Heidi Li

First the positives:
1. Guides: Friendly, punctual, accommodating.
2. Vehicles: Clean and very comfortable (except in Kanazawa which had cigarette smoke).
Most interesting places/activities:
1. Miho Museum
2. Hiroshima - tear-jerker.
3. Ina
4. Mt Fuji panoramic ropeway
5. Bullet train rides (made better by travelling in Green Car).
Room for improvement:
1. Guides: Often difficult to understand (except Wesley). This was a major issue.
2. Hotel Higashiyama in Kyoto: Very small, uncomfortable esp. since we stayed there for 5 nights, probably equivalent to a 2/3 star hotel in USA. Would definitely not recommend it.
3. Ina: would have liked to spend more time there by getting there early. Advise visitors to carry own food and drinks as the few eating places there close early.
4. Explore purchasing tickets for cable car, Skytree, etc in advance, if possible, as it will save a lot of time.
5. Itinerary:
a. Share the final itinerary with ALL changes a few days before the tourist's departure.
b. Include addresses of hotels, train stations, etc in JAPANESE so that we can show these to the taxi driver. We ended up at the wrong hotel in Kyoto because the 2 hotels had identical names.

So we went to China. Here are some notes.
Take in an acrobatics show. Good call on Nina's part.
Do a tea ceremony.
Be aware that the main meal of the day in China is lunch so it might be later in the day. Eat a decent breakfast.
I get the feeling that they're taking the tourism seriously. Clean and safe.
Cycled round the wall in Xi an. Mark was quite right to go early early, too hot otherwise. Terracotta warriors was an absolute bun fight.
Personally I didn't see the point in going around the harbour in Hong Kong to see a boat the had sunk ages ago. However my daughter loved it.
Chengdu for the panda's. Again take the guides advice and walk up because you miss part of the zoo otherwise.
Guilin for the rice fields. Lime mountains cruise very cool. Underground cave! Only saw one black snake walking down from the rice fields. The water show in Yangshou is not worth the money. Also Chinese people talk during a show, eat, join in etc. Part of learning the culture!
Trains were cool! These people are efficient, things are pretty much on time, so don't dither. Queues move so they're not a problem.
Daughter knew a bit of Mandarin which was super helpful. I don't think you could do a trip like this without guides to be honest. Local people were onto it though, they had Google translate loaded, as did I.
Just occurred to me now that we didn't go and see anything about porcelain.
Ladies take tissues with you. I got used to the hole in the floor type toilet. Glad my legs are still strong.
Kris in Shanghai did some great problem solving when we threw some extra activities at him, namely shopping! Barter hard people (not in stores with price tags).

We contracted KimKim when other tour operators in Japan advised that they were fully booked during the popular Cherry Blossom season. KimKim outsourced our Japan trip to Asia Highlights. We provided Asia Highlights with some suggested destinations in Japan that we would like to visit outside of the major tourist cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and they developed a varied, well-paced 8 day itinerary that met our interests and budget. Heidi, our tour planner, was understanding of our needs and very responsive to any questions that we had along the way. She connected us with our guide Nina and drivers (principally, Lyo) who were attentive, prompt and kind. Nina and Lyo went out of their way to show us the highlights of each of the attractions and destinations we visited. They quickly recognized our interests and would not rush us when we wanted to take extra time. Outside of our tour schedule, Nina helped us make dinner reservations and placed some meal orders for us when we encountered language challenges. Overall we had a wonderful time and highly recommend the services of KimKim and their subcontract Asia Highlights.

Activity Reviews

Full day Nagoya Tour by Private Vehicle

Nagoya

The Nagoya Castle grounds and Tokugawa Garden were very nice and the Nabano no Sato Illumination was an unexpected bonus to end our day.

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Full day Nagoya Tour by Public transfer with guide: Inuyama Castle, Meiji Mura, Inuyama Karakuri Museum

Nagoya

The day was special because we had the opportunity to tour Inuyama Castle, one of Japan's few remaining original castle structures. We also enjoyed the demonstration of dolls and puppets in the Inuyama Castle Historical Museum annex, Karakuri Exhibition Room. Truly an unique Japanese experience.

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Half Day Kanazawa Traditional Crafts Experience by Private Car(Gold Leaf, Kimono Cloth Dyeing) :

Kanazawa

This day involved two craft projects - chop stick gold leaf design and kimono cloth painting recommended by Asia Highlights that were outside our normal vacation day activities. We enjoyed the creative challenge and appreciated the guidance of the shop staff and the support from our guide Nina. These activities also generated souvenirs that well serve as great memories of our time in Kanazawa.

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🚗Unforgettable Day in Kanazawa: Kenroku-en Garden, Kagayuzen Kaikan, Nagamachi Samurai District, Higashi Chaya District, Shima Teahouse (Private Vehicle+Private Guide)

Kanazawa

We suggested Kanazawa as a city to Asia Highlights that we would like to visit and it more than exceeded our expectations. It is a beautiful city and after having experienced the crowds in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, a welcome change. Kanazawa Castle and the neighbouring Kenrokuen Garden are must sees when travelling to Japan.

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Full Day Takayama & Shirakawago Tour by Private Car(Miyagawa Market, Takayama Jinya, Shirakawa-go region )

Takayama

The market streets of Takayama were historic and interesting and we did a lot of shopping, causing us to be a little delayed in reaching Shirakawago. Shirakawago is beautifully situated and it gave us a glimpse of Japanese country life from centuries ago. Our guide Nina and driver Lyo recognized that we were enjoying ourselves, were very patient and put in extra time.

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