Yuki was a wonderful guide who seemed to think of everything. She was particularly good at telling us where we had to meet next which we found a bit confusing at first but we soon realised it was so that if anyone became separated from the group they knew where they had to be next. Yuki was brilliant at spotting anyone straying and sprinted after them at an impressive speed! We all appreciated her efforts at performing magic tricks to entertain us whilst staying at the ryokan and teaching us origami whilst on the Bullet train.
I was pleasantly surprised by how easy everything was from being met at the airport on day 1 by a local guide to having Yuki buy my ticket and direct me how to get back to the airport for my flight to Shanghai.
The room was tiny for 2 people at Yaesu Terminal hotel but the location and cleanliness compensated. Elsewhere I was impressed with the hotels.
The only thing I really disliked and felt was very poor value was the shabu shabu meal. It was not to my taste (it appeared to have no taste at all!), very expensive compared to meals we had locally and a complete let down. I have no interest in eating as much as I can and much preferred the Keiseki at the ryokan which was a lovely surprise! The ryokan experience and the onsen were a highlight of the trip.
I felt that the cultural experience in Gion should have been a prebookable option as it was almost offered as an afterthought so we were too late to get seats and ended up sitting on the floor. I think clients would welcome the chance to prebook seats and learn about the Chinese culture.
For the more affluent clients a chance to spend some time with a Geisha would be good. I understand some hotels now offer this and I would have been intrigued as would some of my fellow travellers.
It was amusing that most of the blossom had blown away and the moss had yet to arrive which just reinforced how you cannot be sure of anything where Mother Nature is the boss and how important it is to stress this to my clients. As I will say to my clients it really didn't matter because we were having such a good time regardless.
James our main Guide in China was fairly quiet but always smiling. I got the impression he's been doing his job a while and was more laid back than Yuki. Alison our guide in Xian seemed young and inexperienced. She didn't explain everything there was to see at the Wild Goose Pagoda and I felt slightly disappointed.
I can imagine that sharing a compartment and facilities on the overnight train might not be for everyone but I was lucky in having 3 companions I got on well with, thanks to whoever put us together, and it was good fun. I was very grateful that we had time to shower at our hotels the next morning.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, the organisation was excellent, the standard of the hotels exceeded my expectations and I loved waking up to somethign new and exciting every day. I will be recommending On the Go Tours to my Travel Counsellor colleagues and my clients and I hope very much to do another tour in the future. ”