Hopefully you are planning to visit Japan or you are inspired to go after reading my adventures :) so here some tips!
Itinerary
This is what I did in 17 days. If you want the costs, please reach out!
Hotel Reviews
Tokyo: Shinjuku City Hotel N.U.T.S
This place is great. Location is fantastic, just 10 mins walk from crazy Shinjuku but far enough to be in a quiet area. The good thing is the walk from the hotel to the station is very nice, either via the park or little streets. If feeling lazy there is another metro station 2 mins from the hotel.
The room was great with all you need and good amount of space in my view.
The people at reception are fantastic and speak english. The lady was great helping me with shipping my luggage to my ext hotel.
I would recommend this hotel!
Narai: Iseya
http://www.oyado-iseya.jp/index.html
Excellent place! This is a great Ryokan. The place is wonderful with a small garden, the people are super nice and speak english. The baths were not the best of the trip, but good enough for me. The dinner and bfast was served in a common room and each piece was delicious.
The room was big, had green tea and a welcome sweet. Yokata and all needed for the toilet provided. Shared toilets super clean and excellent location in the old town!
I would recommend and stay again here!
Kiso Fukushima: Inn Murachi Ya
Ok Ryokan in comparison with the rest. The lady at reception speaks no english but she is super nice. She ended up calling someone to be a translator. The bath was simple and nice. No food was served.
Location is good, close to train station. Room big and nice sleep!
There are probably better places to stay.
Kyoto: Hotel Unizo Kyoto Shijo Karasuma
This is a normal nice standard/more business type hotel. Location is good for a travelling base as I did. Its close enough to the train station and the main metro connections.
I stayed at the women's only floor I don't know for what reason and this was nice, there was a lounge with free tea and coffee!
Kyoto is big and everything will always be far, so I find this a good spot!
I would recommend this place.
Kinosaki: Morizuya
http://www.morizuya.com/
BEST BEST BEST place of the whole trip! The owner, Takayuki Hachisuka is an incredible host that will make you feel as if you are a very special person! The Ryokan is stunning with two private baths that are beautiful One with a small garden/fountain and the other which is a cave. The rooms are huge and super comfortable. I could chose among a lot, really a lot of Yukatas and all were stunning! The dinner and bfast were the best of my life! Because if had to take a very early train I got bfast very early at 6:30 which is out of normal times but this was not a problem. Takayuki Hachisuka took a lot of pics of myself around the village and then took me by car to the train station. The full experience was 5 stars!
I super recommend this place and would certainly stay here again! :)
Koya San: Fukuchi In (Monastery)
http://fukuchiin.com/
Excellent Monastery stay! the place its stunning, the temple beautiful. The room was ok though. Food absolutely amazing! I got the chance to participate in the morning prayer and there is a possibility to also do some calligraphy (at a cost). The private onsen it's really beautiful and there is also a sauna :)
Location was perfect as well! a great stay!
I would recommend this place and stay again.
Osaka: APA Hotel Midosuji
Normal business hotel. Here the room was too small though... location was great, very close to the main shopping area and easy access to airport.
There are probably better places to stay.
What to pack
Just normal clothing, no issues in Japan! Ladies, for me good news was that for the temples there is no need to cover shoulders or legs, you can go with skirt/shorts and sleeveless t-shirt.
Wifi
There is no wifi in Japan... yes, you hear it! even Starbucks doesn't have wifi everywhere. It is though very handy to have internet connection, Google Maps will be your BFF during the trip to check how to go from where to where by train, bus, etc and because you will get lost all the time!
I took the travellers 1GB SIM card and it worked perfect, lasted the full 14 days and I used it all the time for What's App and Google Maps, sometime browsing.
You can get it here: http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/english/
Japan Rail Pass
You probably know this, but yes, you need the JR pass, you will use it al the time, super worth it! I bought it here: http://www.jrpass.com/
Good... maybe now you are also inspired to visit this magic land or already planning to go so let me share a few tips:
Itinerary
This is what I did in 3 weeks. If you want the cost, please reach out to me!
Hotel Reviews
Mandalay: Rich Queen Guesthouse
Very nice staff, super helpful! The place it's perfect for the 20 USD that it costed, good bed and shower though the water was only cold. Wifi.
Location is a bit far out of the main center but it's ok as you will do everything by motorbike.
Bagan-Nyaun U: Thante Hotel
Nice hotel, beautiful swimming pool and rooms are big and provide towels, shampoo, etc.
Location is not good as it's far from the ''restaurant street'' in the ''city'' and to go out alone in the dark streets it's ab it scary/dangerous as there are no lights, just the ones from the cars :)
I'd not recommend this place if you are travelling alone, but it can work very nice for groups and couples as the swimming pool are it's really beautiful!
For solo travelers either stay at the places that are walking distance from the city or in Old/New Bagan that is closer to the temples and felt there were more restaurants.
Best place to eat is the vegetarian Moon Cafe: Be Good to Animals in Old Bagan.
Pindaya: Inle Inn Pindaya
Great place!! Amazing hot water shower! Amazing bed with a bed heater that is really needed during the cold nights :) The staff is extremely helpful and speak perfect English! The breakfast was delicious. The only downside is that at night (9PM) and early morning, there are some noises and music coming from outside, from local/religious celebrations but this is normal across all places. I'd stay here again.
Kalaw: Eastern Paradise Motel
Location is a bit out of the main market area and the time I was there I was the only person. Rooms are a bit basic and have a green carpet which is a bit shocking :), the two girls at reception didn't speak English. It was too expensive for the 30 USD that it costed.
Inle/Nyaung Shwe: May Guest House
This is a nice value for money guesthouse, with nice rooms, a beautiful place to have breakfast in the garden, great staff. The only issue is that the walls are really thin, as the LP said... and so you hear everything going on next door...
Inle/Nyaung Shwe: Golden Empress Hotel
This is a beautiful place to stay :) location, breakfast and the room itself were perfect. The staff its very nice and helpful. This was one of my favorite hotels of the whole trip and would definitely recommend and come back.
Kinpun: Sea Sar Guest House
Very good place for a base camp type of accommodation. The 20 USD room I got had a nice bed and hot shower. Good basic accommodation good breakfast and perfect location, just next to the start of the hike or the ''roller coaster'' trucks.
The downside was that the buses and cars with locals arrived as of 4 AM, so expect an early wake up! :)
Hpa-An: Parami Hotel
Very expensive for what they offer but the other options in town are really, really bad... still, the room was huge, had a good AC and hot shower was also good. The breakfast was nice and you get a nice view from the terrace. They should clean it up and make it there the breakfast room :)
Mawlamyine: Sandalwood Hotel
Super good choice! Excellent value for money (20 USD) Great room and absolutely great service. They helped me to sort out the bus to Yangon and arrange early check-in with no problem. Also super helpful while I was sick. The breakfast here was not good but I'd recommend this place.
Yangon: The Loft
Very, very nice place. The style and decoration is of a real loft. The rooms are big, bed was the best of the whole trip, the shower is amazing and you have all you need, including nice L'occitane creams and shampoo :) The breakfast was also very good and location is perfect, behind the mess of the old Yangon. There was a little garden which was a bit unused, would be nice to have breakfast there.
Hotel Bookings
I did most of the bookings online before going to avoid having too much cash. All my reservations were taken and had no problems.
In some places it was empty so it would have been easy to get accommodation on the spot, other places and after Christmas it gets busier.
When to go
The best months are Dec-Feb as it's winter (gets to 30/32 degrees!) and its easy to travel and there is no rain! Avoid going during the monsoon rains: end May/beg June and can go till September/October. It can get super hot between Feb and May.
You need a visa, tourist Visa is for 28 days and you can get it online. You will need to upload a passport style picture. Have it ready. Cost: 50 USD.
http://evisa.moip.gov.mm/
What to pack
- Pristine dollar or euro bills as they don't change the ones that are used. You can change at Mandalay and Yangon airports, good rates, no need to do it in the city. There are some ATMs in the cities but you need to have cash with you all the time.
- Flip flops and sandals. Most of the time you will be barefoot so if you bring shoes with laces it is a bit of pain to do them and undo them and you lose a lot of time!
- Trousers that cover your knees, this is mandatory for every temple/pagoda but also in general to be polite. For women I would say just buy the cotton ''hippy/clown'' pants they sell there for 2/3 USD... they are comfy, fresh and you feel good with that..only there, but it fits with the environment :)
- T-shirts that cover your shoulders, no strapless or t-shirts with no shoulder cover. In some places they won;t let you in even if you cover with a pareo, you need to cover!
- A hat! it can get very hot and the sun very strong!
- A flash light or two. Useful to have one for your head and one for your hand, remember in many places there is no electricity so you will l need this.
- As in any Asian country you probably get food poisoning, so bring some mineral/sugar salts, ibuprofen or paracetamol and something for vomit and diarrhea.
- In December in some places its really cold during the early morning and evening, can get to 3/4 degrees, so bring a jacket and sweater.
- For hiking: normal shoes would do but you would feel better with hiking shoes. If you are not a freak of dust you don't even need a sleeping bag... but maybe a silk blanket or something to put between the sheets you will get could be nice. Bring a towel, soap, flip flops
- Ear plugs, I wish I had them... in many places you will get the typical religious noises of late night and early morning, even in villages or more there, so these will be very helpful :)
- Anti mosquito spray, eveni f in winter there are no mosquitos is good to have.
Air tickets
I bought two of them with oway.com.mm and all worked well. The last one I bought in an agency in Inle, this is more expensive as they take a commission.
The best airlines to use are Air Bagan and KBZ.
Enjoy :) and let me know if I can help! :)
