Lulu, our guide for the trip, did a great job showing us around Kyoto. The bikes were well maintained and the course was very enjoyable. We would have missed out on a lot of interesting facts and places had we tried to visit these locations on our own. After the tour she showed us a great ramen restaurant and gave us some advise for our plans after the tour.
Backroad Japan was a great trip and really tested my fitness, or lack of it. The inns we stayed at were amazing as was the food. I particularly liked using the onsens at the end of the day. The trip is more moderate to challenging in some parts due to steep hills. The only aspect that caught us all by surprise was the heat and high humidity. It's not normally so hot or humid but you can't predict this sort of weather months out. This made trekking all the more challenging and onerous some days, so I happily passed on going on a trek when in Osaka. If you stay on after the tour, I recommend spending 2 nights in Hiroshima as there is so much to see and do. I made a day trip of it, but it took13 hours in all and I didn't get done all that I wanted to.
Had an amazing experience in Japan with our Intro guide, Elmer!! Japan is a beautiful place to visit with so many unique and wonderful experiences! The tour really highlighted all of the beauty and culture of the country and it was made so much better by Elmer! He was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable with each day s activities and to my wonderment was able to bring us all over the country through the labyrinth of trains and other modes of transport with ease! It was obvious that he had a lot of experience navigating in high stress situations. Beyond knowledge, he was very attentive and kind to all the members of our group and even went out of his way to get a cake for someone s birthday! I can honestly say that I don t think I would have enjoyed myself half as much had we not had him with us! Hoping to be able to take another tour with him in the future!!