Thorn Tree travel forum

Asia guidebooks now available by chapter in Pick & Mix

Over the years many of you have told us you'd like to take just the parts of our books you really need. We thought about how best to do this, and last year launched Pick & Mix, which enables you to buy, download and print individual chapters from Lonely Planet guides in digital (PDF) format.

Last week, we added our guides to North East Asia to Pick & Mix. That means the entire range of Asia guides is now available by chapter. So you can check it out for yourself, the first chapter of each guide is free to download. You can see Pick & Mix here.

This is still a new thing for us, and I'd appreciate any suggestions or feedback.

Tom Hall
Product Manager, Pick & Mix

Tokyo + Hakone + Kyoto - Need Help!

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are heading to Japan close to the end of April this year and we've been able to take care of planning the 1st half of our trip, however, the 2nd half has been a toss-up.

So far my itin is:

April 27 - May 3 Tokyo. (all taken care of already)

May 3 - 8 : we wanted to go to Hakone/Mt. Fuji area, Kyoto and possibly somewhere else if we have time. Our flight back is on the 8th so that day is a write-off either way...

Any suggestions to what we should do and how many days we should stay in specific areas? Also, would it be necessary to purchase a JR Pass for the 2nd half of the trip, etc?

Looking forward to responses. Thanks in advance!

Edited by: vonage

Questions on Capsule Hotels and Ryokans

Hello,

I'll be in Japan March 28 - April 10 and have a couple of questions.

We'd like to stay in a capsule hotel on the last night of our trip in Tokyo. I have heard that these places are not always friendly to foreigners and that there are a large number of rules that may not seem obvious to a newcomer.

1. Does anyone have a recommendation for a capsule hotel in Tokyo with good access to trains?

2. Any tips on rules or etiquette I should know before I go?

I also am looking to stay in a ryokan or two on my trip. I am going to be in Nara and Miyajima for one night each. Any advice on ryokans with a good traditional experience that are not exorbitantly priced (prefer under $300 a night, under $200 even better) would be appreciated.

Thanks!

-Owen

Edited by: noirblood

Preference Question: Sichuan or Taiwan? (Cross-posted)

Hi Travelfolks,

I will travel to Yunnan this summer and have an extra week or 2 available afterwards... I will probably be flying through Taipei, as the flight I'm interested is with China Airlines and has a short layover in Taipei. Would you extend that extra time to visit the Sichuan province or extend the layover in Taipei and spend some time in Taiwan? I was wondering which area you find more interesting / beautiful and why.

I'm passionate about scenery, national parks, architecture, hiking, cuisine, culture... not much or a beach person.

I really appreciate your suggestions.

Also, what is your experience with China Airlines? Are they good/on time/reliable?

Thank you so much.

Beijing Flight Paranoia

I've got a trip planned to Beijing during Spring Festival.

What would you rate the chances of a domestic flight out of Beijing airport being cancelled or significantly delayed due to weather/fog/snow?

I'm also guessing that Chinese domestic airlines don't have the same instrument landing equipment as say Cathay Pacific and can't auto-land in zero visibility.... domestic flights in China seem to get cancelled a whole lot more than Cathay/Dragonair flights out of the same airports....

Open Travel around Mongolia(OTAM)

Has anyone travelled with OTAM in Mongolia? I have looked at their webite and thought it seemed great and a reasonable price. We are interested in the South Gobi and Western Mongolia trips.If you have done tours withem-was it as god as it sounds?

West Kansai Area pass - does it cover subway in Kyoto?

And well, I suppose a one-day pass is valid for a whole day, not from, say 4 p.m one day to 4 p.m the next day?
And can I purchase the West Kansai Area pass in advance (together with the rail pass), so I don't need to bother about it in the Kansai airport?

first trip to japan- need some help

We're a couple who plan a trip to Japan for the first time.
We begin in Tokyo and end in Osaka
we are interested to visit the usual sites: Tokyo, Kyoto, Miyajima, Takayama, Nara, Himeji Castle ( we heard that the site is under construction - Do you think we should take it off?)
,Nikko,Fuji & Lake Ashi.

We will appreciate if you can please combine all the sites to one trip in the right order ? and suggest how many days we should give for each site ?
do you think we can make it?or is it too much ?
what is the best way to get from one site to another ?
is there any festival between the dats 25 to march till the 8 of April ?

the public hodiday in october is our arrival in Beijing : problems finding

We will arrive on 30/9 in Beijing exactly when the october holiday is on are going to start. What does this mean in reality : all musea, temples, shops are closed? All buses , trains to go on daytrips are full...????Should I by all means try to change my arrival(which I doubt is possible) to september so that I will be elsewhere is it not a real problem....