Monday, April 17, 2017

The Last Leg

I compose as we travel by high speed train back to Tokyo. We will see our 3rd Disney park this trip and head home in 2 more days. We are both ready and I think we would have enjoyed Japan a little more if we were not so fatigued with travel and physically a little better.

Dan cold symptoms became worse so back to the pharmacy. Using google translate he would need to see a MD to get an antibiotic. After thinking over the situation I decided to give him our "gi" antibiotic. This seemed to work and he has been back to his normal baseline coughing. Of course he gave me the pink eye and now I am coughing but as we head back to Tokyo I am doing better

That is the health update now for the trip update. We were almost on the wrong train. Right track right time but we were scheduled for the express not the local. Good thing someone was in the seat as I started to argue. The lady in front looked at my ticket and told us wrong train. It was a lesson in reading the ticket correctly and realizing that Japan has trains leaving for the same place sometimes every 5-10 minutes    As we head back to Tokyo we will stop by the hotel we stayed at seems Dan left a pair of shoes. Of course we had to have help calling the hotel since Dan's SIM card you have free calls but everyone thinks you are Japanese and if you get a telephone tree you can listen to the entire message and still can't pick an option so it cuts you off. The good news is they do have the shoes.

We are able to see many of the sites in Hiroshima but found it impossible to get out of the train station of course we had the same problem in Tokyo and Kyoto. All the big stations have several floors and include tracks for train,subways and several different lines including long distance and local, a department store or two, a food court, ticket counters, and other various stores to serve the traveler including fast food.

This train ride we are in the first car and you really have the sensation of speed. The train is the fastest in Japan. On other trips our seats were in a middle car so there was no sensation of speed.  If thee were dips and curves it would equal an amusement ride.
I will close this entry and add a few more photos then update you on our hotel in Kyoto and Disney before we head home

A short sleeve day in Kyoto and we are off to see gardens on our own. The guide I hired focused on temples and we felt garden shorted. So added 4 gardens to the list.

Our last day in Kyoto still some cherry blossoms but the tulips are up and going strong at the Botanical garden. A great day even in the rain. To the hotel early we head to Disney tomorrow

Friday, April 14, 2017

We explored Hiroshima and a small garden. The weather was good, cool but no rain

On to Japan

As we packed for the last flight before heading home there was a feeling of excitement. This the last time our bag has to be at 44 #. Going home it can be 70#. Yeah. I don't understand how dirty clothes seem to weigh so much more.   Our flight gets in at midnight but we are staying at the hotel that is attached to the airport. This is a great idea but you still have to find the entrance.   For some reason this is always a challenge for us and entails lots of backtracking and a visit to the information counter. In the morning a leisurely breakfast and back to the airport to get local money and a SIM card for Dan's phone. The room is great and the bathroom is even better.  Japan places heated seats in all bathrooms including public places and hotel rooms. Seems the Japanese really like their bathrooms to be decked out. It has a bidet and spray attachment also

We take the monorail and train to transfer to our hotel in the city   No problems,  the hotel hotel our luggage and we set out on a walk. It is still drizzling but we head to the Gonzalez famous for high end stores and shopping. Good thing I am shopped out. This is the first time I am unhappy with the room I booked. It is clean, close to the train station, but the  room is so small there is no where for suitcases and no closet or drawer space to put anything away.  We will be here for 4 nights. Well I guess I need to rethink those double beds of China. We don't spend time in the room but it would have been nice to unpack. The hotel is in an office building so reception is on the 15!floor and guest rooms are below. We do have a small view of the top of the Tokyo Tower. I think I would rather have more space

We spend Saturday exploring although our day starts with another trip to the pharmacy. Dan's allergy symptoms are progressing and he developed "pink eye". It becomes a challenge to explain to the pharmacist what type of medication you want for what reason. We come out with something similar to the US medication I was looking for of course like Mexican medicine it has extra ingredients.

We visit 3 gardens. It is amazing to have thousands of people in line to buy tickets to enter the garden. The good news is we were able to find a little space among the masses. We also visited the Imperial Gardens and took a docent lead tour so we had a lot more explanation of what we were seeing.  Today I decided to follow up on my Cambodia fall by falling again. This time I landed in the mud.  I had no less than 3 "little old ladies". Rush over to help, one even gave me a small washcloth to clean off the mud.  I guess the Japanese are all prepared. I did sport some new bruises just when I seemed to get rid of the Cambodia ones

On Sunday it was raining. We took a trip south of Tokyo to a town called Hakone. This would be a great place to explore if it were sunny and warm. This is the closest to Mount Fuji. Of course in the rain and fog you see nothing. We actually went to see the Japanese woodworkers. This is the area that Japanese Magic Boxes are made and sold and the process to create them is found by talking to shopkeepers. This was a great day trip since it was impossible to see any gardens in the rain. Tomorrow we meet a private guide to see more of Tokyo