japan planning

All weekend all we did was try to book hotels for our upcoming trip to Japan! Seriously I think i emailed about 20 hotels/guesthouses in Kyoto trying to find a room for the night of our arrival. Everything was booked or else it seemed that some places didn't give bookings for only 1 or 2 nights. Our arrival to Japan coincides with the last day of "Golden Week" which seems similar to spring break in America. Everyone is out and about travelling so nothing is available. We finally managed to find a traditional guesthouse for our first two nights. 100 dollars to sleep on futons on the floor... i thought that kind of travel was supposed to be free :) Its a traditional Japanese guesthouse and this is as cheap as they come in Kyoto! After two nights of 'roughing' it, we will move over to the luxurious Granvia Hotel above Kyoto Station. Not sure how luxurious it will be, but at 180 USD a night I hope it has a comfortable bed at least!

180 a night might sound like a lot, but we sort of feel like we got a bargin! We first booked it at the end of last week and it was double, we also booked the Westin which was at the time cheaper but still about 200 USD a night. But being as indecisive as we are, we went back to cancel our reservation for the Granvia and found that it was now cheaper then the Westin!! So after reserving and cancelling a handful of times, we finally have our final reservations for Kyoto!!

And the other big reservation was for Tokyo. We had originally wanted to stay in a hotel a friend recommended as it looked super chic and stylish. Turned out it was over 500 USD a night.. and fully booked! So over the weekend we went back and forth between two hotels -- one that was 350 USD a night and one that was 210 a night. One is with a view, one is no view.. we opted for the cheaper one!

And now we just have to buy our Japan Rail Pass that also costs a fortune and then we are ready to roll! This all looks very expensive in USD, but we are planning and thinking about the trip in Euros.. so we sort of feel like we are getting a good deal! Its all about perceptions!!