Japan 2017 Day 3 - 4 : Takayama / Shirakawago
Day 3
We met up with the tour guide, who had our names on a sheet of paper. We just brought carry-on luggage that were safely kept at the compartment of the bus. You are allowed to bring 1 more bag up to the bus, which is just usually your backpack.
Our rationale to take the tour is because we don't want to lug our luggage when we go to the Alpine Route, it's better for the luggage be safely tucked and not carried with us all the time.
It was an early morning rush to go to Yokoso Japan's 2D1N Tour of Tateyama and Shirakawago. We check-out early and left our luggage with the hotel.
The route to go to meet with Yokoso Japan's tour representative was at the parking lot of the Keio Plaza. You have to walk past the Tokyo Metropolitan Building and go to the parking lot.
Directions: You will see signs to go to Tokyo Metropolitan Building, ignore it and walk straight until you reach the parking lot. The parking lot is a bit of a tuck in between Tokyo Metropolitan Building. Tip: Make sure to know your tour code. There are a lot of tours assembled in the parking lot, so you have to be careful which tour you are joining.
Directions: You will see signs to go to Tokyo Metropolitan Building, ignore it and walk straight until you reach the parking lot. The parking lot is a bit of a tuck in between Tokyo Metropolitan Building. Tip: Make sure to know your tour code. There are a lot of tours assembled in the parking lot, so you have to be careful which tour you are joining.
We met up with the tour guide, who had our names on a sheet of paper. We just brought carry-on luggage that were safely kept at the compartment of the bus. You are allowed to bring 1 more bag up to the bus, which is just usually your backpack.
Our rationale to take the tour is because we don't want to lug our luggage when we go to the Alpine Route, it's better for the luggage be safely tucked and not carried with us all the time.
You can always try the forwarding services if tour is not your cup of tea.
Footnotes: We could have booked for the English Tour , however, the timing that we had was Chinese/Japanese. The tour leader did her very best to explain everything in Chinese ( but there are still some accent and tone that we couldn't quite get)
There were a total of 3 rest area stops, as the journey by bus from Tokyo to Takayama takes time ( approximately 4hours)
Our first stop was to Takayama where we visited Shirakawa-go.
Normally at all places where the bus will stop (except for rest areas), you'll only have 1hr at the place ( You can't really go anywhere unless you rush).
The rest area stops are just 15-20 minutes. We just bought lunch (from the rest area) and ate at the bus. There's really no stop for you to eat your lunch or your dinner.
Tip: Do inquire if the hotel you are staying have some ongoing promotion from the local govt. The tour leader had adviced us that the hotels are giving away some free rountrip tickets to take the tram. As the hotel that we were staying was near to a tram stop, we availed ourselves some free roundtrip tickets to take the tram. ( there's a 1-block more walk to reach the hotel).
There were a total of 3 rest area stops, as the journey by bus from Tokyo to Takayama takes time ( approximately 4hours)
Our first stop was to Takayama where we visited Shirakawa-go.
Normally at all places where the bus will stop (except for rest areas), you'll only have 1hr at the place ( You can't really go anywhere unless you rush).
The rest area stops are just 15-20 minutes. We just bought lunch (from the rest area) and ate at the bus. There's really no stop for you to eat your lunch or your dinner.
Tip: Do inquire if the hotel you are staying have some ongoing promotion from the local govt. The tour leader had adviced us that the hotels are giving away some free rountrip tickets to take the tram. As the hotel that we were staying was near to a tram stop, we availed ourselves some free roundtrip tickets to take the tram. ( there's a 1-block more walk to reach the hotel).
Take the tram from the tram stop, when you are alighting the tram, you need to show the tram conductor/driver your tram ticket (i think he took a part of it) and then we alighted to walk home.
Day 04
Wake up bright and early to leave for Tateyama.
Our schedule was tight as we had to follow the route to the T. Because everything will run like clock work. You should just be wary of the timings and keep your tickets with you at all times (Don't lose it!). The tour guide will also warn you not to lose your tickets.
Day 04
Wake up bright and early to leave for Tateyama.
Our schedule was tight as we had to follow the route to the T. Because everything will run like clock work. You should just be wary of the timings and keep your tickets with you at all times (Don't lose it!). The tour guide will also warn you not to lose your tickets.
We must also always just be on time and there is no break in between as the whole activity is running on schedule.
We rode up Cable Car
then took a bus to Murodo area, we spend longer time in Murodo
and then it is back to go to Kurobe dam via Trolley Bus - Ropeway and Cable Car.
the ropeway (literally be inside a cabin on a ropeway)
We basically ate snacks for lunch in Murodo area (as the only open food stalls in the area are just
snacks or bar bites). They can't really take you to places where you have the time to dine in and slowly eat your snack. So be prudent on the things you'll buy to eat. At the very least, you can just grab a hot sweet potato while queuing for a ride!
At the end of the day, we were met with traffic jam. It took us some time before we reached Tokyo. We stopped at the rest area to get some food (otherwise, we will starve to death) and toilet break. I will not take for granted the stop areas, they're really saving grace (and the quality of food you get is already a delight!)
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