narita. I also might change the Takayama, S-go days to be in Shirakawa-go first and Takayama last as Mr W recommends. You also might want to consider Kanazawa...there is now one flight per day in the morning from Komatsu (40 minutes south of Kanazawa) to Narita - departs daily at 8:05 am arriving at Narita at 9:15.

KimJapan

OK...if your flight out of Narita is at 9:25 AM I'd recommend being in Narita for the previous night. Forget the Kanazawa idea.

mrwunrfl

Yes, you would need to get back to Tokyo on the evening of the 6th. You would have to leave Takayama by about 3PM to catch the last ~8PM Narita Express from JR Tokyo to NRT. If you did that, then you would be able to use your JR Pass in Tokyo on the 31st. Or, leaving Takayama later, you could stay in Tokyo and take the N'Ex to the airport using JR Pass on the 7th.

Kathie

Yes, do hire a driver in Jogja - it will make everything easier. Also, I'd recommend going to the Ramayana ballet preformance one evening. It's in an open air pavillion near Prambanan. Your driver will be glad to take you. The tickets were about US$4 per person when I was last there. It's an amazing performance.

marmot

Swiden, when we're in Yogya we either stay at the Amanjiwo (if we're on an expense account) or the Hyatt (if we're paying). The biggest appeal about the Aman is that they have access to Borobudur before it opens in the morning. I understand that the hotel that's right on the temple grounds -- I can't remember the name, something like Manohet -- offers the same arrangement.

You will definitely need a car to get to Borobudur or Prambanan. Cars with drivers are not too pricy. The advantage of the Melia is that you can walk around Yogya. Personally, I like to get away from Yogya (remember I live here all year) and I prefer the spaciousness of the Hyatt grounds. But, from the Hyatt, you can't walk anywhere.

Swiden

Kathie--
Thanks for the Ramayana tip. I remember being enthralled by it when I was there decades ago. (I also remember when someone wrote a new Ramayana play, and an Indonesian oficial flew to an island to bury a puppet that died in the play. Definitely not in Kansas anymore.)

Marmot--
I looked at the Amanjiwo. It looks magical. It also looks, at $650 per night, beyond our budget. Then again, it's quite a budget shock to go from Japan to Bali. It's as if you could just add two zeros to everything in Japan as opposed to Indonesian prices. We'll definitely get to Amanjiwo for tea or lunch, though. Do you have a driver you depend on when you're visiting Joyga? If your're like my family was, though, you already have a driver. It took some getting used to, having all those servants. Not terrible, mind you, just disconcerting at first.

Mr. W--
If we have to be back at Nartita for the flight the next morning anyway, maybe it makes sense to to do Takayama in a couple of days, then Shirakawa overnight, and spend that next day traveling to Narita.

I really don't remember how I ever used to plan trips, pre internet and Fodorites. I'm so grateful to you guys.
Sandy

mrwunrfl

Ok, you can do it that way. It will squeeze your time in the area some. Benefit is that on the 4th you wouldn't have to make/wait for the connection to S-go and can plot it out in advance. So, your trip on the 6th will be:
1) bus to Takayama
2) train to Nagoya
3) shinkansen to Tokyo
4) Narita Express to Airport

or
1) bus to Kanazawa
2) train to Kyoto
3), 4) same as above

Try searching this forum for "bus schedule for Elainee" and you will find the following post:
"Takayama, Shirakawago, Kanazawa bus schedule for Elainee"

In that post, KimJapan provided some travel tips that you could use and I posted the bus schedule for travel to/from Shirakawago.