March 2026 ~ Kohehh Journey Tracker

I didn’t sleep at all last night.

Lying there in the dark, I kept thinking about the past few days. I’ve been making bad decisions again and again. By morning, I felt completely drained. I had no mood for sightseeing at all.

Still, I decided to leave Nikko and go to Oyama. The trip would take about two hours and cost around 1000 yen.

In the morning, I walked around Nikko a bit before leaving. I saw a long bridge, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk across it because of my height phobia. I just stood there for a while, looking at it, then decided to turn back.

I decided to stayed in Oyama because the hostel in Tokyo was too expensive, over AUD $100 for a dorm bed. It was just not worth it. On top of that, I booked everything last minute as usual, and everything was full because of the sakura blooming season. There were barely any affordable options left, so Oyama became the only realistic choice.

Before I even left, things were already going wrong.

I spent almost two hours in the lounge trying to apply for an India e-visa online. Every time I finished a page or tried to change something, the website failed to load. It kept happening over and over again. It really pissed me off. And paying USD $40 for the visa just made it worse.

At Nikko hotel lounge

Then came the transport, and everything became even more frustrating. I missed the non-express train I was supposed to take. That one mistake ruined everything. My planning fell apart completely. I ended up waiting for more than two hours.

Some trains came and left, and I let them go because I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch the connecting train anyway. Watching them leave made me feel even worse. In the end, I paid 1150 yen for the express train to Tochigi. I felt stupid for putting myself in that situation. After that, I still had to take two more buses, 200 yen each.

Nikko small little town

Always fun to play with this

Waiting at the Tobu World Square Train Station

Old Train

Express Train

Express Train Ticket

Waiting for bus after arrival at next station

Getting dropped off at no where for next bus.

Waiting for bus...

Bus fare

But in the middle of all this frustration, something kind happened.

A lady noticed I was struggling and helped explain to the bus driver where I wanted to go. She was so kind it made me want to cry.

Friendly passenger that helped me

Near my stop, the driver asked me something. I knew where I needed to get off, but I couldn’t say the station name in Japanese. There were no English characters on Google Maps. I felt stuck. Then other passengers helped me.

A young father holding a child and an older lady tried to help. I showed them my phone, and they read the station name in Japanese to the driver for me. That moment felt very warm.

My experience in Japan has been very inconsistent. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes unexpectedly kind.

The walk to the hostel took about 10 minutes. The area was very suburban, full of houses, and surprisingly quiet.

Oyama sunset

Oyama

Random Sign..

When I arrived, a young man came out and introduced himself as the owner. I was a little surprised because he looked very young. He said he was 29.

The room wasn’t ready.

After greeting me, he ran upstairs without saying anything else. I stood in the hallway for about 7 to 10 minutes. He seemed very unprepared.

Then he suddenly shouted from upstairs, “Ready!”

I went up, and he helped me with my smaller backpack because I was struggling.

The room itself was nice. I didn’t even realize I had booked a room with a futon. It was neatly folded, but then he told me it wasn’t clean and asked if he could change it. I said it was fine. I’m not sure why the room wasn’t ready since check-in was at 4 pm and I arrived almost at 5 pm. Check-out is at 10 am, so the previous guest should have left hours earlier. The way he ran downstairs was almost funny.

After that, I told him I wanted to use the toilet. He nervously said, “Wait a moment,” and quickly ran downstairs. Then he called me again from downstairs and said it was ready. It seemed like he needed to clean the toilet as well. After about 10 minutes, he shouted from downstairs again that it was ready.

After that, he left. It seems like they stay at another property. Despite everything, he was friendly and polite.

By then, I was very hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I had about 4 or 5 soft candies in my backpack that I picked up as samples from the airport in Thailand. They had been there for days and didn’t look appealing, but today I ate them all. Of course, I was still very hungry. Candy doesn’t make you full.

I walked about 20 minutes to the nearest supermarket. I bought microwave rice, canned fish, and a packet of noodles. I chose the cheapest options. I also bought three S-shaped hooks and a storage item for about AUD $1. These hooks are actually very useful in hostels for hanging clothes or other things.

When I got back, I realized I made a mistake. The “rice” wasn’t rice. It was porridge. And it was sweet, more like dessert.

I felt so annoyed at myself. The taste with canned fish was strange, but I had no other choice. Luckily, I had the noodles, which felt like more proper food.

Bought the cheapest instant rice, turned out to be sweet porridge

Cool mug

I choose you

I so need one of these so useful in hostel

Random photo at supermarket

Sushi Supermarket Price

My favorite chocolate is below the average price

My dinner bill

Hair Cut Oyama

There were other people in the house when I came back. I needed to use the kitchen to heat my food. They were already using it, but everyone was respectful.

I brought my food back to my room. I have a private room upstairs, but the bathroom is shared downstairs. I decided to pay a bit more for a private room because I had very bad hostel experiences the past few days, especially with snoring and smells. My room is actually very nice.

My dinner and Macha latte

Dessert Porridge

When I was about to take a shower, a bald lady came out and talked to me. We had a short conversation. She was very friendly. She said she hoped they wouldn’t disturb me because there were many of them staying there.

I think the owner may have told her that I prefer quiet. I told her it’s okay, but yes, quiet is very important to me.

The shower is old, but I don’t mind. At this point, I just want to sleep.

Ok, after a whole night of thinking and debating whether to go to Shirakawago with Cylia or not, I finally made up my mind just before 6am. Cylia wanted to start early, so I planned to take the earliest shuttle car to the train station. I quickly packed my bag after left Sakura Guest House, took the shuttle, and stopped by my first hostel in Takayama, Backpacker Hida Takayama, to leave my backpack.

Sakura Guest House Kitchen

From the station, it was another 10 minute walk to the hostel. After dropping off my bag, I immediately messaged Cylia to let her know I would be waiting at the station

When I arrived and bought my ticket, I was so surprised. There were so many people lining up. Way more than I expected. It felt like everyone was going to Shirakawago. Cylia had mentioned it was UNESCO listed, and now I could really see why it was so popular.

Buying Ticket to Shirakawago

I think part of me wanted to go with her so I would not regret it later, especially if I ended up shortening my trip.

The bus ride turned out to be really fun. Cylia was great to talk to, and time passed quickly. When it was time to eat, we both laughed because we realized we had bought the exact same food. The same onigiri, same flavor, from the same FamilyMart, just at different times.

I chose it because it is one of the cheapest options, and I actually like it too.

After about an hour, we arrived. Of course, the bus stop was packed, and the whole place was crowded. Completely different from yesterday when I went skiing.

Cylia joked that if we did not know where to go, we could just follow the crowd.

Getting off from the bus at Shirakawago

Shirakawago was full of traditional houses with thick, steep straw roofs, which is what the place is famous for. There were a few places that required an entrance fee, which honestly annoyed me a bit since the bus ticket was already expensive. We paid to enter one house that was supposed to showcase a traditional Japanese interior. I have to say, it was a bit disappointing. The house was not that big, the line was long, and with so many visitors, it felt like they did not need to charge that much.

Some places required to take off shoe and wear their provided slipper

So many people were queuing up to visit this paid traditional Japanese house.

After that, we decided not to keep paying for other attractions. The village itself was already beautiful, so we just enjoyed walking around and taking everything in.

There was snow, and I was excited to take photos of it everywhere. The whole place took about four hours to explore, especially since we were walking quite slowly.

Thick, steep straw roofs

Cost from Takayama to Shirakawago return

By the end, we were both pretty tired. The last area was mostly shops, but we did not feel like buying anything since everything was more expensive. We decided we would buy things later back in Takayama instead. Cylia did pick up a few souvenirs though.

After arriving back in Takayama, before we split up to our different hostels, we enjoyed a meal at McDonald’s and bought some snacks at the supermarket.