Japan - 2008
Well, the trip is in 2 days. I'm leaving on July 23, returning August 3. This is my nephew's HS graduation gift from his parents, and I get to be his (and my Niece's) tour guide/chaperone while we're there.
The basic itinerary is:
7/23 - Travel Day - SAN to LAX, LAX to NRT (that's San Diego to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Narita airport in Tokyo) Leave San Diego around 10:00am
7/24 - Arrive at NRT, then NRT to ITM - after arriving Tokyo we transfer to Osaka. Then we take a bus from Itami Airport, Osaka, to Kyoto. Should arrive at the hotel around 9:30pm Japan time. Japan is +16 hours from PDT.
7/25-7/28 - Kyoto and day trips to nearby areas.
728-7/31 - Hiroshima and nearby day trips.
8/1-8/2 - Tokyo and nearby day trips.
8/3 - NRT to LAX, LAX to SAN. Leave Tokyo around 4:00pm, arrive in San Diego around 3:00pm
Some potential highlights of the trip (aside from the usual places I've already been):
- Manga Museum in Kyoto
- Iwakuni - Cool ribbon bridge, made of wood, with no nails.
- Japanese Baseball - We'll see the Hiroshima Carp on 7/29 - for those of you who are not baseball fans, Japanese Baseball is a whole different crowd experience than US baseball...
- Studio Ghibli Museum - I really hope we can get in. I'm a big Miyazaki fan.
Anyways, if I can, I'll be updating the blog with pics and such while I'm over there, but there's no guarantees I'll have a connection (or be willing to fork over the costs for an internet cafe!)
The big drawback will be the weather. Japan in the summer time is miserable hot. It's the typhoon season, so temperatures are usually in the high 80-s to 90's, plus high humidity and lots of rain. You can see the weather over on Weather.com or whatever weather site you care to use.
Here is a link to the weather.com site for Kyoto. Then again, maybe I'll manage to sweat off a few pounds while I'm there...;)