I survived the transfers via Brussels and Madrid, and the 14 hour flight to Narita Airport in Japan 🙂 Before I knew it, I had already completed both the transport from the airport to Tokyo and the transfer to Shinkanzen towards Kyoto.
In the meantime, I managed to pick up a Japan Rail Pass (you can’t get on Japanese connections without it) and a tablet sim card so I can work on the go, use the navigation, post here, … I’ve already paid for one traditional Ryokan with onsen (Japanese specific public bathrooms/spas) in downtown Kyoto. And you only need a few moments to do all this in Japan.
So far (also due to the arduous journey) I’m rather apathetic, although Japan is a fantasy land for me in terms of culture, teas, food. If I hadn’t had China fresh off this year’s almost-month-long trip, I’d probably be watching more.
The trains, like there, run right on time, stop exactly where they’re supposed to – but here (from what I’ve experienced so far) you can speak English, everyone will tear up to help you, and it’s clean 🙂
And they have quite a lot of common (technically speaking, scattered rice) writing, so I get caught out in places!
