Asia, city, travel

Around Tokyo – Shinjuku, Akihabra, Ginza, Shibuya

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Another big walking day out – this time more central Tokyo. Hot again, 25,000+ steps, count-lost trains and so many people. I was on the mend by now, so no naps in parks; we seemed to be on the go all day – riding loaded bikes a hundred kilometres is possibly easier. Excellent day seeing some Tokyo sights, people watching, some interesting architecture and even some peaceful parks.

Quiet in the suburbs mid Sunday morning.

Into Shinjuku Park after the busyness outside.

Restorative ramen and broth for lunch, watched it made in front of us.

Into Akihabara – famous for electronics and manga.

Streets closed to traffic on a Sunday, very pleasant.

Huge lotus pond in Ueno Park, nice to walk beside.

Seems I still had a thing for finding old pillar boxes.

Heading into Akakusa to see the staggeringly popular Sensoji Temple, things got a little crowded.

Trying to sneak down the back of a long alley of stalls.

Bemused by these guys hanging around on roofs. Not quite the strange women lying in ponds handing out swords that we’d not seen earlier.

Loved this patterning and the texture.

Into Ginza District – the heart of corporate Japan.

As Oji headquarters was just around the corner I had to pay a brief visit, having heard of it off and on for the last ten years through various stints of employment at one of their NZ companies.

Just as well it was Sunday, I was hardly dressed appropriately.

We headed for Tokyo Tower to meet Keiko and Leila, finding more interesting buildings on the way.

Going to the black ring of the observation deck, on an elevator thankfully.

Tiring a bit by now, I didn’t have high expectations – but the fascinating views of bits of the city, and the city as a whole topped the day’s sightseeing off wonderfully; certainly a highlight of the day, as it gave way to night.

With the sky dark, an animated Halloween (still a month away) film played all around the deck’s windows. Dancing pumpkins anyone? More impressive, and entertaining, than expected.

Off to Shibuya to meet Amelia, Rachel’s elder niece, for a family (plus-me) dinner.

Not fitting in, in many ways (Rachel’s photo).

We just had to go through Shibuya Scramble Crossing on our way, purported to be the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. I’d believe that.

Surprised to hear, and then see, a convoy of go-karts. All a bit Mario Bros, unsure how they are legal or if we’d slipped into another world.

Another exceptional dinner out to top off a long, fascinating and worthwhile day.

Asia, city, friends, travel

Around Tokyo – Enoshima, Kamakura, Kawazaki

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Out of Koji on the train for Tokyo – successfully changed at Hachioji to meet Thomas at Machida. The day still a haze of fever, tiredness, runny nose, more trains and walking a lot in the heat. First stop Enoshima Beach – very popular for surfing (I struggled to see why) and bathing.

Many rusted cruisers with surfboard carriers mounted on the side.

Back to tsunami escape platforms, although this one is pretty short so maybe it’s something else?

Sand bathing anyone? Buried up to one’s neck and left to sit there soaking in the warmth? I did not understand the appeal. Admittedly it made more sense than surfing in those conditions.

Another board carrier, trailer might be picking litter (unlikely in Japan) or grooming the sand (more likely), big corporate function and over to Enoshima Island – we were walking towards it.

By the time we got to the island, I was exhausted so I left Rachel and Thomas to climb through the crowds while I went and tried to nap on some grass in the relative quiet. Eventually we returned to the mainland and caught a small train to Kamakura – a very popular spot, and where Thomas and Keiko were wed.

Another wedding in progress, popular spot – could see a little of what was going on.

Impressive structure and colours.

Also a popular spot to post prayers.

Or fold them up.

With some time before meeting some of Thomas’s immediate and extended family, we trained to the waterside in Kawazaki – enjoying lounging on the grass watching the world go by as it cooled a bit. Most pleasant.

(Rachel’s photo.)

Fortunately, in my impaired state, I didn’t have to come to grips with the Tokyo transportation network – just try to keep up. Apparently it’s very logical and well laid out, but I barely gave it a thought.

We met Keiko and Leila, and Uji (Keiko’s brother) and Kazumi for a fun monjayaki dinner – a more liquid batter version of okonmiyaki, cooked in front of us; plenty of tasty seafood too. My attempts to not be terrible company and not spread whatever I had around were successful enough – only Rachel later caught whatever I had, inevitably but not as badly.

(Rachel’s photo.)

Eventually more walking and trains back to Thomas and Keiko’s home. Thomas had logged 26,000 steps for the day – so not a particularly recuperative time keeping up, but I wasn’t going to miss finally being in Tokyo!

Asia, city, travel

Matsumoto to Kofu

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Bit of a fever dream haze of a hot day as whatever bug I’d picked up laid me pretty low; thinking too much of travelling to Tokyo with my cold and passing it on to Rachel’s brother’s family. Lazy morning in hostel before venturing out a bit in the heat. I liked the old electrical components dotted around the hostel building, thankfully no longer in use.

Managed to get out for second breakfast (therefore wasn’t too sick, still had an appetite), an interesting western-Japanese mix.

There was a great bike shop next door, so we organised to leave our bikes there to have some work done while we were in Tokyo . Finally found some 29″ tyres to replace my very bald ones, the first time we’d found any in Japan – 29″ mountain-bikes not very popular, understandably.

Having checked out of the hostel, we had time to wander the streets before our train departed for Kofu. Nice to see the castle in daylight, as well as a few other places.

In one old building I marvelled both at the craftsmanship of the building itself and the more recent woodworking and furniture-making – including some demonstrations.

Back out into the heat for a bit before walking to the station.

I did appreciate a number of fonts around town, lovely cool, clear water.

At the station Rachel did a stellar job of dealing with lines and the intricacies of getting the right tickets while I was exhausted from the heat and illness, sitting down somewhere cool and quiet. Unfortunately my desire to ride on the shinkansen was not possible for this trip (probably would have been wasted in my current state), but two trains took us to an overnight stay in Kofu – just past halfway to Tokyo. Our first experience of a Japanese hotel in which we saw no staff at all, bit strange but all worked fine.

I don’t remember much of our brief stay in Kofu, we were soon on our way to meet Rachel’s brother in Kawasaki.

Finally a chance to get some snaps of a local ambulance out and about – bit smaller than our one in Ranfurly, but I suspect more comfortable in the back.

Asia, bikepacking, bikes, GPS

Ogawa to Matsumoto

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Dawn rain shower was a good reason to stay in bed a bit longer, thankfully our barbecue shelter kept us dry.

Obviously couldn’t find our usual muesli and yoghurt breakfast yesterday.

The observatory was easy enough to work out, what the train in the sky is about – I’m unsure.

Big descent out of the hills first up, five hundred metres in five-ish kilometres, through a few tidy small villages.

Rice drying with raincoats.

Unfortunately the last steep part of the descent was in a long snow tunnel, so we couldn’t see much. After a short section following  river down valley and a michi-no-eki stop, we turned south and regained most of the altitude we’d just lost getting to Miasa.

A smaller climb and drop took us to the outskirts of Omachi, where we had an interesting chat with a ski guide outside a konbini. Rest of the day skirting towns in wide, flat valley floors. Surprised to find a well-maintained cycle path taking us most of the way to Matsumoto.

Signs of recovering from flood damage…

Bit cloudy for much peak viewing, but nice to be surrounded by mountains.

Took a short while to work out what this complex was, big building and large grounds.

An enclosed driving school training area – cars, trucks, motorbikes all over the place.

Some fine examples of grain stores to be seen.

Strangely large bike parking area in what seemed nowhere in particular – but probably was somewhere.

Nearing Matsumoto, it was about now a scratch in my throat developed enough that I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t getting sick. Thankfully we had a few days off the bikes planned.

Blue raincoats now.

Reaching the city, we headed straight for this well-reviewed ramen restaurant; helped by being in an old grain store.

We were not disappointed – best ramen of the trip so far.

Checking into a good hostel, in a restored building, I spent a lot of the rest of the day snoozing and avoiding the heat outside. I did venture out a little later in the evening to see some of the sights.

Matsumoto Castle.

A giant dog!

Giant frogs too, sort of.

Biking to go places, going places to bike.