hollyGS

Iwate Northern Japan (visiting a mountain temple in Tono)

January 25, 2024 by hollyGS

After our delicious meal we walked about 30 minutes to a shrine called Fukusenji. The shrine was deserted and reminded me of Togakushi shrine in Nagano. A staircase led to a beautiful gate or tower that was painted white and bright vermilion, then led down a beautiful cedar lined pathway to a red bridge. We then walked up the hill to the layered pagoda . There were no other human footprints in the snow, just animal ones. We then walked […]

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: Asia, backpacking, Beer, budget travel, cheap travel, self guided, self guided walking tour, travel, travel vlog, walking tour, winter japan

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WINTER in a Traditional Japanese Village!

January 21, 2024 by hollyGS

After visiting the snow covered shrine, we stopped in at the only little shop in town. The shop was pretty small and sold canned goods, beverages and some snacks. We hadn’t really eaten in 24 hours, so we bought some buns with jam in them, chips and hot coffee to warm up with. We ate the food just outside the store before heading to Denshoen, a little traditional village next door to the shop. There was a huge wooden statue […]

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: Asia, backpacking, budget travel, cheap travel, horse girl story, oshira, self guided, self guided walking tour, travel, travel vlog, walking tour

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KAPPA FISHING in Tono, Iwate Prefecture Japan. (Winter Fishing in Japan)

January 18, 2024 by hollyGS

I woke up at 5am and wrote in my book and had a coffee as Jives slept. At 6am I headed down to the onsen for the opening, hoping to get it to myself. As I arrived a young boy and his mom were heading down to the onsen as well. It was nice to only have a few people in the bath, as one more lady arrived. I spent about 30 minutes in the water and then dried off […]

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: asakusa, Asia, backpacking, budget travel, cheap travel, first impressions, flying to tokyo japan, folklore town, how to travel japan, how to visit japan, iwate prefecture, japan festivals, japan in winter, jr pass activation, jr pass tokyo station, kappa fishing, local festivals, local japan, local northern japan, local train, mixed onsen, northern japan, ryokan, self guided, self guided walking tour, snow festivals, tokyo to Tono, tono, tono iwate, traditional yukata, travel, travel vlog, walking tour, walking tour of tono, what to see in iwate, winter in japan, winter travel

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First Experience in a Japanese PUBLIC BATH // Hot springs in Northern Japan

January 14, 2024 by hollyGS

First Experience in a Japanese PUBLIC BATH // Hot springs in Northern Japan

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: asakusa, Asia, backpacking, budget travel, cheap travel, first impressions, first onsen experience, folklore town, hot springs in northern japan, how to travel japan, how to use an onsen, how to visit japan, iwate prefecture, japan festivals, japan in winter, local japan, local northern japan, local train, mixed onsen, naked hotspring, northern japan, onsen, public bath, ryokan, self guided, self guided walking tour, snow festivals, tokyo to Tono, tono, tono iwate, traditional ryokan, traditional yukata, travel, travel vlog, walking tour, winter in japan, winter travel

Travelling to Northern Japan (Activating our JR passes)

January 7, 2024 by hollyGS

We walked to Asakusa station, but on the Ginza subway line. We paid the fare and went to Ueno station where we got on the JR Yamanote line, my favourite train line ever, to Tokyo Station. At Tokyo station we found the JR railway cafe to exchange our JR pass vouchers to our JR passes. We took a number from the machine and waited a few minutes for a lady to help us. The JR are not as elaborate now […]

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: asakusa, Asia, backpacking, budget travel, cheap travel, first impressions, flying to tokyo japan, folklore town, how to get jr pass in Japan, how to travel japan, how to visit japan, iwate prefecture, japan festivals, japan in winter, jr pass activation, jr pass tokyo station, local festivals, local japan, local northern japan, local train, mixed onsen, northern japan, ryokan, self guided, self guided walking tour, snow festivals, snow lantern festival, tokyo to Tono, tono, tono iwate, traditional yukata, trational ryokan, travel, travel vlog, walking tour, winter in japan, winter travel

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A RICE BALL Shrine in Tokyo??!! (Weird spots in Tokyo Japan)

December 31, 2023 by hollyGS

I woke up at 5:30ish and wrote in my book. I also did a bit of research about how to get to Tono later that day. I was finally able to get Jives to wake up at about 8am. We set off to get some breakfast from a combini. We walked over the Sumida river, in the direction of a temple I had followed online for years, Takagi Jingya. The shrine is for onigiri, and popular with students preparing for […]

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: asakusa, Asia, backpacking, budget travel, cheap travel, fire festival, first impressions, flying to tokyo japan, fox shrine, hirosaki castle, how to travel japan, how to visit japan, inari shrine, iwate prefecture, japan festivals, japan in winter, local festivals, local japan, northern japan, onigiri shrine, riceball shrine, ryokan, self guided, self guided walking tour, snow festivals, snow lantern festival, Takagi Jingya, traditional yukata, travel, travel vlog, walking tour, weird japan, weird places in tokyo, winter fire festival, winter in japan, winter travel

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Flying to Tokyo Japan in Winter (First Impressions)

December 27, 2023 by hollyGS

We packed up the last of our stuff and headed for the airport at about 8:30am. After a stop at the bank and the gas station, we were on the road to the airport. It was morning rush hour so it took a bit over an hour to get to Toronto. We parked in the park and fly lot in Etobicoke and jumped in a shuttlebus to terminal one – Air Canada. Our shuttle bus was full to capacity with […]

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: aomori, aoni onsen, asakusa, Asia, backpacking, Beer, budget travel, cheap travel, fire festival, first impressions, flying to tokyo japan, hirosaki, hirosaki castle, hokkaido, hokodate, how to travel japan, how to visit japan, iwate prefecture, Japan, japan festivals, japan in winter, kakunodate, local festivals, local japan, mixed onsen, noboribetsu, northern japan, otaru, plum blossoms, ryokan, sapporo, self guided, self guided walking tour, sensoji temple, snow festivals, snow lantern festival, tokyo, tono, traditional yukata, travel, travel vlog, walking tour, winter fire festival, winter in japan, winter travel, yokote

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NORTHERN JAPAN In WINTER!!

December 17, 2023 by hollyGS

On February 1st we jumped on a plane to Tokyo Narita Airport to experience Japan in the middle of winter. We activated out JR train passes and headed straight for Northern Japan, where they receive some of the highest snow falls in the world!! We visited Tono, Iwate, the home of Yokai and tricky spirits before heading further north to take the bullet train under the sea to Hokkaido, visiting the amazing port town of Hakodate, the death valley of […]

Categories: Asia, Japan • Tags: aomori, aoni onsen, Asia, backpacking, Beer, budget travel, cheap travel, fire festival, hirosaki, hirosaki castle, hokkaido, hokodate, how to travel japan, how to visit japan, iwate prefecture, japan festivals, japan in winter, kakunodate, lamp no yado onsen, local festivals, local japan, mixed onsen, noboribetsu, northern japan, nyuto onsen, onsen tour, otaru, sapporo, sapporo snow festival, self guided, self guided walking tour, snow festivals, snow lantern festival, tattoo onsen, tono, travel, travel vlog, walking tour, winter fire festival, winter in japan, winter travel, yokote

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We Are Leaving Indonesia (Seeing Airforce One)

December 14, 2023 by hollyGS

We tried to sleep in a bit more as it was a travel day, but only made it until about 7:30am. We headed down for breakfast at the waterfront, Jives had an omelette and I had Nasi Goreng. I decided I wanted to snorkel one last time, so we headed down to the water and swam out to the wreck once more. We snorkelled for about 2 hours and headed back in at about 11:00 am. We washed up […]

Categories: Asia, Indonesia • Tags: airforce one, airport, amsterdam, Asia, backpacking, bali airport, bali worth it?, Beer, best snorkle spots bali, budget travel, cheap travel, denpaser airport, do it yourself indonesia, flights, flying to holland, g20, Indonesia, is indonesia safe, leaving indonesia, local bali, must visit bali, night snorkel, non touristy bali, quiet bali, self guided, self guided walking tour, snorkeling, snorkeling a ship wreck, travel, travel vlog, travelling to indonesia, tulamben, tulamben bali, tulamben review, tulumben, uss liberty, walking tour, what to do in lombok, where to go in indonesia, wreck diving, wreck snorkeling, ww2 wreck

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Author Archives: hollyGS

Iwate Northern Japan (visiting a mountain temple in Tono)

WINTER in a Traditional Japanese Village!

KAPPA FISHING in Tono, Iwate Prefecture Japan. (Winter Fishing in Japan)

First Experience in a Japanese PUBLIC BATH // Hot springs in Northern Japan

Travelling to Northern Japan (Activating our JR passes)

A RICE BALL Shrine in Tokyo??!! (Weird spots in Tokyo Japan)

Flying to Tokyo Japan in Winter (First Impressions)

NORTHERN JAPAN In WINTER!!

We Are Leaving Indonesia (Seeing Airforce One)