The next destination on our trip - we have arrived in Tokyo. It was quite a long flight for us this time: 7 hours, and unfortunately we were late departing and ended up missing the last train into the city. Poor planning by tour guide me! It was always going to be a close one.
After enquiring about the cost of a taxi - 10,000 Yen (about $115 AUD!!) we decided that we would wait 5 hours until the trains started again in the morning. I told Rosie that you can't call yourself a traveller unless you've spent at least 1 night in a airport because you're too poor for a hotel room/taxi anyway! Notice I said 'traveller' not 'backpacker' because I know how Ros feels about being called a backpacker!
As airports go Haneda is a pretty nice one to be stranded in. We passed a hour or so with a coffee and hot dogs in the only cafe still open. Then we found a quiet section where we read our books and lay down. We didn't actually get any sleep but the seats were comfortable and we could stretch out on them. The only problem was the talking escalators that repeated themselves and played a little tune over and over ALL NIGHT! There were also hi-tech Japanese toilets to experiment with if we got really bored!!
 |
| More plane photography - apparently I never let Rosie sit in the window seat so she has to make the most of it when she does. |
 |
| Hanging out at the airport observation deck |
 |
| Why is my backpack so massive!? |
 |
| Our hotel! |
 |
| The toilet controls! |
At 5:26am the station opened again and we got the train into Tokyo with all the other airport sleeper people. We were feeling quite smug at saving ourselves 8700 Yen, oh and a little tired too!
After the train ride we walked the last 800m or so to our hostel through the almost deserted streets and got to see Asakusa and the Sensoji Temple quiet and empty of tourists.
 |
| Tokyo in the morning |
We had the hostel breakfast of soup and toast and hot chocolate but then we had to sleep for 2 hours (and have a second breakfast!) before we could go out exploring.
We didn't venture very far in our weary state but we feel like we know the Asakusa area extremely well now!
 |
| Later in the day...the tourists have arrived! |
After a late lunch/dinner and another rest at the hostel we walked across the river to the Tokyo Sky Tower for some night views of the city.
 |
| Tokyo Sky Tree |
 |
| View from the Sky Tree - the photos don't really capture it - Tokyo is HUGE! |
Oh, and it was a 'chilly' 29 degrees in Tokyo today and for the first time in 3 and a half weeks we are not sweaty. It's nice!
Very entertaining and it's great to see you both so happy despite having to doss in the airport!
ReplyDeleteIt's all part of the adventure Dad! Although, when we said that the luxury part of the trip was over, we weren't expecting to have to rough it quite so much so soon!
ReplyDelete