Some closing photos of Tokyo:
This the subway exit that leads to our hotel:
Aaron and me in front of the Kaminari-mon Gate. This is the entry gate to the Sensei-Jo Temple complex. We pass through this gate to get to our ryokan.
Aaron with new friends.
Aaron with the hostess in front of the Ryokan Shigetsu, the place where we stayed in Tokyo.
Aaron wearing a yakata. A ryokan is intended to be a place of relaxation. Among other things you are asked to do to fully utilize the ryokan, you are supposed to change into this when you enter your room.
Once we pass through the Kaminari-mon Gate, we enter the Nakamise-dori market. It is two hundred yards of stalls selling crafts and souveniers.
At the end of the market is the next gate before the temple, the Hozo-mon Gate.
I thought I finally got my body on Tokyo time. As hard as it was to stay awake, I didn’t go to bed until 10:00 p.m. last night. The first time I woke up this morning was 2:00 a.m. I got back to sleep for about an hour, but that was it. At 4:00 a.m., I thought I might as well get some emails written. I’m sure part of my sleeplessness was that I did not want to miss our 5:45 a.m. taxi call. There is no wake-up service at this Ryokan, as the front desk is closed from 11:00 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
Everything went perfectly on schedule this morning. The taxi arrived at exactly 5:45 a.m. The driver, wearing an official hat and white gloves, couldn’t have been nicer. We arrived at Ueno station to catch the Keisei Line Skyliner for the sixty minute ride to Narita Terminal 2.
While we were waiting for our train to depart, I think about what a good co-traveler Aaron is. Of course, it’s just great being with him. But, he’s an active part of this, not just along to be led. He’s keeping his eyes open for signs and things we need to find, is problem solving, has studied the languages better than I have, is strong and adventurous and filled with the same excitement of discovery that I am, and is overall just great company.
Today is the first real sunshine we have seen since arriving in Tokyo. It made even the industrial sections look good on the train ride to the airport. The rain last night also helped the temperature cool a bit. The last twenty minutes or so of the train ride is the through the country side. Sections and sections of bright green rice everywhere. Beautiful.
Check-in, security, and customs went easily and quickly. On to the gate. Trying to spend the last of our yen coins, I purchased a triangle of rice wrapped in nori (seaweed paper) near the gate. I had seen them many places and wanted to give one a try. There were at least eight selections, all of which looked exactly the same except that the border of the label was a different color. Not wanting to end up with one flavored like sea urchin, I put my best deductive reasoning skills to work. First, I decided that I would choose from one of the rows that had the fewest in it. Those must be the most popular, I surmised. Secondly, I went for the pinkish colored border. I’m thinking it may be salmon. That should be okay. With purchase in hand, I took my first bite. Shrimp. Good choice!
Sitting at the gate, the announcement came that the flight to Beijing would board in fifteen minutes. A little wave of excitement came over me. I still can’t quite believe we’re about to get on a plane to Beijing, China!
Upon the completion of boarding, I note oddly that this is one of the emptiest flights I have been on in years. We’re on a 767, not a small plane, on a Monday morning, and it is at least seventy-five percent empty. What that means, I don’t know.
For much of the flight after passing over China, the air below us is one massive cloud. My guess about it being the air pollution proves to be right when we land. I knew it would be bad, but I was shocked. Think of the thickest fog you have experienced - that is what it looked like. It's like L.A. on its worst day times ten.
Stepping into the new Beijing Capital International Airport was a shock of a different kind. Just opened in March, we were stunned at this architectural wonder. The amount of square acres it covers is mind boggling. What a beautiful accomplishment. I'll try to get better pictures of it when we return. Here's one for now.
The excitement of the Olympics is everywhere. We rode the train to baggage claim with swimmers from the Serbian team. We met them and wished them good luck. We then saw members of the Italy Olympic team. It all raises our anticipation level for the Games.
Going through immigration was no problem. Customs was a little different. In passing our bags through the machine, we expected the worst. Sure enough, they wanted to see inside my suitcase. The cause for concern was a samurai sword Aaron purchased as a souvenir. We were prepared that it may be staying in Beijing for good. The customs agent was quite nice about it. Once he determined that we did not need to take it into Beijing, which he wouldn’t allow us to do anyway, he gave us a receipt for it, said they would hold it, and that we can pick it up on our flight home. Great! We were already concerned about what to do with it anyway, as we had just read there would be bag checks before getting on the train tonight. He did us a favor!
Carla Li, our travel agent, was at the door to meet us. After getting all of our paperwork together with her, we said goodbye, exchanged some cash, and had lunch at Kenny Rogers Roasters(!) in the airport. You could tell everyone has been trained to the extreme for hospitality. Our waitress gave us our menus, then dutifully waited for us to review them, never leaving lest we have a question, then took our order. Everyone working in the restaurant smiled and told us an enthusiastic goodbye when we left. As we were leaving, we paused for three workers from another restaurant to pass. The manager chastised them loudly and they ran out of our way.
Good stuff in any language:
We headed for the taxi to take us into Beijing. Another seemingly odd observation – there were very few cars on the highway. An hour later, we arrived at Feiying Youth Hostel. We’re staying there next week, not tonight, but they agreed to watch our bags while we got in a few hours of sightseeing.
The hotel is just two kilometers away from Tiananmen Square. We took the line two subway to the Qianmen Gate and walked up the stairs through the exit. Aaron passed right through, but I was immediately stopped by two men in green uniforms, a woman in a blue uniform and a man in plain clothes in a yellow shirt – perhaps an interpreter. They wanted to see inside my big camera bag of course, but more urgently wanted to know why I was there, what was I doing. After a brief exchange, they decided I could go on. Welcome to Beijing.
It was quite a feeling standing in Tiananmen Square amidst all of the buildings in it that have been so iconic all of my life. How many times we have seen this place on the news over the years?
The Tiananmen Gate on the north border of Tiananmen Square:
The Qianmen Gate on the south border of Tiananmen Square:
It was fun to see Beijing in full preparation mode for the Olympics, still a week away. These people were arranging a huge flower display in Tiananmen Square at the base of a massive Olympics logo sign:
Exciting stuff. It will be interesting to see what the city looks like when we return in a week.
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