Kyoto used to be the capital city of Japan hundreds of years ago and so it hosts some of the best temples in the whole of the country as well as many festivals around the year, we were luck enough to be there during Gion Matsuri.
Gion Matsuri
During our time in Kyoto it rained pretty much every day. There was some doubt about whether this festival was going to be on but they decided to go ahead with it anyway. Pelting with rain we stood in shelter and watched the people outside move around huge shrines chanting rhythmically. Eventually the progression moved down the road and away from the temple.
Nijo Castle
One of the many UNESCO World Heritage sites in Kyoto, Nijo Castle was founded by the famous Tokugawa. It served as a the residence for the Tokugawa shogunate when they were in Kyoto as well as a show of strength for the other feudal lords around the area. It has been painstakingly restored by the Japanese.
Within the Castle is the Palace where the shoguns actually lived and held court. Recently restored, you can walk around the palace and learn about the history of the Tokugawa shogunates. It also has some very interesting, although in Japanese, information about how they restored the palace.
Nishiki Market
Along this old, and very long, road Nishiki Market has everything you want from an asian market. Food, drinks and trinkets line the road, there’s plenty of samples to try. If you want fresh fish, sweet things or fruit then you’ll find what you want.
Himeji Castle
I think Himeji Castle is my favourite place in the whole of the Kansai area. It’s beautiful to look at and the more you learn about it’s intricacies the more wonderful it seems. I visited it last year but it was still under reconstruction at that point and covered in a protective scaffolding, so I was very excited to come back and see it for a second time when it was fully on display.
Constructed over 700 years ago Himeji castle was built as show of strength and power. Although never under siege it has wonderful techniques for protecting the castle, all explained wonderfully by our guide.
It’s also incredibly beautiful.
Next to the castle itself are some beautiful gardens which you can visit for only an extra 50 yen.
Himeji is the most impressive castle I’ve seen in Japan and I was so happy to go back there again for a second time.
Next stop
Next we’re heading all the way up Japan to the northern island of Hokkaido. It’s my first time to this colder part of Japan. It meant to be an untouched wilderness and I have big expectations.
]]>This is my first time in Osaka but for Andrew it is his second time in this awesome city. There’s many things to do, see and of course eat. Osaka is the foodie capital of Japan and I don’t think you can get a bad bowl of food. Before coming to Japan I knew there was more to the cuisine than ramen noddles and sushi.
Food
There was okonomiyaki – a type of savoury pancake with toppings of your preference such as seafood or pork belly or vegetables. The choice is really yours and it is cooked fresh in front of you on a big hot plate. My first time eating at a sushi train restaurant and I ate everything I wanted to (the free green tea refill is the best) and it averages around £8 per person, which is inexpensive. Sushi is one of the cheapest foods in Japan! We also tried takoyaki – a flour based doughball filled with octopus and topped with katsuobushi shavings – yum. There’s also countless shops selling ramen in a aromatic flavourless soup base.
Not just Osaka but Japan really does have restaurants that cater for everyone’s pocket. However if you are on a budget it’s worthwhile to check a few places out before committing as prices can vary drastically.
The Osaka 2 day Amazing Pass is a steal if you are planning to visit Osaka’s attractions because it allows you:
There is the 1 day pass, which costs 2,300 Yen however it is much more worthwhile to get the 2 day pass, which costs 3,000 Yen and you will have more more to visit the attractions.
Even if you only visit a few attractions the pass pays for itself and in addition you won’t have to pay additional on the subways to get around Osaka. Osaka is a big place and yes cycling around the city is an option because it is flat and very safe to cycle around but this depends on how much time you have and what you want to see. I would first go to the information place at Kansai airport of any of the JR stations to see if it is worth you getting a pass. It certainly did for us.
A breakdown of what we had saved:
Attractions we visited:
Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory – 800 Yen saved
HEP Five Ferris Wheel – 500 Yen saved
Osaka Museum of History – 600 Yen saved
Shitennoji Temple – 300 Yen saved
Osaka Zoo – 500 Yen saved
Suminoe Spa Onsen – 650 Yen saved
Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel – 800 Yen saved
Total entry to all attractions above with no pass – 4,150 Yen
Cost of the Osaka 2 day Amazing Pass – 3,000 Yen
Money saved – 1,150 Yen and all transportation around the city for free.
Tips on using the pass:
To see what attractions the pass entitles you to click here.
To find out more about the pass click here.
]]>After visiting the main city on the island of Palawan, Puerto Princessa, we booked a ticket on a bus heading up to the top of the island bound for the tourist town of El Nido.
El Nido is a tiny collection of buildings, almost exclusively aimed at servicing the needs of the tourists that visit. You have the usual collection of guesthouses, restaurants and tour operators that you see in any place like this.
We had heard about El Nido from other backpackers and blogs and wanted to explore the islands that are around the El Nido bay. We quickly booked an island hopping tour that involved some snorkelling.
But before we went island hopping I read about the local cliff, Taraw. There was a hidden path that went up the cliff and held amazing views from the top. I also read that it wasn’t for novice climbers, you needed good footwear and stamina. We found a guide and headed up… After finishing it I kept thinking maybe I should have headed those warnings because we ended totally exhausted and I was shaking from the exertion, but we did it. Here are some pictures from the climb.
And here is the view from the top, totally worth it.
Once we’d recovered (the next day) we went hopping around some local islands. There are a few tours to choose from (A, B, C, D) but we chose the one with a few lagoons, tour B.
We were picked up and sailed about 40 minutes to Small Lagoon where we drifted slowly through the shallow, crystal clear waters.
Next we went to secret lagoon, a small lagoon only accessible by a cave entrance during low tide. Nothing spectacular but interesting.
Our last stop before heading back was big lagoon, a long and shallow lagoon with a surprisingly deep end. You can choose to snorkel or kayak down.
The tour cost 1300 pesos each and included a very nice buffet lunch.
A good day out for not so much money!
]]>This was our first time in Palawan Island. It is a beautiful place and recently I saw it was one the most beautiful islands in the world. In brochures you will see the crystal blue waters, perfect white sandy beaches against the grey karst limestone backdrops.
The island is long and narrow and there are also several smaller islands (hello! Philippines is made up of more than 7000+ islands!) consisting of Coron, Busuanga and several others that make up this province.
We took the Cebu plane from Cebu to Puerto Princesa, where we spent a few days here visiting the Underground River and doing some island hopping.
In Puerto Princesa we stayed at a hostel called the Sheebang Hostel which was a distance away from the airport and there was not much outside of the hostel. The main road was extremely noisy and busy and it was great this hostel was tucked away from the main street.
We both really wanted to go to the Underground River in Sabang (80km or 50 miles away from the city center). The Underground River is located in a National Park that was recently discovered back in 2010. The cave is one of the biggest ones in the world with the river running through it and eventually joining up to the West Philippine Sea. It has no been named of the great wonders of the world and given a UNESCO title and so many people come here to venture into the longest underground river in the world. Due to it being recently discovered, a lot of research is still being carried out hence why only a small proportion is open to the public. They do say that you have to obtain tickets prior to going there because only a certain number of people are allowed in on each day but we booked our through a tour company (thanks to our trike driver or dropped us outside the agent and we bagged a 10% discount) and they will usually have tickets reserved already.
The cost of the tour is normally 1500 Pesos but we did get a 10% discount.
To be honest I was a little disappointed because we only got 45 minutes in the cave. The journey takes 2 hours to drive to Sabang along the short and windy roads (with the joys of someone vomiting freeflow on the way). You then get there and have to wait due to the number of people waiting to get on the local boats to the island. You can spend 550 Pesos to do the zipline but we hadn’t brought that much cash with us so we waited and had the buffet lunch, which was nice. After that we headed out on a boat to the island and then queued up for another hour and a half before getting on a boat and heading into the cave. I have seen pictures of the river from a Filipino friend but I just think now with so many tourists flocking here it isn’t as beautiful anymore. The 45 minute tour is nice but not informative (no details about the discovery, research etc). There is some information but then you will be spending the last 30 minutes trying to spot the elephant, Buddha, snake etc!
We also decided to do some island hopping but we were both very excited about because we wanted to see the views that we had seen in the pictures elsewhere. The cost for 1 day was 1000 Pesos and then you had to rent the snorkel and mask. Shoes, which were recommended could also be rented but we decided to risk it and save 300 Pesos. Everything was kind of adding up and we weren’t used to paying for added extras. We were in a group of 8 and because there are multiple islands we had to choice which of the ones we wanted to go to. Island Pandan was apparently the most beautiful island but again we were told we had to pay extra to go there. We refused to pay but ended up going there anyways. We visited 3 islands in total – Starfish Island, Cowrie Island and Pandan Island.
Starfish Island was a total disappointment. I was angry because people were just picking up the starfish and taking selfies and then throwing them back into the water. No one was telling them not to do it and that there actions would have consequences for the sealife. Even the Fillipinos were joining in. The whole place was a tourist trap. It was not nice at all – the coral was dead and I didn’t see many starfish.
The next island was Cowrie island with its white sand and blue waters. We had our buffet lunch here too.
Island Pandan was also great but again, I just felt something lacking with the all of this island hopping. Yes sure it was nice scenery but I think people’s actions had put me off a little bit.
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This is a small, cosy guesthouse located 15 minutes walk from the JR Asahikawa train station.
There details are below:
Website: http://www.guesthouseasahikawa.jp/dish.html
Address:
〒070-0036
北海道旭川市6条通7丁目
31-10
日昇ビル2F
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone: 0166 73 8269
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The JR website has some good information regarding outlets where you can purchase the JR pass. As we were in Manila, we went to a travel agents to get ours (there are a few places to obtain a pass). The link is here and you can also see there are outlets in Cebu too.
I emailed a few and I worked on the basis that I needed the pass past and whoever got back to me first would get my business.
The two companies that got back to me were:
Attic Tours Phils. Inc. (I decided not to go with them because they charged an extra 5% if you pay by credit card)
Unit 203 Coko Bldg. 1
Patio Madrigal Compound
2550 Roxas Blvd. Pasay City,
Manila.
Telephone: 556 6301 to 05 Loc. 201
Mobile: +63 922 8900654
Universal Holidays Inc.
Mezzaine Floor,
Dusit Thani Hotel
Ayala Center,
Makati City,
Manila.
Telephone: 032 859 3828
www. universalholidays.com
With Universal Holidays Inc we could:
The location of the office is very easy to get too. You get the LRT to Ayala Station and then ask someone for directions. It’s right outside a big shopping center inside the hotel itself.
Voila….15 minutes later and here is the pass (we had already exchanged the ticket in Japan!)
I would definitely recommend Universal Holidays as I was emailing them back and forth with a bunch of questions and they were always quick to email me back.
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After travelling around the Philippines for a bit you soon realise that all the backpackers congregate at one hostel because there are only a limited handful in each city. Cheap accommodation is scarce and it makes me think that setting up a business in the Philippines is difficult? I am not sure but the availability compared to other Southeast asian countries is non existent. So as I was sitting around other backpackers you hear a lot of stories and one of them was this snorkelling trip, arranged through a hostel around an island called Apo Island. Everyone was raving about the number of turtles they saw and it had never occurred to me how abundant the wildlife was around the Philippines because everyone talked about Malaysia and Thailand and the diving around those countries.
So off we went to Dumaguete – a town famous with many colleges and universities. We took the bus from Boljoon to Lilo-An port, located in Santander. From there we got on a boat bound for Sibulan. There were boats every hour and the journey time was 45 minutes. When we arrived at the Sibulan port we got a jeepney and tricycle (total cost was 38 Pesos) to get us to Harold’s Mansion.
Harold’s Mansion is again the only hostel in Dumaguete and they have cheap dorms for once (250 Pesos). Men and women are separated. The aircon is cold and they serve good food for reasonable prices. The breakfast is okay and consists of bread, coffee and tea. The damp in the rooms is a problem but you can overlook that when they only charge 250 Pesos per night, almost half other hostels.
Attached to Harold’s Mansion is a dive shop but all we were interested in was the snorkelling trip they offered around Apo Island for 1000 Pesos, which was really cheap. It includes everything from transport, snorkelling gear and lunch – a full day out.
You can stay on Apo Island but prices were more than our budget but it is not a crowded place at all.
We saw 10 turtles in total (even at the start of the boat trip people were saying they could see turtles!) Some were so big and some were smaller. They were happy feeding on the seaweed whilst we floated on the surface watching them. From time to time they would come up to the surface for their next breath so it was amazing there is one swimming next to you. Most of the time we were quite close to the beach so there are lots of beautiful corals and fishes to look at.
I would definitely recommend people to come to the Phillipines – the sea life, beaches will not disappoint you. Most of the areas are becoming quite touristy so if you want to see 10 turtles instead of one, Apo Island is the place to go. I don’t know when I can see so many turtles in one place again.
]]>After Manila we took a flight to Cebu city, which is an island south of Manila (£32 per person one way including 20kg of luggage). The airport is Mactan Cebu International Airport. The best way to get around the Philippines is either by boat if the weather and schedule permits. The other option is flying, which is a bit more expensive but incredibly quick so it all depends on your budget and time constraints. We took a mixture of boats and flights throughout our trip around Philippines.
The low cost carriers around the Philippines include:
They always have promotions now and again and sometimes the fare can be dirt cheap so it’s worth looking back at their websites from time to time. The Philippines Airlines isn’t specifically a low cost carrier but prices are sometimes the same as Cebu Air.
Another thing to note is everytime you leave an airport you need to pay a ‘departure tax’. This could be anywhere from 400 Pesos to 1300 Pesos. However if you book your flights online you will likely have already paid the fees as part of your overall airfare.
Cebu city was a stopover for us so we could explore the southern tip around Boljoon and Oslob (whale sharks!). You can sightsee around Cebu city but it was very crowded and busy. There are a few churches nearby.
We stayed at Le Village Guesthouse and from there we took a taxi (70 pesos + 10 pesos entrance fee into the bus terminal?! – yes very bizarre). There are lots of buses departing and different types of buses. Some have no aircon whilst others have aircon. As it is not a lot more expensive we opted for the aircon bus as the journey was at least 3 and a half hours dependant on traffic. It does make stops on the way to drop off and pick up passengers. The fare was 120 Pesos.
We arrived at Cebu Airport and then took a metered taxi from the entrance of the building. The total fare does vary because there are lots of traffic jams in Manila. We hadn’t really experience any in Manila but we were thinking how great it was to get a metered taxi and not having to barter with the fare and getting ripped off. However we were so wrong. The sat in a traffic jam all the way from the airport into the city. At one point it was 45 minute and all you can do is hope that the cars start moving. There was a lot of road works at the time but mainly because there were too many cars. The total fare amounted to 350 Pesos when actually it would have been a lot less as it was only 20 minutes away.
The hostel is nice with tables at the front to socialise and relax with. There is also a pool table and a free beer or soft drink for staying the night. There are a lot of dorm rooms here and we stayed in a what seemed to be a recently refurbished room. However the second time we stayed in the room next to the reception and it was terrible – noisy and smelly as it was attached next to the bathroom and you could smell the sewage. We did get use to the smell and it was only for one night so try to get the dorms away from the reception.
The dorm beds are nice, basic and clean. Not all of them have power sockets that were working. There was a big cabinet to store our belongings and also lockers near the bathroom to lock away valuables. Note that the lockers are very small. The aircon worked really well too. The bathroom was basically 3 showers and 3 toilets all lined up next to each other in a big room. Sinks are available on the other side. The one problem was the flushing situation as Cebu was experiencing a draught you could only flush the toilet using a bucket and pail, which was really annoying because a trickle of water would come out to refill the bucket and many people did not flush the toilet properly. I don’t think the staff cleaning the toilets would have been happy.
Other things to note:
Overall for the price of 450 Pesos it was a good nights sleep and we learnt a lot of places and things to visit by talking to other people, who also stayed there.
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