Travel photos and journals from across Asia [1997-2024]
Day thirteen Our final day in Japan was dedicated to shopping so we headed over to the Don Qui supermarket to get lost in the warren of tiny aisles where everything from designer handbags to four-litre bottles of whisky to wasabi paste was for sale. We were looking for some…
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With the long weekend finally over, we thought it would be a good time to head out to Nara and the famous deer park. A 45-minute train ride later we emerged from Kintetsu-Nara station to realise that it made no difference to crowd levels as the Chinese tour groups were…
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Day twelve Today we were heading one stop up the subway line to the Korobon Ichiba Market, Osaka’s famous seafood market. Every kind of aquatic lifeform imaginable from puffer fish to seaweed was on display here for consumption. We started with something safe, Kobe and Wagyu beef which we could…
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Hotel check-out times are early in Japan so we were on the road to Tamachi station by 10am to grab a train into Tokyo Central for our Shinkansen connection. Being a public holiday meant more people and this sprawling transport hub was absolutely rammed. It was busier than the busiest…
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Day nine Today was our only full day in Tokyo so we had a lot to pack in. The first stop was the city’s top attraction – its oldest Buddhist temple, Sensō-ji. About a million tourists had the same idea and the place was rammed. Thailand often touts how many…
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Day 8 Our week with the van was up and it was time to return it to Tokyo. The quickest route was on the expensive toll roads, but going over the mountains would consume more fuel and take longer so we followed Google’s instructions this time. Navigating through the city…
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Day 7 Today would be our last full day with the van so we had to start heading back towards Tokyo. We woke to a cold ‘pea souper’ which for the non-Brits is a thick fog. A couple of coffees later and it had started to clear so we set…
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Day 6 Today’s adventure had been meticulously planned by Da who had been watching Thai YouTubers travelling in Japan. The Alpine Route as it is known is a very popular tourist attraction though a little hard to get to. Our first encounter at 06.30 was the car park attendant telling…
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Day 5 Today we headed for Matsumoto Castle, touted as one of Japan’s national treasures. Entry fees for attractions in Japan are much cheaper than in Thailand and there is no dual pricing which is a refreshing trait of a first-world country. It cost us 700 yen, or around 175…
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It was time to hit the road and we had a three-hour drive north to Nagano and our first night at a Japanese road station. Campsites here are expensive as they charge for the vehicle and per person, and for electricity, all on top and all you really get is…
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Prologue The first thing most people say when you tell them you’re going to Japan is, “wow, its expensive,” and they’re not wrong. Visiting Japan costs a pretty penny in normal times but with rampant inflation and price gouging across the globe, things have been amplified. In addition to that,…
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The following guide has been compiled after spending a week on the road in Japan in a campervan/motorhome. We started in Tokyo before heading to Mt. Fuji, then north to the Nagano area and Japanese Alps taking in Kamikochi, the Alpine Route, and Matsumoto before heading east to Chichibu and…
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