Couchsurfing through Chiba

After we left Nikko, we headed back to Tokyo and stayed at New Koyo for a night in a "double" room. It really was just enough room for our bags and for us to sleep, but it worked (and it was cheap). But a tip for anyone else who plans to stay in the Minamisenju area, there are tons of other cheap hostels near New Koyo that are a bit harder to find online. One that I spotted around the corner from New Koyo was Hotel Accela, but unfortunately their site is only in Japanese.

The next day we departed for Chiba to couchsurf in Inage. Our host was great and let us stay for an entire week. She probably would have let us stay longer, but we didn't want to overstay our welcome. Almost the entire week we were in Inage it was pouring rain since there was a typhoon passing through. We spent a lot of the time cooking for ourselves and our host and her friends, which was really fun. During our stay she invited us to a charity potluck in Tsukuba. At the potluck we met lots of interesting people from all over the world that were studying at Tsukuba University. If you have the chance to go to there, I highly recommend checking it out. It is very different from Tokyo and almost reminds me of US suburbs. Our hosts told us that Tsukuba was planned and developed in the 1960s, which might be why it looks the way it does.

While we were in Inage the only places we ate out at were Mos Burger and a Thai restaurant called Siam House that was down the street from where we were staying. Siam House only had two vegan dishes: their famous soup and a stir-fried vegetable plate. The soup cost 1238yen, and it was worth every yen. If you are in Inage and in need of vegan food (or any food for that matter), I definitely recommend you check out Siam House and try the soup.

Finding a Hostel

Just a few days ago we found out that we have no where to stay our first few nights in Tokyo. So we have been looking at our options as far as hostels and Ryokans go. It turns out there are a lot of inexpensive places to stay in Tokyo, but it seems like almost everything cheap is booked up. After sending out about 10 booking inquiries, we heard some good news from Sakura Hostel in Asakusa. We can get a dormitory style room for our first night, and then switch to a private room the following nights. According to reviews, this is one of the best places to stay :)

Here is a list of other places we have checked out in Tokyo. They all seem really cool, but unfortunately all booked up at this time.

• New Koyo - Ranging from 2500 Yen a night for one person to 4800 Yen a night for two people.


• Ryokan Katsutaro - Offers rooms with or without bath that can hold up to four people. Cheapest room is a single without bath at 5200 Yen, and the most expensive is a room for four people with a bath at 17,200 Yen


• Oak Hotel - Has a special discount rate for ISIC or IYTC travelers. Also offers a discounted price when you book online. Ranging from 6000 Yen to 8500 Yen depending on the room.


• Tokyo Ryokan - Flat rate of 3000 Yen per person per night.


• Andon Ryokan - A room for one or two people is 8190 Yen per night.


• Hotel New Azuma - About 3000 Yen per night for a single room. If you are a group of two that doesn't mind a small sleeping space, you can share the room for 5600 Yen a night.

It looks like a lot of those places also offer a discounted rate if you plan to stay long term. We are going to keep that in mind for our trip :)