2geonomads

Day 1 – Monday 27th March 2017

Tokyo
Having arrived here after a very comfortable flight from Singapore the previous afternoon we were nevertheless up and about shortly after 6 am at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel and after an excellent breakfast we packed our bags, checked out and met up with our future travelling companions from Janesco Travel and our travel guide Chiaki (Jackie).
We couldn’t have worse day weather-wise to start our trip as it is pouring down and the temperature is struggling to rise much above the overnight minimum, initially at least.
Nevertheless, we venture out on foot, firstly to view at a distance the Tokyo Sky Tree, at 634 metres the world’s tallest tower. Chiaki encourages us to take some photos of this no doubt impressive structure but we don’t linger too long as it keeps disappearing behind clouds, mist and teeming rain.

Next it’s off on the very efficient, if very crowded underground to the famous Senso-ji Buddhist temple which was founded over one thousand years before Tokyo got its start under the name of Edo.

The rain is still unrelenting and Gail and I purchase transparent umbrellas which enable us to to more clearly identify any innocent victim about to be impaled on the spokes of the brollies. Chiaki allows us plenty of time to take a look at the temple and also the many tacky stores which line the arcade leading up to main plaza but we will probably get far more out of a visit here when we return in finer weather at the end of our trip.
It’s now back on the train to the hotel to pick up our overnight bags. ( our large suitcases are being sent by road to Kyoto and we will not get them back before the following day, hence the need for smaller overnight bags and day packs).
We finally arrive at the Shinagawa mainline station with time to buy snacks and coffee for the journey on the Bullet Train to the former capital of Kyoto. We find a very fine bakery with high quality food and excellent cappuccinos.

The train departs right on time and as we leave Tokyo the skies are already starting to clear, although not enough to offer us a view of Mt Fuji.
Chiaki is at great pains to stress that this cold wet weather is very unusual for Tokyo at this time of the year so the ” you should have been here last week” quote has now become truly global.
The train journey is an absolute delight and Keith, a fellow traveller from Sydney, and I are both at a loss to know why Australia hasn’t bitten the bullet to replicate a high speed connection between Sydney and Melbourne at least.
A modern, very comfortable bus is on hand at Kyoto railway station to take us directly to the Kiyomizu Temple which is set high on a hill overlooking Kyoto.
Huge crowds mean that it is not exactly a tranquil Buddhist refuge but it is in a splendid setting. The walk up to the temple tests a couple of our group but we all make it with Chiaki leading the way and holding aloft her stick on which is perched a yellow Japanese chrysanthemum, regarded by some as the national floral emblem and long associated with the Japanese Imperial family.

         
By now we are enjoying glorious sunny weather, a far cry from the very chilly, wet Tokyo and huge numbers of geishas stroll the streets leading up to the temple. As Chiaki explains most of these are ‘faux’ geishas who are there for the tourists, as evidenced by the selfie- sticks that they are carrying.
Very heavy traffic means that we have a very slow drive to the Karasuma Hotel where we will be staying for the next four nights.
The hotel is all that we could wish for and Gail is particularly taken with the heated toilet seats and ‘washlets’!

By 7 pm we are all seated in a room reserved for our group to enjoy our welcome dinner of traditional Japanese food. We are all obliged to use chopsticks which leads to some hilarity but we all manage to cope remarkably well.
All in all a great day.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret