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file= |
Japan2019.htm |
Introduction |
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We decided to
do a Wendy Wu |
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tour to Japan,
in May 2019..They |
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are
extremely well organized. |
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All you have to
worry about are |
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personal
expenses, like gifts and |
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booze and
suchlike. |
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ALL other
items, such as :-Flights, |
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Hotels, meals,
ground transport |
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and entry fees
to attractions are |
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included in the
"reasonable" tour |
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costs. Our
group size was about |
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the maximum of
22, determined |
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by the bus seat
capacity. |
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Map of our bus travels, inside Japan. |
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The group
included mostly Aussies, some from UK, a few from elsewhere, and, thankfully,
only a few |
wanabe's, that
never will be, and the usual few posers. Don't think we had any Yanks. |
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Photos |
Unfortunately, I had just bought a new
"high tech" camera, which I had NOT yet mastered. |
While trying to
set it up, on the trip, ended up taking some video's, rather than some
stills, and Black and |
Whites, instead
of some colour shots. With some help from others in the group, more or less
got it |
sorted out near
the end of the trip, but could have been MUCH better, with a simple camera !! |
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Trip report and
Itinerary :- |
These are very well documented in the Wendy Wu
website, so I will |
only give a
brief narrative including the best of my poor quality photos. |
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Tokyo |
The trip from
Tokyo airport to our hotel in Tokyo, Grand Palace, took about 90
min. |
I was surprised
at how well the traffic flowed….very few delays. There were many well engineered road |
overpasses and
cross-overs that eased traffic flows. (looked very expensive, like LA in USA) |
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All the hotels
on this trip were 4 star, but a bit small by Australian standards. Otherwise
excellent. Nearly |
all staff could
understand English. I was a bit taken back by the (in my opinion, excessive)
politeness by |
all
Japanese….they never stopped bowing to each other. (I guess, when in ROME…do
as .....) |
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My highlight of
this trip was the Tokyo Sky Tree, which I had seen being built on TV at home.
This is now |
the 2nd highest
( to Dubai) steel tower in the world with huge observation areas and view
points. No |
great delays in
getting up or down as in some other similar towers in the world. An amazing
experience. |
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Grand Palace,
middle of Tokyo.↑ |
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We were on the 10th floor, with good views.↑ |
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Picture of
Skytree from brochure, my photos were duds.↑ |
Showing
Observation level of Skytree-----------------------> |
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We also visited
some temples, the Imperial Palace and of course some Japanese Gardens. Bad
photos. |
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Tokyo to
Hakone, via Mt Fuji, by Bus. |
The bus was very modern and comfortable, with
good |
driver and our
Tour Guide, Kanae, a young Japanese lady, was very informative and
entertaining. |
Unfortunately,
when we got to Mt. Fuji, the weather had closed in and low clouds made
viability very poor. |
Could not see
Mt Fuji at all, just had to post pictures from brochures or the net. |
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Even at the bus
station, low down, could barely see 50 metres. |
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Mt
Fuji + Bullet Train.↑, from brochure. |
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<---Bus station at Mt Fuji….terrible
visibility |
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Looking at lake
Ashi, from top of Cable car trip. |
Our wonderful hostess, Kanae. She was a ball |
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of fun, information and entertainment. Was |
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impressed by Bullet train, smooth and quick. |
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Hakone to Kyoto |
By Bullet train. I only got 1 shot of the
engine/front, from a passing train. The train |
service was
extremely well organized, both mechanically and for passengers. (pushers were
in use) |
We saw some
incredible temples, gardens and palaces in Kyoto. |
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Nara Buddhist
Temple, I think. |
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Golden pavillion, Kyoto. Magnificent. |
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