Nikko ******************************************* This must be the shortest entry in my notes for 26 Feb. It, apart from the printout of train timetables, consists of a single word : Nikko ******************************************* This was the last day of our 7-day JR pass and I wanted to use it to the maximum extent, so even though going to Nikko by Tobu railways would have been much more direct and simpler, we decided to follow the Tokyo-Utsunomiya-Nikko route. We already had the reservations. Nikko is up in the hills so it is colder than Tokyo. We dressed accordingly. S [View Full Entry]

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Departmental Stores Mitsukoshi and Daimaru, Tokyo ******************************************* For 27th Feb. my notes consist of the following line : Visit Kamakura (Might see Fuji if you are lucky i.e. depending upon clear weather.) ************************************************* The weather was beastly that day. When we left our hotel that day, it was already snowing. The one-square-millimeter snowflakes soon turned into one-square-centimeter snowflakes. It was windy and chilly. You won't find any photos in this blog. Avi is quite fond of taking photos but the awful weather prev [View Full Entry]

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Todaiji Temple, Nara Park, Nara ************************************************* My notes for 24th Feb. has this entry : Show Avinash the highlights of Kyoto - Kinkakuji, Nijo Castle, Sanjusangendo, Kiyomizudera. ************************************************* All this sightseeing was already over and today Avinash had only a half-day session at the conference. That meant that we could squeeze in half a day’s sightseeing yet. We decided to go to Nara in the afternoon. In the morning, while Avi was in the conference, I walked to the nearby Heian shrine and then further [View Full Entry]

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Yasaka Shrine, Chionin Temple, Sanjusangendo temple and Kiyomuzudera Shrine ************************************************ My note for 23 Feb. also consists of a single line : “Charu does the Kyoto sightseeing on her own”. ************************************************ The day was cloudy and rainy, I mean drizzly. In our experience, it does not rain like the Mumbai monsoon downpour in Japan. Of course, our experience is limited to the days between 19 Feb and 2nd March. After the breakfast, Avi went for his conference and I took the shuttle to Yasaka shrine in the G [View Full Entry]

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Fushimi Inari Shrine, Inari ******************************************** My notes for 22 Feb. consist of a single line : “Charu does the Kyoto sightseeing on her own (Familiarizing)”. ******************************************** I had expected that to travel alone in a strange city, I would require at least one day of roaming around the nearby area of the hotel but the previous day’s travel had emboldened me and so I decided to go to Fushimi Inari on my own. However, to reach Fushimi Inari, I needed to go to the Kyoto station first, from where I could take the J [View Full Entry]

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Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) and Nijo Castle ************************************************ My notes for 21st February consist of the following: 21-Feb-2009 1) Travel to Himeji on JR pass (8:50 Hikari shinkansen) 2) Put the luggage in the locker (600 yen) 3) Walk 10 minutes to Himeji castle, spend about 1 hour. 4) Alternatively, take the Loop Bus from Station. 5) Take the Himeji -> Kyoto train (14:59 Hikari shinkansen) 6) Buy Kyoto Subway One-day card at station. (600 Yen) 7) Use it to go to the hotel (Kyoto->Karasuma-Oike->Keage) 8) From the hotel, take subway to Ni [View Full Entry]

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Peace Park, Miyajima Island, Hiroshima **************************************************** For 20th Feb, I find the following entries in my notes: 1) Get JR Pass validated at the Airport itself. a) Take Haruka Express to Shin-Osaka station. b) Travel to Hiroshima on a Hikari train c) For Hikari train time table use Hyperdia: d) Luggage can be kept in a coin locker on the Hiroshima station (600Yen) as the check-in time at the hotel is after 4:00 PM (May be we can walk to the hotel and keep the luggage in the lobby) Sightseeing: 2) Visit Peace Park in the morning [View Full Entry]

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Introduction In the first week of January Avi informed me that he will be attending a conference in Kyoto in February. He also magnanimously offered that I could accompany him if I wished to do so. I wasn’t exactly thrilled by this offer. In fact, I was totally dismayed. I knew that February isn’t the best time of the year to visit Japan. It will be too cold and rainy, so I did not feel very enthusiastic about the prospect of visiting Japan in February. “Don’t your conference people know better than arranging a conference in Kyoto in the midst of [View Full Entry]

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Nikko Hotel, Kansai Airport, Osaka *********************************************** For 19th Feb, when our Korean flight actually landed at Osaka’s International airport, I find this entry in my notes: 19-Feb-2009 Mumbai-Osaka flight (Korean) arriving at 8:55 PM Stay the night in Airport hotel Nikko because ALL TRANSPORT IN JAPAN COMES TO A STANDSTILL AT 23:00 AT THE LATEST. *********************************************** (Airport code of Osaka airport is KIX and I remember it because it gave us quite a kick to realize that the airport is an artificial island in the Osaka Bay [View Full Entry]

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Yosemite Valley -- Introduction Recently, at our regular school-friends’ get-together, we were talking about our ‘foreign’ trips. A friend mentioned that she had visited her daughter in Indonesia and had travelled through the archipelago. My interest was perked up. I am always interested travel experiences, my own as well as others. Enthusiastically I asked her what she thought of Bali. To my utter surprise, she replied that she did not find Bali any different from our own Goa. ‘Have you seen ‘Pura Besakhi’, Bali’s Mother Temple’? [View Full Entry]

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