China - Tibet Autonomous Region and a bit of Japan on the way home

[Noah Count]

Hotel Mystays is quite a large property.

 

[Seat0B]

Hirosaki Castle

That is a very pretty castle. Looks reasonably petite compared to some.

 

[Noah Count]

During my winging it around Japan I had not posted to many foodie type photos and there is a reason for this. I seemed to be on the constant move, arriving late etc. so most for most of the time it was various take out food from train station shops, fruit and 7/11 meals eaten as dinner for 1 in the businessmen hotels.

Not this evening and normally I would choose not eat at hotel restaurants but the last day was an exception.

 

[Noah Count]

The following day I caught up with some other AFFers at the NRT Lounge Crawl. I just spent some time in the JL lounge until I was guested into the the F lounge. I will not cover the details of the Crawl in this post.

The downstairs F lounge, upstairs is mainly dinning.

Onboard for the trip back to AU

I only managed to get through the starters before just wanting to go to sleep. The crew said I can start again later when ready but I basically sleep for the entire flight.

And a token photo of the QF offering between MEL and ADL

 

[Noah Count]

So that is it for my winging it around Japan. The only accommodation I had booked prior to leaving AU was the first night (which ended up being in the wrong location) and the last night. Everything in between was normally booked within a couple of hours prior to arrival, at times the pickings were slim. I knew there would be high probability of accomodation being available and I wasn't been fussy, all I needed was a roof over my head and close to a station. When I had told MrsM what I would be up to she wasn't concerned as we have both been to Japan before (myself a few more times) as she knew I would just work things out. Knowing the general locations and how things work certainly made it easier. I have had a goal to visit all 12 of the original castles and the plan for this trip was to get to 4 castles in the end I got to 6 so the job is now done and it took several years. At some stage I may write a seperate TR on all 12 castles, post photos, make comments, ease of getting to them etc.

Would I have done anything different, if anything it may have been to stay in Tibet longer. I wasn't sure if I would ever go back to China for reasons I will not go into. Once the visa free entry was announced last year I had booked reward flights based on the original 15 day period and took a punt a tour within the time frame would eventuate. The 15 day period was later extended to 30 days but I rarely looked for alternate flights and once I did availability had all but dried up.

With permission from @Cossie I am adding the link to TR and travels they made to 40 years ago, Tibet 40 Years Ago! I found the reading and the changes over time very interesting and it gives me some visual insights into the discussions I had with Bob about what it used to be like.

 

[Seat0B]

Thanks for another enjoyable TR @Matt_01. I’d love to go to Tibet, but I think my various medical issues now rule it out. So travelling vicariously is as good as it will get.

 

[drron]

Loved this report. Tibet is not on our list as Mrsdrron suffers at Altitude.

 

[rbjhan]

Oooh I'd love to read a TR of all 12 castles!

 

[rbjhan]

Ah yes the Akita Shinkansen (the red one) would had joined you at Morioka.