Taisho Pond

We were incredibly grateful to our wonderful tour guide, Ms. Wang, who kindly helped us retrieve our phone, which we had left in the taxi! We highly recommend this itinerary because it's convenient and doesn't require transfers. Our driver skillfully avoided the evening rush hour traffic, and we returned to our starting point at 6:30 PM. Nagoya in summer is unbearably hot, so soaking in the cool Azusa River under the shade of trees in Kamikochi was incredibly refreshing! Kamikochi is the perfect summer destination in Japan! This itinerary starts at Taisho Pond and walks to Kappa Bridge, allowing for plenty of time for snacks and drinks. However, there might not be enough time to go all the way to Myojin Pond.

This was my first time participating in a KKDay tour, and I immediately appreciated its convenience and efficiency. Our group consisted of only eight people, and the travel agency arranged for us to be transported in a large SUV, about the size of a minivan. There were rest stops along both the way, so we didn't have to worry about needing to use the restroom after drinking too much water during the hike. The friendly driver and tour guide, both from mainland China, provided simple explanations in different languages depending on the nationality of the group members. The ride was quite comfortable; the driver drove very smoothly, and we didn't feel cramped or uncomfortable on bumpy roads. Although we only had 3.5 hours in Shanggaochi, the tour guide thoughtfully provided us with a map with the route marked on it before we arrived, and also suggested several hiking routes suitable for our itinerary and their estimated timeframes for reference. Although we only had half an hour for lunch by the river after returning to the bus terminal, which was a bit of a shame as we didn't have time to buy delicious apple pie or souvenirs, I would definitely like to come back next time to explore another route we didn't get to and experience the different beautiful scenery of Shanggaochi. Thank you KKDay for providing this itinerary, giving travelers who want to go to Kamikochi but don't want to spend too much time on transportation another option. It's definitely worth taking!

1. If you want to enjoy the Upper Highlands, choose to stay 4 hours of the trip to take the A + B route is definitely enough, the scenery is beautiful, the trail is also very good to walk, and there is time to go to the souvenir shop on the side. People with poor leg strength can also choose routes A or B, and there is plenty of rest time. 2. Although the hot spring hotel stayed at night is relatively old, but the environment is clean, breakfast / dinner buffet options are also quite many, delicious, more unfortunately the environment oil smoke smell is heavier. 3. The next day to Kurobe Tateyama, the tour guide Ame arranged for us the next section of transportation time, as long as the agreed time to the fixed point can go to the next stop, the night before checking into the hotel also stopped supermarket so that we can prepare food for the mountain or evening dim sum, do not worry about running out of food. There is also a stop at a rest stop on the return trip to Nagoya Station, where you can get off to buy things and go to the toilet. In the car there will also be a brief explanation of the background of the place we headed to, and after getting off the car was very active in helping to take pictures. The only drawback was that the weather was relatively bad that day and I couldn't go down to walk on the snow wall, but the overall experience was great!