| Show - - - - - - - - - - I 41V The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday September 30 1999 : inns: chance to sample culture save money Japanese-styl- e I ! I k By Carol Pucci Seattle Times Writer Japan — It was just 4 pm but we had already changed into our blue and white cotton yukatas spread out the futon bedding on the straw tatarni mats and were relaxing over green tea and sweet bean cakes contemplating the hot bath that awaited us in the wooden tub down the hall Smells of soy sauce and ginger from the kitchen downstairs drifted into our second-floo- r room at the Minshuku Sosuke a family-ru- n Japanese-style guest house in the alpine town of Takayama Soon we and about 20 other guests in the inn would be enjoying dinner seated on comfortable cushions and yes wearing our yukatas — Japanese-styl- e robes similar to a kimono but made of cotton Wearing yukatas to dinner was just one of many things my husband Tom and I grew to like about staying in Japanese-stylinns Affordability was another For travelers interested in meeting the Japanese staying in traditional Japanese inns and minshuku is a way to experience the culture and save money at the same time The affordable types of accommodations fall into two categories: family-run minshuku which are usually private homes and budget-price- d ryokans which are members of the Japanese Inn Group an organization of about 60 budget-priceJapanese-styl- e inns throughout the country The distinctions between minshuku and the budget ryokans are fading however and many minshuku are more like inns than private homes Technically a minshuku offers a bed breakfast and dinner for about $35 per person In many cases English is not spoken' Often guests are expected to put: down their own futons at night and bring their own soap and towels The budget ryokans are scaled-dow- n versions of the more expensive traditional Japanese ryokans which can easily match the cost of Western hotels Ryokans that belong to the Japanese Inn Group offer more of the services one would find in a hotel and can be booker' without meals for about $45 for two people They tend to cater to foreigners have fax numbers for TAKAYAMA reservations and owners who speak some English Some minshuku do not take for eigners for fear they might wear their shoes inside the house or use soap in the bath (which is meant for soaking only) Although we were never turned away we were often the only guests Yuhei and Kyoko Takahara a friendly couple in their 30s who run the Sosuke welcomed us warmly after I called ahead for a room from a phone booth in Kyoto a few hours away by train Although they spoke little English we were able to communicate well enough to make a reservation and take care of details such as what time dinner and breakfast were served The only furniture in our mat (about 10 by 15 feet) room was a low table and four floor cushions On the table was a ceramic tea set and a large thermos of hot water In a corner alcove was a portable pay TV There was no dresser no drawers no sink no towels no soap Our first impression was that it was a bit like camping indoors We slept on the floor lived out of our suitcases shoved in the corner and carried the soap and towels we brought from home down the hall to one of two Japanese-styl- e baths — a small private one and another marked "family bath" meaning the tub was large enough for several people But there is a large dose of elegance in the simplicity of Japanese-styl- e accommodations And we came to savor small touches such as going back to our room to find our futon laid out and a tray of green tea and bananas waiting We marveled at the m six-tata- e d high-price- artfully presented dinners and amusing amenities such as heated toilet seats Mealtimes were especially fun At the Sosuke seated on the floor at a long low table we had a hard time deciding what to eat first: Before each place lay eight different dishes Including delicately fried tempura smoked and dried fish pickles and sweet red berries in tiny silver tins To the right of each place setting was an individual cast-iro- n pot of soup made from soba noodles chunks of tofu and fish cakes d n Breakfast was fermented paste bubbling atop a maple leaf kept warm on individual clay pots bowls of miso soup rice seaweed a bit of smoked fish and pickles We soy-bea- watched the other guests and -- learned what to do with all of this: n The paste is for mixing in the rice the seaweed is for dunking in soy sauce then using as a wrapper for the rice mixture The quality of minshuku and ryokan can vary although even the lowaccommodaliest of Japanese-styl- e tions have a standard of cleanliness well above cheap European pensions d hotels in other parts of or rhinoceros Bengal tiger and more than 300 varieties of birds The trip is priced at 92190 per person Airfare is additional For descriptive literature and further in formation write Geo Expeditions PO Box 3656 Sonora Ca 95370 (1- - oral typhoid vaccine with fewer side effects than the injectable vaccine was recently approved for marketing by the Food and Drug Administration and is now available throughout the United States The vaccine Vivotif Berna (TypholdVaccine Live Oral Ty 21a) is a vaccine in a coated e capsule Four capsules are required for protection one on each alternative day for a total of six days A booster dose is recommended after five years if exposure to typhoid is continuous or repeated The vaccine is considered novel because it is the only live bacterial vaccine approved in the US that is administered orally The vaccine was developed and is manufactured by the Swiss Serum and Vaccine Institute Berne Switzerland It is distributed in the US by Berna Products Corporation of Coral Gables Florida 5899) OM For the 10th year in a row readers of the business publication Institutional Investor have voted the Oriental Bangkok "the world's best hotel" The publication began the travel survey in 1980 The famed hotel has received the highest rating in every year the poll has been conducted The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group operators of the Oriental also have properties in Hong Kong Macau Jakarta Manila Singapore and San Francisco If you are looking to rent a condominium in Hawaii you might try Condo Network at Enjoy the same comforts space and privacy as you do at home in a studio one two or three bedroom condo yet with many of the services offered at hotels Unusual wildlife viewing interspersed with visits to India's most celebrated cultural landmarks are the focus of a Geo Expeditions 17- day journey to India departing Dec 20 1990 and Jan 5 1991 Kaziranga Ranthambhor and Keoladeo Ghana are three nature reserves that pro vide wildlife enthusiasts with oppord tunities to see the Indian Hideaways Guide a travel portfolio of Hideaways International a premier travel club known for its unique vacation accommodations one-horne- 1 N s4 ps d I r- - : r :' ro 1 4 pi IIIII E Generations 744:i I - IlifIc ':1'41):': 01111111111110011110114101101111110 Our worst experience was a minshuku recommended by the tourist CALIFORNIA TOUR & office at the train station in Kuratown little canal shiki a peaceful PHANTOM OF THE that escaped bombing during World OPERA War It was pouring down rain when we 3 Oct 27-No- v arrived at Isozaki Minshuku hoping harbor to find the cozy atmosphere we had Oakland San Francisco cruise Big Trees Railroad Big Sur read so much about in the guide Hearst Castle 1 books Our first clue that this was not So !yang Los Angeles to be it was a dark narrow hallway "Phantom" on& and damp cement floor leading to Halloween Night a was more like our "room" which opportunities for LDS raised platform covered with tatami Temple Sessions In mats LA Las Vegas & St We looked at each other in disapGeorge pointment But it was too late to look ROSE PARADE for something else so we left our suitcases in the room and went out to & PHANTOM OF THE do some sightseeing The Isozakis OPERA must have sensed something was 28-Ja- n Doc 4 came back in we later when wrong the afternoon they had moved us upLas Vegas San Diego Harbor Cruise Sea stairs to a slightly bigger room We 1 World Tijuana with local guide Los Angeles Jousting Matches Disneyland spread out our futons and laid back NBC Tour Forest Lawn Reserved seats amused at the decor: two Buddhist at the ROSE PARADE & Phantom of the statues one long table a big TherOpera on New Years Eve mos of hot water for tea two tea two two swords samurai red cups floor cushions a portable TV futon bedding and a metal "wind surfin" e ISTA trash can A Western-styl- e toilet with Le !“ 4412 heated seat was down the hall The dining room — a counter in the Isozakis' kitchen — looked dingy and cramped and we regretted that we had signed up for dinner and I gracious European service in 'i7 :: ::1 villa rentals exclusive resorts and hideaways with private beaches has 1990-9- 1 Just released its edition From Barbados to Mexico the twice-yearl- y guide is available for $75 For more information contact Hideaways International 15 Goldsmith St Littleton Ma 01460 AZtk - 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You ' 7 I L adventure a9 11111 rt " ' OIL 0 i 1 I w e A "Ir t ': 6 - --I pin 1' tod5W Mee' ME 1MtilinWrilr on P tt 1 AIL Cost Of The High Life just Got Lower trips take travelers hiking and rafting the Kamchatka Peninsula with renowned photographer Art Wolfe climbing Kamchatka's Klyuchevskay volcano never-befor- e Sopka an 11335-foo- t summited by Western mountaineers mountain biking from the Soviet Union to China along the Silk Road and rafting in Ussuriland Complete descriptions of all 1991 tours are included in the new REI Adventures catalog free by writing to REI Adventures at PO Box 88126 Dept 844 Seattle Wash 98138-212- i t V '"MO" E3EIMWQMID j — — The first climbing hiking rafting and wildlife adventures offered by a US travel company to the Soviet Union's remote Kamchatka Peninsula are part of RE1 Adventures' new 1991 travel offerings Highlighted by four new excursions to areas formerly restricted by the Soviet Union REI Adventures' schedule marks 23 new and exotic adventures in Asia Europe the South Pacific and the Americas trssa I i t Fall-Wint- Inaugural ( k Based on double occupancy subject to gourmet continental cuisine and 1 One of our fondest memories of staying in Japan was coming back to the Ryokan Hinomoto in Kyoto one rainy afternoon and hearing classical I I 3-s- L i 1 t I breakfast ( 7 low-price- Asia 1 1 4 Join We famous super-Broadway and Las liner Star Princess"' Vegas style enterta nfor 10 super luxurious ment And visiting round-tri- p from ports like Barbados days Ft Lauderdale this fall St Thomas Montego Bay Grand Cayman Imagine a waterfall by 7 ‘ :N and more Book early a swimming pool 11 1'itore Than Guise decks up A towering it's rhett Boar to save WO per couICA n klarlood atrium A 180° pie with Love Boat observation lounge soaring overSavers And you'll fly free To a Star head Imagine yourself reveling és i ( ' Cruise The Calibbean With A Star And Save $400 1 ( (71' B SC01311071 Ji fo I it mu 7- T 'off two-piec- 4( - six-roo- m ri 2SON1HIEffS oaux soy-bea- Travel r4otes: new oral typhoid vaccine A new 1 Hirnomoto was an oasis the in the middle of a crowded hot and noisy section of town Located just a few hundred feet Avenue one of the from Shijo-dobusiest shopping streets in Kyoto piano music wafting in our bamboo shutters from a house on the street room below our second-floo- r ::: -- i V |
