Day trip to Kawagoe from Tokyo|| Tourist Village Kawagoe near Tokyo|| What to do in Tokyo|| Sightseeiong from Tokyo|| Explore Kawagoe: A Hidden Gem Near Tokyo|| Kawagoe travel guide||
This, most probably will be a very very short blog post as I don’t have much to talk about. But I can assure you with all my heart.. & this is absolute truth.. Kawagoe has been my favourite.. I know.. I know.. what will you ask.. “you said, you planned Japan for Harry Potter!!” “how can you contradict your words??” “ how about Sinchan?” “ didn’t you want to come to Japan for Kasukabe??” “how about Maple corridor??”.. guys, you all are correct with your set of questionnaires .. and to keep it simple, I still love.. or adore Harry Potter and I tell you, if gotten a chance in future, which I know I will have, I will visit other ‘making of Harry Potter’ studios, this will always be there. I loved everything about my Japan trip, if you ask for one drawback, I have none, honestly.. NONE. With Shiva’s grace having such perfect a trip wasn’t something I imagined.. but it really was. But I really loved Kawagoe. To tell you, this is the place I visited twice. Really… no kidding.. let me tell you the whole story..
So I had this planned well ahead that, I will do Kasukabe and Kawagoe together on day 2. And I did. I was little late to start the day due to Jet lag, I went to Kasukabe first, then to Kawagoe. By the time I reached Kawagoe, the station area was flashing with street lights, shops, people, restaurants.. it was a bustling place. I wanted to go to Kashiya Yokocho or commonly known as the Candy market or Candy alley. That area was a 30 mins walk from Kawagoe station. Happily, I started taking the walk, till one point the straight long road was quite bustling, then after one crossing, it all became quiet, I still kept on walking. I was loving the isolated tranquillity. While almost close to my destination as per my map, the entire walk was still deserted, I was in an alley, closed doors at both sides, dim lights, often 1-2 people are walking by or passing by their cycles.. and then, I got it.. I was at the very destination and I was after hours. I checked on google & damm!! the market is opened till 5pm and it was 7:30 in the evening. So Stupid, you will say.. may be.. may be I should have checked this before I planned my trip. But as I say, even some mistakes are precious in life, and Japan trip kept teaching me this.. so I will pass it. At that moment, standing at the deserted half-dark lane, feeling absolutely safe, no fear at all, hands getting cold, still loving everything about that failed mission.. my heart kept telling me one thing.. I will miss a huge part of the trip if I don’t come back.. it kept on repeating inside me.. instantly running the tour plan in my head, I made some changes. Last day of my trip I decided to visit this place first, then the rest. And that was it..
I came back, it was a Sunday. I took the same walk from station and it was so pleasingly buzzing. People everywhere. Still.. it didn’t hit me unless, I crossed that same crossing from where everything went quiet and voila… I WAS SO. SO RIGHT WITH MY DECISIONN!!! Thank God I made another trip.. it was mad.. Mad good.. that entire area of Kashiya Yokocho was busy with people.. people were enjoying their last holiday before another Monday Blues! And the shops!! there’s shopping, there’s souvenirs and food.. so much of food.. I can’t describe it.. street food, gourmet, cafes, fast food, tit bit shops, snack shops, ice cream shops.. ALL.WERE.BUSY. and I, my goodness so loved it. It was a bright sunny day.. I couldn’t stop walking.. I wanted to see it all. I didn’t want to do anything else.. I wanted to be there, inhale every minute of positivity the place had. While you walk you also walk past Toki no kane (the time bell tower), Kurazukuri zone (traditional architecture zone), candy market of course, though nowadays most of the shops don’t sell candys, there are more food items or souvenirs, a few shops keep candies as option. I also went to Kita in temple, which was a kilometre away from the market area but as usually the walk was peace to your heart, eyes and mind. You can listen your heart is synching with your mind and talking to you.. I also saw one more shrine, which I don’t know the name of.
Over all, that’s what I have to tell you. Go empty stomach.. hogg onto food, snack, deserts.. forget all rules.. actually you will burn out all your calories as you walk in Japan. That’s Kawagoe. Nothing much to tell you, its about experiencing the vibe, the place, the food, the culture to some extent.. it was mindfully exquisite. I truly loved it. You must keep Kawagoe in your travel plan. Yes one change I would do next time will be, first visit Kwagoe then kasukabe or some other place. That’s what Kawagoe is.. I will share some information for you to plan better, then this post ends.
Getting there:
From Shinjuku there are direct trains. It takes 1 hour. The trains are well available, hence you don’t need to be time bound, but yes, the early you start, better for you.
Staying:
A day visit is more than enough. Spend time here. You won’t regret.
Food:
Way too many options at various price range. Hence you are a budget traveller or high end.. you will get your preferred cup anyway..
Shopping:
Do shop for your souvenirs, gifts here, there are good options available at very good price. You also get some unique food items (mostly snacks), which you should pick for home.
Photography:
Make sure your phone and cameras are charged, I couldn’t stop taking pictures.
Suica:
Suica pass works really well in Kawagoe.. so no problem!!
Next post will be on the entire itinerary, I will finish everything on my Japan trip in the next one post.. phew!! See you soon.. and till then, take care..
TurtleGotWings 