To experience local life and get some experiences beside the tourist tracks is one of the things I enjoy most about traveling with so much time on hand. So also for Japan I looked on the Workaway website for a place to stay for a few weeks. As the offer is very scarce here, there are currently only nine registered hosts in Japan, I was very happy when I found a nice place in Suzaka, close to the former Olympic city of Nagano. Continue reading “Welcome to Horakuan”
Tag: Nagano
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Two weeks earlier than originally planed I arrived last weekend in Tokyo, after spending the final three weeks of my stay in New Zealand on the north island. There I had some very spoiled days with Laila and Sean in Wellington, I enjoyed the beautiful Art Deco city of Napier, I almost froze to death in the hostel in Taupo, warmed up again in the thermal region of Rotorua and finally ended my visit with two nights in Auckland.
Although I very much enjoyed my time in the country, in the end I had the feeling I stayed a bit too long. I guess I changed hostels too often, saw too many nice mountains and in the end it was definitely too cold for relaxed traveling for such a long time. Therefore I very much looked forward to get to Japan.
The first week in Japan I spent in the mega-metropolis of Tokyo. Although over 35 million people live in the greater area it is a perfectly organized city and actually rather quiet. It doesn’t take long to get used to find your way around – it for sure helps that the street names and subway stations are labeled in English, but also Japanese are very helpful (although there limited skills in English). When I left for Suzaka, a small community next to Nagano, for my next Workaway stay there was still so much to see π