Kui alustada päris algusest, siis mu ema sündis ja unistas Jaapanist. No ilmselt mitte sünnist saadik aga siis kui mõtlemisvõime arenes. Nõukogude ajal ei tulnud selline sihtkoht kõne alla. Eesti taasiseseisvumise järel olime meie väikesed ja nii see aeg läks. Siis alustasin reisikorraldusega. Siis käisime 2019. aastal isa ühes unistuste riigis, Ameerikas ja tekkis tõsisem jutt, et järgmisena võtame plaani Jaapani.
Esialgne reisikava oli paigas, ostsin lennupiletid ja broneerisin majutused. Ja siis tegi covid oma plaanid ning plaan jäi ootele. 2021 toimusid Jaapanis edasilükatud Olümpiamängud. 2022 olime jälle valmis startima, lend ja majutused olemas aga Jaapan oli suletud. Lootus oli viimase hetkeni, kuid juunis avati piirid ainult grupireisidele. Võtsin isegi kohalike reisifirmadega ühendust aga keegi ei tahtnud mind kaheks nädalaks giidiks edendada😁
Teekond algas 10.07 Tallinnast kl 15, 11.07 ca kl 14 maandusime Tokyos. Pärast 13h10min pikkust lendu. Lennata mulle jätkuvalt ei meeldi. Kas siis tänapäeva meditsiini juures ei suudeta tõesti töötavat iiveldusevastast ravi välja töötada?
Enne reisi
- vahetasime mõned eurod jeenideks, et saaks lennujaamas Suica ära laadida, mida saab ainult sularahas teha. Nagu selgus, Jaapanis on ikka sularaha vaja.
- ostsin Japan Rail passid ehk Japan Railway rongipileti, mis kattis kiirrongid, osad liinid Tokyos ja Kyotos, lisaks osad bussid. Ei kata metrood. Vajalik osta kindlasti enne reisi ja piisava ajavaruga, kuna selleks on vaja füüsilisel kujul voucherit, mis saadetakse postiga koju ja vahetatakse Jaapanis päris pileti vastu. JR passi ei ole võimalik osta Jaapanis olles ja see on mõeldud ainult turistidele. Mina ostsin meie piletid Klookist 420 eurot inimene (äriklass) kuna sel hetkel pakkus Klook parimat hinda. Jaapanis olles vaatasin, et nende hind oli 200 eurot kerkinud. Passi saab osta ka Japan Rail Pass lehelt. Halb uudis on see, et Jaapan tõstab alates oktoobrist märgatavalt passi hinda.
- registreerisin meie andmed Visit Japan Web leheküljel, et passikontrollist ja tollist kiiremini läbi saada.
Lennujaamas
- läbisime üllatavalt kiiresti turvakontrolli ja tolli;
- vahetasin JR passi voucherid piletite vasu;
- ostsime Suica kaardid ehk laetavad piletid, mis katsid need liinid, mida JR pass ei kata. Welcome suica ise ei maksa midagi, erinevalt tavalisest IC (suica, pasmo, icoca) kaardist. Tänu sellele ei pidanud metroos ja bussides eraldi rahaga arvestama. Alguses laadisin kummalegi 4000 yen (ca 25 eurot) ja pärast reisi kestel veel 4000 yen juurde. Saab kasutada üle Jaapani aga Kyotos kasutamiseks pidid töötajad mingi seadistuse tegema. Seda oleksin tahtnud enne reisi teada 😊
- ostsime Airport Limousine bussi piletid, mis toimetas meid pagasiga esimesest majutusest mugavalt 400m kaugusele.
Kärutasime oma pagasi Nishtetsu Inn Shinjukusse, kus paiknesime kuus esimest ööd. Sisselogimiseks ei olnudki põhimõtteliselt inimkontakti vaja. Skänni oma pass aparaati ja kõik. Õnneks meil oli mingi kala ja sain töötajaga suhelda. Tuba oli selline kahekohaline voodi ja vaata ise, kuhu oma kohvrid paigutad aga puhas ja konditsioneer töötas veatult. 
Kui olime ennast sisse seadnud, oli aeg juba õhtune. Seega väike jalutuskäik Shinjukus, sihiks Godzilla hotell Gracery Shinjuku katusel ning õhtusöök. Hooned suurlinnale (maailma suurimale linnale) kohaselt kõrged ja vilkuvate ekraanidega. Seekord olin ainult paar söögikohta ette otsinud aga kohe esimene oli väga lahe raameni koht Ichiran Shinjuku Kabukicho.
Tellisin aparaadist kaks raamenit ja joogi. Siis saime paberi, kus ringitasime raameni soovitud maitse ja komponendid. Koroona-ajast on võimalus süüa kontaktivabalt kabiinides. 
It all began with my mother's birth. Well, probably the birth, but soon after that she dreamed about travelling to Japan. In Soviet times, such a destination was out of the question. After Estonia regained its independence, I and my brother were young and the time just went. In 2013, I started travel planning. In 2019, we went to one of my father's dream countries, the US, and decided to go to Japan next. I had previously compiled the initial itinerary. After the US, I bought plane tickets and booked the accommodations. And then covid arrived and the world changed. In 2021, Japan hosted the postponed Olympic Games. For 2022, again I had bought the flight and booked the accommodations, but Japan was closed to foreigners. We hoped until the last possible moment when Japan started opening their borders, but they did not welcome individual travellers until October 2022. I even contacted local travel companies, but no one wanted to promote me as a tour guide for two weeks😁 Anyway. In July 2023, we were finally able to spend two weeks in Japan.
The journey started on the 10th of July from Tallinn at 3 p.m., and we landed in Tokyo at 2 p.m. on the following day. Our flight took 13h10min. And I still don't like flying. Considering modern medicine, is why has no one developed an anti-nausea treatment that actually works?
Before the trip
- Exchanged some yens. First, we needed to charge our Suicas. Further, you do need cash in Japan;
- I bought Japan Rail passes, aka a Japan Railway train ticket, which covered bullet trains, some lines in Tokyo and Kyoto, plus some buses. However, it does not cover the metro. It is essential to buy the pass before arriving in Japan and with sufficient time beforehand as this requires a physical voucher, which is sent to you by mail and exchanged for an actual ticket in Japan. The JR Pass cannot be purchased while in Japan and is only meant for tourists. I bought our tickets from Klook for 420 euros per person (business class) because at that moment Klook offered the best price. When I was in Japan, I saw that their price had risen by 200 euro. The pass can also be purchased from the Japan Rail Pass (and several other) pages. The bad news is that Japan will significantly increase the price of the passport starting in October.
- I registered our details on the Visit Japan Web page to get through passport control and customs faster.
- we went through security and customs surprisingly quickly;
- I exchanged JR pass vouchers for tickets;
- we bought Suica cards, or rechargeable tickets, which covered the lines not covered by the JR pass. Unlike other IC (Suica, Pasmo, Icoca) cards, Welcome Suica does not cost anything per se. Suica is a convenient way to pay for the metro and bus fares (and in some shops) without carrying cash. At first, I charged each card 4000 yen (approx. 25 euros) and then another 4000 yen throughout the fortnight we stayed in Japan. The card can be used all over Japan, but in order to use it in Kyoto, the staff had to do something to the card. I would have liked to know this prior to the trip 😊
- we bought tickets for the Airport Limousine bus, which delivered us with our luggage to a comfortable distance of 400m from the first accommodation.
We carried our luggage to Nishtetsu Inn Shinjuku, where we stayed for the first six nights. Basically, no human contact was needed to check-in. You simply scan your passport and that's it. Luckily we had some mishaps and I could communicate with a human. The room included a double bed and almost no room to put our suitcases. However, the room was clean and the air conditioner worked flawlessly.
By the time we settled in, it was already evening. We took a short walk in Shinjuku, aiming to see the Godzilla on the roof of the Gracery Shinjuku Hotel, and then had dinner. This time I had only looked for a few places to eat prior to our trip. The first one was a very cool ramen place called Ichiran Shinjuku Kabukicho. I ordered two ramen and drinks from a machine. Then we got a piece of paper where we circled the desired flavours and ingredients for the ramen. Since the corona era, it is possible to eat contact-free in booths.
Walking back to the accommodation, we saw girls in Lolita clothing, street performances and more people than we normally see in several years. Our Japanese adventure could begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment