We're back!

So we're back and we have 2 more people with us this time. Matt, Bram, and I are on our second tour, and Cristian and Ambernay have joined us for it.

We shared our plane with some Scouts on the way to their jamboree.

Our flight was long and direct, so after a few movies and stealing a few winks, we arrived in Japan. You know you are in Japan when you start to see signs like this one:

We picked up all of our things from the airport (portable wifi, Japan Rail passes), and then went on our way to our apartment where we are staying for the night (we are just staying the one night here before heading west). We took a Train to Asakusa, and were surprised to discover a massive festival going on.

This would ordinarily be great, but after being on a plan for 13 hours, then taking a train, all the while hauling luggage, then navigating said luggage through densely packed crowds in the ~30º heat and humidity, it made for an interesting day. A few streets were closed to accommodate the festival, with police directing the crowds with loudspeakers.

Lots of people were wearing Yukatas and other festival-wear. Lots of people were sitting in the streets in order to view the fireworks that would be happening later.

We finally got to our place, which was quite nice, if a little cosy when split between 5 people. It was near where we stayed in Tokyo on the last trip. We quickly unloaded our luggage and did our best to recover from the heat for a bit.

After that, we went back out to check out the festival. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, because as it turns out, night photography is pretty hard when you don't know the settings on your camera very well.

All in all, a good first day.


Locations:

Narita Airport

Asakusa