Set foot in Japan after a 28-hours journey

Travel Reports by Robbu

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November 7, 2013 - Set foot in Japan after a 28-hours journey

I always dreamt about travelling to Japan and discover this country. I don't know what it was, but something always fascinated me about Japan. Maybe it's the mix, the big differences between old and new, traditions and technology, the rural parts and the big cities....

So, with some money on my bank account and some paid-time-off, I decided sometime in August/September, that I wantt to go to Japan in November!

Even one day before that journey started, I couldn't believe what I was doing. My first flight outside Europe, my first journey on my own, my first time to a country with a completely different language and alphabet - my first time to Japan! You can imagine how nervose I was... And this didn't get better when I got informed one of my flight got cancelled!! My initial plan was to fly from Zurich (Switzerland) to Istanbul (Turkey), then change planes (transfer time about 1 hour and a half) and then fly on to Narita-Tokyo. As I said, this was a PLAN - and plans don't always work as they should... My flight plan changed so I had a stop-over time in Istanbul for about 9 hours. Nine hours. And after that, I would have another 10 hours flight to Tokyo.

You can imagine that this was one of the longest days of my life. In total, the whole trip took about 28 hours.

But let's talk about the good things: Because I had so much time in Istanbul, I could actually visit the city, rather then just waiting at the airport. And I have to admit, it was cool to see something completely different from my home, and something completely different then what I was about to see in Japan. The flights itself were quiet and comfortable, and as the plane was half empty, I had enough space to get some sleep.

Finally, at 7 o'clock in the evening (Japanese Time), I landed in Japan. To my surprise, I got used to the train system quite fast, so I had not such a hard time to find my first hotel in Ueno. Even if I had such a long trip, I wasn't that tired. But that was just because I was so happy to be in Japan, and at the same time, I was so nervous about the coming ten days!

Ten days without my friends and family, on the other side of the globe in a county, where I can never speak "my" language (which is German) and maybe not even English would work....

But it all turned out to be one of the best experiences in my life!

Istanbul, where I had to wait 9 hours for the connecting flight to Tokyo. Blue Mosque in te back.

My firs photo in Japan - I just had to post this ;-)

The Narita Express - waiting to finally get to "Downtown Tokyo"

night view from my hotel (sorry for the bad image quality)

list all posts

List of Posts:
2013/11/15 - Enjoying history in Kyoto
2013/11/14 - Hiking in Miyajima / Walking for peace in Hiroshima
2013/11/13 - Osaka calling!
2013/11/12 - Tour to Mount Fuji and beyond
2013/11/11 - A rainy day in beautiful Nikko
2013/11/10 - A sunny Sunday in Tokyo (Yoyogi, Harajuku, Odaiba)
2013/11/09 - Saturday walking through Tokyo / Shibuya Nightlife
2013/11/08 - My first day in Japan!
2013/11/07 - Set foot in Japan after a 28-hours journey