Cambodia - Nov 2025

On our way back from Japan, we spent one week in Phnom Penh to visit EYC. As usual, this time of year is very pleasant to visit. We arrived on Saturday and left on Friday. Ali and Jodi joined us for part of the time, arriving Friday and leaving Wednesday and even Tim joined us for a short time, leaving Sunday morning.

Dinner with Ali and Jodi

Accommodation:

Courtyard Marriott - Shawna had stayed here during our prior visit so we decided to stay here again as it's closer to the main office, has a nicer gym and a very good buffet breakfast.  Our room was very nice with king bed, table, sofa and nice sized bathroom. Jodi and Ali stayed at iRoha. 

Fairfield Inn Marriott - On our return home, our flight to Hong Kong was canceled so the airline put us up for one more night at this hotel which included breakfast.  Nice hotel but we prefer the Courtyard. 

Activities:

The main event was to spend time with EYC so we did the following:

• Met 1:1 with stop students in Grade 12 and university. This was very valuable to hear how they are doing.
• Attended English, STEM and leadership classes.
• Held a strategy session with the management team.
• Met 1:1 with each manager.
• Had lunches with alumni, management team and volunteers.

Overall, a very successful visit.

Lunch with management team

Restaurants:

Courtyard Marriott - We had breakfast here each morning - very good buffet. Keith ordered lunch room service and we once had dinner room service.  We also had some snacks for dinner from the lounge one evening.  Overall food is very good here.

iRoha - We held the alumni lunches here, had dinner with Ali, Jodi, Tim, Raphael, Mariana, Synoeun, and Symouy and separately a dinner with Ali/Jodi.  They also have great food and really personable service.

Dinner at iRoha

Farm to Table - We had dinner with Ali/Jodi here. Tables were outside and food was tasty.

D.E.S. Coffee Roasters - Located near Youth School, had lunch here with Jodi/Ali/Raphael as well as separately with volunteers.  Limited menu but tasty.

Pasta Corner - Located near Youth School, we had lunch with the management team. Mona also joined us.  Pizza was decent.

Brasserie Louis - For our last evening, we had dinner here with Mariana and Raphael and their daughter Camille. The restaurant is located on a high floor of the Rosewood Hotel with beautiful views of the city below.  We went early and had a drink at their bar.  Dinner was great - we shared a salad and lamb chops.  And it was lovely to spend time with Mariana and Raphael. 

Dinner at Brasserie Louis

Japan - Part 6 - Kyoto and Tokyo

We left Hiroshima to drive to Kyoto where Graham and his girlfriend, Liana, were to meet us for our last leg of the trip. They also joined us for part of our week in Tokyo. 

Kyoto

We had been here earlier in the trip but thought it would be good for Graham to see the sites in Kyoto so we returned and spent five nights. We arrived mid-afternoon and dropped of the rental car that we had had for the past month. Graham and Liana's flight arrived in Osaka after 6pm and they got to the hotel after midnight. They had dinner in Osaka so they could see Namba and then came to the hotel.

Accommodations:

Mimaru Suites Kyoto Shijo - We got a two bedroom suite with a separate living room with a table and chairs, sofa, a mini kitchen and combo washer/drier. The place was great - clean, roomy and comfortable. They provided free beer and sake during happy hour in the lobby. 

Activities:

Day in Arashiyama - We took the Sagano Romantic Train Ride up the gorge with really nice views of the river. We had intended on doing the boat ride back down but they were sold old so we had to take the regular train back. We walked through the Bamboo Forest and and then the Okochi Sanso Gardens - both of which we had done on our prior time in Kyoto.  This time the leaves were changing colors so the gardens were beautiful. We then walked through the Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street which was really pretty with traditional homes.  We tried to go to a temple that was near there but it was closed. 

Bamboo Forest

Okochi Sanso Gardens

Morning in Nara - We took the train out to Nara and walked through the park to see the deer.  We also went to Todai-ji Temple to show Graham and Liana the impressive temple with the giant buddha. New to us was the Isuien Garden which was just beautiful, especially with the fall leaves.  Definitely our favorite garden of the trip. 

Todai-ji Temple

Isuien Garden

Tea Ceremony - We participated in a tea ceremony where they dressed us up in kimonos and we learned about the Japanese tea ceremony tradition and how to make matcha tea.  The instructor was great - informative, nice and funny! While Shawna is not a fan of tea, the experience was really great. 

Tea Ceremony

One day, Graham and Liana went up to Kurama to go to an onsen, hike to the Kuramadera Temple and then see the lantern festival at the Kifune Shrine.  Shawna's knee was not in good shape so we stayed behind and relaxed instead.

Old Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa - We visited this old villa that was owned by the Mitsui family who were merchants. The villa was built in 1925. After this, we walked across the river on stone steps and then walked along the Kyoto Gardens to get to Nishiki Market.

Old Mitsui Villa

Nishiki Market - We walked through the market so they could see all of the food stalls and vendors. 

Kyomizu-dera - We took them to one of our favorite temples which has amazing views and an incredible wooden platform that is over 400 years old. Unfortunately by the time we got there, it was dark so they could not see as much and there were a crazy amount of people.

View from Kyomizu-dera at night

Japanese Art Show - We attended a 50 minute show at Gion Corner where there were several 'mini' performances showcasing Japanese art form - a women making tea, a woman doing a flower arrangement, a few musicians and dancers with masks, a comedy routine and lastly two Geishas dancing. While it was interesting, we were also glad it was only 50 minutes!

Gion Corner Theater

Restaurants:

Saga Tofu-Ine North Branch - We had lunch at this place located in Arashiyama that specializes in tofu dishes. So what did we do? We both a beef rice bowl - so yummy!

Kakimaru Ayanokoji - We had dinner at this place near our hotel that specializes in oysters. We ordered several dishes for the table, including oysters which were very good. We also liked the sashimi, shrimp and fried avocado. 

Dinner at Kakimaru Ayanokoji

Ryosho - We had dinner at this Michelin two star restaurant located in the Gion (Geisha) district. There were only nine seats at a counter and we had a 12 course tasting menu and a five glass wine pairing.  Everything was very good except we were not as impressed with the sashimi. 

Dinner at Ryosho

Taku Sando - We had lunch at this counter service tonkatsu sandwich place. We each got the pork tonkatsu which was delicious and ginormous!

Taku Sando

Hanamoto Steak House - We had our last dinner at this steak house. We had a set meal with salad, rice, miso, grilled vegetables, steak and dessert.  The steak was pretty good but not as good as others we had.

Tokyo

We took the bullet train to Tokyo which was so cool - the train goes 200 MPH which got us to Tokyo in a third of the time (if not shorter) than if we had driven it. Unfortunately, it was rainy so we didn't see as much, in particular, we could not see Fuji. We stayed in Tokyo for six nights while Graham and Liana were there for three nights.  What an amazing city - we've never seen this many buildings before in one city!

Accommodations:

Prince Park Tower Tokyo - We got two separate rooms at this hotel near Tokyo Tower. The rooms were spacious and comfortable but the furniture was a bit dated. The hotel has a bar on the 33rd floor with nice views of the city and the tower - we went up there once to have a cocktail before dinner and you have to pay a per person fee to have seats near the window!  

Activities:

Kappabashi Shopping Street - We walked around this street known as the 'cooking' street where they sell dishes, knives and cookware.  Yoshi, who was still in Tokyo visiting her mom, joined us for the day. Graham bought some nice wooden bowls to use at NOSA. He was going to buy a knife but decided he could get the knife from the maker he liked for cheaper in the US. 

Senso-ji Temple - We visited this temple which is the oldest temple in Japan. The building itself is new as it was rebuilt after the war (it has been bombed during WWII). There is a long street of vendors leading up to the temple and it was quite crowded. Liana tried her luck at getting her fortune but it turned out to be a bad one so in keeping with local tradition, she tied her fortune to post where the bad fortunes are left behind. Yoshi was with us as well.

Senso-ji Temple

Sky Tree - We got tickets to go to both levels of Sky Tree before sunset and we stayed to watch the sunset as well as the lights of the city to illuminate.  The views were amazing and we got to see Fuji in clear view since it was a clear day. Definitely a highlight for our time in Tokyo. Yoshi was with us as well. 

Sky Tree

View from Sky Tree

Tsukiji Outer Market - We walked around this market which has a ton of food stalls as well as some stalls selling fish and produce.  We tasted a few things: pork bun, wagyu on a stick (so flavorful) and king crab (really delicious). 

King crab at Tsukiji Outer Market

Shibuya Scramble Crossing - We checked out the crossing which is said to have over 30K people walking this intersection every day.  When we were there, it was not as busy. There was a British shop nearby so we went to it and had a Mars bar and scone with cream and jam!

Shibuya Scramble Crossing

3D Cat - We checked out the famous 3D cat at Shinjuku - it was not as big as expected but cool to see the graphics.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden - Yoshi joined us and we walked around this large park which has a nice traditional Japanese garden along with a greenhouse. The fall leaves were not as colorful as what we had seen in Kyoto.  But there was a very cool exhibit of chrysanthemums where they showcased different varietals as well as a kind that produced several hundred flowers from one stem. 

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Meiji Jingu Shrine - We walked around this temple which is the largest in Japan and is dedicated to Emperor Meiji who led Japan into more modern times! The surrounding forest and gardens are very serene and pretty. 

Meiji Jingu Shrine

Ramen Tour - We did the Shibuya version of this ramen tour, stopping at three places and trying 6 mini bowls of ramen (although between us we tried 12 as we each ordered different ones). We especially like the curry ramen at the last place we visited. 

Ramen Tour

Harry Potter Experience - Yoshi joined us for this tour of the Harry Potter Experience which has very well done decorated rooms to mimic rooms and scenes in the movies.  The experience mostly focuses on the filming process including artwork, costumes, set design, sound editing, etc. 

Harry Potter Experience

Restaurants:

Sezanne - We had dinner at this three Michelin star restaurant located in the Four Seasons adjacent to Tokyo Station. This restaurant is also listed as the seventh best restaurant in the world.  The dining room was very nice and sat about 30 people. The service was excellent as was the food which is French style cuisine using Japanese ingredients.  We had a 14 course meal with wine pairing. 

Sezanne

Okonomiyaki Shiraiwa Asakusa - We had lunch at this restaurant in the covered market in Asakusa. We got some fried avocado and chicken to start and then got three different okonomiyakis to share - one with beef, one with potato and one with mixed seafood.  Food was good but the one we had in Osaka was better. 

Torigin Honten - We had dinner at this yakitori restaurant in Ginza. Yoshi knew the place so she took us there. We shared a few skewers and rice dishes with crab. Very tasty. 

Sushi Oya - We had dinner at this one Michelin start restaurant that serves sushi omakase (multiple courses) at a counter with the chef making the sushi in front of you.  The place only sat six people and we were the only ones at that seating. The chef/owner was very personable and the sushi was amazing.  Graham even said it was life changing.  We had a glass of wine and some sake along with dinner. 

Sushi Oya

The Giant Step - We had lunch with Yoshi at this place near the Harry Potter Experience - each getting a yummy hamburger. The place was very cute with 50s decor.

Zurriola - Our final dinner was at a Michelin one star restaurant focused on Spanish cuisine using Japanese ingredients.  The restaurant was nice as was the service - the food was good but not 'life changing'. 

Observations:

Overall this was truly an amazing trip - the scenery was stunning, the people kind and generous and the culture and history fascinating.  Our only disappointments, if we can call it that, were that we had hoped for better hiking and better food.  We did some really nice hikes but we wanted longer, harder hikes with rugged scenery. For food, we did have some really good meals but overall Japanese food is not the most flavorful so also had some not so impressive meals. Other observations:

• The People - This is what surprised us the most. We had heard that the people are kind but experiencing it was truly refreshing.  Everyone wants to help and share their country with you. We also found them to be quite humorous and always smiling. Lastly, we noticed how proud they are in their work - even the person directing traffic took great pride! On several occasions, they stopped to ask if we needed help - apparently, we looked lost or confused or both!
• Language - We were not worried about communicating in the big cities but we were surprised just how easy it was to communicate in the small towns as well.  While they may not speak that much English in the rural areas, they knew enough and when needed, Google Translate bridged the gap.
• Noise - They are a very quiet population, speaking at low volumes. Even the trains were quiet and we only heard someone honk their horn once! It took us a bit to adjust to lower speaking volumes.
• Clean - They are also super clean. Every hotel we stayed in was pristine and the streets and rivers have no trash at all! It's hard to find a trash can so you to carry around your own trash and get rid of it when returning to the hotel. There is also no graffiti anywhere. In restaurants, they offer baskets to put your bags in so that they are not on the floor. And every bathroom has bathroom slippers!
• Organized and Timely - Everything is on time. We laughed because we read an article that the Japanese government had to issue an apology letter when one of the trains left a minute early! And people stand in line and wait their turn - no pushing! Even getting on/off the public transportation is orderly.
• Driving and Parking - They drive on the left side of the road. Thankfully Keith had practice doing this so it was super easy for us to get around.  And Google Maps helped navigation as some of the signs are only in kanji. We got the ETC (auto toll reader) which helped a ton with time as there are a lot of tolls! To rent a car, you need an international drivers license which we got in advance before we arrived. Most parking lots require you to pay once you leave - some do not have tickets but they have cameras that take pictures of your license plate so they can recognize when you leave. 
• Safety - They are super focused on this. The young kids wear bright colored hats when they are walking to/from school. And while we were there, we only saw two car accidents on the side of the road. The speed limits are very low. 
• Scenery - We were expecting mountains but we did not expect to see them everywhere! They are very lush covered with trees. The coastlines are beautiful and rugged. And we could not get enough of the beautiful and serene temples and shrines. The small towns were also very charming. 
• Bathrooms - Bathrooms are easy to find - they are at all tourist sites as well as subway/train stations and they are very clean.  They love their bidets! We especially liked the 'modesty' music/noises that some toilets would play so that others would not hear you doing your business!
• Weather - It was still quite hot and humid in September. Come mid-October, it got mild and quite pleasant with cool mornings and evenings. We had some rain but thankfully nothing that got in the way. Umbrellas are needed because sometimes the rain is too strong for just a rain jacket and they do not like you walking through their stores/restaurants with dripping clothes. 
• Food - As mentioned above, we were a bit disappointed by the food. That said, we had very high expectations. Some of the food was too delicate (aka lack in spice) for us and other food was unhealthy (like fried chicken). We had some great sushi - they do not do rolls like we get in the US - their sushi is either sashimi or sushi over rice. Their beef is amazing - so juicy and tender - melts in your mouth! We did miss vegetables - they tend to serve a lot of root vegetables that have been pickled. Restaurants can be a challenge sometimes - they close at odd times (and Google info is not always accurate) and some of them are quite small so not good for large groups. Vending machines for drinks are everywhere - in some, you can even get beer! We got groceries quite a bit which was interesting to see what they sold. We quickly learned the etiquette in the grocery stores which is to first check out, then pay (sometimes at a separate terminal) and then take your basket to the side to pack up.
• Animals - Given how much beef and chicken are on the menu, we were surprised that we did not see a lot of cows and chickens around. 

Japan - Part 5 - Oki Islands and Hiroshima

We left the Japanese Alps to spend a few days on the Oki Islands and a few days in Hiroshima. 

Oki Islands

The Oki Islands were a last minute add on the trip as we adjusted our time in the mountains to do this part.  We figured it would be cool to see the coast and get off the main island for a bit. There are four major islands in Oki: Dogo, Nakanoshima, Nishinoshima and Chiburijima Islands (the latter three are also called the Dozen Islands). They are known to have beautiful and rugged coastlines formed by volcanoes. We stayed a total of 4 nights - one night on Dogo and three nights on Nakanoshima. There are limited hotels and restaurants on the islands so advance reservation is highly recommended. 

Accommodations

Sakaiminato Yunagi no Yu Onyado Nono - We stayed at this hotel one night on the mainland close to where we had to get the ferry the next morning.  The hotel was large but our room was not - the smallest room we had on the trip. Just a double bed with a bathroom and a small desk.  It was cheap though! We had dinner and breakfast in the room from the supermarket nearby. 

Oki Plaza Hotel - We stayed here one night on Dogo Island. The lobby was quite updated but our floor and room was not.  That said, our room was clean, large and cheap.  The room we booked had a toilet and sink and we had to shower in the public onsen in the hotel.  

Ento Hotel - We stayed here three nights on Nakanoshima Island. The hotel is very modern with a stark lobby.  We booked a room with breakfast included - the room was very large with a wonderful bed and views.  The bathroom was also large - only downside was that the shower pressure was not the best. 

Our room at Ento

View from our room at Ento

Activities

We drove for eight hours from Takayama to Sakaiminato where we stayed one night before we got the ferry to the islands.  On the way, we stopped to visit the Himeji Castle which is Japan's largest castle and one of the few that was not destroyed in the war or with fires/earthquakes.  It is one of the three prettiest castles in Japan (one other is in Matsumoto which we had seen).  The castle is quite interesting and we were able to go inside and climb up to the top floor (it has six stories above ground). In Japan, the castles were not used for residences but rather for defense. 

Himeji Castle

We left our car in the ferry parking lot as we could not get a reservation to take the car with us and we boarded the ferry to Dogo Island - the ride took 2.5 hours. We bought 2nd class tickets (the cheap tickets) to find out that this included sitting on a large carpeted platform. We saw that others were taking the provided headrests and lying down so we did the same.  The ride was a bit rocky!

Ferry to the islands

Drive around Dogo Island - We rented a car and drove around the island the afternoon we arrived, stopping along the way at various views points. At some of the viewpoints there were 2-3 KM walks we could do.  While the viewpoint at Jodogaura Coast was nice, the cool trail that follows the rockling was closed. We did the walks on Shirashima-zaki Cape which was nice as well as Nagu-saki Cape which was beautiful and is where we watched the sunset. The island was a lot prettier than we were expecting. 

Views around Dogo Island

Walk to Tamawakasu-mikoto Shrine - We had a bit of time to kill the next morning before heading to the Dozen Islands so we walked to this shrine which enshrines the deities of the Oki region and also has a one thousand year old cedar which they are desperately propping up with long wooden poles. The shrine was simple but nice. 

Tamawakasu-mikoto Shrine

We took the ferry from Dogo to Nakanoshima - also in second class. This ferry ride was only 1 hour and 15 minutes but it was still a bit rocky. One there, we checked into our next hotel and walked around Hishiura town a bit. 

Bike around Nakanoshima - We rented e-bikes from the tourist office in town and rode them for 3.5 hours, covering about 2/3 of the island.  We wanted to drive to the southern cape but we worried that we would run out of battery so we had to cut off that part.  The roads were quite hilly and thankfully with very few cars which made Shawna happy! In addition to stopping to see the coastal views, we also stopped to see the Oki Shrine and Tengawa-no-mizu Spring which is one of Japan's 100 best water sources. The views were stunning and it was really cool to pass through the small villages and see the farmland in addition to the coast.

Biking around Nakanoshima

Day on Nishinoshima - We took the ferry over to Nishinoshima which is the island right next to where we stayed - it is the largest of the Dozen Islands.  We then took the local bus to the next large town and did the Kuniga Coast Boat Tour which was amazing - so cool to see the rugged coastline from the water.  The tour was 1.5 hours and it was all in Japanese! From the dock, we got a taxi to drop us off on Matengai Cliff so we could do the 2.5km hike down the Kuniga Coast. The path was downhill the whole way and filled with cow and horse manure but thankfully we could side step that as the views were stunning.  The cab driver picked us up on the other end and then took us back to the ferry terminal so that we could return to Nakanoshima.

View from the water on the Kuniga Coast Boat Tour

View from land on the Kuniga Coast trail

Restaurants

Ento Hotel - We had all of our breakfasts here which was included in the rate.  Breakfast was traditional Japanese with miso soup, rice, veggies and fish - it was pretty good but not our favorite. We had dinner here one night which was an eight course meal with Italian influence - the food was really good. We also had a few glasses of wine which were OK - they had a limited wine selection.  

Breakfast at Ento Hotel

Sushi Riku - We had dinner here which has counter seating for six people and offers a pre-set omakase (multi-course) sushi meal. It is a new restaurant in town that was recommended by our hotel.  The owner/chef is very young but did an amazing job - we could watch him make everything right in front of us! It was one of our best meals of the trip.  We had sashimi, sushi, egg custard, miso, rice dish and mochi - all very fresh and tasty (except we were not the biggest fans of the mochi). 

Sushi Riku

Okigyu - We had dinner at this steak restaurant near our hotel where you cook your own meal and it was another top meal for us. They serve local Oki beef and also have a store where they sell the meat.  We got filet and few other cuts of beef along with pork and veggies and a bottle of wine - so yummy!

Sentoraru-tei - This restaurant is located on the second floor of the ferry building - we had lunch here the day we departed. Not the best food but since we had a long drive, it helped to keep us full.  We got the fried chicken and a curry/cheese/rice dish.  

Hiroshima

We stayed four nights in Hiroshima which is a beautiful modern city with nice rivers.

Accommodations

The Knot Hiroshima - We stayed here for four nights for very cheap.  The hotel is quite large and located across from the Peace Park.  Our room was small (but standard for Japan) with two twins, a sofa, mini-fridge and decent sized bathroom.  There is a rooftop bar at the hotel and a restaurant on the first floor.  

Activities

Hiroshima Peace Park, Museum and Dome - This area and museum is about the history of the WWII bombing of Hiroshima. We walked around the park, which is beautiful, seeing the monuments and Peace Dome which shows the destruction of one of the buildings. The museum was incredibly well done and moving with very detailed displays of the impact the bombings had on the people in the area. We got the audio guide but not really needed since each display was also in English. We also went inside the Memorial Hall that is dedicated to the lives that were lost. 

Hiroshima Museum and Dome

Orizuyu Tower - A bit pricey but worth it - you have amazing views of the city and the Dome below from the top floor of this building.  As you walk down, there are art exhibits on the wall.  

Shukkeien Garden - This was probably our favorite garden that we had been to in Japan.  Very well laid out with small paths that wind around a pond and beautiful trees.  

Shukkeien Garden

Miyajima Island:

We took the ferry from Peace Park to and from the island - the ride is about 45 minutes and is indoors with not the best views. Once on the island, we took the obligatory photos of the famous Torii gate - we did not see it at low tide so could not walk out to it but was cool to see it in the water. There are deer wondering all over - but these deer seemed much less aggressive than the ones in Nara. 

Famous Miyajima Torii Gate

We then walked around the Itshukushima Shrine which is quite large and right on the water - not our favorite shrine but was still cool to see.  We went inside the Treasure Hall which has art, pottery and sword artifacts.   

Itsukushima Shrine

We also walked around Daishoin Temple which is amazing with tons of really cute stone statues - Shawna puts this place in her top temple list. At the temple, we also walked inside Henjo Cave which was lit up with lights and had buddha statues throughout. 

Dashoin Temple

We hiked up Mount Misen on the Daisho-in Course which is about 2.5km to the top and is the most scenic of the three courses to the top.  The walk was constant uphill on stone steps with smaller shrines along the way. At the saddle, we hiked another 1km to Okunoin Shrine which is small and not the most impressive but we got some more steps in. We then hiked to the summit and saw the amazing views from the Mt Misen Observatory and also saw the flame that is supposed to have been burning for the last 1200 years. We took the ropeway down which was nice to see the views down below.  Once at the bottom, we walked along the famous shopping street - it was packed solid with tourists!

View from top of Mt Misen

Restaurants

Namaste - Craving some spicy food again, we had lunch here. Did our usual of samosas, pappad, mutton curry and rice.  Very tasty!

More Than - This restaurant is located in the lobby of our hotel and is constantly full with people.  Their menu definitely caters to an international crowd.  One evening, we each got a salad for dinner which were pretty good. And one lunch we got a pasta and pizza which was also tasty.

Akushu Restaurant - Located on Miyajimi, we had a late lunch here.  The place is on the fancier side but since this was our only meal of the day, we treated ourselves.  We got a salad (which was so good we ended up getting another one) and a bolognese pasta made with local beef. Both were very yummy!

Japan - Part 4 - Japanese Alps

After we finished the Kumano Kodo trail with Jan, we picked up a rental car at the Osaka airport and spent  a little over three weeks in the Japanese alps - the goal was to do a lot of hiking but since many of the 'hard' hikes are also quite technical, we ended up doing more easy/moderate hikes in addition to seeing some sites.  Since we were in the alps in October the leaves were starting to change to beautiful yellows and reds, though we left the alps about 2 weeks short of peak season.

Nagano

We stayed five nights in Nakano (just north of Nagano which was the home to the 1998 Winter Olympics). We chose this location as it is closer to the national parks.  The area is surrounded by lush mountains and when we were there, there were tons of apple orchards growing. 

Accommodation:

Route Inn Grand Nakano Obuse - We had a small but comfortable room with two twin beds (called "modest twins", vs "Hollywood twins" which are pushed together!), a mini-sofa and desk and mini-fridge. The place was super clean and had laundry facilities in the lobby. We had all breakfasts in the room - yogurt and granola that we bought at the supermarket. And one evening we got sushi from the store and had it for dinner in our room.

Activities:

We tried to go to the snow monkey park (Jigokudani Yaen-Koen) but the sign at the entrance said that the monkeys had not yet come down from the mountains.  So, we went Shiga Kogen which is a major ski area in the Joshin-etsukogen National Park.  We stopped in the visitor center and got some helpful hiking ideas from a guide who spoke English.  In this park, we hiked the following:

Biwa-ike Lake and Mt Asahi - We hiked for 2 hours - 5 miles and 1.1K elevation gain - around Biwa Lake and up a small hill called Mt Asahi.  We saw nice views of the lake from the top.  The leaves are starting to turn but it's not quite peak season yet.

Biwa-ike Lake

Big Scenic Circuit - We hiked several of the more popular trails in the park that connect in one big loop. The hike was 10.5 miles and 2.6K elevation gain and took 6.5 hours.  We hiked by several ponds/lakes including the largest lake in the area called Onuma. We also hiked up Mt Shiga which stands at 6.5K feet high and was volcanic over 250K years ago.  Parts of the trail were very nice and parts were quite steep and muddy. The scenery changed from jungle/moss, to wetlands, to forests and to mountains.

Onuma Lake

Okushiga Valley Walk - This was a 2 miles walk along a river with beautiful waterfalls.  It was mostly flat with an undulating trail. The leaves were starting to change so it was quite pretty. 

Okushiga Valley Walk

Nagano Walking Tour - On our final morning, we did this three hour walking tour of Nagano. The tour took us to Ogawanoshodaimonten where we had freshly made oyaki which is the traditional dish of Nagano and is a wheat dumpling stuffed with vegetables and cooked over a fire.  We tried the nozawana (which is pickled greens) and eggplant - both very tasty.   We then went to Zenkoji Temple, passing along the Main Street leading up to it with traditional style buildings that are shops and restaurants - very cute area.  The temple was very nice but in particular the grounds were beautiful.  The temple was founded in the 7th century and is known to house the oldest statue of a god in Japan - although no one has seen said statue in over 1300 years! We then walked over to the Nishinomiya Shrine which is a cute small shrine in a traditional neighborhood.  Our last stops were to do a sake tasting at Nishinomon Yoshinoya, a brewery that was founded in 1637 and then we stopped for ice cream at one more place before ending the tour. 

Oyaki at Ogawanoshodaimonten

Zenkoji Temple

Restaurants:

Tam Curry - A cute and very clean Japanese curry place near our hotel - we had dinner here our first night each getting a combo of the keema and butter chicken curries - delicious!

Togakushi Iseya - We had not had soba noodles yet so we had dinner at this soba restaurant near our hotel.  We ordered two types of soba - one that came in the broth and one where you have to dip into a broth.  They tasted pretty similar to us! They spoke no English so we resorted to pointing to order.

Soba noodles at Togakushi Iseya

Nepalese Restaurant - We don't know the name of this place as it was in kanji - it was located near our hotel and we had dinner here one night. We got samosas, chicken tikka, mutton curry, rice and cheese naan.  Everything was delicious!

Tamuro - An Izakaya restaurant near our hotel, we had dinner here and it was our worst meal of the trip.  We ordered some sushi but the fish was cut way too thick so we didn't finish it.  We also had some skewers which were pretty good and fried chicken.  

Matsumoto

We stayed in Matsumoto for four nights.

Accommodation:

Tabino Hotel - This hotel that is centrally located downtown was new and clean and the room was on the smaller side but it was nice.  We had a king sized bed with sofa, table, and washing machine.  Breakfast was included so we had that each morning which consisted of a buffet of mostly Japanese foods - it was pretty good. 

Activities:

Utsukushigahara Open Air Museum - On our drive to Matsumoto, we stopped at this open air museum that is the sister museum to the one we saw in Hakone.  This one was on top of a mountain ridge so the scenery was beautiful.  The sculptures were all very modern and the grounds looked like they needed a bit more up keeping. 

Utsukushigahara Open Air Museum - We called this one "Barbie"

Ishii Miso Brewery - This miso brewery was founded in 1868 and is one of the few that still make miso with traditional processes.  They use all local soybeans, ferment the miso in wooden barrels and age their miso for three years. We got a brief tour by the 6th generation President and then got a taste of their miso soup which was rich and tasty.  We wanted to have lunch there but we couldn't find anyone to order so we left.

One of the barrels at Ishii Miso Brewery

Daio Wasabi Farm - This is the largest wasabi farm in Japan and while they do not provide tours, we walked around the grounds to see the wasabi fields growing in very clear streams of water that is provided by the nearby rivers.  We then had a wasabi croquette and wasabi ice cream - both very good. 

Wasabi Field at Daio

Matsumoto Castle - This is one of the few castles that has not been damaged by war/fires. It was built in the late 1500s and was used as a fort to protect the surrounding areas.  The building itself is beautiful as are the grounds and gardens.  When we arrived, we saw that there were free English guides available so we got one who told us a bit of the history and showed us a few good spots on the grounds to take photos.  He also waited in line with us for a while, telling us more about the castle, while we waited to enter inside. There are some artifacts inside but the better part is just seeing the construction inside and climbing to the top to see the views - the steps to the top were quite steep! 

Matsumoto Castle

Nawate and Nakamachi Shopping Streets - We walked up these two shopping streets with shops in traditional houses/buildings.  Nawate had more souvenir type shops whereas Nakamachi had more boutique stores. 

Nakasendo Trail (Magome to Tsumago) - We walked this 8km section of the famous Nakasendo trail used by samuarais and merchants to go between Tokyo and Kyoto in the Edo period.  There were over 60 post towns (Magome and Tsumago are two of them) along that route where travelers would stop to eat and/or sleep.  The towns themselves were very cute with traditional buildings throughout and the trail was nice - weaving through forests, towns and waterfalls.  Some of the trail was old stones while other parts were dirt. We got there by driving first to Tsumago, taking a bus to Magome and then hiking from Magome back to Tsumago.

Tsumago

 Nakasendo Trail

Restaurants:

Beans - We had dinner at this Italian restaurant around the corner from our hotel.  It was better than we expected - we had pasta with meat sauce and a pizza with bacon, sausage and pepporoni.  The owners were very nice. 

Thai Lotus - We clearly have been missing spicy food because we could not stop raving how good this was.  We had a red and green curry.  As usual, the people serving us were super nice as well.  

Cohiludo - We had lunch in this modern cafe near the castle - we tried three different types of oyaki - pork, mushroom and apple.  Apple was the best!

Wachinoya Pastry - Located in Tsumago, we had oyaki for lunch from here. We tried three different types - meat, eggplant and walnut.  The meat and walnut were quite good.

Vieni Vieni - Our final dinner in Matsumoto and this was the best by far.  It's a cute, small Italian restaurant.  We sat at the bar where we could watch the chef do his work in a tiny kitchen.  We shared a cacio e pepe pasta and a seared pork with veggies - so delicious!

Kamikochi

We stayed in Kamikochi for five nights - it is known to be one of the prettiest valleys in the Alps. There are mountains that surround the area with a beautiful winding river. And while it was not peak leaf changes yet, it was the beginning so we were able to see some color changes. 

There are no cars allowed so you have to park in one of two parking lots and take a bus to get here - takes about 30 min via bus from the lots.  The valley is dotted with a few hotels and a few cafes but it's not really a town.

Accommodation:

Lemeiesta Hotel - The splurge of our trip and well worth it! The hotel itself is very nice and our room was amazing - very large bed (two double thick mattresses on the floor that were super comfortable), a huge bathroom and a sofa with fantastic views of the mountains.  Breakfast and dinner was included in our rate (see below).

Lemeiesta Hotel

Our room

Activities:

Hike to Myojin Pond - We walked along the river to one of the two picturesque ponds in the valley. This pond has a shrine that is for the mountain deities. The route was 7 miles round trip and took us just under 3 hours with a few stops. We also crossed the famous Kappa Bridge where there were a ton of tourists snapping pictures. We had a few oyakis for lunch at one of the cafe stands at the bridge. We did this walk again a second day but this time skipping the stop at the pond.

Myojin Pond

Kappa Bridge

Hike to Tashiro and Taisho Ike Ponds - It was a rainy day but we decided to still get a bit of exercise in so we walked 4 miles in 1.5 hours to these two ponds.  It was not as picturesque - mainly because of the clouds and rain.  We did get to see the monkeys which were adorable.  We walked back to the Kappa Bridge for more oyakis for lunch. 

Monkeys along our walk

Dakesawa Hike - This is the only 'harder' hike in the area we could do that was not technical.  It was a beautiful hike up to a hut where you could get snacks and drinks.  The views were spectacular.  The hike was 7 miles, 2.6K in elevation gain and took us close to 5 hours (with breaks). 

Dakesawa Hike

Restaurants:

Lemeiesta Hotel - Breakfast was a fantastic buffet with mostly Japanese fare but definitely the best we have had so far.  Dinner included a multi-course meal (alternating each night between French and Japenese/French) and most of the dishes were very tasty. Our favorite dishes were the beef ones but also had some nice fish dishes. 

Toyama

We stayed three nights in this port town that is on the western side of the Alps.  Being a port town, it's not very attractive but the downtown area was nice.  If we were to stay again, we would choose Kanazawa instead.

Accommodation:

Hotel Jal City - This hotel is located downtown near the train station.  It's a large, very clean hotel and while the room was small, it was very comfortable.  We had two twin beds pushed together that were quite comfortable with a sofa, mini-fridge and nice bathroom with a rain shower. 

Activities:

Kurobe Gorge Trolley Train - We did this on our drive in from Kamikochi.  The weather was a bit cloudy but we could still see views.  The train ride is 50 minutes each way with a 20 minute stop at the end before returning.  There were nice views of the rive and gorge but the stop at the end was not the greatest.  The train itself was open air with cushioned bench seats and all of the explanation was in Japanese.  

Kurobe Gorge Trolley Train

Takaoke - We drove 30 minutes to Takaoke to see the Great Buddha, one of the three great ones is Japan (the other two are in Nara and Kamakura).  This one was no where near as impressive as the other two.  We then walked around the Takaoke Castle Park which was small but nice with green lawns and statues and the Yamachosuji Historical District which had a few nice, older buildings but there were mixed in with new ones so not very impressive.  

Takaoke Great Buddha

Iwase District - We walked around this historic port area of Toyama which had some nice old warehouses that have been refurbished into restaurants, brewers and shops. Unfortunately the area was a bit dead when we were there.  We walked to the top of the Toyota Port Observation deck where we could see more of the surrounding ports. 

Murodo - Definitely the best part of this leg of the trip! This is a mountain top location with the largest caldera in Japan surrounding by several mountains, including one of the holy mountains of Japan, Mt Tateyama. To get here, we drove to the parking lot at Tateyama station and then took a cable car and a bus to the top (cars are not allowed to drive themselves to the top). We hiked around for about two hours, hiking up to a saddle and then back down and around Midorika and Mikurige-ike Ponds.  There was an area with an overlook that we could see steam coming up as part of the volcano is still active.  There is an option to continue on the journey to do the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route all the way to Nagano (via more buses, ropeways) but that would have taken 7-8 hours one way so we opted not to do that. There are a few hotels at the top at Murodo and if we come back, we would stay there for a night to do more exploring.

Murodo

Shomyo Falls - After Murodo, we drove over and then walked to this waterfall which is the tallest in Japan at 35 meters high.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy so we could not see the full waterfall but it was still impressive. 

Shomyo Falls

Day in Kanazawa:

On our way to Takayama, we spend a half day in Kanazawa, known to be a "little Kyoto". After we saw the town (which is very cute), we wished we would have stayed here instead.  We first walked around the gardens, Kenroku-en, which had been recommended by Kerstin.  The grounds were very nice with typical Japanese trees and a few nice ponds.  

Kenroku-en Gardens

We then saw the Myouryuji (Ninja Temple) which is known to have a lot of secret alleyways and compartments to ward off enemies.  There are tours available but unfortunately we did not have a reservation.  We walked around the Nagamachi Samurai District which has beautiful homes along a cobble stone street and went inside the Nomura-ke Samurai Heritage Residence which showcased what a typical samurai home looked like - it had lovely gardens.  

Nagamachi Samurai District

We also went to see the Oyama Shrine which had a tower with European design, a very nice building and nice gardens.  We then walked around the Kazue-machi Chaya district which is where they have old teahouses and Higashi Chaya district which is the Geisha district filled with traditional houses (now shows and restaurants) along cobble stone streets. Both of the district were adorable. We ended our time in Kanazawa by walking around the Omicho Market which felt more like a market than others we had been to.  While they had restaurants, they also had plenty of fish and vegetable stalls. Because were were in a time crunch, we got a few take-away items from the basement level stalls in the Kohrinbo mall. 

Kazue-machi Chaya District

Restaurants:

Kuromoji - Really cute izakaya near our hotel. We had dinner here sharing a honey cheese dip, curry snack, eggplant bruschetta, a very yummy salad and some beef.  We had to each order a drink so we got NA beer.  

Kobo Brew Pub - Located in the Iwase port warehouse district, we had lunch here.  Sadly, we did not have any beer since we were trying to be good but we had some sausages with mustard and bread.  The sausages were tasty but a bit too greasy.  The location was great in an old warehouse.  

Kobo Brew Pub

Santoshi - An Indian restaurant across the street from our hotel.  We had dinner here and shared veggie samosas, pappad, chicken curry and rice - all delicious and spicy!

Bibbi de BAL de SAN - A cute Italian restaurant near our hotel.  We had dinner here and shared a salad, pasta and pizza.  Everything was delicious. 

Takayama

We wrapped up our time in the Alps with four nights in this town, also known to be another 'little Kyoto'. We were going to visit Kiso after Takayama but had decided earlier in the trip to cut that part and instead go to the Oki Islands - thus Takayama became our last stop in the Alps. The town is very nice surrounded by hills and mountains. 

Accommodation:

Fav Hidatakayama - This hotel is more of an 'apart' hotel with limited amenities (e.g. no restaurant, limited front desk hours). Our room was large with two double beds with twin bunks above us.  We also had a nice sized sofa and coffee table with a kitchenette and washer/drier.  The bathroom was also large.  In additional to having breakfast each morning in the room, we also had dinner a few nights by picking up items from the grocery store - sushi and ramen.

Activities:

Shirakawa-go - On our drive to Takayama, we stopped to walk around this very cute, old farm village with traditional homes with thatched roofs.  Many of the buildings are now shops and restaurants and there are tons of tourists who go here but worth it - very cute.  We both thought it was the "Kandersteg" of Japan. 

Shirakawa-go

Tour around Takayama::

It was a beautiful sunny day so we did a self-guided walking tour around town.  We stopped by the Miyagawa Morning Market which consists of several stores and stalls along the river selling souvenirs and food.  We of course had to get Hida beef on a stick! 

We the walked the ~2 mile Higashiyama Promenade which is a route that takes you by many temples and shrines. We saw most of them - the most impressive being Hida Kokubun-ji Temple (famous for its pagoda, a 1200 year old ginkgo tree and the main building being the older structure in town), Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine (dating back to the 5th century and nestled in lush surroundings), Takayama Betsuin Shoren-ji Temple (the temple itself is not that impressive but it has a beautiful entry gate), and Unryu-ji (nice grounds and views). 

Sights along our walk

While at Sakurayama Shrine, we also went inside the Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan which is a hall showcasing some of the hand carved floats that are used in the bi-annual Takayama Matsuri festival, one of the three most beautiful festivals in Japan.  There are 23 floats in total with a few of them on display at the museum.

Floats in Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan

The path took us up the old castle ruins hill but there was not much to see.  We did get more steps in! We then walked around the very cute Hidatakayama Sanmachi Historic District that highlights Edo period architecture - now turned into shops and restaurants.  We stopped at ABCDEFG to have one of their cookies but found it to be too dry.  We also stopped at the Onoya Brewery which is over 200 years old and makes miso and soy sauce. Unfortunately, there were not tours so we got a sample of miso and left.  We also tried to go to one of the old sake breweries but they also were not running tours and the tasting process seemed to impersonal so we bagged that idea as well.

Hidatakayama Sanmachi Historic District

Hida no Sato Open Air Museum - This is an open air museum showcasing farmer's homes and equipment. And while not as charming as the town of Shirakwa-go, it was informative with great signs and ability to go inside the homes to see how they lived.  

Hida no Sato Open Air Museum

Utsue Forty-eight Waterfalls - We are not sure what is up with the name as there are only 13 waterfalls! It was still pretty - it took us an hour to walk by all of them.

Utsue Forty-eight Waterfalls

Walk around Hida Furukawa - This town is about 15 north of Takayama and it's a mini version of Takayama - very cute with nice canals and far less tourists.  We walked around the old district, popping in Honkoji (has the largest wooden building in the Hida area) and Shinshuji Temples.  Both were very nice with pretty grounds. 

Honkoji Temple

Hida Great Limestone Cave - Known to be the highest elevation caves in Japan, this was not worth it. There are three caves totaling 800 meters in length with the first one being decent but pales in comparison to many of the other caves we have been to.

Restaurants:

Butchers - We had dinner at this Hida beef focused restaurant, sharing a salad, a sizzling shrimp appetizer and Hida beef filet with a few veggies.  The beef was really tasty but not quite Wagyu!

Butchers Restaurant

Hida Croquette - Located in the town of Hida, we grabbed a quick lunch here each getting the Hida beef croquette burger - very tasty!

Entaku - We had dinner at this Izakaya near our hotel. We had a salad, fried chicken with ponzu and Hida beef stew.  The stew was a bit disappointing but the salad and chicken were great.