air china plane at beijing airport
So i’ve been a bit of a hiatus of late, but definitely plan to get back into the swing of things and keep the tidbits coming. After spending the last week in Bangkok, I decided to take a few days in Tokyo before heading back to Hawaii.
terminal 1 at narita
That brings us to the title of this post. There are many ways in which to take that statement. For starters, Tokyo has always been a place that I’ve wanted to go. Finally I’m getting that chance, even if it is for way too short a time…just a few days. But besides its personally historical importance, what should really be about a 6 hr flight, plus the standard airport wait time, turned into about a 24 hour marathon getting from Bangkok to Narita via Air China.
Not certain why it took so long, but get to the airport to check in, and there’s immediately a 3-4 hour delay. Finally board the flight at almost 5am, and arrive into Beijing at about half past 10. Trouble is that the connecting flight that I was due to be one left at about 9 so they rebook me on a later flight, at 1pm. Yet another round of waiting. End all be all, arrive at Narita in early evening, about 5:30pm.
interior of the JR line train from narita
First foray into the heart of japan, what will I need? For starters, some cash. A friend led me onto a great tip. Get cash…and lots of it. It turns out that ATMs which accept anything other then Citibank or HSBC cards are not that easy to come by. In addition, most places will not even accept credit cards, and remember to grab some cash at the airport.
After getting cash, its off to catch the train into the city. Taxis are really expensive to get around in, and the train system is so great, that it would be almost a crime to pass it up. The station is immaculate, and the trains amazingly clean. The New York City Subway this is not. The one thing that is quite astounding is just how far Narita is from the main part of Tokyo. It took 85 minutes to get from the airport.
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