Tokyo

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"On my way to the airport I sat and thought back to all the people I'd met and all the things I'd seen and done over the previous six months. It was overwhelming! From Madrid to Manila, Manila to Beijing and now Beijing to Madrid. It was a great ride!" - June 2012.



I remember vividly that feeling as I was sat on that bus bringing that particular trip to an end over three years ago. Perhaps it's for that reason that once again, before I turn into that creepy old guy in hostels, I decided to dust off the old backpack - the same one that's served me so well on all of my trips - and head off once more into the unknown! It was a simple idea - fill in the gaps. Three years ago on my first trip to Asia I travelled the Philippines, Indonesia, Western Malaysia, Western Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam & China. The "gaps" that I'll be filling on this trip are Japan, South Korea, Eastern Malaysia and Thailand, Burma, India & Nepal. It's a fair distance with a total of 12 flights booked in advance but thanks to the cheapness of Air Asia, Peach Airlines and Aeroflot I spent a fairly measly 1200 Euros. Pretty good work if I do say so myself!



I started this trip unlike any other I'd done. In the past I'd always given myself time beforehand to prepare things and assimilate the fact that I was buggering off for a handful of months. On this occasion however, I had no such time. Fresh out of summer camp in Madrid, I headed back to the UK for just a few days before flying back out to Southern Spain for a wedding and then back up to Madrid for my first flight. It's little wonder then that it took me more than just a few days to find my feet and get properly up and running. I flew with Aeroflot from Madrid to Moscow where luckily I had one of the shortest stopovers ever - it was pretty much off one plane, go to the toilet and back on another. Moscow to Tokyo passed by hassle-free and I arrived blurry-eyed and tired as hell to Terminal 1 of Narita International Airport.



Then the Japan madness started! No sooner had I stepped out of arrivals than not one but two local news crews came up to me 5 minutes apart, shoved a camera in my face and started asking me questions about why I was in Japan and what I planned to do there! With bags under my eyes and hair sticking out at every angle I wasn't exactly feeling camera-ready! Still, I tried my best to hide the fact I wanted to punch somebody and instead answered their questions cordially! The next task was figuring out how to get to my hostel which has never been a big problem in other cities, but as I was to find out over the next two weeks, the Japanese transport system is an absolute nightmare to understand. The woman at the train ticket counter spoke good English so she explained the options to me and I paid the 10 Euros for the quicker train that took me direct to Asakusa from where it was an easy walk to the Khaosan Tokyo Laboratory hostel where I would stay for 6 nights/7 days. It was a good hostel to start the trip although the 26 Euros a night price tag was a sign of things to come!



7 days turned out to be a good amount of time in Tokyo although as I'm sure I've said many times before, another day would've been good! That said, of the 7 days I was there one was a complete write-off as it literally didn't stop raining the whole day and I decided to just bum around the hostel. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great during my stay. In fact, during the two weeks that I was in Japan I think I saw a blue sky on only one occasion! For the most part this didn't affect my plans although it goes without saying that getting out and about is considerably more relaxing and fun when you don't have to carry an umbrella everywhere! The only time the weather really did ruin my plans was when on the penultimate day of my stay I went on a day trip to a place called Nikko, a small city in Japan’s Tochigi Prefecture, in the mountains north of Tokyo. It had been recommended to me by a couple of friends for its natural beauty so off I went bright and early on the train from Asakusa. I'd seen pictures online so I knew what it should have looked like! Unfortunately, the fog was so dense that even a waterfall (Kegon Falls) that was no more than 50 metres away from the lookout platform was invisible! The shrines, at least, were visible up close and were worth checking out! Also, I'd paid for a full bus pass meaning I could hop on/off the buses throughout the whole national park. Wanting to take advantage of this, after the failed waterfall viewing, I took a bus right to the far end of the park and got some good views of Lake Yunoko, Yudaki Falls and Lake Chuzenji. I would definitely recommend this trip to other travellers but only on the condition that they check the weather first!!



The other days I spent In Tokyo consisted mainly of avoiding crazy locals on bikes, trying to figure out what all those buttons on the toilets mean, finding somewhere that will accept my bank card & ticking off the things to see/do list starting out with the Meiji Jingu Shrine between Shibuya and Shinjuku. Then it was onto the obligatory zebra crossing before an evening of Japanese cuisine and all-you-can-drink karaoke with my invaluable guides Bryony & Enrique. Whereas in Europe the idea of karaoke is to make a total tit of yourself in front of a crowd of unknowns, here it's all about getting a small private room, drinking as much as you want and keeping the embarrassment between friends! That was fine with me as anyone who's ever heard me sing can appreciate! The Sensoji Temple, Tokyo's oldest, and the Nakamise shopping street behind the outer gate were just down the road from the hostel and well worth a visit. In between sampling some local cuisine like shabu-shabu, ramen and, of course, sushi down at the fish market, I also visited the nerd-filled neighbourhood of Akihabara packed full of magazine stores, computer games and maid cafes. I also passed through the money-rich neighbourhood of Ginza, cute and tourist-free monja street and on my last day I managed to squeeze in a visit to the government metropolitan building in Shinjuku which has a great, and amazingly - free, observation deck on the 45th floor with great views of the city and, on a clear day, Mount Fuji. Needless to say it was not a clear day! After a stroll around Shinjuku I had a quick look at the Golden Gai area which was really quite cool. Basically it's a zone with super narrow alleyways with each alleyway lined with super small and quaint bars and restaurants many of which would seat no more than about 4 people. They essentially looked like houses and the people living there had just opened up there living rooms, stuck a bar in there and a thrown a few stools in front of it!



So off I went on that very same night on September 1st on the Willer Express night bus (5800 Yen/43 EUROS). I was to take the bus from the Tokyo Station which I was hoping would be sign-posted from the station exit but, in keeping with Japan's horrendously un-tourist-friendly transport system I had no such luck and slowly started to get a bit panicky as the departure time sneaked ever closer. I'd seen it on Google maps so had kind of an idea where to head. Stopping at a street map on the pavement a local was kind enough to ask me where I was heading and pointed me in the right direction. I found the "station" which was no more than a parking lot with no obvious sign whatsoever. Had that person not helped me I'm not sure I would've made it!



I honestly can't say that overall I was that impressed by Tokyo. Perhaps my expectations were a little high or perhaps the weather played its part, I'm not sure. I remember someone wrote on a different blog that Tokyo is "all fluff and no content". I can't help but agree a little. It says something when you walk around with a city guide and at least 3 of the top 5 things to do/see in each neighbourhood are shopping malls! For all of its noise, brightness, hustle and robot restaurants there didn't actually seem to be THAT much to do!



Anyway, off I went at around 11pm. My first long bus journey of this trip... a measly little 10 hours. My destination... Kyoto.



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