You'll arrive at the Tokyo Four Seasons Hotel and take time to relax in preparation for your foray into the enchanting Japanese culture. You'll start your adventure with afternoon high tea, followed by the first of many splendid, traditional Japanese dinners.
Your host will meet you at the hotel at 10:00 a.m., and you'll travel by bullet train north to the Sendai province. Once there, you'll be greeted by your pilot and US Team members, and be escorted to your hotel in Iwadeyama. The day will be completed by a gracious reception and dinner with local dignitaries and Japanese balloon team members, providing an unforgettable experience of the legendary warmth and hospitality of this country.
You will begin early with a traditional Japanese breakfast, followed by a breathtaking balloon flight to watch the rising sun as the mist clears. With the hot air balloon festival in full swing, you'll participate in both early morning and afternoon flights.
Then to complete your daily adventures, sightseeing tours are arranged in the area of each day's landing. You'll experience firsthand the sites you saw from the sky-from rice fields, tidy flower gardens and tea houses to feudal remains, museums, shrines and sake factories
You'll begin again with an early morning balloon flight, followed by travel through rugged mountainsides to the Naruko Kanko Hot Sulphur Springs Hotel. Prepare to relax both mind and body, as only slippers and a kimono are required to navigate the hotel in a state of utter comfort. You'll luxuriate in your favorite spot at the spa, and then retire to prepare for dinner. Both the restaurants and their cuisine are exquisite, and the number of courses seemingly limitless. It's a day of adventurous pampering, indeed.
You'll take breakfast in the Naruko Hotel, and treat yourself again to the pleasures of the Sulphur Springs and spa. After lunch is served, you'll spend the afternoon touring the region's unexpected delights from drying persimmons to neat, patchwork fields banked with levees. Then you'll join your host for a magnificent Japanese dinner, and turn in for the night at the Naruko Hotel.
Today you'll return to the Tokyo Four Seasons Hotel and the bustle of sophisticated, urban Japanese life. After taking afternoon high tea, you'll prepare for an evening on the town. You'll enjoy a lavish dinner and peruse the fabled Ginza (Tokyo's Times Square), taking part in Tokyo's colorful nightlife to complete your final day.
You'll awake for a last breakfast at the Tokyo Four Seasons Hotel, and then proceed to Narita Airport for your journey home.
November
22-29, 2013
$1,950 per person per day
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