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Japan

March - April 2024
Heading further East than I've ever been! Read more
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  • TravelerJapan
    Day 1

    A confusing day!

    March 25 in England ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Our first day was confusing and pretty much consisted of travelling. It was a 3:45 a.m. alarm call to catch the shuttle to the airport in Manchester for our first hop to London. That all went without a hitch.

    We boarded our flights to Tokyo on time via a bus but then sat around for about an hour while the engineers fixture minor fault and offloaded some cargo. We eventually left at around 10:00 a.m. about 1 hour late.

    We spent the rest of the day and overnight heading east and landed on Tuesday morning about 13 hours after we left London to a wet and rainy Tokyo.    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    111
    Day 2

    Tokyo, day 1

    March 26 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    After a bit of a queue for immigration (and Ed being questioned about his passport... Seemingly linked to the ones that we had stolen in Barcelona) we took some advice and caught the airport limousine (coach) to Shinjuku, the area that we are staying. Most of the journey was underground in a long tunnel! We eventually emerged into the open not far from the station.

    We got off the bus and walked, in the rain, the 15 minutes to our hotel, arriving at around 10.30am. Unfortunately our room was not available and so we left our bags and wandered back to the station area! It seems that almost everyone in Japan owns an umbrella. ☂️☔

    We explored the area for a little bit before stopping at an old pre war building for some food. The restaurant saw us sitting watching the chef cook the food and alongside tempura battered prawns we also had tempura battered vegetables, rice and some odd soupy things (which was tricky to eat with chopsticks!)

    By the time we finished it was still only 12.15 and so we found a bar to have a couple of beers in... Order at your table here! By now it was almost 2 and we were both flagging because of the long flight and sleepless couple of days. Do we walked back to the hotel and had a quick drink whilst the room was finished.

    Eventually, at around 2.30 we had a message to say that the room was ready and so we checked in to our upgraded room.

    We decided to have a nap and set an alarm for 4.30 so that we had time to wake, get showered and head to the 'social' that takes place each night. The alarm went off and it's fair to say that we were confused. Ed said that he'd realised that we'd missed the social 'last night' until I pointed out that he'd only been asleep for just over an hour.

    Anyway, we both had a shower to eat wake us up. Once done we took the lift to the 16th floor for some wine and canapes. This finished just after 6 and as we were both tired we decided to eat some of the room snacks and have an early night ready for the day ahead!    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    1
    Day 3

    Tokyo, day 2, part 1

    March 27 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Despite an early night, sleep wasn't great and so we were awake early!

    Breakfast of muesli and a Japanese omelette along with a bacon joint and sausage was gratefully received before we headed out at 8am for our first tour.

    We walked the 15 minutes to Shinjuku station to meet our tour at 8.20. we arrived at the station and eventually managed to get the guides to understand that we wanted to join the tour early!

    The first stop, once we started the tour, was at the Imperial palace. We stopped and walked past a Shogun on a horse before seeing the double bridge in front on the main palace grounds. We couldn't go into the palace itself as it is only open for a couple of days per year.

    On returning to the bus we drove to the Tokyo tower. This is an old TV transmission tower which resembles the Blackpool tower but painted red. The tour included a trip up to the observation deck of the 330m high tower although the deck itself was 'only' about 150m high. The views of Tokyo were amazing and we were really lucky to be able to see Mount Fuji, which is only usually visible on a few days per month.    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    1
    Day 3

    Tokyo, day 2, part 2

    March 27 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Next stop was the old temples at Asakusa. It was very very busy and we saw the temple which had been mostly reconstructed after being destroyed in world war II. We left the tour at this point and wandered the very busy streets to arrive at the tourist information centre which we climbed 8 floors for great views on the Tokyo Skytree.

    The Skytree was our destination for later in the day though and in the meantime we caught a train to Ueno Park where there is supposed to be cherry blossom at this time of year but, due to a recent cold snap the blossom has been delayed.

    The park was also busy and clearly ready to engineer cherry blossom visitors with pathways set out with lanes to keep the visitors moving. There was also a street entertainer with a monkey which I didn't really expect to see in Japan. We didn't stop to watch the show though!

    It was soon time to head to the Tokyo sky tree!    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    1
    1112
    Day 3

    Tokyo day 2, part 3

    March 27 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    We took the metro to the Skytree and spent ages trying to find the entrance. We could see that we needed to change our voucher for a ticket at 4pm so had a quick cheap meal of noodles in the food court of the Skytree complex. They were delicious although it will take a bit more practice to eat noodles with chopsticks!

    We arrived at the entrance to the Skytree at 3.45 and despite having skip the line tickets, found ourselves in a 30 minute queue to get the tickets. More queues later and we were at the first of the upper decks at 350m. The views were spectacular although sadly by now Mount Fuji was shrouded in cloud.

    We waited in another queue to visit the upper level at 450m high. (The Skytree is the new telecoms tower and, apparently, the tallest tower in the world.)

    After finishing viewing the sights e caught the lost back down and then a metro back to the hotel which took almost an hour. By the time we arrived back at the station or was dark.

    At the hotel we had a quick break before heading out for a drink or two and some food in Shinjuku. This was the Tokyo I expected to see with bright neon lights and lots and lots of people.

    Many of the bars in the Golden Gai area are small (and a little bit seedy) but we had an enjoyable evening with dinner Japanese style tapas and beers before walking back to the hotel for a night cap in the room. No wonder my legs felt tired after 24,000 Stroud and almost 13 miles walked!    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    111111
    Day 4

    Tokyo, day 3 - Fish market walking tour

    March 28 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    After breakfast we left the hotel and caught the subway to a station to meet a small group walking tour of the old fishmarket area, a cluster of small roads which when we walked amongst them were heaving with many of the places to eat (on the street) having long queues!

    The tour started at 11 when we met our guide. The first stop was a Buddhist temple, Tsukiji Honganji. We heard how it had been rebuilt a couple of times. The inside was the usual temple style with bright gold decoration.

    Next week moved on and spent the next hour or so wandering the crowded streets with the guide as he pointed out various stalls selling all sorts of food and quite a lot of tat! Along the way we tried some samples including sake (very nice) and grilled eel (not so nice!). The wholesale fish market moved a few years ago but the area remains very popular with locals and tourists alike!

    At around 12.30 we stopped for lunch at a small place and whilst the food was delicious, neither Ed or me were very hungry after a large breakfast!

    After lunch we walked to one of the many tall buildings and went up to the 46th floor for a birds eye view of the area. It was clear to see the large area left by the demolition of the old fishmarket but sadly far views were not amazing as it was quite misty.

    The tour ended here and Ed and I stayed at the top for a beer and to regroup.    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    21
    Day 4

    Tokyo day 3 - part 2

    March 28 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Our next stop saw us catching the underground and heading to Shibuy... mainly famous for the incredibly busy crossing at the crossroads of four roads.

    Having watching the hoardes cruising the road we headed back to Shinjuku for a beer in a bar we'd been into previously. The bar had an automatic ordering system using tablets on each table.

    Next, record the subway to Tokyo station and eventually navigated our way out of the shopping centre complex. We managed to get some pretty photos of the station in the dark before finding our meeting point for our bus and meal tour.

    The tour was supposed to be a trip around Tokyo viewing the cherry blossom but sadly due to a cold snap, the sakura hasn't yet made a real appearance. Added to that was the fact that it started to rain.

    The bus tour itself was there for a bit of a disappointment and whilst the meal that we had was presented very well, it probably wasn't to hour tastes if we're honest. So the idea and concept was good but the reality was a little bit different. There were some lovely panoramic views of Tokyo at night from the other side of the bay where bizarrely, there is also a statue of liberty.

    The tall finished just after 9. :00 and we made our way back to our hotel to recap on the day's activities.    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    1
    111
    Day 5

    Tokyo to Mount Fuji

    March 29 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Another fitful night of sleep and winding if I'll ever shake off this jet lag.

    The weather this morning when we woke was wet and very windy... Very similar to what we might have expected at home. The promise though was off better weather in the afternoon.

    Given the weather we decided to have a chilled morning and a slightly later check out before walking from the hotel to Shinjuku station to catch a train to our destination for the next couple of days, Mount Fuji.

    Fortunately, by the time we started walking the rain had stopped, although it was still windy. At the station we bought some tickets for later in the trip and then headed up the platform to catch the train.

    The service was not a bullet train (that will wait for another day) but it was still absolutely on time and spotlessly clean.
    The journey to our first change was just under an hour and at Otuski we changed trains to get a local train to Mount Fuji. Fortunately the weather was better and by the time we arrived.

    We got off the train at an amusement park, complete with roller coasters although we declined to take part! We walked the short distance to our hotel and checked in.. The hotel is clean and tidy but very different to our previous one.

    We walked from the hotel to a viewing point (on top of a shopping centre) of mount Fuji. Next week walked to an area that was highlighted as having bars and restaurants. It would be in understanding to try that it was deserted... It felt very much like an out of season British seaside - nothing was open. So, we decided to walk back to the hotel for a beer before having dinner at the hotel.

    The hotel restaurant is a BBQ affair and we both managed to make a decent effort at cooking.

    Decided to have an early night tonight in the hope that sleep comes easily before a fun packed day in the Mount Fuji area!    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    11122
    Day 6

    Mount Fuji - part 1

    March 30 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    I think we learnt a very important lesson today... Japanese people eat very early... But more of that to come.

    We had an early ish start And went for breakfast which was Japanese style. Now whilst there was some tasty stuff on the platter as is evidenced by the photo, breakfast consisted of a mix of meso soup, green tea, rice, smoked fish and smother plant-based offerings. It wasn't disgusting but equally it wouldn't be my choice for breakfast in the future.

    After breakfast we walked to the train station to catch the one stop to Kowaguchiko. On arriving there we purchased a ticket which allowed us to hop on and hop off a number of buses in the area. We started by taking a bus to the end of the red line and seeing some amazing views of Mount Fuji along with lots of Taurus.

    Next we were back on to the red line service to take us to the ropeway which is the Japanese name for cable car. We queued for about an hour before we actually managed to take the trip up the mountain.

    At the top it was pretty busy and so we decided to walk up the hill further to see a shrine. To be honest it wasn't what we were expecting and so we returned back to the top level before getting a further cable car back down to the lake area.

    We caught another bus back to the town and found a bar for some food and a beer!    Read more

  • TravelerJapan
    Day 6

    Mount Fuji - part 2

    March 30 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Next we took a different tourist bus along the lake to the Wind cave which was formed from lava flows. They used to use the cave for storage before freezers came along and there was ice in the cave itself.

    After leaving the cave we transferred to the third tourist line to travel further again to one of the small lakes, Lake Shoji. Here there was another view of Mount Fuji and you could just about make out the reflection of the mountain in the lake.

    We caught the last bus back to Kawaguchiko which took us almost an hour and we arrived just before 6pm. By this time we were thirsty so we found a lovely little bar for a few beers. At around 8pm it was time for food so we left the bar to find some udon noodles, a speciality of the area. This was harder than it should have been. A number of restaurants were already closed and a couple that we passed had signs on saying 'sold out'!.

    Eventually we found a place that was still serving and we ordered tempura chicken and tempura egg! We thought we had ordered noodles too but they brought us the bill. Deciding that we couldn't be bothered to wait we were about to get up when the noodles appeared.

    Having finished food we left the restaurant and waited for a taxi back to our hotel. Eventually we got to the front of the taxi rank and took the relatively short ride back. By now it was getting pretty cold so we were glad to be back.    Read more

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