I' m writing this from the comfort of home in the knowledge that we are home safely. The day began early with fond farewells to Hakusan at 7.30am followed by a minibus journey to Kanazawa station. This took longer than expected as the traffic was heavy. A few of our friends from Hakusan came to see us off. Is was an emotional time for us all.
The journey was in 2 parts a) Kanazawa to Echigo-yuzawa
b) Echigo-yuzawa to Tokyo on the Shinkansen (Bullet train!)
This was all very smooth, efficient and incredibly fast. The only problem was this the party leader couldn't find the seat reservation tickets so we just got on the nearest carriage in the 30 second slot when the door opened! They were of course where they were meant to be.
The special track for the extension of the Shinkanson to Kanazawa is now well advanced through Hakusan so it might be ready for the next exchange!
On arriving in Tokyo we made our way by train to our hotel the Shiba Park, had a quick lunch and met our guide for a tour of the Imperial Palace East Gardens and then on to a man made island in the river called Odaiba. The train there has no driver and seems to have rubber wheels which run along a concrete track! The island is home to a several shopping centres including a brand new one aimed at teenagers called Diver City. There is also a Big Wheel which had spectacular night time views of Tokyo. We arrived back at our hotel at around 10.30 and went straight to bed! It is always quite a challenge to use the Tokyo underground which is superbly organised but is huge! Our guide Kimoko was a great help.
David
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