Japan - Tokyo & Nikko

We arrived in Tokyo after an uneventful flight from Honolulu.   Even though the flight was only 8 hours, we lost a whole day because of the time difference.  We didn't have any problems getting through immigration or customs at the airport. The tricky part was figuring out where to go from the airport.  Luckily most of the staff at the airport speak English. Even so, it took us awhile to get on the right train, and buy the right kinds of tickets.

We didn't have too much trouble finding our hotel, which was located in Kinshicho, part of the Sumida ward.   It was a huge relief to get there as we were completely exhausted when we arrived.  We had a great view of Tokyo from our room on the 22nd floor.  The main feature is the under-construction Sky Tree, which will reach 643m when it's done, right now it's around 360m. 

The next day we went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which showed the history of the city of Tokyo, previously known as Edo.  We were very lucky to get an English speaking guide who gave us a free tour for 1.5 hours of the whole museum.  It was an amazing museum, full of reconstructions of houses and theatres from Edo times, as well as many incredibly detailed miniature versions of the old city.

The next day we headed out of Tokyo to the Nikko area, famous for its hotsprings.  We picked the area because the train company offers a great deal on rail and bus tickets.  We started by visiting their famous Toshogu shrines.  As well as having the mausoleum of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Toshogu Shogunate, it is also famous for its 'see, hear, do no evil monkeys (see picture below).   Unfortunately, the weather was terrible when we there, the weather report described it as freezing rain.  The shrines were beautiful, but none of the signs had English, so we didn't understand a lot of their significance or history.   We decided to come back again the next day, and went to Kinugawa where we staying for the night.

We had booked the Marukyo Ryokan, a Japanese Ryokan, with Japanese style rooms (i.e. tatami rooms that double as your living room and bedroom).  It also has its own onsen, or public bath.  Once you get there, they provide you with robes called Yukata, that you can wear throughout the ryokan (see picture of me wearing my yukata below).  The best things about ryokan's are the onsen, which were wonderful after such a cold afternoon, and the food.  We had ordered both dinner and breakfast.  The dinner was absolutely amazing.  We counted 12 different dishes each including udon, prawn, yuba (thin sheets of tofu, a specialty of the area), beef, sashimi and many veggies prepared different ways.   Unfortunately, we didn't take pictures of dinner, but there are some on their website, if you click on the Marukyo Ryokan link above.  Needless to say it was a feast, and the next morning, we had an equally decadent breakfast.

The next day, we headed out to explore Kinugawa, and did some hikes near a suspension bridge (picture below).  There were some beautiful views of the river, and we decided to take a boat ride on the river, which was fun. 

Then we headed back to the temples and looked around a bit more.  The weather had improved slightly, so it was better.  Then we went to our next hotel, also a Japanese ryokan, but slightly less fancy.  We also had a great dinner, breakfast and soak in the onsen.  The next day we did some more hiking around Nikko, and looked around the town a bit, before we headed back to Tokyo.  Below is a picture of their red Shinkyo bridge.

Maui, Hawaii

The first week of our vacation was spent on the Hawaiian island of Maui.   For our first three nights on Maui, we stayed in a small remote cottage near the town of Haiku.  I wanted something off the beaten path, and this was even more off the beaten path than I had imagined.  To get to it required driving 10 minutes down a windy road filled with potholes.  It was a lovely little place, powered only with solar power, but we were surprised on our first morning to see rain. 

We decided to drive the famous ‘Road to Hana’.  This is one of the most famous drives on Maui because the highway contains over 60 switchbacks, and the road is often too narrow for two cars to pass.  It’s a beautiful drive, and took us close to three hours, because we stopped on the way and did a bit of hiking. 

The view from a lookout on the Hana Highway, looking into the village of Kihei.

During the drive, we were amazed at how quickly the weather changed.  While hiking, it was a bit overcast, but on the way back to the car, it started raining so hard we got soaked.  We were both relieved when we arrived at Hana, and had lunch then spent some time trying to find a hidden ‘Red Sand Beach’.  After getting directions twice, we finally made it, and were excited to finally be close to the ocean after driving near it for so long.   Below is the view of the ocean near Red Sand Beach. 

That night there was a huge rainstorm, and our cute little cottage leaked like a sieve.  After putting bowls out to catch the drips, we headed out to Kihei, the more famous beach area of the island.  The weather was much better but it was extremely windy.  We took a walk by the beach, but it was so blustery, we didn’t stay long.  After lunch, we found another beach, and decided to chill out on the sand.  The beach had a rough surf, and we played around in it for a bit.  After that, we headed out to some lava fields, which are leftover from the last volcanic eruption on the island, near La Perousse Bay.  It was amazing to see dark volcanic rock as far as the eye could see.

The next day, we left the cottage, and headed for Lahaina, where we would be staying for three nights.  Before Lahaina, we decided to drive to Haleakala Park, to see the crater.  It was another long drive with several switchbacks, but the roads were wider than the highway to Hana.  The drive only took about an hour, but it rises rapidly, and the summit is at 10,000 feet.  By the time we made it to the top, we were starting to feel some altitude sickness, but had a great view of the crater. 

Then we drove to Lahaina, where we stayed at the Lahaina Inn.  It was a great old school hotel filled with antiques, we upgraded to an ocean view room, and had a lanai (balcony) with a direct view of the water.  The room was really tiny, but the lanai was fantastic, complete with 2 rocking chairs and a little table, we had our breakfast out there every day.  Lahaina was very touristy, with lots of souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants, but it had a nice boardwalk near the beach.  We spent most of our time in Kapalua, which has some excellent beaches, especially for snorkeling.  Reynald had read an article about how good Maui was for snorkeling, so we bought some snorkeling gear at home before we left.  We had never done much snorkeling, but we’re so glad we tried it, it was absolutely amazing.  It definitely took some practice, but litteraly the first time I put my head underwater I saw some tropical fish.  And  there are hundreds of fish, of all different kinds.  All the fish I had only ever seen in aquariums were swimming around right below the surface of the water. We snorkelled several times over those three days, and each time we saw different kinds of fish.  This was definitely a highlight of our trip, unfortunately, we didn't have a waterproof camera to take pictures.

After three days in Lahaina, we headed to the airport to catch a short flight to Honolulu, where we spent two nights before heading to Tokyo.  Reynald caught a cold on the way, and was very sick, so we didn't see much of Waikiki.  But we did stay in a wonderful hotel, the Hawaii Prince Hotel.  Thanks to Priceline, we were able to get an amazing deal on a room at this 5 star hotel.  It was honestly one of my favourite hotels I've ever stayed at.  

Me enjoying the amazing view of the huge windows of our hotel in Waikiki

New Adventures

Well, it's been a couple of years, but Reynald and I are ready for another big trip.  This time, we're starting in Hawaii, then heading to Japan.  Tonight we're leaving for Maui, where we'll be spending 6 days, then onto Honolulu, where we spend a couple nights before leaving for Tokyo.  It might sound like a strange combination, but Hawaii is probably the perfect way to start getting a taste of Japanese culture.  It has a large number of Japanese immigrants, and is one of the most popular international destinations for Japanese visitors.

We're flying out this afternoon, and will be staying at a little cottage in Haiku, Maui.  Our main goal in Hawaii is to relax and rejuvenate.  It's partly a reward for Reynald for finishing his PhD, and partly a pre-wedding honeymoon, since we may not have much time for one after the wedding in August.  We plan to do a lot of exploring on the island and have left our itinerary pretty open.  We're bringing some snorkeling gear with us, so we'll be spending lots of time in the water, and also hope to do a lot of hiking. 

We're looking forward to seeing where the next few weeks take us.  Feel free to leave comments, we'd love to hear from you.