More Tokyo

The plan was to then get the subway to Ueno but instead we were feeling energetic and decided to walk. A very interesting walk through narrow residential streets with a total absence of parked cars anywhere. It seems that on street parking is totally illegal so if  any of the residents want to own a car they have to park under in a space under their apartment block or in one of the carparking facilities that have a lift to get your car up and down from street level.

Finally we reached Ueno Park which was our destination. Ueno hill was the site of the last-ditch defence of the Tokkugawa shogunate in 1868. When they were defeated by the imperial army  the Hill was tranformed into Tokyos first public park. It as temples, shrines, a boating lake, buskers, a zoo and cafes. At the south end of the park there are hundreds of homeless men who live in cardboard and plastc tarpaulin shelters. Apparently many are failed businessmen who went bust in Japan's financial crisis. We saw about 300 hundred of them queueing for a lunchtime handout of food in a corner of the park from what seemed to be a religious organisation as their were a couple of musicians singing what sounded like religious songs. They had to line up in a quasi-military fashion and walk in step with each other when called forward in groups. It looked very humiliating and very sad. Not a smile among them. It clashes strongly with the general prosperity that we have seen everywhere despite the Japanese economy having effectively been in recession for years. Everywhere is spotlessly clean and the roads and footpaths are in excellent repair, there are no empty shops and everyone except the homeless are very well dressed and seem to be spending plenty of money.

We lunched in a cafe just outside the park and then went to the National Museum which we wandered round until we were suffering from culture overload and then headed back to the hotel via a cafe where we had coffees for the equivalent of $7.00 each.

In the evening we went for a walk along the Sumida River along a lit tree lined path. There were a few other walkers and half a dozen joggers. Under one of the bridges were several down and outs settling into their cardboard box tents for the night with their shoes neatly placed outside. After eating we walked to the Sensouji Temple again to see it floodlit. Very impressive, but it's hard to reconcile the fact that one block from the wealthy Buddhist worshippers in their suits and expensive dresses and accessories are people living in cardboard boxes.

Tokyo

Getting through passport control when we arrived at Tokyo took about an hour and a half. The queue zigzagged backwards and forwards until we finally got to the desk, were fingerprinted and photographed and issued with our visas. Then, after collecting our luggage, we negotiated the Tokyo metro and subway system to our booked hotel in Asakusa. We had to change trains just once but need the help of locals to find the right platforms. Most seem to be able to understand English even if they can't speak it.

The Chisun Inn is a modern hotel with small but very well appointed rooms. The only downside of our room is that the window faces onto a blank wall about 1.5 metres away. Most of the 200 hundred rooms are the same as the 10 storey building is wedged on 3 sides between other high rise buildings.

After a comfortable night's sleep we went in search of a place where we could get breakfast with a vegetarian option for Gail. In the end we resorted to Macdonalds, where she could have hotcakes, then as we left we noticed a cafe opposite that did a rice and salad breakfast plate. perhaps we'll go there tomorrow and I'll have a more traditional Japanese breakfast than Maccas bacon and egg between two hotcakes which is their version of the MacMuffins we get at home.

Then we explores Asakusa on foot. First Japan's oldest Buddhist temple, the Sensouji Temple dedicated to the goddess Kannon, which was first built in 628. It is entered through the Kaminarimon Gate which has a huge lantern flanked by the gods Fujin (god of wind) on the right and Raijin (god of thunder) on the left.

Through the gate is a market street selling mainly touristy stuff and then the temple itself.

To the right of the temple is the Asakusa Shrine, a Shinto shrine dedicated to protecting the Buddhist Temple in a typical Japanese arrangement.

Then we walked to Kappabashi-dori, the restaurant and hotel wholesale district where for about a kilometre the shops sell cooking equipment and the plastic food that Japanese restaurants arrange on plates in their windows to show what delights can be eaten within.

We're on our way at last

Sunday 5 May and we have started on our journey. The couple who will be house-sitting for us gave us a lift into the village bus stop where we caught the bus to Canberra where we were met by some of our kids and grandkids for lunch at Café Essen, one of my favourites. I had a full fried breakfast for lunch!

Then onto another bus to take us to Sydney airport or an overnight stay at the Formule 1 before catching the early morning JAL flight to Tokyo. For dinner we walked to the domestic terminal and ate at one of the eateries there and then walked back to the hotel to watch the Estoril Portugal MotoGP on TV. Casey Stoner in flying form again – so fast that it was a fairly boring race. I hope the French MotoGP is a bit more exciting when we are there in a couple of weeks’ time.

Next morning we caught the shuttle bus to the airport where we discovered that our discount JAL premium economy tickets enabled us to avoid the check-in and immigration queues and gave us access to the Qantas business class lounge where we tucked in to the complimentary buffet breakfast.  An excellent  good start so far. I like this premium economy stuff, particularly when it cost us just a few dollars more than ordinary economy because we booked early.

Flight delayed a quarter of an hour due to the late arrival of the aircraft and when we boarded, in typical polite Japanese fashion, they apologised to each passenger for the delay. Gail caused them to break in to laughter when she replied “it was a pleasure, but I had no choice”, a very un-Japanese response. One of them replied “mmmm, I guess it was like that” and more laughter.

Excellent seats. 20% wider than normal economy and 20% more legroom plus a side table. Now it’s 9.00am and I’m drinking Suntory Malts beer, one of my favourites, and eating squid and soy crackers. Gail's vegetarian meal of chickpea chermoula has arrived. Looks good. Side dishes of salad and fruit and a cakey thing. Not sure whether this is breakfast, brunch, or a Tokyo-time lunch, but who cares.

The menu options for omnivores like me are a bit of a surprise – no Japanese food apart from optional miso soup. A bit different to when I used to fly JAL business class before I retired several years ago and used to fly JAL to Tokyo every couple of years. In those days there was a western menu and a Japanese menu and I always enjoyed the Japanese option though often I had no idea what I was eating. About 95% of the passengers on this plane are Japanese but they must be happy with the options so perhaps it just goes to show how westernised Japan must be these days. I guess I’ll find out when we get there.

Ulysses Club AGM, Mildura

Got back late yesterday from a week away on the Suzuki DL650 V-Strom. We went to Mildura in the state of Victoria for the National AGM of the Ulysses Club, the social club for motorcyclists over 40 years of age. Just under 4,000 members turned up for the week long event that surrounds the actual 2 hour AGM.

It was about 3000 km for the round trip, which took us through contrasting terrain, from the twisty roads of the Snowy Mountains to the flat landscape of the Hay Plain and the scenic Murray Valley.

 We used our usual packing plan for the panniers, top box and tank bag and had plenty of room. Once again we took too many clothes and brought half of them back unworn. We’ve made a note of it for Europe.

On this trip we tested a cheap Motorader bluetooth helmet intercom system. It works quite well though it does have a few quirks and scratchy sound and I have ditched the complicated mounting system and fixed the units to the helmets with velcro patches. It is more convenient than the basic Autocom system we have used previously, with all its cables and having to carry a bulky charger to recharge the 9v batteries each night.

The route

I’ve been spending the rainy days pouring over maps, studying the guide books and reading ride reports on www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/, plotting routes around the countries we’ll be visiting and making notes of places to visit. We’re not usually as prepared as this, normally we just get on the bike and ride, but it’s given me something to do while the weather is too wet to get the bike out.

This map shows a simplified version of our proposed route in red. Previous bike trips are in blue and black (rough approximations of routes taken). There will be lots of detours and diversions to see the sights. Whether we stick to the plan depends on the weather and other factors and if I we really like a place we’ll hang around for longer. France we’ve been to on a motorcycle twice before, so we’ll probably shoot through there pretty quickly, though we’ll definitely see the MotoGP race at Le Mans. Hotel near Le Mans already booked.

Early preparation
It’s been 10 months since our last long trip on a motorcycle, but we’ll get a chance to get back into the swing of things in a couple of weeks’ time when we go to the National AGM of the Ulysses Club which is being held in Mildura, about 900 km away. It will give us some practice in packing our gear into one pannier each. While we’ll only be away for a week, we shall need just as many clothes etc. as we’ll be carrying for 7 weeks in Europe. The luggage space on the different bikes is about the same, so it will be a realistic test.

I’m reasonably ride fit as I do at least 35,000 to 45,000 km each year on my bikes and two weekends ago I accompanied a friend on a 1600 km in 24 hours Iron Butt Ride. We managed to do 1666 km in about 22 hours, so my backside is well and truly broken in. We’ll be doing about 7,000 km in Europe so it should be an easy ride, with time for lots of touristy stuff, though the terrain will be very different.

We’ve had a lot of rain here recently. Our place was isolated by floodwaters for a day last week and a landslide 10 km out of the village has cut the main road out for at least a month, which will affect our route to Mildura.

Now it’s raining heavily again. Not the weather for motorcycling at the moment. Hopefully the roads to Mildura will be free of flooding at the time we go.

Whoops!

Oh dear, I’m in trouble. I set up this blog and have been playing with it while it’s been pouring with rain for the past few days and while my lovely wife has been away in Canberra. I sent the URL to some of the kids so they could review it and give me their opinions. They all love it, though one of them did suggest I shouldn’t show it to Gail until we get back from Turkey. Perhaps she was right – I’m in trouble for referring to us as Old Farts. Too late now - I’ll just have to put up with the flack.

Please note: The lady on the left is not an Old Fart.

(Photo taken on a bridge in Slovenia over a river obviously named after her.)