Taking the scenic route, as always !
Adrienne has always sought out the best possible use of our Frequent Flyer points when booking our tour flights, spending months tracking which airline is releasing what seats and the best value for points and associated taxes.
On our 2020 aborted pandemic tour to the USA, which became our 2022 tour to the USA, she had booked us Sydney/Tokyo/New York flights however with Japan taking even longer than Australia to open their borders it has been a case of third time lucky flying through Japan – but this time to Vancouver.
Instead of being straight through, the best connection we could get was basically a 24 hour stopover and in to Haneda airport and out of Narita airport – 80km apart. So we are doing a day tour – with a driver picking us up from our Haneda airport hotel and showing us the sights of Tokyo before dropping us off for our early evening flight from Narita.
Our morning flight from Sydney had us arriving around 5pm in Haneda and we decided just to stay at the Royal Park Hotel at the airport as it would make it easiest for our tour pickup the next morning.
Our flight was excellent, premium economy with plenty of legroom and we both agreed the food would have to have been about the best we’ve experienced flying anywhere ! Probably only marked down with the bubbly variety – a bit too sweet – 1st world problem, I know !
Arriving about 30 minutes early we only had to walk to the far end of the terminal to our hotel to check in. Mind you, they had “upgraded us” on the top floor at the extreme far end of the hotel – got our daily step count just getting to our room ! We dropped out bags and took the trek back through the “time tunnel” to wander around the airport shops and restaurants.
We eventually just decided to have our dinner at the hotel restaurant – Tailwind – where we enjoyed a nice sample of tempura and yakatori and a couple of drinks before calling it a day.
Our driver, Moe (pronounced Mo-ay) collected us at reception and we set off for Narita airport on our “layover tour”.
We largely left our “sights to see” to Moe as we had no idea what the traffic would be like having seen the huge expanse Tokyo occupies on our decent in yesterday. I had also checked the driving times to Narita and without tolls, the driving time to Narita airport – about 80km away – was over 2 1/2 hours. Even with tolls in was about 1 1/2 hours.
She was a lovely guide, quetly spoken like all the Japanese women we seem to have come across so far, but very easy to talk to. Her English was pretty good and we managed to get our conversation across successfully between all of us.
First stop was Meiji Jingu, a shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It is a large forested area within the city. The shrine was completed in 1920 – the emperor and empress having passed away 8 and 6 years before. The shrine was actually destroyed during the second world war and rebuilt shortly after. As the first emperor of “modern Japan” where the feudal era came to an end. By the time of his death in 1912, Japan had modernised to join the world’s major powers.
The entry to the shrine is marked by a massive torii gate, the largest in Japan, and the forest contains approx 100,000 trees planted during the shrine’s construction. The whole area is a beautiful, tranquil area in a busling city.
For lunch Moe took us to a favourite noodle restaurant in her neighbourhood – probably big enough to take 30 people at a squeeze. The food was excellent – a selection of tempura again and delicious soba noodles.
After lunch we drove to a few extra sights, with a couple of brief stops where possible – past the parliament building, through Shibuya crossing (one of the biggest pedestrian crossings in the country/world ?!), Sensoji Temple and markets ( a much more “commercialised” temple” and past the new Imperial Palace where over 2,000 pines trees – a symbol of longevity – are planted in the surrounding parkland .
With at least an hour needed to get to Narita, we headed off on the “fast route” and arrived around 3.45. I was slightly concerned she might not get us there as I watched her eyelids dropping in the rearview mirror, but a little more conversation and a quiet suggestion whether she needed a restroom stop, seemed to perk her up again to get us there safely – I just hope she gets home safely !
So we are now just about to head to board our flight to Vancouver – dinner time onboard !
Enjoy your sleep on the plane. You had a taste of Japan. Maybe a return visit is required.