Our heavy travel Monday-Tuesday included a 90-minute Hanoi-Bangkok flight, 5-hour Bangkok layover and 6 hour red-eye to Tokyo. We had a great start when the Qatar Air agent gave us the exit row on the first flight because we are tall. It provided about 6 feet of leg room so we’re very happy about that. The cabin crew treated us like sultans and offered cool towels and an empanada-like chicken snack, and we’re in economy class. We even had pop-up mini-screens for movies in the exit row. I highly recommend Qatar Air. Some of the passengers did upset the Ukrainian flight attendant when a they stood and walked around during takeoff and landing. I've never seen people ignore the safety instructions like this.
Once in Bangkok airport Finn started to feel pretty badly from something he ate. Maybe he tried the goat in Ninh Binh? Needless to say he had an awful flight but we both managed to get a bit of sleep. We navigated Immigration, Customs, and baggage claim before obtaining our Japan Rail pass once we arrived at Narita. From there we jump on to the 1-hour express train to Tokyo and then a twenty minute walk to our hotel. $40 got us early check-in so Finn can finally crash and recover. I checked out the neighborhood which includes a pedestrianized street and many restaurants. The menus with photos looked great but very few show the English translation so I am missing Hiroki at this point. I can see why a local host made Brendan’s trip fantastic. Finn felt up to a meal so we had grilled steak and pork late Tuesday evening at a BBQ spot.
Now more comfortable with the trains on Wednesday morning, we boarded a local train from Nanda station to go one stop to Tokyo Central and get our 3-hour bullet train for the journey to Kyoto. The day is clearer so we’re hopeful about a good view of Mount Fuji. We even have reserved seats on the correct side. However there are some high clouds obstructing the view of the peak. See our view in this video and get a sense of how fast the bullet train goes.
Next stop – Kyoto!
Once in Bangkok airport Finn started to feel pretty badly from something he ate. Maybe he tried the goat in Ninh Binh? Needless to say he had an awful flight but we both managed to get a bit of sleep. We navigated Immigration, Customs, and baggage claim before obtaining our Japan Rail pass once we arrived at Narita. From there we jump on to the 1-hour express train to Tokyo and then a twenty minute walk to our hotel. $40 got us early check-in so Finn can finally crash and recover. I checked out the neighborhood which includes a pedestrianized street and many restaurants. The menus with photos looked great but very few show the English translation so I am missing Hiroki at this point. I can see why a local host made Brendan’s trip fantastic. Finn felt up to a meal so we had grilled steak and pork late Tuesday evening at a BBQ spot.
Now more comfortable with the trains on Wednesday morning, we boarded a local train from Nanda station to go one stop to Tokyo Central and get our 3-hour bullet train for the journey to Kyoto. The day is clearer so we’re hopeful about a good view of Mount Fuji. We even have reserved seats on the correct side. However there are some high clouds obstructing the view of the peak. See our view in this video and get a sense of how fast the bullet train goes.
Next stop – Kyoto!
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