Page 29 - Explore - Autumn/Winter 2019

48 HOURS IN

TOKYO

DAY 1
Not far away is the 333-metre Tokyo Tower, built in 1957 and a
AM: On our overnight flight from Auckland we woke to a superb similar height and shape to the Eiffel tower but painted white
sunrise and shortly afterwards the Land of the Rising Sun and international orange. Originally just a communications
appeared, in particular the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo and tower, it has also become a major tourist attraction. We debated
Yokohama which seemed to go forever. Dropping our bags at whether to go just to the main observatory deck at the 150m
Shiba Park Hotel in central Tokyo, we shed clothes more suited level or to the smaller special observatory at the top. Luckily,
for the 10 degrees C. we had left in New Zealand and dressed for the top platform was worth it. The day was clear and we could
the gorgeous warm humid day that greeted us for the first day of see forever. The audio guide we took with us as part of the tour
our Japanese adventure. was excellent and gave us great information about the various
landmarks.
It wasn’t long before we found our first Buddhist temple, Zojo-ji
Temple, near the hotel. The imposing main gate of the temple PM: While we were up the tower my husband spied a swimming
dates back to 1622 and inside its grounds is a huge cedar tree pool, which the audio guide referred to as public baths. We
planted by Thomas Jefferson in 1879, which I found astounding found our way there later in the day and found that for NZ$7 you
considering the turmoil that Japanese and American relations can swim for two hours. When we went in search of dinner for
have been through over the years. Further on is the mausoleum our first night in Japan we found all the Japanese places in the
of six of the 15 Tokugawa Shoguns, the rulers of Japan during the area were full and we learned later that they often have to be
Edo Period (1603-1868). It was evident that this was a revered pre-booked. In the end we found an excellent Korean restaurant
and sacred place. called Karakuniya which was amazingly cheap and delicious.

DAY 2 another seven, but eating three will only give you indigestion. I
tried one and my partner tried two. They tasted just like eggs.
AM: We were up bright and early on another sunny day to Back on the bus we headed to Lake Hakone where we boarded
catch our tour bus for a trip to Mount Fuji, 130km to the south- a “pirate-style” sailing ship to take us across the lake. The
west. It was Sunday and the traffic was heavy. We glided along views of Mount Fuji are the major drawcard of this trip, which
the flat plains for quite some time until suddenly we were in is also relaxing. Afterwards the bus took us along winding
the mountains going through tunnels and over viaducts. The mountain roads to the Atami railway station in the next valley.
road infrastructure in the area is impressive.
After full instructions from our guide about travelling on a
We wound our way upwards along avenues of various trees bullet train, we made our way up the steps to the station
and past several hiking stations, catching little glimpses of platform and suddenly one of the most sensational events
Mount Fuji until finally we saw all of the sacred mountain in of the day happened: a bullet train went through! It was a
its full splendour. It is a beautiful mountain and no wonder it sensory moment to behold. There was no warning, just a
is one of the world’s most visited: in the two and half months rush of air and noise as the train sped past on one of the
a year that it is open to visitors it attracts around 300,000 middle tracks of the four parallel tracks. Travelling at around
people. We saw many people going trekking, including several 320 kph, the train made quite an impression on us.
with what looked like brand-new boots. The climb from the
2400m mark (the fifth station) to the top of the mountain Our bullet train soon arrived and we were transported
takes five to seven hours, and to stay overnight in a hut with smoothly back to Tokyo and the 40-minute journey flew
two meals costs 700 yen, around NZ$9. by. On arrival we got a hint of what Tokyo Central must be
like at peak time. We had heard the stories about men with
After taking our pictures we were off down the mountain for black gloves pushing people into the carriages and while it
an authentic Japanese lunch that was beautifully presented was 7pm on a Sunday night it was still extremely busy. We
on a tray with an array of tasty nibbles, a little pot of rice with were totally disoriented when we came out of the railway
a warmer under it and another warmer pot of broth with tofu station and after a couple of attempts to find our way to
and greens. Totally delicious. Off again we went to the Hakone our hotel on foot we resorted to a taxi, a sensible move
Ropeway (gondola) which runs to the sulphur area which is after our long and interesting day. We ended it by finding
famous for black eggs. Legend has it that eating one of these a Japanese restaurant (without booking) and enjoyed a
eggs will add seven years to your life, eating two will add delicious meal. Happy travellers.

Japanese temples, towers, Mount Fuji and a bullet train all made quite an impression on Sheryle Williams,
a client of Tracey Lee-Lewis of helloworld Travel Waipukurau.