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Asia in a Wheelchair My
wife Jill and I took this trip in the spring of 1999. I traveled in a
manual chair, as I am unable to stand or walk, because of Polio 50 years
ago. Everything described here was wheelchair accessible unless
otherwise noted. I planned the itinerary by looking at guidebooks to
decide what places I wanted to see. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any
accessibility guidance in the guidebooks. There was a little bit on the
web by searching for “accessible city name." My travel agent
tried to make sure the hotels we wanted were accessible. I passed my
draft of the places I wanted to see by friends, who have been there, and
by e-mail to fellow Rotarians in those cities. E-mail to the Rotarians
worked very well. Many people I didn’t know volunteered guidance on
what was accessible. One very helpful person in Japan made reservations
for a bullet train and a temple tour that required advance reservations,
and which my travel agent didn’t know how to make. In addition, the
e-mail correspondence led to meetings with our new friends in three
cities.
This
32-day vacation (18 days in Asia) started with Jill and I flying to Honolulu
for three days, then onto Hong Kong,
China for two days. After that, my parents, Lee and Bob, flew
non-stop from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, where we met at the airport and
flew on together to Bangkok, Thailand.
We planned four days in Bangkok and four days in Hong Kong, then two
days in Tokyo. After Tokyo, we split
up for three days while Lee and Bob went to Gifu, and Jill and I went to
Kyoto. Then Lee and Bob joined us in Kyoto for three more
days before we all took the Holland American
Line Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ship for an 11-day cruise from Osaka,
Japan to Vancouver, Canada.
Wheelchair
Access Few
older buildings or restaurants have accessible bathrooms. Japan builds
accessible bathrooms in most parks and museums. The best chance to find
an accessible bathroom is by visiting a major hotel. I
used a lightweight manual chair that is 21 ½” wide. We put a sack on the
back to carry sweaters, hats, tour books, etc. An electric wheelchair
would have many problems
with getting over the many uncut curbs and single steps as well as not
fitting into a normal taxi. The DC-10 plane to Honolulu, NW935 was scheduled to
leave Los Angeles at 12:55. Scheduled arrival was 3:20 p.m. (Elapsed
time 5 hours and 40 minutes). At the airport, I called Ilima Tours
800-713-0146 at 4:00. They sent a wheelchair taxi from Metro Pacific,
Inc. 536-0381, Cellular 554-2194. It arrived at 4:35 p.m. and we
reached our hotel at 5:05. p.m. Transportation was included in our hotel
package. For wheelchair-oriented tour packages, the driver suggested Access
Aloha Travel. We stayed at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider,
room 3504. With transfers and a $25 per day food credit it was
$465/night. That seems very high to me, but I wanted a beach view and a
hotel right on the beach. We checked into our room, which was nicely
accessible, then went out to walk along our beach and see surfers,
catamarans, and a Japanese couple rehearsing their wedding. For dinner, we sat at a bar table under the giant
Banyan tree in the hotel’s beach patio. We ordered three appetizers to
use up our $25 food allowance plus two drinks. The appetizers were
pretty good. The next night we ate their $27 each buffet. It had a
little tough beef in a ratatouille of vegetables, crab wontons that were
OK, medium size dull scallops, and pecan pie that wasn’t sweet enough.
Service wasn’t great either. They did have a nice view and cloth
napkins. The third night we forgot about the $25 credit and went across
the street to a seven-course Chinese feast at the “Seafood Village
Chinese Cuisine,” 2424 Kalakaua Ave., in the basement of the
Hyatt. We had beef & pepper, moo goo gai pan, pork-fried rice, egg
foo yung, appetizers, and soup. We had what I think was water chestnut
paste for dessert. I had to ride an elevator mounted to the handrail, but
it was worth it. The prices were very expensive on the menu. $50 - $100
per person, but there was someone handing out early-bird flyers on the
street that gave this very nice meal for only $10.95 before 7:30 p.m. After the first night’s appetizers, we went across
the street to the Hawaiian Village, which is a large outdoor set
of shopping booths. The “Top of Hawaii,” a 17th
floor rotating restaurant a few blocks from the hotel was not
accessible. After taking one elevator up, then being led by a guard
through the kitchen to a kitchen elevator to go up one more floor, we
came out in the restaurant. All the tables were up four steps. We walked
around the outside aisle and looked at the view but then left. We walked
to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and ate at the Surf Room. This
is a large nice beachside café with great views of Diamond Head and the
beach. We sat at outdoor tables with beach umbrellas. The chicken salad
with noodles had very little chicken, a good teriyaki dressing, rolls
and very thin crackers. It was $13 and very good. The best is the
weather and the view. There were several mime groups entertaining on
Kalakaua the main boulevard. We listened to the piano player in our
hotel garden until 10:00 p.m.. The Hawaiian evenings are wonderful. .4/21, Wednesday Honolulu - Tokyo - Hong Kong We were scheduled to leave Honolulu at 12:00 Noon
(DC-10) to Tokyo, NW21, arriving 3:40 PM (Thurs.) Elapsed time 8:40. We
were picked up by the same “Handi-Van” from Ilima tours at 9:45 and
got to the airport at 10:15. The plane departure schedule had been
changed from 12:00 to 1:00. Jill had a croissant and minestrone soup,
then we went through the Aerospace museum. It was Hawaii-oriented. The
first plane to try to fly from the mainland to Hawaii, about 1925, was a
seaplane with 10 military ships along the way to help give it radio
guidance. The pilot misunderstood the directions from the last plane and
ran out of gas 450 miles NE of Hawaii. They tore the fabric off the
biplane wings and retied it between to make a sail and sailed into
Hawaii! They got a tow from a submarine the last part. In Tokyo, I used the bathroom. A drawing that looks
like a vertical line running through a cup indicates the men’s room.
The women’s is practically the same, except the cup is upside down. To
board me on the NW17 plane to Hong Kong, they used an elevator truck
that lifted me up to the door into the plane’s kitchen. 4/22.
The plane from Tokyo to Hong
Kong was scheduled for 6:20. Elapsed time 4 hours and 57 minute
minutes. (Note: It took us 16 hours and 20 minutes from Honolulu to HK.
From LA - HK is non-stop 14 hours and 55 minutes. But ours includes a
2:45 stop in Tokyo. There was no non-stop from Hon - HK). Total airfare
was $548/person. 4/22, Thursday Arrive Hong Kong
(date line
crossed) - 2 nights. 100HK$
= $13.50 The crew wheeled me through customs. I saw my new
Rotarian friend and got bus at 11:00 a.m. My friend had e-mailed me: April
22 - I shall receive you and Jill at the Hong Kong Int’l Airport.
Please do not mind about the time in the late evening. 11 p.m.,
in the eyes of a Hongkonger, is just the beginning of nightlife.
Further, it so happened that I am going to see someone off just
prior to your arrival. After
you have passed the immigration and the customs, please keep RIGHT and
go out to the Arrival Hall via the RIGHT exit.
(Always Remember: Rotarians are always at the RIGHT side!)
I'll catch you there. From Airport to Hotel: two options (1) By Airport
Express Train to Kowloon Station then transfer to a taxi.
Most convenient and fast. You'll arrive at your hotel before midnight.
(2) By Air Bus - All the buses are wheelchair friendly.
On board of the bus, you may just sit back (in your own
wheelchair) and relax, enjoy the night scene of the Kowloon Peninsula
along the road. It's
Amazing! It is already the
city tour. However, it
takes about 1 hour from Airport to Peninsula Hotel.
The Bus will stop at the opposite side of the road.
That means you have to cross the Nathan Road, and to take about
10 minutes walk to the main entrance of the hotel. It will be a problem
if you have several pieces of baggage. The Peninsula Hotel is located at
the centre of most of the museums, concert halls, cultural centres,
shopping malls, etc., within the circle of one mile. The A21 bus took us to Nathan St., the main street of
Kowloon. The bus kneels plus a ramp comes out from under the
steps. The driver will assist wheelchair users. There is a spot for a
wheelchair or luggage. They announce the hotel names before each stop.
There is also a sign that an Friday, 10/23
– We were up at 8:30 a.m. and
out about 10:30 a.m. We walked down to the edge of the Hong Kong channel
to look at Hong Kong Island, and then we went in shops. Had a dim sum
lunch on the 3rd floor of the Hong Kong Hotel. We ordered
fried shrimp, pork dumplings, steamed meat and something, and a
deep-fried, blended and sweetened water chestnut paste. They were all
good. The price was $3.50 each. Each serving was three or four pieces.
With Chinese and normal tea, the bill was $22. It was too much to
finish. At 4:00 p.m., Jill had a traditional tea of four
different sweets, two raisin scones, one salmon finger sandwich, one
cucumber sandwich and one very small ham roll, plus tea, in the lobby of
the famous Peninsula Hotel. It was about $20. I had two each of the
three kinds of finger sandwiches for about $11. The lobby is very nice
with 30’ ceilings with gold painted relief at top edges. On the 2nd
floor balcony a piano, violin and bass were playing Beethoven’s 5th
symphony. There were probably 50 tables, well spaced apart, and there
was a long line to be seated. We were greeted by name as we entered the
room and taken to our reserved table. We were also asked by name if we
enjoyed it as we left. When you make a reservation, you must give a room
number, if you are staying in the hotel. I guess since we had a suite
that upped the priority and the attention. Service is exceptional in Hong Kong. From the plane,
we had two people escort us until we got to customs. Then one stayed
with us clear to the bus. In Marks & Stewart department store, we
asked how to get to the Hong Kong Hotel. The sales lady left her store,
led us around a maze of halls and went up on the elevator to show us.
(But it still had four stairs.) Two police/guards helped me up the
steps. The police don’t carry guns. At 6:00 p.m. we walked along the river to see Hong
Kong Island, watch the boats and ferries. One tour boat shaped like
a junk rocked so heavily I am surprised people could stand on it. After
sunset, we went back to “Chinese Arts & Crafts” where Jill spent
2 ½ hours picking out just the right blouse, box, Christmas ornament,
bowl, etc. We also bought a gold dragon necklace. They closed at 9:30
p.m., and we went back to see the river and the Hong Kong lights. Dozens
of couples were standing and holding each other along the river, with an
occasional mild kiss. Saturday, 4/24.
We slept in until 10:00 a.m.,
did some packing then walked to the new History Museum. Only the
lobby was open. The main parts are still under construction. There were
minor exhibits on Opium wars and the old Hong Kong forts and cannon
defenses. We went to the Science Museum, which was
somewhat better and saw low technology interactive exhibits on
electricity, magnetism, and computers. We left early to relax. At the
hotel lobby, Jill had a lunch of five spring rolls that were hot and
good. Then we looked at the pool and the view before packing and leaving
at 4:45 p.m. The hotel had allowed us to check out as late as 7:00. We turned down the offer of a ride in the hotel’s
Rolls Royce to the airport. The bellman took our bags one block to the
bus stop. Then the bus came. Jill lifted the bags on the bus. I asked
for the ramp. The reply was “ramp broken”. I asked if he could help,
and the driver and a stranger tipped me onto the bus. On the one-hour
ride to the airport we saw maybe 20 buildings 35+ stories tall going up.
All were in a row and each was large. I guess it was 20,000 apartments.
The large bay and the big bridges, plus the tall buildings looked like a
combination of San Francisco and New York. We were recognized by name at the UA check-in and
escorted to the frequent flyer lounge at 6:15. It has an open bar, plus
canned tea, peanuts, dried peas, and pretzels. At 7:15 p.m. the escort
came back and took us to a truck with a ground lift on back and a lift
to the airplane on the front. Others boarded later by stairway. 4/24. Our airplane from Hong Kong arrived at 10:15
PM. Our tickets were $313/person. The April average temperature in
Bangkok is a high of 95 and a low of 77.
4/25 Sunday – Bangkok. Holiday Inn Crowne Point,
981 Silom Rd. (3600 THB = $114 + 21% / night) 4 nights. 1,000 Bat = $24. Holiday Inns in the Orient are more upscale
than they are in the U.S. Up at 8:30 a.m. We met Lee and Bob at 10:00 a.m. for
coffee. I had chicken curry with rice, which was a bowl of thin soup
with white chicken chunks some vegetables, Bok choi and strong curry
flavor. I spooned it over the rice. Jill had a thin omelet with pork
thoroughly cooked. It looked like egg foo young. It was better than most
omelets. We walked for about four blocks in the heat. It must
have been 95 or so. April is the hot and humid month in Bangkok.
The streets have occasional garbage smells and lots of noisy
traffic. The curbs are cut. We saw a small “reclining Buddha” temple
across the street from the Shangri-La hotel. On the patio of the hotel,
we had a drink overlooking the Chaophraya River. It is a little
wider than the channel between Hong Kong Island and the mainland, and is
busy with barges, tour boats and little people transports (buses). Then
we walked back and rested. In the afternoon, a minivan with a driver and a
female guide came to take the four of us to see temples. The driver
lifted me in and out of the van. The first stop was the Golden
Buddha, which was in a small building up a flight of stairs in a
crowded street. The driver lifted me in and out of the chair and into
the van. I couldn’t see anything because the Buddha is up a full
flight of stairs. While extending the port of Bangkok in 1955 workers
discovered a plain stucco Buddha. It was kept at this temple under a
makeshift shelter for 20 years, until a crane dropped it while moving it
to a more permanent shelter. The plaster cracked revealing the world’s
largest solid gold Buddha. This 13 foot high, 5 ton, 18kt gold Buddha
was made in the 13th century. It was probably encased in
stucco to hide it from Burmese ransackers The guide showed them how to light incense sticks and
press a small square of gold leaf onto a statue just outside the temple. Our second stop was the Old Royal City and Wat
Po, the reclining Buddha. The Old Royal City gives a sense of the
original Bangkok. All of Bangkok's major wats (temples) and
museums are situated here within walking distance or a short taxi ride
of one other.
Next, they drove us to a factory where they made
sapphire and ruby jewelry and then a 2nd jewelry factory, “The
Royal Lapidary.” Jill got a fresh water pearl necklace and a
painted ring box here. One of these factories gave away beer. I stayed
in the van with the driver, but the tour guide brought me a good beer. We ate dinner at the hotel’s Window on Silom
restaurant and had the best buffet I ever ate. I had duck, pork (too
fatty), shrimp, very good dim sum, grilled shrimp, a fish (with too many
bones), very good marinated cheese salad and several chocolate cakes
including a Sacher torte and good chocolate ice cream with crème
Anglaise and chocolate syrup. I didn’t have lamb, roast beef, sushi,
sashimi, dozens of salads and fruits or the other 20 plus desserts. It
was also a bargain, only $24.00. 4/26 Monday- We went by taxi to the Jim
Thompson estate, actually three teak houses seamlessly fused together
and built on stilts. It is now a museum for Thompson's collection of
Asian art and artifacts. He lived here for six years and filled it with
Thai and Chinese antiques and paintings. He disappeared in the jungle.
English tours start at 12:00 p.m.. Perhaps ¼ of the tour is accessible
from a wheelchair. The garden was up four stairs. It was green but not
memorable. We walked about a block to catch a taxi back to the hotel. At 2:30 p.m. we had lunch in the hotel lobby. Jill
had an order of chicken satay (nine skewers). I had a croque monsieur
(grilled ham and cheese) cut into finger sandwiches. They were about $6
each and were very filling. Lee and Bob went swimming. Jill and I walked
on Silom Rd. and in the Silom shopping center. Jill got two Hmong
pillowcases, five elephant key chains, a little cross-stitch purse. She
also got a nice silk blouse and shirt in blue with gold thread for $30.
While walking back, we saw buses that were so crammed with standing
people that they didn’t even close the doors. More people were
standing on the exit stairs holding on. There were also pickups with the
back filled with passengers. The guidebooks warn you about the traffic.
Back at the hotel, I rested for an hour while Jill washed her hair. At 7:30 a.m., we went to the Thai Orchid Lounge, in
the hotel, for a Thai dinner and Thai dance and music. 4/27, Tuesday
– We were up at 8:00 a.m. and
met two more new Rotarian friends. They drove us to the multistory Narayana
Phand Company Ltd., a state run craft store where Jill bought a $100
blue silk blouse with fan cutouts and $80 worth of miscellaneous in
about an hour. She would have liked to have more time, but we had to go
on to a Rotary luncheon. Back at our hotel, we walked about two blocks to Silom
Plaza and bought some Hmong gifts. We met Lee and Bob at 6:30 for a
drink and then went back to the buffet again. 4/28, Wednesday. We were up at 2:45 a.m. after
getting 4 ½ hours sleep. We got a minivan to the airport at 4:00 a.m.
We went through security check where they cinched each suitcase tightly
shut with plastic straps. This damaged our blue suitcase. Then we had to
put 500 Baht ($12) each into vending machines to buy an exit stamp,
using local currency only, and then turn in the stamp to get past
customs. Then a line for passports, then a wait to get in the waiting
room, then one person checking departure forms and another line to check
your ticket. The plane was full and the four of us were upgraded to
business class. The plane left for Hong Kong at 6:45 a.m. and landed at
10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. Bangkok.) Collecting that $12 tax in Bangkok a
very inefficient. They should simply charge the airline company and let
them pass it on like they do in Hong Kong. We stayed four nights at the Holiday Inn, Golden
Mile, 50 Nathan Rd., Kowloon $114. A good downtown location. Tel:
(011) 85 22 369 3111. Hong Kong has free porters who escorted me through
customs, the elevator rides and the train ride, then got our bags, and
waited for Bob & Lee to clear customs. He refused a tip. We took bus A21, again to Nathan Rd. and got off at
the Holiday Inn stop. We walked the ½ block to the hotel and asked for
a bellman, they were all busy for 10 minutes, then one went to the bus
stop with a cart for all the suitcases. We checked in by noon. It wasn’t in a handicapped
room. The bathroom was awkward, and I needed help to get into it. Later
Bob complained and they offered to move us. Jill spent 30 plus minute
packing, then they told us that the only handicapped room had only one
double bed. So we stayed, and Jill unpacked again. We all went to Gordon Yao’s tailor shop where Bob
ordered a suit and Jill ordered a dress and a coat. I was pressured into
ordering a blazer. We ate at the hotel’s Vienna Café. I had a small
pizza, $8.25 and a glass of wine $6. 4/29, Thursday
– We were over at Ocean
Terminal about 10:00 a.m. and bought a few things at Amazing Grace,
then had a good Dim Sum buffet that was $$5.25. This seems to be
primarily for employees, kind of hidden on the 4th floor. At 3:00 p.m. we had fittings. Jill agreed to get
another dress and also asked about a sari. We walked back to India
Company near our hotel and bought pink sari material for about $100.
Sari material is 6 meters long and 1 meter wide. This one had lots of
gold thread at one end, which was used to make the front skirt of the
dress. Back at the tailor’s, Jill said she wanted an A-line dress,
and he penciled a sketch, adjusting skirt length, sleeve length, collar,
waist line, etc. until she liked it. I suggested a drape effect across
the front to look more like a sari, so he drew in some lines and they
became pleats. Jill also ordered a maroon silk bolero to go with her
older sari. We had a 6:30
p.m. drink in the hotel, free at
Avenues. It was complementary because of Bob complaining about my
inaccessible room. I had a good steak and salad dinner and a beer at the
Deli, which was their German restaurant and bakery. I also took out 100
grams of 10 different small chocolates that were good. They had about 20
kinds. Later I got one of each. It had rained steadily and fairly hard most of the
day. Tropical Cyclone Leo was Stage three. It was only the 3rd
cyclone in April in 21 years. They are usually in October. My rain
poncho kept me dry. Jill bought a waterproof golf jacket that kept her
dry. 4/30, Friday. Jill and I went back to the
tailor at 11:00 a.m. for fitting the sari and blouse, then back to the
hotel for the 12:30 p.m. Rotary meeting.
Afterwards, Jill bought a sparkling blue blouse and a small red
suitcase at Yue Hwa. We saw the same suitcase later at the Night
Market for $180 HK. We met Lee and Bob at 6:00 p.m. and went to Felix, a
restaurant on the 28th floor of the Peninsula. The bar is up
a flight of stairs from there. They reluctantly let us have a drink at a
dinner table. They have an excellent view of Hong Kong. I ordered a
spare rib appetizer that was $16 for 5 spare ribs. Then we walked all the way up Nathan Rd. to the Night
Market, which was probably 1 1/2 miles, then back to the hotel. Jill
wanted a croissant. Bob wanted a pizza. We went to the pizza place,
which took an hour to serve us. After 45 minutes, the boss suggested we
help ourselves to the buffet, (no charge), which was better and normally
more expensive. There was some mix up on the order. Eventually the pizza
came. We ate lunch again at the Dim Sum restaurant. This
time instead of a buffet, they brought food by on carts. There is no
menu and very little English spoken. Lee had a reference picture of lots
of dim sum types with their English names that she brought with her. She
pointed out the ones she wanted to the host and he called over people
with those items. Someone tried the chicken feet. We picked up suits at
3:00 p.m. and tried on dresses. The dresses were delivered at 6:20 p.m.
to the hotel. We had a drink at Hari’s, then had very good $6 deli
sandwiches in the hotel. 5/2, Sunday - Tokyo from Hong Kong - (Narita
airport), UA 800, 9:30 AM, arrive 2:25 PM, elapsed time 3:55. Air from
Bangkok – Tokyo $591/person. Stay 2 nights. Leave 5/4.1,000 Yen =
$8.50 We left Hong Kong by taking the A21 bus to the
airport. Tokyo, Japan 5/2, Sunday. In Narita airport, we were
offloaded away from the gate again using the truck with two lifts. After clearing customs, we were met by the
English-speaking driver we requested, holding up my name. The company
was Universal Taxi, [Keihin Unsou Co. Ltd.] 03 (3790) 0117, Fax
03 (3790) 0110. It was about a 1½ hour drive to the hotel in the
minivan with lift. It was $216. Supposedly, with a document proving you
are handicapped you get a 10% discount. I didn’t try. We checked into a Meridian Hotel, Pacific Hotel
Tokyo, 3-13-3 Takanawa Minato-Ku. $145. + 19% / day. Phone (011) 81 33
445 6711. They had no accessible rooms. Our travel agent messed up
again. The bar at the hotel was up two steps. We had a drink. Our dinner
in the coffee shop was OK. I had chicken strips and French fries. Our
hotel room is “very spacious,” which translates correctly as very
small. With the door off, my 22” wheelchair could barely get into the
bathroom. 5/ 3 Tokyo. At 9:45 a.m., Our Internet found
Rotary friend, Mr. Kawamoto, met us with the same taxi and driver. He
had planned a driving tour of the city. We first drove around the
Imperial Palace, 7 Kilometers. Then he drove into a street with scores
of little stores selling computers. I saw a HDTV playing in one of them.
He pointed out big government buildings, TV stations, etc. This was a
big holiday, so traffic was light and the palace was closed.
After more driving around the city, we got back to
the hotel about 4:30 p.m. For dinner, we had pizza, spring rolls, and
crab eggs (crabmeat in a dumpling) appetizers in the bar. These were
$8.50 each and fairly filling. 5/ 4, - Tokyo – Kyoto. Tuesday. We had cinnamon toast and croissants for breakfast,
then met Mr. Kawamoto and the same driver and van at 11:35 a.m. He drove
us the 30 minutes to the train station. This is the world’s largest
train station. We already had our special tickets reserved for the
wheelchair-accessible compartment, with an accessible bathroom across
the aisle. The train from Tokyo left at 12:56 p.m. Lee and Bob
went most of the way, then got off to transfer to a train to Gifu. We
arrived in Kyoto at 3:12 p.m.. The bullet train to Kyoto was 28,780 Yen
for both ($244). Bullet train: "NOZOMI No.15" (maximum speed 280
km per hour) No.11th car, Seat No 14-A&B had a special compartment
for a wheelchair. Reservations were made for the wheelchair and boarding
assistance at least two days in advance. The station master was willing
to assist with boarding. (Tokyo-Kyoto 134 min.)
We went to the Teppanyaki restaurant at 7:30
p.m. and were told they were booked until 9:00 p.m. They called our room
at 9:00 p.m. to tell us they were ready. The dinner had a green salad
with a dressing like our Chinese chicken salad dressing. It included
long thin mushrooms, almost like a 5” long grass, and curved at the
end like a crook, and tangy cherry tomatoes. Then miso soup, and a small
appetizer had squid, eggplant, and cuttle fish. They fried garlic chips
on the grill. The main course was a modest serving of about four ounces
of Omni beef with a large tall mushroom, onion, asparagus and bread all
grilled. The beef was the most tender I ever had. My dinner included an
appetizer of shrimp, but it was alive on the grill. My dinner was 12,500
Yen ($106); Jill’s had no appetizer and a lower grade of beef, 9,500
Yen ($81). Away from the hotel, the prices were still high but much more
reasonable.
The Japanese cities are cleaner than U.S. cities.
They do a lot for the handicapped. The bathrooms at the museum and on
the train had motorized doors. They put raised, yellow dots on the
ground in front of the elevator button, urinal, start of an escalator,
curbs, etc. in order to help the blind. There is no tipping in Japan although they add a 10%
service charge to food and even the hotel room. 5/5,
Wednesday.
We were up early as breakfasts
are free before 10:00 a.m. We had eggs, bacon, toast or breakfast roll,
orange juice, and tea or milk. Then we walked to Shoren-In temple and
the Chion-In temple. The Chion-In gate is one of the largest in Japan.
It is all wood, very tall, big and dating from 1631. Jill went in both
while I waited outside. In the temples you take off your shoes and carry
them in a plastic bag, while wearing their slippers. In Maruyama Park,
which was a nice medium-sized city park, we found a little shop with
three tables and a tatami room with six tables. We had a chocolate
sundae and a green tea ice cream sundae. They had good ice cream and
little bits of candied fruit plus whipped cream. It was 1,600 Yen,
($13.60). Outside the sliding windows was a narrow pond with 3 ft. koi
and two ducks. A very pleasant break.
For dinner we ate in the hotel’s Chinese
restaurant. It started with an appetizer of turkey strips, crunchy
noodles, tomato, green bean and then slices of duck. The main course was
a little beef in oyster sauce and cuttlefish. There was a cup of noodles
and ground beef in a too spicy chili. Last was almond jelly – slices
of an almond flavored Jell-O in cold sugar water. 5/6, Thursday. Kyoto. We left by taxi for the Moss
Garden Kodekedera. There were about five steps to get to the main
building. Several ladies helped us up and down. I stayed outside the
sliding doors while everyone else changed shoes went inside and sat on
the floor in front of writing desks. Each person traced a printed prayer
onto a transparent sheet of paper. They were using brush and ink. The
complex characters take time to do carefully. After 20 minutes or so,
there were three Buddhist priests who chanted for five minutes while
pounding a drum and a gong. Then there was a five-minute sermon. Then 20
minutes more of tracing the prayers. After people finished tracing, they placed the
prayers on an altar and left. The garden in the back is one Jill remembered from
1971. It is now open only if you have written them seven days in advance
using their two-way postcard requesting a visit. They then send you back
half the card with your date, time and number of guests indicated.
Fortunately, a friend in Tokyo did all of that for us, so that Jill
could get us back to see the garden she liked so much. Unfortunately,
she didn’t remember that the garden was full of flights of steps. I
got into the garden but immediately there were 10 steps down. I waited
there, with an overlook of some of the garden while Jill toured it. We
took a taxi back to the hotel and had a soup, salad, lobster and scallop
main course and a Jell-O dessert for dinner in the hotel’s Royal
Copenhagen Restaurant. 5/7 Friday.
Jill and I walked about a mile
along the canal to the Arts & Crafts Center where we spent
several hours buying T-shirts and looking at five floors of tourist
stuff. We walked from the hotel to Jensiu, which is a
large Japanese restaurant complex built around a large garden and pond.
We sat in a building that had lots of tables, but we were alone. The
Japanese were off in a different building sitting on the floor. Each
table had a hole and gas heating built into the table so they could cook
at the table. The dinner was $34 per person, for a multi-course meal of
weird stuff that might have been tofu cooked in several ways. Since they
don’t speak English we really didn’t know what we were eating. I
ordered an appetizer of duck and sake. They were the best part. The
garden was sublime. 5/8,
Saturday. We all walked about 1 ½ miles to Eikando Temple
which had a large gate, an old stone aqueduct and a $3 million
re-roofing project, then onto the Nanzenzi temple and then along the
Philosophy trail to the temple at its end. The trail was basically just
a walkway along a stone lined drainage ditch. It was not as impressive
as the guidebooks sound. While the interior of the temples were not wheelchair
accessible, the exteriors were still impressive to see. We ate dinner at Tairo Mikaku, a 120-year-old
Japanese beef and sukiyaki restaurant that had two large steps in order
to get in. It was good beef. They had three grades of tender beef for
$36, $46 or $63. Jill and I took a taxi to the Golden Palace.
This temple has grounds with lots of trees and a lake. The palace sits
on a foundation in the lake. The temple is only seen from the outside.
There is a minor temple that can be entered with the usual five steps. The grounds make two nice gardens paths. The lower is
around the lake and is accessible. The garden was peaceful, although
there were a lot of visitors. The upper has a lot of steps up to it. It
has a tea garden. The public toilets were Japanese style. The urinals
were accessible. The bus driver was big and carried me on and off the
bus that would go from our hotel to Osaka to catch the ship. Holland American, Nieuw Amsterdam 5/10, Monday. At 5:00 p.m. we departed Osaka
on Nieuw Amsterdam, Holland America Line, Cabin #191 (A wheelchair
accessible cabin). Tel: 900-225-5425 for 11 days to Vancouver. ($4,134
for 2 +$300 port tax). After having the steward move the beds in the room,
it was accessible. The phone was not by the bed, although the long cord
could reach across the room. When the wheelchair was in front of the
toilet the bathroom door must be open. The room was all the way forward,
directly under the bridge. Looking out the window you see forward which
is nice. It was a very rocky part of the ship. Other ships I have been
on put the accessible rooms in the middle of the ship where it rocks
less. This ship rocked more than any other we have been on. Once my
wheelchair slid sideways at high speed in the bathroom. I worried about
being tipped over sideways, and I always tried to have something within
reach to grab. The trip did not go well. The temperature was usually
around 44 degrees. The seas were rough. The ship dropped about 5 degrees
Latitude below its planned great circle route, trying to avoid the storm
and waves. It was windy and overcast. The ice carving demo was cancelled
for cold. You can’t stay outside. Everyone is bored. The Indonesian
crew is friendly and entertained one night. A story in costume, some
dancing, and a big band playing bamboo rattles. The rest of the cruise continued to have bad weather and acceptable but not good food. The menus had too few normal choices. Hotels
& Tourist Sites We
stayed in the following hotels. They were fully accessible and
comfortable unless otherwise noted. Sheraton
Moana Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii. It’s on the beach at Waikiki. Peninsula Hotel, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
$392/night. Nathan Rd. & Salisbury Road #852-2266-6251. Our room was
very nice and very convenient to the harbor, museums and shopping. Holiday Inn Crowne Point, 981 Silom Rd., Bangkok, Thailand. $114 + 21% tax. Holiday Inns in the Orient are more upscale than they are in the U. S. Holiday
Inn, Golden Mile,
50 Nathan Rd., Hong Kong, Kowloon $114. This is a
good downtown location. Tel: (011) 85 22 369 3111. Meridian
Hotel, Pacific Hotel Tokyo,
3-13-3 Takanawa Minato-Ku, Tokyo, Japan.
$145. + 19% / day. Phone (011) 81 33 445 6711. They had no accessible
rooms. Miyako Hotel, Sanjo Keage, Higashiyama-Ku, Osaka, Japan. $208 + 18.8% per night. Tel: (011) 81 75 771 7111. Back
Home In summary, we did a lot of shopping. The temples in Bangkok and Kyoto were numerous and different. The people were more friendly and helpful than in other parts of the world. It was generally crowded in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Bangkok was not very accessible. Food in Japan was very expensive. Some of the hotel meals were very good. Away from the hotels they may be good, but between the language and culture differences you may never know what you ate. The cruise was a disappointment. The weather was bad. The food was only so-so and was the worst I have had on four cruises. Back to
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ounces the stops in English and Chinese. I
told the driver where I was going, and he made sure we got off at the
right stop. The Airport Express train to Kowloon station is also
supposed to be accessible and take 23 min. The bus from there to the
hotels is the same type.
Lee and Bob had arrived earlier and Bob brought
transportation in a minivan. Four guys lifted me and my wheelchair into
the back, behind the seats. At the hotel, we only had Bob and the
driver. It was dangerous being lifted down, but I made it.
The reclining Buddha is in a large temple in a
large complex of dozens of temples and hundreds of statues. I was helped
up the six steps to get inside this temple. Inside, the room has open
windows on all sides and a walkway around the 100foot-plus long
reclining gold colored statue of a thin Buddha. Around the edges of the
walkway, are over 100 iron pots, where the faithful make a contribution
to the monk whose pot it is. They sell a sack with just enough ½ cent
coins so that you can put a coin in each pot. The outside grounds around
the temple with its hundreds of tall thin towers called Stupas was more
interesting to me. Some of the temples were for believers only. There
was an admission charge to the temple for foreigners but not for Thai.
We spent about two hours on an individually guided
English tour of the Edo – Tokyo Museum.
At our hotel, they greeted us by name and took us to
our room. Miyako Hotel, Sanjo Keage, Higashiyama-Ku, $208 + 18.8%
per night. Phone # (011) 81 75 771 7111. six nights, two were part of
the cruise package. The bathroom was large, the doors were wide, there
were grab bars beside the toilet and in the tub, but there was only
24” of clearance in front of the toilet. The toilet seat was heated.
There were two levels of bidet.
The Japanese worry about blowing a nose in public and
shaking hands. They wear a surgical mask when they have a cold. Some of
the toilets flush with an optical sensor you pass your hand in front of,
so you won’t have to touch anything. When you enter the country, you
fill out a quarantine form describing any fever, diarrhea, etc. that you
have had in the last two weeks.
A 50-year-old Japanese man offered to show us a
beautiful Japanese garden. He was with his mother. He pushed me about
four blocks to the Heian Shrine. When he found out there were
steps, he drafted a young couple to help. Admission to the garden was
about $5. I think he paid for all six of us. The garden starts with five
steps up and then five steps down. At the end of the garden were two
steps up a bridge and four steps down on the other end. In between were
a dozen single steps and a couple of rough stone bridges, with no sides
and maybe 24” wide. It was a beautiful garden. Its cherry blossoms had
stopped flowering a week ago. There were some iris, azalea and lotus
blossoms. A nice pond and fairly uncrowded. This kindness is typical of
the Japanese.