station at terminal one of narita

bakurocho station of JR line

homeless homes

concourse at shiodome station

great tile as basic station

map to tell what care to use

status sign on the platforms

entire subway map

One the most impressive thing that I found when navigating Tokyo was the ease, efficiency and beauty of the Tokyo Subway system. Since it’s made up of at least three separate systems, that could scare you into thinking that it would be difficult to navigate the various lines, stations and handle the payment. Despite the three lines; the Toei, Tokyo Metro and JR East Railway each traversing the center of the metropolis, getting around is generally a breeze.

Generally speaking paying is based on distance travelled. You have several options when purchasing your ticket, if you’re just visiting the city for a short time, you’ll typically choose from the following: pay as you go, get a daily unlimited for either of the major systems, daily unlimited which works on a combination of systems or get a multiple day unlimited that’s meant for tourists.

Chances are that when you arrive into Tokyo, you will do so via one of the two major airports. The most popular is likely to be Narita which is quite large, and pretty far outside of the city.  It’ll easily take you over and hour to get into the city via any of the trains, and most likely closer to two hours.

When I first left Narita (terminal one shown above), I was bound for the Chuo-ku area, which meant that I had a couple of different means of getting there. The JR Line to Bakurocho happen to be the most direct.

One of the surprising things that I came across quite early on while navigating the under ground world (at bakurocho station) was the presence of homeless shelters in the corridors. Oddly, while sad that situations exist (nearly everywhere) whereby people are forced into such circumstances, it was somewhat comforting that at least in this particular location, it appears that their homes may exists in a somewhat clean, organized and decent manner. In cities such as New York, a similar situation would not be nearly as clean or seemingly livable.

That being said, the situation pictured above did not appear to be widespread, as most stations that I had visited appeared to be rather empty of all other then passengers trying to get from point A to point B. In some cases it was almost eerie how expansive, clean and empty some concourses were.

Besides the clean trains, and clean stations, the overall experience of waiting for trains was generally made more enjoyable as well as efficient by the aid of signs and decorations.

The first sign that I thought was great, and wished I had seen more of was the map to tell you information such as where the stairs, escalators and elevators were in relation to each car of the train. It also can aide in telling you where the best places to be if you were looking to transfer to another line.

The electronic indicators of when the next train to arrive is another that was great to see. You’ll generally notice that the train are on-time, which actually made me a bit excited when I caught this one when the train was running late.

Besides just knowing how long you have to wait till your train arrives, knowing how long may give you the chance to grab a coffee or tea out of on of the ever impressive vending machines which tend to exist on each platform. What makes these machines so cool is that the items which you’d typically expect to be hot or warm, actually are and those that should be cold, are as well. Simple but nice features to have.

There are so many other things that I’ve greatly enjoyed about the subway system, but to really appreciate it you really must check them out for yourself. The best part is, nearly anywhere you are, there will be a train there for you.

Related posts:

1. Tokyo at last
2. Tokyo Skyline
3. Tokyo Recap and Look Ahead

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.

Related posts:

1. Tokyo Recap and Look Ahead
2. Tokyo Subways
3. Khaosan Tokyo Ninja

random street in rajasthan

Traffic in northern india is anything but boring.  Its not uncommon to see camels, cows, sheep, richshaws, buses, trucks, cars and people. Street lights exist but seem to be more ornamental then anything else.  Cars will often drive on the wrong side of the road, against opposing traffic when it seems to make it easier to get to a driveway of sorts.   Speed bumps will appear out of nowhere on multi-lane highways. Trucks will have horns blazing songs as they motor down the highway. All things that make driving in this northern indian area, dangerous but definitely interesting to do.

Related posts:

1. Traffic in Bangkok
2. the Rancher
3. Left or Right?

landing strip

This airstrip near the mouth of the Aichilik river, where it empties into the Beaford Sea lies an old military landing strip.  The strip was originally build by the United States Fish and Wildlife as a camp during the days of the cold war.   Today it is mainly used by the US Fish and Wildlife service to conduct research.

As it appears above, there really is really nothing nearby.  The peninsula where it lies actually has some old oil cans on edge which run along the side of the runway, and a radio tower on the western end.

Related posts:

1. Rafting the Aichilik
2. Aichilik Evening
3. Aichilik Base Camp I

canal in venice

Venice is sort of unique city in that the canals are more or less the primary means of getting around.  There are no roads on the island, and the footpaths might as well be a maze.  The canal boats are used for everything from food deliveries, taxis and tours to ups and fedex deliveries.

Related posts:

1. Saint Mark’s Pigeons
2. Le Waldo Arms

traffic in bangkok at night

Bangkok is a big city.. huge even.   Nearly anything you could want can be found in it… and one thing there’s certainly no shortage of is traffic. A three lane highway can easily become a four or five lane parking lot. In some areas, it’s not out of the norm for a few mile trip to take over an hour to complete.

When visiting Bangkok, its definitely recommended to see if its possible to take the Skytrain or subway to get closer to your destination, then maybe take a taxi from that point.  Taking a taxi across town is generally not advised during the morning or evening rush as you’ll likely encounter difficulty getting a cab, and when you do it will likely not be cheap.

On the contrary, one of the more impressive aspects to traffic in Bangkok is that outside of the sound of countless motorbikes buzzing along, its relatively quiet.    By quiet, I mean how in many other cities, you can’t walk down the street in the wee hours of the morning without getting deafened by the sounds of car alarms, horns or sirens.   In Bangkok, even during the busiest times of day, there are few horns honking or sirens blazing.    Its amazing how polite (or accustomed to delays) people are.  Maybe it’s the buddhist nature.

Pollution is another issue all together.   Many locals will come armed with at least a cloth to cover their face with through some of the more congested intersections.

Related posts:

1. Traffic in Rajasthan
2. Serene Bangkok Bed & Breakfast
3. Jet-lagged in Bangkok