Day 1 - Arrival at Narita & travel to Kyoto
Posted on April 13, 2008
Filed Under Japan, Holidays |
My flight arrived at 9am on Saturday morning March 22. Unfortunately, Sandy’s flight didn’t arrive until almost 4pm so the first 7 hours in Japan I spent wandering Narita’s terminal 1. I have discovered that it is HUGE. I had my nails done, spent half an hour or so on a paid massage chair, another hour or so on the paid internet terminals (100 yen/10 mins) validated my Japan Rail Pass and read a substantial part of my book all while waiting for Sandy.
I also discovered that McDonalds in Japan is not quite the same as in the western world. Apparently they use some sort of wasabi flavouring in the burgers. Ordering was an experience in itself. None of the staff spoke English so I was reduced to pointing to what I hoped was a cheeseburger. It was OK, but it was the last time I ate at McDonalds in Japan.
Then again, I usually avoid Macca’s in Perth too…
When Sandy arrived, we went straight to validate her pass and booked our trains to Kyoto (what was meant to be a 3 and a half our trip) on reserved seats. This first train to Shinigawa was uneventful…we were tired after all that travel.
On arrival at Shinigawa, we had 10 minutes to find the next train track and rushed to ask a steward for directions. He pointed to a train sitting at it’s track and clarified with “Track 24.”
What Sandy and I didn’t realise at the time, is that trains in Japan are VERY timely and the train that was sitting there was actually a few minutes early to be ours. We were meant to wait 3 minutes until the next one arrived but of course, the language barrier prevented the steward from explaining.
We got on the train and then puzzled over why there were people sitting in our reserved seats. Obviously tired and hauling a lot of luggage, we were slow to react and the train left the station with us standing in the full compartment of people. We saw an almost empty car and decided to sit there until another steward came by but before that happened, the train stopped and people streamed in to the previously empty car. We were in someone’s seats!
Apologising for being so rude (Sandy doing it in French causing hysterical laughter on my part), we moved and asked the lady for help (by showing her our tickets and shrugging with a questioning look..lol) She then spoke to her companion, her father, who explained to us in stilted English that we were on the wrong train!! DUN DUN DUN…
Apparently, by getting on the train 3 minutes early, we were now headed in the right general direction but instead of going right to Kyoto, direct, we were now going all stops to Nagoya where we would have to change trains again for Kyoto - extending our trip from 3 and half hours to more like 5!
Sandy was less than impressed…
If fact, she was so tired and worried that she spent the rest of the trip speaking only to my reflection in the window. I think she was confused LOL
We called the hostel from Nagoya to let them know we were going to be late and they agreed to leave the key in the mailbox for us…whew! The rest of the trip to Kyoto was uneventful until we tried to follow the internet provided map to the hostel.
We discovered that a lot of streets in Japan have no names and therefore, do not show on the map. So, when we counted 4 streets down, we were really meant to count 6! Exhausted and desperate, we stopped a family on the street and asked for help. (Showed them the map and shrugged with a questioning look…lol) I pointed to K’s house on the map and looked around with my hands in the air (huh?)
They seemed as confused as we were and eventually stopped two boys on bikes, to in turn ask their help. After a gruelling 5 minutes, one of the boys face lit up and he pointed to a side street nodding vigorously. We thanked them all (Arigato-gozaimas!) and headed off in the direction he indicated.
FINALLY coming upon K’s House Kyoto a full 24 hours after I left Perth and 33 hours after Sandy left Montreal. We were never so happy to see a set of bunk beds and promptly hit the sack.
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3 Responses to “Day 1 - Arrival at Narita & travel to Kyoto”
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Still, I think you guys were very brave to visit a country where I imagine that very few people speak English.
I’m sorry to say but that sounds about right.
Some advice with the lack of adresses.First thing in a taxi try apologising for not knowing japanese(in japanese).Try to have a map with you at all times and show the driver on it where you want to go.That will help a LOT.
Have fun.
Actual topic. Writing is worthy of attention.