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Gary Patel is excellent and always responds promptly!
Great service and help during booking process. The entire trip went like clockwork. Many thanks to Jason.
Stevie was amazing. Very knowledgeable, friendly, prompt and called me when she said she would. Highly recommend
Very helpful and friendly staff and app kept us informed of delays. Excellent service - felt valued as a customer
No issues, all went ahead as planned. Jane did a really good job
Nothing was too much bother. Excellent communication..
All that you promised you provided. Many thanks
Excellent communications and what feels like personal support gives you confidence that DialAFlight are genuinely there to help you get the best from your trip.
Cameron was just wonderful answering all my questions and putting me at ease with follow up calls. Great company and have passed on the wonderful service to friends Thank you for helping to make my holiday amazing!
Very helpful and friendly service. Great to be able to actually talk to someone! Many thanks to Reagan who was extremely helpful when I had a problem checking in online. Very reassuring and nothing too much trouble. Will definitely use DialAFlight in the future.
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Courtney arranged everything for us and we felt we were in excellent hands throughout. It was very helpful to be able to ask questions regarding seat allocation on Qatar
Usual excellent service. Had a great time. Would go nowhere else to book my Australian holidays. Well done Ralph. DialAFlight is the best
Thank you so much, your customer service is excellent.
Very smooth trip. Thanks so much for all your help arranging flights. Kids first time in Australia and had a blast, really enjoyed the variety of places we travelled to.
You have been just brilliant and your assistance was invaluable. Staff polite, friendly and knowledgeable and great in an emergency situation.
Excellent trip, unfortunately luggage lost on return and still not received!
Gordon goes way and beyond every time
Very helpful indeed. Great organisation to deal with
I would not recommend breakfast at the Crowne Promenade Melbourne. Zero star rating from us.
The help was there when needed. All the information was well presented and given in plenty of time. It made this first time, flying solo on a long trip, feel very confident.
Daniel was very helpful when we needed to change our bookings to return to the UK. It was over the Easter weekend but he still kept communication going. Thanks for that
Everything OK till Dubai airport on way back. Total mess, no organisation, no help. The airport can’t deal with a crisis. Just pathetic.
Can’t fault the service I received by Graham and everything went according to plan. It was great to get a pre-flight call from him to ensure we had everything in place that we would need. As it happened, we hadn’t so it enabled us to get the missing documents. But I would not choose to fly Air Malaysia again. On the other hand, New Zealand Airways was outstanding. Probably the best flight I’ve ever had and I’ve had a lot.
Yet again excellent service from the team at DialAFlight. Will definitely use again.
As always, DialAFlight have been excellent in organising our flights to Australia. Jordan Fell has usually been our contact and is professional and friendly but all agents we have spoken to have been great AND the phone is answered within seconds….always a bonus.
As always Chloe and Lloyd were there to advise and reassure us when our original plans changed on our flights back from Australia
Just keep up the good work. Impossible to fault you.
All went very smoothly. When I phoned Ruby from Brisbane with a query about my flight home, she checked immediately and phoned me back and confirmed that all was in order. Very reassuring. I will definitely use DialAFlight again. Very grateful.
Hiro raises his bare thigh and slams his foot on the ground, spreading ripples across his man mountain of a body.
He bows at his opponent and, in a vision of manboobs and giant wedgies, they engage in combat; wrestling, pushing, heaving and tugging until one emerges victorious.
Suddenly, it's my turn. I step into the ring and stare ahead towards the sumo wrestler a few feet away - all 26st of him. A moment later I'm pressed up against his folds of flesh, my face alarmingly close to his armpit as I push with all my might. My feet scramble at the salt-strewn floor while Hiro - a wrestler for 22 years - stands there chuckling.
I'm in the small city of Katsuragi, considered the birthplace of sumo. Located an hour from Osaka in the Kansai region, this is a corner of Japan that has just become more accessible thanks to British Airways direct flights from Heathrow.
Kansai is an area of misty mountains dotted with remote shrines, tropical beaches and tea plantations which will appeal to visitors keen to explore what lies beyond the capital Tokyo. After putting Hiro through his paces ('You have great potential,' he jokes), it's time to move on to Osaka.
Home to three million people, the city is a patchwork of 16th century castles and 21st century glass skyscrapers. From my room on the 36th floor of the Conrad Hotel, the view of Dotonbori district, the main restaurant and entertainment area, is dizzying.
This 164-room hotel gives off a Lost In Translation vibe – think Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson – and is filled with 389 artworks including one by local boy turned renowned sculptor, Kohei Nawa.
While Osaka is certainly worthy of a few days' exploration, the experiences awaiting further afield prove to be the real temptation.
Travelling south, urban sprawl gives way to delightful rural scenes. Before long we're surrounded by the crumpled green peaks of the Kii Peninsula. These mountains are the gateway to Wakayama.
Occupying the southern tip of Kansai, this city holds the key to much of Japan's ancient spiritual heritage.
For more than 1,000 years, everyone from emperors to humble farmers has walked these peaks seeking peace and purification. The Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage ranks as one of the world's great pilgrim routes. A network of trails, it has several options, from gentle hour-long strolls to arduous multi-day treks.
Opting for the easier and shorter route, I slice through silent bamboo forests and inch along paths that hug plunging wooded ravines. I pause to enjoy panoramas splashed with cherry blossom. I am feeling more peaceful by the moment.
The climax is our arrival at the grand Shinto shrine of Kumano Hongu Taisha, the hallowed ground where all trails meet. The silence of the forest is broken by the rhythmic chiming of bells and the flapping of flags in the breeze.
I watch as worshippers cross the gravel courtyards, clap their hands twice (to announce their arrivals to the deities) and bow their heads in prayer. This is a special, unforgettable place. Just down the road, in the valley and dissected by a stream of healing thermal waters, is Yunomine, an onsen village centred around natural hot springs.
These healing waters were discovered 1,800 years ago and became an important part of the pilgrimage by offering hot water purification along the way.
Pilgrims enjoy a spiritual soaking by stripping off, as is custom, for a dip in the stone plunge pool housed in a rickety shed. Barely big enough for two, it makes for quite the intimate experience.
I choose instead a riverside dip in the thermal rockpool at the Kawayu Midoriya. A spa hotel somewhat stuck in the Seventies, it models itself on the traditional inn, the ryokan. Expect sliding paper screens and legless chairs.
No trip to this part of Japan would be complete without the glittering jewel in its Imperial crown, Kyoto.
Reached in 15 minutes from Osaka by Shinkansen bullet train, this enchanting city was the nation's capital until 1868. It retains much of its ancient character, particularly in the Gion district where geishas once scuttled between teahouses in their elaborate silk costumes.
From the comfortable Ritz-Carlton hotel, it's a pleasant 20-minute stroll along the Kamogawa River to Gion.
Delving into the backstreets, I discover deserted gardens and teahouses serving fragrant cherry blossom tea and sit with elderly locals painting watercolours of a pagoda.
Hunched over their palettes, they look long and hard and produce thoughtful brushstrokes. They seem lost in their individual reveries, drinking in the beauty. It sums up my experience perfectly.
First published in the Daily Mail - November 2019
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