Travel day to Kyoto!

So today was a long travel day working to get from Hakuba Valley down to Kyoto. We had a couple of different choices but most sites recommended the Shinkansen from Nagano to Tsuruga. This just happens to be the exact same train we got off of on Thursday!

We got up early for breakfast and the shuttle dropped us off at the Hakuba train station around 8 am. Our bus to Nagano wasn’t due to depart until 8:45 am. Now, there is a reason we like to play it conservative and get to places ahead of schedule. This particular occasion was because the “free” shuttle left when it left, regardless of when we wanted to leave. That being said, while Denise went to drop off the luggage with the Nagano Snow Shuttle baggage wranglers, I went inside to check in for the trip. You see, I had booked rather late, within 72 hours which doesn’t always guarantee you a spot, and we had to get to Nagano by 11 am or we’d be stuck there until the 6 pm train!

Fortunately, I had gotten an email saying we were confirmed, though they could not give us reserved seats, we would just have to fill in empty seats after everyone else boarded. Well, as I checked in and shared my QR code, the lady (surprisingly Japanese - which seemed to be in short (pun intended) supply in the Valley) looked up and said there was an error, had I actually paid for the reservation…

Oh boy, I currently have my work phone set up for the international plan, not my personal one, and unfortunately, I have certain apps and passwords and emails distinct between the two phones. Now I needed to get to my Amex app to validate that yes, the purchase had gone through. As the adrenaline started to push through my veins and I started to try to figure out how I was going to prove I had paid, and we HAD to get on this bus! In the end, while I was trying to figure out the charge, I went ahead and paid again in cash just to be safe. Not surprisingly and in typical Marty fashion, I figured out my Amex issue (I used Denises phone) and was able to validate the charge. Their manage was also able to confirm on their end so then I had to go back to the cash lady to get my cash back - the important part of the story was, we weren’t left in Hakuba, we had time to get it figured out, and I didn’t soil my pants!

As you can imagine, since we didn’t get reserved seats, this bus trip was a bit fuller than the one we took into Hakuba. C’est la vie. Once in the train station, we had a chance to get on an earlier train - BUT, it was not in the Green Car (upgraded section with more room) and I had to get through a bit of line 😬. Needless to say, once again, with a little time on our hands, we got coffee, sat and chatted and watched the little boys ride by on their suitcases (I think they were little boys, there are times I can’t tell who is an adult and who is a kid!).

Settling into our Green car Big seats - which again, is not that much more and if you’ve seen the size of some of these people, means a lot more to me than Denise for a two hour train ride - I set up my workstation and got busy typing, while someone else got busy reading! I honestly thought I’d get Denise to chime in here, but alas, those steamy Kindle novels she keeps stealing from Taylor has kept me from putting her on the keyboard! I on the other hand, made quite the headway while enjoying a “train” snack - I think better than a “boat” snack!

We got to Tsuruga around 1:46 pm, and again, there was a train bound for Kyoto at 2:05 pm, but knowing I still had to go get my tickets and not knowing how big the station was, I had reserved us seats on the 3:05 train. We talked about trying to make the run for it, but in the end, decided a couple train station snacks (finally got the 7/11 Egg Sandwich - which was Fantastic!) and chilled in the waiting room - which of course gave me more time to type!

Finally on the train to Kyoto, we arrived a little after 4 pm. While buses run from our hotel to the station, we had missed the scheduled pick up time at 4:15 am, so we walked down to the taxi line. Now, there were two choices, foreigner friendly or regular… we chose foreigner friendly of course, right behind a family of 7!!! Yes 7! Bless that man. Anyway, first two taxis popped right on up and whisked the 7 away. Now it was our turn…. Ugh, I hate lines because I’m always assured of getting in the wrong one. After about 15 minutes of no Foreigner friendly taxi, we took a shot at the regular line. Using the translation app, we got in pretty quickly and the guy was like, “Celestine Gion, Hei!” Smh, go figure.Read more