Fish and football in Tokyo

The next stop on our trip was Tokyo, and we made the short journey from Hakone on the Thursday. I did manage to lose my rail pass on the bus to the station, which would have been a very costly mistake, but after emptying my rucksack on the back seat of the crowded bus it turned up in the pocket of my other trousers! Gem managed to make friends with a woman at Odawara station, who ended up sat in the row in front of us on the train and proceeded to insist on sharing her lunch with us. She presented Gem with half a dozen bits of very fishy sushi. A bit too fishy for me it turned and i very nearly failed to keep it down, which would have been pretty embarrassing, so Gem had to finish off the rest. I polished off the very sticky rice cake and solid sweet potato cake instead!

We were in Tokyo by lunchtime, and then had to negotiate the relatively complicated Metro system, which includes two different subway companies, normal trains and various private lines – the map ends up looking like a plate of spaghetti, but we made it to our hotel without too many problems. Our room was tiny, with just enough room for very small double bed and an all-in-one self-contained bathroom cubicle. Accommodation in Tokyo was very expensive though so we were happy enough! Click here to read more…