Day 7 - Kyoto bound

And so our time in Tokyo was over. Least for now. The friendly and helpful staff at Playsis East Tokyo helped us one last time by sourcing a taxi for us which arrived within 5 minutes. The taxis in Japan have a charm of their own. Drivers wear black suits and white gloves with the seat’s headrests adorned with a protective dolly. Our driver spoke a little English and seemed keen to practice a few lines during the short drive to Tokyo Station. Despite a calm manner he drove like he was paying for the journey himself. He wasn’t speeding or driving badly, just taking every opportunity cut into traffice, skip a queue and generally make progress. We really weren’t in a hurry at all but it felt like he really wanted to help us, a theme of service that we still greatly appreciated even after a week of it.

We arrived at the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station, the modern side of the building. It’s pleasant enough but can’t match the charm and beauty of brick built west side of the station. But architectural review wasn’t our priority we had a train to catch. We had been informed, when buying the tickets, that there were two entrances for the Shinkansen. We found one easily enough and I was able to identify what platform our train would be arriving at thanks to English translations being provided on the signage. What weren’t sure about was would our large suitcase would be considered oversized. This would mean that we should have paid to have a specific space assigned to accommodate a larger (oversized) case. However, near the gate I was able to check our large case on a baggage sizer and we were in the clear. For the record our Samsonite case is a Large and measures:

• Height: 77cm
• Width: 50cm
• Depth: 30cm

This case, alongside the medium and cabin case all get put above your seats on the rack. Slinging a 25kgs case, you can’t help but think that it would certainly hurt if it did fall.

Being a safety conscious person I made sure to push it above my wife’s seat and sat down to have a well-earned onigiri and japanese beer. I joke, I joke and while you may be initially concerned about the rack once they are up there, they are very stable and never moved once.

https://tokyocheapo.com/travel/transport/new-shinkansen-luggage-rules/

Faster than a speeding bullet

What does move is the Shinkansen. If you have travelled on high-speed rail it is not that much different from say the Eurostar. What is an initial surprise is how much legroom you get. The trains in general are surprisingly spacious and the seats also recline. But don’t get too comfy because you don’t want to miss Mt Fuji. We got lucky with the weather and got to see this mountainous icon between:

Higashishiiji and Yodabashi


Specifically this photo was taken around this location on Google Maps 

And this one, taken on the way back was at this location on Google Maps

Hope that helps and yes it’s worth making the effort to see it. The photos don’t capture the scale that is quite awe inspiring. For sure, we would have loved to make the trip there but with so much travelling and little legs we had to pass on it this time around.

And before we knew it, we arrived at Kyoto Station. I was well aware that the station is huge, which it is, but finding our way out wasn’t too difficult. What is tricky, with 3 suitcases, is a lack of escalators. For some reasons there seems to be a lot of stairs in Kyoto station and while there are escalators on the larger stairs there wasn’t always on the smaller. But seeing as I had been sat down for a couple of hours, the little workout wasn’t too bad - just something to be aware of is all.

Once outside we had to check-in at an office opposite the station. This office provided check-in for all the Resi Stay hotels in Kyoto from what I could tell. The staff all speak fluent English and after completing a couple of forms, paying a city-tax we were sent back downstairs to wait for the free shuttle to the hotel. Minutes later we were at our home for the week, the RESI STAY Kyo Ryuvilux Nijo. It is a modest and refined building, suiting the quiet location in Kyoto. While we hadn’t done much today, the stress of travelling combined with the long previous day meant we spent a couple of hours just relaxing in the hotel. 

Come the evening comfort food was being called for and after some light exploring I found a curry house called Kerala Indian Restaurant, just 10 minutes walk away. It may not be Japanese but being English a curry is always a welcome treat and with friendly service and quality food to satisfy even the most ravenous appetite we set off for bed, knowing we had a big day tomorrow.