Japan

Japan has always been a place that I've wanted to visit but had neither the time nor money. We made brief plans of travelling with a tour group last year, but decided to postpone it instead. So this year, when the opportunity came up again to visit Japan, I was so excited! It was even better than I originally planned, as this time we went on our own, I have always preferred to travel on my own rather than with a tour group because when one travels with a tour group, you do not get to experience the country/city, the daily lives and cultures of the country. In addition, tour companies tend to only bring you to generic tourist spots, where as when we travel on our own, we get to make our own calls on where and where not to go. And Japan, Japan is truly the place to travel to on your own.

Our trip was in a total of 17 days in Japan, and another 2 spent in transit for me. As skiing was what prompted us to visit Japan, we devoted a total of 7 days in the ski resorts - Shiga Kogen and Nozawa Onsen. After that, we continued on to visit : Matsumoto, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Kanazawa, Himeji, Kyoto and finally back to Tokyo to finish off.

Among the things that was really helpful in the planning of our trip,

1) www.japan-guide.com (Highlights the must-dos in different places)
2) www.jnto.go.jp (Recommended routes were quite helpful in planning)
3) www.hyperdia.com (For all the transportation woes)