Update on itinerary
The lovely Leonie, our travel agent has worked out some fabulous options for us with flights. This is what Jess and I are currently thinking:
Wednesday 1 July
CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS, CX 0168
From: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA Departs: 11:55pm
To: HONG KONG, HONG KONG Arrives: 7:25am
Thursday 2 July
Flights: CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS, CX 0506
From: HONG KONG, HONG KONG S A R (HKG) Departs: 10:05am
To: OSAKA KANSAI, JAPAN (KIX) Arrives: 2:45pm
We will then get the train to Koya San from Osaka.
Friday 3 July
Stay in Kyoto (while Alex has his conference) and do day trips from Kyoto to things like the Ninja museum and Himehi. Kiley arrives
Mon July 6 Tue July 7 Wed July 8 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12
Visit Himeji by rail (CW and JMS). Kiley arrives in Kyoto round midday.
Kyoto
Nara
Naoshima
Transfer by rail from Kyoto to Hiroshima
Hiroshima
Transfer by rail to Nagoya for the Sumo
13 July
Nagoya
14 July 15 July
Travel to Hakone
Hakone
16 July - 21 July
Tokyo.
Once confirmed, I will be keeping full details of flights and accommodation on Tripit.
I've put what dates I currently have in mind on the calendar below. If you click on it, it opens in a new window which is easier to read.
Alex's conference is Wednesday 8 July in Kyoto. It is unclear at the moment how much before that time he will have to be in Kyoto, so I think we just leave that a bit flexible. I definitely want to spend time in Kyoto and Tokyo and I have not yet researched enough to know all the places to go but I'm assuming people will want to consider Mount Fuji, Himeji Castle, Kanazawa City, maybe Hiroshima. So I was thinking Alex and I would head over around Thursday 2 July and if we can manage it, stay until the 26th of July.
I've popped on the list above just to pique your interest, the festivals that are happening in Japan while we are there.
Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival - July 1-15, Fukuoka on Kyushu island which (even though it has an amusing name for English speaking cultural heathens) is quite a long way away from anywhere and seems to involve men carrying massive floats through the streets of Hakata at speed. Apparently, "the sight of the men concentrating all their energy into the floats captivates the hearts of the spectators who number as many as 1 million people." Apparently.
O-Bon (Lantern Festival) - July 13th-15th - All over Japan - seems pretty low key, priests, fires, fruit and vegetable offerings.
Tanabata (Star Festival) - 7 July - All over Japan - The custom is to set up leafed bamboo branches in gardens, and people write poems, words or wishes on long strips of colorful paper which they tie on the bamboo leaves. Good times.
Call me crazy, but I am intrigued by Nachi-no-Hi-Matsuri in Wakayama - July 14 - which involves huge pine torches weighing 50 kg being waved about in front of the great sacred falls in the mountains. I mean, why wouldn't you? (Other than environmental reasons, maybe) If we went to this festival, the nearby Wakayama castle is apparently also quite interesting.
Lastly, the Gion festival will be in Kyoto 1-19 July (although the big procession with floats is on the 17th).
With all these festivals, they may instead be things we want to avoid rather than attend and that's worth keeping in mind too, of course.
My uncle used to live in Fukuoka. My Nana always stumbled over the pronunciation.
Posted by: Jess | April 02, 2009 at 08:09 PM