Dear Whitney,
Home at last, and recalling the wonderlands through which we passed. Each day was an enchantment and a discovery. A small country like Japan, virtually demolished during the war, is now a beacon of peace, progress, propriety, industry and beauty.The honesty and integrity we encountered everywhere was such an uplifting and humbling experience. A taxi driver shut off the metre of his cab because he had accidentally overhot, a worker retrieved our lost wallet which was subsequently presented to us from the counter.... where will you see such examples? And every corner in buildings and roads flaunted a created beauty. And of course the miles and miles of cherry blossoms thrilled the senses and filled the heart with ecstacy.We thank you, Whitney, for making the panorama accessible. Each trip you planned with minute attention to detail and so comprehensively omitting nothing both in Japan and Korea. All our guides were wonderful. Aki in Hiroshima was most helpful and caring, especially when my sister had a fall. She managed everything so well to ensure that my sister would participate in all the sightseeing in spite of being in pain. Naoko in Tokyo was very knowledgeable and spoke English fluently. Naoko, Kazu, were all very pleasing. The three guides in Korea were also wonderful. Paul in Jeju was very knowledgeable, Jade in Bhusan was very witty and we enjoyed his company. Daniel in Seoul, though not very fluent in English could make himself understood perfectly and he was so caring to our comforts that he was a pleasure to be with. I cannot forget the drivers, we could not communicate much with them due to language constraints but all took good care of us. Our driver in Seoul was particularly caring.
Thank you for the accommodation arranged. The breakfasts were sumptuous and the staff extraordinarily pleasant and rooms comfortable. The only exception was the hotel in Seoul (Ninetree) where the rooms left much to be desired. No place to dress, or arrange our belongings. The air conditioning was also not working but the breakfast and staff were wonderful.
Thank you once. As we bid farewell to Japan and Korea, our abiding memory will be not just of sights and sounds but of its people and the overall gift of human kindness.
With fondest regards
Silloo
Thank you for a wonderful experience from start to finish! You were absolutely amazing, responsive , and so organized. My friends and I had a blast and we learned a lot. Only thing is we wish we had a longer trip. Thanks again! And I hope to work with you again in the future.
DeAndra
We are on the way home after a very enjoyable time in Japan.
It’s easier for me to put my thoughts in text rather than the form below (it would be better as an excel worksheet or similar.
Guides.
All the guides were knowledgable, had a great attitude, spoke English well enough and responded to our requests for change when necessary (my wife could not walk the distances planned). They all contacted us the day before their tours to introduce themselves. We enjoyed meeting them all.
We enjoyed all the hotels. The IBIS in Tokyo was the least enjoyable; it was okay but our room was small and breakfast was not great. It also was not in a great location for restaurants. The Ryokan in Takayama was wonderful. All the other hotels were very well located and we would go back to all of them if we had the opportunity. Staff in hotels were uniformly very helpful with suggestions of restaurants, etc. (I would say in your itinerary notes to clients that the hotels have coin laundries).
The tours themselves met or exceeded our expectations. As I said above, Linda’s leg problems meant that we asked for a couple of days to be cut short but that’s specific to us. I guess if I had my time over I would have wanted to spend more time in the gardens in Kanazawa. There wasn’t much to see in Kanazawa apart from the gardens and it would have been nice to sit and absorb the atmosphere; the castle and rest were not very interesting and we had plenty of time before our train to Kyoto.
In general, we were pleased with the content of tours and all guides gave us a lot of information about the things we were seeing.
The guides gave us travel passes to use in the subways and buses and that all worked very well.
The intercity train transfers you arranged all worked very well and it was very helpful when you were able to change our train journey from Kyoto to Hiroshima.
Our overall score is 9/10.
Regards,
Nicholas Sanders
Doris we have had a great tour thanks to your planning and assistance. Novaland has provided a good itinerary and wonderful staff. The trip has exceeded our expectations…
Aloha
Ralph Goto
Special shout out to our guides Yumi at Nikko and Akie at Hiroshima
Hi Grace
Thank you for the update. We will work it out. I would love to provide some feedback with you about our tours.
Mayumi in Hiroshima was amazing and clearly knew her information and way around the place. She was so beautiful towards Olivia.
Seiya was very inexperienced and we found that he didn’t know much about the area or engage in conversation. I wouldn’t recommend him for further tours and we did find it difficult Travelling in a Taxi due to the space.
Yahrio that we had today was lovely and he took us to other places and it was very kind of him to use his car. He was very sweet and caring.
We are having a great time and have been lucky to see some amazing sights.
Thank you for all your help
Tomorrow, we will be returning to Tokyo by train from Osaka. Our eighth day in Japan has been fantastic. At 78 years old, I’m amazed that I’ve walked over 42 miles in just 8 days. While my mind urges me to keep going, my legs are finding it challenging to keep pace.
Yoshiko Yoshita excelled as our tour guide. She skillfully recognized when we needed breaks, showing great understanding of our needs as older travelers. This thoughtful approach was greatly appreciated, and all of our guides provided excellent service.
We want to express that we are completely satisfied with the services you provided.
Best regards,
Stephen and Donna Chen
The guide was very good.