Most Inspirational Moment
There were several;
The shrines and temples
The onsen and Ryokan
Mnt. Fuji
The snow monkeys
The food
Thoughts on Group Leader
Akemi could not have done more. She was always cheerful, ever available and sorted out the couple of problems in the group very quickly and efficiently. On our free days she worked out and wrote down train and bus timetables, even down to platform numbers, for our varied itineraries, which made the act of travellng solo so much easier and enjoyable . She even had time to help me improve the little bit of Japanese I had learned before the trip!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take lots of cash, unless you eat in the bigger places, or at stations, it is difficult to find places that take credit cards. Two places I attempted to use my card, where the signs on the door said that they accepted them, could not process the transaction even though the cards had prior authorisation in the U.K. I was successful in a large chain sushi restaurant though.
Don’t depend of free WiFi, especially out and about as it is very patchy and very slow. Some of the hotels we used were ok ish. I hired a mobile WiFi from Nina WiFi (with a discounted deal) in the U.K. and collected it from the airport. The only place it lost signal was travelling through tunnels. In places the connection and upload speeds were better than I get on my home broadband!, The ability to navigate with Google maps was a godsend.
Try the local food you will not be disappointed, there’s more than just sushi and noodles.
