Travel Thread

Actually I’ve been meaning to message you, I don’t think these work in India/Sri Lanka… I had to buy another specific one for here.

any pointers how a single guy can enjoy Japan? I want to do some solo travels in the nex 3 months and Japan is at the top of my list.

As in party and meet people, or just explore solo?

Japan to me is easy to visit and get around. What’s important is to learn about the do’s and dont’s about the culture.

Scroll up as there is a lot on Japan. But ask when you have an idea of where you might want to go or the type of things you want to see or do.

While you’re here, I’ll be in Japan for all of Dec and Jan. As a Melbournian I’ve no idea what type of clothes to pack. Is it still humid in these months? Do I pack like going to the snow? Is it like a cold day at the MCG watching our team get killed?

Pack for winter. It’s not uncommon for Tokyo or Kyoto to have snow in December already. It’ll likely be single figure temperatures.

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Lol, oops. Lucky you messaged now, I was just about to buy one.

India needs type M and (I think) B… which are rarer then the ones on these multi plugs.

Yeah, SL need D of G. The one I got from officerworks is a ■■■■■■■ 15A one so totally useless here. Mind you the label did have SL on it so who knows. Most of the hotels I’ve stayed at have the inbuilt multi national adaptors so I’ve managed to get by.

Those of you thinking of doing Sri Lanka, stop thinking and do it.

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Alcohol and hookers … nothing else

Off to Seychelles for work this Thursday, so I’m going to miss the Giants roll is.

Soulnet also wants to know about the maid cafés

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solo.

my first plan is to get a course in cooking a ramen. see some festivals and meet some people hopefully to do some stuff with.

Are Japanese people friendly towards tourists? As in most of western Europe I have found people really friendly.*

  • yes I know I will prob go over and just meet someone from Australia to see some sites with.

maybe just a tour. i just hate the “being shuttled about” feeling of a tour. little opportunity to get lost

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Are you going to Japan? You lucky ■■■■! Japan is the best place in the world to visit.

The only thing that is maybe the slightest negative and something you need to learn is the language barrier. Learn alot of the common sayings at least.

And Japan have the best rail system in the world, use that to get around. Buy a rail pass (can only buy in Australia) before you leave. Takes I think 2 weeks to get unless you go into the city and pick it up

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is that rail pass then from like the japanese embassy and not a travel agent?

Yeah, kind of. It’s called the JR pass. Japs are efficient, if you dont have one you need to book a ticket on each national train you go on (not the metros). If you miss the train, you lose, no refund and need to purchase a new ticket.

With JR pass, you just need to reserve a seat if you wish or you can just sit in general area and if you miss that train you just jump on the next one

Add me to the “Japan is awesome” group.

Yep Japan is so so awesome. We were over there for the month of April. People are some of the nicest you will ever met and are always very polite to tourists (one story, we booked luggage forwarding between Hiroshima and Osaka and the hotel overcharged us ~120 yen; about $1). They sent us the change in the mail…).

Definitely learn some of the language. You only need to learn about 20-25 key phrases (hello, goodbye, please, thank you etc). There are are couple of good podcasts that will help.

You need to get the JR pass before you leave (you can get them online). I think you can get them in Japan now but probably best to get before you go. They are only really value if you plan on using the JR trains a lot (i.e. travel between cities rather than intra-city, although Tokyo and Osaka do have internal JR services).

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As with any country, hostels are a good way to meet fellow travellers. As friendly and polite as the Japanese are, they probably won’t do stuff with you unless they’ve travelled a lot themselves and have strong English.

English has improved in major cities with signage and announcements, info booths (gearing up for Rugby next year, and then Tokyo Olympics), but the average person or staff doesn’t really have much and/or is shy about using it.

What kind of festivals?

The country is safe and transport second to none, so get the rail pass and city hop, get lost all you like. Tours can save energy and time, but Japan is wonderful for finding out things for yourself, walking down streets and seeing how it all works for yourself.