Friday 4th November and our last
day. And no tour guide to help us as we had extended
our tour to give us a free day in Tokyo! We managed
to negotiate our way through the very complicated
Tokyo metro/railway system. |
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We particularly liked the way
you could buy a minimum price ticket, and then sort
out any extra costs at the "fare adjustment"
area (so much nicer than London Transport's term "excess
fare", don't you think?) |
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| And you could stand behind the driver and watch
him drive the train.. |
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We went up the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government buildings again, this time to get a daylight
view. The massive structure was built in 1991, and was next
door to our hotel (below) |
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| We explored the busy streets of Tokyo, |
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| and went to the Hokusai exhibition fortuitously
showing at the Tokyo National Museum. |
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| Left to our own devices for a meal, we decided
to eat in the hotel. It was very good, but the most expensive
meal of the holiday (although it did include all the G&T
you could drink...) |
The next day we caught
the "comfort limousine bus" (a coach) to go to
Narita airport - an hour and a half journey - and caught
JAL flight 401 back to London on a Boeing 777. No free seats
on this flight! The 12 hours did drag this time, despite
the cabin crew darkening the cabin for the all-day flight.
The only effect this had was to ensure my body clock was
out of synch for four days after! |
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So - an amazing holiday.
Japan was... fascinating, bewildering, surprising, beautiful. |
