Day One

Arrived on time after a good flight with Virgin Atlantic. The flight only had 146 people on so we managed to move seats and get some extra leg room by an emergency exit - always a good start on a 12 hour flight!

The aircrew were great, a mix of European and Japanese. The girl looking after us was excellent, full of life and very proud of her Japanese roots. She even wanted to read the blog to check we were having a good time!

After being met by Liam, our guide, we used the Sky Line train system to take us into Tokyo and then a taxi to our hotel in the Asakusa district. We dumped our luggage and then headed out, somewhat jaded, but immediately our spirits were lifted as we bumped into George coming back to meet us at the hotel!






He joined us for a stroll around the local area taking in the surrounds of the Sensouji Temple and a stop at an excellent fast noodle bar for lunch, joining many locals slurping our noodles and broth!




We finally gave in around 3pm local time and retreated for a few hours sleep. Refreshed after 3 hours sleep we met the rest of the group, 16 in total with Liam, for a quick briefing about the rest of the tour and tomorrow's Tokyo city tour.



We then headed off to a Japanese restaurant for an excellent meal - mixed dishes of vegetables, raw fish and dipping sauces, stuffed chicken, dumplings, noodles and various alcoholic beverages!




We then had time to take a stroll around the Sensouji Temple which was beautifully lit up. There were still a few people there making offerings - mainly suited city workers on their way home after a very long day at the office! It was a great way to round off our first day in Japan.