Japan 2018

Introduction

Idea to visit Japan was in the back of my mind for a while. At the moment, it's still the only country I've visited outside Europe / North America continents

It took some time to do a research and make initial plan.

Planning points

• Keep it short (week +/-)
• Avoid "high seasons" ("golden week" etc) if possible
• 2 cities only - Tokyo and Kyoto
• there were NO OFFLINE Google maps for Japan due to legal / business reasons !
• Research about mobile internet (looking back, I would have been in trouble if I haven't bought the local SIM. I also managed to stay under 500 MB of usage AFAIK). Having mobile internet and Google maps in particular, at all times with you in the country where you can't read the alphabet at all, is worth a lot.
• Order Japan rail pass in advance (update: as of 2025, Japan rail pass is no longer relevant, because of very high price. Just buy Shinkansen tickets when needed)

 Arriving in Tokyo

• It took about 3 hours from landing in Narita Airport (NRT) until boarding a train to Tokyo. Because I needed to
• get a SIM card (forgetting my account password in the process :)
• exchange Rail pass voucher for a Rail pass
• get a SUICA card (for local transportation)
• get some cash, just in case
• some other stuff I don't remember 

Some other "first impressions" 

• Weather was good and really warm
• even you know that they drive on the left, you don't notice it right away
• trucks / semis with lots of chrome, like in US
• a TON of vending machines everywhere, selling various stuff, for kind of reasonable prices
• 7-11 / FamilyMart convenience stores, there are lots of them and they're open until late. Godsend.
• More "sensible" / "serious" approach to everything in general
• Underground is a bit hard to understand / non-intuitive compared to Europe
• "politeness"
• English translations... aren't everywhere.
• Interesting "remaining time until green" indicators at the traffic lights
• "Cold coffee", not unique to Japan, but seemed like much more of a "thing" compared to Europe
• obsession with plastic bags. They have gazillion sizes and strive to pack your purchase  in the correctly sized bag

Overall, Japan is "crazy" and unusual. Would gladly visit again. Not sure when that could happen in current job market and pandemic thing though...

Eurotrip 2017 - Conclusion

To be done:

• stats (road tolls / fuel)
• other notes / remarks

Eurotrip 2017 - Day 10-11

Day 10-11 - Slovakia, Bratislava

Surprisingly, Bratislava exceeded my expectations (I had none). I mean, it's not fancy, glamorous or anything, but it had a good 'vibe'. And it was actually cheap (not 'Budapest cheap', Budapest didn't feel cheap at all for what it is), and cleaner than Budapest. Ok, I admit, my hotel choice was not good (actual time to reach center by bus was like ~40 minutes in rush hour instead of advertised 20, add walking time from/to bus stop on top of that), but nevertheless. So my first impression of the city was good, would gladly visit again.

Eurotrip 2017 - Day 8-9

Day 8-9 - Budapest

The road

Hungary motorways were surprisingly empty, like you could drive for several minutes before seeing another car 😊 It was a strange feeling indeed. Tolls - you have to buy 'electronic vignette' for motorways - they just register your car's license plate in the system and give you the receipt.

The city

Oh well... I don't know where to start. To put it simply, Budapest is a beautiful city but it's dirty as soon as you're off the tourist paths.
First of all, I made a silly mistake entering the hotel address into GPS (misspelled one letter), and drove to the other end of the city. When I was driving away from the center, that should've given me some hints, right?

Anyway, when I parked the car not far from the hotel, got out, and saw garbage everywhere, I was like "is it even safe to leave a car here?". It was really messed up by my standards. Guess somewhere in India it would be considered normal?
Fun fact: beer glass in restaurant had 'Made in Russia' stamped on it.

Bottom line is - I didn't like the city, and don't want to visit it again. Not anytime soon.

Eurotrip 2017 - Day 6-7

Day 6-7 - Graz, Austria

Nice city overall, though there isn't much to write about it.

• Wasn't exactly crowded, which is a good thing
• Great trams (and you can by tickets from the machine inside the tram)
• Reasonably priced fast-food place near Uhrturm
• And beer was good as well
• Hotel choice was really spot-on this time. I'd go so far saying it was the best hotel I've stayed in a while.. If you disregard the location.