2024東亞(18/完)行程總結

l
lepton
楼主 (文学城)

此次行程路線:


日本行程:



Our 4-week Asia itinerary:

2 weeks in Japan 1 week in South Korea (split between Seoul and Jeju) 3 nights in Hong Kong 3 nights in Taipei

The activities in pink are the ones I booked ahead of time.
I've put a STAR next to the activities I highly recommend.

All of our hotel stays were fantastic. Also stayed at a few airbnbs because I really wanted to experience traditional Japanese and Korean houses, called ryokan and hanok respectively, and we enjoyed all of them immensely.

Before the trip we purchased a JR rail pass online which covered all of our train travels throughout Japan. Because I was overly ambitious and also wanted to maximize the use of the rail pass, I drove my family a little too fast and furious.  We also loaded money onto a Suica card in apple wallet which made local public transportation and convenience store purchases extremely convenient.

Unfortunately, the other three countries haven't adopted the same apple wallet feature, so we had to buy physical transportation cards: Tmoney in Seoul, Octopus in Hong Kong, and EasyCard in Taipei. 

While the cities were vibrant and fascinating, I fell in love with the countryside of Japan—Kamakura, Fujikawaguchi, Nachikats, Miyajima, Takachiho, and Itoshima, each a paradise in its own right. The natural beauty and quaint charm of rural Japan were intoxicating, and we immersed ourselves in the soothing onsens, some of us embracing the experience more than others. 

We rented cars to drive around rural areas in both Japan and Korea. You MUST have an international driving permit ($20 at AAA). We used Toyota rent-a-car 4 times in Japan and Hertz in Jeju, South Korea, all wonderful experiences.

Japan was our favorite. It was impeccably clean and well-organized, convenient, punctual, and it was also the cheapest. The yen is the weakest it's been in 34 years; it's weakened by about 50%(!!!) against the dollar since the pre pandemic era. Food, sightseeing, and goods were just all so affordable that made us exclaim "So cheap!" again and again. Make sure you bring your passport to get the 10% sales tax exemption. Food was extremely fresh and high quality. Tipping is not practiced and can be seen as an insult. We found the customer service consistently outstanding. The people we met were overly kind and considerate.

Other impressions and observations of Japan:

Eating/drinking while walking is considered rude. Virtually no trash cans anywhere. You have to carry your own trash throughout the day. Stand on the left side of escalator while the right side is for walking and passing. People line up to board at train/subway station platforms. Mask-wearing is very common. No talking on public transport. Fancy toilets with all sorts of buttons. We even had a bidet on our JAL flight! Hot/cold wet towels are provided beore meals. Ramen is meant to be slurped. 90% women have straight bangs/fringe.


Random observations of Korea:

More laid back than Japan. e.g. talking in public is okay, eating and drinking while walking is fine. Bibs are provided in most restaurants. Google maps only gives public transit directions but no driving and walking directions. We found Naver Map an okay alternative. Very cheap and effective public transportation. Taxis are cheap too. They all park their cars backwards. Trash cans are hard to come by just like Japan so carry your own trash. Photo booths are everywhere. "Find My" doesn't work in Korea, making it impossible to track free-range kids.


We felt VERY safe everywhere on this trip. We walked late at night and have never worried about being scammed, pickpocketed, or mugged. I saw people leave their purses and phones unattended in public space. We let our kids go free-range on their own in a different part of town and didn't worry about them at all. With 0/0/near 0 knowledge of Japanese/Korean/Chinese, they rode subways all over the cities, went shopping/karaoke/gaming/sightseeing and ordered food in restaurants all without a glitch.

We were extremely blessed to have done about 2/3 of the trip with our best friends. Friends always double, triple the fun!!
 



更多我的博客文章>>> 2024東亞(18/完)行程總結 2024東亞(17)台北旗袍照 2024東亞(16)台北 2024東亞(15)香港 東亞2024(14)濟州島
w
willows
佩服,超级牛,这一路下来,定酒店,定各种活动,那是需要无比的仔细,专注,

可以想象还要有plan B, plan C。

行前准备,行后总结,都是超级棒。

l
lepton
真不敢居功。這次的行程和活動、住宿大多都是跟好朋友們一起商量訂下的。他們比我能幹多了。
边走边看66
能那么多人在一起travel一定是步调很一致的,我知道我办不到

以前还和朋友一起出行,后来坚决放弃了,太众口难调了,连家里人都要有选择性地一起出行, 现在基本上是两人,船小好掉头。 

现在在东亚旅行几乎不用担心安全的问题,这种感觉很好。 

l
lepton
一起出遊的確眾口難調。像惜福姐你這麼瀟灑的,隨時掉頭改道的,是我最羨慕的方式。

不過這次我們沒有全程在一起,常有分流合流,大概是2/3一起。

o
onward
东亚游能加上去中国大陆更有意思。
宇都宫
量子不仅攻略做得好,游记也写得赞,有始有终,完美!
甲城老武
4个礼拜,去了那么多地方, 超级赞! 结伴旅行不容易,能愉快地完成整个行程要有很大的包容心!
l
lepton
謝謝鼓勵,很開心能在這裡跟大家分享。
l
lepton
是很長的旅行。多虧朋友們都是超級貼心的多年死黨。
阿迪2000
好厉害,简直是一个中长期的大工程。
乐学乐游
赞总结。以后按你的文索骥
l
lepton
差不多是我們最長的一次旅行了。不過行程很多都是跟朋友一起商量的結果。
l
lepton
你太客氣啦,我也是走馬看花,玩得很粗淺。
熊猫媳妇
这行程简直是PhD毕业论文级别的啊
淡然
真的是博士论文的水平!
l
lepton
太夸张了啦。每天排的活动也很少,很多时间我们都在漫无目的地闲晃。
Y
Ycart
学霸级的总结!全都记下来

不过我们出去玩基本不怎么住Airb&b,住处没法抄作业了

茶香_sx
这么详细的攻略,收藏了,下次去日本抄作业。量子的文笔真好,也喜欢你们一家人的灿烂笑容
l
lepton
我們大部分也是住酒店啊。這次住的地方都挺喜歡的。
l
lepton
謝謝。其實我們行程很鬆散,每天的節目不多,很多時間也是隨意亂逛。