Let me share with you The Perfect Way I Explore Kensington Tours Japan.
I love to travel. I’ve been dreaming about traveling the world since I was a kid. Recently, I saved quite enough to begin my “world tour”, and so far, it’s been great. Not rosy because it came with its own challenges, but this is something I love, so there’s always some joy in it for me.
I’ve traveled solo, and with friends but when I wanted to tour Japan, my travel plans were to go alone.
Considering the language barrier, however, I knew I wouldn’t survive out there on my own.
I mean, the only Japanese I know is from the anime I binge-watched when I was a teenager.
Also, I had some other personal reasons for not wanting to go without guidance, so I decided to travel with an agency with which I could plan my trip with expert advice and get some tour guides who were fluent in the language and could find their way around easily.
Upon recommendation from a dear friend of mine, I decided to go on the trip with Kensington Tours and the journey was truly worth it.
I experienced some ups and downs on my journey but if I had to do it again, I would travel with Kensington Tours again in a heartbeat.
I wanted to see the major cities of Japan so I decided on my itinerary together with Kensington tours.
I got to understand their policies and how things could change in my travel plans upon bad weather or government regulations.
Thankfully, I didn’t experience that throughout my stay in Japan.
When I arrived, I was welcomed by the local tour guides.
I was nervous at first, but by the way they handled themselves and held conversations with me about their country and the reassurance I got to trust the process helped with the nerves.
I got comfortable with them because I could see that I was in safe and expert hands.
My accommodation was honestly one of the best parts of my stay.
It suited my preferences so well and was such a nice hotel to stay in with a good view. And the food wasn’t bad either.
But I only briefly noticed all these because I started to feel the exhaustion from hours of flight in my bones and I needed to rest, even more than I needed to eat food. And I love food.
Anyway, I still decided to eat and shower so I wouldn’t feel so much of the effects of jet lag and I spent the evening at a little cafe close by that my travel guide recommended to me.
It wasn’t bad at all.
The next day was the start of my tour and the first place on my itinerary that I had to explore was Tokyo.
Man, I was pumped. I got to try sushi at the Tsukiji Outer Market where I also attended a traditional tea ceremony as I heard stories of Asakusa history from my guides.
I tried not to be too awkward when we got to Meiji Shrine but I guess I failed at that because I got a few laughs from the locals that noticed.
Anyway, when I saw how the roads seemed a bit confusing and I just wondered how I would have navigated it on my own. The guides had no trouble with that, seeing that it was their home.
For the first time in a while, I could just relax and let someone do the navigating for me.
It made the trip even more enjoyable. My tour of the rest of Tokyo was satisfying.
I wasn’t prepared for the heat but the sights made it a little bit bearable for me.
In Hakone, we went through the hot springs, mountain side and I was surprised to see such good art.
I just had to try the traditional ryokan with its soothing onsens.
If you had seen me, you could tell I was having the time of my life.
And the view of Mount Fuji from the Hakone Ropeway was everything! And I have hundreds of pictures I took with my phone camera to tell how much I was carried away with the sight (I went a bit overboard).
The Open-Air Museum was also quite the sight!
Over the next few days, I got to explore more of Japan.
In Kyoto, I had a serene experience at Fushima Imari Taisha that the tour guide called a spiritual moment (of which I almost agreed that it was).
We went through the geisha district of Gion and from the movies I’d seen, I tried to imagine how it must have been to have lived in that era.
At Hiroshima, our visit to the Peace Memorial Park had me thinking about the history of war in human existence.
The calm in the whole atmosphere coupled with the stories that were shared could move a man to tears.
Not surprisingly, a few tears were shed when we saw the haunting A-Bomb Dome. Thankfully, the tour began to have a lighter tone when we took a ferry ride to Miyajima Island.
The next direction my tour guides took me was to Osaka.
You know how I said I love food? Well, in Osaka, I tried the street food of Japan and I’ve got to say, it was a flavorful surprise.
I can’t say every food I tried was perfect for me, I couldn’t understand some of the meals and had to pass on them, but the takoyaki and okonomiyaki were particularly super enjoyable to me.
I got to explore other parts of Osaka as well, like Osaka Castle and Shitenno-ji Temple before we called it a day.
Lastly, a place in Japan that stood out to me was Nara. I didn’t expect to see Deer, and I didn’t know that they weren’t even just regular deer to the locals – they were sacred and considered messengers of the gods.
Seeing the gigantic statue of the Buddha in Todai-ji Temple was also a wonderful experience.
Japan lives in my heart.
I got to have an experience worth sharing in Japan and it was all thanks to Kensington Tours.
I’m sure that by now, my family and friends are tired of hearing my stories from Japan over and over again but I’m still not over it.
I know they secretly wish they’d have such a lovely experience when they want to take their tours as well.
I hope they get to schedule it with an effective travel agency like Kensington Tours.
There are many features Kensington Tours provides, but for me, the feature that gave me the most help was the tour guides who knew exactly what they were doing.
They took me to hidden gems in the city, helped me negotiate when I wanted to buy some souvenirs and generally gave me great customer service.
