I have all hotel bookings complete.

Two days ago the Tabinoyado in Oosaka answered. I got the the last free room. Unfortunately I lost my nerve a few hours before and booked a hotel room in Namba. This one I have to cancel. The ryokan is located closer to the train stations (like Tennoji Eki) I need.  The train from the airport stops here and the trins to Asuka. The train to Koyasan is only one stop away. But it is not good for Amanohashidate and Kyoto.

I didn’t found a suitable ryokan in Kyoto that is close to the train station. They are booked out or too expensive. $800 for one night is far behind my limit, very far. And they all have a curfew. Most o the ryokans lock their doors at 10pm. But on Christmas Eve I want to have the luxuary to come home after midnight. In the end I booked the Vista hotel. It is next to Kyoto Eki, just on the opposite side of the street. 2 minutes of walking, if i walk slow. This will save a lot of time on the trip to Amanohashidate and to Kanazawa.

There is a small change in plan in Shirakawa. There is no free room left. Therefore I booked a place Ainokura, a small town in an other valley. A bus will bring me to Shirakawa. An other bus will bring me to Ainokura two hours later. 2 hours should be ok or pictures. I hope there is a lot of snow.

The last feedback arrived today from the Kiso valley. The Hanaya was not my first choice, but my preferred ryokan is booked out. Looks like everyone is on vacation during Xmas and New Year. The Kiso Valley was on my list since Peter gave me that hardcopy about this place, but it never fit into my plans; until now.

• Osaka: Tabinoyado Hokousou Ryokan
• Kyoto: Hotel Vista [website]
• Ainokura: Choyomon
• Kiso-Tal: Hanaya [website]
• Narita: Richmond Hotel [website]

The last station is a hotel in Narita. It was the reasonable choice. Close to the train station and within my price limit. I plan 20 minutes from the room over checkout to the trainstation.

In total it is a good mix: 3 nights in a hotel, 3 nights in a ryokan with onsen, 3 nights in ancient houses. Sometimes breakfast included, but mostly not. 3 times I ordered dinner. Ok, not ordered. it was included in the room price. This is ok. Dinner is expensive (most of the hotels are chraging you 2500 to 3000yen for it) but also a thing you should order sometimes, just to get the complete experience.

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For the first trip I had 2 travel guides and a additional guide for Tokyo. This time I try to organize everything with two internet pages (JNTO and japan-guide) and the Lonely Planet. To maintain the overview I write down the plan for every single on a seperate page. A lot of work, but I will not miss any attraction because I overread it. I use this chance also to check the opening times. Kawagoe shows some problems. The major attractions are closed until January 8th. Maybe I change my plans (again).

The second task for today (and tomorrow) is to write a plan for Kyoto and for Tokyo. Until now I only have a set of ideas, but now clue how to put them into a plan.

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The is nothing new to report about the planning. I just need a day off.  But the topic of Japan is back on the schedule/the screen fast. At 9:24 I received a alert on my mobile: Major earthquake warning for Tokyo. The epicenter is at sea in front of the coast of Sendai. Tokyo will await a level 3 earthquake. I am online in a instant. A tsunami warning is already been issued; a evacuation order is out for the coast of Matsushima.

My first idea: It is 2011 all over again. The epicenter is very close to the epicenter of Marck 11th, 2011. The tsunami will hit the same coast area. Lucky that I will visit the opposite site of Honshu; Kansai and Chubu. But another 7,3 magnitude earthquake can destroy my plans. One interrupted train track and my plans will be washed away.

By the way. The snow level rises. Half of my travel route reports 20cm of snow. Nice. This is all I need. Tsunagi Onsen is still free of snow. I hope this will change. I hope that there are no surprises. Too much snow can be a problem too (Hokkaido is already reporting 1m), liked closed roads and canceled train connections.  But lucky that JR is not Deutsche Bahn.

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The route is set. The request are send to the hotels and ryokans in Oosaka, Kyoto and Kisodani.  The JRP is ordered and the money has been wired. No it is waiting. Waiting for feedback. There is nothing new to report.

A good time to write some lines about the upcoming blog: If nothing happens I will try to write a small report at the end of every day. And I will also try to post some pictures. The end of the day means 10pm local time or 2pm in Germany. The blogs will not win a Pulitzer Price. And the pictures are raw. I will take of this when I am back. I want to discover Japan and not sit in front of my notebook.

There will be some „blackouts“. There is no internet access in Ainokura/Shirakawa. I am happy if I have electricity. The house I stay is a world heritage. It even doesn’t have central heating. Looks like some reports will be online delayed. The same goes for Kisodani. There I will also be offline. But I will arrive Tokyo two days later.

I am waiting for snow, too. The last report is not that good. The red line is my travel route. At the moment there is only snow at the mountain tops. Only Hokkaido is covered in snow. Asahikawa reports 1m of snow (the two yellow spots).

I am excited how much snow I will see. Because it is the plan to soak in an onsen in the middle of nowhere covered in snow. I hope it will change within the next days. Today there was a weather warning for the northern coast with keywords like storm surge, high waves, gale and snow and thunderstorn. That reminds me, that I didn’t plan any backup days. This time there is now time for that. I stay not long enough in a hotel for that. Looks like all I can do is WAITING.

The actual weather forecast can be found under http://www.jma.go.jp/en/yoho/.

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The Yen exchange rate doesn’t like me. it is rising. It will be the worst rate since the beginning of my trips in 2004. Meaning: This will be the most expensive journey ever.

Here is the history of the exchange rate of the last 14 years. Low means good. I usually use the 10.000yen hotel room for example. On my first trip is costs $100 (75€). On my third trip it was $80 (60€). Therefore the hotels on this trip were from the high price section. I even booked the Deluxe Suite in Hotel Edoya or a room in the Nikko Kanaya. Sadly, I got used to this luxury.

On my last trip I got some trouble. The yen went up twice very steep. Thanks to Leman Brothers in 2008 and Greece in 2010. The displayed ratesin bank were 100:1 The highest rate ever for me. The reference hotel room was now at $130 (100€). An increase of 60% from the trip before.

Just to think about it. A deposit at your account will give you 2% p.a. If you had some yen in 2008 they would have made over 25% p.a. for 2 years. And if you had waited until today you would still have got 12% p.a. Better not think about it.

And this time the exchange rate will be worse. No more Spa & Resort Hotels. Since 2010 the rate is still rising. The worst vaule was in July with a 107:1. But I have a little bit of luck. Since July the rate is falling slowly. It doesn’t look that big of a deal, but we are talking about 10%. On a $4500 trip it will save me $450.

I have to do something. Specially at the hotels. My plan was a night in Minakami. But 24000 yen for a night is not possible this time. We are talking about $320. In 2008 it were only $190 and a different story. Maybe I would have booked it then, just because it is theee onsen. But I placed my limit at 7000yen, and only want to go above it, if I have to, if there is no other room available. And I will change money as late as possible, to get the best exhange rate possible.

If I think about it: My 2008 trip cost me $5300. Today I would have to over $8500 for the same trip. Wow. In the other direction: My actual hotel cost calculation of $4000 in the old 2008-rate would shrink the cost to $2400. No, I don’t want to think about it. But there may be one positive aspect: Less annoying gaijins running around.

BTW … In two weeks I will be in Japan.

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