Long haul flights are never much fun. The first time I visited Japan, I naively thought that it wasn’t that far away. After my European travels it would seem quick and painless. I was sadly mistaken.
In reality, it is a very long day. There’s the drive from Busselton to Perth, the time spent waiting in airports, a 7.5 hour flight, then another 4 hour flight and finally an hour transfer to the hotel. All up, a full 24 hours! But, this time I was much better prepared. Firstly in mindset and secondly…… some sneaky prescribed relaxants! (My restlessness seems to get worse the older I get)
On the second flight I had the added bonus of bumping into a colleague I hadn’t seen in many years. Mrs N worked in Busselton briefly some years back while her and family were traveling around Australia. I loved working with her and as it turns out our families have more in common than we knew……. travellers and skiers! It was great to catch up, albeit in the isle of a plane!
This all helped in making the trip itself quite enjoyable and I arrived in Tokyo feeling pretty good. The rest of the family …. not so much. Too much screen watching and not enough sleeping I think!
Our transfer into the city was our first chance to appreciate quite how huge this place is. Narita airport is located 80km east of the city. It was an hour drive but we arrived on a Sunday afternoon, I imagine during the week this could easily stretch to two.
My first impressions of Tokyo as we drove through the outskirts, were that of a concrete jungle. Apartment buildings stretch as far as the eye can see. But there was something a little different to the other concrete cities I have visited (think Bangkok). This was clean, orderly and I could sense community. We saw several groups playing tennis, soccer and jogging. It felt like a healthy and happy place to live.
So, what does one do when arriving at your hotel at 5pm after 24 hours traveling with a few weary family members? Push on, that’s what! My recommendation in this situation, tried and true, works anywhere……… start with food, then find an easy activity and don’t go to bed until as close as possible to a normal bed time.
I had the evening all pre-planned; an Uber to Tokyo tower (brain not ready to negotiate public transport yet), dinner in the food hall beneath, a view of this sprawling city and some time appreciating exactly where we are …… and then bed.
It worked very well and after appreciating this city of some 40 million people and Tokyo’s version of the Eiffel Tower, the first to fall by the wayside was Mr Travel Bee.
11 hours sleep later and The Travel Bees are set for a big day of exploring.
TTB
The Travel Bee 