A Thrillophilia Review of Japan
I recently went to Japan with my family for a 5 day trip. I had heard about Thrillophilia from quite a few of my friends and family members. I thought this was the right opportunity to test it myself.
I was mainly planning this trip because I promised my son that I would take him on an international trip after his 12th boards. I gave him four options, out of which he chose Japan. After finalising the destination, I just had to search for Japan’s tour package that would be best for us. I went to Thrillophilia’s site and started scrolling through its various options. No doubt, the site really had a lot of exciting deals and packages. Moreover, there were a lot of positive reviews of Thrillophilia which made me trust the site even more.
Me and my wife liked the ‘Glimpse of Japan’ package which was for 5 days and 4 nights. It was under our budget, included all the places that we wanted to visit and was extremely well-planned. Before booking, I connected with the live representative of the company. She was in-charge of my booking who explained to me the entire itinerary. She also made some customisations to our package on my request, which cost me the same as the initial amount.
After two days of discussion with my wife, I called back the same representative to book the package and complete all the formalities. The booking process was very smooth, in comparison to the other travel agencies that I have tried before. Now, we were all set to go on one of the best trips of our life to Japan.
Our trip
We arrived at the Tokyo airport where our driver was already waiting for us. He was a localite, who was very polite and welcoming in nature. He welcomed us in his own language and showed the way to the car. From the airport, we directly went to our pre-booked hotel. In between, we made a few stops to click pictures as my son wanted to post his first picture of arriving in Japan.
As soon as we entered the hotel, we were impressed by the authentic Japanese interiors. We received a very warm welcome, just like how we welcome our guests in India. We ordered our lunch in the room and then decided to take some rest for a while. In the evening, we went to the Shinjuku district via metro. It was difficult at first to understand how things work at the metro, so I called the representative who booked our package. She patiently explained to me how the tickets work and where to take the train from.
After reaching Shinjuku district, we first visited the Shinjuku Gyoen which was a beautiful park. We got to witness the breathtaking cherry blossoms which is a speciality of Japan. After taking a lot of pictures and spending a wholesome time at the park, we proceeded towards our next destination, the Golden Gai.
The Golden Gai is where we got to see the real Japanese architecture. Contrary to the park, it had a very lively and vibrant atmosphere. We tried a lot of street food options such as Yakitori (grilled chicken), Mitarashi Dango (sweet & savoury dumplings), Karaage (deep fried chicken) and Yakisoba (stir fried noodles). For dessert, we had Daigaku Imo (caramelised sweet potatoes) and Ningyo-yaki (chocolate filled pancakes). After a fun night, we went back to our hotel.
The next day we got ready and went down for our breakfast. We left as soon as our driver came to pick us up for our city tour. We started our tour by visiting the Tokyo Tower which is taller than the Eiffel Tower. Next, we went to the Edo Tokyo Museum where we got to know about the history and culture of Japan. At night, we went to Ginza for some shopping. The place was huge and loaded with shops, both local and branded.
I am pretty sure that my wife and son were waiting for this opportunity. It was hard for me to keep a track of them at this shopping centre, as both of them were running in opposite directions. We had our dinner at Ginza, after which our driver dropped us off at our hotel.
Next day, we got up early, quickly had our breakfast and then checked-out of our hotel. We settled our luggage in the car and then drove off to Kyoto. It was approximately a 6 hours long tiring yet fun road trip. In between, we stopped at a small aesthetic cafe to have our lunch. We reached our pre-booked hotel in Kyoto around 4 in the evening. Without any delay, we quickly freshened up and headed out for our city tour.
We started by visiting Kiyomizu-dera which was a popular Buddhist Temple. After this, we also visited one more Buddhist Temple, Kinkaku-ji which was beautifully covered with cherry blossoms. Next we went to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest which has to be my most favourite location. It had a beautiful walkway built in the middle of huge trees. It was a serene location where we got the best pictures of our trip. In the end we visited Nishiki Market to purchase some souvenirs like Japanese sweets and ceramic items.
Day 4, our last day of the trip included a transfer to Osaka. While on our way to Osaka, we made a stop at Nara. Here, we visited two most popular attractions such as Todaiji Temple and Pagoda Temple. We continued our journey and reached our pre-booked hotel in Osaka. After having our lunch in our room, we again left for our last city tour.
First, we went to the Osaka Castle which truly had an awe-inspiring architecture. Next, we went to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan which we added in our tour during the customisations. It is one of the largest aquariums in the world which has several huge tanks. At the aquarium we saw dolphins, sea lions, otters, whale sharks, jellyfishes and a lot of colourful fishes.
Before ending our day, we went to the Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel. It was a 112 metres tall ferris wheel from where we could overlook the entire city. It was a fun experience, after which we headed back to our hotel.
On day 5, we had our breakfast and completed all our check-out formalities. Our driver picked us up from the hotel and dropped us off at the airport.
Thank you Thrillophilia
It was a short but a really well-planned trip. We covered a lot of fun and exciting places in these 3-4 days. We got to experience the authenticity of Japan, learn about their culture and try a lot of local dishes. It was a wholesome trip that truly surpassed all my expectations and prior experiences. Kudos to the team of Thrillophilia for their effort, efficiency and planning.
After such an amazing and memorable experience, I had to drop this Thrillophilia review to say thank you to the team for their brilliant service.
