Well! It’s time to say До свидания Россия and спасибо владивосток! It’s been an unreal stay within this huge country. It has really been quite an experience to cross its entirety on a train and we leave with nothing but amazing memories of the country, the people, and of course the World Cup! But it’s time to say До свидания to all of the Lenin statues as we get ready to head over to Japan.

So we headed down to the train to catch the express from the railway station to the airport. There’s only one train every three hours (if we remember correctly), and we only just made it! We walked up to the box office to buy tickets and the lady just looked at us and said “now?” then told us there were only two minutes left and we better run down and buy a ticket onboard. So, that’s what we did and we just barely made it! Thankfully we are on our way now. We just can’t get enough of trains, I guess!

Since we got to the airport so early we had tons of time to explore the airport. It was actually pretty nice, and bigger than expected.

We were also on hand to witness the Russian taekwondo team come back home. It seems like they did pretty well! They all had so many medals!

Then it was time to wait for our flight in the Chillout Zone.

Before boarding our plane to Japan. We only just found out that S7 is Siberia Airline. Guess that’s who is taking us to Japan!

After a quick flight, we were finally here, the Land of the Rising Sun. こんにちは (Konichiwa) Japan! (Our Japanese is even less than our non-existent Russian, so we are sorry if that does not say “hello”!)

Now for some practical tips. We landed at the Narita Airport outside of Tokyo. This means that we somehow need to get to Tokyo. The easiest way to get there is using the Narita Express straight to Tokyo Central Station. So… within Japan there is something called a Japan Rail Pass, it is a rail pass that allows you to jump on and off of any train operated by the JR Group. Most trains are operated by them, so we thought it would be pretty handy to get this pass. Usually you have to purchase this before arriving to Japan and get a voucher mailed to your home address. When we arrived in Japan they were undergoing tests to purchase the pass within Japan at certain kiosks. Please check their website (http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/) before arriving in Japan, just in case. Also, calculate how much money the route you plan on doing will cost you to see if the Rail Pass is worth it. For us, we were planning on using the Narita Express to and from Tokyo, and then a round trip to Kyoto on a bullet train. This trip is about the same price as the Japan Rail Pass, so if we get on any other train while in Japan we will be ahead. The process of getting the Rail Pass was very quick and easy, and before we knew it we were headed to Tokyo on yet another train!

We were quickly in Tokyo Central Station which was absolutely huge!! People absolutely everywhere going in absolutely every direction! But, we had to sit in the first spot we found free Wi-Fi to setup our hotel for the night. After a bit of searching we were able to get one that was pretty close to Central Station, and off we went. We hopped on a train (again) and in five minutes we were at our station. Apparently this train is also operated by the JR Group, so it was included in our Rail Pass. Perfect! 

By this time it was getting pretty late so we just dropped our stuff off at the hotel and went out to find a bite to eat. There were a lot of restaurants close to the station, and we just chose one of them and got some pork dumplings in hot and spicy soup along with some Chinese plum juice soda. 

This picture is actually highlighting something very funny! If you look closely at the picture you will notice that there are chopsticks by my partner’s plate (closest) while there is a fork and spoon beside his father’s plate. This happened naturally. The server brought each set of utensils without asking. We thought it was pretty funny and warranted a quick picture to commemorate it! Hehe.

Then it was back to the hotel. The hotel was absolutely great! We normally don’t talk about the hotels, but this one was exceptional (without an exceptional price tag). Although the bed obviously came with a pillow, there were an extra three types of pillows for you to choose from downstairs. They also provided a smartphone free of charge! The phone could be used to make unlimited local and international calls, as well as used as an internet hotspot while in Japan. They even gave us some pyjamas!

Although I look pretty comfortable in them because they were huge on me, they were a little short on my partner. I guess he’s just taller than the average Japanese person! Good night from Tokyo!