Stoned
Senior Member
I will ganbate! :bsmilie: I originally intended to take a month but idiotic Mindef forced me to cut my trip short. Boo!
Japan Backpack trip
- Thread starter kettobase
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I will ganbate! :bsmilie: I originally intended to take a month but idiotic Mindef forced me to cut my trip short. Boo!
covering 3 major regions would be virtually impossible for such a short duration, i would rather encourage you to limit your trip to only a couple of regions e.g Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagano etc to really make the most out of your trip....
Stoned
Senior Member
Mmm.. Maybe I'll just play by ear once there. Thanks for the advice!
Btw, anyone can help with the Japanese? No one? :sweat:
nuts
Senior Member
the to and fro travelling time between Tokyo (Central) - Kyoto (Central South) - Hokkaido (North) - Kyushu (South) would already take up almost 5 days.... ^^
- May I take a photo of you?
- Can you help us take a photo?
- Would you like to see the photo?
#1 shashin o totte mo ii desuka
#2 sumimasen, shashin o totte kudasai
i'm not to sure how to say the last phrase in jap
but you could always start by asking "sumimasen, eigo ga hanasemasuka?" it means excuse me, do you speak english?
or if someone tries to speak with you in japanese, you could reply with "nihongo wa dekimasen" it means i can't speak japanese.
Too many things to see too little time.:sweat:
Just select the places you want to visit, and plan your ways there, check the train or bus schedule, as some places last bus may be as early as 4pm.:cry: best get open jaw air ticket so no need travel back to toyko to catch the return flight. after 23 day of travel in Japan, this my advice to you.
Just select the places you want to visit, and plan your ways there, check the train or bus schedule, as some places last bus may be as early as 4pm.:cry: best get open jaw air ticket so no need travel back to toyko to catch the return flight. after 23 day of travel in Japan, this my advice to you.
Stoned
Senior Member
Ah! Great! That's what I want to know. Thanks! Just to check, desuka is often pronounced des-ka right? Like suki is often pronounced ski.
The Jap travel agents in Sg need to sight and take a photocopy of your passport b4 they will sell you the JR pass. But you don't have to be physically there, someone else can do it on your behalf.
I would also recommend limiting your sightseeing to only a few locations so that you don't tire yourself out. If you are going for 17 days -get the 14 day pass and travel slowly. Take your time in each location.
Contrary to what someone else said, you can use it on all JR Shinkansen (Bullet trains) except the Nozomi trains (the fastest). But that is no loss as the Nozomi are usually only 10-20mins faster (big deal). You are still entitled unlimited travel on all other Shinkansen trains like the Hikari Shinkansen.
And the JR pass also allows you to travel on the JR city trains. But they are not valid on the privately owned subways which operate in many cities. You can use it only on JR owned transportation.
Things you have to do and see are Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, Yudanaka Snow Monkeys near Nagano, Hakone, Fuji Five Lakes, Kyoto, Stay in a Grasso house, Takayama.
If you are going with a partner, I can't recommend highly enough the Toyoko-Inn chain of hotels. They are clean and always near a train station. They provide free internet access in the room and in the lobby, fax, phone, breakfast and are clean. A double room is only $8800. Cheaper in the less popular cities/locations. And you can book online and cancel online w/o incurring a cancellation fee.
www.toyoko-inn.co.jp
I would also recommend limiting your sightseeing to only a few locations so that you don't tire yourself out. If you are going for 17 days -get the 14 day pass and travel slowly. Take your time in each location.
Contrary to what someone else said, you can use it on all JR Shinkansen (Bullet trains) except the Nozomi trains (the fastest). But that is no loss as the Nozomi are usually only 10-20mins faster (big deal). You are still entitled unlimited travel on all other Shinkansen trains like the Hikari Shinkansen.
And the JR pass also allows you to travel on the JR city trains. But they are not valid on the privately owned subways which operate in many cities. You can use it only on JR owned transportation.
Things you have to do and see are Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, Yudanaka Snow Monkeys near Nagano, Hakone, Fuji Five Lakes, Kyoto, Stay in a Grasso house, Takayama.
If you are going with a partner, I can't recommend highly enough the Toyoko-Inn chain of hotels. They are clean and always near a train station. They provide free internet access in the room and in the lobby, fax, phone, breakfast and are clean. A double room is only $8800. Cheaper in the less popular cities/locations. And you can book online and cancel online w/o incurring a cancellation fee.
www.toyoko-inn.co.jp
- shashin o totte mo ii desuka?
(literally: is it alright to take a photograph?)
- shatta o oshite kudasaimasen ka?
(literally: do you mind helping me/us press the shutter?)
- shashin o goran ni narimasen ka? (with respect)
or
- shashin o mimasen ka? (normal)
(literally: would you like to have a look at the photograph?)
actually i recommend that you don't speak Japanese if you don't know, use English (speak slowly) and handsign, a small notepad and pencil will be useful for drawing. most people here understand simple English but do not speak it, there are some who are well versed in English but not common.
one thing which I did not know about b4 my trip to Japan in October was that the JR pass is VALID for certain sleeper trains. So this could be a GREAT way to travel long distances and save money....
There is this obscure website which shows which sleeper you can take. One of them is like from tokyo to Aomori. Very useful. I did not find this information in the official JR website though.
There is this obscure website which shows which sleeper you can take. One of them is like from tokyo to Aomori. Very useful. I did not find this information in the official JR website though.
Yes but you will need to pay extra for a berth or couchette and it comes to about 6000Y per person.
It is only free if the train has seats in it and only a few do. Most only have berths and couchettes - so you will have to pay for those.
Stoned
Senior Member
Thanks for the tips, they certainly are useful! The notepad and pencil are a wonderful idea, but with my sketching abilities it may be worse than speaking japanese:sweatsm:. I will bring it along anyway. I probably will be using hand gestures most of the time, but I just wanted to check out some useful phrases just in case the handsigns do not work.
Probably the best solution is "photo, photo? while pointing to the camera and smiling while nodding" :bsmilie:
Here's one good link for checking out sleeper trains in Japan. There are more free sleeper trains than you think.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2356.html
I don't really recommend it unless you're really pressed for time and wanna save money on lodgings... Japan needs to be savoured, not rushed thru.
As for Toyoko Inn, it's quite nice and has many branches all around Japan. Make sure you get their membership card when u check in, it costs only 800yen but entitles you to 50% discount on sundays and public holidays, and it lasts a lifetime. They have free breakfast, but i got really tired of eating onigiri after a week.
And there are really pros and cons in trying to speak japanese to them. On one hand, if you're not good at it, you're just asking for trouble. They will rattle off really fast and you're very unlikely to catch anything; real japanese ppl DON'T speak as slowly as in anime, movies or tv shows. But if you're at least advanced level (can't remember which JLPT), your japanese may impress them and some of them will really go out their way to help you. Once i made a mistake with a laundry machine and approach a hotel staff in english. She politely stated that my money is gone and can't be helped. I explained again in Japanese and she spent the next 15 mins pleading with her supervisor to get me a refund, which i got. In a restaurant, the staff are more friendly and will recommend good dishes if you speak in Japanese. That said, don't try it unless you're brave enough to capitulate and admit, "gomen, jitsu wa, ore no nihongo wa dame desu.." (or, sorry, actually my japanese really cannot make it)
Takayama is really recommended but it's quite out of the way. The Gassho houses in Shirakawago (2hrs from Takayama, assuming snow doesn't swallow the roads) are one of the more frequently featured pictures on Japanese media (along with Mt Fuji and Kyoto temples).
Tohoku and the central north region can be very beautiful but also extremely challenging due to the sparse transport network and difficulty in travel without good planning or knowing a little japanese.
Actually, there's someone in this forum who is a real expert in Japan travels and i learnt a lot from him when i first started travelling there
it's getting real cold here, actually it's a bad idea to spend the night sleeping on bus/train while travelling, i would rather stay over at somewhere where i can at least have a nice warm shower/bath and rest well than to make myself all tired, sleepy and cold throughout the journey :sweatsm:
it may also depend on where u are...
some of the elderly ppl in some villages may not be so receptive to tourists wanting to take pictures, so candids may be a better idea (no flash!).
On the contary, city dwellers are more exposed to photography and will almost always obliged (unless they're rushing somewhere, which happens much of the time as well).
You may just wan to learn some key words and use broken japanese where all else fails
eg. Toire (toilet), densha (train), nanjikan (what time), doko (where), tabemono (food), nomimono (drinks), shashin (photo), tasukete (help), gomen/sumimasen (sorry, excuse me), heya (room), furo (bath), seki (seat), etc...
you do pronounce the "u" but just for a really quick moment
ya lah... but trains are usually quite warm what. Just an option. I never tried it so dunno how bad it is.
nope ACCORDING to the website, there is a blanketless couchetter which is FREE for JR pass. Basically on the train they call it seats but in reality it is a couchette without blanket.
Dunno never tried it though but it is a great option for someone with either little time or little money or little of both :bsmilie:
the problem with sleeper trains is that you'll wake up feeling even more lethargic than before lol... its weird but its true... heh ^^
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