Tokyo

Arriving in Tokyo was a huge change from the places we had been in South East Asia. Firstly, it was a big city with a massive airport and throngs of people. Secondly, the transportation from the airport alone was very comfortable, like we were travelling in the lap of luxury. Last but not least, this was the cleanest place I had ever been to and there isn’t a dustbin in sight. We stayed with a friend, Eudy, in Meguro. Her apartment is really amazing with breathtaking views of the city all round. Meguro is a really lovely area with lots of trees everywhere, a river running through the neighbourhood and a great running route. Andrew and I both improved our running times a lot while we were here. I achieved my best running time.

The clean streets…even the underside of the double carriageway is clean… incredible!

We visited the Happō-en gardens to see the old bonsai. The gardens were beautiful, you can spend the whole day there enjoying the peace.

After a relaxing afternoon at the gardens, the next stop was the Tokyo tower. We could see it from where we were staying and needed a close up. Apparently on a clear day you can see Mount Fuji from the tower, but we weren’t in luck. We had the most delicious crêpe before going up the tower. The elevator ride up to the top is really cool, it’s like being on a space ship.

We took a train out to Kamakura to see the Kamakura Daibutsu (great Buddha) and Hase-dera temple. The great Buddha was quiet impressive.

We attempted a hike but we weren’t wearing the right gear and after about twenty minutes we decided to head back.

The last sight was the Hase-dera temple. Beautiful gardens and stunning views.

We saw this guy riding a really cool bike on our way to the temple, and couldn’t help but take a pic. The town of Kamakura is quaint and very pretty.

We got a bit lost on the one day and found this cool neighbourhood in Tokyo.

A trip to Tokyo wouldn’t be complete without the popular and busy Shibuya crossing…

The food was obviously delicious and so well prepared.

It is staggering how clean and extremely well organised Tokyo is. Something that else that stood out is how the people are so incredibly friendly and polite. More of Tokyo to follow in a later post, after our return from exploring other parts of Japan.