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Published: November 17th 2006
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It made of Gold!
Like all Japanese historical sites - it is not the original. This was rebuilt in... basically every ten years since it was first knocked together. The single biggest moan about Japan by foreign travellers is the price of transportation. However, I have to say that to me, it seems fairly reasonably priced when stacked against equivalent European counterparts eg. the UK.
For example; the trip to Kyoto from Tokyo or vice-a-versa can be done in a number of ways. Firstly there is the Shinkansen - the bullet trains - which whip you across the country from one city to the other in under two and a half hours for a mere 60 quid.
Slower trains such as the limited express and the local services cost less and less as you spend more time on them until you get down to the cheapest fare of all - the overnight bus service - a snip at less than 18 quid. Give or take a few pounds here and there I think that seems reasonably on a par with what the UK has to offer in terms of cost. And there the comparison between the two systems ends.
You see, while in the category of cost we can tick the "comparable" box with absolute certainty and pride in blighties rickety fair, in every other category we in the UK
Naiku, Ise City
Peaceful, tranquil Naiku. A temple in the woods. fail to match up. These categories would include: "quality of service", "efficiency of service", "cleanliness of service", "value for money" and "ability to run despite leaves on the track".
You can literally set your watch by the Japanese transportation system. If a train runs late and you are late for work as a result, JR provide notes for you boss explaining what happened because there is no way in a country where the system rarely fails that your boss will accept the old "sorry, my train/bus was late". And the facilities - oh! those bathrooms. Its like visiting the bathroom of a comfortable hotel. The trains run smoothly enough that the bowl and floor in the gentlemens doesn't look like the testing area a watering can factory. There is even a nice aroma...
Where did it go so wrong in the UK? For Gods sake, we invented the damn Railway and now look at it! I remember seeing Stevenson's rocket at a rail museum in Devon or Cornwall when I was going through my trainspotting phase (and I ain't talking the - "Choose Life" type of trainspotting - I'm talking about the real thing - I chose not to choose
life; I chose standing in my garden watching the 56 series Deltic on the Exeter to Honiton line pass our backgarden and wiling away the hours at the model rail museums wondering if I could afford that OO gauge Intercity 125). Don't worry folks, I'm off that stuff now and am actually quite an interesting chap - ladies, did I tell you that I work out...?
Where was I?
The problem we have with the JR system is in the nature of the pass that we purchased before entering Japan. It offers unlimited travel on JR for three weeks for 290 quid. A bargain for sure - I mean in three weeks you could easily spend that travelling around the country, right? Absolutely you could! And boy do we use it!
The problem comes with this freedom. You see, everyone we have met has had the same issue. It is like a challenge that JR have laid down to foreigners. "We bet you cannae spend 290 spondoolics on rail travel in three weeks" (fact: all JR workers are hired from the Glasgow College of Camp Japanese Rail Engineers).
But who wants to break even? The point isn't the freedom the
Simple Naiku Temple
I like these better than the brash ones in Nikko and Kyoto. They are honest and sit well among the trees. Simple and mossy. ticket offers its the challenge of making a saving - a significant one - on the money you shelled out for the damn thing.
For this reason most people we have met with a Japan Rail Pass look knackered. They arrive in a place, spend a few days there (perhaps less) and all the time that they are nosing round temples and photographing urinals (more on that later), a nagging, niggling voice at the back of their noggin is telling them that they are wasting valuable train travel time.
Therefore, every trip they make is designed to maximise the cost. You see hairy little hat wearing travellers in stations squatting on their rucksacks (benches are in limited supply in Japan - I think it stops homeless people from sleeping - the homeless are therefore now a superhuman breed of insomniacs that dwells in the nether caverns of the grubby disco world beneath the cities and towns of Japan) eyeballing a copy of the JR timetables looking for the most expensive trips they can possibly make. Usually this results in a 14hr journey to plant their feet briefly in the nether regions of the country - the super-cool Hokkaido or the
Our Ryokan (guesthouse) in Ise
Obviously we had a bedroom, but this piccie shows the zen garden. It chilled me out good and proper. warm-to-the-touch Kyushu.
And yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury; on this point we plead guilty as charged!
A rail pass turns you into a fly-by tourist with a tick list of expensive trips and "must-sees" to be bagged. I dread the day we have to start actually paying rail fares - but I can't wait to be able to relax in a place without wishing I was on a train - nice bogs or not.
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Dave & Jo
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Also Guilty
I worked out, (had a lot of spare time on trains to do this) that in our 3 weeks in Japan, we would have spent around £550 on rail fares, that's a saving of £260. Since Japan we've been able to stop in places for more than a day, so relaxing ;)