Tuesday, 4 April 2017

Arrival in Tokyo

We landed in Tokyo at 4pm and the first task was to collect our pocket modem which we hired for the trip. We then found the ATM and got some cash, then headed for the train with our Pasmo cards. No problem getting seats at the terminal end but the train filled as we headed into Tokyo during rush hour. We chose to take the train with only one transfer rather than the monorail which was cheaper and may have been more scenic but involved more transfers.
It was intimidating to see our second train pull in crowded with men in black suits around 5.30 pm. Dick thought we might wait for the next one but I thought it would only get worse. A few people got off so it seemed that we should be able to fit. More got on at subsequent stations but when it was time to get off, people were very amenable, even stepping onto the platform.
It was a great help to use our phones to track the train and stations as we got a feel of how the information worked on the train.
Once we got off at Minowa and emerged to the street level we felt quite disoriented and took a while to decide which way to walk, but again our Google maps tracked us to confirm it.
It was not far to our Andon Ryokan where we sat in the small foyer and waited while our hostess did a tea ceremony for some guests. She booked us into the hot tub and we enjoyed the arrival before heading out to find something for dinner. We were not very hungry after the flights and a couple of buns at the 7-eleven went down well. We also bought a beer.

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