"gianni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:The main obstacle I can think of is the language. I can already
imagine myself lost somewhere trying to make sense of a map and signs
that might as well not be there!
It would be helpful to you to learn a few simple characters -- the ones for
men and women (so you get into the right toilet or public bath), the ones
for exit, and so on. They really aren't that hard to recognize.
My experience, many years ago now, was that the hostels were much stricter
in Japan than they are in the US or Europe. If you were planning to ride
from one hostel to the other, prepare yourself for strict curfews,
baths/showers available only at certain times, being ejected out of bed in
the morning by a multilingual loudspeaker broadcast, and so on. Still, it
would be cushier than camping, and hostels are the cheapest lodging you can
find in Japan. There are also a few traditional ryokan which can be
relatively inexpensive, too.
If you are planning to go in the winter -- well, it's going to be cold. Or
do you mean you're making your plans this winter, and you're planning to go
at a different time of the year? Summer is insufferable in Japan. I remember
what they called "tropical nights" -- night after night where the low never
got below 30 C, with high humidity such that you get off of your futon
dripping in sweat. Both spring and fall are very, very nice. If you were
planning, say, a fall tour, you'd want to start in the north, and go
progressively further south as the season progressed (opposite, obviously,
in the spring).
--
Warm Regards,
Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
