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elwenWe're currently trying to decide on a place to go over winter break. Naturally, I voted for Japan, but I wouldn't want to do a package tour, and I'm too lazy to plan out the itinerary myself. But I figured I'd look into things a bit anyway.
So while I was in Japan, I'd kind of wanted to go somewhere over Obon (?), and I collected a few pretty brochures from various travel offices at the train stations. Of course, Obon is one of the most expensive times to book a tour package, so I ended up not doing any of them. [Instead, I got a 3-day Kansai train pass and went to Hieizan, Nara, and Kouyasan, which was pretty awesome, too.] Anyway, the destination that ended up sticking in my head was Yakushima. Actually reading about it (as opposed to just looking at pretty pictures), now I really, really want to go.
I still wouldn't know how to plan a trip there, though, and there aren't exactly a lot of English-language tour packages. This sounds really awesome, though. Too long for winter break -- plus it falls on their black-out dates and would probably be super-expensive -- but something I'd like to do someday. [You might say it's overkill to book a 14 day packages to spend a day and a half on Yakushima, which is partly true, but I conveniently have never been to any of the other destinations either. :3] Maybe when I'm a filthy rich lawyer, I'll do it with the hotel upgrade -- the descriptions of JR Hotel Yakushima are pretty enticing. :D
Winter probably wouldn't be the greatest time to go anyway. But I might start trying to decipher some Japanese travel sites over the weekend anyway. I just can't pull myself away when an idea seizes me like this. Plus, the travel wiki says there's scuba -- and my dad seems set on finding a destination with a snorkeling component.
ETA: While digging through my textblog from Japan to figure out what I'd done over Obon (I remembered Hieizan -- though not the name -- and Kouyasan, but forgot about Nara), I ended up rereading my entry about Himeji, and it reminded me just how awesome I found that trip. So I posted the textblog entry about it (which also talks about the Yodogawa fireworks festival, and various other things in passing). Ah, if only my other textblog entries were as detailed or as fit for public consumption. ^^;;
So while I was in Japan, I'd kind of wanted to go somewhere over Obon (?), and I collected a few pretty brochures from various travel offices at the train stations. Of course, Obon is one of the most expensive times to book a tour package, so I ended up not doing any of them. [Instead, I got a 3-day Kansai train pass and went to Hieizan, Nara, and Kouyasan, which was pretty awesome, too.] Anyway, the destination that ended up sticking in my head was Yakushima. Actually reading about it (as opposed to just looking at pretty pictures), now I really, really want to go.
I still wouldn't know how to plan a trip there, though, and there aren't exactly a lot of English-language tour packages. This sounds really awesome, though. Too long for winter break -- plus it falls on their black-out dates and would probably be super-expensive -- but something I'd like to do someday. [You might say it's overkill to book a 14 day packages to spend a day and a half on Yakushima, which is partly true, but I conveniently have never been to any of the other destinations either. :3] Maybe when I'm a filthy rich lawyer, I'll do it with the hotel upgrade -- the descriptions of JR Hotel Yakushima are pretty enticing. :D
Winter probably wouldn't be the greatest time to go anyway. But I might start trying to decipher some Japanese travel sites over the weekend anyway. I just can't pull myself away when an idea seizes me like this. Plus, the travel wiki says there's scuba -- and my dad seems set on finding a destination with a snorkeling component.
ETA: While digging through my textblog from Japan to figure out what I'd done over Obon (I remembered Hieizan -- though not the name -- and Kouyasan, but forgot about Nara), I ended up rereading my entry about Himeji, and it reminded me just how awesome I found that trip. So I posted the textblog entry about it (which also talks about the Yodogawa fireworks festival, and various other things in passing). Ah, if only my other textblog entries were as detailed or as fit for public consumption. ^^;;
